Jan 31st....Doing it yourself

I love "Do it yourself" kind of projects. The Drag Pak has been one GREAT project and its not done....but its getting there. The guys helping are definatley the "Do it yourself" types as well...

I am feeling bad for using my Dad as a "Gopher" but, the choices are , both of us go. And things dont get done on the car....Or 1 of us work and 1 of us runs.....

Tonight was an early night we closed out at 8.....so Im under 80 hours for the week....oh well, not like I get paid...lol, the PAY off will be running the piss out of it and breaking things to put them back together and go faster, lather rinse repeat.

Fuel system is done , well less pressure testing, that will be tommorow AM, then running. I like it, being a plumber in my previous life, well as I told my dad, its not something I would be embarrased by. I may have succeeded in building the worlds most expensive hydrocarbon sprinkler system, but for right now it looks good.

AFTER everything is done I will put a detailed parts list together, and if anyone wants to plumb their car like us, Ill have my guy at the shop make another setup for cost plus his hourly rate to help out any other DP guys that want it, you pay shipping.

Brake lines BAH , I forgot my good flaring tools at home and the Summit Junk is just that, they do have good ones for 37 degree, just not in stock down here in Georgia....So....thats my AM hunt for a GOOD 37 degree and double flare tool, or I need to not use AN fittings on the brake lines....but Id preffer to keep it consistent....then the lines I can finish, the stainless line is too hard for the Summit stuff and it turns the anvil point to junk on a 3/16th diamater line.....

But all the bulkhead connectors are in place and flex lines mounted and I have measurment on the rest, first stop will be to Napa to see if they like the one at home can make what I need and save me some time.....

So cleaned up the shop for they fellows, our EFI guys who have been nice enough to let us haunt their shop this weekend. So.....

After that we got our new scales out....(the other ones were flaky as sin) and well.....the weight complete is good. I can go LEGALLY without much changeup back up another 200 replacing things with heavier items that were original and relplaced by ligher items, Right now we go shy of 2940 without fluids, but that was brake lines sitting on the pass seat and fittings, all computers in, and we have 3, hood on, scoop base.....etc....a full loadout.

Ive got about 40 more pounds that are known to pull, 20 of that will require some work, maybe a day. Ill have to go over the car again to make AA min, but it wont be hard, there are some things that can go poof....like the trans cooler, that was only in for testing really. Actually the other 20 will take a day as well....both low cost, but 1 I probably wont do. So I need to find it elsewhere. Thats the fun part....So unless I hear different right now we are the lightest completed Drag Pak car......

Ive been told by many, these cars are fat and noone has made minimum weight. WEIGHT = Horsepower , simple, period. AA not yet, probably by next month, our "Phase II tranny" is about 15 lighter itself....the BEAUTY part is thats all recip weight. I can loose about another 10 in the rear end with 300M axles and Titanium studs. Redoing the fuel line, maybe another 5, Lets see.....just brainstorming here....another 10 in the drivers seat. Another 4 in the Passenger seat....and on I guess. The other weight was planned to drop and provision were made like templates for having items jetted, but time didnt allow me to do it....so theyre planned for.

Not much matters , it can be done. The "Shipping Weight" of the car is 3100 as listed, well be shy of the "Shipping" weight by 100 +/- 20 lbs for fluid variance....(and yes Ive already added all fluid volumes in and still make 3000 or 3020 max.

Itll be intersting with our "Nuclear Option" on ramp rates for our cam what the thing will do. Ive got to find different lifters than anyone currently makes for these engines to handle what I want to do with the cam. OR Modify the current, and have some custom lifters made, thats probably going to be what I have to do.

The cars sucess or failure is 100% MINE to Own....I made every single decision , even contrary to what others suggested or were doing, I copied certain things like Irv Johns gear ratios and converters.....But the 3 step headers I had done will be a much better runner I think, if not ? Well Ive got a set of TTI's like Irv I know will run at least 9.74.

On the things like cam duration, profile, overlap and ramp rates....mine to sink or swim. Things like the Tranny , well mine, it was Phase I, but Phase II with all exotics , alloy sunshell, etc wont be ready till Gainesville, or just after. But hopefully our cryod, coated, overbored and loosened 5.7 will be ready then too. Thats when the REAL fun will start for the competition.

That motor is 100% mine stem to stern....and its going together the same way a GP bike does, perfect. If I can spin a bike at 18k I can sure as hell spin this at 10k, were shooting for 9 with the current motor, but the valvetrain Im not so confident in, until I girdle and change out the shafts for something that will stay stable at those RPMs. The new cam, the Phase II cam will handle the lean issues on 4 and the flow contention that happens in the single plane at these ranges. I can "compensate" but the reason it flows lean is becuase of the order of fire and the way the manifolds breate.

The current motor is still half Stantons, and well its tighter than I like, I dont like the pistons and well it maybe my next 10 years of really cool conversation pieces.

I still need to work on playing with collector length but that for the track not the dyno, it never ceases to amaze me what stock people put in a dyno, its good for a "baseline" and that about it.

Think about this. If I can take a bike at 65 hp for a 326cc motor, and it runs say a 2 minute lap, then I take a bike that dynos at 59 hp for the same motor same chassis and it runs a 1.40 lap without blinking, why ? Simple , its how well the motor gets from Point A in its curve to Point B.....less horse less torque same crosspoint , better time consistently. These are things that most people running or trying to sell dyno time dont get, or wont admit to.

Were gonna run the 6.1 to the point of scatter at Pomona through Gainesville, this is a race car, not a collector item...... its a collector item for someone down the road, Ill be dead by then Im sure, hell Im 40 now almost, if I make 65 it would be shocking, but let them gripe about the original block being a boat anchor.....Run it blow it rebuild it, NOW the fun begins........

Tue back in Ohio, Thur back down here, Fri Tx, Monday California........assuming I dont break anything in testing.....I dont mind breaking things, I just preffer to do it after or during a race :) Especially the first one.

Im DYING to see how far off we are, Im thinking were good for 9.9 at our first outing.....thats my guess but who the hell knows....

The other Combo, the 5.7, with that I think well be in the 9.6X? range at min weight.....but thats all my motor and everything I wanted in the tranny just couldnt get in time for Pomona

Im still a little frustrated it took so long to put this car together 3 months from delivery is too long, wayyyyy to long. But even at that I couldnt be promised certain items by my deadlines, hell I didnt even get my headers I ordered in Oct until January ! (well the other ones were ordered in Dec, came 2 days before)

Jan 30th , PLUMBING !

Well, today was PLUMBING !

I nearly stroked when I went into the shop and the aread the guys who are doing our FI system made for us. I was half asleep still and didnt notice, damm near all the wiring is in, computer stuff, stunning, the worked till 10 or so last night and well.....amazing. So everything is looking good.

Our Fi and ECU guru came in and looked at the massive pile of AN fittings I had on the ground and said WOW, there has to be 2000 worth of fittings, I said....hm yep actually 2700 worth :) But most all will go back to summit, hell half are in the wrong bags anyway.

I always or someone always forgets something, no matter how much I buy....Some anyway, no matter how much crap I buy at summit they forget something.....something I tell them and I didnt check my order, so crap, its not that they charged me for it I just didnt get it.

My fingertips are raw from pinpricks of making AN lines for the Fuel system.

But I was able to run it "slick" I plan on posting a "parts" list on exactly what is needed to do one of Mike P's chassis builds the way we did should you care to.

Made some fuelrail modification for better fittment.

Dad put some temporary gauges in the panel , I say temporary but well the trans temp and oil temp will probably be permanent, they are just for Info and wont run through the ECU so......He also made brackets for the Bulkhead connectors for the brake lines

I have to finish the brake lines tommorow, but it should be cake, everything today was panning and dry fitting, so....

But we got a good look on a lift today to the underside, I have been putting off a lift forever, usually i dont need one, but for $2000 installed, yeah Im getting one.

Im still happy with the underside, not bad for laying on your back with Jackstands.....But If I do anoother build for someone it will shave were estimating 30+% of the time off, with time comes cost....if I can do it cheaper and a better job why not

Besides I have 1 other car that needs paint underneath the 72....

So tommorow finish plumbing, monday gauge mounts for our digital panel and head home.

Thursday head back....then to TX then POMONA.....its looking good ! We may show up untested if the weather dosent clear but were gonna give it a shot.....

Jan 29th....A day off....sort of....

Well the car arrived at our super secret "Undisclosed EFI Location" Unloaded went over the parts, docs and when I left Im sure they wanted to kill me and hide the body....I thought I went over the "extras" I wanted them to do, but after replaying the conversation in my head I think I got sidetracked before I told them all of it......

A name for the car was tenativley agreed on....think it looks like a winner.....

So nothing exciting, they started work today and tommorow I start the plumbing.

I THINK, and I say THINK I may do something against my nature and run a partially redundant gauge system......but it may be a temporary item.

So with nothing exciting to post from my end let me introduce my Father David Wertman

Here is something he wrote a while back and put on my desktop.


Note about holding trunk lid up.....

A broom stick holding the trunk lid open sucks since the darned trunk lid itself weighs a ton,
and you can get a hernia just lifting it to put the broom stick in place...

So go to the dealer and shell out 20-30 bucks for two of part number 1-04589645AA

Installation is snap on, you will have strained to lift your drag pak trunk lid.
After these are installed, the trunk lid responds to a push and is wide open, and stays there!

