Sunday, December 08, 2013
March Meet? Well, maybe
The plus side of working overseas is it's a very good job with excellent pay.
The downside is not being able to plan a damn thing in advance.
I'm still planning on towing out to the March meet but not sure how successful we'll be considering no laps
have been put on the car with all it's new parts.
We'll be firing the car up again in about a week or so and if all goes well, we may just take a chance and tow
out anyway. Lot's of friends willing to help out and Nostalgia Top Fuel needs all the entries possible.
The only fly in the program is if they cut the field to 8 for the March Meet.
No way will we make the tow going up against the best of the best when it's an 8 car field.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Bob
Saturday, August 03, 2013
Dragster 100% done
Took a bit of doing to get this done before heading back to Cairo but made it with a day to spare.
Turns out I have another week before leaving but time to clean it up a bit now.
List of changes/improvements.
1. New Blower Shop Billet everything 6:71 with rear delta opening cut out, still completely open so not a true retro blower.
2. New Waterman pump, (massaged and flowed), from Jim Murphy
3. Funny car Mallory Super Mag 10amp+ (makes it possible for 2-spd in future?)
4. Increased fuel line size from 1" to 1-1/4"
5. New M&H, tall roll out, slicks
6. 3:90 gears to replace 4:30's
7. New clutch packs
8. Return bungs in main fuel line
9. New windshield in progress. Existing is still fine.
10. Our old water system back in the car. (not going to mess with it again)
11. Blower boost is now part of the computer system.
I've got high hopes for this new setup.
We ran 6.55 at Bradenton with a tired blower and pump.
Got a feeling this new setup will result in motor not dropping cyls every damn pass.
More later
Bob
Turns out I have another week before leaving but time to clean it up a bit now.
List of changes/improvements.
1. New Blower Shop Billet everything 6:71 with rear delta opening cut out, still completely open so not a true retro blower.
2. New Waterman pump, (massaged and flowed), from Jim Murphy
3. Funny car Mallory Super Mag 10amp+ (makes it possible for 2-spd in future?)
4. Increased fuel line size from 1" to 1-1/4"
5. New M&H, tall roll out, slicks
6. 3:90 gears to replace 4:30's
7. New clutch packs
8. Return bungs in main fuel line
9. New windshield in progress. Existing is still fine.
10. Our old water system back in the car. (not going to mess with it again)
11. Blower boost is now part of the computer system.
I've got high hopes for this new setup.
We ran 6.55 at Bradenton with a tired blower and pump.
Got a feeling this new setup will result in motor not dropping cyls every damn pass.
More later
Bob
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Snow Bird Nationals?
I've started looking into alternatives since giving up on the idea of New England Drag-way.
Soooo, looks like we'll be running at the Snow Bird Nationals on Dec 6-8 in the Open Outlaw class
in Bradenton, Florida.
No real money to win but 3 days of working on the car and it's entirely new setup.
Now to get the necessary time off work work to do it. LOL
Work on dragster is coming right along with the normal amount of glitches involved with an entirely new fuel system. You won't believe the number of things that had to be changed to use the Waterman pump. Still, it was the right thing to do.
Bob
Soooo, looks like we'll be running at the Snow Bird Nationals on Dec 6-8 in the Open Outlaw class
in Bradenton, Florida.
No real money to win but 3 days of working on the car and it's entirely new setup.
Now to get the necessary time off work work to do it. LOL
Work on dragster is coming right along with the normal amount of glitches involved with an entirely new fuel system. You won't believe the number of things that had to be changed to use the Waterman pump. Still, it was the right thing to do.
Bob
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
New England Dragway is a "NO GO!"
Took some soul searching but I've ruled out going to the reunion at New England Dragway.
Lots of reasons for this but financial costs were primary in this decision.
We got bit in the ass going to BG without testing and I'll never do it again. PERIOD!
I was truly embarrassed about all the things that went wrong for us. The items I reported were only the tip of the iceberg. It was much worse.
The fact that we all pulled together and got in the show was the highlight of the weekend.
With all the new parts going on the digger in the next few weeks, and no time to test, we're going to sit this one out.
NED is a money loser for us as it is and going up with no idea how the car will run just stacks the deck too high for us.
Of course my job and time off is VERY up in the air right now so it might not have worked out anyway.
