A 30 year journey, and a 2nd chance.

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Great news received today and none other than a very dear friend and his son will both also be out for the weekend to test in Las Vegas, and am very much looking forward to reconnecting after much too long a time. Though we only live an hour or so away from each other, we have not seen each other in many a moon (like 26-27 yrs.), and though I have seen both John and Jon Irving in recorded interviews many times over the years, the last time Jon was a small boy.

Looking forward meeting the man he has grown into, and as always great father/son class racing duo and fellow Mopar lovers.

I have a lot of testing (and planned tinkering), to do yet on Friday, as it will be the first quarter mile passes on both the (hopefully much improved), car and I (after 2.5 decades plus away), have not raced personally at The Strip in Las Vegas since it was just 2 lanes (hey the left hand wall is still left intact, but that is all that is familiar), and the tree wasn't LED bulbs yet, but old style flood lights.

It however, would be really cool, (once I am back in the groove at least, and get reacquainted with the tree and find a decent spot), if we can possibly find our way to breaking out the old numbering tools and going side by side on the big end once or twice before the brackets start Saturday/Sunday.

I am positive both of them can teach me some lessons on both ends of the track.

At least I am somewhat acclimated to 100 plus temps by now, and no rain is in the forecast! (Just 2 more sun rises until the re-debut of another slow sled). Then the real work begins anew.

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The build is still ongoing but first Quarter Mile Shakedown, ring seating & some bracket fun:

Now that I have almost recovered from my first outing in Las Vegas with my Wife of 35 years, after a layoff of 25 plus yrs. (a couple of very hot bright and Sunny L.V. Days), in much worse air than I wanted (corrected elevation wise at least), and understanding that this was my very first real 1/4 mile shakedown of a brand new rebuild (that is not fully finished yet, the rings are not even seated yet (24 miles on the trip-o-meter since May 18, 2023, and there were things to find out about, and improvements to be made just to get back to square 1 first, take it slow, do not ruin the future chasing things that are not going to be fixed at the track, just seat those rings into those freshly bored and honed cyl's, work on finding the spot on the tree that you have never raced on in your life (this was after a 25 yr. layoff), my very first time on Friday in my life, going at an LED Tree folks. (And it is a very different world, as I loved incandescent Flood Light Trees!) They are different. Then Sure Start (I miss those lil' yellow bulbs), yeah I'm old. As I actually miss the 5 amber, 5/10ths tree too.

Friday was strictly a Test-n-Tune day & saying hi to some very old friends (spent most of it just attempting to get the timing back right to where it was at the prior 1/8 mile Legal Street race outing in May after doing a lot the past few months. I think it is within 3 degrees (but not quite yet there). Took big swings both ways, and ended in the center. 1 Street tire pass then a switch to the slicks, had added a lot of weight to the car, the air stinks, the conditions felt higher than Denver, and the car is rock slow, converter changes are definitely in order (waaaaay too tight), am working on that this week while recovering along with a few other things I knew would make the car slower (But Saturday/Sunday are 2 Bracket Races!)

Late night chasing around attempting to find a sit-down decent meal at a place that is actually serving food still in the cool.

The Tree:

It took some time (Deep Red 2 passes on Friday), Deep Green 2 Passes on Saturday...Hmmm, um an .082 really junk, but at least I am going the right direction now on last time trial before the Saturday Bracket program begins... I have a spot in mind now, we will see how that will work out, staring at 1 single LED is not anywhere as easy as the many variables that an incandescent Flood light offers. But I will get this. Everything in it's time.

To begin with, here is my (I broke the car), parts list for the weekend...

Loading the Luggage in the hatch of the car after it is on the trailer (at home still), I reach up to pull the hatch closed, and the Dodge Pentastar emblem comes off in my hand as I am closing the hatch, not broken, just some 2 sided tape will fix that next week.

Friday night, headed over for the 2nd and last pass after switching to FWD slicks, pull into the lanes, put it in park, and later as they pull us forward, I cannot get the car out of park. Oh sure, I changed the shifter cable, but have not found the Quarter Stick ratchet or B&M shifter in the (PRN321) pattern for the A413 TF yet that I am looking for, so if anyone has 1 hanging around doing nothing, and are willing to part with it for a reasonable price, and it is in good shape please give me a holler! (Thank you Greg Hogue in Texas, as he just recently pulled a shifter out of his 84' Daytona Turbo model that is the same type T-handle he is not using anymore for his FWD Stocker build, and is sending me a new (old) T-shifter handle).

