Day 2 at Drag Week...

[cjshaker]

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 !!

[thatdarncat]

We had at least a 20 mph headwind today too, that will drop your top end a little also.

Things like that unexpected Mustang Car show ( and the attention you get ) are the things that really make great Dragweek memories.

[AlanCasida]

We had at least a 20 mph headwind today too, that will drop your top end a little also.

Things like that unexpected Mustang Car show ( and the attention you get ) are the things that really make great Dragweek memories.

I saw on the results that a lot of guys slowed a little down today, including myself. That makes sense as I slowed down about a tenth even though my 60ft was better.

[cjshaker]

You're absolutely right, Kevin, on all accounts. I know from experience that my speed drops about 2 mph when I have the plug fouling and resultant missing, so it would have been interesting to see what it would have been if that hadn't happened.

The Mustang meet was just pure luck, and a real blast with genuinely nice people. I just spent the last hour talking with a couple guys in the parking lot who are just following along. One of them was an older fellow who owns a body shop and appreciated the straight panels on my car, which is something that I spent a lot of time on when I restored it, but something that few people notice on cars. They were both Power Tour regulars and really nice guys. This is why I got addicted to Drag Week, the people I meet.

[Barry_R]

Congrats on a best pass - - rooting for you from the sidelines (computer screen...)

[FElony]

12's are miserable, Doug. Heck, I can run 12's, and I only need an eighth mile to do it in. Obviously, you neglected the most important dash-mounted accessory to achieve max power. That's right; a Mini Me:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/GREENLIGHT-GLmuscle-CARS-SERIES-15-1969-FORD-MUSTANG-MACH-1-/263204730179?

I'm watching you. No pressure. 

[turbohunter]

Having fun...best part.
Congrats Doug, the car's looking waaaaaay better this year.
BTW
Fried burger was going units over your car day 1. Really dug it.

[Stangman]

He talks about it everytime you go up. Hes got a man crush on your car.

[TorinoBP88]

What a think to stumble into, what was that like 20 + mustangs and bump into Drag Week mustangs! How Cool.

[FElony]

I'm sure you all caught Freiburger pontificating about lifelong '69 Machlust in Episode 66 of Roadkill.

[turbohunter]

I'm sure you all caught Freiburger pontificating about lifelong '69 Machlust in Episode 66 of Roadkill.

Nope, to busy working on my '66 to catch episode 66.

[cjshaker]

Congrats on a best pass - - rooting for you from the sidelines (computer screen...)

Thanks, Barry. I'd like to say I'm getting it worked out, but today proved it was just a fluke .

I did see that episode of Roadkill. David stopped and talked to me for a while during tech on Sunday. He did like the car, but he was most impressed that it had a "real" 52 year old, all iron 427 in it, and he's commented almost every time I've come up that it's 427 FE powered and a 4 speed. At least the FE is getting some coverage. I'd say it doesn't matter to me that he loves my car, but I'd be lieing. I think it's pretty cool.

[Barry_R]

Looked like it wadded up the tires pretty good on the pass I watched. 

David was going ga-ga about the tire wheel combo and the color on the commentary.  He also mentioned the FE engine getting the job done this week and over the past few years, and specifically mentioned the Miller Cougar leading it's class.  Pretty cool.

[Lenz]

Respect from guys like DF comes with performance and its a lot like self esteem, no one hands you either in real life, you have to earn it.  Well done to all from another one who's enjoying the action from a distance.

[cjetmech]

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.

[fastback 427]

Very good advice!! That IS doug's track. Congrats and good luck to you and all the other competitors!

[Falcon67]

We've got a couple of folks from here running.  One in a old blue truck, forget the name or year - it's pretty fast.  The other is a black 57 Chevy.  Used to run mid 6s (1/8) until he started messing with it and knocked 1/2 second out of it.  I heard they blew the driveline out of it first day.  Also say on Day two (about 36 minutes in) where he may have had a tire come apart.  In the results, he's listed as "Exhibition" which I take to mean he's out of comp already. 

[cjetmech]

We've got a couple of folks from here running.  One in a old blue truck, forget the name or year - it's pretty fast.  The other is a black 57 Chevy.  Used to run mid 6s (1/8) until he started messing with it and knocked 1/2 second out of it.  I heard they blew the driveline out of it first day.  Also say on Day two (about 36 minutes in) where he may have had a tire come apart.  In the results, he's listed as "Exhibition" which I take to mean he's out of comp already.

Ya Exhibition means that he's out of competition for whatever reason but the car was fixed and they're letting him make "Exhibition" passes.

[cjshaker]

Looked like it wadded up the tires pretty good on the pass I watched.

I wondered about that, Barry. I have my rear shocks set about as tight as they'll go. That was at 14 pounds, so today I ran them at 15. I'm going to do some experimenting tomorrow with tire pressure and I may try dropping my Calvert bars to the bottom hole to soften the hit. My thinking is maybe it won't squash the tires as bad. Maybe that will help, maybe not, but there's only one way to find out. It'll be one change at a time though.

[cjshaker]

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.

You know, you're right. I need to slow down a bit. Part of it is being a newbie, and as I get more familiar with the procedure of the burnout and staging, I start to feel more comfortable. Then I can concentrate on getting a better launch.