If you read my last post, you all know that we have refocused our efforts to achieve our goal of qualifying for an NHRA national event in the ProMod class.
As of today, we are in line for a new chassis to be built by Rick Jones, and new 1967 Mustang body, and a new Janis 4.9 engine package. We found out last week that we are next in line for construction of the chassis (probably will start construction sometime in September). The Janis's have started gathering pieces for our engine, and the body is in the works as well. The Janis's are guiding us every step of the way to make sure we achieve our goals with this car.
In the meantime, we have been focusing on getting a bunch of other projects finished so we can focus on construction of the new car once we take possession of the chassis.
One of the things we need to do is get back in a race car and get seat time at the dragstrip. In order to accomplish that, Traci and I plan on running the Blue Banana as much as we can at local events. We wanted to make it as easy as possible to race the Blue Banana, so we decided to fix up our old small race trailer with everything we need to do local one day events. The old (2000-year model) trailer was purchased as a hollow shell from a racer who was upgrading. We bought it to make our move from Magnolia to Livingston possible without renting a moving van. The trailer paid for itself multiple times and we use it for all kinds of stuff, but it was not outfitted to actively race. We decided to do this because the "Big Rig" is really overkill for a day race with the Blue Banana.
We basically gutted it (wiring and all) and begin rebuilding and modernizing it. Some of the upgrades include:
Rewiring and updating lights
Wiring circuits for 110-volt use
Installing a diesel tank and generator
Installing an air compressor
Insulating the walls and ceiling
Covering walls and ceiling with white fiberglass siding
install new brakes, wheel bearings, and hubs
New tires
Build a custom aluminum cabinet for storage and to hide the generator, air compressor, and fuel tank
Install two air conditioners/heat pumps for creature comfort
Weld up hundreds of holes drilled for mounting things (done by previous owner)
Install new tie down locations for holding the car and pit bike in place
Purchase a new awning to work under when servicing the car.
Install computer monitor and workstation docking station
Install new fold out step to make it easier for old people to come in and out of the trailer
Installed various shelves, organizers, etc. to hold all of our gear
Added toolboxes to keep a set of tools ready to go
It is rewarding to take something that is old and outdated and make it into something new again. Wish I could do that to myself, ha! It is a really nice and functional trailer now!!!
I have also been finishing up everything on the Blue Banana to get it ready to race. We plan on going to the dragstrip in the next 3-4 weeks to test the car and get it ready to race again. I made a bunch of changes to the car, so we have some work to do!!!
We have also established our goal for debuting the new ProMod car (in the NHRA) in October of 2023 and the Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas! We hope to start testing the car next summer, get our NHRA ProMod license, and run some local 1/8th mile events prior to making our NHRA debut.
As always, God continues to bless Traci and I. We are so fortunate to get to do these crazy things. The American Dream is still alive and well when combined with the Grace of God!
HE is so amazing to give us the desires of our hearts! After all, with God on our side, nothing is impossible!
Luke 1:37, For nothing will be impossible with God.
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There has been a change of plan (Again) on the rebuild of The Black Hole.
A few weeks ago, a veteran racer was severely burned at a race at The Texas Motorplex. We do not know the details other than it was an alcohol funny car (not a ProMod like our car). Those cars use a similar engine to ours and the potential to have an engine related fire is the same.
That began some discussions between Traci, Mike Janis (Mikey), and myself about my ability to get out of my car in a hurry if there was an engine fire. All of us agreed that my car is very restrictive when it comes to access and egress.
That began the discussion of how do we fix it? We decided that a new chassis built around my body might solve the problem, so we started talking to chassis builders. Every builder that we talked to told us that the 63 Vette was the worst body/chassis combination for an old, big guy like me. This was sad news considering we just bought a very expensive carbon fiber body for it to help lose some weight from the car.
After several discussions with Traci and Mikey, we realized that the Corvette was not the solution! Traci and Mikey both came back to "What is the goal for this adventure" The goal has and will always be to qualify for an NHRA national event, period. We have compromised our goals over the last couple of years because of the car we owned. It would be nearly impossible to accomplish the original goal using our current car.
Once we came to the realization that our car was not the right one for my safety or to accomplish our ultimate goal, we made the decision to build a new, more modern car that had a larger frame and body to fit me better. But what car would it be? After talking to the chassis guys and Mikey, the choice was clear. It became really clear after seeing this video of a new car built for one of the professional teams. Larger frame, larger body/doors, and just drop dead gorgeous!!!