That said, I'm very happy with the changes that are coming with our car and how well it survived all the mis-steps.
Some updates to motor were put off way too long due to costs of rules changes which kind of put us in a bad position heading into Bowling Green.
Next race we'll have a few days of testing behind us with the new combination.
The BIG news is we are actually talking about a return to the March Meet in 2014.
Stay tuned!
Video of last pass at Bowling Green against Denver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkdYYINTjtw
Bob
Lots of reasons for this but financial costs were primary in this decision.
We got bit in the ass going to BG without testing and I'll never do it again. PERIOD!
I was truly embarrassed about all the things that went wrong for us. The items I reported were only the tip of the iceberg. It was much worse.
The fact that we all pulled together and got in the show was the highlight of the weekend.
With all the new parts going on the digger in the next few weeks, and no time to test, we're going to sit this one out.
NED is a money loser for us as it is and going up with no idea how the car will run just stacks the deck too high for us.
Of course my job and time off is VERY up in the air right now so it might not have worked out anyway.
That said, I'm very happy with the changes that are coming with our car and how well it survived all the mis-steps.
Some updates to motor were put off way too long due to costs of rules changes which kind of put us in a bad position heading into Bowling Green.
Next race we'll have a few days of testing behind us with the new combination.
The BIG news is we are actually talking about a return to the March Meet in 2014.
Stay tuned!
Video of last pass at Bowling Green against Denver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkdYYINTjtw
Bob
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Improvements coming to our car
Things are looking up for the nitrocentral team.
Waterman pump on the way.
All bearings are fine
Re-ringing the motor this weekend.
New billet blower about to be ordered.
Minor head work being done as I speak.
New 13:00 M&H slicks on the way.
We have all just written off our bad showing at Bowling Green as just not enough time
to prepare. True we did qualify, finally, but would have been nice to apply some time to
getting the tune up closer. Rather than spend the weekend putting out fires so to speak.
Working overseas is nice financially but hurts when you have limited time to get everything done at home.
The BIG question is, will we be at New England Dragway?
Financially, it's a loser for me personally. And the crew for that matter. New England is a great track but it's probably the worst track in the country for finding reasonable places to stay during a race.
Nearest area of motels is over 30 minutes away in Manchester and trust me, that area is not cheap.
Don't even try to find anything near the shore.
On the plus side, it's one of the best for flights into Manchester. Non stops from Florida as one example.
So, at this moment, I'd have to say I'm on the fence about the Reunion at New England.
It will be sometime 1st of August before I make that decision and if we've got some financial backing to help make it happen.
Honestly? I don't see how they will get a full field in Top Fuel without addressing the distance/expenses problem for most crews. You're certainly not going to see the West Coast cars make that tow.
Without Bowling Green being a points race and Murphy's car already being here, BG would have been a short field, especially on race day. It was a HUGE race for Murphy and Denver as they'll go back to California with a great start in points. Not such a big deal for others. Just another race.
We shall see. We're moving right along with the intent of going but it's certainly not carved in stone yet.
Now if all those folks who offered cash on Bang Shift for us to go would actually do it, might be another story completely lol
Bob
Waterman pump on the way.
All bearings are fine
Re-ringing the motor this weekend.
New billet blower about to be ordered.
Minor head work being done as I speak.
New 13:00 M&H slicks on the way.
We have all just written off our bad showing at Bowling Green as just not enough time
to prepare. True we did qualify, finally, but would have been nice to apply some time to
getting the tune up closer. Rather than spend the weekend putting out fires so to speak.
Working overseas is nice financially but hurts when you have limited time to get everything done at home.
The BIG question is, will we be at New England Dragway?
Financially, it's a loser for me personally. And the crew for that matter. New England is a great track but it's probably the worst track in the country for finding reasonable places to stay during a race.
Nearest area of motels is over 30 minutes away in Manchester and trust me, that area is not cheap.
Don't even try to find anything near the shore.
On the plus side, it's one of the best for flights into Manchester. Non stops from Florida as one example.
So, at this moment, I'd have to say I'm on the fence about the Reunion at New England.
It will be sometime 1st of August before I make that decision and if we've got some financial backing to help make it happen.
Honestly? I don't see how they will get a full field in Top Fuel without addressing the distance/expenses problem for most crews. You're certainly not going to see the West Coast cars make that tow.