Also they don't weigh an awful lot, and in our weight conscious world, that meant a lot to make
the decision to put them in place.

Having done so, we have never once have said, let's save that 1 1/2 to 2 pounds and take them out.

It is not only about convenience, it is about safety as when you are holding the lid open with a broom
handle, and the car gets jostled, that lid will come down like an angry alligator, snapping off anything
in the way of it's powerful jaws.

Till tommorow.....

The blog has grown a life of its own for our family.....our family and friends are keeping "tabs" on me through the blog.....

Jan 28th In Atlanta.....FINALLY !

Well its 3 AM and were in Atlanta all bedded down for the night, my dad told me "Dont forget the blog" So.....here it is

Were here.....took forever to load out in the Ohio snow and cold, but I sure wasnt leaving a loaded out trailer with #24 in our parking lot last night, if I would have THOUGHT about it I would have taken it home DUH.....but well I was eager to get home "early" last night ..... by 10 pm....I had clothes to watch and wanted to see the end of a movie I started 2 weeks ago.....

So movie was good....dark ending but memorable.

So were here....to the FI gurus tommorow....these guys are GOOD, actually thats an understatment.....but our competitors and theirs will find out exactly how good shortly, these guys live and breathe FI, not some lame wanna be tuners who can use a laptop program like me....or some installer of someone elses system.....these are the guys that design and manufacture and CODE the firmware for it.........We plan to have a guest for Dyno tuning, he is considering FI systems with a new Hemi for GT.....a whole lot of experience and from what Ive heard and talked to him..one hell of a nice guy, it will be an Honor to have him.

But so far so good, the "Old Girl" our 180,000 1998 Dodge 1500 5.2 did 70 the whole way and didnt complain one bit. We bought it 2+ years ago as a utility hauler, we paid 4000 "out the door" and intended from day 1 to put a 440 in it with OD 727, we wanted a quad cab longbed with a good body, the body was perfect and Ive made it my mission to kill it, I cant.....we plan on another tow vehicle and have budgeted for it , and may very well buy a new one on the road....but NOT until the "Old Girl" gives it up, and there are no signs of that at all. So.....Ive driven her daily because, well I like her, shes got warts, scratches, and now a rust bubble or 2 .... but gets 24 mpg running solo on the highway and 12 or so with full load up the Tennesee mountains ..... so I mean I do "hilbilly" oil changes to her every 10,000 miles or so, theyre easy, just add the 3 or 4 quarts shes missing (yes Im serious) but ive been TRYING to kill it so I have an excuse to put the other engine in.....I have formulated a theory, the sludge in the oil pan traps the metal particulates enhancing engine life ....lol.......ok so maybe the theory has some holes in it....

My dad and I had a great time on the way down talking, its been a long while since Ive seen him (his vacation was over a week) but he reminded me of "Motor Honey" we talked about it and laughed , ever try to put a cold jar of it in your car ? We both have.....screwdriver digging it out into the oil fill.....oh the good old days....I wonder if they even still make it....

But lots of chatter about this and that......always good company for a drive.

Well off to get my obligitory 5 or 6 hrs of sleep, they dont open till 9, I may wander in a few minutes past.

Till tommorow

Jan 27th...."In the Groove"

Well today was a "Groovy" day....

My dad showed up with 2 different shoes on this morning, all just "normal" and perfectly reasonable around here, but he didnt mean to....so he started his day by changing his shoes and I started by laughing and taking a picture...all pretty normal around here.

Were loaded out for Testing and Pomona, Well, shy a few tools and a running car :) But shes buttoned up, and to be loaded out tommorow for Georgia. The missing (tools) will get loaded out on our way back to Ga....thru to TX stop rest,test....to Pomona....

Maybe 4 days behind where I wanted to be, well 2 weeks but my sons Hospital issues , well took time...they were my #1 priority and well.....were still on track....so...forward we go

I looked for my Simon and Garfunkel CD today just to play "Feeling Groovy" .... yes serioulsy.... but got backtracked with another CD.

The car got final items today, Driveshaft loop corrected, that wasnt fun. Headers, those werent fun, and other items, trans cooler/crossmember, and a bunch of other cleanup and final install, driveshaft in, shifter linkage corrected and reinstalled, carpet and interior back in.

My back feel sunburn, all the shimmying around on the ground, I use double cardboard I dont like creepers.....but the cardboard needs replaced, its full of metal shavings and my back....well Its a good thing I dont need an MRI or to fly anywhere anytime soon.

Everything is now in the car. Except the EFI computer and wiring. Well brake lines, but thatll be done in Georgia by me.

We decided not to leave tonight, its was dark and Im tired....tonight I got home before 10....I still cant believe it. I shaved, the first time in about 8 days....I think....that was a job in itself. But clothes all washed, face clean ..... ready for a 7 am wakeup and loadout.

Road by 9, Atlanta by Midnight....sleep, wiring start Friday, Brakes this weekend. FI finish next week. Return 3rd and 4th to take care of some personal business and grab some time with the kids....then Back to Atlanta.

Like I said it may not be a "Perfect Plan" but right now its our plan.

A shop that looks like a tornado hit it, boxes of stuff to load. And 1000 miles to drive.....tommorow will be a day like any other around here....crazy as usual

But Jay is going to come to the shop and clean it while were gone, we always joke his cleaning is great but his tool placement is "Job Security" every time something ends up we cant find it and a phone call resolves it. He knows......

But when we do get back a clean shop will be nice.

Some "road" items like lightening further, ESPECIALLY my Titanic 3 1/2 lb Alternator and Water pump bracket.....But at 3 mount points I can actually lift the engine out by it......lol....seriously....But as you can see its got some weight to loose.

We weighed the car today....our right rear pad was not working so it went back to Summit to be exchanged.....gotta love Summit, buy it there and I think they will take anything back no questions asked, ever.......never once....No problem....

But if what I think I got off the other 3 pads is accurate and the distribution is what I think it is on the rear, with the Ballast we added to compensate (or overcompensate as we tried) I think, I THINK we made the 3100 I wanted to make. (3123 is the actual number I come up with) so....well see....that was all items in car, and 30 quarts of fluids onboard as well as all the brake lines and several other ballast pounds about 50.....so.....Im hopeful. Nice to see......If we make 3100 I THINK were the first DP people to make that weight (thats the listed Shipping weight of the car)

Some thoughts on our/my "Next Project"

I have a couple people I have been entertaining the thought of building cars for....I have to figure out what I can do it for and make it cost effective for them. BUT before I commit to ANYONE, Ive told them.....well....I want to make sure ours runs down the track right :) They are apprently more confidant in our build than I am :)

LOTS of Pictures of the disaster that is our shop and load out....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newhemiracing/

Ill get to bed before Midnight, unreal........its like Christmas in January....oh wait I worked on Christmas.......lol

Jan 26th......Update 2

Well now 2 soon to be 3 full days behind schedule some "fittment" items that havent got come across because either the parts werent in or I didnt test fit, or in the case of a couple because we changed other things that affected other part fittment.

Then I dropped a driveshaft on my head......yes nice "boo boo" and the guy whos helping me said "Man that hit the ground hard" I informed him it had still yet to hit the ground and was reting on my forehead.....ouch......well he dropped a wrench......

The DS loop is about 1 inch "off" and well no good way to fix it......my fitting problem, Im too tired and done enough "damage" for 1 day......its off to bed.

Today was "Historic" though, I managed to damage the car, the trunk well......well rather allowed it to be damaged. It will be repaired....someday.....maybe......maybe not.

This is one of those things though that are part of the car, repaired to the naked eye or not, its permanent, it will live with the car forver.

If rather have other things continue with it.....but it is what it is............Jay who did it, probably half because I didnt give him EXPLICIT instructions, half because well at 16 hrs and counting in a day , things happen.......he was "mortified" but.....I dont think he understood how I took it so well...., just because it happened dosent mean I have to be happy about it, nor does it mean I have to blow a gasket........I just left the room for a few minutes, went over in my head all the things it will take to "correct" it , if it should even be done. When I told him Id see him in the morning, I think he was shocked, he said "You still want me to ?" I explained, yes....."Besides Jay all you did was put a dent in the trunk, 5 minutes before I put a dent in my skull with a driveshaft.....same reason, same result.....we tired, weve worked 16 hrs nonstop....and crap happens...."

So Tommorow, refit the DS loop, what a pain, and put the collectors on , hook up shift cable linkage. And load her up.

Well....after I figure out what to do about some other items like the fuel line............

Till tommorow.....same time , same channel.....

Jan 26th...Crisis and Crunch

Well, we were here at the shop LATE last night weve run into some problems, 1 was because of a shifter changeup, the trans tunnel now needs some surgery to clear the lever........the other.....well....I friggin saw it missed it and now it bit me in the arse....

TAKE Your BUSHING out of your Crank ! If you are running an Auto....take it out while out of the car....you will probably need to weld something onto it to slide hammer it out, or weld a nut in the ID (hardened) and run a bolt in to force it out.....

The tunnel issue....dry fit WITH THE SHIFT LINKAGE youre going to use....

EMERGENCY SURGERY !!!!!!

Arrrrrr.......Testing is looking GRIM for this weekend.....

Busy Busy Busy....took me all day just to write this much in between swear breaks and nervous breakdowns....

BAH !

But another one of our Sponsors gave final commitment today !

Wow, now all they need is a car to represent them.

Jan 24th...I lied.......

I promised full pics, well when the car isnt back together theyre hard to take.

