Maria8

Well, Leaving for Hot Rod Drag Week with my 85' Trans Am. Second time I am doing this race. Did it in '09 as well. I have changed EVERYTHING on the combo over the last two years. Used to be carbed 383 with spray. Now I have 400 efi with Procharger F2. Been a long road, car is not 100% but out of time and would rather go with what it is than be on sidelines.
Thanks to all who helped.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

400ci, afr235's, f2...sounds like a recipe for mid 8's? nice!!! good luck friend!

Maria8

Yeah, my best MPH was 155 in May but car has been slowing down a bit. Still runs good. I doubt it will run 8's this trip. I just need the car to stay together for 5 days and 1000 miles. I have a gremlin we just cant find. I don't have the new madman suspension ironed out yet either. I have been cutting 1.35-1.37 60' times so I can at least go down the track. Best ET so far 9.04 on radials, and 2000 street miles so far. But radials are a new game to me, so I went back to slicks so I lose the least amount of passes. Not making any excuses. Just don't have it all figured all out. It takes time and many small changes. Im sure 8's will come next year. Just want to finish all 5 days this year. But thanks.

startat2

iTrader: (2)

Sweet, I will get to see you hopefully! They are supposed to be racing at amarillo dragway on wednesday and I have plans on being there!

Maria8

Cool, just come up and say something to us. My car is red I will be with a silver procharged chevelle and a twin turbo 71 burgandy Monte Carlo. How hot is it down there?

startat2

iTrader: (2)

We have been in the scorching 100's until earlier this week. Right now we are low 80s and I think low 90's expected on wednesday for the drags. Im really looking forward to seeing the wild 6 and 7 second street cars. If I see you and its not chaos I will definitely come up and talk. Good luck!

startat2

iTrader: (2)

Hey bro here is a photo I took of you repackin the 'shute. Your buddys monte carlo was very nice and was my dads favorite car. I'm a bit biased and of course liked yours the best. I took some video of your runs, if you want em just shoot me a PM. Good luck on the rest of the races!

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

I did see you on Sunday and Monday in Topeka. You have a very nice car. I hope the trip goes well for you.

startat2

iTrader: (2)

Looks like he ran into some problems today from the HOT ROD results page. Shows he ran a 20 in OK He was cuttin low 9's no problem, even in amarillo which is impressive, and was in 2nd for his class.

startat2

iTrader: (2)

Here is some video of day 3, got some sweet footage of his car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=t0ZE9OmSBvk

turbotater

hope things work out with your trans. i am the local guy offering help while you were by the monte. i am off today if you still need help let me know .
mike
nine one eight nine six zero four seven zero zero

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

awesome foootage! this is something i'd like to do one day...

lunati397

im pissed here I am in Afganistan and my car in my garage in Clovis NM just 1.5 hours away from there


NEXT YEAR ill be there


I loved how 8 sec cars are towing uhauls

Maria8

It was nice to meet you, sorry I couldn't talk more, we were under the gun ALL week!
Well this race is no joke, I beat the sh8t!! out of the car.
I was in 2nd all week until I broke the input shaft on the transmission. We took the transmission out, grabbed another broken 400 that had a good hardened input shaft, swapped parts, re installed it (with a gearvendor hanging on the back of it mind you) and drove to the next check point and 250 miles away, the hotel. Got in at 4:00 AM that night. Then went to the track at 7:30.
I ran a personal best of 8.98 @ 157 so I was happy. Found a ton of power towards the end of the week. I will be back again.
Thank you for offering help, that was very kind of you. I was luck to be around a lot of friends that wouldnt let me quit and jumped in to get it rolling again no matter what.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

wow that's awesome! tell me more about the gear venders setup. do you have any pictures of it? who's converter are you running? size and stall speed? how did trans temps do on the trips? i realize that a boosted setup will want something different than the n/a setups.

were there many n/a setups on the tour? any idea how many are running auto's and how many are running clutch type trans? i saw that tri5 had a lenco/bruno/etc., wonder what it takes to keep that thing happy on the street...

Maria8

I will get a picture the next time I get it on a lift. It works great. It is not as smooth as a 4l80 but fits nice and I don't worry about breaking it. I have 3.25 gears and with the gearvendors it just rocks on the highway, even with no lock up feature. Im sure you could get smoother results with an 80 but I wanted to simplify as many things as possible and I havent actually seen an 80 in person that lived to the abuse I put my car through, not to say it isnt possible. Im just not adventurous to try one more variable that I could eliminate. Just my opinion.

lunati397

where and how do you sign up for this I want to start preparing to hopefully take part next year

Maria8

watch for details on hot rod magazines web site. Cant sign up for next year yet.

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

They changed the rules a bit for next year.

