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Dude, you are some kind of psychic. I just finally took my turbo setup on the road for the first time today. I am also using the Turbosmart boost tee, with both ports on the gate active. As a newbie, I went out with low boost (softest spring?), and the thing maintained four pounds or less like clockwork. The BW s366 is silent until boost hits, then zing! Even the JGS bov sounded great when I let off. What a great way to go 20 mph faster in a blink. I look forward to working my way up to 10 pounds (absolute max) in the future.
Thanks for posting great examples that work! Quote:
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I believe I saw this at the St. Ignace car show earlier this year. Were you there?
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No, we weren't able to bring anything. We were in the area visiting the in laws and drove something responsible instead of fun for the 900 mile one way trip. We did see some fantastic vehicles and met some cool people outside our normal car crowd. I wish we could have talked for a bit. By the time we got to where you were parked we were pretty hungry so I snapped a few quick photos and we started back down the hill. |
I keep seeing the Jeep on the Drag Week live feed! looks great!
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Time to get this thing back up to date. Waaay back in June myself and some friends went up to St. Ignace for almost a week. Technically for the car show but we only went to the actual show for just over an hour. Lots of shenanigans, the U.P. is kind of like northern Mexico.
Our convoy. https://i.imgur.com/GFfYTmdh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BURGXUjh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/RurUC2ph.jpg Gotta bring the toys on vacation. https://i.imgur.com/uw0LpgNh.jpg Priorities. https://i.imgur.com/CkVMNLuh.jpg Obligatory bridge shot. https://i.imgur.com/c82VAMnh.jpg Car wash section of the parking lot. https://i.imgur.com/fKrp46Nh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BLuPAgNh.jpg Everyone knows that when you go up north, you've got to have a "Big C" 3/4 lb burger from Clydes. We had many. https://i.imgur.com/EXFvXdvh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/6Ryyvdwh.jpg |
However, northern Mexico is not easy on drivetrain parts. Early in the week during a 3-4 shift the shifter went limp and the trans was locked in 4th gear.
Pulled the shifter base hoping that was broken since I had a spare. https://i.imgur.com/L6pgmmDh.jpg No dice. Something wrong inside the trans. Parking lot repair time. https://i.imgur.com/QgLHBi6h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gwC22ouh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MjuHUteh.jpg Turns out it had failed a roll pin in the top shift rail. Luckily the parts store down the road had a good selection so it was an easy fix. 3 hours later we were off to get another Big C burger. My new record for transmission service in a hotel parking lot. There were a lot of hooligans out late at night when we were trying to sleep. Mostly locals I think. https://i.imgur.com/4jV9wIeh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BZzptSkh.jpg And a couple photos I found online afterwards. https://i.imgur.com/uHlk3Eah.jpg https://i.imgur.com/x0ryCCXh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XiCzpY2h.jpg |
More track time. Put a little more power to it but the tires were garbage. Usually goes 1.46-1.47 sixty foot but the best I could manage was a 1.59 on a super soft launch. Still the best 1/4 mile ever, 10.50 @ 130 even with the crummy launch.
https://i.imgur.com/9XCtpPsh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kIxdDg9h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/3gnyMsih.jpg The old 26x9s were DONE. Still lots of rubber left but it was just junk. https://i.imgur.com/sv1gWAlh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ss81jIgh.jpg The 26x9s were too short, it was on the rev limiter before the 1/4 mile. So I got some 28x10.5s to try out. https://i.imgur.com/Ma3KTDYh.jpg Looks a ton different with the wider/taller tire. https://i.imgur.com/Ae92Q7uh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yAYsgESh.jpg |
Cherokee Jim stopped by on his way from Texas to drop off this yellow '74 Cherokee. Had to take a few pictures.
https://i.imgur.com/TTojRNBh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uwSK990h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/QD5aIevh.jpg This is an ironic picture. Drove my 2wd Jeep to the local 4x4 retailer to buy a tow hook that we were going to put on...... a 1969 Camaro. https://i.imgur.com/1Z6ELvPh.jpg A cool graphic that one of the AMC clubs printed up on some shirts. https://i.imgur.com/UnEh7AJh.jpg |
Took a cruise and went to the Woodward Dream Cruise for the first time. Lots more shenanigans.
