A 30 year journey, and a 2nd chance.

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[Mark Yacavone]

Gary, Nice job.
I remember your name and Kingman, Az. I thought you had a turbo car but I may have been confusing you with Jeff Lee, back then.
I do remember your world tour, and I might have been at Atlanta Dragway when you were.
Are you thinking about going to the Bakersfield double ?

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Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Gary, Nice job.
I remember your name and Kingman, Az. I thought you had a turbo car but I may have been confusing you with Jeff Lee, back then.
I do remember your world tour, and I might have been at Atlanta Dragway when you were.
Are you thinking about going to the Bakersfield double ?

Yes Mark, I remember you also, and you were there in Atlanta (Spring of 95') Jeff Lee had the turbo (mine is a single point upright Bosch TBI), and I am (Thinking about the double at Bakersfield, though My father-in-law is having very serious heart surgery in Phoenix on Sept. 26th, so we shall see if we can leave him alone or not at home after that is completed. and how the surgery goes.

The car was finished in late May 2023, after 14 months of a project, and immediately on the 19th, 20th and 21st of May I found out that The Kingman Street Legal Drags on Route 66/Andy Devine (an 1/8th mile track they set up in a week right here in Kingman usually 1 time a year), and they had held it last November (found out on the 18th reading our local newspaper that they were again running just a day later), so I was able to test the car on a short street track that next weekend at over 5,300' altitude. (I just live 3 miles away, at 5,352'. Only a bit higher.





That pic is Route 66 Andy Devine Between the Andy Devine Exit of I40 to the East and Stockton Hill to the West (and the starting line and Tree are right in front of the Kingman P.D./ Martin Swanty Chrysler/Plymouth/Kia Dealership on the left, and runs down to NAPA on the right, and the far end is where the pits are down beyond the shutdown (near the DPS, Kingman Office), and the Park. (Not bad for a legal street drags event or 1/8th mile track they throw up in a week!)

I only got 3 passes over 3 days, but did use the time to seat the new Ross Pistons and Sealed-Pro rings a bit to the newly bored holes and final hone. A couple of easy 6,400 RPM passes (1 on street tires and 1 on my slicks, then a blast to 7,000, had to shift and lift and it was still pulling hard in low (but ran outta track)...Stiil don't know where the 1-2 shift will be yet, nothing has been open locally except Vegas this Summer on a few Friday Nights for the Summit Street Drags (and they don't waive any rules).

This Friday the 8th of Sept. we (my wife and I), are heading to Vegas (Test n Tune Friday afternoon/evening, and then Bracket TnT Saturday AM, then plan on running the 2 Summit Bracket races in Sportsman Both Saturday & Sunday), then make the decision on Bakersfield if everything works out perfectly. And I cannot wait to make some quarter mile passes with it after all the improves.

I have not raced that car since the Spring of 1997 and I am dying to get back to it! (either way I will probably be at Bakersfield, with or without the car).

I did go out to Vegas to the April 4 wide race and crewed (1st time crewing w/ him, so did not have a lot of watching/socialize time, so I could get his processes & procedures down as best I could), for Scott McClay w/ his C/ED Dragster in Comp Elim., and while there attempted to text GTX John Irving to catch up with him after many, many, many...too many years.

(I guess over the prior 25 years he may have changed his number), and though I cruised the Sportsman pits a couple of times in vain, I did not find he and Jon's fleet of beautiful cars. (I will post pics in a min. from the 4 wide in April). I am guessing he never received either my text or phone message(s).

Are you planning to have the EF/S there in Oct. at Bakersfield Mark? (BTW, Greg Hogue from Texas is also building an 84' Turbo/ Turbo Z Daytona for AF/S or BF/S that he picked up this last year or so, and we have been trading parts, info, etc.).

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Those were all from April's 4 Wide Nat's at Vegas, Pretty much my only view except for a couple of cruises and walks around the pits (and when I towed him up for for his runs).