Take a look:
We will buy a new professionally welded bare chassis, a new 1967 Mustang body, a new Mike Janis NHRA legal engine, new Janis roots supercharger, new suspension, new electronics, and a bunch of other stuff that we need to complete the car. We will basically be starting over right where we started with our current car (a welded bare chassis) but we will be building an NHRA legal car capable of competing at a national event (providing the driver can do his job). Everything will be built to meet the current rules for an NHRA, roots supercharged ProMod. We will build it according to the way the Janis's believe we could be competitive so we can accomplish our goals.
We will put our old car back together, mount the new lightweight body and sell it for the best price we can. It is in a million pieces right now so there is a lot of work to do just to get it together.
We will also sell our current engine so we can get a more modern Janis powerplant similar to this one.
This engine has a screw type blower on it. Ours will have a roots type blower. This is a work of art!
All of this means that we will probably not get to run the car this year but we should be ready next year. Everything is hard to get these days. There is a 3-4 month wait just to get a chassis and similar wait times on most other big items.
We think we are finally on track to accomplish our long term goals. The Black Hole did it's job of proving that we could build a car and make some test runs without killing myself!!! We also met some awesome people along the way that have been critical in keeping us moving forward.
Thanks to my Sunshine for always supporting me, my family, my friends, our Axis family for making our business successful, Shawn for trading me his car as a catalyst for getting me going, and the Janis family for spending hundreds of hours guiding me along the way. We could not have done what we did without all of you!
Now we are moving on to the next chapter that will eventually lead to us being pitted close to our Janis family to qualify for an NHRA national event.
After all, with God on our side, nothing is impossible!
Luke 1:37, For nothing will be impossible with God.
Click on the Blog Archive hierarchy on the right hand side to see my posts in order. The ones at the bottom are the newest posts.
It has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. A lot has happened in the last year and most of it did not include race cars.
Last year we lost my dad at nearly 90 years old. Most people would have never expected him to live that long but after having him in our care for the past 20 plus years, we would not have expected anything less! He was a survivor!
Traci and I are still figuring out what life is like without another person being in our direct care. It is kind of different for us, but we are learning to like it. Traci and I have never lived alone in our house since we decided to start a family many years ago.
It is the first time in our life we have been able to go anywhere we want, anytime we want.
We have a few pets that tie us down but this year we moved my sister up near our house. She is great help and is always willing to take care of the animals when we are gone.
Traci and I lost one of our kitties last year unexpectedly, but God filled that gap with a new member that wandered up on our porch one night. Her name is Willow, and she is something! We are very attached to her, and she is very spoiled. We said we were not going to let any of the cats live in the house, but Willow changed that. She pretty much runs the house!
We have not done any racing in two-plus years but have stayed involved in the sport. Our friendship with the Janis family (3-time world NHRA ProMod champs) and their crew has grown to the point that they have become part of our family. We try to go see them race at least 2 times a year. Last year we went to Bristol Tennessee to watch them race and they won the event. It was really cool to see them win. Mikey and Mike have been instrumental in guiding us to sucess some day. We are so fortunate to have access to their knowledge.
We were there when the Janis's won their first race with their new driver. Winning an NHRA race in the first season with a new driver is an amazing accomplishment.
Our plan is to start racing the Blue Banana (comp dragster) now that we have completely rebuilt it and updated it. It had some engine problems that needed to be fixed. We have updated the electronics and installed Electronic Fuel Injection on it to make it more competitive and consistent.
We are also getting the Black Hole (ProMod) ready to race again. Every item on the car has expired safety certifications and must be brought back into spec again before we take it to the track again. We also bought a new light weight carbon fiber body for it that must be installed and painted. We have completely disassembled the car and am completely redoing everything while focusing on losing weight, making the car safer, and making it easier to service. Everything that we can make out of titanium (very strong and lightweight metal), we are. Everything that we don't need on the car is gone. Our goal is to be at minimum weight for my type of car so we have a fighting chance to compete.
Titanium is awesome. Light as a feather and strong as alloy steel.
We are in the process of freshening up our engine and have it ready to go when we finish updating the chassis. We want to buy one of the Janis's new engines to be at the top of our game when we start racing the car, but we haven't committed to that yet.
We are somewhat in a holding pattern on while we are getting our lake house fixed up again. We are fixing it up so some good friends can live in it instead of letting it sit and get in disrepair. Traci and I have a hard time finding opportunities to go to Bonham, so we want someone to enjoy the place until we have more time to use it. Prices are so crazy these days that we are waiting to see what that costs before we go all out on the race car.
Even though our world is crazy, life goes on and we should not stop living! I know the last two years have been tough on a lot of people. It has been a crazy two-plus years but Traci and I learned a lot during this madness. First, love your family, friends, and God! Second, DO NOT STOP LIVING! You never know when your time will be up. Lastly and most important, remember, God is in control!!!!
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