But it was a GREAT day, car stuff, lunch with the kids, my Dad is back in town, back to the shop more car work..

My dad posted a note on the car, its remminisient of things they used to put on the Mainframe computers back in the 60's .... YES 60's thats how long hes been a programmer and anaylst until he retired 2 years ago.......

Sign is done.

Engine is done.

Radiator/Fans done.

Interior done.

Trans crossmember and loop done

Tommorow engine goes back in ....

There are a ton of new pics over on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/newhemiracing/sets/72157622915227877/

I know things are getting close because the shop is a MESS again...that happens when there is progress, we dont stop to clean we just work.

When the shop is a mess its actually easier for me to find tools, what I need is out.

Working with dad again was GREAT, amazing what another persons conversation does when youre working to make the time fly...it was after midnight when we left.....

We "signed" the engine today.....and buttoned her up, checked triple checked, and well.....buttoned up.

Tommow morning it will go back in. Headers on Starter on Trans in, and Packup for Atlanta....

Lots more to do but weve got 3 days to do it and some help in Ga way....some items can wait till after testing, like gauges and some other items.....

Like my dad says , "When youre up to your ears in Alligators its hard to remember you went in to drain teh swamp" or something like it....lol.

A busy month coming up to be sure....after Gainesville a Motor change and a little R&R until Charlotte.....

Careful what you wish for I guess..

What an AMAZING opportunity....a once in a lifetime opporunity to build something like this car.

Thanks Pop !

Jan 23.....update.....

Update ....

After some porkchops and pierogies......and a bit of a movie, saying goodnight to the kids (except "Spongemonkey" or David Michael my 12 year old.....Back to the shop for more checking, rechecking degreeing, clay testing and general....CHECKING....

He asked me does it usually take 2 days to do this, I glared at him....no......well setting up the valves and rockers and the rest, it can to do right....and check everything about 97 times......yeah......hell never be a wrench.....that is reserved for my 6 year old.....

But all is looking well, I told the old man the options and well he was on the same page as me, going 10 is not a good option, having a record breaker is......

I dont know if the car will be able to do it, but I "Believe" it will be VERY fast.....Very....of course when we do all these things thats what we hope for all 100 DP Guys Will HOPE for the same thing. The only way to make it a reality is to do it.......

With the Stock 392 stick in there I KNOW we couldnt do it....so that only leaves 1 option NOT to run it and run something a little more "special" so tonight everything was checked and triple checked.

Do yourself a BIG favor , degree the engine without the Oil pump and pan/pickup on.....it can be done with it on but what a pain in the ass.....also the tensioner plate can be removed without the pump off but well....its just sooooooo much easier without it on.

So cam degreed in right where I want it. for now....that may change but I need to alter another cam gear.....I have one, but dont know how I want to alter it for advance AND retard....who knows where this will run best, I think I know but thinking and knowing are 2 different things.

Talked to a new DP owner Peter Ash out of Canadaland....nice guy and a knowledgable racer....as he put it a Mad Scientist builder.......mwhahahaha should fit right in with the Mysteriants that I call the Drag Pak Confederation.

Tommorow and Monday BUSTING ass......but were back on TRACK !

Jan 23 2010....Still behind but hopefull

Well Dad, your car is back on track.

He apparently lost sleep because of my posting last night.....sorry pop...Ok, well the "tradgedy" was ME Not listening to my GUT....and THINKING someone else knew and did something on purpose which really turned out to be an accident.

They were wrong I was right. BUT I followed their way of doing it. I THOUGHT there was something to the way they had done it that HAD to Just HAD to make sense, turned out they screwed up.....no biggie it happens and thats why I trust noone on an engine short of putting my own eyes and hands in and on it.

I dont like to say "dude youre wrong" until Im 110% sure....Now I am.....

We marked EVERYTHING engine with a sharpie, and I mean EVERYTHING, in case we came up against something like this, and we marked the Cam Gear and Crank as the Engine shipped to us. Just reference, and had I NOT done this I wouldnt have wasted a day trying to degree and get a cam right that was quite simply put in wrong.....BAD.....

I changed cams, and well the new cam , either the dowel pin was offset different (which it wasnt) or the cam duration was too much and I was having PTV problmes (which I was) But last night it dawned on me, I ll bet the damm thing was in wrong, (none of the marks made ANY sense, then or now) so, back in with the 392 cam.....

I have to call Stanton, and show him the pictures we took on dissasembely, I hate to do it, but damm if Ida tried to spin this motor without doing that.....wow......BAD.....I hate to do it because I know what his reaction will be "Thats Impossible" just like I heard it was IMPOSSIBLE this engine wasnt dynod, only to find out later they DIDNT dyno it. But Id like to keep a good relation with him hes an ACE engine builder, but I dont know what happened on this, I can only assume it was an employee error.

But the stock cam in the original location 2 set of Crank Marks front and rear (I marked it twice in case 1 came off , and cam gear marks, and it was FRIGGIN WRONG !

The really odd thing is (and I know this motor has not ben run for a fact and only a few before 50 were) the really odd thing is there was white marking (grease pencil ?) on the Arrow, now, we didnt put it there, so either Stantons guys did or ? Maybe it came from the factory that way (but since there is no logic in that) I know it wasnt us because well we have NEVER used a Grease Pencil, Shapries and whiteboard markers are what we use.

So Crisis adverted, and thanks to Jerry at Sheradon for listening to my rants and giving me his take as well, the old man was out of town and I need someone to bounce things off, and well thanks again Jerry.....He came to the same conclusion late last night as I did.

This morning Jay asked me what I was going to do and I told him I hope to put this together and see it fail , he told me that was the strangest thing hes heard, but after I explained it he understood, I needed to PROVE that it was wrong to start...

Todays lesson, listen to your GUT !

So Valve setup later tonight (shiming and rocker shaft setup) Tommorow and Monday Plumbing, Georgia on Tuesday and finish up the other items in out FI guys shop, they given us an area to work at the same time...so misc brackets, adjustments, etc. HOPEFULLY Testing on Saturday....

But Now ? Pork Chops with the Ex wife.......shes cooking....and shes a good cook, and well I miss my kiddos.....so thats all for tonight.....

They are running a "Contest" / "Poll" on who our driver is on ClassRacer.com

To think 2 months ago almost EXACTLY , NOONE, outside of a few locals, had any clue who we were and what we were doing........now weve got a FEW Fans, a FEW Arch Enimies and a Few who could really care less but have a general idea of what were doing.

Now theyre having "Polls" on us (or Drooze my online alter ego) lol....I think most people will be dissapointed in me in person Im not so much of an ass as I can be when typing........oh well.......

Cheers All

Jan 22 2010.....Pomona we have a problem

Well....Cleaned the car, up, picked up the spares today, gaskets hoses plugs etc. Got the fuel rails in...and well all was looking good....then......

Shit........today was one of those days everything seemed to go strange.

We have a problem, I do have a possible solution, but it sucks.....its better than nothing but....well it sucks.....

It a big one that will require a "command decision" there isnt much alternative , either tommorow I spend the day "trying" to make it work and bail to the emergency backup plan or .... we miss our window for FI and testing on the 30th.

So tommorow until the wee hours Ill be working on ie , I dont think I will see a solution I havent tried.

But other final assembly went well...I guess, now Im 2 full days behind. I will HAVE to Plumb the car on Sunday and Leave Sunday night for Georgia.

Im not panicking all the way .... yet ....

Unfortunatley, I cant call the vendor or any backup in on this one over the weekend.

Bad day.

Maybe tommorow.......

I guess it had to happen, there hasnt really been an "oh shit" moment until today on the whole build a few oh craps but all in the norm of a build, its just when getting to these short deadlines ... well anything is major and I really stepped in it with this.

I CAN fall to the backup plan, but the best I can get out of that is MAYBE 10 flat....MAYBE....

With this, well.....I can see MAYBE a 9.7 .... So its well well well worth doing and making if fly.

RUNNING, and Being COMPETITIVE are 2 different things.

Update......
Hmmmm....after 2 houra of thinking about it....I MAY, MAY have a solution, I may be wrong in my calculations, and hence in my install , something I was seeing just didnt make sense, occams razor says "All other things being equal the simplest solution is usually the right one" GOD I hope thats true....being a dumbass I can handle, failing such a big item Icannot.....

Jan 21 2010

2 more DAYS TILL FULL SET OF PICTURES....are you all excited ?

Here are some "Teasers"

Weve got lots to show (and lots to hide...lol) so well....Tommorow will be the first build pics youve seen in a while, its "getting there" Im now another 1/2 day behind but, well fitting the damm windage tray was a pain in the arse. Hard with Pop out of town, I cant very well take pictures of myself.....Well when people are at the shop I throw them the camera to take a picture of the Days Stupidity......

Got in a BAD MOOD, when I tried to put the motor back together, well.....the damm mindage tray dosent fit the special pickup....I dont even think it would fit a stock pickup. So grinder and sharpie, files and sandpaper in hand 3 hours later it was all fitted.

Did some couputer work today on the Gauge system....looking good.....almost done...well not looking good all strapped together with duct tape , but DUCT TAPE RULES !

Other final build stuff today, I FINALLY Got the TTI Headers in , very well made, except Im very worried about the 02 sensor bung placement. But I wont be able to tell until theyre in. Another thing is the MASSIVE size of the collector....TOO Big I think, BUT I can run a tapered cone inside it, so it actually gives me flexibility in "tuning them" Im "probably" going to Start Dyno and Track with the 3 Steps, on a Dyno I think they will be much better, BUT a Dyno isnt the real world and I will test the TTI and map for them.

