Well we made it to the Spencer race. Surprisingly the car wasn’t too bad. The clutch slipped and kept me from really getting up to speed and a little tangle put me out with a broken tie rod but I’m pretty impressed with the way the car felt when it did run right. The motor seemed to be holding up much better than I expected. It stayed cool and was way more than the clutch could handle at least.

As for the track, I learned that mirrors are pretty much mandatory but otherwise it’s not a bad place to run. It’s relatively smooth and the car seems to like it. I think with some adjustments and decent tires, I could make some decent laps. The guys I met down there all seem pretty decent and the racing was good.

So since the damage wasn’t too bad and I think I have most of the stuff to fix the little things that aren’t right and Joe Mancuso made me an offer I couldn’t refuse on tires, I guess I’m going to DTRP (Lancaster) for the show on 6/23. I hope to make it to test & tune at Evans Mills next Wednesday to make sure the clutch is working properly and all the rest of the bugs are shaken out.

Well it’s loaded and ready to go. Or as ready as I had time for anyway. I’ve driven it far enough to get it on the trailer so I have no idea what will happen once it hits the track. But as they say, no guts, no glory.

I’m told I might have some people coming to watch and/or help. Whoulda thunk it? I’ll be glad of the help and hope I put on at least a respectable show.

It’s got brakes and moves under its own power. Kelly came over and helped with the brakes and toe so it’ll stop and stay pointed straight. I even scaled it. The numbers aren’t pretty but I’m just not in a position to do anything about it. I’ll see if I can squeeze a little time in to do something about it tomorrow but I’m not counting on anything. I still need to put numbers on it. Since I didn’t have the cash to buy some until too late I’ll be doing them with duct tape again temporarily.

So I’m going into a race Friday with no track time on the driver or the car, old tires, a sick motor, and messed up corner weights. And I’ll be up against some of the best SS cars and drivers in NY. Am I crazy? I’m hoping to just keep it together and run as much of the feature as I can. now that I’ve gotten it this far, I’ll be able to find out where I’ve missed and hopefully have it more prepared for some DTRP and SL2 shows and RoC. Maybe a miracle will happen and I’ll get my motor fixed and a tire sponsor by July.

So it’s black and it runs. I’ll spend the next couple of nights trying to get the last few things worked out and see what I can do about a trailer. I’ve had a couple offered but neither has showed up yet. I’m pretty sure I can make to to Spencer Friday. The trick will be to keep it running and not look too bad. I’d have liked a chance to shake it down but I’m just out of time.

I spent the last few days on an ill-conceived but much needed vacation to Boston and Maine. We met up with my friend Rob and took in some cool sights, visited a few breweries, and stopped in at Bentley’s Saloon. A good time was had by all.

So I was going to give up. But I managed to clean up a motor I had sitting around the shop. It won’t be pretty or have a pile of power but it should run. So I’m still going to give Spencer a shot. We’ll see how this weekend goes. I plan on painting it if nothing else. I may end up with duct tape numbers and a few missing pieces and I may just miss it but I’ll be close. Anyone want to come lend a hand? I’ll be in the shop all weekend.

So I’m done, at least for the foreseeable future. It turns out the sleeve in #4 wasn’t put in right and dropped by .010 or so and the head gasket won’t seal properly. So I’m looking for a new block or another sleeve and set of gaskets and bearings. Since I was cutting it pretty close on budget already, I’m guessing it will be a while before I can get it back together. On the plus side I have more time to finish the chassis and make it something closer to pretty. If someone decides to throw me some cash I might make it to the 6/8 show at Spencer but I’m not holding my breath.

I’m trying to get the car to Spencer for practice Friday. I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion the the racing gods are unhappy with me though. Part of the problem is the fact that I just plain waited too long. The time just went by without me noticing. But even so, I took a couple of days off and got right to it. Things seemed to be going OK for a while. The motor went together without too much trouble, all my parts showed up in time (and I could afford them), and the body work was going well. Then stuff started to go wrong. I dropped the motor in and the mounts didn’t line up. The headers didn’t fit. I filled it with water and the radiator, water pump, and intake all leaked. The lines and hoses were all the wrong length. The switch panel grew legs. Someone cut my shift linkage. The car slipped off the jack and trashed a rocker panel. The battery didn’t fit in the box. And I couldn’t get any oil pressure.

