we got all of the fire system lines installed yesterday. my friend mark who will be coming on drag week with me was busy with the side windows. he put in stops so the window won't go too far down. he also fabricated some hooks for the straps. we can have the window all the way up or half way. the hand brake got bled. i didn't like the way the fuel lines ran in front of the burst panel. the more i looked at it the more i saw a potential disaster. when there is a back fire the panel blows open with a lot of force. there is a big fire ball that comes out also. there was a chance of causing a line to get cut causing a huge fire. everything was removed and reinstalled at the back of the blower. i put water in the system for the first time. i noticed water at the front of the car with the pump on. water was coming out of the number 4 exhaust port. the header on that side was off so i could see it. it was a pin hole. i peened it with a punch and it stopped. the area was cleaned real good. i drained the engine and it was welded. there was the potential there to ruin next week for me. i got lucky to have found it. with the exhaust on with the engine running the water would have just turned to steam possible going unnoticed. i hope to finish the wiring today. only a few thing remain to be completed. its really coming down to the wire.
Brian. Are you going to drive the car, test before you leave ? You know, put some road miles on her ?
I'm going to try. i got the important electrical items wired today. headlights; directionals; brake lights; tail lights. i have some of the gauges wired. we set up the four link today for a starting point. the things left to do are mag support; throttle cable; a little tin work; seats bolted in; cables run to the fire bottles; driver window trimmed; upper wheelie bars made. i hope to drive it on friday. if i can drive it onto the trailer i feel like i have done a lot over the last year.
That's an amazing amount of work to get done in less than a year, most impressive is the quality, depth, and uniqueness of the build....I tip my hat to you brother !! Are you running a foot and hand brake? I'd like to run both a foot brake and a hand brake on the dragster....rear brakes only no front brakes.
I have a regular foot brake setup with a hand brake plumbed into the front wheels for burnouts. I get the hand brake also called a staging brake from the chassis shop in michigan. The style is a pass through. It doesnt have a master cylinder. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Big Drag, you must be running an automatic (shorty glide?)? Otherwise it's gonna get real crowded under the cowl! ;-)
I actually get stressed out reading your thread, knowing you're up against the clock, and the never ending punch list that comes at the end of any major project. After your full first pass, you'll have forgotten all effort it took to get there. Good luck, can't wait to see it in action.
I have gotten over being stressed. what ever happens happens now. three days to go. I have off Friday so I should be able to take care of any loose ends. maybe a test ride with the trailer hooked up. Saturday I will load it up and head out before noon. only eight hrs to Columbus for me.
thanks. its almost become a way of life. eat; day job; work on the car sometimes some sleep. there is really not much I would rather do. I just feel fortunate to have first survived the wreck and even more fortunate to be able to rebuild the car. being able to start over and build it the way I have always wanted it with nitro has been a fun challenge. thanks go out to all the hambers for your support encouragement and pms. stay tuned in still more to come.
Brian! I wish you the best of luck on this most important and history in the making DRAG WEEK. I will be following on live stream, and video. You are a hero to me in all you have done with the car, past and now the present. Here is to you my friend, I raise my glass in a toast to you, and that mean green coupe. Mikey.
thanks mike. drag week is really just time trials. your ets are added up and divided by five to determine your average for the week. thats the way it was always run until just a few years ago. now they have a heads up race on saturday. those that choose to stay for it are paired off until there is a winner. i can't compete with a lutz or bailey during the week. with the limited time i will have to actually drive the car i have a plan. that is to make a pass each day. adjustments will be made to lower the et. if we are still running on friday we will stick around for some heads up action. I'm not promising any knock out ets. next week. there is a lot to get sorted out before we really crank it up. we will do it only if we feel it is safe. i just want to go have fun.
I think they are not planning on the shootout this year. haven't heard any mention of it from Hot Rod. we're in Santa Rosa for the night. Lots of rain from that tropical storm today
Have commented on this thread before, Beautiful Car/Craftsmanship, Admire your Talents/Efforts and it will be Faster than a Speeding Bullet, But what's the problem ?, have learned on TV that it only takes from 10/30 days or so to do a complete build, LOL. Again, Much Respect/Admiration.
it might be crazy to take the car out without a lot of testing. at some point it needs to go to the track. I put in for the vacation a year ago and cant give it back so I might as well use it. same with my co pilot. a big part of the fun is getting out on the road and going for a long ride. we know something is going to happen we just don't know what were or when. the challenge of over coming obstacles is part of what makes for good stories when you get home. squirrels blower story is legendary. his win wouldn't be the same without the story to go with it. even with all of the self imposed pressure to make it out this weekend this build is proof it can be done without all of the tv drama.
Watching the racers overcome problems and break downs is very exciting, and interesting. Some of the footage from the road is incredible.
Yes it's interesting, I feel pain when I see a car broken down, but I get so much joy from seeing a broken down getting fixed and race again! This is such a "bizarre" kind of racing, that it gets me so excited to see every time a fellow racer goes out his way to help others and still go on to be on top three!!! Will there be a roadtrip diary from you and squirrel? I would love to follow!
My day started at 4:35 am. I did a 12 hr shift at the hospital then hauled ass to illinois to work on the car. I got all of the gauges to work. The header is back on the drivers side. The wheelie bars are done. The mag support is done. Some more tin work happened. The heim joint for the sway bar showed up and got pit on. Its 2am now i think thats enough for today. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I'll be rooting for you, X (and Squirrel) throughout Drag Week. I plan to tune in daily starting this Sunday for test and tune. I had a blast watching last year because for the first time I was able to catch the whole thing. Posted with an IBM Selectric
Wow look what time it is. Time flies when the gas pedal wont fit. What a mess. When sawsalls and cut off wheels are the only tools capable of doing the job its nevee good. It was looking real bad for a while. If i can get a throttle cable today we will make it. What a thrash. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320A using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
thanks for the offer. i just got home. i need to run over to tooco cable at 9 am. its in the franklin industrial park. the owner is going to open up for me to make a cable for the throttle and fuel shut off. the pedal was tried in a few places while the car was under construction. we had a general idea where it was going to be placed. when the panel holding all of the cars electronics went in the pedal was never checked with the floor in. big big mistake. when i went to put the pedal in it wouldn't fit. not even close. i was thinking this is crazy all this work and it comes down to a throttle pedal to screw it all up. never one to give up on a good fight we made it fit. its not pretty but it fits. we can clean it all up over the winter. i don't think we are leaving at noon like we had planned. we also tested the cooling system. we ran the car for about 30 minutes in the shop. it never went over 180.
The Jalopy Journal
