rebuilding after the crash

I'm doing two passes. One against Andy Fangmans nitro camero door car. The other against Roger Lechtenburg. I want a picture of Roger and I at night with flames coming out of the pipes. The Grand Master and the student.

 

Will you be at Lannon again this year ?

 

A few more from Edgewater...

 

I will be in Lannon. I don't know if you heard this is the last year for the show unless someone takes it over. We want all the cackle cars there.

 

Been hearing that same thing for the last couple years. Everyone is getting up there in years and no one younger willing to take it over. Time will tell. I've been there since year one when Dave Bartelt started it and 60 cars there and will continue to do what I can to support it.

 

Loaded ready for Eddyville.

 

Friday evening looks good. Rain stops tomorrow morning and the wind should lay down after 6PM. Saturday more chance of rain and gusty winds. Stay safe!

 

Make sure Andy keeps it out of the cornfield this time...

 

We arrived safely. The new 42 tooth party pulley showed up at the track. I ordered it from alcky digger. They red labelled it to the track. This will make the blower go from 30 over to 34 percent over. The mag is at 53. The nitro 85 percent. Should be fun.
These payed booked in events are like payed test sessions.

 

Ride safe Brian keep us in the know lol lots of us following along from home

 

I don't know when but I will get it done. Running at 6:30 and 8:30.

 

Brian's first pass at Eddyville's Night Of Fire was against Andy Fangman and his ultra neat blown Nitro, steel roof and quarters, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro RS. That sucker boogies! Clean straight passes by both cars. Andy just barely got to the stripe before Brian.

Jerry Kaye video:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1036172072027161

 

Run two was under the lights. That's when the magic of a Nitro car comes out. For this pairing, Brian lined up with Roger "Radar" Lechtenberg in the Nitro Madness. As he has said in the past, this is a Student VS Teacher pairing. Things did not go as planned, and it was a classic case of Fuel Altereds doing Fuel Altered things. Brian was on a clean pass. Radar had severe tire shake which broke the magneto mount, killing the engine. And at the same time, Brian's car hooked a right into the armco guardrail, cutting the right rear slick. He was able to steer the car off the gaurdrail, while making sure that he did not get into Radar's lane and causing a bigger mess. By then, the slick was completely flat and steered him back into the wall. He was able to keep total control from that point on, and drove the car to the first turn off. Somehow, Brian was still able to cross the finish line ahead of Radar.

Video by my daughter;

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1297176978633155

 

I'm glad the altercation with the wall wasn't worse. Good job driving that thing.
There's no doubt that Brian's car is the best looking fuel altered out there!

 

I would like to thank Brian for pulling me out of a 15 year "retirement" from working on a Nitro car. He was down two crew guys for this event. Knowing that I was local to this track and would be in attendance, he asked if I could help. Working on any Nitro car is extremely dangerous for you and everyone around you. As a crew guy, you have to know what you are getting yourself into before hand, and know if the team and people you will be working with are safe. I have worked with Brian on the Orange Crate dragster in the past, and knew I could trust him, and anyone that he allows to crew for him. I have been asked to work on cars in the past that I turned down because I did not know their 'program' or I did not trust the 'situation'. That is not the case with Brian. Likewise, Brian is not going to ask someone to crew for him that he does not trust or will cause friction with the rest of the team. His team is as professional as you will find with a "hobby" car. Brian asking me to crew for him is a great honor!

Thank You Brian!!!

Jerry Kaye photo:

 

How bad did the car get tore up?

 

David Hill photo:

 

Great driving, that was a nice save. That could have gone way wrong. Curious what the damage report is; Hopefully not too much got torn up

 

Oh man, that cackle!