And at least the button still worked, still had both park lock and the reverse lockout, so outside of the lane delay and looking foolish for a half hour or so, I could still race!

And lastly, after everything is over on Sunday, loading the car with things I will need in the future, as my car is "thanks to some fantastic & great friends" staying somewhat locally, & me moving a bit too fast around very old brittle plastic car parts...I break a seat belt Trim pc. on the passenger side (I have 2 now on the way already shipped to me via e-bay), but they are black and will get a coat or 2 of Gray paint to match the interior!

I call that highly embarrassing on the center 1 (that 1 happened not on track, or in the pits but as soon as I pulled into the lanes (and a lot of cars lined up behind me). Ever get your car stuck in Park, and you cannot get it out of Park? Try it holding people (it felt like everyone), up while they are pulling your lane (while many came to my aid, attempting to help rock it out of gear, we were fighting a losing war (the shifter handle broke inside, and the pcs I found out shortly were jamming the shifter Park/Reverse Lockout Detent Rod- but not pressing downward (just jammed on 2 sides).

And had done so perfectly timed, while my wife had left with the truck and all the tools (except the ones I changed the tires with), to do some much needed errand runs (get more water, pick me up some trans fluid, ck. into the hotel, grabbed us a small amount of fast food to make it until dinner later, etc.)...Important stuff. (I just needed a small flat blade or phillips screwdriver, not a single 1 in the car).

I never did eat that McD's meal she brought back as it was stone cold by the time I got back to the pits after fixing the car and they pulled the lanes again. It was like 2 hrs. later...Ergo the late-night dinner later near midnight to 2 AM.

I got lucky, they stopped pulling our lane, and I had fewer people to wave around me and someone was very kind on a bicycle with a pit nearby to retrieve a small screwdriver for me. Thank You! I really appreciated that kindness.

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Saturday AM (on like 3 hrs. sleep, Jr's are running late, as they started at 8:00 AM (I have decided there is no fighting the track or the car attempting to chase speed today at over 6K' plus corrected elevation, cannot change the converter situation here period, and adding more fuel at this point...still running through the stock Inj. and FP Reg., will make bad things worse, not better if I step up to adjustable FPR and a +60 Injector and increase much above the 40PSI I am already spraying in this junk air, why dirty up good plugs).
Just put it in D, go slow, really slow...and concentrate on the tree, your E.T incremental(s), make it as consistent as you can, find out what makes it happiest, and gather the data for later. I don't even know yet what this new rebuilt engine likes. (I find that out later, cold is fast, the opposite of back in 97' when it had to be warm or it wouldn't run at all).
It is Bracket Race Day. Big heavy breakfast, so the light is still going to be slow early, just creep up on it...FIND THAT MUCH NEEDED SPOT! (And when you do, memorize it, burn it into your much older brain!)
Test and Tune session #2 (added Trans fluid, zero other car changes). Deep green but slowly finding my way slowly downward (and the incremental(s) are looking pretty good, as long as I keep everything even and the same, then on to Starting the Bracket program (2 T.T's. and Elims., and that is where the .082 comes 2nd T.T., light is still Junk (I ate half the Subway Sandwich my wife brought me back from another errand run, DO NOT eat that other half, the food will be digested), oh did I mention by this time after 2 hot days in the Vegas sun I could float a boat with all the hydrating I have been doing, inside, outside...drinking water by the gallon, but really glad that I had SPF 50 spray slathered on, no sunburn and am having a blast!
Time for First Round I finally get to Race someone and play a top end game hopefully side-by side in the lights at the stripe! (I have been savoring the moment I lived for decades ago!)

