Once again, a huge thank you to Ryan and his crew for the HAMB drags! I had a blast hanging out with friends, seeing great cars, and just experiencing the drags. It definitely was the hardest year for me. The 95 360 Magnum in the 59 Plymouth Suburban acted up towing the digger down Thursday night. Travis (son) and I managed to make it within a few miles of WrenchBender's place before it died and wouldn't start. He towed me over and after tinkering with the timing we got her running. First thought was the dist came loose and lost the timing but when we used his timing light it the marks made no sense. Uh oh.... I limped her to the hotel and called it a night. The next morning Travis and I headed out to Tulsa with the wagon actually running pretty well to pick up a boat primarily for it's 80 hp outboard for our Redfish project. Got into Tulsa and the engine died for good on 44 right by the Hard Rock. I cranked in a bunch of advance which should have had the engine lugging hard to start but she just spun over. The timing set was nuked. :-( I got on the phone to Ryno and WrenchBender and they started networking for me. Ryno Got a hold of Bulletproof who started working the phone. Before he fixed me up Wrenchbender had his girfriend Misty swing by. She arranged for her AAA to tow the wagon to her folks place and then took Travis and I to get the boat, drop it at her folks, and head over to the Holiday Inn. The upside on the wagon is that I get to rebuild the tired old stock engine! A huge thank you here guys and gal for getting me sorted out! After vegging for a bit I went out to check the digger. My dear wife Cheryl and daughter Kendra had shown up in our Trailblazer so we got all the digger stuff loaded in it. While we were doing that Cheryl asked if the trailer tire should be rubbing. The inner bearing of the right hub was nuked. :-/ After a parts run and moral support from Ebbspeed and his Minnesota friends I got that resolved. Finally the big day. I had high hopes. Sad burnout, OK launch but something wasn't right. If I had had any brains I would have shut her off. I had the shifter in 3rd (th350) for a high gear only pass but it acted like it was in a lower gear. I played with the shifter and tried to get it in high and ended up throwing a rod because I over revved it. Nice window in the pan. It looks like the block didn't get hurt to bad on the digger but I'm pushing it to the back for a while till I can face it. I'd love to say something else happened but I own this piece of stupidity. Grrrr. Got home Sunday, unloaded the digger stuff and started working on the recovery effort. I cut the center out of a pickup hitch reciever NoSurf had given me and welded it on the back of my car trailer. Took a break to take Kendra to college. When we got back from that several hours later, Cheryl and I hooked up the trailer and headed down to Tulsa and another hotel room. Sure was glad we had both taken the Monday off! Got to Misty's folks place this morning, put the wagon on the trailer, hooked the boat to the back, and triple towed home. Not sure what next year holds. Might be the digger if it's not to ugly and it might be the coupe again. She deserves to come back to the drags too. Either 'll be back next year to have another go. Regardless of the cloud of smoke from all the damage following me, I still serve a GREAT God, have an awesome family and great friends!
"I still serve a GREAT God" only way top go! Sorry for your troubles, but aren't old cars fun?? Good luck this next year. Will be waiting to see what went wrong with the wagon. Ben
But always a smile on this guy, no matter the trials. Unfortunately this is the easiest fix of your weekend. Kerry 2014 by Ebbsspeed posted Aug 18, 2014 at 9:48 PM
Well Kerry I was so distraught when I seen the smoke and then then destruction when you got the digger back to the pits but only you see the bright side of things and as you stood there with a big smile I know exactly how you felt only my destruction was not as bad but just the same I was done too guess we need to pick a better spot to pit next year lol and don't worry about me I was glad to help you out anytime just remember next year I'm gonna be asking for help running my digger lol oh by the way it wasn't the Trans both axles and the spool are busted in the rear end of the Willys lol Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
No way Sam if it were not for you I would have been still sitting in the grass lol thanks for the tow as kool as it must have looked it was under bad circumstances but thanks again Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
If you're gonna break something Randy, might as well go all out! Might explain the cap it tossed. Way to go!!! ;-) Sorry Sam that I couldn't have you tow me back more. Next year. I appreciate all the encouragement fellas. I'm living the dream!
I watched you make your pass that resulted in death smoke billowing from your dragster. I was glad to see that you got the car stopped alright without any more injury to the car or you, the driver. I meant to visit with you for at least a few minutes this past weekend, but you know how that goes.
Kerry Bad news bears for sure. Looks like that cloud that has been over my head all my life has expanded its horizons. Must be global warming or something. Anyway as has been said only you can grin it away. If I can help just let me know, I don't know anyone more deserving. benno
The Jalopy Journal