 

First off thanks Justin for the pictures and video. What Justin says about the crew and the trust of crew members is no joke. We are like family and look out for each other as such. Simple things like where to stand by the car or on the track can have serious consequences. Working on these things can get you hurt if your not paying attention. I glad you had a good time. Your always welcome on our team.
The car was under full power and on a great pass. About three quarters track it moved hard right. Let me give you some insight here. This is not the time to just go full rudder to the left. Very bad things happen. We all see the videos. It really time to be cool headed. First lift off the throttle. I have seen so many crashes where the driver panicked and drove full throttle into the wall. Second thing gentle with the steering wheel. Over correction is a common error. It can put you into the other lane or wall. Third apply the brakes with care. Nothing rash. The goal is to not upset the car more than it already is. Violently shifting weight side to side front to rear never works out. I contacted the wall and tried to hold it straight. Roger had not passed me yet. I didn't want the car darting over into his lane. On the wall I'm safe so is Roger. The thing about the guy in the other lanes is you want just that the guy in the other lane. Not yours. Even with the tire down I was able to hang on and get it off the track stopped safely. Not knowing what was going on I got out very quickly. I raised my hands to the safety guys to let them know I was ok along with the car.
After getting home we looked at the car closely. The damage is as follows.
Tires are junk. New ones were ordered.
Rim was run out with a indicator. It's perfect. The bead lock ring while usable is looks nasty. A new one is on the way.
Wishbone track locator. Inner tube was bent after the front heim joint. 1.5 inches was cut off. We put it in the lathe with a live center and put more threads into it. The inner tube and outer frame slide perfectly. The rear heims had a slight bend. They are in the junk. We don't straighten them. New ones of very high quality were picked up after work. I counted the number of rotations when I took them out. The new ones went in the same amount. I re installed the bar checking it with a square. It's right on for a start. Points will be dropped for a triangulated measurement. Having the rear end in the car straight goes without saying. It has to be right.
Front end.
Tires and wheels are perfect. The right upper clevis going to the bat wing had a slight bend. We don't straighten those either. New ones are on the way from Pete and Jakes. The panard bar had a slight bow. It's made out of thick wall tubing. It will be straightened in a press using a indicator. The left torsion bar is pushed out of the tube a little bit. That whole set up will come apart for a full examination. Nothing too serious. Both Roger and I along with our cars are good. It will be finished before next Monday. I don't race again until July 17th at Mokan
So what caused this? We may never know. We do have the video that shows something with the left rear tire. It looks like it takes a bounce. After the bounce it goes hard right. Did I run over something? Did something fall off the car? Was there a dip in the track? We can't find anything. It's all speculation at this point. The next morning we went out on the track early. We couldn't see anything as far as clues.
This is a fuel altered. These are the wildest hardest to drive cars. Things can and do go wrong from time to time. Good driving kept the damage to a minimum. We don't blame anyone or anything. We don't blame shift. We take the good with the bad as a team and move forward. This is exiting stuff that's why we do it. Nitro fuel altereds are the ultimate hot rods. I hope to see everyone at the track.

 

Glad to hear you are safe! It great the car can be fixed somewhat easily, you seem to have everything under control.

 

Glad it was not worse for you or Rodger!

 

Glad you were able to keep it in your lane and both drivers were safe!

 

And the work goes on! Just keep fighting, Brian!

 

Glad to see you are OK, and the car fixable.

If it had of been me, I would have needed to replace the burst panel in my Nomex undies.

cheers,
Harv

 

Glad you are good and the car is not too bad either you are correct this is racing a fuel altered and the things that go along with it good driving Brian see you at mokan

 

New dancing shoes arrived. The hair pins heims showed up to. The front panard bar was straightened. It's right on and installed.
Sunday afternoon we will drop the plumb bobs to verify everything is straight and square. The only way I know to feel better is to attack the car and get things fixed. Fuel racing is not for wimps. You gotta be tough.

 

You will get it all fixed and conker this happening Buddy! Gary

 

My offerings to the gods of speed has a new offering. The bead lock ring has found a place among so many parts. Each one has a meaning or story. Some of the items just gave up on a pass. Some are a reminder not to do this or that again. Yes that is the original frame from when this thread started.

 

While on the subject of tires they are sold in matching sets. The measurements are written on the tires. To be extra safe after mounting a tape measure is used to measure the circumference. Many times a cars poor handling can be traced back to miss matched tires. Uneven tires drive the car to the smaller side.