Re: Dumbo The Flying Elephant
 

Are we there yet?

Re: Dumbo The Flying Elephant
 

Wow what a day racing trying to get to Beach Bend. We were working in the piles program. You thi pile goes here and this pile goes in the trailer. Time to load Dumbo he always wants top shelf stuff. At about 9:00 am the door dropped to the ground. I unlatched the last latch and the heavy door hit the ground hard enough that it bent under its own weight. If the door would have hit me I would be a foot shorter and in the hospital.

It turns out that over the winter the hoist ran broke a 3/8 Cat eye bolt and ran the battery down. Plus it was all Jamed up and had to disassemble to-get it out of the trailer We spent all day chasing parts and making it fit. It had remote control and a plug in hand held controller. End of the day we had it under control. Finished loading closing the rear door and noticed the flap is still down. The door won?t go down or up. We quit for the night and wil get back to it in AM

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Saw a stacker door slam down on a coworker once. Someone had been working on the cable and had it disconnected when my guy gave the door a yank it slammed down on him.Broke his back and ribs and ruptured other stuff. Took four of us to lift that door off of him. He survived but was off work for several months. So glad you're ok.

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It gets way better, the truth is stranger than fiction. I?ll fill y?all in after we get to Indy.

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We?re at Indy after a quick trip to the local track on Saturday. But to roll the clock back to to Friday around 9 PM when the door would not move. The cable jumped the spool and disengaged the dog by wrapping around the shaft so tight it held the door in place. Patsy call Chris and asked him to help us at 6 AM Saturday morning. We are still trying to get to BG for Q3 Saturday AM. Needless to say we didn?t make it. In the meantime we shimmed the winch to remove the high side on the motor end. Removed half of the cable so as to keep cable within the spool. Taped the cable in place with a small ball pean hammer to give it memory on the spool.
It has preformed well since.
Got parked at Indy, arrived today at 5 and got parked by 5:30. Had Dinner with friends and I?m heading to bed. Tomorrow agenda clean car and fresh tires.

We are parked next to the Boss Ken Miele

Re: Dumbo The Flying Elephant
 

Today was a good day with friends and new acquaintances. The cat?s out of the bag, Jim and Pam Marshal are racing my red 1986 Chevy Pick Up truck. We were able to keep it a secret all summer long. How well it qualifies is up to the qualifying gods. I don?t know about other classes but whoever wins FS/D will be more than deserving. It looks like last year, 17 Chevy COPO?s vs the Dumbo Dodge.
Win, lose, or draw, it?s Indy with dog eat dog competition and a congratulatory handshake at the end of the track, with the underlying thought of I?ll get you next year.
It?s bed time for the Elephant Trainer.

More tomorrow

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Fresh rubber from the great Goodyear team, these folks work there butts off at the track. Caris a little over weight due to the fat as driver and no place to adjust. Q1 today.

Re: Dumbo The Flying Elephant
 

Camaros be stalking Larry first round of class.

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All the COPO?s vs the elephant. Mr Vic?s stuff if way fast and he has had equal time to sort his new car out. I knew this year would not be much fun since he had 2MPH on us last year. This year his ET is in line with his MPH and that?s bad news for the rest of us. We tried to head him off at the pass but all the horses didn?t show up. Everyone will have some fun but not as much as others.
Safe racing to all.

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Well we are in the FS/D Class final?s. Mr Vic blew the tires off and Butter went straight down the track. I had the bye and took the green. It is the Elephant and the Butter COPO.

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Way to go, Larry Hill !!!!!
Congrats !

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Yep , all that work paid off!

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Step 1, qualify, check!
Step 2, win class, check!
Step 3, Go rounds!

Go Dumbo Go!

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I?ll be honest, we have enjoyed ourselves the past few days not having to work on Dumbo. Dumbo needs some help in 60? but I checked with the starter and they will not allow a few mice to be between the water box and the starting line.
It?s been fun but we need to test to try to get close to Mr Vic.

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Can you dangle a peanut in front of the grille? :D

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I checked with NHRA and they would consider it a stripe taker.

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I need to improve drive ability.

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Travis Buth beat the snot out of me. He was better on the tree and ran dead on with a five. And I had nothing for that. I hop in the motor home and it?s Travis at the door with a model car of a pink Cuda as a gift to us. It is really a nice piece. We had a great time with our new power from Comp Cams and guidance fro some very smart people.
School has started and it?s time for me to be a grandpa again.

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We had a good Indy. Got to work with our son on the strategy of running class and him making changes. The car did amazingly well considering with the new parts changing what the car wanted. Motor home, trailer, and the rest of the support stuff worked well. I?m very happy with the engine and all the help I have received this past year to make the engine a player in the game.
The weakness in the program was me the driver. I created a vacuum behind the wheel.

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Congratulations on a great Indy. I figured the Red Truck was coming out of the barn. How many decade U S Nationals has the Hill family got under their belt as #1 qualifier? I see 4 on the back of the truck but thought there were some before that. Great accomplishment no matter what the number.

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Larry,
Your experience and knowledge is a positive and not a weakness. You are placing too much pressure on yourself to be the top dog in FS/D despite taken the trophy the past two years. Victor wishes he was in your shoes. I agree the sixty needs work. MPH is noteworthy but ET is where the trophy is won. Dave Lebrun taught me that if you maximize the sixty foot number your ET will benefit exponentially. Test, test, test.

