I have been busy in the garage almost every night getting the "Project 4-Link" and "Back-2-Basics" Vega ready for 2004. First comes the disassembly, then the inspection of welds, bolts, etc. to make sure everything is structurally ready. The "Project 4-Link" chassis was ok, but will need some "helmet bars" put in to meet the new chassis spec. You will notice in the photo there are two small bars there now but when the chassis was built there was no rule on helmet bars. We will install the new ones just below the existing smaller ones. I do not have a TIG welder, or the skill to operate one, so I will be getting friend and new chassis shop owner Danny Fox to bring his over to weld in the bars once Andy and I get them cut to size and notched to fit.

This is the helmet bar tubing kit as we received it from Jim Pulliam Dragsters. 1" x.058 4130 chrome moly steel tubing. We will cut them carefully and notch them for an exact fit before they are tig welded in. Then the chassis will get recertified this spring by IHRA and NHRA.

I also noticed my safety harness will expire in June 2004 so I am sending them in to be re-certified. The neck collar is pretty ragged and will be replaced, as will the driving shoes that are almost worn out. Be sure to check or replace any safety harness bolts with new grade eight hardware and locking nuts. If there is one set of bolts you don't want to fail when you need them it is the safety harness mounting hardware.

As I inspected the wiring I noticed that I had far too many splices in the wires. The problem areas are around the transbrake solenoid and the electric water pump. After three seasons and some "emergency pit repairs" it is time to fix it right. I will cut out all the splices and wire in a couple AMP weather tight connectors. I will also wire the connectors to my spare transbrake solenoids, the Vega transbrake wires and the spare water pump motor. That way if there is a problem in the middle of eliminations we can switch out solenoids or water pumps in a matter of minutes without cutting wires and splicing new ones in. I should have done it that way the first time, but later is better than never.

The main wiring has "weathered" the three seasons very well. Not one glitch with how well the MSD Programmable Digital 7 ignition has performed. Taking our time when we first assembled the car and wired it and drawing up a good schematic has saved hours of time over the past few seasons, especially when I got the NHRA "wiring inspection" at Topeka last Spring.