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Ok, took me a long while to resize all my pics (or most of them at least I will use in this thread). The prior posted shows just a small bit of my build. I did race the car after 95 a few times in 96 and 97 and only on the west coast in Div. 7 from PHX to Sears Point (still classified wrongly at 110HP in GF/SA 25.00 Lbs/HP, though it could not possibly be competitive at that HP rating (Factory is 99).

After the nightmare but fun Drag & Drive "World Tour" as Mark Yacavone called it in a post above in 1995, I was determined to get the combo reviewed since I by then knew nobody except myself had ever campaigned this exact (Car & Engine), combo before in NHRA STK. Elim., and all the data that the NHRA Tech Dept had to go on (and that was completely confirmed when I was at Englishtown, NJ in May of 1995), were my prior runs & the performance, save just 2 Q passes on a very cool morning in February 1995 at the Winternats in Pomona, ca at -.700 under and a smidge more, that was never repeated elsewhere (either before or after, and getting worse by the event/ month).

So, in December 1995 (working again full time, no longer in SoCal, having moved before I left on the tour in 95' for some fun), now in N.W., AZ, I sent in a letter asking that my combo be reviewed, and on Feb 6th, 1996 I received the good news, a letter back from NHRA...They added my factory stock Intake # (that should have been on the sheet the whole time, as Dodge made that change mid year 84'), and reduced my HP on the TBI back to the factory advertised 99HP.

Jenny Craig'ing (a Car Diet was in order), therein lies another story the shipping wt. on a 1984 Daytona 2.2L / 135 CI TBI (Single Point -NON-Turbo edition base 2 door/hatchback coup automatic or stick), was never the 2,444 lbs. as the Classification guide still shows even now in Fall of 2023. (so for all that time I was doubly penalized).

I have the original 1984 Daytona Base (Stick man 5 spd. and Automatic 3 spd.), Turbo, and Turbo Z sales brochure (Manual or Automatic), incl. all specs and standard and options avail. on all the 1984 editions, and have recently downloaded the complete specs for each of the 84' model year editions from www.automobile-catalog.com provided them by The Chrysler Corp. (I though have yet to find an AMA spec. sheet- if 1 actually exists at all), but all the data I have found so far, and the original Window Sticker on the car agrees (I was there when my Mom picked it up from the Dealer at Cerritos Dodge in Feb. 1995 as a daily driver she purchased), all say the Curb Wt. on the base edition is 2,590 lbs, Shipping Wt. is 2,520. (Both 5 spd. Man./Stick and 3 spd. Automatic, both are Factory HP rated at 99HP, torque 121 lb-ft., 97" wheelbase 3-door coup body style (2 door hatchback), Both EFI (upright Bosch TBI units)-non-turbo (single point injector).

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My car was sold with only 2 options (1 in California was standard equipment- California Emissions package as it was a California Car), and the other was A/C...The Base package, not even a radio, and we added a cheap Kraco stereo w/ cassette deck after it arrived home from the dealer (which is now trimmed to only 2 ounces and 1" deep, though it still lights up! And it makes the dash tower look right, though dated) No other options of any kind were ever purchased.

Then, my parts piles and indiv. weights of everything I have taken off the car, things added back, and the weight it is right now tells me by the real math (I still have everything, incl. the original A/C, Cat Conv., exhaust system, Windshield washer/wipers/ hdwre. , PS Pump/bracket/hoses, wipers/hdwre. stock tank/Filler Neck/pump/sender, engine splash plastics, etc. (I still have everything and have weighed each individual item) and the totals. The car originally weighed in at well into the mid 2,600 lbs plus range!

Just some of my recent deleted parts pile!



It currently is the lightest (before recent ballast additions), it has ever been since it left the assembly line in December 1984, and without driver it still weighs currently (2,455), or 10 lbs heavier than the classification data shows, and all the documentation and my parts pile weights (even subtracting the A/C and the CA Emissions pkg stuff, which were the first deleted items I took off in 1993-before ever racing the car in the first Div. or National event, shows it has never once weighed in anywhere close to the 2,444 Classification guide amount for Shipping weight.