https://i.imgur.com/zKszahIh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hWKMPm2h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xbKyfZxh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dlRESbqh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/PimFSyUh.jpg Stopped by the Greenmead AMC show on the way home. Nice event. https://i.imgur.com/kCO2kRnh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/xy4fnyuh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/mOx5YjGh.jpg |
Getting close to Drag Week, my clutch pedal got out of adjustment and I wasn't getting full clutch disengagement. Fixed that issue but 3rd gear syncro still didn't feel right. Was able to weasel my way into an all Chevy track rental to test. Sure enough, 3rd gear was a no-go. Still managed to run some high 10s with a nearly 1 second shift delay.
https://i.imgur.com/jhDbov6h.jpg A couple hours later it's a street car again and sitting in traffic during Metro Cruise. https://i.imgur.com/Ofa2fHWh.jpg Yep, there's definitely a problem there. https://i.imgur.com/9ksrdahh.jpg Transmission back out again, on it's way to Capizzi. He got it fixed up in a few days like a champion. I slammed it back in and then started getting ready for Drag Week. https://i.imgur.com/ivqvug6h.jpg |
Looked like a fun time.
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Prepping for Drag Week. Keeping in mind that the Jeep hasn't made a solid, clean A to B pass in nearly 3 months. Transmission is fixed and back in but no time to test. Just gotta have faith. Finishing up wiring for the horn and giving it the final once-over in this picture.
https://i.imgur.com/MfPVRrTh.jpg Fully packed. It doesn't look like much but there's a LOT of stuff in there. 4 wheels/tires Air tank Jack + jack stands Welder Cutoff wheel Cordless tools (impact, drill, flashlights, etc) Spare clutch/flywheel Spare pistons/rods Spare gaskets Spare alternator/belt Spare silicone couplers, t-bolt clamps, and v-bands for every connection Spare change of ALL fluids Spare master cylinders, Spare shifter (but sadly not shifter handle) Spare brake lines 2 tackle boxes of wiring and electrical Ammo can with hundreds of AN fittings Bucket of assorted lines/hoses 3 spare fuel pumps + filters All tools needed to work on any part of the vehicle Basically we packed the kitchen sink preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. https://i.imgur.com/1C7fzGxh.jpg Final test drive on 87 octane the night before leaving. https://i.imgur.com/9kEzk2ah.jpg |
Friday September 7
My goals for the week are ambitious: 1. Finish the week (so I can enter the stick shift shootout) 2. Make the quick 32 Street Machine Eliminator field 3. Run 10s at every track 4. One pass and hit the road every day 5. Beat the previous Jeep single pass record of 10.68 6. Beat the previous Jeep record average of 10.96 7. Maintain a sealed hood for the whole week Fresh wash job, fully packed and ready to go. My trusty copilot Mike took a half day and we hit the road at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Only have to go 818 miles to the first track. https://i.imgur.com/IUtZraTh.jpg First roadside fix. The heater duct hose came off up under the dash. Kind of important with the rain we were driving through. Thankfully we had some duct tape (and swingout door bars). Mike got it fixed up while I was fueling up. https://i.imgur.com/KaLAqkFh.jpg Stopped at another gas station down the road to meet up with some Drag Weekers and drew in a bunch of other car enthusiasts. https://i.imgur.com/xvfYCoVh.jpg There's the guys we were looking for, Tracy and Todd. Tracy has the sweet '70 Olds 442 that's in some pictures later on. We decided to follow them to Atlanta and play the drive by ear. This drive shall be known from this point on as the Drag Week Death March. https://i.imgur.com/Pe7LqkKh.jpg Cool trailer of cars we passed. https://i.imgur.com/GvuM3cch.jpg Next roadside fix. Found the source of the wet carpet, the fresh air vents were leaking water. So, another opportunity for a duct tape fix. Glad we found this before we had to seal the hood for the week. https://i.imgur.com/qSA4AuTh.jpg We continued driving through the night. Got about an hour's sleep at a truck stop in ??? at maybe 1 or 2 am? Then stopped again for a couple hours at an old school gas station at around 6am. This was one of the cool old vehicles we checked out when we woke up. https://i.imgur.com/fTPVWUgh.jpg First food stop for breakfast. https://i.imgur.com/wzeOQ9fh.jpg And we made it to Atlanta Dragway sometime (maybe noon-ish?) on Saturday. Tracy wanted to make a couple test passes and check-in wasn't until 3pm at our hotel so we stayed for a while. https://i.imgur.com/eNjgANQh.jpg