On the track we will try both, if I were a betting man....what the hell am I talking about I am a betting man. I would lay $ that the 3 steps are better right now the way they are.

A friend dynod their DP motor yesterday and found out some things we all expected. Nothing scarry nothing suprising, what he found out should lend itself great to our cam and header choices, thats the direction they are now going in now after running it out, the Cam Comp sells is a little "long in the tooth" and could be pulled back a few on the duration 3-7 somewhere in there.....right where were at, AND I so Hope Im wrong and the Cam COMP tried to sell us isnt the one others bought.....if it is please check your lift...I would hate , and I mean it sincerly HATE to see any DP Guys DQ'd it would suck for all of us the one they sent us lift is a hair over just a hair but over....we didnt go with it and instead our custom grind, and if it works it will mean thats where we started, I like it.

Fuel Rails and Gaskets (intake) will be here tommorow....

Ill give you a few sneak peek pics ..... Ok.....Like my new Migrant Worker Hat Pop ? Found ONE ! Looked Hard but found the one I wanted !

No making fun of my ROKET COMPUTOR (OR My HAT !).....Its got GO FAST AND STOP Buttons right on the face, theyre drawn on with a sharpie, Dont get all excited about the gauges YET, they are a picture just piped trough to the display, a screenshot I had, our actual gauges (on the screen) will look nothing like those (they suck)

If you wonder I now have 13 Summit Shirts and Probably 20 Hats, EVERY time I go to Summit I throw on My Jegs stuff, they litteraly throw new stuff at me if I promise not to wear the Jegs stuff......I have the hat in my truck for just that reason....:) Im a cheap SOB......

Jan 20th 2010

Maybe I shoulda named the car "Glue Sniffer" or "Solvent Brain Injuries" wow, have I got a massive headache, too much caffine, too little food, too much Locktite Contact adhesive for the final carpet install....wow what a banger. Belts installed, seats, carpet, interior items, dash, etc....

Some banter on Class Racer, but it lead , or might lead to something good, if anyone else wants to join in a "Charity Bracket Race" drop me a line or give me a call, since most here have my number. A track in Texas will provide itself to Host the Event at no costing....cool...

Even if the guy who tried to bait me into something he may not have thought Id call HIS bluff on, hes wrong, dont ever bluff someone with a stack that will call you.....there are things that will always happen with Me OR the Old Man. If I can make something positive come from something he was "trying" to use as self serving, what better medicine.

As far as Us, My Dad and I...

1)We will ALWAYS call a bluff if I can cover it, sometimes it not a bluff and we loose.

My dad uses the quote "Sometimes you just gotta pay the man"

2)We will never loose a game of chicken, we dont flinch (and were stupid enough to play)

3)We dont play the hide in the light game, thats for Cockroaches, we will shine the light DIRECTLY on you, and leave it to you to Stand or Scatter.

4)We dont ever back out of a bet, ever.

5)We dont ever make excuses for our own stupidity, its ours we own every stupid thing weve done, and there are many

6)We dont as my father says "Offend anyone any more than is neccesary"

7)Will always be who were are, say what we say how we say it, and no amount of people telling us to shut up will work.....

8)Have learned to have fun in EVERYTHING we do, even these sorts of things, ESPECIALLY in these things....

I told the Old man , the answer was "Hell YES !" and then some more....lol. Talked to Pop today and gave him a rundown of the build and other items. My MOTHER actually is going to throw some money in seprate just to donate....no shes not going to race, but her and my stepdad are pretty philanthropic anyway.

I bought a Hat today, more racing oriented, I like the look, it looks like something a Migrant worker would wear. AND it matches my favorite work coat...completes the whole crawled out of a ditch look Im going for....Boots are next, I ordered some on Ebay, but theyre the wrong size, too bad too , they were like $600 boots, but they are size 11 NOT 13, so if anyone want a pair of "worn" looking Cowboy boots theyre yours for the asking....Handmade and all...

Got monster work done, engine is put off till tommorow. The carpet was putting too many "fuzzies" into the air for me to be comfortable doing engine work today, so sprayed some "Mojo Juusw" in the air to bring any particulates out of the air (well as many as I can) and will do it first thing in the AM.....Turned off the heat too, so as the air cools it brings it all down....

Lots of final calls on items, now theyre just spares and "nice to haves" but none showstoppers.

Now the FUN Starts, the REAL Fun....ECU Tuning, Track testing, Trip to Pomona, FUN, FUN, FUN !

Jan 19th 2010 Headers !

Well, an edit, I feel BAD about not posting pics for a while, but were in the short strokes and it will be cooler when its all togeter......Friday or Sat I think well be "complete" on all reassy....so THEN lots of Pics....... But till then other DP Guys may want to look into 3 step, I say MAY we MAY fall flat on our face, but options are nice, here is a custom set we had made......maybe it will give you an idea, they are of course equal length....and already fitted on a DP car....Im not sure but I know hes "willing" to make more, but itll be interesting to see the dyno and track numbers from both these and the TTI's, I MAY have the TTI's changed to a 3 step depending on numbers and results.

Well the first set of headers came in yesterday, we have 2 different kinds/approaches ordered.

These were ones we had made, they are very nice....very...port velocity on these should be tremendous at speed.

Heads are done, and our Alternator/Water pump mount is almost done less dress up and lightening. The motor will go back together Wed.

My house was broken into , the one I am remodeling and will be moving into in a month or so, they broke the back door in , nothing was taken but about 3 spools of copper wire, the tools were untouched....they obviously saw the copper through a window and it was a smash and grab, as nothing heavy or big was taken.....table saws still there generator still there....etc. Well its not now, I moved it out.......bastards....well I was going to replace the back door anyway........My fault for not being over there much I guess. But such is life. Karma will deal with them.

I went to the hardware store last night and my kids were with me after dinner....I had to get some 10.8 bolts for the seats. When I went to hug my daughter goodbye my 6 year old had filled her hood with BOLTS ! Apprently from the bins while I wasnt paying attention...so I have to take those back to ACE this morning, we were there till close so by the time we left the doors were locked....I was rolling.....too dam funny. He wanted to see how many he could put in there before it weighed her down....then I said, OK Lets roll...no wonder he wanted to stay in the Bolt aisle....I thought that just odd.

So, today final interior items, and engine/trans in. Radiator in...Tommorow Friday and Sat, Plumb....While Jay works on fixing, painting, cleaning up odds and ends.

Till Wed , Cheers

Jan 18th 2010...Hey Pop

Hope all is going well, everything is good on this end.

Headers (both sets) are to be here tommorow, body plugs are in and panels cut.

Window net will be here Friday.

Talked to Jerry from the ECU team about wiring and other items, all good there they will handle the finish up He maybe joining us in Pomona the 11th and 12th.

Our final trans computer (not the loaner) is coming today 2nd day. Got billed to previous CC, just a heads up. Card ending in 02 (or 0 something)

Checks in mail to Mike (well its in the box no mail today MLK day and all)

Dash gauge package/screen was attemped to drop off at like 8:15.....damm fedex...so Ill be here then tommorow.

Summit Gave us a used test converter for the dyno, so its going back......bozos.....(knew the "repackaged" sticker was a bad omen)

Interior Tonight and Tommorow AM and thats done including dash (stock) and Trans Cooler mounts (no not on the interior :)

Tommorow afternoon engine trans and driveshaft in , Wed & Thurs Plumb, Fuel Rails handled, will be here direct tommorow.

So far so good, heads will be done tommorow and hopefully retainers wont have clearance issues, Ill check of course if they are (and it was 50/50) Ill get some new ones in ASAP or have these clearanced by .030 od trim. Its 6 to 1

Run to Summit for stuffz.....

Rich will be here for other car in about 2 hrs (7ish) And then hes going to follow me over to Summit. Titlework all handled and parts all together.

Still trying to track down the right SEX (yup thats what theyre called) screws for the DZUS fastners.

Went tool shopping today....got some needed items to replace crap Ive burnt up.....Got a snap on IR thermomoter, trying t locate some scales, Jesses is going to bring his over from the Oval Track crew late this week after the assy to get a weight and balance on the car. POSSIBLY a Second battery at that point, depends on how things shake out.

Talked to the potential sponsor in Cali land, theyre very interested they are going to hash out Ill talk to them later and see what they can do for us / we for them. They liked the idea A LOT.

Got a call from another DP owner for you, I filled him in on the whos who and gave him all the numbers / info for all the other guys so he can ask them anything I couldnt remeber....Hes got a team member youll know and remeber (but I cant say here) its sssshshhhhhh.

Mr M. Called today to give a hand on the fuel rails, damm I guess this blog works "Ask and Ye Shall Get calls...:" Had already talked to Duell about it but it was all the same rails we ordered so I called the MFR and they are shipping direct.

Have fun...dont get sunburnt......

Gonna post this on the blog as well since I dont know if you every gt mail working on your new laptop.....

Have fun Pop....

And for the rest of you....well that was pretty much my day in bullet points...less the yelling and screaming over breaking a few tools and getting out of date urethane for the Body plugs that wouldnt come out......and the snippy lady at Harbor that took my cart and said I couldnt use that one she needed it....SHE WAS AN EMPLOYYE And I had my arms full dropping stuff, nice customer service....hag. And managed to take my son and stepson to the movies, and all kinds of other fun and hurried things today........

