All blasting procedures have there drawback that's where doing your research and asking fellow enthusiasts pays off then deciding what works best for you. I had my 70 Mustang blasted with sand by a friend who has done several cars. He used an industrial blaster but was very skilled with it - no warping. However cleaning out the sand was a nightmare! I have used Eastwood epoxy and like it but would like to make everyone aware of  the epoxy primers available from Southern Polyurethanes. Really cool product- allows for seven days to recoat, apply body fillers, or topcoat. Jay I am with you on leaving as much good original sheet metal as possible especially on quarter panels. I used a full reproduction quarter on my 68 fastback and the lines were terrible! I cut and reshaped much of it to match the passengers side which was original.

X2 on SPI products. I've used just about everything they make and imo its all the best on the market. But the Epoxy primer is just incredible stuff. I know Rusty Gillis is a big fan of their stuff and maybe he'll get on here with more info. Certainly something to try out. The prices are great and so is the customer support too. Loving this project tho Jay.

WOW!! This thing is badass with a capitol B thats for sure. And its got 3 pedals? Can't wait to see this AND the Minnesota Missile on DW18.

Today was a good/bad run, as is usual for me. Ran my best time in the car yet, a 12.42, but my trap speed was down to 113 where it should be at 115. I totally botched the burnout. Since I was concentrating on doing a 2nd gear burnout, and they try to get the cars through as fast as possible, I was in a hurry so as not to hold anyone up and I completely forgot about using my line lock. With the faster wheel speed, it probably equaled about what I would have done in first gear. I realized my mistake immediately so slipped the clutch a bit taking off because I knew it would have just spun if I had tried to launch it.

My trap speed was down because the car was cutting out on me, which I half expected because I hadn't changed the plugs since the FE R&R and knew the long interstate drives would have fouled them up. I run a mix of low lead gas for the factory iron MR heads, and although the plugs will look ok, the gray lead coating on the base causes them to misfire after a while. Because I knew it would be a 6 hr day on the road, I wanted to get a quick run and hit the road.

Made the 300 mile trip without issue and after we got to the hotel and got settled in, we went across the street to a Gerry's Pizza joint to get some dinner. When we walked out, lo and behold there was a local Mustang meet going on in their parking lot! By then the car had cooled down enough to change the plugs, so I did that and ran down the street just a block to get some gas, then went back to the meet. They were super excited to see my car and got a real kick out of it and what we were doing this week. EVERYONE crowded around the car and had a ton of questions about it..lol  While it was mostly newer Mustangs with a couple newer Shelbys, Boss 302s, a GT 350 and a rarely seen McLaren, there were a couple of older ones like a real 64 1/2 and a '67 convertible with a 289. All of the people were super nice and friendly and I had a great time talking with everyone. What a great way to end the day!

Here's a shot of the lot after everyone settled down about the "race car" that showed up..lol
I'll tell ya, I'd LOVE to drive one of those Boss 302s on a road course just once!!
A great day overall, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing what new mistake I can make...lol !!

Congrats on the best pass, hope you get another one today. As far as feeling rushed when it's your turn out there, I always looked at it as MY track when I pulled into the box. Then it's everyone else's turn to wait for ME. Including the guy in the other lane. There's a million things that you can do wrong so just try and take your time and try to do a perfect pass everytime. Good Luck.

Anyone know whats powering that blue Cougar Eliminator running 8.80's?

Jim, I'm really glad to hear that you'll make it. Your buddys Falcon looks pretty serious. Looking forward to seeing both of you there!

cjetmech, I'd probably take you up on that if it wouldn't get me in hot water with the wife..lol She's had her heart set on riding along this year, so I'm really hoping it's a smooth ride like last year was.

Well if anything changes and you need somebody give me a shout. Like I said I'm off anyways so I could leave at the drop of a hat.

If anyone needs somebody to ride shotgun I'm available. I'm on vacation that week and was just planning on doing home projects but I'd certainly drop that plan to go to DW. 50yr old aircraft mechanic who has FE drag racing experience. 5yrs in a weekly points series so I know the drill. I'll work with you on expenses too. I'd be coming from the northeast. If anybody is interested email me at jcurrie8765@icloud.com.

Sad to hear that. I didn't know the man but he made a big impression on me in about 1983. I had just bought my Fairlane and was just getting into FE engines. Anyways I'm at a car show and in pulls this incredible car on a flat bed. It was Jim with Chrismans 65 Comet which I believe he had just finished restoring. Needless to say every person at that show flocked to the car. I can't tell you how long I looked that car over and I was just blown away seeing an SOHC in person. He became kind of an idol to me since he was a local guy who had the baddest FE car on the planet. RIP

Thanks for the replies. I thought it would be more difficult to do it on pump gas. But after doing a little more research, I guess it's common these days. I don't want to go the high CR route and I definitely want a roller cam. I'd like to have an easy to maintain engine that doesn't need race gas to get my Fairlane solidly in the 10's. Jay $600 sounds really cheap for a port job on these heads, I figured it would be like $1500. In which case I thought I might be better off just going with one of the newer heads. I might just ship them out there for that price. Either way, if I go with 475ci, my heads ported or a newer set, a .600 hyd roller, the SD intake port matched, atleast an 850 Holley, 10.5:1 CR at most, it seems I should be around 550-575hp. I think that'll get the job done. Is there anything else I should be thinking about at this power level such as crossbolting it or a certain valvetrain setup? I have HD shafts now with stands/spacers and HS rockers.