Here is my list of the major things to do 6 weeks before DragWeek…
There was a lot of other things i missed on this list, wiring the trailer lights on the car, packing all the stuff for the trailer, buying and mounting new slicks, getting my NHRA competition license so i could legally run 9's…
So here is the motor in the car
This was after i finished most of the wiring
And here is the final product, I had to add a vacuum canister because the camshaft and the power brakes weren't playing nice together.
I also had to remove the vacuum pump when it started pulling way too much oil out of the valve cover fitting. I was worried about damaging the pump and didn't have time to diagnose the problem, so i removed the pump and installed my moroso catch can from the little motor.
This was all done in a mad thrash to get my license. I had decided that if i didn't get my competition license there would be no point in going to drag week and not running the car to its full potential(assuming it would even run 9's at all). I had been working on the car nonstop for a month, and every night i would get 3-5 hrs of sleep, go work my 8 hour day, run for parts at lunch time and go home and dot it all over again. The car/motor was pretty much fighting me every step of the way and this engine required some custom steps that were much easier to figure out on paper…….
One of the days that was a real turning point was when i was under the car tightening the transmission bolts up, i had a 1/2" ratchet with a ton of extensions on it, and a swivel socket. The wrench slipped, fell right on my head, it hurt, bad. I rolled off the creeper, put the backside of my hand on my head to block the light, i was planning on just laying on the cold floor till my head stopped hurting, and finishing up that last bolt. When i moved my hand off my forehead, i noticed it had more blood on it than i was comfortable seeing. Im a big pansy when it comes to blood BTW, so i went inside, told my lady i was bleeding, she looked at me like i had a hole in my head, told me to go sit in the bathroom, and don't look in the mirror. I knew things weren't good, it wouldn't stop bleeding, and she thought i might need a stitch.
It was about 9:30 at night, i called my aunt who is a nurse and works the night shift up(she is out of work right now due to the fact that she was recently diagnosed with cancer and at the time was recovering from surgery and waiting to start chemotherapy). We went over there, she hooked me up with two butterfly bandages, and finally the cut had stopped bleeding. Now here is where the turning point comes in… My aunt was my only family member that ever listened to my crazy scheme of going to dragweek. Everyone else i had told in my family about this thought i was crazy for doing it, and the money it was going to cost, and what if the car breaks… blah blah, you get the point.
Not my Aunt though, she was always psyched on the idea. At this point, it is 3 weeks before i have to leave for kentucky, i have about 1 week to get the car running and make 6 license passes, overnight the paperwork to the NHRA, then ask them very nicely to rush my paperwork so i can have a paper copy of my license in time. I still don't have a running car, i don't know if the car will overheat, i don't know how I'm going to get the exhaust done, no trailer hitch mount, etc etc. I felt like the odds were stacked against me, and i told my aunt i was probably not going to make it for all of these reasons. She just stops me in my tracks, says no way, you HAVE to go, you will have the time of your life, you just gotta do it. So that was what really lit the fire under my ass to get this thing done, and if it wasn't for her, i may have thrown the towel in and gave up. I may not have made it to dragweek if i didn't drop that wrench on my head.
Sorry for the longwinded post, but i can't guarantee it will be the last in this thread...
I bet some of those HRM staffers were cringing every time a Fox car won- that's a great mag, but they seem to dislike anything that isn't a first gen Mustang.
I am extremely motivated to get my car done by spring 15' after this