Ok, that went umm, not so well, then why am I so happy (my first rnd. leave, a hold your breath type, you just know that was the spot, deep breath held as leaving, and will it be green?) Nope -.007 on the wrong side of the tree, but I found it! And I know exactly how to adjust to it! (The good, the bad, and the ugly, no excuses, all wrapped into 1, and I was smiling (over my first loss in many years), at least until I saw the opposing .732 R.T. w/ a W in his column. Ouch, that hurt for a second, but I know where my spot really is on Day 2! I have wondered all summer just how long it would take me learning this LED Tree, it looks different on video, and feet are different than a thumb leave on a practice tree.

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Day 3 Sunday the Jr's running late again -they started at 8:00 AM again.

But it is warm, not as hot, but sprinkling a little occasionally, not really wet, and breezy to windy (at least the sun is not frying us, but the air is actually worse). 1 T.T. in after 2 Bagels and Philly Cream cheese piled high and coffee, lights again will be slow even after recovering the spot I found last night w/ the stomach this full, and I was right first pass. But, the E.T is right where I figured it would be, and it is getting quite (albeit slow the way I am driving it), predictable for bracket racing in Sportsman.
We get the call for the second T.T. and we pull into the lanes for T.T. #2, then we will get to Elims. That leaves another hr. plus for more digestion of that heavy breakfast). They start to pull our lanes, my old friend John Irving is over there a bit in front in the right lane, I am in the left, but we are not matched up, it is only T.T. #2, and as the 1st pair of cars get up to the Tower Tunnel, my car is at the perfect temp to repeat the incremental(s) & raindrops are falling from the sky! Bigger ones this time, and my hood and windshield are actually wet, John comes over and says, you can run in this sprinkle can't you?...Like getting on the freeway onramp I say. We chatted a little...

Track goes quiet of course, not enough rain to wash us out, it will dry quickly, a few minutes go by and the light rain(just a few sprinkles), stops, and then the announcement comes (They want to get the program in today, get everyone on the road home at a decent hour), they have made a decision, so we are doing away with T.T. #2, will pull the potential bye out from best R.T. from T.T. #1 instead of T.T. #2, and they will pair us up and send us out for Round #1 of the Bracket. (another friend I knew back in the day, Paul Wong earned the Bye again, and ooops, he is up on the left up front...I get my wish from the other day (if you read my postings above), John and I get to play shoe polish games...That paired us up! (And we both give each other the thumbs up!) That was not planned, it was just fate.
My car is dead cold again by now, I am closer to the tunnel, and am dialed for the guy behind him. (No matter what, this is going to be fun...It is the very first actual side by side in the lights game I have learned & loved to play since the Mid 70's (and I have not played in the last quarter of a century), all I need to do is be green to have any chance at all. Red again and it is over.

It was both fate and fitting and I will not go any further than to say, my light was green, I was in D, so watched his light go green, and used 1 mirror, then the other mirror, then over the right shoulder right down to the stripe, I lifted a car from the stripe, did not hit the brakes (due to the prior light & short shower, just not smart to do w/ FWD slicks), and I did not trim the stripe close enough, and knew it immediately, I saw his win light flash on and to myself said double breakout. It was, and it was fun, but my weekend was over.

Win or lose I had a blast, now back to concentrating on making the car faster. (It is still a work in progress, gained a lot of data in one weekend, 9 total passes in (a dozen total on the car now), and know a few more things I need to do, plus change the oil.

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TY John & Jon, you guys are great, and Paul it was great to see you even from a distance, as you were always hogging up (hard earned though via closest R.T.), that potential bye parking spot brother! Lol. (The Las Vegas Raceway Staff were as friendly as ever! TY also, and everyone else was very friendly also...We are glad to be back!)

I forgot to list the best part...

John and his crew again went deep into eliminations, and even had the kind of light I was working for (but missing, as Rome wasn't built in a day), all weekend (only on the good side of the tree), secret agent man, at least 1 of us won something! So, that made it a whole lot easier to digest, as it usually does. They have a hard working team. Great job to all the winners.