Even Chrysler Corp lied...I figure (just a tiny bit on each car, sell/ship millions of units, and billions of dollars saved over time in shipping costs alone. (On a high HP combo, you may be able to get away with that, but if you only start w/ 99 HP, and each HP is rated at 25.00 lbs....it is a flat killer!

The classification guide says I have a DF/S Natural fit (2,444 lbs. HP Factor: 105, Power /Weight Factor 23.27, wheelbase; 97", Class Min. Wgt: 1,995 -Over/Under Shipping Wgt. -449 lbs. to get to the bottom of DF/S 1,995 car only). Min wt with driver would be 2,165. And to run weighted class in EF/S 2,625 car only, and w/ driver= 2,795.

But the real life actual is not reachable staying in line with the NHRA Rulebook whatsoever. Not everything is off that can possibly come off legally, but there is not 459 lbs. more that can legally be removed or lightened period. (At least not without removing the engine and putting it on the engine stand outside the car! (What I can do further under Sect. 11A is negligible and unrealistic to ever reach the bottom of DF/S =I would have to cheat huge!) And that is not an opinion, it is factual. Based in true reality. It should only be a natural fit in EF/S. (and no weighted class any longer exists). DF/S is a pipe dream w/ this combo.

Reality is, or should be (if truth was used instead of magic rainbows, wishes, and fuzzy fake unicorns), Curb weight: 2,590, Shipping weight:2,520, HP 99.0 (2,520/99=25.45 lbs/HP....Car fits now naturally in EF/S, can run to the bottom of the class 25.00 X 99=2,475+170 Driver =2,645 (adding 6 HP onto that is another 150 lbs., but I cannot yet find data that caused the addition just before 6/2/03), and when it ran last it was 2,755 min-ran at 2,763 @110HP (and that was classified by the NHRA Tech Director in San Dimas in 1993 in person with the car there). Currently sits at 2,645 as of today w/ me in it plus 60 lbs ballast added,, and Friday I will make passes without my wife in the car, and with her in the passenger seat to see what the differences really are.

Ok, after the tour, and receiving the reduction letter, I really knew I could not afford to do at that time everything I needed to do, to make the car competitive, so I parked it in 1997! There had been no prior machining done at all, head had only been off once for 30 mins. (in a mock partial teardown, I chemically fast cleaned piston tops and chambers, valve pockets and reinstalled it same stretched headbolts and gasket), and buttoned it up, and drove it from south of Atlanta to Memphis the next morning to race a Nat. Event then back to Atlanta. It had never even had a valve job, until the head work during this re-build in 2022/2023.

25 yrs. later...NEW YEARS EVE 2021 6PM, and I am watching a no-prep video Bill Hoskinson's channel w/ the SRC Gang out of Ohio, and my wife walked by and looked over my shoulder, and said "Do You Miss It?" (we have mentored High School Robotics for more than a full decade together plus, and due to covid-19 I have had to curtail a lot of my volunteerism for more than 2 yrs. and I thought she was talking about the robotics at the time...But, I said "Miss What?"

Her answer was "Drag Racing", my simple answer was "Every day for 25 yrs so far!" and she said, you know I will be retiring in about 6 yrs, so lets do something with that car in the garage! I then explained, even on a slow sled budget Stocker just how expensive a proposition that was as I am going as far as is legally possible this time around! And 10 days later I started "The Project Jenny Craig", unburied the dirty car not touched at all in the prior 13.5 yrs. (Looked like a barn find by then and surrounded by boxes and stuff!) Started this project January 10, 2022.

Cleaned her up, put it up on skates, checked the fuel system, and everything was fine though Sunoco Purple was now more like Sunoco Red, smelled fine, no sediment, clear, still smelled like race gas, charged up the battery labeled MFG Feb 09, and fired it up, heated it up to operating temp (to help break loose threads on bolts/nuts easier later and started Engine disassembly in the car, pre-measuring and mocking up things like switching the water pump from crank driven to a Moroso Electric driven, etc as I went along so I could have the adapter machined at the same time as the engine machining.

