New Priming Fuel Pump

I am taking care of the last few items on the SuperComp car to get it ready to race. The car has a mechanical belt driven fuel pump on it that requires the engine to be running in order to pump gas to the carburetor. This makes it very difficult to start the car if the carburetor bowls evaporate all of the fuel out of them or you run the car completely out of fuel. You have to roll the car on the starter until the pump picks up fuel (Very hard on the starter) or squirt gasoline into the carburetor to get the engine started. This is a dangerous way to start an engine because it could backfire and burn your arm.

I re-plumbed the fuel system and added an electric pump to prime the carburetor so that the engine will start until the belt driven fuel pump starts pulling fuel from the gas tank. It is all plumbed now and only needs the electrical wires hooked up.

I also added a nice inline fuel filter (there was no fuel filter on the car) to make sure small jets in the carburetor don't get debris in them.

This is a much better arrangement!

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New Billet Weld Delta Wheels

I finally got the wheels that belong on this car!

Once I put the black front wheels on, I knew I had to put black wheels on the back. The back wheels were the wrong backspace which caused the tires to run too close to the body. The new wheels have the correct backspace on them and correct all of the clearance problems.

These Weld Delta wheels are the best of the best. They are made from a solid piece of billet aluminum which is machined into a one piece wheel. These things are a work of art and make the car look awesome!!!!

Thanks to Shawn for finding these wheels for me. Shawn is the guy I got the car from. He has been so helpful!

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Chassis certified

This is the last step of getting the SuperComp car ready to race. The NHRA chassis certification guy came to the house and checked/certified the chassis to 6.00 seconds and slower classes. This will enable me to run SuperComp, Super Pro, and Top Dragster classes.

I have gone through everything on the car and only found one minor problem (faulty pushrod). A new set of pushrods is coming and the car will be ready.

My first runs should take place some time in August. I cannot wait!

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Good Progress!

I made some progress this weekend on the dragster and tow truck.

First the tow truck. I spent all day today changing all of the fluids and checking over the truck. It is in really good shape mechanically. 

New engine oil, new transmission oil, flushed the cooling system, changed the air filter and coolant filter.

I also added a programmer chip to add 30 percent more power for towing "The Long Long Trailer".

Now for the dragster. I finished building a new dash out of lightweight composite material. I rearranged all of the control boxes and switches to fit me better. I also reworked some circuits to work differently and make the staging process easier and safer.

I also rewired the whole car. The wiring was outdated and had a bunch of unused wires in the wire loom. That kind of stuff drives me crazy!

Every connector is now shrink wrapped to keep it from breaking from vibration. All of the terminals are now eyelet type to keep them from getting lose and vibrating out of the terminals.

Everything is zip tied together to prevent vibration failures and make everything look better. I also added miniature LED headlights (almost invisible) for coming back down return roads at night races.

I also added some sensor to the data aquisition system. I added transmission temperature, engine crankcase pressure/vacuum, and A/F ration on each header. My TIG welding is definitely getting better after building the headers for the ProMod car. I welded the collars on these stainless headers without a single blow through or "Dobber Nest", HA!!

The data system now records/displays:

• Engine RPM
• Oil Pressure 
• Water Temperature
• Oil Temperature
• Transmission Temperature
• Fuel Pressure
• Driveshaft RPM
• A/F Ratio Left Header
• A/F Ration Right Header

I also installed a new set of seat belts. The belts have to be recertified every two or three years and were out of certification. The throttle pedal and brake pedal got moved about 6 inches further forward to make room for my long legs.

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New Dragster Video

I found these videos of the new dragster running before I purchased it.

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The Long Long Drive

I have wanted a real heavy duty tow truck for a long time. The $150,000 to $200,000 price tag always kept me from being able to get one.

About a month ago I found this truck and even though it is older, it only has 36,000 miles on it. The only problem was that it was located in Bangor Maine, some 2,200 miles away!

Traci and I flew to Maine last Thursday and drove the truck home in four days. We drove 600 miles a day in an unloaded heavy duty truck. Needless to say it was a bouncy ride. We had many laughs as we ping-ponged between the seat and the roof!

The truck ran great and I think it is going to be an excellent tow truck for "The Long Long Trailer".
Over time, I will spruce up the truck and paint it black to match the trailer. The truck is not perfect  but it is great shape for what we paid for it.

It is a standard shift 10 speed, non-synchronized transmission so I had some on the job training driving it home. I can pretty much drive most things but I had never driven and non-synchronized road truck transmission before. There is definitely an art to driving these things. You may have heard a term called "double clutching" but probably do not know what that really means. Double clutching is a process that must be used to shift the gears of transmission like this. You first must push in the clutch to shift the transmission to neutral. Then, once it is neutral, you must let out the clutch to spin the gears inside the transmission so they will synchronize with the output shaft gear. Then push the clutch in again and push the shift lever into gear. If you do everything exactly right the gear shifts, if you mess up, the grinding begins until you do the process again. Panic and you will never get it into gear! Been there, done that!

Downshifting is even more fun because you have to add throttle to spin up the gears inside the transmission between shifts. After 2200 miles, I became pretty proficient at driving the truck. I am sure pulling "The Long Long Trailer" will add a layer of stress but I am sure I will get it.

If I had not had my trusty and very capable navigator, I would not have made it home. Traci is amazing putting up with my dream chasing and riding in this lumber wagon, ha!

The dream is really coming together! Some day, we are going to start going rounds in a "real" drag race!

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