84. Nostalgia Nationals 2016

This was one of the meetings I had targeted for our truncated season, this was a meeting to fine tune the car ready for Dragstalgia, it turned out to be far more, the whole meeting was a tribute to our recently departed friend and fellow racer Scott Durrant, both Dave and I have been attending meetings for  well over 40 years now and and we have seen accidents and death we have lost some legends in the sport over the years but we have never seen anything that comes close to the events prior and post Scotties death,it is great to see this drag racing family we belong to come together and unite in not just financial help and fundraising but real support for Scott's family. The day started on the track with a minutes silence while we all lined the track on both sides with some very beautiful words from Barry Bohannon followed by both Gina,Scott's wife and their children driving up the strip to rapturous applause.

So what about our day then we were pitched up with our friend the Stones and the Shindigger team again, we had left the same tune in as we had at the last meeting but for some reason it just didn't work here, the car bogged down wouldn't pick up no top end just flat to be honest no power at all. Steve was perplexed we went through some plausible reasons but it just didn't make sense at all, Steve made some serious adjustments but then came the rain,,dam this British summer it must be one of the worse ones for some years....

After a good night out if spending the night at Kenny's bar can be considered out and watching the Ska band aptly named "Skabucks" So in the morning and after some advice we Steve set the car up again and..we ran a mid 10, not what we really wanted and again the car was flattening out at around 5000rpm and wouldn't rev any higher I was beginning to think that maybe the rev limiter want working properly

So for the second run Steve weakened the fuel up as the new plugs were showing we were running far too rich we also noticed at this time that the fuel tank seemed to be bulging it has became distorted, we found out that the vent we had and the vent the car had for years really wasn't big enough so we rigged up a hastily made bigger Vent, thanks to mark of On the Bottle for his help, next run and again we were beaten by Mr Raw in his Beetle powered slingshot and again we ran a mid 10 and like the other runs the car would not rev over 5000rpm, but it did pull a bit better. So with some head scratching we set the car up for the last run of the day but...rain stopped play again, which as we found out later probably saved the team from some serious grief and a lot of money. It was good to see some new vehicles in the Wild Bunch and I have to say some very well engineered and good looking race cars at that, all of which helps to raise the profile of the Wild Bunch, we even had some visitors from Berlin in Germany, in a very pretty and well put together  altered.

So while packing up we were all called over for the prize giving ceremony and here was another surprise we picked up a trophy from the last meeting for the best appearing car..

That's the third trophy we have won and not the last I hope, it actually means a lot to us and we hope that in the very near future we will add a trophy or two for performance as well.Steve had a bit of a fiddle before we put the car away then we drove 130 miles home in the rain.  A liitle while later Steve rang me he had found out..using some of the very good American forums that there is a strong possibility that our barrel valve is back to front due to be being put on the other side to usual on the hat, he now knows how to sort this out and check for it, he also told me that after checking the timing again he found that the timing had in fact slipped since the last meeting to 20 degrees from 38 and we still done know how? but it can be put right,Along with the vent problem he has also found the formula and tables on how to set up the barrel valve so even though we got a lot of help on this it does vary a lot depending on fuel flow and engine size so we now know that even if the barrel valve is the right way round it was never set up right from the beginning.

So we have now entered the Fast show along with seven other invited vehicles from the Wild Bunch where we shall sue the time to put these things right and finally get the performance we have always known this engine can give us in time for Dragstalgia..fingers crossed.

83. Bank holiday mayhem...!

I have already mentioned that because of a lack of funds due to breakages etc and of course lack of crew for certain weekends that we as a team would not be attending all the race meeting this year, In fact I think we have only managed to get to one meeting so far and that was a bit of a disaster due to being rained and snowed on for most of the weekend. In total now we have missed three meetings so I guess we wont be fighting for the championship this year.

Because the weather was looking so good over the bank holiday I had a word with my number 1 son and crew chief Steve and asked him if he fancied coming up to Santa Pod to watch for the first time, he agreed, so on Saturday I met up with him just up the road form the Pod and we watched one of the best race meetings I have ever been to, unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me only my little cam corder.