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Ok, after a couple of weeks of deep reflecting, and a full review of 26-30 yr. old data (and the limited, but very reliable new data and results, and looking at what works, and what does not yet fully efficiently work), fully realizing that this is not a new project, but a long delayed very old project, with just a lot of recent well done hard earned & fairly expensive improvements and changes). Changes are in order.
Looking at those changes each independently and together as a whole, and a dozen or so avail. quick or time/expense avail. options (like can the converter be loosened up enough to make use of the existing cam I installed work, or will it take a new 1?) Yes it can be loosened up quite a bit says the mfg., based on the as built and originally adjusted, vs. the originally designed as build, as it was originally actually tightened up for the situation of the old combo, before it was sent to me when purchased (there is room said Turbo-Action, w/ a week turnaround after they receive it in hand), but if the trans. is dropped out now, it will also get fully freshened at the same time.
Those are offseason changes, as are the brake conv,. and a Holley system/and/or data logger. (There are still 3 avail. Div. 7 races left in this season).
The old data suggests that the car is a flat out currently a turtle in the first 60'-80' or more feet (like 7/10ths. slower in the first 60', slightly more in the 330', and even a bit more to find in the 660', than it was before all the recent changes and improves were completed, and I took everything I thought I would need to the track except of course the next lower lift cam or that would already have been installed/tested. (All of the above was in advance, as far as the cam change, was fully expected, no reason to chase fast numbers just ring seating on a fresh build, and testing. (It worked just as expected). And I knew a big stick (with tons of overlap and duration), was going to kill the bottom end but turn out RPM (7,000 RPM though and that real Stocker sound were both real surprises though). The Power brakes have to go, and the converter has to be loosened a lot to get out of it what it needs, as it originally set and held a 2.2L Truck stick record in the Mid 2000’s (both ends), and I installed it in an automatic platform. So, I did not expect it to be ideal without some further changes as it does not even begin to build any vacuum at all until it reaches 3,200 RPM (Power Brakes take 18-24”).

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The chassis changes are right, it hooks correctly, is consistent at the tree (even though I am not yet, I do have a very good idea of where my spot is/should be now), & has almost zero rear squat now, and the front comes up just about level (no wasted porpoise' or dolphin like rear squat action that just delays R.T.'s on an FWD application, and it squirts out forward reliably and as envisioned when tweaking it to do just that), and it (the lack of current bottom end), is almost all due to the extreme cam change I went with, and installed after the engine rebuild to find out if it is what the former owner said it was…it is exactly what he said it was.It will be sent out to a grinder for duplicating immediately after Bakersfield since it is a 1 off custom part (and it will be back in the car soon enough), to start break-in ring seating under power, and testing with (a 1 off custom but legal part I found online at a really great price, and I love how it sounds with the much higher overlap & duration (like a stocker should), just not how it works with everything else right now & quite yet.

But, once it comes into the power band for that cam, and the converter working together with it, for a ”slow ride" slow sled at least, it flat comes alive & starts screaming out the back end for a tiny 2.2L/135 cu. inches, compared to the past 660' to 1,320' data numbers (if looking at the incremental differences only), and I have a mid-ling slightly lower lift, much less overlap, and duration cam (or 3 sitting back home on the shelf, I think the only things I did not load up and take to Las Vegas with us were the other 3 cams I had on the shelf, or it would already have been changed after the very 1st quarter mile test pass that Friday), & 1 of those is the specific cam that I took out once the head returned much improved from GA, that was last run (on the track at least), in 95'-97' (it was last run in competition @ just 35 total lbs. car and driver combined wt. lighter, but the short block and valve train & other head improves, pistons/ring replacements, and balancing, etc. should net a lot more, if I just take one step back and do a quick cam swap and dial it in at just 3 degrees adv. (where it was last run), which will also restore the vacuum currently missing in the P.B. application, and allow the existing converter to work properly again for the P.B. system, which should/will restore the bottom end, and a bit higher stage stall should be restored.

A very low HP app. @ 99 HP/ factored at 105 Auto combo at least (that 6HP & 6+ percent hit, requires me to carry around an extra 150 lbs, over much lower wt. competition in the same class at least), does not get you very far once you start playing around and take it out of the best (much earlier), power band sweet spot, without making the higher RPM leave choices avail. to get it to move the necessary weight involved earlier and more efficiently (no matter how much I moved that weight around to pushing instead of pulling, it still needs to quickly get rolling much earlier to begin with).