PS Pop, Yellow Challenger is on the Road.....all good, buyer happy as can be....better than expected.
Thats all for today folks.

Jan 17th 2010 , Warming up

Ok, today was unproductive as all hell, as far behind as I am I cant get motivated solo.

But I do "plan" things well alone, so I planned and laid out everything, I got confirmation on when the crew would be there this week and Jay is back to work tommorow, if were not there he dosent work so hes dying to get back to work.

There may be less than I thought to do, and more to get....the getting part sucks without the old man Ill have to do it, I dont mind but hes just as good at scrounging and coming up with things that will work but arent "application" specific, I need to get my double inset alloy screw fasterners for the Dzus fasters, Im not doing rivets and where Roush put the things, some aircraft fastners are in order.

So tommorow Ill do what I can as I have to wait for a few deliveries, but after that , Tue I can do the running I need.

DONT Order crap from FASTHEMIS Ive been charged for and promised and promised my fuel rails that were supposedly "In Stock" F em...Not a RELIABLE Source. Normally I wouldnt have bought from them but they CLAIMED to have something in stock everyone else was out of. And those were the ones I wanted.

My son is coming in tommorow to do some code work for the car, hes going to trim down the software used by the Gauge package to "lighten" it up so its a faster load on unit start, his "wheels" are already turning on how to do it....hell have fun and hes capable, which will save me time.

Did some body plugs today and reviewed my dads wiring. Not much else in the way of DP items.

So....tommorow Im even putting my son and stepson to work cutting alumninum for brackets/body plugs.....

And picking my heads up....theyre all done and putting the motor back together.

Should be FUN FUN FUN

Jan 16th 2010..The calm before the Storm

Ok, troops are called in, the oddballs and social misfits I call my closest friends, the kinda guys you can put your life in their hands......Well I guess thats why they are still my friends after 20 years, the kind you can depend on and can depend on you no matter what.

They also turn a mean wrench. Theyre all saddled up to chip in next week to finish the final build and get the car tracking by the 30th. We leave on the 4th for Pomona so......itll be tight

Today was "Movie Day" with the little ones Max and Bella..Better than the last movie we saw thats for sure...but it was good to spend most of the day with them especially after being out of town. I dont know how Im going to deal with the next year being away from them so much, or them being without me.....I guess every minute home will be spent with them...and thats a good thing. The 12 year old will be joining us trackside in May when school lets out. Ive got to build the "rack" for his Jr in the trailer

I love my dad more than anything (other than my mom and kids of course) BUT He has the WORST Habbit of Moving places I CANNOT FIND !!! I had to run over and pickup some stuffz, a new converter and our tranny cooler (sort of tranny cooler) ... it gonna be ... well COOL ! But it took me 10 minutes to "Find" his house, he just moved there 6 months or so ago....always the "other end of town" but its a nice negihborhood and all the damm roads go in circles and curves and AAAAAA.....probably why its a nice neighborhood other than all the big "Rubber" money houses the damm criminals cant find their way in or out...

So back to the shop after the movies and some "planning"

Pomona is the goal, I wont feel like a failure if we dont make it, almost 12 days of my #1 priority my kids....but well Ill be dissapointed if we dont....I WILL take the damm car even without testing if need be....

AND We need a new Tow Vehicle, the one weve got is on its last legs 180k of hard hauling miles...without some major work/upgrades....Itll make it through Gainesville but after...well...so I spent some time looking online....Im thinking something "Cool" like a 67 Chrysler Wagon.....IF I can find a super low mile (under 30k) original Ill go over and through it and well have something practical and unique. A fresh 440 with throttle body fuel injection and a new tranny (setup for towing) go over her replace all seals and some minor rear suspension work and it should be a killer for under 10k....I cant buy a damm 2005 Hemi truck for that and the truck wont pull as well as the 440...So why not ? Or a really cherry Imperial would do the trick...and it gives me an excuse to have an new Imperial :)

So tommorow the final short strokes resume......the final test of all of it is an will be....Well........Ill leave you a thought from a Book I read years and years ago....."Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I have found 100% truth in it always.

"The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test. If the machine produces tranquility it's right. If it disturbs you it's wrong until either the machine or your mind is changed."

Jan 15th....Theres no place like home

Well, home today...a bunch of running like a madman.

David was released this morning, clean bill of health , weve just got to keep an eye out on him for it happening again, but for now all good !

Left Cincy early this morning dropped the Spongemonkey off at his moms for the weekend, went to the shop looked over cam specs and some other info, looked at the old mans wiring, coming along nice.

Called in the reserve troops for some major building next week, I normally work alone(with the old man of course) or with a helper (Jay) but this time Im calling in some favors and going to grab a "Heavy Gun" the only guy I know that thinks like me other than my dad......My Ex Brother in law....I taught him the stupid, I dont have the right tool and no money for parts so this has to work and work well way of building. Hes as sharp as they come, I think by 12 he had already read the collected published works of Smokey Yunick and what more important understood everything. We spent 1000's of hrs building this that and the other for many many years from the time he was 12 or so till well after adulthood.

And another helper if I can get a hold of HER, yes her....shes a monster worker. Her number changed and I cant get a hold of her....shes a beast, can pick up a 440 short block like it was nothing, the whole damm thing never even blinks.....AND she works hard no breaks, shes a machine, and mechanical....She builds rice bikes...and shes good, when she was first reffered to me I was a little leary, then she worked for us for a day, she was for a long time our main help, but her life changed a bit and she didnt need to work.

So, tommorow a movie and time with the little ones, and to the shop I go......

Other than that not much fun.

The FUN will Start Sunday.........the GOAL is to have the car buttoned up by Friday, and leave for Georgia for Dyno and Tracking the week after, return then saddle up for Pomona.....if everything goes according to plan....yeah right.

Jan 14th (the RIGHT day) THURSDAY !

Well yesterday was an accident , I was thinking the days were blurring together, apparently they are....so Today is the 14th.

Anyway....some calls today DP related, some interesting, some humorous. Some informative. All kinds of stuff.

I worked on the Drag Pack challenger registry software today for a while, looking good ! Probably 2 weeks from now it will go live, I wont have any time next week....that for sure.

Our Headers are ON THEIR WAY !!!! Both SETS !!!! Wooooooo....1 set is from TTI, another is a different design I have high hopes for , but the TTI's are a "known" quantity. Johns and the other "fast" cars have run them without issue like Doug Duel....I think (and so does someone who has had their hands on a set) there is room for improvment, Indy didnt think so, and they did a lot of the Dev work with TTI on these....BUT I think I know better than a multimillion dollar company that has a good rep for performance...lol...does sound pretty stupid when you think of it....

But well see only the dyno will tell, they wont have the flow but they should have higher velocity and better scavenging....well see, if not Ive got a 1500$ set of door stops :)

And the cams came in today (well , 1 did the other will be here Monday)

The 2nd converter I get tommorow so....A LOT of Dyno tuning to find the right combination is in order, some of these items are for the later 5.7 combo but , were going to try and set them up and see if we can grab a gain anywhere over what we planned.

We (me and my son) will be OUTTA Here tommorow....Wooohooooooooo, all is well/back to normal with him. So hes gonna stay at his moms in Columbus for a few days before heading home.

So tommorow.....back to the Car...I actually miss it....I had a dream about it last night....We made monster progress and being at a standstill is weighing on me.

I WANT , REALLY REALLY WANT To be at Pomona, hell if we have 1 full pass under the car to Pomona it goes.

I dont know what to expect though, It could be anywhere on the map, and I mean anywhere I planned on over 2 weeks dial in and changeup I wont have 2 day......arrrrrrr.....

But Ive got another wrench flying out for Pheonix so, maybe we try Pomona, and changeup and do some testing at Pheonix.

I also in the mix need to finish ordering the items for the 5.7 Combo......and the Phase II tranny, and the new rear chunk and different gear sets and tires......arrrrr.......I need more time, about 10 days that was ate up here.

It was what it was and I needed to be here and never thought once anything other than my sons health, BUT now that thats all good and were homeward bound, its all flooding back

Jan 14th 2010 , What day is it ?

Ok, well the days are blurring together here in the Hospital with my Son....BUT the most important part is hes in full swing to recovery and should be out by Friday ! Hes feeling himself again....just a couple more days IV antibiotics to knock out the bacteria in his blood stream from his intestinal backup issues....and hes golden.

Some Drag Pak calls today, Paul at Turbo Action for our "Phase II" trans....all the goodies...with straight cut protrans style gears all alloy internals (that can be) rollerized and an alloy sunshell....should be about as "trick" as a 904 can be.....past that it will be a Protrans if we end up with breakage problems, but I dont think we will, this is still gonna be 1000 cheaper than a protrans so......we have a "backup" 904, and this one....Our "Phase I" tranny was originally only for testing and Pomona-Gainesville...the turnaround time on a Protrans was too long. But in the meantime we can play with a couple converter combos and well see where were at, as well as rear gears.

I need to order another 3rd member....gears TBD...But I FORGOT to call TTI, Im a bit dissapointed about their delivery time I ordered them 2 months ago.....I also have another set of 3 steps coming from a different vendor that were ordered less than 3 weeks ago..is TTI that backed up ? I may cancel that order.....irritating.