Only injury of Drag Week. Left the track with the intentions of going straight to the hotel and sleeping for about 12 hours. Well, the tailgate window was stuck in the down position. Can't access the motor or any of the wiring with the window down, huge pain in the butt job. In the process of removing the motor, the spring loaded lift arm got me. Finally got the issue troubleshooted and made it to a store for some bandaids. https://i.imgur.com/qBdqsvih.jpg Finally at the hotel. Took a shower, got some food, and checked out the other racers. Lots of wrenching still going on with registration less than 12 hours away. The tons of wiring stuff we packed came in really handy, there were a lot of people in need that night. https://i.imgur.com/hT4orDlh.jpg |
Sunday Sept 9: Registration day
We didn't get to the track super early. Consequently, this is the staging area just to get into the track area. https://i.imgur.com/NFq8sDhh.jpg Once we got into the track, we were pleasantly surprised that they had separate lanes for Unilmited and SME so we were moving quick. https://i.imgur.com/RQPfWJBh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2ssy5fIh.jpg Made it through tech no problems and had time to kill so headed back to the hotel for a while. https://i.imgur.com/iopzyuuh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/AeOasQdh.jpg Had lunch at the Outback in town. The waitress was a huge Drag Week fan. https://i.imgur.com/L0VMUQGh.jpg Went back to the track after the rains to watch people test. Lots of neat stuff happening. https://i.imgur.com/e2adX94h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/l6FTqIih.jpg |
Day 1: Monday Sept 10
Got an early start, wanted to get into race mode before the driver's meeting so that it wouldn't be so hot out. Good thing we got an early start because one of our competitors had a dead battery. Between our spare battery and another guy's jump box we got it running. Super cool truck. https://i.imgur.com/BwQWhehh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ISeS7Dqh.jpg On our way in. https://i.imgur.com/5POxeoJh.jpg The crummy 87 octane turned one of my wheels gold because it was near the exhaust. Yuck. https://i.imgur.com/KUKgGZ3h.jpg Unpacking is easy with the big plastic totes. https://i.imgur.com/goRpavkh.jpg Ready to go. https://i.imgur.com/q3tFYgoh.jpg After hours upon hours of delays, we finally got into the staging lanes and waited for hours again only to get rained out when were a couple pairs from making a pass. No racing for us on day 1. Luckily we had that tarp covering our gear in the pits. I rushed back and changed back over to street mode and re-packed as quickly as possible in the rain. Just after we finished, it downpoured like crazy. Very lucky. Hot Rod decided that our class (Street Machine Eliminator) would waive Monday times since not everyone had a chance to run and base our final time off of a 4 day average instead of 5. All other classes would count since they had a chance to run. Kind of a bummer for a lot of class cars that either didn't make a run or made a poor first run and had no chance to improve it. View leaving the track in the rain. https://i.imgur.com/NlS6A0Ih.jpg Stopped at the restaurant just up the road to eat and watch cars while we waited out the monsoon. https://i.imgur.com/EfGUBqdh.jpg These poor guys were having problems with the car stalling out and not running right. They thought they had it fixed but had to drop out of competition not too much further from where this picture was taken. They continued the rest of the week towing the car, Drag Week is more about the experience than the racing. https://i.imgur.com/wGy0fONh.jpg First check point. https://i.imgur.com/B8iJVR2h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/T5uACNch.jpg Second check point. https://i.imgur.com/St2Lz6Rh.jpg Very uneventful drive (for us) because we had rain tires. It rained. A lot. Made it to the hotel at a reasonable time. |
Day 2: Tuesday Sept 11
Bit of a drive to the track from our hotel and we couldn't find any place to eat along the way. Luckily Darlington Dragway bailed us out with by far the best track food I've ever had. Rock on guys! https://i.imgur.com/T3FLCWxh.jpg A lot of the guys were still drying out from all the previous day's rain. We pitted next to Tracy, swapped tires, and got right in line. Also, met up with our buddy JP that came down from Michigan to spectate from Tuesday-on. https://i.imgur.com/Are3CtDh.jpg Wristband still looking pretty crisp. https://i.imgur.com/xlqpFCIh.jpg Finally made it out on the track! Pictures I found