Without Bowling Green being a points race and Murphy's car already being here, BG would have been a short field, especially on race day. It was a HUGE race for Murphy and Denver as they'll go back to California with a great start in points. Not such a big deal for others. Just another race.
We shall see. We're moving right along with the intent of going but it's certainly not carved in stone yet.
Now if all those folks who offered cash on Bang Shift for us to go would actually do it, might be another story completely lol
Bob
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Bowling Green report and mishaps along the way.
To say we over came long odds to even get in the show at Bowling Green is an understatement.
To begin, we did a fire up at my place 3 wks before BG. After fire up we found #8 was giving no egt readings. Where I had plenty of time left, decided to tear the motor down just to check things out.
Found a slightly leaking head gasket but nothing else.
Week later we're firing the car up again. Much different sound but no egts on #8. Decided it had to be the sensor so ordered another one for BG to replace while there.
In the mean time my A/C unit at the house quit so had to hire someone to put in a new unit.
We were planning on leaving for BG around 4am on Wednesday but with no A/C in the house we decided it was better to be in the truck with A/C than the house without so hit the road around 7pm on Tuesday night. Glad we did.
We had 2 blowout on the trailer before we ever got out of Georgia. By now it's around midnight so here we are with no spares and no place to get one.
So, spent the night near Valdosta.
Got up the next morning and went searching for tires. Luckly found a place that opened early.
Fixed the flats and hit the road yet again only to have yet another blowout.
Seems the tires/wheels Frank had bought were much older than he knew. 7 years old in fact.
Back at yet another tire place to buy 2 more tires. Finally on the road and no more drama on our trip to Bowling Green. Already dog tired and we haven't even started on the car.
Fast forward to 1st pass on Thursday...
Warmed the car up in the pits and good news is all sensors and data collection working perfect now.
Went to start the car on the line and could not find the neutral position on the clutch. Bracket, for what ever reason, was allowing the clutch to go over center. Pushed back to the pits. 1st time in my career I've ever had to push back from the starting line. Pete Jensen and Frank Ousley helping us get it straightened out. Apparently lack of sleep is not good for making good decisions.
Found the issue with the clutch stop so now all set for 1st round qualifying on Friday.
Got to the line and basically all the crew had a brain fart. Everyone thought Jerry had the Dually cleared but he hit the Dually rear tire with the left wing. Broke off the internal mount in the wing.
Pushed back to the pits yet again. We could have made a pass without it but I'm too anal about stuff to let that happen.
Long and difficult repair of the wing but we did get it done to get into the final round of qualifying.
Thanks Frank Ousley for the use of your parts and ideas.
I'm going to leave the repair there to remind people of what can happen. lol
When we got back to the line, we watched the Mr Boston car get DQ'd on his pass due to an oil down penalty which means we only had to run an 11 second pass to get in.
Fired the car up and Jerry got it down the track on what would have been a mid 6 second pass.
"Would" is the key word here as the timing system was not turned on and we got no time, hence still not in the show.
After some visits by Frank and Jerry to the tower, they gave us 1 hour to get back to the line for a make up run.
I was none to happy about this but I'm not sure what else would have resolved this?
To their credit, the Mr Boston team came over to help us make the 1 hour turn around. Damn nice of them considering they were helping the team that might keep them out of the race.
Long story short, Jerry did about an 800ft pass to get us in at a 7.99et. We wanted to make sure we were finally in and didn't care about the et. Just beat 11 seconds and stay between the cones.
Basically, we had no time during the meet to actually work on getting the car down the track quicker. Given the time slip on the last run, the car was on a 6:40 pass when Jerry clicked it as Denver was in another time zone on his run. Tune up was WAY off due to heat and humidity but there just wasn't time to go down that road given all the previous drama.
The announcers, bang shift, and all the people in the stands were great and appreciated all the hard work we went through just to get in the field. I couldn't be prouder of Jerry and the entire crew for taking a very difficult weekend and at least getting us in the show.
If work permits we'll be testing in Bradenton in August and then on to the Reunion at NED in September. See you all there.
Bob
To begin, we did a fire up at my place 3 wks before BG. After fire up we found #8 was giving no egt readings. Where I had plenty of time left, decided to tear the motor down just to check things out.
Found a slightly leaking head gasket but nothing else.