I finally worked through most of that and got the motor running. Oil pressure good, sounds nice, carb needs adjustment. Until I noticed water seeping out of the back of the intake. I figured I just needed to put some thread seal on one of the bolts so I pulled it out and water geysered out of the hole. Which wouldn’t have been too surprising if the motor was up to temp. So it turns out I’ve got a cylinder bleeding into the water jackets. Block? Head? Gaskets? I’ll find out tonight. If it turns out to be non-terminal I’ll keep trying for Friday but if the block is junk I’m done probably for the season.

Even if it’s just a head gasket I’ve still got a pile of work ahead of me. The street headers run straight into the x bracing and I can’t route around it. So I’ll be putting the crossovers back on. And the new radiator is bigger than the one I built the mounts for so I’ll need to cut that back off and rebuild it. And a new shroud to go with it. And a duct. And I need to add 200#.

If I can’t get it done for Friday I may try to find a third member for Evans Mills and run it there Saturday as a shakedown. Or I’ll try to get it to the 5/25 show at Spencer and see if they’ll let me run. Or both. If the motor’s not junk. If I have it done by then. If…

Well, now I’ve done it. I’m on the NY Super Stocks roster so I guess I’ll have to make it to the track. In all seriousness, I was planning on making as many of these shows as I could. Should be fun to try out some new places. Unfortunately, I’ll be out of town for the first race at  DTRP but I expect to be at the 6/8 show at Spencer. This ought to be a learning experience. I’m planning on making it to practice and maybe a race there so I have at least a few laps under my belt before I try to take on these veterans. Anyone from Central/Northern NY want to come join me so I don’t feel like such an outsider?

Speaking of practice, I’ll be heading up to Evans Mills to shake down Jason’s second car next Wednesday. His girlfriend will be running it this season and since he doesn’t fit in it he’s asked me to work the bugs out before he turns her loose. Should be a good time. It’ll be good to be behind the wheel again.

I did some work on the car. It’s starting to look like a racecar. I’ll be calling the motor guy today to get my heads fixed and hopefully get the car over to Dad’s this weekend to get the frame fixed so I can finish the body. If I can keep on track, I should be able to have it together and shaken down for RoC. Who’s joining me?

I went down to Spencer last Friday night with Jeff Merritt. I’ve never been there and I came away with some mixed feelings. The track is nice and the people are friendly. And you can bring your own beer (regrettably not in bottles so no #9). The racing was a little sedate although the Legends did put on a pretty decent show. The Super Stocks were a surprise and a bit of a disappointment. The car count was low. It was opening night and I’m sure there are unfinished cars out there (including mine) but I’d have expected more based on the $100 to start and new “open” rules. I’ve mentioned it on RaceNY and I’ll say it again, I think the requirement for a HANS and to buy fuel there is going to cut into the counts. $450 for a set of tires you can’t use anywhere else isn’t going help either. Probably another reason people stayed home was to see what the rules looked like. I was surprised to see the second place finisher sporting an aftermarket body. I didn’t get to take a close look so it’s possible that the roof was steel but the pillars looked a lot like the one’s I ran. I guess some people take a broader view of stock than I do.

The racing was interesting. From what I can see, there’s only one groove and with mirrors the only way to make a pass is to knock someone put of the way. Which is pretty much what Jim Steffenhagen did. He obviously had a much faster car but made almost every pass on the inside, usually after a bump to loosen them up. Considering how fast his car was, his comments in victory lane were a bit misplaced. If his car was junk, I’m not sure I’ll bother showing up for when he has it running right. I’m not a big fan of racing for second.

I went up to Evans Mills Saturday night to watch Jason, and as usual, something went wrong. I’m not sure what kind of curse he’s stuck with but he can not get a break with that car. He has yet to finish a race in it. He looks pretty fast when it’s running and straight so I’d love to see him do it. Maybe this weekend. To add to his troubles, I followed him home and he blew a tire on his trailer. Here’s hoping his luck turns around soon.

This is my car. I’ve been talking to Jason and his addiction seems to be contagious. I bought some parts last week and got the garage cleaned up so I suppose I’d better get to work on the car. It still needs a diet and the frame needs to be straightened but I’ve got pretty much everything I need to put it together. I do need to get the valves fixed in my heads but the rest of the motor is in pretty good shape. I’ll be trying to get them to the shop in the next week.