online. https://i.imgur.com/iQ4TOnCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0GSmSx1h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/z34tHWDh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0Werkilh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Ec1rV5sh.jpg Because I had zero passes with the different sized clutch master cylinder, I launched pretty soft. Went 10.84 @ 128 which I figured would be more than enough to get us deep in the 32 car field. Later that night we found that not only were we not deep in the field, we were #35 and had our work cut out for us. Should'a made another pass. https://i.imgur.com/7mtpBISh.jpg They cancelled our drive route and check points because of the hurricane and it would be a short drive to the next track so we stayed around to spectate and hang out with friends. https://i.imgur.com/JwGEqJgh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zMIeAnEh.jpg All packed up and ready to hit the road. https://i.imgur.com/i7MlxbWh.jpg At the hotel. https://i.imgur.com/e9l6uwhh.jpg Cool stuff going on in our parking lot when we got back from dinner. Managed to get back inside at a reasonable hour and catch plenty of sleep. Which turned out to be HUGE for what we were going to go through the next day. https://i.imgur.com/knLKaPCh.jpg |
Day 3: Wednesday Sept 12
Zmax Dragway - twice the lanes, 4 times the facility. Man, that place is huge. I've never been to a place where you could drive around the facility so long and never even know there was a 4 lane drag strip there. They were parking RVs there because of the hurricane, unbelievable amount of parking space there. Just wow. https://i.imgur.com/upXHtqth.jpg Unfortunately NHRA owns the rights to 4 wide so they were only running 2 lanes. https://i.imgur.com/lxQrhqDh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/p4Q6QN0h.jpg Boom! Not a personal best but the 10.62 @ 130 got us the Jeep ET record for Drag Week! Not a bad day at all, one and done again. We found out later that night that the 10.62 put us on the bump spot for the 32 car field. https://i.imgur.com/7iChXjZh.jpg Street tires back on but waiting for some cloud cover to re-pack. https://i.imgur.com/R1nfIslh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/0fGhqflh.jpg We spectated at the track until racing was done because they cancelled the official route again - the only requirement was to stop at Pat Musi's shop on the way out. No big deal we though, going to be a short drive and an early night. WRONG. Right as we were leaving we got word that the event leader Tom Bailey needed help getting parts. https://i.imgur.com/c0WjlgXh.jpg We were able to find the piston rings he needed in Mooresville at Prock Performance. Jeff Prock (yep, that Jeff Prock) was kind enough to open the shop for us and even gave us some shirts. Of course we had to get a picture of him with the Jeep. You can also see the tape on the hood - we decided on Sunday to run sealed hood for the week. It's a street car so why not. https://i.imgur.com/gcfRHCPh.jpg We got the rings back to Bailey and heard more bad news, they had hurt some bearings too. Not to worry, they had already sourced parts from a place in.... Mooresville. So back to Mooresville we go again. The shop turns out to be HED that builds a lot of the max effort heads-up engines and Lyle Barnett was the guy we were dealing with. Was already in a hurry and completely forgot to get a picture of him with the Jeep. But did get a picture of a car in the shop. https://i.imgur.com/HshulIuh.jpg Get back to Zmax again with the parts and a case of water. Oh yeah, forgot to mention water was like gold there. Every place was sold out because of the hurricane. Anyhow, they had found a damaged piston and were having it driven down from Michigan. We said our goodbyes and hit the road. Oh yeah, we need to get the picture in front of Musi's shop. Where's that? Mooresville again!!! https://i.imgur.com/2kBcnAlh.jpg Driving through the night on twisty mountain roads was not well advised for a lot of competitors. This poor guy wadded up a really nice car but luckily both driver and passenger were fine. https://i.imgur.com/ukpSOzhh.jpg Got to the hotel a little after 2am completely exhausted. Posted this picture on facebook just before I fell asleep which turned out to be a huge clue to some tricky friends. https://i.imgur.com/cCi2hh7h.jpg |
Day 4: Thursday Sept 13
