A 30 year journey, and a 2nd chance.

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Ok in hindsight I went and looked up that time slip, It was a bad light, but the ET was not as bad as the light made me feel, but anytime you line up against someone from the Emmons Clan from Pasadena, TX, expect to get a workout. I know now, what I did not know then (I had yet to meet them yet other than through a glass window in the other lane my first National Event competing, and I was paying more attention to myself and my car, than I was who was in the other lane), as I had raced up till then all over SoCal, NorCal, the Western Div. 7, a couple of deep southern 1/8th mile tracks (that I could not today even find on a map if I tried), when travelling to and from CA to to FL for 3 Winter Bracket Series in the mid 80's...83, 84, and 85...then when I went again not racing, but as a Contingency sponsor and distributor of Nathan's Wax in 88 I think, via Missouri, and always just drove straight through that 24 hr loooong drive across the Great State of Texas and never had raced in Div. 4...only had a season under my belt in Stk. Elim thus far.

But I did recognize those Black and Yellow Pyroil/Valvoline Cars (there was a bunch of em, so they were very hard to miss), and Valvoline/Pyroil was also the fluid Mfg/Dist. Sponsor that year (Every National Event you were entered in, you went to the Mfg. Midway and chose your products, A case of oil, another trans fluid, and other products like brake fluid, injector cleaner, etc., I never changed my oil so much in my whole life as that year.

I had nothing but time between events but to drive (find a track with a bracket event), and attempt to pick up some cash along the way in what I was a lot better at than class racing yet, so it was find a track racing along the way, change oil and compete until you reached the next Div. or Nat. event on my schedule or sit in a motel/hotel room and be bored. the car was ok, as was I at slow roll bracket racing...But, I learned I really don't like 1/8 mile racing in a snail. The Deep South was full of those then.

Back at home I pulled out the Transaxle for the second time in a week, 3rd time ever, and all 3 times on the ground car up on jackstands and not on a lift. Tody would rather pull the engine out completely with it attached then just the transaxle alone, but what did I know, I was a lot younger and stupid (I pulled the converter out), checked the converter to pump seal, no issue there, but found a tiny pinhole leak in the weld around the balloon weld, it was leaking, wasn't a bad leak, but it left a quarter inch wide band of fluid around the center of the inside of the bell housing that was sealed up on the bottom by an inspection plate w/ a single bolt, and running it would put out a drop a minute or two. (This was a very tiny leak, but a leak all the same. And I'm leaving on nearly a 3,000 mile trip before I will arrive in Jacksonville, FL.

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So, I called T.C.I. (and he said no way is there a pinhole in that converter), and I was running out of time (it is brand new under warranty, not going to have anyone else rework it...weld it, the converter works well, I had just run the 2 fastest passes back to back ever in the car in Q2/Q3, I need TCI to fix it only), I sealed the pinhole with epoxy (they can wire brush that off later), got a small loaf pan (like a tiny banana nut bread loaf), drilled a hole in it where the inspection plate bolt is located, stuck a sham wow shammy folded over in the bottom of that pan inside to soak up anything if it were to leak, and bolted on protection. And hit the road after loading up, headed for Chandler and Nat. Event #2.

Arrived and prepped the car and headed to tech. then a pre-race fuel ck after doing my thing, and sure enough they saw it in tech and asked (I told them what was up, and he said can you pull it off for me?). Sure...It took me a min and a 10mm wrench. He looked in the pan, and there was only a dime sized drop on the shammy material, asked how far I drove it and I said 3.5 hrs., and he handed it back and said put it back on, we would rather you not even leak a drop, and it appears to not be performance enhancing. Nobody ever even looked at that pan again at a National or Divisional event until after the Gainsville event...I think the word travelled to the east coast before I got there amongst Tech Inspectors.

But, after Gainsville, later when I got to Commerce, GA, the same Tech inspector from PHX was there, and he looked up underneath, laughed and said, ahhhh you got it fixed (that pan was gone). There is more to that story later.