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Thank you to Patsy and Larry for taking time to chat with us at the BIG GO. Really enjoyed your DUMBO and the feather story. From two of your Canadian fans !

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I've really enjoyed following along these past few months. Great insight as to what is required to build a fast stocker motor. Thanks for letting us in.

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The cartoon Dumbo move by Walt Disney around 1940 is one of my favorite childhood movies. As I get older and start to enter my second childhood it is still one my all time favorites. It?s a story about a baby elephant (a 392 and not the full size elephant 426) that could Fly.

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Nice

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Back to work. Change oil and filter, transmission, and fix an electrical issue. Run the valves and generate a thank you list. Dumbo?s success is a result from help and ideas from some really smart and knowledgeable individuals. I?m just the listener and assembler.

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Knowing how to listen and understand what is being offered is very important.

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Changing transmissions is not as easy as it sounds. Had to fab a cooling line. Install two different length studs for the shield and the shifter to mount to. Trim the case so the shield will fit. Drill the trans pan to fit a weld in bung. Find the proper fitting for a .187" Dia. probe to pickup trans temp. Fix the misalignment issue between the trans and the rear mount. Retie the wiring harness to keep off of headers. Clean bottom of car it's a wreck..

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Larry,
Did you change to a different style or type of transmission?
Bill

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Only a ratio change. Going to MoParty in BG this weekend.

We are very disappointed in NHRA?s response to the Factory X situation. We had plans to go to Tulsa next week now we are not so sure. It is obvious that NHRA lacks the internal resolve to enforce rules as written.
My apologies this is a build thread not a forum for policy.

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Every time I speak with a racer or a vendor they tell me something I need to know. The information most times does not register immediately but it floats to the top in due time.

Thank you list

Jeff Teuton, Dale Alto, Gary Jennings, Bill Godbold, JJ and all the Goodyear guys, Jeff Taylor Performance, Chris Potter, Dallas Moss, Brad Rounds, Jon Robinson, Charlie Westcott, Brad Van Lant, Geoff Turk, Kevin Helms, Randy Eakins, Jimmy Ronzello, Brad Buxton, Ben Strader, Total Seal, Joel Rabe, Danny Byrd, Bryan Bickersly, Mike Fuller, George Widuch, Jerry Bennet, Doug Duell, Matt, Dennis Breeden, I almost forgot our friend Miss Alice, Pro Trans. All the presenters at the PRI show for the seminars that gave me ideas on how to help solve the mystery of trying to build HP. A special thanks to Robin Lawrence for helping an old dog learn about EFI, None of this would be possible without the help our son Chris Hill and the great people at IHM Used Parts

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I have a confession to make. The Sunday before dyno day about 6:30 am I gave up on making Indy. I could not get the cam lash adjusted like I wanted. Twenty minutes later after some soul searching I decided that the steel and aluminum was not smarter than me. The intermission allowed me to get the stuff better. Fatigue is a sneaky enemy.

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I have read all about your car in this thread, but had not seen it until Bobby was doing his In The Lanes Video at Indy and he went on camera down to your driver's side door and it all made sense.

After my Mom passed away years ago I found a black and white pic of myself and my Mom (early circa 1960's tow headed and a huge smile on me w/my 2 front upper baby teeth missing from my very first trip to Disneyland as you may have guessed...in the air riding that Historically highest grossing "B-ticket ride" (BTW according to Walt Disney's inner accountancy notes I recently saw in a Y.T. video -Least cost to run-least upkeep, more riders served, smaller costs to operate historically), Dumbo
The Baby Elephant ride.

I too am in a second childhood, it made me smile, and think back to simpler days when Bobby panned down to your door.

It fits Larry!

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I was hoping to see Dumbo run in Tulsa, sure hope you decide to come see us Okies.

Bill

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That?s our plan Tulsa next week.

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We got Dumbo back to decent numbers for 60 feet. I?m still missing something but getting closer.

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Don?t know what went wrong but something happened. Oil on the firewall, headers, and under car. Drained the oil it maybe a quart low and looked real good. No holes in block or pan. It looks like pressure may have built up in the engine high enough to push the gaskets out. The odd side cylinders ran hot enough to blister the paint on the floor pan. Of course the O2 sensor is in the even bank. That won?t happen again. I may have to get a bigger alternator to run more 02s.

On the bright side we get to watch our granddaughter play in a volleyball tournament this weekend

On a positive note I installed my Derby City fender cover and it fit like a glove. Thanks again MJ

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So glad that I had the opportunity to make a BIB for DUMBO ……..:)

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We should find out something today when I get the engine on the bench. I did find a missing pipe plug in the intake manifold and it made a big mess.
Later

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Pulled the engine out and put it on the bench. Valve adjustment was within .002. Plugs looked OK. Leak down was OK. Is anyone ever satisfied with the leak down? Missed the volleyball tournament, they Won, getting the car ready to go to the 50th Door Slammers in Louisville. The decision was made to finish the event Saturday due to weather. I found that out yesterday on my evening break. Missed the tournament and a grade point. We should make St Louis.