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Removed the Head and sent it w/ my avail. cams at the same time to Georgia (www.TurboDodgeParts.com for cleaning, resurfacing, full rebuild and it's very first valve job of any kind (a nice 3 angle comp. valve job), springs, rockers, lifters/etc., valves, seals...chamber cc'ing, and lift measurements on each cam I had then in hand.
I disassembled the balance checking measurements as I did so. And took my short block in for cleaning and measurements for new NHRA ACCEPTED Ross forged Replacement Pistons and Sealed-Pro Ringsets. That was April 4, 2022.
When the head returned, my machinist and I re-cc’d the head again, triple checking everything! (48.0 cc mins/we are still 50.3 cc’s avg., leaving a couple more milling attempts for the future).
Called Ed Ercis at Ross, and we worked together w/ my machinists and the Piston order (2 days later Stan set a new Record in EF/S with his Omni Station Wagon leaving only a 2 hundredths’ cushion to shoot for at -1.28 under), was finalized end of May 2022, (it was mid race season), Pistons Delivered Sept 28, 2022, lots of parts ordered and lots of work performed in the meantime, and lots and lots of parts order delays too (or out of stock/backordered for weeks to months).
w/ nearly 93K miles (Street/Hwy/Strip), and a lot of years (nearly 40), The Block had to be bored 20 thou over, and after the pistons were received, the final bore to finish hone and fit, was a total of 25 thou. over, same rods, same crank, same block (though he cleaned it so many times by then I would have eaten off any surface of that block, so clean I hated to paint it…I actually stared at it for 24 hrs before & after it was masked up for painting!) If I could have clear coated it I would have.

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That old stamped Steel Valve Cover had to go, bought stripped, and machined, primed and painted, and artfully turned a TURBO one into a T B I Valve cover, and that also gets rid of that really weak Plastic PCV box as those have an inside baffle and a rear solid PCV nipple on em.

Painted the engine bay, and block, long block parts w/ DupliColor Gloss Black and Red w/Ceramic. (rattle can after cleaning fully, roughing and priming), but it covered well, and stands up to a lot.

Moved on to wiper delete, Stock Gas Tank Delete, then fabbed up the upper (powder Coated Red)/lower(powder Coated Blue 50 thou Alum. fuel cell bulkheads to Protect the new Jegs 5 gal Poly Fuel Cell w/ Sump, and a new EFI fuel supply system, and removed the Heat/A/C box from under dash and related stuff in the engine bay, filled the holes in the firewall, etc., converted Power Steering to manual, (and finished up the Moroso Electric water pump motor and related wiring adding a painless wiring breaker, and relay), so the only things robbing power from the crank are Timing Belt (Cam Crank, Intermediate shaft...Oil pump and Distributor), and 1 belt to the Alternator (still the 90 Amp stock 1). The water pump is still the stock pump, just extended out with an adapter, as 1 belt originally drove both alt and WP.

3 other interesting parts, a brand new (in 1985 that is, and still was brand new unused in 2023, purchased at an estate sale by a friend....$150.00 bucks shipped if you can believe that, and I was only asking for a used one I could rebuild to have as a spare, so the new one is on the car, I rebuilt my old 1 as the spare), and someone purchased, and never used, same part # Upper Bosch TBI Throttle Body that was ratholed away for years and still in the box (Cheap), and same thing with the cam (I will not talk as much about the cam to many), except to say it was in a record holder (a 2.2L in a Truck running stock in the early 2000's, and it was another great rathold find sitting on someone's shelf collecting dust that I collected for a song and only used for 2 events at that time. And an interesting distributor I have not tested yet (hall effect w/ internal springs and weights and a vacuum pod). That pc was also collecting dust and let go pretty cheap. Lotsa parts out there if you really look hard enough, and in the right places at just the right time...But those 3 were once in a lifetime accidental finds (X3), because I asked a lot of people a whole lot of questions over the years.

It (that Cam), gives this particular engine the sound and power it was always lacking. No more bwop, bwop, bwop, bwop...It cackles and crackles like a real Stocker finally. (And it measured right!)

New Master Cyl. and Power Booster, all lines flushed, checked, new rear shocks, and a lot of general repairs and new parts checking the car over from headlights to tail lights.