Week later we're firing the car up again. Much different sound but no egts on #8. Decided it had to be the sensor so ordered another one for BG to replace while there.
In the mean time my A/C unit at the house quit so had to hire someone to put in a new unit.
We were planning on leaving for BG around 4am on Wednesday but with no A/C in the house we decided it was better to be in the truck with A/C than the house without so hit the road around 7pm on Tuesday night. Glad we did.
We had 2 blowout on the trailer before we ever got out of Georgia. By now it's around midnight so here we are with no spares and no place to get one.
So, spent the night near Valdosta.
Got up the next morning and went searching for tires. Luckly found a place that opened early.
Fixed the flats and hit the road yet again only to have yet another blowout.
Seems the tires/wheels Frank had bought were much older than he knew. 7 years old in fact.
Back at yet another tire place to buy 2 more tires. Finally on the road and no more drama on our trip to Bowling Green. Already dog tired and we haven't even started on the car.
Fast forward to 1st pass on Thursday...
Warmed the car up in the pits and good news is all sensors and data collection working perfect now.
Went to start the car on the line and could not find the neutral position on the clutch. Bracket, for what ever reason, was allowing the clutch to go over center. Pushed back to the pits. 1st time in my career I've ever had to push back from the starting line. Pete Jensen and Frank Ousley helping us get it straightened out. Apparently lack of sleep is not good for making good decisions.
Found the issue with the clutch stop so now all set for 1st round qualifying on Friday.
Got to the line and basically all the crew had a brain fart. Everyone thought Jerry had the Dually cleared but he hit the Dually rear tire with the left wing. Broke off the internal mount in the wing.
Pushed back to the pits yet again. We could have made a pass without it but I'm too anal about stuff to let that happen.
Long and difficult repair of the wing but we did get it done to get into the final round of qualifying.
Thanks Frank Ousley for the use of your parts and ideas.
I'm going to leave the repair there to remind people of what can happen. lol
When we got back to the line, we watched the Mr Boston car get DQ'd on his pass due to an oil down penalty which means we only had to run an 11 second pass to get in.
Fired the car up and Jerry got it down the track on what would have been a mid 6 second pass.
"Would" is the key word here as the timing system was not turned on and we got no time, hence still not in the show.
After some visits by Frank and Jerry to the tower, they gave us 1 hour to get back to the line for a make up run.
I was none to happy about this but I'm not sure what else would have resolved this?
To their credit, the Mr Boston team came over to help us make the 1 hour turn around. Damn nice of them considering they were helping the team that might keep them out of the race.
Long story short, Jerry did about an 800ft pass to get us in at a 7.99et. We wanted to make sure we were finally in and didn't care about the et. Just beat 11 seconds and stay between the cones.
Basically, we had no time during the meet to actually work on getting the car down the track quicker. Given the time slip on the last run, the car was on a 6:40 pass when Jerry clicked it as Denver was in another time zone on his run. Tune up was WAY off due to heat and humidity but there just wasn't time to go down that road given all the previous drama.
The announcers, bang shift, and all the people in the stands were great and appreciated all the hard work we went through just to get in the field. I couldn't be prouder of Jerry and the entire crew for taking a very difficult weekend and at least getting us in the show.
If work permits we'll be testing in Bradenton in August and then on to the Reunion at NED in September. See you all there.
Bob
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Blog is BACK
Thanks to everyone for their comments about missing my blog. Guess someone was reading it after all. LOL
Hence it's back and no, I won't shut up about my opinions so learn to live with it.
Give me a few days to catch my breath and I'll put up a blow by blow summary of our weekend's trials and tribulations.
As usual, we had a great time at Bowling Green and Jerry and his kids are a great addition to the crew. That said, Linc and Matt and the gang were missed.
PS Wait til you see the in car video Jerry shot during his run. Seen many but this one came out great. Thought I was back in the car again.
Bob Bradley
Hence it's back and no, I won't shut up about my opinions so learn to live with it.
Give me a few days to catch my breath and I'll put up a blow by blow summary of our weekend's trials and tribulations.
As usual, we had a great time at Bowling Green and Jerry and his kids are a great addition to the crew. That said, Linc and Matt and the gang were missed.
PS Wait til you see the in car video Jerry shot during his run. Seen many but this one came out great. Thought I was back in the car again.
Bob Bradley
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