Sunday morning, up at 5.00am again to drive to Sydney Dragway for Day of the Drags. I say again because me and the crew chief/wife did it last weekend for the Championship round and we'll do it again in 2 weeks for the next round . The racing I love, but the boring drive down and back gets to you. That's enough shit-on-the-liver stuff for now. We got there nice and early so up to registration for armbands and suss out the machinery. An interesting mix of slingshots, gasser style and American muscle. Unfortunately this event falls on the same day as a large Nostalgia weekend at Kurri Kurri (no, it's not a typing error. Us Aussies sometimes repeat a town name to make it easier for people to remember it.), so the numbers of Hotrods and classics are down. Seven HAMBsters turned up. Me, Mangrove Steve, Steve D, Jeff, Gerry, Anthony and Drewfus. Unfortunately Drewfus had a major fuel leak so was a non starter. A pity, as he has a longer drive down than me. That'll teach him for not testing in the back streets at home before loading up. (the residents of Paterson would love that, eh Drewfus.) Staging lanes were opened so I jump in the car and fire up. The rest are wandering around 'like a herd of Brown's cows' so I did a solo qualifying run. 14. 525 @ 90.62mph at 9.21am. 2nd run 14.422 @90.86 against Mangrove Steve 13.559 @ 102.24mph. run at 9.33am. How's that for having the track to ourselves? By then the others had got out of their pyjamas and brushed their teeth, or whatever they were doing, and came out to play. Another run against Mangrove Steve 13.206 @ 105.27mph and me 14.312 @ 90.70mph. There was something weird going on here as I ran 14.5 all day last weekend, did nothing except fresh fuel and did a 1.997/60'. I've never done that at Sydney before. It was going to make dialing in a time interesting. Stay tuned, same Bat time, same Bat channel.( The older ones will get it.)
Was a great day out. I was having such a great time I didn't take one pic. Not One! Hopefully someone has some.
It certainly was a great day. I ended up getting 8 runs in altogether. Here's a few more cool machines.
Anthony was having a less than good day with severe clutch slippage from his Falcon six powered machine. After a quick adjustment he was able to keep going but dial in times were tricky. Here he is running against Mangrove Steve. He made Steve earn his win. Anthony ran 17.22 on a 16.65 dial whilst Steve ran 13.275 on a 13.00 dial.
For some reason, be it the weather or the planets were correctly aligned or we had a breeze up our bum, but everyone seemed to be having a good day with faster times than normal. Mangrove Steve ran a 13.011 @106.22 and in the same run I did a 14.329@ 91.44. I've never run that quick at Sydney. Steve's getting greedy and wants to be the first to run 12's. After three Chicago shootouts there was Jeff on three wins and 4 of us on 2 wins. A count-back saw Gerry and Jeff running the final as Gerry's wins were closer to his Dial-in. I'll let the video tell the story, keep an eye on the readout board at the end. Damn close racing.
Fun to watch. Tracks should open around here by mid-April. Looks like that place can seat 50,000 spectators.
Yes, but the sad part is they're lucky to get a thousand people there for a Championship round. Apparently they get a couple of thousand spectators there for the Wednesday night drags probably because it's an after work thing.
Here's another with old school looking machines. The slingshot has a 202cu.in. Holden six red , triple S.U.s and no electronics.
spanners -- That's a nice running 202 6 cylinder slingshot , what does it run in the 1/4? Nice wheels up leave.
He usually runs in the low 9's but he reckoned that run was sloppy so backed out of it a bit. That run was 9.5. The car was built initially to run in the 10's but as you know, a bit faster, a bit more. That engine is 4 years old without a rebuild.
spanners -- Low 9's is a fun ride and it sounds like a reliable low maintenance setup. Question, are the heads on a Holden six the same as on a Chevy 194/230/250/292 with the head bolt in the port passage and do they need a lump setup to perform well? Would love to see some more pictures of the slingshot if you have some. Thanks
As far as I know the bolt does pass through the port. On the 'Yella Terra' style 9 port heads the casting is ground away and a tube spacer is inserted. On the 12 port later head the design is different. Funny thing is the 9 port head is reportedly better for performance applications. I'll have a look through my albums to see if I've got any photos. The bloke that owns it is a top fella and he's one that when I started racing the HAMBster 3 years ago, didn't laugh but was very supportive.
Great to see some great racing weather finally, as well as some great racing. My fault, poor preparation, and a few rushed weeks leading up to the event meant that I didn't have my 'ducks in a row', and had to eat a stern lesson as a result. Point taken, but sorted now, and hope to tail up to G/dah next time it's on hopefully. My neighbours aren't very enthusiastic about the idea of cutting laps, so have temporarily stored in near work, for a few late night wake-ups in the industrial estate, as it's sat around for far too long. Steve's impressive times have given me sufficient reason to start doing something with the ol mule. Cheers, Drewfus
Nice to see you becoming more active with the car. I appreciate all the advice you provided when I was building mine and always look for you in the posts from OZ.
Gunnedah is on 16th/17th May. It would be a good time to shake the cobwebs out of both the car and driver.
Hope you have a good outing this weekend, and look forward to seeing the results. Have scratched it onto the calendar on fridge, just need to organise a room. Cheers, Drewfus
Unfortunately Drewfus, this time it's me that's got engine trouble. I've been laid up for a couple of days with a viral infection and have barely the energy to stand up, let alone race. Then again, I sit down to race..... Nah, doctor's orders plus my wife/crew manager has been cleaning up after me so doesn't deserve me having a relapse. Might go to the next test n tune day or see you at Gunnedah. Try the Harvest Lodge , Gunnedah. Room rates a bit higher than others but good rooms, good owners and a home cooked style meal in their dining room that's excellent.
G'day Nigel. How do the times your old car is running compare to when you had it? I'm not trying to have a shot at you, I'm just curious how it compares with Qld altitude and air density.
The Jalopy Journal