Talked to Jerry Hatch of Maine today hes number 56, nice guy, with stones, he drove his DP car back in this weather ! Wow....Im sure he was "white knuckled" as he said, I drove the old mans convertible 30 miles yesterday and I think I was having chest pains :) But its home safe....He made me feel good, he said the tact of which I seem to handle things on CR as well as him finding my posts entertaining , it was nice to hear....he also wanted to tell me not everyone on CR is DoomSayers....this Ive already found out. Ive noticed MANY people of the Silent Majority there are very supportive and technically helpful, I love Class Racer as a resource....its a good one if you weed past the grumpy people :) There are some great people on there and I am lucky to have quite by accident stumbled on it.

Talked to Jerry today with Sheradon....always good I felt bad I had to cut him off, a migrane was killing me....took another 2 hrs to get rid of that...

Also talked to "Mr. M" today another DP owner, always a pleasure, I hadnt heard from him in a while and was wondering if he was doing well, hes been just very busy with his day to day, but I learn a lot new everytime we talk, about these cars, the history of racing and other things unrelated, hes been there since the beginning and right in the middle for many years , good to talk to him and I cant wait to see him trackside.

The DP calls helped a bit in my "isolation" and mental hygene here at the hospital, it makes me realize how MUCH I NEED to get the Drag Pak registry up, and to that end spent some brain power on how to code it fast, Im thinking a "Wiki" format, basically a notepad with sections editable and trackable changes , where the DP Owners/Teams will be the only ones with Access to it, there we can share and document vendors, data, pics, etc.

Then later I can add the social networking component to it, My dad got his new server while hes on vacation I may just load it for him....were going to run Linux and well my "current" unix skills are a little broader and Ive recently done what we think is good for that. So after Testing Ill work on that a bit..

Some "R&D" today a lot of reading chemical properties of certain coatings...and I worked on a program Im writing, I will give it to the "Class Racer" community at large when Im done, Im thinking Ill make it a web app even though right now its a desktop app...

Basically its going to have all the Classification data in it and its a reporting system.

Pick combos by manufacturer, engine size, engine family, year, etc....then run reports on ones that have never been refactored, are by engine size or family possibly underfactored, as well as having a place to enter "stats" of existing combos in and report on that data....Im calling it "Class Cruncher" its basically what I already did but with a user friendly front end on it. Its some programming to keep me occupied and someone else may find it usefull or curious....Im going to "test" it by having it pick and make suggestions on MY next combo...:) Oh and thats part of it too...Im going to tie it into the "Average" sale price of a couple collector car and used cars XML feeds so that you can sort and select by average cost (of a chassis of course) will be MOST helpful on the Newer Post 1990 stuff. Its NOT going to be a distraction, rather something for the next couple months to fill in road and hotel time....

So thats all things DP today.....at least that my mushed up mind can think of...

Jan 12 2010....A day like any other

I was asked today is everything surrounding your life so complicated .... lol



Well...I dont think so I think its normal.....for me it is......If I really stopped to think about it I might get depressed....better to press on....my USUAL day is screwy and has been for a looonnnngggg time, part of it is I joke, "You know that little voice in your head that says that might not be a good idea" yeah....well my brain is deaf to it....



Take Today, well it started last night....I rode home from the Hospital with the Ex(#1) In laws...that was all good they are always a joy and funnier than heck...



This morning, I had to take my Dads car to the title bureau across town.....



So I had my uncle drop me off at my truck that was left at the hospital when they lifflighted my son down here to Cincy....so last night was home...this morning when he dropped me off, I had left the dome light on and the battery was dead, he had already left to meet me at the shop, soooo....after tracking down the Security guard car and using their jumpbox, off to the shop , pulled in back to pickup the trailer and they had plowed the storage yard, with a mountain of snow in front of my trailer and my truck got stuck (I only own 2 wd trucks and especially if Im towing) so...Im stuck, but the plow guy was there so he pushed me out and cleared for the trailer, up front to put the Challenger Convertible (the Yellow R/T) in the trailer after unloading the junk from the trailer (my sons Jr, and FrankenCart our golf cart) Well, I forgot to snap the ball lock, so half way up I "flipped" the trailer off the ball, go back get the jack, jack the trailer up. Put it back on.



Then the snow had covered and slicked up the ramp so I couldnt get the car up....so...line up and LAUNCH ! I figure if I can line a drag car up for an 8 second pass without steering I should be able to line a car up for fast entry....there are about 4 on each side...(beyond the correct painted mirrors) So a nice long run launch and BAM right in where it was supposed to be. Uhhhhh should used the winch but the trailer battery was dead and I havent hooked up the hot line yet....So ... now Im stuck in the car...but its a convertible so...open the top and climb out, in the process I ripped the whole ass outta my pants, so Im lashing the car down and my ass is freezing with wet cold snow hitting it......and put the load levers on , check everything and off.....well then I miss the exit, go to turn around, and feel the car loose, the tire straps for "Front Runners" (a little too narrow had slipped) so Im strapping things down and WooooWooooo....light and siren, a cop had pulled up behind me...scared me at first, I dont like MOST Policemen....But this guy was cool, and I told him what happened and he said, "Oh old car ?" So I told him yeah the old mans Challenger, he was obviously interested so I dropped the gate and we chatted while I founf a wider tire net in the trailer and resecured it....then off to the title bureau...



Ass hanging to the world....lol....never even thought about it the cop saw me with the whole seat torn outta my pants and me just doing my thing....he never said a word.



So get out check things meet the old man , give him the paperwork look through it for something I thought got left in the scanner, have the lady inspect it....



In the meantime Im changing pants in the truck, but pulled up parallel to the building where people walk in and out...some very overweight woman who worked there walked by right as I have nothing but my underwear on and am "arching" to put the new pants on...needless to say she gave me a strange look and shook her hear....its UNDERWEAR LADY ! I swear to GOD I am going to wear a Speedo and Tank top into there in the summer to her counter..(I think shes building department) I should go in like that and ask something like......Do I need a fence around a hottub full of Jello ? (With a straight face of course)



I keep a spare set of clothes in the truck for just such "Emergencies" unfortunatley the pants I had have the leg shredded...I havent replaced them...time for a "New" spare pair..



But then I missed the turn for my dads, nothing new.....and after getting jockeyed around back to his house to snowblow the driveway and salt so I could put the car in his garage...that went fairly uneventful, except I gashed the crap outta my thunb starting it...



Normal day so far....



Went to the machine shop and checked the valve backcut and some other work...all good...drop off the retainers....and as Im walking out I noticed something, a set of very strange cast Iron headers on a FE (390) with Dual Quads.......they looked familiar....Id seen a pair before but couldnt place em....Nascar headers...cool stuff , worth well more than the engine. well more...(there was a time I was into FE block ford stuff....a long time ago)



So back home for a shower (and new pants) and shirt...there was a shirt in my bottom drawer I didnt reckognize, but it was marked XXL...so I figured cool one of those Tshirts with a long sleeve shirt sewn in....I put it on, a bit tight, but it was obviously new and a gift someone bought, not unusual for me to not wear something for a while....since most time anymore Im in work clothes, the Ex(#2) brought the kids by so I could say hi and hug and kiss them, 3 and 6 and shes like "Wow youre all looking good and dressed up" Im thinking I do look damm good in this shirt....lol...



So Its a little tight under the armpits and I keep thinking no way this is even an XL, a large Tshirt fits fine, but after the 4 hr drive back to the Hospital in Cincy where my mom had spent the night with him, It dawned on me....it was a gift...for HIM...from my Mom....well small for me, huge for him...I guess Ill just have to look cool in it albeit uncomfortable.



But bored outta my mind I talked to our driver for Pomona , Larry, Jeff and Jerry on the way down. As well as the old man a couple times....



But back down here in Cincy with my boy....Hes doing MUCH better....



Apparently everyone, My Father and My Son as well as me, well our sense of Humor is returning......my dad making wisecracks about not liking "rap" talking about the car "wrap" my son taking pictures of his fingers with his new cell phone intentionally blurry that look like several possible places of the female anatomy and texing it to his buddies and laughing.....laughter is good....



So....a day like any other ....



I was notified I kept a friend UP last night.....his wife went to bed and said are you coming, he said No....Im waiting for Chris's blog....



This is somehow "complicated" ? Lol...normal around here....

Jan 9 2010...One down

Ok, 1 down 1 to go...Pop is home and doing well.

David may take longer......if it takes much more than the end of next week, Pomona will be very difficult if not impossible to make....

Thats Ok it was part of our plan to be there and what we wanted, but plans sometimes change, you have to roll with the punches. And in the whole scheme of things it really wont matter....it was a deadline WE , and I set for myself...noone else...there will be some, wah wah he bailed...not the case...But Ive got about 8 days before I see it as VERY difficult to make timing wise. A lot can happen in 8 days.

So....other than that nothing else exciting Pop is home, thats great news....Now the trick will be getting him not to "overdo" things....

Well....Cheers all....

Im doing some work on the Drag Pak Registry site in my isolation, and apparently accidentally stirring up things on Class Racer, not my intent, but apparently around there if you "Disagree" or see something Positive in the way things are and will be you get pretty much told you dont now crap and are disrespectful....whatever.

I see the next years season as a GREAT opportunity for advancement in and around Drag Racing...partly and in my case large part due to the "Package" cars.....

Im happy and not going to deny it or hide it or act all "humble" about the fact my dad got us a Drag Pak....Im not shoving it into anyones face either as a nananana....