Anita burning rubber on her first run of the weekend

I was surprised by the number of people at this event on a Saturday, traditionally the first day of qualifying is not well attended but the place was packed to the rafters, it wasn't too long after we set up camp that we could hardly move..good for drag racing though.

While I was there I took Steve round the pits and introduced him to a few of the racers and then went on the hunt for Roy Wilding, Roy was racing this weekend but in his other life he builds nostalgia dragsters and he was the man that built  the axle on our car and I wanted some info from him, Our axle is weeping oil and I wanted to know what seals he used it turns out that he has a packet of the seals we need but he did tell us to look after them as they don't make them anymore...oh!!! While I was there I had a look in the exhibition marque and there in the corner a pair of slingshots and guess what? one of them, John Webster's nitro burning beastie is for sale I had to drag Steve away from that place tout suite! and get him ot have a look at a nostalgia Funny Car instead.

So we watched some great racing in the sunshine we left in the early evening and made out way home, on the way home I get a call from Dave my brother asking me if I was going to take a ride to Shaky the next day? Dave was crewing for some good friends of ours, while waiting for our car to be race ready again. So decision made! up early on Sunday morning, upset the neighbours with the noise from my bike and of we go again.......

Andy Stones with my little bike in the background

So once again in the sunshine I watched some great racing and saw some great cars, a little more laid back than the Pod and a dam sight cheaper,

This drag racing community that I belong to is amazing, we have made some incredible friends in the short time I have been a member, 

This is Jim Tanner and the "Shindigger" Crew in their new team shirts

Our Friend Jim's dragster "Shindigger" blowing us away last year

We all help each other out when we can and some of the guys have been friends for many many years and it is tight knit bunch, so it came as a big shock to learn that one of our group had contracted cancer and that it was so widely spread in his body that it was deemed terminal.

Scottie Durrant is a great guy to know and he has a lovely family something like this should never happen to human being,

Scottie is self employed he runs his own vehicle transportation business he has three children and he is only 42 years old, We know him from being a member of the Wild Bunch and for building and racing along with his wife Georgina his neat little slingshot Tiki Munki.

There is a Facebook page set up for him now Called Support our Scottie which can be found here   

www.facebook.com/Support-Our-Scottie-1104039142952213

On top of this on Saturday all the guys and girls got together for a photo call also in support of Scottie and I also believe there is a fund being set up to try and help the family through as being self employed there is no money being earned at the moment.

Makes me feel proud of our little group, and I am sue that there are plans under way for some fund raising events to help the family out even more.

82. Springspeed nationals

OK so on Thursday 28th I drove to Bedford picked the truck up and then drove another 140 miles to Swindon to pick the car up, as soon as we had the car loaded we took the truck with car in it round the back of an industrial estate and where we fired the car up in the back of the truck, I know not ideal but we needed to know she would run.

So after a night in Swindon a quick bit of shopping then off to Shaky to set up camp, Dave and Lorni were on there way down as well.

So with the car out ready for Saturday and a couple of refreshing drinks we called it a night...but what a night dam it was cold, Dave even got up n the middle of the night and went for a spin in his car just to warm up.

Number one son and crew chief Steve, turned up early in the morning, he wanted to run the car up properly and sort out the timing and mixture before my first licencing attempt.

We seemed to have got a handle on it she sounded great, very angry, we pulled her out ready to go into the pairing lanes, I had to tag on the back of the Wild Bunch as I was doing observed runs, but! there was an accident, one of the motorcycle riders came off her bike although it wasn't fatal it was still a nasty one so it took some time to clear the track again ready for action, but just as the track was cleared....down came the rain and the snow, yes I did say snow...

The weather cleared up but then just as the track was nearly dry..yep down it came again, So the Race Director called it for the day so after all that work and effort we didn't get to make a run, couldn't be helped of course but dam it was so frustrating, but we did get a show of sorts in the afternoon...

