A 30 year journey, and a 2nd chance.

[Cglrcng]

Ok, if you have read my novel so far and are still with me...This is the rest of the story....The major changes, the why's, when's, and what for's...On the Struggle Bus, and off to an OK Start by Thursday Oct. 5, 2023! (Not great, but OK, it still never saw a 16 sec Pass, but only because it was not forced to...).

When I re-installed the engine. I Put a brand new cam...at least new to me (a custom ground 1 off Reed Cam from GA), that was a National Record holder in an EF/S Stick Manual Truck w/ a 2.2L/135 that set both ends of the record in 2003. That cam has a ton of overlap & duration (but no cam card, I only know it is, a 106 CL cam, and it measures .444E/.432I (my max Spec lift is .445/.445), with a solid adj. lifter at the retainer w/ zero lash set (it has some really funky lobes), it really made the car sound alive and mean as can be, but in reality I do not currently have a loose enough converter to make it work yet. (Mine can be loosened a lot according to the MFG, without affecting the efficiency, as they tightened it up before they sold it to me in 94' for my not much done combo).

It was installed at 3 degrees Adv. when I went to Las Vegas for the first quarter mile passes, and 1 pass in I realized I brought everything except my spare cams, and it was a dead dog turtle on the leave, and at 100' out it started screaming as it came alive in the torque curve. It also had zero vacuum at idle, and until 3,000 RPM it was just starting to build vacuum slowly, (so it really was not playing nice with my power assist brake booster and master cyl., and I could not foot brake stall the car higher than 3,200 RPM). It was horrible.

I knew it was not the cam for this combo right now (but will be soon enough). So, while it was a double Bracket points race in Las Vegas for the Summitt Bracket Racing Series, and not a Stock Elim. race I determined I would put the car in "Drive" and let it shift itself, and slow it down as much as I could...Gonna make em wait, then make em' wait longer.

As can be seen by pics I posted at that event 18.72 was the final dial in used in 114 degree temps and corrected Alt. was measuring over 6,000 ft. plus that weekend in Vegas. (But it is a 17.45 Index in EF/S). Yeah, I get a lil' Index correction there, but not that much.

Ok, so a full review of old and new data commenced (talking about mainly data from 1993 - 1997, and my cam choices were 3 others I have on the shelf at home), but I knew I was losing at least 1/2 sec in the first 60-70', more in the 330, and more in the 660, and unless you get a slow roller up and moving early, you can never make that back no matter how much it is screaming out the back door), I decided on one, changed it, dialed in the cam, and ckd. the lift again properly. I took 2 of those cams back up to Boulder City that Monday to change the cam, restore the Power Brake System, change the injector, F.P Regulator, add ballast to my weight box to meet min. wt, and a couple of other minor changes.

By Tuesday AM I was finished....I was the only one in our group that purchased the Test n Tune Wednesday and lanes opened at Noon, closing at 6 PM...@ 12:35 PM Oct 4, I ran 1 pass (the timing was way off, rich, and flat not right at all), it ran like crap and was very slow 12:35 PM R.T. -.499 Red, 60' 2.700, 330 8.610, 1/8 13.792@ 45.31 MPH (book is 10.80 1/8 mile),1,000 18.711, 1/4...23.492@ 44.42 out of it it ran so bad on top end.

I then took a biig swing low on timing first....@ 3:39 PM Oct 4 R.T. a closer but still off -.053, 60' 2.852, 330 8.682, 1/8th 13.478@ 52.07, 1,000 17.426, and 1/4...20.699 @ 68.14

Here I decided to pull all 4 plugs (all 4 were ultra rich, remove and swap back in the stock injector), cleaned the plugs, regapped them from .035 to. 040, and decided to go back up to the timing that makes everyone cringe 43-46 degrees total (you see it has a hall effect distro, the Power Module usually controls spark, but we changed that and took the spark control away from that fender mounted computer in 1995, by adding in a Mopar Electronic Control Module from a 1983 Carbed Dodge Omni incl the wiring harness and aftermarket coil. So, we set static timing, and the box controls the total, and each cam is different in what makes them happy).

It sounds hard starting, but it needs the total high to be happy and run under index. I had made those changes already, time is getting short, it is about 5:00 PM at this poing and John Irving and his Son Jon were no doubt getting worried at this point since they witnessed so far nothing but slow running in Las Vegas and here at Bakersfield so far...Though I knew I was on the right track so far, and reversing a couple of changes was all that was needed, and all but 1 was completed almost....John and Jon came over and asked if Jon could help (I welcomed it), what I really needed was a butt in the seat, so I could take my time & set the timing properly, swing the other way for the fences.

He did, we started it, I cranked in 43 degrees total (that was equal to 21 initial static, and I told him I was going to control the throttle, just hold the brakes hard. And I nearly laid it on the rev limiter...and she sounded right!