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

sb/na class i think was high 9's to low 10 teens. I know the second place guy ran 10.teens in 3700lb car. 720+ hp 23 deg headed 402 sbc motor 8K rpms Thats amazing

startat2

iTrader: (2)

It was all pretty amazing. Im thinking of selling my LS1 drag car to build one for this. Wife said I can't do ANOTHER race car :P

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

so, why no hood? i would think that at your mph, the air getting caught in the engine bay would be terrible for your aerodynamics. even a cut up stock hood would have probably been better.

also, i just read the entire rule set, and i realized, you're not running for a purse, just a plaque and a jacket...is that right? what does it cost for entry fee?

1BADRZ28

iTrader: (2)

I believe the entry was $260.00.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

$260, plus hotels every night, plus fuel and tire consumption, and no purse? yikes, that's a rich-man's club right there, lol!

lunati397

im still going to try and do it might pull a pop up behind the camaro lol If I get this duramax swap done it can

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

now a pop up doesn't sound terrible. they're not that heavy, and you can stow stuff in there even with it folded down. some of them are pretty nice too.

lunati397

I rented a baja model it had a platform at the front with enough space for a 4 wheeler it weighed in at 3200lbs but there are far lighter models

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

well you are getting magazine coverage too

Maria8

Long story short. It was 100 degrees out. everything was getting hot which was really unusual. I have tested car in heat as well. Motor was staying at 195 but tranny was 220 creeping up to 260 and fuel pump was acting funny. I was pulling a trailer and trying to keep up with my pack of buddies. So we pulled the hood off to try and help the heat situation. I even pulled off the blower belt. That is where the we found the problem after a while. My ignition had been failing and lugging the motor. Once I changed the ignition box for the second time and found my lost power, tranny went down to 160 and all was good. We put it back on as soon as we got a second and werent in a rush again. I will post all my experiences of the trip in next couple days.

Maria8

Finally got a minute to tell the tale of the trip.
I have owned the car for almost 20 years, so I know it pretty well. Used to have a carbed, 383, spray and 350 tranny. Changed it all up two years ago. Almost made Drag Week last year with it. Thought I had it all ironed out for this year. This race EATS up parts.
Started the Test n Tune out fine. Ran a 9.25 @ 150. Was in the ball park of where the car had been. We had been fighting some gremlin that kept slowing car down allyear but I was happy that it wasn't slowing down more and was competitive. We ran day 1, I think it was a 9.26 so I turned in that number and started my drive. Had to make first stop for buddy in Monte Carlo that lost his tranny after his first 7 second pass. No problem, got a spare. Found a garage that let us use the lift. Put it in and we kept going. Then after 100 miles my alternator died. Got a spare, easy fix and keep going. I had pulled blower belt off for the first time ever and car just sucked. I was trying to save as much of the car for I knew how hard it would be to finish......little did I know what a hell of a week I would still have. Motor was staying cool, but tranny was creeping way higher then I liked then fuel pump started acting strange. Weldon 2345A?????? good piece, what the hell. put more gas in and turned voltage up. It would work. Day 2 racing kept my average up by .0010 or so. Day 3 amarillo, CHALLENGING TRACK but I loved it! Added a new element to the race. Ran close to my average but 3rd place narrowed gap a bit. Day 3 drive radiator sprung a leak. Radiator shifted back a bit on some launch and fans rubbed it raw in 4 places. We are in the middle to BFE with nothing to fix it. Used a scredriver to wipe out fins then pinched the leaky cores shut and left radiator cap loose so no pressure would build. We keep going at least. Remember, I am pulling a trailer and running 60-75 mph this whole time. Day 4 is where the real fun starts. Car was running fine. It had rained that morning so I got in back of line while track was preped. They did a great job. Best track all week. 45 minutes to make a pass next in line car dies and wont start. Ignition box died!! Thrash and borrow an 8al. RIG it in. Car came ALIVE!! (we found that gremlin I spoke about before I left for trip!!) The car is going to run!! and pull away from mr 3Rd place, so I thought. Get up there floor it (didn't get two step connected in time) break tranny!!!!!MF!!!!!! Since we broke the beams we were still in it. You never know who else may not make it to the end.... Pull the tranny in the pits, grab my buddys broken tranny out of Monte, change input shafts, put it back in start on 250 mile drive. 40 miles from hotel I burn up the borrowed 8al from heat of where we rigged it. Luckly the guy I was following had a spare 6al. Thank goodness. It was 3 AM in the middle of NO WHERE...again. Get to track on Friday. we are DEAD. Im gonna make one pass and just get ready for home....Nope, gas tank leaking!! wtf!! I have a racecraft 9" with a nice fill plug on top. With the trailer and roads it poked a hole in gas tank. Drain gas, jack car up find leak, clean it, JB weld it, fill gas again go to staging lane before it rains. Line up behind Larry Larson. I want his groove. Ran a 8.98 @ 157 1.34 60' all worth it now!! In that run I didn't use two step, short shifted 1-2 on accident, felt 3 hickups, car was so rich due to a bad o2 we found after, that it looked like a diesel and using a 6al for spark with boost. We are gonna run the car one more time this year as soon as I get my original power grid repaird. Drag week is awesome!! The people first, couldn't have finished if it wasn't for Rick Prospero and his buddy Scott. They helped keep my junk together even though they were racing their twin turbo nova wagon and had their own issues.

