Event Coverage The Official 2014 Meltdown Drags #5 thread, vintage drag meet, July 18,19&20 Byron IL

Tims number is 440-254-1311. Tell'im Redline sent ya!

 

The only problem is the fistful of cash part! Lol! Planning on tearing into it today....only 12 days left guys! HURRY UP AND FIX THOSE CARS!!!

 

Prefect moved under it's own power for the first time in almost 40 years and the first time as a race car. We made 2 laps around the parking lot, noted about a dozen things that needed attention, not the least of which was the loose steering and trail of ATF trailing behind it. (Easy fix). Then we welded in the driveshaft tunnel (required for center steer). We'll be shaking it down next weekend at the track (weather permitting). Pelissier Family Racing will be there in force with the Scout, the Prefect and my niece running 7.50's in a RED. Should be fun !!

We need to figure out how to use the leak down tester to help set it up as we believe it's running lean. We know nothing about Hilborns so it's a steep learning curve. We have our engine guy showing up today and he builds for a local sprint car racer. Hoping he can shed some light. Building isn't tuning.

 

saxxon a good sprint guy should be all you need. a sprint guy taught me. they do this all the time. the leak down gauge is used and regulated to work at a constant 100 lbs. of air. it is measuring how much is allowed to leak out through the slot in your barrel valve. hilborn would say set the leak around 18-20. this is great for a sprint car but on a drag car i like to go with more. there are no acc. pumps so it helps on the hit. i usually go around 25. it is possible to have the barrel valve in upside down. run the throttle from closed to open. there should be a smooth transition on the gauge. i first disconnect the cross shaft. then loosen up one side of the blades. slap the blades to set them. tighten and go to the other side. reconnect the cross bar. it is absolutely important the arms are at the same angle. the mismatched arms will travel in different arcs and the blades won't be even side to side. i use a angle gauge. check to see you don't go over center. set the gap with a folded dollar bill. don't use too heavy of a return spring. the shaft can flex changing the gap side to side. reconnect shaft to the barrel valve and leak. make sure your poppets are going the right way on the valves. i set the high speed to pop at 54 pounds. i use a air compressor regulator adapted to the valve. i turn the knob until i just hear air coming out. then i shim the valve so it pops where i want it. something that screws some guys up is the compressor pressure starts going down as you do your leak test. if it gets too close to 100 lbs. or under before it kicks back on to fill you can get incorrect measurements. i always fill the compressor first then check. if i need to check again i bleed off the air and wait until it fully fills again. you can pm me if you need more help good luck. i prefer the morose single gauge to the dual gauge for many reasons.

 

Doan ya loveit when that baby crawls onits own fer the fust time!!!

 

Looks like 8pm on Thursday is going to be hard to make.
I was wondering where I find the holding area and is there enough room for motorhomes and car trailer for the night.
Or would it be better, if I can't make the 8pm cutoff to stay away from the track. Thanks for all that you guys do to pull off this great event. Ron

 

Hi Ron, The problem is we don't control the gate. Track Management does and someone needs to be there to collect money and give wristbands. What time will you arrive?

 

Thanks, depends on my work on Thursday. It's about four hours from Indy.
It's not a problem if there's not any area near the track. We can stop somewhere close by till fri morning. We've spent lots of nights in Wallyworld parking lots. Thanks Ron

 

I am about 2 hours from the track. South of 80, west of 55 and east of 39.
if it does not rain, I could accommodate some tow rigs and campers / motor homes with
primitive camping Thursday and or Friday.

 

Im north east of the track by a hour and a half. I have lots of room here. I can park any size rig. If i can help out pm me.

 

Can someone tell me what the helmet requirement will be for a door car that may hit a 12.99 if I am lucky.

 

NHRA = 13.99 and faster = Helmet

Helmet (Snell 2005 or SFI 41.1A min.)
SFI 31.1A; 31.2A; 41.1A; 41.2A exp. 1/1/2014
SFI 24.1/2005; 31.1/2005; 41.1/2005; Snell 2005 exp. 1/1/2017
Snell 2010

 

Well shit. mo money.

 

Saltflats, most tracks and tech inspecters require a "snell" rated helmet, rather than the more common "dot" rated helmet.

 

Panneton's --- You guys have been awfully quiet. Are you busy thrashing on "The Child" or did that skunk get the best of you?

 

Let sleeping dogs lie....