Its simple for many many years we always had and put together the shoe string budget cars out of spare odds and ends collected and scabbed from here and there....weve been the "underdog" I had a Cart....well...it was different, it was built to compete against Honda Oddesy carts, but it was "different" and actually ran a CB175 engine....it was utterly blinding in speed 0-75 so fast it was unreal, and handling, way beyond what any stock oddesy was, I ended up for a while running nitro/alky mix Id nitro burn a head in about 1 hr, but I had litteraly a PILE of spares from a buddy who was scrapping bike at the time...it was sick....I wish I still had it, after my use I gave it to my Brother in Law..he ran it , we probably built and ran and scattered no less than 30 motors.......very very well done and fast and cheap and just 190% better than any competition. The cart got "bumped" to an unlimited class even though it was 75 ccs shy of a stock Oddesy. Ive actually grown to like and enjoy that. But on this one we dont have to...we havent worked at an unlimited budget and have been as frugal or cheap as we always have, weve used our heads more because of it than just buying what every vendor tells us will make us "fast"

This car will either succeed or fail 100% because of us....There are guys, racers, the BEST like Garlits who just didnt do it right the first time out...why ? A whole bunch of reasons if you know why it really happened, some decisions were just wrong and wrong for the car even though they came from knowledgable sources....they didnt "match" so.....hopefully we will...there are 2 potentials for early disaster on our cars performance, These will be found in testing and we knew that when we choose them, the upside is significant if they pan out like we expect them to. But they are easy enough to change up if we need to as well...But hes changing or changed up....he should be lethal out there.

We are dyno testing and tuning the car with a low stall "mileage" converter since its a load brake dyno, we should be able to dial in the accel part of the VE tables better than someone with a high stall converter on an inertia dyno...well see.....

Cheers all and thanks for the well wishes for my Dad and Son.

Jan 9 2010.....working "mobile"

First a special thanks to all that wished David, both of them my son and my father speedy recovery. Both are doing great and we hope in my sons case to be home by Monday, my father Tommorow....

Thanks for your thoughts and wishes.

I didnt think Id be doing any DP work...well while he slept I took car of some things.

Wow....got one of those "do you want the good news or the bad news first calls" Well both because of my delay are MONSTER good news.....and well its one of our "seceret" weapons...I have to be careful because I didnt expect anyone to be able to do it in such short a time, and they did. So...what was a Phase II or III item is now in out initial outing....but the danger is neither of us see any future room on that item for improvment....so I have to be careful...it may suck its possible , unlikley but possible...so then there will be room again for improvment but....

And some EFI/ECU calls today...Our tuning is going to be a bit more involved and precise than I expected, but a little more time on the dyno and a lot more tuning and resolution on our maps...works for me.

So plans are being adjusted because of delays, we will have NO padding for major breakage in testing for Pomona. So it looks like a lighter than expected testing cycle....should make Pomona interesting....

Till Monday...cheers...

Jan 7 2010 Behind and not caring....

Ok, so yesterday I ran some pickups and dropoffs of DP related items. Talked with a few folks about the car and what we can do about certain things.

A friend messaged me today to tell me the revised 6.1 piston specs are listed on NHRA.com

For those of you who werent aware the pistons as they shipped were different from the original and Ok'd spec, so hence "illegal" well sort of, they were working through it the builder and Bruce Bachelder from the NHRA, as well as Diamond....and a resulution was reached change if from an "in the hole" to .014 above deck...and still the .137 dome height, so we can now get almost 12.4:1 with the pistons the way they are, maybe 12.5 with 0 hole clearance coppers.....and who knows maybe the full 12.6:1......but before, no way.....12.1 or worse with an in the hole deck height....so while not a perfect solution, a solution.

Thanks to the person that found this issue.....I dont want to mention their name because I havent asked....but good job.....and lighting the right fires across owners to make this happen sooner rather than later. This BUGGED me for Pomona.

But yesterday after leaving the hospital from my Dad, who is doing well and should be sprung tommorow(ish) I got a call my son was at the Hospital....so over there I trekked, our local Childrens hospital is something akin to a rural vet clinic with Amish vets....yeah that bad.....So Cincy is where he is "followed" and its where he had his transplant, even though its 4 hrs away....so I had him transported. Kalitta Air nonetheless.....BUT hes in the best hands in the world, its been about 4 years other than checkups etc since hes been here, amazing how different a world class operation is compared to a second rate. Cincy Childrens is WORLD Class, Dr. Alonzo, Rychman, Ballesteri, Campbell and the rest of the GI and Surgical staff....they dont accept second rate, and as a result once again the best arrtact the best.

He is doing good a little uncomfortable, but they know what it is and its not life threatening, its well very uncomfortable, but there are 2 solutions and well see which one they use.

Dad is doing well probably be home tommorow....so, the car is now a couple more days behind....who cares, the health and comfort of my family is the only thing that really does matter to me, and when they are feeling better racing and building stupid things like "altered gas powered wheelchairs" in my sons case is something he enjoys......so when everyone is feeling better we will once again enjoy these things together.....

Pics of my son building his gas owered (this year it will get the turbo...really) His "Altered" gas powered wheel chair......this falls into the "Just because he can" category....A couple of pics so people can enjoy his strange exploits, the pic of him on stage is at the Misfits concert playing thier lead "Jerry Only" carbon bass guitar. Hes 12 I guess he was "BORN" into the Wertman strangness.........good good kid.

No more DP blog posts till Monday....obviously no DP work till then....

Jan 5 2010.....Getting there...

Ok Im about a day behind where I want to be....so good thing Im fast at "plumbing"....probably because I was a Union Plumber and Pipefitter (219 Baby !) Till my sons docs made me quit..him having a liver TX and well...the risk of bringing things like hepatitis home was too great....so I had to become a programmer, thanks to Dad who had taught me all he could over the years I had a second profession I could litteraly step into, Ive got to tell you the first guy who gave me a job looked at my resume, my skillset and my prior work history and shook his head i think, but he gave me a shot, I worked for him for several years and we are still good friends

Now the racing , a third legacy , a third "profession" I can thank my Dad for that too.....and the thing that started it all, the Harley M65 Rapido basket case, really in wicker baskets....And the next weeks gift, a Chilton for Motorcycles, here you go.......he had already taught me basics and I was tearing down and rebuilding lawnmower engines and anything that sucked gas I could get my hands on......but without him....none of this would be knowledge or a way of thinking and improvising I am now capable of.

None....

Pop is feeling a bit under the weather, well because of the weather, so I need to hustle butt here to make , or try to make up for him not being here today and tommorow.....but he needs to get some rest....Hey pop, if youre reading this, for the second time, when your son comes over to snowblow your driveway to keep you inside, dont come out and shovel the sidewalk....;)

Cam is being ground, all set.....be here by Friday. Retainers checked and good for this engine even though they are originally a different application. Heads are almost ready....

So I need to plumb the car and put the carpet in after I get my "Body Plugs" after I confirm the part numbers I will post them here, I ordered them from the Dealer should be here tommorow.

And they were out of stock on the screen I ordered for our gauges, but I found a cheaper alternative a "Generic Dvd Screen" for use in cars thats a low volt draw and will cost about 1/2 as much.....made by Jensen...I didnt even know they were still in business....Ill keep thinking of my Jensen (I think it was Jensen) 8 track add on in my 76 Grand Prix...lol

But another grind of a day, more work on the Alternator mount, now just to "pretty it up" get the edges machined and polished....well actually do it, but its functional, albeit not "purty" yet.

Talked to an new DP owner tonight, nice guy....I havent met one I dont like. They may not like me after I get HP added to the package, but Ill still like them :) Another guy "doing it himself" less Chassis. So hes in his grind, dosent expect to be ready till next year 2011, but hes "flying solo" dosent have any contacts with whos doing what in DP world....that much more motivation to actually put up the Drag Pak registry so we can link to Vendors etc.

I talked to Manley today about retainers, I wasnt sure if what I had would work.....after he tried to talk me into running a weaker spring than I am running ?!?! And somehow trying to convince me nearly 50 on a rate lower was Ok ?!?! Then wanting to charge me for a "sample" and charge shipping.....wow....no thanks...Im glad I havent had one other vendor do that, not one. Everyone has been outstanding on this build....so no Manley retainers, I wasnt sure about them anyway, and the ones I have I am sure about I just wasnt sure about the clearance till I set up some (FREELY) provided samples......Sorry Manley you loose that one for a couple reasons. (like they really care ... lol )

All things good and ironed out today....rocking on....

Cheers all....

Mon Jan 4th....Draggin.....

Wow...I was on the phone till 3:30 today getting all final details squared away on a whole bunch of things. A whole bunch more than I thought I had to......oh well...all square.

Driveshaft Came....Mike at MPR never lets us down....never...how he does what he does in a 1 man shop Ill never know.....but he got us our driveshaft , if anyone else is running a 904, I dont know (and couldnt find) nor did he, a slip yoke for a 1250 other than theirs...but MW has got em.
Didnt make sense to run a combo joint....that would make me "nervy" and with the 727 its less of an issue.

Got a couple sets of our springs in....and were gonna run what came in the engine (titanium retainers) springs and cam on Ebay....weve got no use for it. So......bye bye....if you want them drop me a line and Ill work you a deal...were not using any of it so....just more junk around the shop to look at.

I worked on the Alternator and the WP Mount plate today, its around 2 1/2 lbs total weight, I need to get some bigger bits for swisscheesing. About 3 or 4 more hours and itll be done....Tommorow is some head work and getting those ready to go back on a 5 angle and some other legal items. So thatll be tommorow.