P.S. After we changed out the bad ignition, EVERYTHING ran cool again. I had been lugging the motor this whole time and nothing liked it. Tranny came down SOLID 60* I about sh8t! I learned and learned and learned

P.P.S Drove the car about 1200 miles.

lunati397

now a wife reads or hears that and stresses out just hearing it now ME that is a good time yeah it may be hell that week but what an experience brings you back to your roots Run the car if it breaks fix it or your stuck alot different then trailer queen racing


I definately want to make next year and with a diesel it should give me a reliability edge

Maria8

Just FYI I have done this race twice with my car and another time as co-pilot. I would leave the wife at home and save yourself a divorce...lol. The faster the car the more "adventure". I partied and socialized a lot when the cars were 12-10 second cars. Just my .02 worth. She can watch on the live streams and still do her hair in the morning. I shaved my head so I could save time in the mornings. Its a sickness I tell ya.....wish they had a drag race rehab!!!!!

lunati397

lol already told her that if I have the car ready ill have to have a co pilot and living on the road is no new thing to me with almost 900 days delpoyed in the past 10 years I can shower with 3 water bottles sleep in a vehicle eat MREs but have fun with that

AlkyIROC

There's a bunch of talk on a local forum about the Alberta 1995 Camaro that made the trip. Had a license plate that said "Tweaked". They also had battery, alternator, fuel pump, 9" gears problems along the way.

Finished in second place in BB/NA. The small block class stops at 430 cubic inches and his small block was a tick over that so it was bumped to the Big Block class. They managed to run low to mid 10's and got 20 MPG on the highway.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

what et won the SB/NA class?

AlkyIROC

Try here. Lots of pics also.

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Drag-W...-and-Rain.html

AlkyIROC

http://image.hotrod.com/f/38641746/2...ily+driver.pdf

http://image.hotrod.com/f/33791684/2...-all+other.pdf

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

This year I hear the guy in the sb/na class was doing 10.teens and should have won but they didnt average out the last days times which would have given him the lead.

Last year a car went 9.73 with sb/na. Theres been a few 9 second passes made in years past.

Maria8

Better give all the competitors credit of what they may have done if everyone got to run. The other guys may have run quicker and kept their place. I ran my one and only good pass 8.98 that day and beat the rain to do it. I would have gone up in my standings....maybe a 3rd who knows, but a turbo guy may have seen it and could have run back up, turn up his boost and kick me back down.

Doesn't matter, my 20 killed me but I still had a blast and figured out my car finally.

There is a whole lot going on that people don't see unless they are there. Track conditions, elevation, track time, weather. It is a huge variable game but even for every one.

Just sayin.................

startat2

iTrader: (2)

Lol you are very forgiving. You could have just said SLOW track :P

Orr89RocZ

iTrader: (20)

I fully understand, i wasnt disrespecting anyone. Just answering the question of what ran sb/na. The guy I know on other boards says he ran low ET of the event but the averages didn work out and I think he only went 10.teens

Maria8

I wouldn't say it is slow. I bet there would be some locals that run 1/8 th mile on 8.5 slicks that could show me their tail lights and how they do it in amarillo!!!! lol. Thats not a track you show up at and just run your junk to its best. Them there are street boys getting it done with some timers! I loved it.

Maria8

Didn't take it as disrespect.....sorry it seemed defensive. Just saying that the "shoulda woulda coulda" thing goes out the window on drag week. The reason I pulled the tranny out in the pits and fixed it was to say we finished and just in case everyone in front of me broke by chance in hell. All that didn't happen. The great thing is I found out my motor wasn't really hurt, it was the ignition and I got my first 8 sec pass. I could have been the only one there and all the work was now worth it..... I didn't even look at what my average would have been if they counted day 5. Yes a trophy would have been ****, but I would rather have the memories and my new timeslip to stare at over winter....lol. That is Drag Week deep.

startat2

iTrader: (2)

Yea there are a few quick cars around here for sure, but I think you could give them a run for their money. That track has got bought and sold a few times here in the past 6 years or so. The new owners are really bringing it back, the last owners didn't care at all. It was shut down for awhile and when it got bought the back half was nothing but weeds. There were a bunch of other issues with the PO and because of that I was off the track for a while. Its good to go now and coming back though!