 

Koop13 needs to wind him up like the Energize Bunny

 

Man I could use a wind up about now!, been
living on 4hrs of sleep a night (literally) beat'n this turkey back together, the front ride height/shock travel has thrown us the biggest curve, (we could do it in our sleep, which is good, cuz we're half asleep now)but were 85% there now. The single cross spring/suicide sure looks need and old school, but not that great of a set up. However Greg Porters Night Stalker has gone frightfully quick with one, so we persevere to endeavor. We won't likely make it to Irwindale Thursday night for shake down runs..,so checkers, or wreckers maiden voyages with a bunch of new stuff in Illinois is the name of the game, heck it might not move under its own power, until I load the sucker on the trailer Tuesday before we leave. We're leaving Tuesday night, after Marc gets off work, and team driving straight through, so when we get there, if were walking in circles drooling, talking about hitch hiking Mermaids, and disco Leprechauns out on the road riding pink elephants with green polka dots.., cut us some slack OK, and maybe offer up coffee & Frosted Pop Tarts to jump start us again.., YA, OK, YA! Unfortunately, we gotta run lots of base pressure in the hat for the first few hits on our McLeod Soft Loc setup to help the disc come in, so the first few runs should be tire spinning Crazy Ivan passes, then we can start backing the hat off and tippy toeing the little ole lady through 60'-330' mark, and let her eat the back half! Also found out our RV only has a 5K hitch, so we either use the open trailer ala 1965, or use my brothers Power Stroke, and the enclosed trailer and get a hotel room, we're still tossing the quarters on that one, but we are resolved to be there, one way or another, with "The Scarlet Lady" in tow.

 

I was just gonna say "Can't talk...thrashing...", but, yeah, what he said...

 

Ok then Red Line, enjoy your nap! BOOOOOOOOHAAAAAHAAAA!

 

Also found out our RV only has a 5K hitch, so we either use the open trailer ala 1965, or use my brothers Power Stroke, and the enclosed trailer and get a hotel room, we're still tossing the quarters on that one, but we are resolved to be there, one way or another, with "The Scarlet Lady" in tow.

Just a thought about your coin toss. Might check hotel availability they fill up fast. Hope it all works out look forward to see you and the Scarlet Lady. Ron

 

Man! I didn't know there was gonna be "hitch hiking Mermaids, and disco Leprechauns out on the road riding pink elephants with green polka dots"! This trip is gonna be even better than I thought!

 

Thanks foe the heads up Ron! There are still rooms available in Rockford @ $100 night. Marc figure its about a wash, and his truck could use new tires so we're bringing the RV, and our "Cracker Jack" open trailer, worse that can happen to the 56's paint, is more patina. Besides, maybe the sight of the The Child riding bare back will "draft" more spectators into Byron.

 

Did someone say "poptarts!!!!!!!"

 

Cool, sounds like great road trip. Made it a few times myself but never with a race 56 in the rearview. Nothing like the salt spray thru Utah and the winds around Elk Mountain Wyoming to keep you awake. Oh ya and the old boots hanging in the fences in Nebraska. Ron

 

Question!!! Trying to get my car ready and when I raced last Thursday I had a 700cfm double pumper with 74-82 jets. It was popping and cracking after 5500 and wouldn't go above 6000. It's a 406 chevy and pulled the plug and it was white as can be. Put a 800 cfm double pumper on . The original jets were 71 front and 85 back. The power valve is blocked off so I read to up main jets 10 so that would be 81 front and 85 back then I have a HVH super sucker 2 in spacer and read you need to up jets 4 all around so that would be 85-89. Does this sound right or where should I start at? I can't run again till meltdown so want it to have a good starting point. Thanks guys

 

The cutoff to pre-register your car is Sunday July 13th at midnight. We need to get the list to the track first thing Monday morning. Please spread the word!!!

 

Hey Racer-X
Thanks for the step by step. We spent this evening setting things up as described.

We were going to test drive the Prefect again but we found that the axle housing is leaking. So instead of joy riding and scaring the neighbors we took the rear end apart to add some JB Weld where required. Should do the trick. We're having some .25 Lexan being cut for the windshield and we'll put that in Thursday... and we're ready for shakedown passes this weekend.

Pulled the trigger on some real blower carbs for the Scout. I was running twin Holley 650's with no power valve and jetted way up. Very heavy and clunky - very old school. They were ok but I've never really trusted them. No particular reason just a gut feeling. The extra jetting was likely contributing to some low RPM loading making reading the plugs a bit off. I also had a problem with the stainless fuel lines interfering with the linkage which created some binding. No serious issue other than it generally just pissed me off.

The new units are Quickfuel 650 cfm blower carbs (Q series). They look awesome and they are literally half the weight of the old units. They were installed quickly and the linkage is resolved. Everything moves and feels a lot better. The engine fired immediately and idled after a minor linkage adjustment. We didn't even have to adjust the floats. The 406 sounds crisp and clean at low RPM but we'll have to wait for the weekend to see how well they work at the top end. The secondary jetting is the same as the other carbs so I'm not expecting a ton of performance improvement. I know they aren't period correct but am willing to compromise on my ethics a bit for tuning and consistency. (Sorry folks) Besides...did I mention they look awesome ??

 

Early in the year someone mentioned a motelcalled and got a maybe in Rockdale, said it want too pretty but clean, I called and got a room but forgot where its located. Anyone remember the post?

 

Metinks "The Chile" will enjoy casting its ancient sheet metal into the breeze for the ride here and riding bareback...You are sure to get alotta thumbs up wit that ol Five Six in plain site!!!!