Baring in mind I am writing this bit on Sunday morning and things may change dramatically yet, the one word that keeps going through my mind is "Frustration" . Steve and Dave turned up on Thursday to set up camp and to initiate our cunning plan! The car, as is, can run in the 8.2 range and probably in the high 8.1's in good air but! that is not what we are about so after a lot of chatting and research we came up with a plan to go faster, without the need to go supercharged or add a nitrous kit or play with the fuel contents. nitro etc.
Up to 5 years ago we were running with a set of 4.11 gears in the rear axle, as we got a handle on the new engine and injection set up we found the car was out of puff at around 900 - 1000 foot where we were hitting the rev limit of just over 7000rpm so we had a set of 3.73 gears put in, since then even with the new pump and cam shaft we still don't go through the top end over 6500rpm sooo with over 8500 revs to play with we decided to put the 411 gears back in.
So Thursday afternoon Steve started stripping the car down and removing the axle, not an easy job with our chassis, he ran out of time to complete the job that evening. Friday morning another problem was found one of the front wheels had a puncture. we have been using 17 x 2.5 inch innertubes where we really needed 17 x 2 inch, a lot of phone calls were made and the only one found was in Flitwick at Flitwick Motorcycles so off Steve went to collect, thankfully Friday was a washout.
Saturday morning and the car is just about ready to rock and roll but on the warm up Steve noticed a problem the axle had come loose so, the car was stripped again and everything tightened up and checked, on the tow down for the next run again Steve was not happy with a strange noise he was hearing, so back to the pits and another tear down where it was found the drive train wasn't aligned properly, again this was put right and for the third time of asking they towed down to the start line.
After nearly two hours in the lanes and this was because RWYB was bumped as there had been some long stoppages due to fluids being thrown all over the track Steve eventually got to the front of the line and??? rain stopped play, I even got him to wave to me on camera....The rain became persistent so ended the days proceedings not one run in two days now that is frustrating.
So with the car in one piece ready to go we wait for Sunday which arrives wet, after a huge effort on the part of the track crew racing started again mid afternoon, Dave had to get the car dried off and ready.
Steve got out on track and took it easy, still managed to break out with 8.35 on a 8.4 dial-in at 158 mph on the 411 gears not bad, unfortunately there was a problem with the car on that run. A hub gasket let go and some oil came out on the track at the top end also it covered the rear brake disk so no brakes and for some reason the parachute just fell out on to the wheelie bars I wont tell you what Steve said but it was a squeaky bum moment.
Back in the pits yet another frantic thrash to get the wheels off and fix the leak, the time between rounds was coming down fast as there were less and less cars running as the elimination ladders took hold and a fair few racers had gone home thinking that the rain was not going to abate or they had a difficult and long journey home. Job done and once again in the pairing lanes. A slight hiccup on the line and away Steve went producing another PB of 8.24 seconds at 160mph.
So after a very frustrating weekend due to the weather not playing ball and a huge effort on behalf of the team to get all the modifications done and mechanical problems sorted the team walked away with three more trophy's, 4th place overall, fastest speed of the weekend and best slingshot, and new PB so a smile at the end of the day as we move ever nearer to that elusive seven second run.
Now we are looking forward to the Hot Rod Drags there is still a lot more to come form the car in it's present set-up. Covid permitting I will be back to drive the car after nearly two and half years, a new chute will be on order soon along with some more fuel as the Team nearly run out at this event Then we need to look at re-tagging everything ready for 2022