Boy did it rain so that was Saturday done, Sunday started bright and sunny after yet another freezing night this time we had ice on the inside of the trucks screen. We fired the car up got her warmed up, this is proving to be a bit of a problem for us, keeping heat in the engine that is, I might just go down the road of oil heaters, anyway after another long delay due to another accident involving another motorcycle we got the call to pull down to the pairing lanes, so I was the last car to run in that particular qualifying session, she fired up I drove her round to the water trough hit the throttle and...big delay and she bogged big time didn't spin the wheels up I took her to the line and again hit the throttle on the green but...bogged again, I took my foot off the peddle and she sped up, obviously something was still not right and of course that run would not be counted towards my licence.

So back in the pits Steve started fettling he richened her up and took some timing out we fired her up then this young guy walked over and started talking to Steve who then started adjusting the barrel valve anyway to cut a long story short I would like to thank Christian from Nick Goods Super Pro team for hearing the car running far to rich and wandering over to help Steve get it right. But...and there is always a but we found we had a leaking crank shaft oil seal, we ran around trying to find the right bits and pieces, thanks Darryl from the Chemical Reaction team,in the end we fitted our old timing cover which had a seal already in place but we missed the second run.

We had some visitors on Sunday Phil my other son and his better half Katie and her three children..looks like the next generation are getting ready to take over.......

Daniel

 Harvey

Aimee

So after a not so cold night on Sunday, Monday dawned a little over cast again we warmed the car up and then we pulled her down for a run, into the burnout  and once again we didn't get the wheels to spin up I was so disappointed I just wanted to back her right up shut her down and get towed back to the pits but Steve motioned me to the line, well she took off like a scalded rat, still not running right mind but we got the wheels up for the first time ever....

I know it doesn't seem like much but believe me after the year we have had that was as good as running a 7 Steve and Dave met me at the first turn off and I had a grin a mile long on my face and so did they, back in the pits and now knowing we are going in the right direction Steve did a little fettling ready for the next run which was going to be a full run with chute to get my licence signed off but we pulled the car out got the call and we made our way to the paring lanes,

But that was as far as we got as once again the weather beat us, but this time we didn't start packing up feeling down oh no we were happy campers for a change.

Brilliant shot thanks to Tog at Eurodragster for this photo

Ok so the weather won on this occasion..what next? well after a long chat with Steve we have decided to take a step back and just get the car to some RWYB's until we are happy with her performance, then we will go back into competition I am desperate to get her running right for Dragstalgia where I hope we can show off the cars real potential, both Steve Dave and myself know what the car is capable of running we have just got to get her there, the Company that Steve works for are not being to helpful with letting Steve have the time off..Holiday.. for some of the meetings this year so a step back looks like the right decision for now.

We still have some work to do on the car, re torque the head gasket, replace the crankshaft oil seal and put the new  not weeping timing cover back on, we need to replace the half shaft seals as well. And we still have a new chute to fit, so its still going to busy here at Slimline Racing.

81. Getting short on time

The transition from having a bit of fun to serious competition can be and was/is a challenge at times, now everyone that knows me understands how much I love this sport but bloody hell it can be frustrating at time. I had a 3 year plan in mind when I started,1st year get used to the car and get Steve used to tuning it, 2nd year New chassis with old running gear 3rd year new power plant run 7's....simples!!!

But as we know life doesn't always run to plan, now I have been criticised in the past for writing some of the negative stuff on this blog but! I did promise when I started this blog that it would be warts and all. so lets have a look at what's happened in the last few weeks or so and please remember that some of what has happened, in fact a lot of what has happened is out of our control.

We didn't attend the Hot Rod Drags last year as we had damaged our engine, we knew that the injection system was not up to the demands of the new engine and was proving just too difficult to tune, we had a torque converter which was not man enough for the new engine, so we sat down and drew up plans for the following season..new injection system, new converter, get the car re-tagged, apply for licence and lets go racing.

So over the last couple of months we have stripped the car had a new roll cage fitted the car has been tagged the new fuel system fitted, we had ordered a new set of harness's a new chute, new front tyres and a new gearbox shield so we would be legal for MSA events.