Wake up, get showered, just about to head out to Thunder Valley and there's a knock on the hotel room door. 7:45 is kind of early for housekeeping. Turns out it's Mitch and his brother Tyler. Mitch is the owner of the shop that did the paint and body on my Jeep. They hopped in his Cobra Wednesday after work and drove through the night to Tennessee to surprise us. The picture I posted from the hotel room window gave them a clue about the type of hotel we were staying at but they had no idea what town we were even in. So they drove around all morning looking for the hotel with a blue Cherokee in the parking lot. Well, they found us. What a huge surprise, great friends! https://i.imgur.com/eYFdslnh.jpg Arrived at Thunder Valley. It should be noted that it was hot and I was exhausted before the day even started. Just let this be a one and done day, please? https://i.imgur.com/spGrZvbh.jpg This picture is especially cool because it's the same color as my buddy's old Dart that we used to raise hell with years back. The shifter handle from that car is in my Jeep now. https://i.imgur.com/IKKP9N9h.jpg Went out and made an outstanding pass for the crummy conditions. Grabbed the time slip and what?! It definitely did not run a 12.3 @ 127 on that pass. https://i.imgur.com/hmIXYKRh.jpg Assumed timing system error so went and got back in line again frustrated and still tired. Many other competitors were having the same issue. https://i.imgur.com/GQGUDKYh.jpg Wristband was starting to look how I was feeling. https://i.imgur.com/kMyb2y0h.jpg Another pass, another unexplained slow et with a bunch of mph. https://i.imgur.com/y34RB3yh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/p1sew4Sh.jpg At this point we realized that the starting line wasn't level and the Jeep was rolling backward out of the lights and starting the clock early. Solution: let's go in deeper, clutch in, step off the brake, floor it, and dump the clutch as quickly as possible. What could possibly go wrong? https://i.imgur.com/AaQEmSxh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dfthODCh.jpg |
Head to the starting line with that plan in mind. Launches surprisingly well for a completely different technique than I've ever tried. Rowing gears down the track. The shifter feels a little funny on the 2-3 shift. Still try the 3-4 and the whole handle breaks clean off. Yet another ruined pass. I can't buy a 10 second pass at Bristol.
https://i.imgur.com/F91dXI5h.jpg I had some tools in the Jeep and was able to pull the shifter boot at the end of the track and jimmy it into 3rd gear to limp back to the pits. One of our competitors had a spare handle in his Drag Week trailer and let us borrow it. Put the shift knob in the way, way wrong location but it was better than nothing. Got back in line for pass #4. https://i.imgur.com/BBcjWvfh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/bWODcmvh.jpg Everything goes off without a hitch this pass finally and all the frustration of the day pays off with a 10.74 @ 127. Because of the poor conditions a lot of our competitors ran slower that day and we actually moved up to #29 without improving our average. https://i.imgur.com/ri4VE75h.jpg Another awesome competitor welded up our broken shifter handle. https://i.imgur.com/RphXVnOh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/W2myimGh.jpg Longer day than we had planned and well past ready for sleep. But the hood's still sealed, we still have a good average, and we're ready to hit the road. https://i.imgur.com/w27GvaBh.jpg First check point. https://i.imgur.com/UjYRuhFh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XpSwaRPh.jpg Second check point. https://i.imgur.com/1tLZRZCh.jpg Last fuel stop before Atlanta Dragway! https://i.imgur.com/dTQNDELh.jpg Finally at the hotel, thoroughly exhausted. Went to sleep immediately. https://i.imgur.com/sKxIjeuh.jpg |
Day 5: Friday Sept 14
All the way back to Atlanta where we started. Got pitted between my Turbo Mopar friends and Tracy's Olds. What a sweet spot. https://i.imgur.com/udRzHq5h.jpg Friday had a different run order, they ran the top 40 of our class first so that they could set the run order for later in the day. https://i.imgur.com/bzX4Bgch.jpg https://i.imgur.com/NmFTerVh.jpg First pass in the morning was great! 10.61 @ 129, reset the Jeep record. Wanted to make a pass in the other lane to make sure there was no funny business like the day before. Clicked it off at the 60' because there was no need to make another full pass. https://i.imgur.com/EQm4JHih.jpg First sign-up on the stick shift list! https://i.imgur.com/04MstL6h.jpg Turning in final time slips. https://i.imgur.com/VRZrdaph.jpg It's official, final average 10.707, a Jeep record for Drag Week https://i.imgur.com/uylpNBfh.jpg Waiting for eliminations and staying out of the sun. For reference, we turned in our final time slip around 9am and didn't make our first elimination pass until almost 3pm. https://i.imgur.com/0BXZmt0h.jpg Out for a cruise with Tracy looking for some air to refill the tank. https://i.imgur.com/bRV9HyMh.jpg |
Got word that the top 32 had been compiled. We had bumped all the way up to #26. An all 10-second field!
