43. Oh boy just when you think......!!!

Even though we have had a good time this year it has not been without it's problems, for some reason we keep shredding gearboxes this is not a good thing as the do tend to be a bit on the expensive side.

So after the last gearbox problem  we decided to try and see if we could beef it up a bit so bearing this in mind the gearbox was taken to the legend that is AL O'Conner to asses the damage for us and if possible fix it..

The famous Al's Gasser peaking out from the garage

A couple of days later I get a call from Al to tell me the bad news which is? he found some bearing material in the sump and the planetary gears are breaking up, so it looks like this box is toast, the only problem is this particular powerglide transmission has the rather rare short tail piece as opposed tot he regular one or the "Shorty" and it looks like it is as rare as hens teeth,...oh!

We do have some options we can try and move the engine forward by a couple of inches and see if we can fit a standard powerglide in, we can scour the internet till we find another rebuilt glide with a short tail piece or just give up!

Well giving up is not an option I haven't finished with this little car yet, one way or another we will be back racing next year even if I have to have a new chassis made.

Now of course if I had the money I know what I would have built and I wouldn't be one those new rear engine clone cars that all look the same and sound the same and run the same numbers it would be something like this......

I realy wish I had the money to build a modern day replica of this car..Dennis Priddles's Mister Revel oh well we can dream..can't we?

42. Its been a hard long year but fun

OK folks here we go then, this is an end of year report if you like, Just over a year ago I had a silly idea to have a go at drag racing , after 40 years of spectating and at the age of 55 I went and did it, I ended up with the car that Laura Turbeville had been campaigning.

I had not intention of licencing for the first year a I thought it would be a good idea to just stick to RWYB's until we understood what we were doing. It has been a steep but interesting learning curve.

We have had our share of problems, we found the front timing cover was badly cracked and leaking oil all over the place, this is when we found John O'Sullivan and his engineering works. we then found a cracked tail piece on the gearbox when we serviced it, this was also sent off to big John for welding, then the gearbox destroyed itself we managed to get it back and running just before Dragstalgia which was one of my target meets for the year...

It was at this meet that we at last gave the car our identity and changed it's name to Tight Fit...for a very good reason..it was.

Dragstalgia 2014 will remain in my memory for a very long time it was everything I thought it would be and more,we were pitted between Mo Blackburn and Steph Milam, we were very ably looked after by Claire and her bicycle, we made some good friends..Ove and his family and team from Germany for one, we met many more racers that I had only ever watched I was enjoying every second of this. We ran our best time to date 9.2 seconds and I got to run against other cars, the first being Miss Winter from Germany.

Photo courtesy of Mike B

One thing I did notice at this event was the amount of vapour/smoke that was coming out of the engine breather hmmm!!! so one more RWYB at the Pod before the Hot Rod Drags it was at this event I noticed there was a discernible difference between the two lanes at the POD the spectator lane was far more lumpy and unsettled the car and I never ever got close to what the car was capable of in that lane, at the European finals other racers also mentioned this problem about the bumps that were appearing in that lane..all this after all that money was spent an resurfacing, perhaps a few quid on drainage wouldn't have gone amiss.

Anyway onto the Hot Rod Drags at Shaky I have never raced there and was looking forward to it, I like Shaky I like the laid back atmosphere of the place and how helpful everyone was but...and there is always a but! I did notice a difference between the lanes or is it me? is there a difference? I maybe getting paranoid about it and then there is that bloody bump where the other runway crosses the shut down area, my god what a tooth rattler why oh why don't they just fill in that bit with a piece of tarmac or is that too simplistic a solution? and get rid of that problem once and for all, I watched a couple of outlaw Anglias take off on that bump.  before anyone starts lambasting me I did say I liked Shaky but it does look like the place has been left to its own devices for too long and needs some money spending on it, and yes I will be going back. They do have to get the basics sorted though and safety must come first. I can put up with that bump and so can my car but I dare say there are other cars that can't. I' know that some cars can't race there as they would be seriously damaged it would be great to see all types of cars back at Shaky and get crowds as big as they were at the Hot Rod Drags at all meetings.Please remember these are my personnel observations from a stand point of a being a Shaky Virgin.