I took it for the last pass of the day after thanking them....@ 5:28 PM 4 Oct. R.T. a right on just what I was looking for .012 Green, 60' 2.379, 330 7.065, 1/8 10.992@ 62.84, 1,000 14.444, (it then hit the rev limiter at 7,300 RPM slowing the pass down ( I thought it would be out the back door in 2nd. gear, not quite....1/4 in 17.721 @ 65.47 and down because I need to shift it before 7,300. But I knew first pass in the morning at that point Q1 of race 1 would be under, just not by how much yet. I assured them I only need to re-learn how to shift it!

[Cglrcng]

I was right, but I needed that 10 mins help for sure, and the next day it was finally under index on that first pass, and I was actually short shifting 1/2 for a reason and running out 2/3 (sometimes right up against the rev limit feature of the ECM to make sure it was consistent in it's application, mainly because the engine is still pulling hard when it comes up to that set ECM programming I can only turn on/off it cannot be changed higher or lower at this point (the ECM is locked, are only tables you can view, and flags are 0/1 (off or set on) (Class Racing in 2 days).

The timing really needed to go 3 degrees total higher I believe, but it was beyond drivable and later showed pretty good consistency (as long as it was driven consistently, and small changes netted small gains, and there was still some speed never shown (so I left it alone), & do not underestimate my Slow Ride...I'm just taking it Easy! ~</;-)~

For Now!

(This is on a rebuilt engine that never saw 5,700 RPM throughout the first almost 93K miles in any gear but 3rd 6,200 at the lights, and after balancing, etc. is running hard up to 7,300 RPM and still pulling hard. But, I will not run it without that rev limit feature on...A Holley ECU and custom harness to my sensors will allow resetting it higher...1 of this Winters projects ahead. LODRS 71 at Las Vegas in November first!)

In the end...60' 2.85, down to 2.35 (exactly 1/2 second). so, the cam choice was not just a lot better at this point in time...It was dead necessary!

Winter will see the Transaxle dropped, fully freshened (those clutches etc. are factory 1984), and the Converter loosened along with those other changes mentioned earlier.

John & Jon, sorry as I know you were getting worried for me, but I was methodically working through undoing changes, checking everything 1 by 1, leaving what was working, and deleting/reversing what wasn't, while making big Timing swings just seeing which direction the new cam liked (and we found it together in 10 mins with your help). It is why I purchased that extra test day.

It often sounds great sitting still, but under a 2,800 + lb load pulling (a low 99 HP powerplant can act very differently when you step on it), The cam once timed correctly, and an injector back into the Rich/Lean sweet spot, cleaned the plugs right up, brought the bottom end back, and the top end was quite sufficient also, and restored my power brakes to holding 3,800 RPM foot braking consistently. (Power Assist Brake Booster was even holding between starts w/ no losses of vacuum). And it never failed to start, though it cranks hard w/ that much initial and total timing, it has a 90 Amp Alt. on it and a new battery and a live LED minder gauge w/ 2 USB Phone/Tablet charging ports. So, I can see from inside the car or out, the charge state of my battery at a quick glance at any time!

Like I said earlier. I will tone down the novel now, and just pretty much cover build changes to the car from here on out, and good news results if those arrive, but I wanted to go into a lot of details on the Re-debut that I will not later. Thank's for reading. (Floods to LED Tree is a biiiig change folks!)

Older guys know what I mean for sure.

Mark YAC....I am not yet where you are my brother, but I will be by Spring! I will get you those 2 pcs this week, my old Power Brake Booster, and Old Master Cyl, as soon as I find out for sure that my intended replacement Master bolt centers are exactly the same or not. I will know by end of next week I hope.

[MR DERBY CITY]

Dude, I have tried to follow along with your journey . Are you an author / write books ?? And who is McConnell ?? You have known him / raced with him forever but I can’t find his name on any Q sheets ?? You are killin me . LOL.

[Cglrcng]

(Oh man, really sorry I cannot believe I did that not just once, but like over 4 times, I am lousy with names, but that is usually people I have only met a couple of times in life, not people I have known for decades! I just corrected each post, my apologies to both Bill and others reading the thread, a very good reason you could not find him on the sheets...crap, what an old fool I am.) I typed Mr. O'Connor and somehow that transposed or corrected to McConnell. (I really need to use the preview more before clicking post!)