https://i.imgur.com/JJ4nU06h.jpg One of the fast guys needed a welder so we finally got to break out the super booger welder. He was in impound so I couldn't do it for him. https://i.imgur.com/vrqrJvnh.jpg Since the welder was out, it was a good time to weld up some other stuff that we were waiting until it was convenient to do. https://i.imgur.com/mbgPjEoh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aJyyZnjh.jpg Finally get called up for eliminations. They're running the 32 of SME and the stick shift shootout at the same time. Crazy. I wasn't too bummed when I lost first round to a local friend. https://i.imgur.com/MbK0F36h.jpg Now onto the good part, the stick shift shootout! No bracket racing, heads-up, only rule is gotta have a clutch pedal. https://i.imgur.com/tcKEccJh.jpg First pass we had to line up with one of our Turbo Mopar buddies in his Shelby Daytona. That car was no slouch, had a 10.88 @ 136 average! He ended up having problems during the pass and I took the win. The timing system was having issues and said that I ran a 6.971 quarter mile. After my pass they shortened all racing to 1/8 mile because of the faulty electronics. Second round I got paired up with a super clean Coyote swapped Fairmont. He had run in the high 11s during the week which is close enough that if I missed a gear or flubbed the launch I could lose, especially since it was shortened to 1/8 mile. Luckily I had an uneventful pass and took the win. Third round I drew Freddy Cougar, a very consistent 12.3x car. Took the win again and moved on to the semifinals. Semifinals I got matched up with a mid 9 second fox body. My intercooler was so heat soaked from the multiple back to back hotlap passes and it laid over off the line so I let off and coasted. He laid down a great pass so it didn't matter anyhow. Losing was almost a relief, finally time to pack up and wind down. https://i.imgur.com/z2rkMFHh.jpg Went to the awards ceremony. They weren't posting results for the sealed hood cars all week and none of us really knew who was leading. My 10.707 was good enough for second place behind Don and Kathy Hoover's 10.704 2018 Demon. Was a good day for Gen3 hemi powered cars! Also was surprised to receive the quickest AMC award! https://i.imgur.com/GRgHoeih.jpg Post-race moonshine. https://i.imgur.com/4odHM2lh.jpg Got our post race celebration done before the rains rolled in. https://i.imgur.com/tZv6Wuzh.jpg |
Following the racing on Friday we were going to get some good food but it was rainy, every place was packed, and we were tired so we settled for fast food and called it an early night. Slept in and then hit the road for home.
Ran across this cool J10 and had to take a picture. https://i.imgur.com/w0pWEbBh.jpg Just cruising through the night at 80 mph in an old Jeep, nothing else like it. https://i.imgur.com/3MX8Xk9h.jpg How you know you're in Indiana - pulling tractors. https://i.imgur.com/RbA5uk1h.jpg Finally back home at 2:09am Sunday morning. 2805 miles total, 13 passes, and 9 states. Burned 29.44 gallons of 87 octane, 99.46 gallons on 93 octane, and 52.76 gallons of e85. Total average mileage of 15.4 mpg and had a couple 21 mpg tanks on gasoline. https://i.imgur.com/stG82lgh.jpg We did pretty alright with achieving goals on the week, got very lucky. 1. Finish the week (so I can enter the stick shift shootout) Check 2. Make the quick 32 Street Machine Eliminator field Check 3. Run 10s at every track Check 4. One pass and hit the road every day Fail 5. Beat the previous Jeep single pass record of 10.68 Check 10.61 6. Beat the previous Jeep record average of 10.96 Check 10.70 7. Maintain a sealed hood for the whole week Check Huge thanks to the people who helped get this Jeep together in the first place and those that helped get it ready for Drag week. And especially the best copilot in the game Mike. I think we outdid 2016 Drag Week, time to retire that hat to the trophy shelf. https://i.imgur.com/wtNKZUch.jpg |
And the full length version with all the video clips and pictures.
