JP1738's Stocker and S/G car

[JP1738]

Originally Posted by Doug Hoven

Glad to see another "kid" like me learning his ways in Stock Eliminator. You definitely picked a good combo to learn with. Tidbit of info on distributors. I ran into the issue of not wanting to buy an expensive new distributor, but didn't want to buy a cheapo chinesium distributor either. Some late 80s/early 90s EFI GM products have small cap, divorced coil HEI distributors that have a 2 wire magnetic pickup that works with MSD boxes, and have locked out timing from the factory.

I rummaged around in my father and grandfather's shop and found the one pictured in another post on this thread. The cap was busted, it needed a cast gear, and it was not locked out. I ordered a gear from Jegs, a cap from holly, and locked it out myself. It's been working like brand new since I bolted it on. That's a great tidbit though, I'll keep that in mind if I ever need another. Thank you!

[JP1738]

As discussed in other threads, my first race out with the car did not go as planned. Unfortunately, somewhere between testing at Darlington and Q1 in Orlando, I lost third gear and reverse. I have not had a chance to get the transmission out and torn apart to diagnose, but it appears to be burnt slam up. That said, I still had 1st and 2nd, so I limped it up there for first round anyway! You never know what can happen!

Take-aways from the my first event as a Stocker! -->

1.) I really enjoyed being at the track and in competition again, I didn't realize how much I'd missed it since the last time I made a hit in Rockingham last year.

2.) Seeing all the fine folks of NHRA D2 class racing was such a treat, I got to meet lots of people while I was down there and can't wait to meet so many more! I spent Thursday cooped up in my trailer working remotely, so I couldn't get out and talk to folks like I'd hoped to. Friday was spent in abject disbelief and disappointment, so I wasn't exactly batting 1000. Looking to touch base with many more people at the babies next week.

3.) Going through weigh-in and fuel-check was a great experience as well. Despite being broke, I still went through the entire process and learned what to expect moving forward.

4.) I am extremely proud I made it to this race. many, many, many late nights and hours of research, planning, and practice the last few months to get the car, myself, and my equipment ready in time. I made it! Unfortunately broke on the first pass, not of my own doing as far as I can tell.

I'll be back later this week with another update as soon as I get the old transmission out and diagnosed. Thanks to CR faithful's, I feel like I already have a pretty solid prognosis, but we'll see for sure here shortly.




The current color of my transmission fluid:

[doglover44]

Hope you have a better outing at the Baby Gators

[Billy Nees]

Keep up the good work kid! No one conquers the world in one day!

[Larry Hill]

The Dodge 440 4barrel did not like the K&N top it was faster with a Ford base and stock Dodge top.

[JP1738]

Got the old (a whopping 9 passes on it) transmission out last night and there is a lot of debris and clutch material in the pan. I plan to take it to Billy Ray Varner, a local guy who has set up several transmissions for my dad in the past, who can hopefully pull it apart further and help me diagnose it. I want to watch him do it so I can learn more about how they are assembled so in the future I can do more by myself. It appears the filter did a great job of keeping all the crap out of the converter, you can see the color and quality of the fluid coming out of it in the image below. Going to let it drain really well today and flush it with new fluid a few times, but it appears to have dodged all of the damage.




There are a few pieces of debris in the fluid that you can see in this image, but that is leftover from when the pan came off and made a mess. The fluid coming from the converter was absolutely spotless.

[Keith 944]

If you run a cooler don’t forget to flush it, or at least blow air through the lines