56. Got a phone call at 8 am this morning........

I have spent the weekend trying not to think about the engine and possible damage..re: "The packaging has sustained some damage". I rode to my local Harley dealers to re-new my HOG chapter membership I even thought about polishing the bikes...but no!  I wasn't allowed to forget as my number 1 son ans crew chief Steve, kept sending me txts and phoning me to remind me about Monday.....Bas****!!!

So at just after 7 am this morning I got another txt from Steve...this time the message was short and simple.."Today is the day we get  your engine" so that's it any thought of lying in bed was gone and I was really thinking about getting up 45 minutes later when I got a phone call from him.."your engine is here" I honestly think he is more excited than me, anyway there is no damage to the engine thank god. Steve took the crate apart to check.......

Steve even had time to check that the inlet manifold fitted, we still have a lot to do before we fire her up for the first time but a least we have all the major components now just a few odds and sods to get like spark plugs and a coupler that fits.

To take his mind of the impending delivery of the engine over the weekend Steve got the polish out and set to work on the headers, after the new Fuel/Air flow sensor was fitted.

Now that's better..just the wheels to do then..and some wiring and painting and fitting....LOL I am still looking at the Spring Madness Open track day at Shaky on the 18-19th April this might be a bit ambitious but you have to have goals and targets in life....fingers crossed.

I would also like to say well done to the Brown boys who have been through a major strip down and rebuild and have got their car back out already.......

Photo courtesy of Mark Skinner

,,,car is looking good guys, can't wait to see her run myself.

55. We hunted high and low but we found it.......

But first! some good news!.. our race car transporter which is a converted ex council mobile library has passed it's MOT, it needed a few bits doing to it and the final bill was over a grand but I now have brakes for the first time since owning it which make driving it so much easier...

...and secondly my tickets arrived for Dragstalgia 2015 I had entered even though at the time I wasn't sure if we would have a race car ready or not.......

Right...now the hunt for the engine, we knew roughly when the ship carrying our precious new engine was leaving the States and when it was arriving here in the UK, but we needed more precise dates and timings as I had other meetings to enter...or not as the case may be  depending on when the engine arrives. So yesterday I started phoning around and I eventually got hold  of the right number for the shipping company here in the UK who informed me that e-mails had been sent to inform us of the arrival etc etc. The ship had docked in Southampton not London and had arrived earlier than expected, the engine had been in Southampton since the 12 March but....somewhere long the line a letter had been dropped from Steve's e-mail address so he never received any of the notifications..never mind all sorted now.

After filling in tons of paperwork then scanning said paperwork and sending it all off to the appropriate place the engine should be on it's way to us in the next day or so, I now want to have a wee whinge..and Jerry if you are reading this it has nothing to do with SAG performance it is just my whinge at "Rip Off Britain" and to let any others who go down this route to watch out for some "Hidden " costs..once you have paid for shipping you would think that's it wouldn't you...but no..see below.

As you can see I have had to pay another £450  just to get it out of storage/the warehouse. This does not include duties and taxes..please bear this in mind when costing up as it can make a big dent in your budget.

So while all this was going on Steve has been busy in darkest deepest Wiltshire finishing off some other tasks....

The brass gear drive has been fitted tot he dizzy the inlet manifold is the cleaning bath, the tank has been welded up and the brakes are being upgraded, then there is some wiring to do. There was a point some time ago when I really didn't think I would see our car back in one piece ever again ....

But now everything is coming together and I am getting really excited about hearing the engine start up for the first time....

Steve has already got the new nozzles in place ready for this momentous occasion I will be putting video clips of this and the subsequent runs onto YouTube on our channel ...

www.youtube.com/channel/UCWy-vhhDdvoQcuMasDRWU2Q

Or just search for Slimline Racing on You Tube  and look for the dragster.

UPDATE 27/03/2015: 04:45

Paid the VAT (taxes) and Duties yesterday afternoon, got mail to say Engine being delivered on Monday 30th...but with some damage to the crate/packaging, seems as though nothing ever goes smooth for me!!! 

54. First entry list posted on Eurodragster

It's nearly time for the first race meeting of the season,we know this as Eurodragster has posted the first entry list of the year...

See the news section

Unfortunately even if we had the car tagged and I had my licence sorted we still wouldn't be there as the car is not ready yet and wont be for a little while yet..So where are we at the moment then? sort of caught in no-mans land, The truck is in Swindon having an MOT done got Locked out of it as well LOL. Lorni and I picked the truck up on Thursday and got it ruining it still had the car in the back...

As you can see it is still in bits, we have the new gearbox in the back of the truck ready for fitting, the engine is on it's way from the States and should be in the country on the 17th March, before that the chassis is going to be cleaned up a bit as the brake master cylinder had been leaking and that has taken some of the paint off the chassis rails. there are other little jobs to do like refit the tanks once it has been dipped and the injector stacks are having the same treatment, new callipers and master cylinder are going to be fitted and a new screen fitted. Headers are going to be cleaned and polished. We still have to find a dip stick for the gearbox and a UJ that fits.And we have to fi the new injector nozzles and pils.

 we are going to take our time to get all this sorted properly as it al costs a lot of money and I wont be able to do this again so got to be done right no rushing!

Two other small parts have been ordered one being an air / fuel sensor and monitor so we can keep an eye on what's going on..

And the other things we have had to source is a bronze gear drive for the dizzy because of the make-up of the new cam...

So still a lot to do but by the middle of of April I hope it will be altogether and ready to run in time for the Nostalgia nationals at Shaky.

We will of course be attending a couple of RWYB.s first to do some testing..phew! who said this was just a hobby eh?