We had a few problems at Shaky we changed the injector ram pipes for longer ones, not only as we were advised to by Hiborn themselves but ..Dam! the car looks better with them! and we adjusted the clutch and changed the springs in the magneto so after three runs I only managed a best of 10.0 but I also managed to get a face full of methanol and oil and then gearbox oil, With a lot of help form people like Mark Coulsell we managed to sort out the timing and the fuelling problems and boy did that make a difference but we managed to knock a couple of holes in the  gearbox and oil the track. So that was it for us for this season.

We found the engine needs a rebuild we were getting far too much fuel in the sump this goes back to the vapour through the breather looks like the rings have gone we also found one the rocker boxes was cracked, so the engine will be coming out over the next few weeks, the gearbox will be repaired unless I can find a suitable replacement, the car will also be re-tagged  and I will apply for a licence for next year.

With a gearbox that works properly and an engine that has some compression and that will burn all of the fuel and not let half of it slip into the sump we should get back to running 8's I am now on a diet and keep fit program to help me shift a bit of weight which should also help and on top of that we found that the MSD box was set to 6 cylinders and not 8 so all things being equal we should be able to compete in Super Pro next year as well as staying with the Wild Bunch who are just the most incredible bunch of people in the land.

So I am looking forward to next year and again running at both Santa Pod and Shakespeare County Raceway and having some more fun with the Wild Bunch and maybe getting stuck in with the big boys in Super Pro.

I would like to say a big thank you to my ever so understanding wife Lorni and my super crew of Steve and Dave who I did promise a go in my car at the end of the season unfortunately the damage is such that this is not going going to happen this year, but there is always next year. A big thanks to all the track crews and safety people at both the Pod and Shaky for all their hard work and all the people who have helped us out and advised us during the year.

I also found out that we had appeared in a foreign magazine ..woo hoo we are famous LOL

So this was our rookie year I spent far more than I thought I would ever have to, I have had far more fun that I ever thought I would, I went faster and quicker than I thought I ever would, and I made some serious friends I have loved it, and I am going to spend more money that I don't have to ensure we will be back next year faster quicker and bigger than ever.

These are the rantings of a rookie driver and team owner who never thought he would ever get to do this, what an incredible sport and it is full of incredible people who I have nothing but respect for even more so now I have changed the side of the fence I sit on. Roll on next season.!!!!!

41. A day to calm down....

So after a very hectic weekend life returns to normal I am back working, I am also black and blue thanks to the bump halfway down the shut-down area at Shaky, yes I was warned about it but! I didn't think increasing the tyre pressures by half a pound would make such a difference to the "bounce" LOL

So where are we at the moment then? Steve is busy ferreting around trying to find the bits we need and maybe even the services we need a little nearer to home he is tracking down a hopeful or two as I type this. I know this will not be a cheap problem to put right but hey! if we want to continue racing it has to be done.

I think I can say we (the whole team) enjoyed the weekend even if it was a little disappointing with regard to what we wanted from the car and it was hard work the crew were very busy most of the time in fact my younger brother found the whole thing just a bit too much on Sunday.........

On the upside I did find a photograph on Facebook that showed that we had managed to get the power back again, insomuch that after resetting the backlash and the timing and resetting the butterfly settings we got back some of what has been missing since the gearbox rebuild, in fact it was such a good photo I bought the original from Mike B's photos.

This photo clearly shows smoke form the burnout, something that has been missing for some time till yesterday, it's a shame that it was on this run that the gearbox let go and I am sure I was heading for a very low 9 if not a high 8 second run...oh well next year then.

I was also sent this photo I do like this but there is no information with it regards who took it ect so if anyone recognises it  please let me know so I can give it the correct compliments. I just found it after looking through all of Facebook that is a photo taken by Steve Weston

Dam I still think it;s one of the best looking cars in English drag racing, but then I am ever so slightly biased aren't I?????

40. Hot Rod Drags

Sometimes things just don't go according to plan and this weekend was one of those times, Dave and I took the truck and car up to Shaky Friday afternoon to make sure we got a pit place and to set up camp ready for the rest of the crew the next morning, the trip itself wasn't too bad to be honest considering it was a Friday, we arrived later afternoon sorted out the tickets and proceeded tot he pits where we found a place not to far away from everyone else in the Wild Bunch we unloaded the car and set up camp.

Here is Dave relaxing after a hard hours work LOL

Now as you can see we have fitted the longer injector pipes, this is after consulting Hilborn themselves who assured us that the long pipes would improve low and mid range torque and not affect our top end noticeably and of course there is another reason.........