No author here, except for my racing Novel's here (I may not remember names well, but details of events that happened in my lifetime...every detail is unforgettable, like it was imbedded on a memory chip). Bill O'Connor has a Dark Brown boxy 83 Dodge Omni "Slo Roller" is on the side now in large letters (and the announcers know him well, since our billboards are on track the longest of any at the events), w/ that carbed low HP VW or Mitsubishi I think 87 HP engine, weighs in at like 2,223 pounds or so (my Daytona 2.2L/135 99HP currently has a 6 HP factor on it to 105- that is an extra 150 lbs @ 25.0 lbs/HP, and my min. wt is 2,795 lbs). I think he said his minimum was (a 500 lb difference, but beam scales were junk, and I was carrying in actuality 550 lbs more). Check down near the bottom of the Bakersfield Famoso Div. 7 Double (or the Div. 7 NHRATV Live Stream Replay on YouTube), held at the beginning of October, and again at Phoenix early in the Spring of 23'. He just ran 16.95 then 16.85 on Thursday, then a 16.95 in our Class race (my ET w/ the win was 17.204).

He has been racing that car in Div. 7, and mainly West Coast National events since the early to mid 1990's. I have raced him in Class races back in the mid to late 90's in GF/S and mine was a GF/SA, he is now in EF/S as am I (since they did away w/ FF and GF classes and combined all slower into EF/S), same 17.45 Index, same 25 lbs/per HP (same 500 lb plus wt difference too though). Friends w/ a slow roller rivalry. (Only I sat out the last 26 yrs.). The prior last class race together was The Atsco Phoenix Nationals in Feb. 1997, he got to the finish line an inch before me...not this time. But, if anyone gives me 4/10th's at the tree I will get there first (not to say I could not have competed well if it had been even lights). I just have no time slips that show a 16 sec. E.T.....yet. I just finished the car, barely got the rings seated before Bakersfield. Just changed the oil after the event from Breakin to real oil.

[David Lee]

Originally Posted by Cglrcng

No author here, except for ny racing Novel's here. Dark Brown 83 Dodge Omni w/ that carbed low HP VW or Mitsubishi I think 87 HP engine, weighs in at like 2223 pounds or so I think he said his minimum was. Check down near the bottom of the Bakersfield Famoso Div. 7 Double held at the beginning of October, and Phoenix. early in the Spring of 23'. He just ran 16.95 then 16.85 on Thursday, then a 16.95 in our Class race (my ET w/ the win was 17.204). He has been racing that car in Div. 7 and mainly West Coast National events since the 1990's. I have raced him in Class races back in the mid to late 90's in GF/S and mine was a GF/SA, he is now in EF/S as am I, same Index (same 500 lb plus wt difference). Friends w/ a slow roller rivalry. (Only I sat out 26 yrs.). The prior last class race together was The Atco Phoenix Nationals in Feb. 1997, he got to the finish line an inch before me...not this time.

are you running the stock transmission?

[Cglrcng]

Originally Posted by David Lee

are you running the stock transmission?

Yes and no, the same stock OEM A413 Auto Transaxle that came with the car from the factory yes, w/ some major gearing changes internally, side case gears, 1st and 2nd, some valve body changes (still forward patterned, but the D.C. Valve Body shift kit / plate, along w/ some custom drilling, gov. wk, etc. that I performed in 1994). And the 20" tall M.T./E.T. Slicks X 6" on the heavy 14" Stock Alum. wheels further helps improve lower gearing, and it still has the un-equal length half shafts it came with stock (though I do have a broken equal length set someone gave me in 1995...carrier bearing is loose/out plus 1 cross on the right axle has 2 damaged caps & boots), that I have yet to repair or install., (I have only broken 1 short axle ever, and did the repair myself along w/ rebooting), and A custom built in 1994 Turbo Action Converter (needs loosening up a lot to use that other cam I talked about earlier, along w/ a manual brake conv.). I will be freshening it this Winter season while the converter gets reworked, since it has to be dropped out. (it still has the 1984 factory bands and clutches in it).

[David Lee]

Originally Posted by Cglrcng

Yes and no, the same stock OEM A413 Auto Transaxle that came with the car from the factory yes, w/ some major gearing changes internally, side case gears, 1st and 2nd, some valve body changes (still forward patterned, but the D.C. Valve Body shift kit / plate, along w/ some custom drilling, gov. wk, etc. that I performed in 1994). And the 20" tall M.T./E.T. Slicks X 6" on the heavy 14" Stock Alum. wheels further helps improve lower gearing, and it still has the un-equal length half shafts it came with stock (though I do have a broken equal length set someone gave me in 1995...carrier bearing is loose/out plus 1 cross on the right axle has 2 damaged caps & boots), that I have yet to repair or install., (I have only broken 1 short axle ever, and did the repair myself along w/ rebooting), and A custom built in 1994 Turbo Action Converter (needs loosening up a lot to use that other cam I talked about earlier, along w/ a manual brake conv.). I will be freshening it this Winter season while the converter gets reworked, since it has to be dropped out. (it still has the 1984 factory bands and clutches in it).

if i remember right getting gears for that transmission is amost impossible these days. is that true