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Aftermath of Drag Week wasn't too bad. Lots of bugs and some rubber.
https://i.imgur.com/Mskjp8yh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LbHyxmkh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/r1PODpWh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yHh2Zhbh.jpg Quick wash job and she was good enough to drive into town without being too unsightly. https://i.imgur.com/5htE22uh.jpg |
A week after getting back from Drag Week I finally was able to get the new Jeep out on the autocross course.
Safe to say the Cherokee was the largest vehicle on course (except the new Challenger). https://i.imgur.com/llWvoFih.jpg https://i.imgur.com/IR8Yzwah.jpg https://i.imgur.com/G50vPJCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/A9Mc9OTh.jpg The parking lot was pretty old and deteriorated, not a lot of traction with all the marbles that kept getting knocked loose. And one big hole that kept getting bigger. https://i.imgur.com/9kI1J0eh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/pwBsIJzh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CAy8cXxh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/g0g6EJ4h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/cOo3J8Eh.jpg The width definitely hurt on this course and the low traction in the more open areas didn't let me carry speed where I could've made up some time. Still managed to get 27th out of 67 cars. I was pretty happy with that for the first time out. Benefit of having a Cherokee - ideal course takedown vehicle. https://i.imgur.com/QxrMAFCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Lw2a79Rh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/u6o42oBh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/j5EDEXPh.jpg |
At the end of September, I ran across a pair of my dream cars at a local cruise-in. Two Panteras in the same place is a great photo-op in of itself but I got to drive the yellow one! The hook is set, I have to have one. Someday...
https://i.imgur.com/i2JsX7ih.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LQ23pr0h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WDv59j7h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yqc55fLh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XDzCe9xh.jpg So low compared to what I'm used to. https://i.imgur.com/74m6u5Bh.jpg |
A bunch of my friends were going to the track on October 13 so I tagged along and ran. It became apparent that the clutch was starting to go, it wouldn't hit the tire off the line like I wanted it to. Still managed to run a new best of 10.38 @ 132.6 on a soft launch. All of the three passes I made were within a tenth and were quicker than my previous best time. Super happy with the results.
https://i.imgur.com/nXN2MJth.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XWIrnr4h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/sUfkuh4h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MjC3tFUh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/VdEhX0Bh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Cjoiur9h.jpg |
After 3 weeks of rainy weekends, we finally had a nice (but cold) Saturday on the last day of the season at our local track. Was planning on just watching because of the soft clutch but peer pressured myself into running. I was already set up for the autocross the next day and decided to just run it that way on the street tires. First pass on a super soft launch went 11.74 @ 129 which was within a couple tenths of my best on those tires. Second pass I left in second gear, slipped the clutch out, rolled on the power and it actually gripped. Had to pedal in 3rd but pretty uneventful after that, including the 4-5 shift. Figured it was a mid 11 second pass at best, was definitely surprised to see it was a 10.91 @ 130!!!! Went right back out and backed it up with a 10.90 @ 129.5, nearly identical numbers on the whole slip. Keep in mind that this is all on a 275/40zr17 Continental street tire stretched on an 11" wide wheel in a stick shift car. Unbelievable.
https://i.imgur.com/apSqTPCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Je9Xv4Hh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ElNq1d3h.jpg On my way back from the track I stopped for fuel in the tiny town of Middleville and ran across this 5.3 swapped turbo Marauder. The odds of two turbocharged modern engine swapped boats rolling into that small town gas station has to be waaay up there. https://i.imgur.com/WEaIbJEh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/3s297Guh.jpg |
The last autocross of the year had also been pushed back due to weather but they finally got a chance to sneak it in. So one day after running 10s on street tires at US131 Motorsports park, I'm back there in the morning to autocross through the pits.