.. the car looks so much better with them on than the cut off ones. Anyway that was us for Friday we made out way to the bar and had a couple of drinks and listened to a really awesome Rockabilly band in the marque. 

Will get these chromed eventually

Saturday morning arrived along with my crew chief and other Brother Andy, first order of the day was to service the car then go for a run ..which we did but unfortunately there wasn't enough water put down so I didn't strike the tyres on the burnout so I had to be a bit careful on the launch and I short shifted to be on the safe side. the result was a low 10 second run.. not that good but it was a run.

Steve then went about  changing the springs in the distributor as the old ones were stretched and not working right, next run, first off the car is now more difficult to start, she popped back a bit more than usual but we went for the run anyway, I managed to get a face-full of methanol on this run which was back in the 9's so a bit more fettling and away we go with run number 3 again the car is difficult to start and I have to keep the revs up to keep her running, yet another crap burnout and on the run I got a face-full of oil as the rocker box gasket blew, still in the 9's at 140+ mph but still not where we wanted it to be.

Returning from a run

At this point I have to say a big thank you to Mark Coulsell and the Limited Funz team for all their help and advice and to everyone else that came by and gave us advice and tried to point us in the right direction, this what makes Drag Racing so good and even after all the problems we had this weekend this is what gives us the motivation to put things right spend more money than we have and to come back racing, cheers guys I really do mean it.

So the upshot was we had managed to throw the adjustment of the butterfly's on the injectors out on the front two cylinders they were running far cooler than the rest of the cylinders and we had a crack in the rocker box, so on Sunday we had to put tall this right, first we put the old springs back in the distributor  Steve then adjusted the butterfly's, I did hear him swear a couple of times when he let go of the feeler gauges as they slipped down the injectors so thanks to the Wraith Child team for the lend of their magnet on a stick. We then sealed the rocker box as best we could till we can get it welded up and then Mark and his team helped us with the timing set up Oh and congratulations on your 8 second 150mph runs...(bastard) LOL

Marks gorgeous looking rather fast slingshot

So now with then engine sounding really good and angry we go down for our first run on Sunday I decided to try the other lane I had been running in the checker board lane all Saturday, for the first time in ages the burnout was strong..well for us anyway, we got smoke of the tyres at least and everything sounded really good I was running against another car for the first time this weekend, the lights counted down I buried the throttle and she pulled like a train..yeee haaa, shift light on go for second...nothing...tried again..still nothing then I noticed a thin film of oil on my helmet.

..ooops, something has gone wrong so I remembered a piece of advice I was given a little while back in case something like this happened...Don't touch brakes, shift to neutral and let the car roll to a stop, I got off at the first exit. The guys in the top end crew came running over to see if I was ok, apart from not being able to see I was fine they told me I had puddles of oil under the car and that I had oiled the whole track, So apologies to everyone it was never my intention to do that believe me.

I just noticed that at the hit the car turned hard right, I was too busy keeping an eye on my opponent in the other lane, I wonder if the oil had already gotten onto my slicks, a real shame as it was on a good run I could actually feel the difference between this and the other runs we had completed on Saturday.

We towed the car back and took the bodywork off and what we found was not good...we had two holes in the gearbox and all 7 litres of oil had gone....

So the car was dismantled the axle removed and the gearbox taken out.......

What we found was the governor had sheared a bolt in the output shaft and had come loose in the tail piece and the weights had smashed holes in the side of the casing.

We had only had the gearbox rebuilt just before Dragstalgia so you can imagine this was a huge downer for us and I have to admit I seriously though about quitting for while back there. 

It was the first time we had raced at Shaky and apart from the car problems we had a really good time, the track crew were great and I found the track to be a lot better than I was told to expect, Ok so there is a big bump or two halfway down the shut-down area but you get used to it. the shut down area is a lot longer than the Pods so didn't need to use my chutes at all, and two great bands in the marque..brilliant, but I must remember to bring my own loo rolls with me as the ones in the toilets seem to disappear at night!! LOL

Anyway that is it for the season for us now...probably. We do have plans for the engine and now of course the gearbox but we will be back next season faster and quicker than ever we will get that elusive 8 second run and you never know we might even be able to race Mark on even terms, although I know we will never be able to match those Freddie esq burn-outs LOL

39. The run up to the Hot Rod Drags

Oooh its getting exciting again LOL, today is Wednesday and I had to do dome of that work stuff this morning, I then made my way home via Tesco's recycling centre to get rid of all the cardboard out of the car. Then it was a case of empty the car so I can get it cleaned as it is absolutely filthy, and at the same time start getting all the bits and bobs ready to take to the truck, the problem with this is it has filled my living room up..