I will not bore you with all the PHX. race details, let it suffice to say I received an arse whoopin from Jerry Emmons Round #1 (Emmons Brother 2 so far through 2 events 1st round(s), and Dad Harver ll ,and 1994's National Champ Harvey lll is wearing the #1 on his car is still out there, and guess where I am headed next? Div. 4 Ennis, TX and their home turf for The 1st Div. race of the trip, then Houston, TX for a Nat. Event. (Phx did require a coil replacement after Q-2, and I picked up some parts to add a New Autometer Fuel Pressure Gauge, a fuel petcock for easy sampling and Earls fittings and braided lines. Additions to be done along the way during long waits). The weather was great in PHX, hotel issues though I would not bore anyone with, and while My stuff was in my pit, under a tarp and blanket at Wild Horse (called Firebird Raceway in those days), in the middle of the night, right next to a friend's motorhome bedroom window, someone local (not necessarily a racer, as it had happened there a year before also), went through my stuff...only a couple of minor items missing, I had taken all really valuable stuff with me to the motel (including the car).

But, that will set a stage for the next installment.

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I leave PHX (after attempting to sell 5 gals of fresh VP C-12 in 1 of my fuel jugs, no takers @ $7.50 a gal it is going with me), heading south and east, next race Ennis, Tx, and about 20 miles from the Ft. Worth Outerplex on I think it was I-20 one of Texas DPS's finest is sitting in the center in the grass, I look down, I'm cool right on the speed limit, but he whips out anyway and pretty much just wants to ck. the vehicle for any illegal substances or contraband.

Parking at the track is tonight, still a ways to go, and just before sunset now, He would like me to unload everything on the side of the road, I have zero worries (ok, except the 5 gals of race gas in that fuel jug, but he already looked at that, smelled it and capped it back up satisfied it was only gasoline in a red jug), and he just wants his buddy's dog to do a walk around.

As I am unloading all of a sudden this feeling comes over me...I AM OK...but, someone went through much of my stuff 2 nights ago, crap...What if?

The dog shows up, sniffs around, and does not alert to anything of course, they left and let me load it aall back up. Guess who was working the event the next few days? Yup, same 2 Texas DPS Officer, we talked and I related what happened to me in PHX, and my momentary thoughts the night before, and they both laughed and simply said, yeah...That could have been bad.

He said you were cool and I knew it the minute you said ok and started unloading while I watched you. It's just our job, and we knew where you were heading.

Ennis (4 days 2/23-2/26), incl. a test and tune day before was great, until it rained us out just before 1st round, delayed to 3/11-3/12 (at first, then again after Houston, the Ennis Div. 4-1 was resched. for June something, and I will never make it back, they eventually refunded my entry for the race without issue and only charged me for the Test day!. (Heeeey I escaped a race without being slaughtered by an Emmons boy!) LMAO

Of course I didn't go any rounds, but had a total of 10 passes at the Texas Motorplex, the car is ok, but nowhere near a fast in TX as it was in CA, but the lights were better, just not in competition. (At least I truly met the Emmons Clan Of Texas, all of them), and they made me feel right at home, a great group of people, it was fun and relaxed until the skies opened up and poured buckets like you would not believe.

I leave Dallas heading for Houston and can barely see the road ahead as I am heading south on the Interstate, not 20 or so miles from the track, and Blue lights flashing in the rear view mirror. Crap what now, I was only doing like 35 mph, as was everyone else, and a different DPS officer again comes to my window in his smokey hat, and full on rain slicker, it is flat pouring out, just opening my window a crack and I am getting soaked inside the car, and he asks me If I would mind unloading everything on the side of the road in a deluge!

My eyes are huge, and I say are you serious? Then he smiles and says "as a heart attack"..."which is what you almost just had", then I hear this roar of laughter and sure enough the same 2 officer's from the track were standing at the rear of the car, laughing like crazy, while he explains they put him up to it and I could merrily go on my way now.

3/2-3/6/95 First Q- pass at Houston was a 16.90 -.550 Under with a .004 light (.504) in those days, but you know, things change...And, some things don't, as I was qualified #23 after Q-1, the highest so far to date, and in came the rain and washed all the fun out. The race will be entirely re-run (because the grass spectator parking lot was a mud pit and it will take 2 days just to pull all the cars and trucks out), We will re-run the entire event next week 3/9-3/12/95! (There goes that ok #23 Q Spot!) I cannot win for losing. 2 event dates in a row though and I have not be whacked by another Emmons! (in fact...NHRA transferred my rained out Ennis entry to the upcoming Baton Rouge Div., and The Emmons clan (Family), invited me to stay near them and set me up at the Pasadena Motor Inn near them (arranged a decent rate for me through local friends & invited me to the house for a few BBQ's and I had a great time visiting w/ new friends!