Rainy drive there. https://i.imgur.com/Sydgpd3h.jpg Good variety of vehicles showed up. https://i.imgur.com/JVnrNAmh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/o2s60Klh.jpg Still fairly damp but at least it wasn't raining when the course was hot. https://i.imgur.com/PLPfhUXh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8RokOVnh.jpg My co-driver Jordan got 18th and I got 23rd out of 75 cars. This course was pretty nice to the big, wide Jeep and the shock adjustments definitely gained us some. I'm learning with every lap, can't wait to do more next year. https://i.imgur.com/Hkne0msh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/giTPFhSh.jpg And another rainy drive home. https://i.imgur.com/SjKbcL9h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/IkiNk9Gh.jpg |
One of the Furrin Group members got a bunch of photos from the US131 autocross. Pretty neat to see.
https://i.imgur.com/F2T1nfeh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8GlrMGwh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ShZMhqkh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kKxxLqnh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/TK4mjlRh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/L3W8goWh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ihErFeUh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/GVzM1Yjh.jpg |
It's super-cool to see this cruck (trar?) getting used and abused. If the world were based solely on potential, you'd have to earn (read: buy) a certificate to hang out at cars-n-coffee events, but only after graduating from first, second, third, fourth, fifth grade (etc., ad nauseum). You are doing it right, dude!:flashie:
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Fantastic pics!! Love watching this thing get beat on like a rented mule...
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After that last drag day and autocross of last year, the clutch was just about done. Not unexpected since it was pretty rough looking when I got it used. Replaced with a new stock Hellcat clutch.
Dust just from unbolting the bellhousing. https://i.imgur.com/T9bSH09h.jpg Flywheel still looks the same as when I installed it used. https://i.imgur.com/D78Ydrvh.jpg You can see the thickness difference between the old and new disc. https://i.imgur.com/dIeRMhXh.jpg Major difference in preload between old and new. https://i.imgur.com/gMJ0mc8h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/5WVjEDfh.jpg |
Had a small winter project. Finally got my hands on a Majorette 1:64 Cherokee from Bulgaria ebay. Lowered, wheel swap, painted, added weight. I have a hot wheels drag strip with full timing system, it's one of my quicker modified cars.
https://i.imgur.com/LPbi5bah.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BvbKiOCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Zla8EM6h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Risgc7ah.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jpeKJH4h.jpg |
Winter updates to the Jeep were all electrical. Added a driveshaft speed sensor, electronic boost control, and a line lock. I mounted the switches in an old torched piston from my nitrous days.
Left switch is line lock arm, left button is line lock enable. Right switch is launch control. If the switch is enabled, vehicle speed below 1 mph, and clutch in, the launch rev limiter is set, boost builder enabled, and line lock set. When either of those three conditions are broken, rev limiter releases, boost vs time starts, and line lock releases. Right button is rolling antilag. https://i.imgur.com/Ewg2r6fh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Q3cWqcAh.jpg Excuse the mess. https://i.imgur.com/lA73ruCh.jpg |
Went to the first test and tune of the year at US131 at the beginning of April. Quite a learning curve with the new launch strategy. Previously I was leaving at 6300 rpm with no boost and rolling the clutch out. Now I'm leaving at lower rpm on a 2 step on boost and ramping in boost down track. Still have to work on it but did get it to 1.5x sixty and 10.50 @ 133. Pretty pleased for the first time out. The tire is much happier than before.
https://i.imgur.com/AN7DXkbh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ziIIihJh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/NKc8S0Vh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Qh2FNwBh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ZIvAVFzh.jpg Had to call it quits early because it developed a brake shake. Yep, drilled rotors that came with the front end kit failed. https://i.imgur.com/JyOhVaHh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/WvjzVZwh.jpg |
Was invited back to be on display during the Autocraft Custom Collision open house. Showed up a little early to swap out the radiator that had sprung an un-fixable leak. That removable front clip sure is convenient.
https://i.imgur.com/9xPun5Nh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jS1rl0ph.jpg https://i.imgur.com/1qfZwJTh.jpg |
Made a trip to Chicago and on the way back stopped at US12 Speed and Custom for some quick dyno pulls. Just made two at slightly different boost levels and called it good. 720 whp and 840 ft-lbs. Way more than expected.
Night before. Good camping spot. https://i.imgur.com/lDct26ch.jpg Without a doubt, my favorite car (truck) at US12. https://i.imgur.com/t7IR9j1h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YO1qg5gh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Ki2oPDGh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/g135GkFh.jpg Strapped down. https://i.imgur.com/lJtPoW4h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/lxiNnTVh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Bv4HV82h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CqmaiXEh.jpg And my cruising buddy Eric. https://i.imgur.com/3q6DU2Bh.jpg |
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