I am sure Lorni will forgive me once I fill the car back up tomorrow with all the gear that I have to take with me.

I have the two main batteries on charge that is the on board battery which powers the ignition and the starter battery. Then of course there are all the batteries that go with the cameras and torches etc.

So tomorrow it is car clean time then go shopping for some easily burnt meat for the BBQ and gas grill, buy some beer and some milk. then load the car ready for Friday morning, We should get to the truck around lunchtime and once Steve has turned up with fuel and stuff we can make our way to Shaky.

Steve has assured me that this time he has not forgotten his sleeping bag and to prove the point he sent me this...

So hopefully this will be a good weekend and I am dam well hoping that I will get that elusive 8 second run..dam there will be some celebrating if I manage it. this could be the last race of the year for me as we are now at the end of the season the only other time the car will run this year will be at the Pod for the "let the minions have a go " day LOL next update will be next week after our weekend at Shaky.

38. Some stuff arrived and.......

Lorni was..still is on nights, yesterday so with not much that I could do I played on the PC for a while and I had a look through YouTube, I found some old footage of Ian Turberville racing at Shakespeare County and now I know what everyone keeps telling me about the bumps LOL The other Video I found was this.........

... here we have Ian Turbeville whose daughter Laura raced my car last year,in his slingshot before he fitted the supercharger, racing Pete "Eddie" Yates who I bought my race suit from, driving what was to become my car Tight Fit.

I also found a couple of photos which I am sure Ian and Mr. Andy Wilshere wont mind me sharing as I think they are brilliant these are both of Blood Lines cars before I bought Young Blood at Hockenheim a couple of years back.

On a happy note my new Injection Ram pipes turned up form the States....after I had paid the obligatory "Import Duty" and rip off handling fee,which doubled the amount, how many more ways can this bloody Government make money out of us?? anyhow I am now going to take one of the pipes with me.......

... on Friday as I am going to Santa Pod to go watch some racing at the European Finals, and check they fit correctly if they do, then they will going to the platers to have a layer of chrome added, will be very interesting to see if they make any difference at all apart from looking better., if anyone else is after any Alky bits then this is the place to go to..........

..very good service from Toni and the crew, just watch out for that dreaded "Import Duty" I mailed Shakespeare County about me coming up to the Hot Rod Drags a day early and I got a reply from Jerry Cookson who informs me that indeed the meeting is so popular people and teams start turning up on Thursday evening before the gates officially open on Friday morning, so it looks like I will have to do my best to get there really early .Ok as early as possible on Friday and hope I can find some pit space.

37. Euro Finals and some...!

Wow hasn't this year gone fast? it was only yesterday when I was meeting up with my Brother Dave at last years Euro Finals. Funnily enough it was at this meeting that I decided it was time for me to have a go at this wonderful sport of ours, I had no idea what a ride it would be..yes there are ups as well as downs but my god, I went and bloody well did it didn't I? It has cost me no end of money far more than I ever thought it would, but would I change anything...naaa course not it has been worth every single penny, you only live once for gods sake.. make the most of it  you can't take it with you!

So here we are just a few days from the biggest meeting of the year and in case any of you have no idea what I am on about then here is a wee taster video from Santa Pod.

I am just hoping the weather holds for this amazing event if it does then I might even be tempted to take my little tent and stay overnight.

The weekend after that my team and dragster will be going to Shakespeare County Raceway, again I have my fingers crossed for the weather as I have never raced there. Everyone I have spoken to have said it is a brilliant meeting and I will enjoy every second of it so...can't wait now!

On a personnel note it is my long suffering brother and crew members birthday in a few days, Happy Birthday Dave... in a million years did you ever think we would be doing this Dave eh? I still have trouble believing it I can tell you. I have to pinch myself sometimes, I keep looking at all the pictures and videos and I still don't believe it is me sitting in the car.

To quote my favourite wrestling team off al  the time "The Legion of Doom"........."oooh what a Rush!!!"