So while waiting for some of the new parts to arrive we took the car up tot he fast show to fire her up and maybe get her down the track, 

Even though at this point we still had a lot to do there had already been an almighty amount of work done on the car,and I have to admit at this point I was really liking the look of the car and the stance, the new slightly taller roll cage didn't seem to impact on the look at all 3 inches is a bit taller but Steve Fields had blended it in great.

My son looks like a small child sitting in her now LOL anyway we got everything ready and fired her up..well tried to fire her  up she wouldn't stay lit so there was obviously a problem with the fuel supply Steve went through everything over and over and couldn't find the problem, sometimes a problem is right there under your nose and you just don't see it which is what happened in this case but we also managed to strip some teeth off the flex late and sheer a bolt on the starter so that was it for the day pack up go home and h ave a rethink.

Within 24 hours we had sussed out the problem with the fuel and had a new flex plate on order, now time is getting short went to ARRC to pick up the bits we were waiting for but the chute still hasn't arrived nor did the new gearbox shield both of these are out of ARRC control and Kate has done her utmost to help us out, We can make do with our old chute for now, we can fit the new harness and padding we do have the new flex plate so just praying the shied part that I have managed to track down turns up in  time for the Springspeed Nationals, talking of which we don't seem to have appeared in the entry list even though I sent of my application and the money in February..hmm Oh well another problem  to sort out on Monday.

So tomorrow at some unearthly hour I am off to pick the truck and car up and drive them down to Swindon where all the work will be done and...fingers crossed she will firs up and run and hopefully we will get the rings run in while we are at it then I will be testing and licencing at the same time at Shaky, that should be interesting if the parts turn up in time and if I sort my entry out...wouldn't want it any other way if it was all easy everyone would do it LOL, roll on next weekend!!!!

80. Getting excited now....!

Over the last couple of days my number one son and crew chief has had to put the jigsaw puzzle that is my race car "Tight Fit" back together again, while contending with a crappy cold and hay fever and working 9-5:30 every day and what a job he has done. First off the injector hat and rocker box was sent to John O'Sullivan.....

We had to have some work done to make the throttle cable fit the new injector system which meant having a bracket made up and we needed an oil filler welding onto the rocker box  for obvious reasons.

The usual great job by Mr. O'Sullivan when Steve got the bits back he did have a go at polishing the new throttle bracket, not a bad job at all.....

Then it was a case of putting all the bits back together, plumbing in all the new fuel lines which was a bit of a nightmare and then re-fitting the tank after it had the new fittings welded to it.

So this evening after a lot more hard work and with a little help from number two son Phil, Steve fitted the last few bits and pieces like the throttle cable, parachute release cable and all the body panels.

As you can see Phil seemed to be enjoying himself in the drivers seat and I hope you can notice the three inches taller roll cage that makes Phil look like a little person...! On a more serious note I have to admit that I love the look and stance of the car now that bug catcher really looks the biz.

It is still however not the easiest of cars to get out of, here ably demonstrated by Phil, I am hoping that I will now have enough room once the padding has been fitted to get in the car and have a wee bit of headroom and maybe even get something softer to sit on as opposed tot he sheet of ali I have at the moment.

We do still have some work to do on her, there is a leaking half shaft seal which we will sort at the track we still need to fit the new harness when it arrives along with the new chute and gearbox shields and the roll cage padding, and I will have to use some elbow grease on her and clean and polish her up a bit, none of which will stop us starting her up for the first time this Sunday  and ....fingers crossed we might even get her down the track once we sorted the running out, then it's all hands on deck to finish all the little bits and bobs up ready for the Springspeed nationals where I hope to get my licence signed off...proper race driver then.

So picking the truck up later this week to take the car back to her secure parking facility then back to pick her up on Sunday to take her to the Pod ready to test...oooh time to get excited...!

79. Getting there...slowly!!!

OK so here we are at Easter, race season has began and God I have an itchy right foot, I am suffering from this Spring Flu bug so instead of watching or racing I am stuck at home so I have time to do an update.