When I wasn't having a great time over the next 10 days I was playing with and testing 3 different cams, and actually picked up a crew chief for the Re-Sched. Houston race from Liberty Chrysler Plymouth who had parts and sponsor help. (Dad) Harvey, Jr. introduced us.

That 10 days was really a blurr, but I have notes, and had a great time while I was luckily marooned amongst new friends in South Texas! (The boys house at that time had as many Wally's, other Trophies and awards as Don Garlits Musuem in Ocala, FL!

I really appreciated my time with them, their hospitality was amazing, and cannot wait to see the men (cannot call them boys any more), again in the near future and was really sry and sad to hear they lost their Dad not too long ago.

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3/9-3/12, 1995 Houston, TX Nat'l Event was re-run, I actually won a round, and then the next round (as the fuelers were warming up, both dragsters and Funny Cars, I get my green and this huge red tinged cloud of unburned Nitro fumes wafts across the track, and I drive right into it, and I am now waaaay out on the other guy (not an Emmons though), I stand on the brakes, no smoke or sliding and just go through ahead and take the stripe and break out 13 hundredths. (warm up nitro clouds are no fun in a slow car..."I love the smell of Nitromethane, but My eyes were watering in the car with the windows rolled up and the vents closed, and for sure my lil' throttle body was sucking in all it could). I actually felt it pick up a bunch and the tach shot up faster than usual, and I could feel the break out coming by half track but there was not a thing I could do until late in the run, as he was a fast car. I just carried him by just too much. He was an A or a B car, I think Blue with White Stripes an Early 70's GT500 Mustang? My mph at 660' was up over +10 from all prior runs and I was down by 6 MPH at the stripe attempting to whoa up and not give it up. The light on either side wasn't anything to write home about, but were close together .036/.037 in his favor. What a crazy race, the car is still running ok, but the cam that is in it now is coming out, because it is not as good as another for consistency (even without Nitro fumes hanging heavy in the air).

Hey, I can laugh about the season from heck as this is 2.5 decades later, it has been fun and a nightmare all at once (still living the dream). Lol.

Next up Baton Rouge, LA -Div. 4 At least the entry is already paid as Div. 4 Director transferred Ennis entry to B.R., LA (where Harvey, Jr. says Imma gonna have some Louzianna Gumbo, and we gonna suck the heads off some crawwwwdads next! And he was surprised I did.

(So far completed 3 Nat's-1 rnd win/0 Div., and I squeezed in 1 Bracket race night in N.M. runner up, 2 in TX so far quarters and semis, and it isn't paying the bills.

Last thing though for Houston... Bob Frey with NHRA Today approached me early in Houston and said to me..."Is it true you are driving your Budget Stocker on Tour?" I said yes Bob, and he asked if we could do a 20 minute segment or something, I said sure, and during some downtime, we drove off property together and down a road by a bunch of trees and they had me drive up and down the road like I was travelling back and forth between tracks for B roll footage, then they sped it up in the clip and the accompanied interview happened about the experience so far, and it was fun, the final cut was like half the entire NHRA Today Episode and my wife taped it for me at home, it was an added bit of a surprise.

Glad I am having fun, because things with the car are going to go down hill only on the racetrack though, and pretty much never gets better. That bug of (what I just found out in 2022, and confirmed in May 2023 - a full throttle instant on off, on off, vacuum leak), that all the time in 1995 seemed like it was an ECU Rev Limit feature has always been there after the finish line since a bracket race long ago in Vegas, is about to start showing up at about 5,200 RPM in each gear, or actually anytime I go pedal to the metal (full throttle), for 2 seconds or more. and it is going to drive me crazy and cost a lot of money and zero good racing results.

It also affects the bracket racing, but not as much as the class racing. And it gets progressively worse over time.

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I messed up, sry...Gainsville is next up, after a trip to Jacksonville to visit relatives, then back to Baton Rouge, LA.