That pretty simple (cam swap), decision is already made, and required ASAP (Monday), along with adding back the adj. fuel pressure regulator and the +60 percent single point injector into the new throttle body (Also Monday), as it was last raced, since the new (first cut ever on that head), valve job and the newer and better valve train components are making it breathe and operate a lot better than it used to, and the 660' through 1,320 numbers reflect that if taken in increments instead of the overall start to finish line E.T./MPH numbers show.

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I have also just started collecting the necessary parts and pcs., and making a plan to convert the P.B. system to manual (improve the overall braking by adding the Mopar SLH II or SLH III Brake Upgrades), and that along with the complete Converter change or loosening (up to the point of as loose as possible, without affecting the overall efficiency of the converter, and a refresh of the transaxle are all in order in November which will allow a switch back (or re-step up, to allowing the cam in it now, to be used again in the near future once (and that 1 off custom ground Reed Cam's pc - Sadly John Reed formerly located in Georgia is no longer with the rest of us on the planet as he passed away after grinding cams for 35 years, in a tragic crash of his own private plane back in the late 90's), in the meantime can be measured cadded, copied, and a cam card made/ maybe even a new grind based off that also, without the extremes using newer and latest cam grinding techniques/options and technology not yet avail. back before the early 2000's), once all that is accomplished and in place (Testing will be necessary to see if theory matches reality, but a lot easier to test 60' leaves repeatedly vs full 1,320' runs).

I know what it is doing now after 90'-100' out. (Flat waking up instantly as it reaches peak torque numbers! - That 1st hundred feet though is nowhere near the same, and finding a happy medium between the 2 will be a final goal) Just moving those numbers back down to where they were before, will help to restore the bottom end and E.T./MPH.
If I can just get it to leave like that initially, then we are on to something! It just takes a little time, money, and perseverance, but mostly patience and the hard work, and track time to accomplish, that I cannot afford at the moment. (Grade points, seat time, practice at the tree and top end games experienced again, are the current goal, the rest is just frosting on the cake). And we will slowly creep up on the "just how far under it really is capable of" along the way.

An hour to line everything back up Monday on all the fresh install marks (Cam, crank/and Int. shaft sprockets, Oil Pump/Distro/Rotor and Converter Timing window marks w/ my preset TDC stop in the #1 cyl. spark plug hole finger tight on the Comp. stroke, and verify each again (hang cam sprocket from strut tower during the swapping without moving or disengaging the belt), and swap em' both out and in, with the same offset 3 degree adv. key, add another half hour to dial it in properly, even less time to button it up, reset the static initial base timing, & ck the advanced total again, and testing, the 1st 10 feet will tell me (what I need to know),and it will tell if theory matches my reality.

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Another 30 or so minutes to disassemble the T.B. Hat, remove the stock inj. and F.P. Regulator, add the prior run +60 percent injector and Adj. F.P. Regulator, cap off the vac. signal port on the T.B. and adj. fuel pressure to compensate, ck. for leaks & test again, and it should be back to prior performance or better than prior data suggests, with slightly higher shift points, and a true no miss heartbeat. (Totally unlike back in 95'-97 with the issues it had then, since found and corrected, and now verified to no longer exist over 12 passes so far completed 3 -1/8th mile and 9-1/4 mile). Change the oil and filter from the 30 wt non-detergent break -in' oil to 5-20 synthetic. (I am not yet ready to go 0-10, or 0-20, or a qt low either). Add back the 3 plastic parts that broke last outing and were repaired or replaced, and painted up.

Cold ice water cool the lower intake chamber (drain), and race.
If more time presents itself, I will change the 4 brake hoses and re-bleed all 4 brake cyls. and the system again. But w/ the vacuum restored at idle and low RPM, that should not be a necessary item at the moment, unless time allows.

Next up…Registered for the Bakersfield Double w/ Class racing last Saturday, plus Wednesday testing.

I am really looking forward to some much cooler CA Fall weather and 5 days of racing back at Famoso, as that was, 40 years ago, 1 of the places that I had tremendous success at in the 80’s bracket racing (the place I won my very 1st Wally at), and being amongst old friends from long ago for my re-debut and first not 1, but 2 Div. events (plus an addl. test day), in exactly 26.5 years. (and I have a day beforehand Monday to do the last minute changes on my punch list before load up and departure).