A Season of Trials & Tribulations 2014
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12th- 14th September 2014 and we’re ready to roll for The Hot Rod Drags at Shaky
This again is one of those events you don’t want to miss, prior to the launch of Dragstalgia it was the most awaited for event on our calendar, with lots of old skool racing, superb bands and terrific atmosphere it was an event not to miss. Although this is not an “official wild bunch” event, it’s always a great event to be part of. With new parts fitted and another change of gears it was time to give it another go. 1st run of the day went really well, 2nd run not so good, a cruise to the top end and all was not well. There was a definite problem within the engine and with no way of being able to remove the heads at the track we called it a day. On stripping the heads, we discovered that the head of a valve had sheared off the stem, beaten the piston to death, wedged itself sideways through the seat splitting the head and allowing debris back up into the inlet manifold, across, down the other side and destroyed two more pistons and their bores. So that was us done, I guess you could say it just wasn’t our year although we did win the Perseverance Award Trophy at the end of the season. So what know you ask, after several years of racing and 2 second hand blocks a new block is on order and a new set of heads. Will we be back in 2015? You bet and with a vengeance. Steve’s dream is to do an 8 second run @ 150mph on a single carburettor and supermarket petrol, can it be done? Do dreams come true? Who knows but this is Drag Racing and as we all know anything can happen. One thing I do know is THE BLACK PIG WILL BE BACK.
12th - 13th July 2014 and ...it was back to Santa Pod for Dragstalgia.
This has become the biggest event of the year for us, bringing out the largest field of Wild Bunch Cars in any single event. Although this is a 2-day event, there is an open RWYB on the Friday and with the excitement being too much to bear we always head up on the Thursday morning. We arrived Thursday morning, set up the pit area and then set about getting the car ready, on fire up something just didn’t sound right, with lots of pops from the exhaust and not convinced that we had retrieved all of the lash caps after a long discussion it was decided not to race. A very pleasant weekend was spent watching the action with the added bonus of Pure Hell and Rat Trap making a couple of demo passes. Back home and a full strip down of the engine revealed a trashed cam, bearings and broken oil ring, and the gear ratio still not quite right, with so much damage and parts needing to be ordered from the States, we decided to miss the next couple of events and be prepared for the Hot Rod Drags.
28th - 29th June 2014 and it was back up to Santa Pod for the Summer Nationals.
With Sarah in the hot seat, all started well on the 1st run, 2nd run out and there appeared to be a bit of a problem with changing gears, back in the pits with the rocker boxes removed we discovered a couple of the lash caps had come off, parts of these were found in the heads but not all of them. Not wanting to risk damage to the engine that was us done for the weekend.
21st & 22nd June Nostalgia Nationals
With the oil pump changed, new carb and rocker box seals fitted we headed off for the Nostalgia Nationals at Shakey this again is a grass roots meeting. A couple of strong runs on the Saturday saw us ready to compete Sunday. With the driver guided through the water box, a very strong burn out was launched which resulted in the crew running to mid track to back up. Unfortunately, part of this was due to brake failure. The car was towed back to the pits to investigate and is if by magic they were working again.
7th & 8th June Mid-Summer Madness (June Shoot Out)
New crank installed and everything put back together in less than 2 weeks and it was back up to Shakey. Saturday dawned and again the heavens opened, the day was spent in the pits chilling with friends and lots of beer. Sunday arrived and with the sun out it was time to play. The 1st run of the day resulted in a 10.194 @ 121.29 (game on let’s have another go). The 2nd run of the day resulted in a 10.084@ 120.12, on arrival at the top end the driver was again covered in a misting of oil. Back at the pits and a check over the top end revealed that the rocker box seals needed replacing (game over) unfortunately the heavens again opened so that was the weekend finished. Following a discussion on the way home, it was decided that the oil pump needed changing and a larger carburettor fitted, this was duly added to the shopping list.
24th - 26th May Gary’s Picnic
Replacement rear oil seal and a pair of adjustable stays on the back of the gear box and we were ready to try again, this time at Shakey. We set of Friday morning full of optimism for 3 days racing, lots of beer and fun, Gary’s Picnic being a grass roots proper Nostalgic meet there is always lots of interesting stuff in the camping fields. Saturday morning dawned and the heavens had opened, the day was spent alternately sitting in the pits and wa...ndering round the camp site in between the showers. Sunday dawned brighter and by midday the track was open and we were ready to go. A nice steady shake down run of 11.346 @ 122.27 to start with and all seemed well. Let’s have another go. 2nd run and something’s not quite right, with all the crew in the tow car we headed off to the top end to discover the driver and car covered in a mist of oil. Back at the pits and we made the call to park up for the rest of the weekend something was just not right, the engine needed to come out and be stripped down. This proved to be a good call, once the engine was out and stripped we discovered a couple of spun bearings had destroyed the crank.