On the way to Florida I start having road trip issues, do the key flop dance and read ECU Codes...My MAP Sensor is no good, find a dealership, they hook up their Diag tool and the MAP needs replacing along with the ECU. I keep my ECU core though. Back on the road, (about 3 days in Gainsville with family I had not seen in years (My uncle has a beautiful Red Cuda he has had since I was a kid, and he loves Drag Racing, so he will meet me in Gainsville for a few days later), I did not have the time to pull the converter and get it fixed in JAX at TCI, back on the road & ck into the HoJo in Gainsville Motor Hotel. I prep at the track, and another Stock Racer Bernie Cunningham approaches me and says are you really staying in a hotel/motel, yup...He says I have a motorhome, my generator, trailer and racecar, and have the empty bed over the cab, rent from me, we will split/ share the weekly grocery bills and generator gas /water costs, and food cooking together, and we will just stay at the track together and travel together if you want and we work out the details. I explain sometimes I will go off alone to other events on my schedule that are not together with his (some Div. events I was attending elsewhere and some E.T. brackets, but the Nat. Events it works out). I would just meet up with him at the next venue.

The car is running tops now on the road, lets see on the track. Gainsville, FL, my miss is now at 5,000 RPM in each gear when full throttle it leaves hard, accelerates perfectly and about 5,000 it just pops and nose dives like hitting a rev limiter, and picks back up and runs fine to top of each gear, shift and does it again...every pass! Lights are ok, but the E.T. suffers and cannot even dial it well this way. Glad no heads up races.

I try everything, putting all 3 of my avail. ECU's in 1 at a time...and it does the very same thing (only at differing RPM's consistently, 5,000 on ECU 1, 5,200 on ECU 2, and 5,300 on ECU 3.....Not consistent between ECU's though, so I think since all of them are rebuilds (as they do not make new ones as the 1984 TBI is a 1 yr only model specific ECU they just keep rebuilding and recoding and selling them...today I have a collection of 7 of them, and they all test good)...Am chasing a bug and chasing my tail, and burning dollars but, far from home, entry's are pre-paid, I am not giving up pressing forward, chasing under hood vacuum lines and wiring is not solving the issue, reading my multiple Hanes and Chilton manuals I have with me, but I do not have a full dealer Repair Manual set, and back then the dealer's only had those (I have a full set now! in 2023).

At Gainsville in the lanes at the Gators awaiting Q-3, a local fan approaches me and we get to talking about my slow sled, and he is a very nice friendly guy, and he says, while you are in town, if you need to do anything to your car, I have a dyno tuning, and repair shop about 3 miles from here downtown (and it is the slow time of year), and you are welcome to come work on your car in my shop if you have needs at all, I have 3 lifts, a roller dyno and maybe we can work out that issue you are having...yeah you could not help but notice.

And I told him I really needed to pull my converter out and send it to TCI at JAX then reinstall it, and in the meantime maybe we could together attempt to chase down this other issue that is costing me a ton of losses , but mainly all my passes are now junk except a lot of great tree practice (1 mediocre .026 light, and all the rest at Gainsville were -.004 to .006...and I can deal with all of those, but the E.T's were crazy slow just barely under the index, and 1 pass just over it.

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I accepted the offer he was so kind to give, and I told Bernie I was going to send my converter to JAX, see if could trace this issue down at the Dyno shop here in town, then head to Baton Rouge and catch up with him in Atlanta (South of), as he was going to park the motor home in a sponsor friends driveway for a while before we need to go to Commerce, GA Nat. event. (I was still having fun, and getting to know EFI, even if it was the bad side of EFI, I was gaining a lot of knowledge and experience with the car, some bad, a lot good, and I was not doing it alone as a lot of good people were attempting to help diagnose it also. Later even a Chrysler Engineer who helped design and test, then race these G Body, K car derived nightmares attempted to help, he was as dumbfounded as everyone else, to the point of actually checking my timing and then he put it up on the actual rev limiter for me to the point I thought he was going to blow that tiny 2.2 to smithereens. (that was well after I was back home in AZ months later, and down in Surprise, AZ at Speedworld)
He by hand just layed that throttle body wide open and held it there until it screamed and went bab,bab,bab,bap.

I slowly stepped away from the engine bay, and have no idea what RPM it actually reached to hit the true rev limit feature (but it did, and he said it awww it won't blow up, and smiled with a sly grin, then said it is not the ECU doing that , but dang if I know what it is, said good luck and walked away, and it was a totally different sound than the eventually found vacuum leak.


Note**I know what it was now in 2023, so very hard not to call it what it was...