Talked to the guys at the "Hemi Hotline" I havent dealt with them soo much, my dads car, his order, his pestering them :) But today and about fainted, I was told after we talked a while, Oh Chris, I saw on your blog about the sound deadner and sealer....I gulped....I had to "replay" everything I wrote in my head....ok...nothing bad just a little whining, and it was as I suspected the lines robotic system couldnt drop the program for it.....I knew it, but after 3 days of scraping I was getting a little grouchy ... I think Mack Reeves is going through that today :) What I was amazed at was they were reading this blog !!!! Wow, made me feel good. So a cheers and kudos to the Guys at Mopar we have pestered for 14 months and always handled the desperation from all DP guys .... "When are we getting the car ?!?!?!" ....

Talked to Larry Curtis today as well...always great...I am hoping they get trackside sooner than they think.....heck, maybe a road trip and chip in is in order later this spring. And I spilled one of my "Secret Squirrel" items to him I ok'd with the vendor, as I see him as the most receptive and potentially benificial....so hes probably thinking what I though he think....hes crazy this is too complicated and too much work...but I shared my reasoning with him....it may not be a good choice for them as it comes down to comfort level, were comfortable with it so it will work for us....someone else might not be, I hope so I see it as a potential major advantage. After Pomona, the "Cat will be out of the Bag" to all....since well....theyre getting some major landscape on the car...lol...thats assuming we dont fall flat on our face....but if we do, its 110% our fault not theirs...they are 1 item of a whole bunch of choices we made....We at NHR, the old man and me.

I was also Ok'd by someone else to spill another item.....but well I just cant....as much as I want to.....Its too good to spill before Gainesville...some will learn of it, but till then well be one of the few with 1.

Soooo.....a short day...its hard to get motivated any more to just the radio, when the old man checks out in the evenings I have been just puttering, so better to be at home eating some real food and researching.

Sunday Jan 3rd 2010...yeah thats gonna leave a scar

Well tonight at about 10:17 I managed to remove all of the skin in about a quarter sized area on my knuckle....middle left hand.....I thought it was to bone, but I just missed that :) I dont see anything they can do to fix it, short of a skin graft...there just isnt anything...I guess you know its bad when your looking at your own tendons and blood vessels....funny thing is it didnt hurt....probably because all the skin with nerves was removed. But not the first time, wont be the last.....nothing a little neosporin and duct tape wont fix...Ill probably should start taking some of my $5.99 500 count bought in mexico cipro economy sized looks like a vitamin bottle....stuff....tonight to keep it from really infecting....

But the alternator and water pump motor plate are looking good :) And it dosent hurt now...so I think Im gonna go throw a nitrile glove on it and keep cranking.

As Jesse Ventura said in Predator "I dont have time to bleed"......

Chateed with Mack Reeve tonight, Ive been meaning to give him a call for like a month now...always good to talk to.

My elbow is still smarting from a week of the buffer....Im what they call a "hot mess" apparently......and my hair is turning GREY ! I need a girlfriend if for no other reason than to have her pull these things out ! When I get stressed, I get grey....pull em out and stress goes away they dont come back.....go figure...the whole back of my head turned "salt and pepper" when my son his liver transplant...I was at my barber and said, Crap Chuck dont you ever clean these clippers because of all the grey hitting my apron....he notified me it was coming from my head...I went home and had the wife pull every last one....never came back..I was 24

I dont think Im stressed...but the hair tells all :) Maybe, just maybe this time its age....

Just working to finish up the alternator and WP motor mount tonight....Im having to do it all by hand , well with a drill.....my Aunts Machine is "down" got all loaded up and went over to find it was a bust....So I went and saw the "Chipmunks" movie with the squirts...they had a blast...if I never hear another Chipmunk singing it will be too soo....but I smiled and when they asked I told them Yes I liked it very much...

Needless to say all I could think of was getting ready for Pomona. In between ballads of chipmunk "music"

Im so very excited however about 2 things DP related....we have a "tenative" name and paint scheme for our car.....and 2 I found out anoter DP Guy got his hands on a 2nd car....so it wont be so lonley in D,E, and F when we changeup..... The Challengers are going to own those, and everywhere they move all the way up to A with the 5.7....mark my words they will.....Then maybe its time for a 360 combo...but those motors have been wrung out for 40+ years....I dont know how much "New" we could bring to it...But its an option.....and options are always good.

So all in all a day, just a day like any other here....a Good day....any day air is moving in and out of my lungs and my family is happy and safe.....nothing else really matters does it ?

Jan 2nd.....2 days till MONDAY

I love Mondays, I get to call and harass everyone who is supposed to send/do something, usually rushed by me to provide something they normally couldnt in a short timeframe I give them....bless them all for dealing with me....I think about all weekend....3 important calls on Monday.....AND Most imporatnt the Body Shop supply opens so I get to take my Handy Dandy notepad of body plug measurements down and install the carpet and seats on Monday.....yeah went to glue the carpet down and realized....theres holes in my floor I dont have plugs for here....actually I could raid other body pulg kits but when I go to actually put those cars back together Ill be swearing WHO TOOK MY....oh wait....

Got some parts in the mail today ? Had to be today I just ordered them Wed ?!?! Sitting in the mailbox, I suck at checking everyting else gos UPS or FedEx so no need, and we dont use the mailing address here for much. Got some valvetrain stuff in today I was looking forward to....good stuff....

Changed some bracket height and spacing on the oil accumlator today for easier plumbing.

And CLEANED the shop and office, we had out of town visitors today and well it was getting embarrasing around here. So problem solved for a minute anyway. My dad was grumbling about the cigarette butts all over the floor.....well pop I learned from YOU ! But I KNOW theyre out when I crush them, not like putting them in a can or ashtray Ive had more of those catch on fire than anything......what I really need to do is quit smoking again....Febuary.....I will again....made it almost 5 months last year and felt great....dono why I started again.....divorce maybe ?

And had a tea party with my daughter, she got a Tea Party kit complete with Hat and feather thingy and gloves so I dragged out the kids table and we had "Tea" I think well...next time I will use decaffinated tea....apparently you really arent supposed to serve "REAL TEA" loaded with sugar at a little girls "Tea Party" but hey that and the brownies X wife #1 gave to X #2.....yeah they are like best friends...I have no secrets.....none.....But we had fun...when my son saw the brownies and cookies come out he decided to join us.

Grandpa (my Dad) bought my daughter a "Barbie Camper" for Christmas, and after the thread about Ramp trucks on Class racer I kept looking at my sons well played with and still favorite RC car from Grandpa last year (a challenger of course) and thinking those are about the same scale.....hmmm...when she tires of the barbie camper was can bring it to the shop for a little surgery and paint...and make a ramp hauler out of it for his RC car...:) But I dont think she will.....she has played all day with it every day.....what a hit Grandpa !

Then back to the shop after tucking the little ones in, its been nice to be a little slow at the shop for the last couple days, we are waiting on "Final Items" and well.....Im just puttering until they get here.

I need to make the alternator bracket tommorow.....but after that DriveShaft fitting and checking and headers and cam....then shes off to testing.......yep that close...if I had the stuff 2 days in a pinch and she could be ready....4 taking my time and double checking my aviation style checklists...which reminds me I need 3 more clipboards for the track....checklists, checked by other people.....with highlights of items to keep a close eye on and no "Oh shit I forgots" Things will suprise us yes, but not STUPID things....I dont like that and dont accept it....The old man wont stand for it either.

Testing will be a tight schedule with the Old Mans trips to far parts of the Carribean....Im glad he can go he needs a break from me and the shop :) Hell have a blast and hes got good company so hopefully it will "recharge" him, Ive decided short of the car catching on fire in testing....and on second thought especially if the car catches fire in testing Im going to leave him to the poker tables and sun....he needs some sun......I dont want people in california putting their sunglasses on if hes wearing shorts :) Hes fair skin though and burns pretty easy....hopefully hell get a good tan for the West coast and Southlands....

My hope is we Qualify at Pomona....thats step 1, our driver is capable no doubts there....but if we dont well that ok we will at some point and you sometimes have to fail to succeed.....My biggest single fear is not being agressive enough with the testing, and not wringing the car out properly. OR Being too agressive in testing and breaking something major as there isnt time for most major items to be replaced before Pomona....so its got to be a fine line....we will succeed, at least in our minds by TRYING if for no other reason were to stupid to know were not supposed to succeed..... and we are nothing if not perseverant....

Of ALL my bike accidents since about 17......litterally every single one it can be traced DIRECTLY to mechanical failure...A major failure of one sort or another , that makes it MY fault....simple...either for not being aware, riding when I knew something was marginal, or for failure to anticipate the potential failure....the bike, and a car is just metal. Metals fatigue, the fail, they do what metals do they expand when hot, the contract when cold.....if it isnt right its my fault....on the mechanical side...

My all time hero from Greek Mythology is Sisyphus...the Greek King of Corinth who tricked Hades and was dammed to an eternity of rolling a rock up a hill only to have it roll down and try it again.....I guess I relate all to well....for me there is honor and pride in the uphill....

Just got off the phone with our driver.....if he can listen to me ramble on hes a good fit :) But hell of a nice guy who knows his stuff, good one of us does when it comes to administrative and NHRA issues...

Till tommorow....always make sure you know where the fire extinguisher is.......