The new Weld Wheels added a
nice appearance touch to the dragster plus they are
SFI-certified. They must work; we won the first event
we went to with them on! |
Our season ended with the normal highs and lows. The car
was spinning the tires after the 60’ so we struggled
but made it to the finals one more time and went rounds each
race. This is going to be a problem that we might have to
deal with by going back to the single King Demon 1095 for
local events due to lack of track prep. We went to the ET
Finals in October and I was fortunate enough to have the “Project
4-Link” selected as the “Best Engineered-Open
Wheel Car”. It is a coveted award and truly shows what
a great craftsman Jim Pulliam, who built the car for me,
truly is. This is the second time this car has won the prestigious
award and I think it is the first time the same car has repeated
as a Best Engineered at the same event several years later.
The last event for the car in 2004 was just a couple of weeks
ago. The cooler, slippery tracks made it difficult to dial
the car and my new business is taking more time each week
so it seemed like a great time to call it a year. The engine
is as fast as it ever was, the car can still win races and
special awards, the snow is about to fly and it seemed like
a good time to park it.
| We will be doing a lot of upgrades over the winter
and look forward to a complete season of IHRA Top Dragster,
Jeg’s Super Quick races and local Quick 16 events
as well as a long awaited trip to the Winter Series next
year. |
 |
Not everything works like it
is supposed to. This collector fell off on what was
my last run of the year. Did minor damage to the collector,
but it could have been a lot worse if it had come off
at 170 mph and I ran over it with a slick. Next year
they will be welded to the tubes. |
Right side of the tunnel
ram shows the fuel log Andy carved out for us. 1" NPT
opening in both ends, one for inlet and the other for
the by-pass regulator. The four other outlets are 3/8" NPT
and we used #6 hose to the float bowls. This is our
gas setup and we run about 3 lbs. at idle and just
over 7.5 lbs at the finish line. |
The list of companies that have helped me accomplish so
much is a long one and I have mentioned most of them several
times before. These guys really pitched in with technical
help and product support this year. BTE put together a great
torque converter, Demon carburetors pulled a set of their
King Demon TR carbs off the shelf and they were perfect all
year right out of the box, Weld Wheels helped us upgrade
our wheel package to not only a great looking wheel but also
wheels with the SFI-tag I needed for Top Dragster, Eagle
connecting rods, Flat-Out Gaskets, MSD, Indy Cylinder Head’s
Tunnel Ram intake was awesome, Steve Oldani built the power-glide
that never even “blinked” all year, Comp Cams
improved the cam design to get us the extra power and last
but not least I want to thank Jay Roeder at Roeder Performance
Machine in Waverly, Iowa for taking the extra time to get
everything “just right” on the “Project
4-Link” 572” Mopar. Pretty darn good job on his
first mega-inch Mopar. If you Mopar guys out there are looking
for he “right guy” to build your Mopar powerplant
I would have to recommend you call Jay (319) 352-2220 and
talk to him. The service is personal and he will “tell
you like it is”.
This is the left side
of the Indy tunnel ram. Linkage is "typical" bolt
on. As long as you have a friend that can do some Tig
welding you can "bolt it on". 90 percent
of it was right but the King Demons have different
spacing for throttle linkage rods. |
The changes we hope to accomplish before next season are the installation of
a nitrous System, a new Oldani-built billet Power-Glide, data-logger system
and improvement in the cooling system. Other than that I would like to add
a set of dual caliper rear brakes and an additional hand brake / master cylinder
for stopping on short tracks. We also need to upgrade to a larger parachute,
as one of goals for next year is to reach the 185 mph mark and have a safe
and fun season of racing.
Maybe I will get a chance to meet some of you at the PRI
Show in December. If not, have a great holiday season and
we’ll see you at the races someday.
|