A huge full throttle instantaneous large vacuum leak, that causes an instant backfire or instant loss of power...my guess is it was sucking so much vacuum so fast, that it simply was blowing the plug spark out for 1 or 2 holes), all because 2 seconds into full throttle it (the ECU, was opening a stinking fuel tank vapor solenoid, and there was a cracked line back above the gas tank attached to the rollover vent line. And the cracks in the rubber line were getting worse over time.

I was absolutely going nuts and nothing I (we), did fixed the issue. We went to his Dyno Shop, I pulled the Transaxle again, boxed up the converter overnighted it to JAX, and TCI reworked it, called me to apologize (said yes, it had a pinhole in the weld...NO CHARGE), and sent it back right away overnight, 1 day it was back all fixed, I reinstalled it, worked on electrical, vacuum lines, under dash, in engine bay, just replaced anything I could think of or see, then once the transaxle was back in we strapped it to his dyno (and that was a scary thing to do, as the FWD car I was facing a concrete block wall about 3' from the front bumper and doing full pulls...4 was enough for me, it just does not feel right!

The issue was still there but a lot milder, like manageable milder, that is probably looking back because I was going down on the pedal lighter and slower than on a dragstrip and it wasn't actually going wide open the same, so the ECU did not trigger the same. at this point I was sure it was a rev limit feature in the ECU or ignition related, Coil, Distro, or Power Module, Wires, something else.

Now off to Baton Rouge to meet back up with The Emmons folks. div 4 race 2, but 1 I was withdrawn from. Car driving just great on the highway, even better than usual, and no more bread pan, & no leaks. getting even better mileage too. (Computer cars are nuts...until you find out it is a simple mechanical failure because it is fully hidden unless you drip the tank). And here we are 28 years later, and all the same electronics are still on that car and everything is fine today.

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If you have never been to the NHRA Sanctioned Dragstrip in Baton Rouge, LA...It is a sea level track wayyyy back in da swamps on a bayou. Spanish Moss hanging from all the trees, and you better pick up on the Cajun dialect really fast or ugonmissout oueverthin.

It is a great place, with some great people, not bad hook, faster paced than you would think it would be, some great food and friends to meet, and if you would even think about attempting to climb and possibly sit on those really rusted up (at least back in 1995), at one time way in the past stands you may have called 'bleachers" or seats, check you last tetanus shot date first!

At least their "grand"-stand date was long past expired.

A fun place, my lights again wer ok to good, but the same stupid issue, just missed running the number. (it was very humid and it was flat slow there, 1/8 mile and Q times).

Off To south of Atlanta to meet up w/ Bernie, and by the time I arrived he said he had been researching something for me, and we are headed to a local GA Salvage Yard to see a certain 1983 Dodge Omni (Carbed Edition), and excise some parts from it. The Mopar Electronic Spark Control Box and the harness to coil box, and back to the Hall Effect Distro. $35.00 Bucks and a few minutes later we are back and installing it on my car, and checking voltages at all the TPS, MAP, Coolant Temp Sensors, everything we can to see if there is anything that did not show up on the Chry. Dealer's diag. run.

We chisel / numeral marked via a degree wheel installed on the crank, and and then through the bellhousing timing window the converter starting at TCI's 0 mark and knowing we were at TDC all 360 degrees around that new converter, so we can see initial and Total easily with a timing light. Once around 10's wide chisel, once around 5's narrower chisel, then, all the way around in between dots, then added the numerals with steel stamps at each ten mark, Zero is Painted white.

That must be also aligned for the timing belt too, and not easy as it is on opposite side of the car, 2 person operation.

the Spark box took control of Spark and Timing functions away from the Power Module but not the ECU, and it actually runs better on the box/module, it does not jump around like when the power module controls spark., pretty much reducing the PM to operate the injector and only other minor functions, small pkg, easy 3 bolt spare replace in 3 mins...Or, i can just plug back in the stock system and switch over the + and - coil leads. And it is back on the PM in control of spark and timing. It has been on the car ever since.

All sensors ck'd out, but we replace and calibrated a new TPS anyway, a new Coolant Temp Sensor, he dug out of his electronic box a couple of dial type potentiometers, wired 1 up, gave me a spare, and we had a dial Base parameter Rich/Lean dial that using temp voltage ranges fools the MAP into sending constant elevation type reading.