So where are we with the car then? good question I wish I knew LOL,  When we took the car down to Swindon in the back of the truck it was in one piece and was dropped off at FieldCraft Fabrication for a little surgery..

As you can see the headroom is a little tight, a bit too tight as to make the car and myself  MSA legal there has to be some padding between  me and the roll cage, well if that was in place as it is I wouldn't be able to get in so...new roll cage required 3 inches taller...!! While that was being sorted I sent off the gearbox shields to Andy Robinson Race cars to be re-certified.

But!! we found a wee problem with the main gearbox shield...we only had half of it apparently, we only had the op bit not the bottom bit and they are re certified as one shield so......

We were missing the bit with all the holes in it

We have had to order a new shield, again thanks to ARRC for all their help in this they have gone out of their way to help us and I am really grateful, got my fingers crossed that all the parts will turn up in time for our first outing at the and of April.

So last week I went to pick the car up from FieldCraft Fabrication which is now sporting a new very shiny roll cage and...ta-da the car is now tagged.

Number 1 and 2 sons looking her over Steve and Phil

So as I type this Steve is putting her back together ready for her first fire up and hopefully testing at the fast show so that's the car up to date but then of course that's half the story no point in the car being legal if the driver isn't well......

...that has now also been put right as well, so here's looking forward to a safe, parts breaking free, fast season, see you all at the track soon.

78. I hate "That time" of the year

There is every year a time and a date that really wish I could avoid for more than one reason. Forget about the car for a minute and lets concentrate on the truck, now Elsie our truck is more than just a truck, she is our mobile garage and workshop and while at race meetings it's our home  our bedroom and our kitchen, so obviously Elsie is very important to us.

The problem is of course that to remain legally on the road Elsie needs an MOT every year, So she goes down to Swindon to Greenbridge for a once over and check and MOT, this year I asked them t do a mini service as well.

But lets go back a bit, first of all I have to get her to Swindon, this is where the fun starts LOL, this year we had to drop the race car off before the MOT and it takes at least three people to do this so I took Christopher with me and my brother Dave followed us in his car to bring us home again. But even before that my son Steve had been up the week before to do some work on the car and while he was there he cleaned the outside of Elsie which is no mean task.

So it was up at silly O'Clock Tuesday morning and out on the road not long after up to Bedford a run of around 140 miles where we met my brother. The first thing we had to do was fire up the generator and plug in the battery charger as she had been standing for a while in the freezing weather we had just had, but even before that I had to go fetch some diesel and unleaded fuel for both the truck and the genny. And after ten minutes she was running...great load up and set off, out of the gates foot down and go...err no! for some reasons he would only rev to around 700rpm not high enough to change gear and of course she would only do 15 mph hmmm so up to the roundabout and back to the storage depot, A quick look around and we noticed the choke lever was out aha! so shove it back in and off we go again err no! again this time she would rev to just over 1000rpm and just manage to change up once but still only 25mph flat out so...back up to the roundabout and back to the depot again. Over an hour and half had gone by now and we had a schedule to keep so I was going to phone around and cancel everything, Then Dave noticed a slight noise which he recognised, he drives a truck for his day job, what had happened was when someone had climbed into the truck they had accidentally  pressed the exhaust brake switch which is on the floor just in front of the drivers seat and it had stuck on, so a couple of thumps and everything was ok again...phew!! LOL

So off to Swindon we go another 150 mile trip, but at least the trip goes without indecent which is good. So the car is dropped off and Elsie is driven round to the service centre. The one drawback to Drag racing is that all the race equipment including transporters sit idle from October to March and as we know just sitting there does them no good at all, things get stuck and corroded etc and again this year I have just been told that we have to have the kingpins replaced and the front brake callipers are seized up and maybe corroded beyond repair..so here we go again LOL But we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it..maybe a trailer would be the way to go to try and reduce costs every year...I might have to have a good think about it. Still the new season is nearly upon us can't wait, lets go racing!!!!!!!