|
|
Original Message
|
here's an interesting post from another forum |
By blinker - 05/10/2004 9:19:29 PM; IP 64.12.116.81 |
Torino at the Hot Rod Pump Gas Drags May 4 2004 at 9:26 AM Barry R (Login Barry_R)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi folks, I thought I'd give you an update on the Hot Rod Pump Gas Drags that I participated in over the weekend. The event got compressed into a single day due to inclement weather. Hot Rod, Comp Cams, and Memphis Motorsports Park busted tail to get this thing pulled off - or we'd have driven 12 hours to sit in rain. The idea of the event was to drive 50 invited cars to the track, and to make three consecutive passes without opening the hood or tuning the car, all on spec 93 octane fuel.
I knew going in that I wasn't going to be a hitter. I was gambling pretty hard on the package, since pump gas was not what the car was built for - a 3600 lb. 1969 Torino with 13:1 compression and no power adders. Of course I was the only FE in the field. I also was the only non-5.0 style Ford.
After a major thrash to get the car assembled (engine installed into the car last Friday) I loaded into a trailer shared with another contestant (we rode like rock stars in a borrowed stacker semi rig - - the other guy has good "freinds").
The very first pass on this package was at the test and tune in Memphis the day before the event. It started raining as I went through the traps, but a 10.44 a 131mph gave me reason to hope.
The cruise was a brutal 33 mile drive through Memphis rush hour traffic. I installed the wrong radiator cap in the rush to get ready, and had no coolant recovery - coolant went out to the overflow but could not return. Temps climbed over 200, the car rattled pretty good(it only started pinging after temps went wild), but never boiled over and I made it to the track OK.
First pass went well - - 10.46 Second pass I saw water on the windsheild & let off - 10.80 Third pass the overflow tank was overflowing and the car got really loose in 2nd. Lacking common sense, I still went 11.15.
The 3 pass average of 10.80 put us pretty much in the middle of the pack. Not bad for an obsolete dinosaur, but we could have been in the hunt for a jacket with a little more practice - the tenth place guy had a 10.0 second average - not out of reach.... A lot of really stout cars didn't make it through - the FE did.
|
|
This thread, so far...
|
|
Post A Response
|
|
|
|