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Getting ready for the TX Mile

6K views 70 replies 28 participants last post by  540Hotrod 
#1 ·
Things are coming around....


My roll bar guy did a fantastic job making a new rollbar for me right on schedule like we planned! To get it low enough to install the hardtop, it was easier to make a new bar itself (it bolts on to stubs welded to frame). Cutting it all apart was going to get weird angles. I can sell the old one to someone and they can just make their stubs a little lower and it will be perfect. His powdercoater finished it Friday morning and I picked it up on Friday afternoon. Since I live in Ft Worth...and he is in Santa Fe Tx south of Houston...it was a Loooonnnggg Day! It's 350 miles one way! Bad part was hard rain kicked in before I got out of Houston and I swear everyone must have bugged out for Spring Break. Pure gridlock. Even the interstate stopped! Left at 8am and got home at 12:30 AM.


Today I did some quick engine checks to make sure all still looked good after the 1/4 mile running...all was good. Next I swapped the wheels and tires over to the TX Mile combo. Just using 8"/7" Rally's...so definitely low tech looking!


Took a test drive to make sure things worked OK....ran it up to 110 MPH or so. I'll say it's going to be fun because these rear tires don't hook anywhere near as well as the drag radials do....so good thing I've got a long way to get it up to speed!!


Next...I pulled the trans. I've ordered the gears necessary to make it an O/D for this event.. They'll get here next week and I can put it all together next Saturday.


Got a lot of little things to do tomorrow...but nothing too bad.


Here's some pics of the TX Mile Look and the Drag Look


JIM
 

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#8 ·
Well.....latest updates.

So turns out the rules have changed and my bias ply roundy rounder tires aren't approved now (even though they were a month or so ago!!). So I dug around for something tall enough and rated for enough speed to pull this off. Not too many 28" tires out there rated that high. Then I did some quick looking for an 18" rear wheel that might fit. Didn't spend a lot of time on it....but picked one. I ordered two of them on Sunday from Jegs. Monday morning they send a note that they can't ship until April 29th. Not gonna work. So then I google the wheel part number and call another wheel vendor. They tell me it's a new wheel and the whole country sold out in weeks. They had some coming in a few weeks which is close to the Jeg's story. Just my luck that's the one I pick! So he tells me it's a knock off of a US Wheel model that is similar and they have those. Bingo....I ordered them...and went ahead and ordered 2 17" ones for the front. Might as well have a set!! Of course then I needed to find some 17" speed rated front tires!!

I'm away on business today...but my wife called and the new wheels and new tires (yet another set!!) have arrived today. So being the great wife she is....she's already loaded them up in the pickup and taken them to the Goodyear store to be mounted and balanced, And they've already called me to double ck on what valve stems to install. Had to call wife to go pick up some metal/screw in type and drop off.

Now if they fit....I'll be in business!!

Now if the trans gears show up by tomorrow...I'll be able to reassemble the trans and put it back in.

Busy busy busy........

Gonna have a great big tire sale here soon! I've got more tires/wheels than I know what to do with!!



JIM
 
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#10 ·
Yep...hopefully gears get here by tomorrow. It will be a .92 O/D. Should get me down to about 6850 or so at 200 MPH.

Transmission is on the bench disassembled.....


JIM
 
#13 ·
Update....picked up tires/wheels this afternoon when I got back in town. Came home to screw them on and see if they fit. Guess what? They shipped the rears with the wrong bolt pattern!! 114mm instead of 120mm. But hey...the fronts fit great!!

Luckily they were still there tonight when I called. They're going to get the right ones coming...and hopefully get them in time to mount up next week. Heck....at this point I can't even tell if they fit yet!

But the trans gears arrived from G-Force today...so I can hopefully get trans together!!

I need to be on the road first thing Friday morning to get there. No time to play...and I have to fly out on Sunday this weekend for work for a couple of days.

This is the hardest I've ever worked for 25 seconds of fun!

JIM
 
#14 ·
If it's not one thing it's another.....
 
#18 ·
Today's update....

Have you ever tried to buy a "good" tool on a Saturday?? The snap rings in this GForce are some stout mo-fo's. I had forgotten that the last time I swapped some gears around in this thing my snap ring pliers really got a work out. They're Snap-On..but really not up to these dudes.

So after several stops at various parts stores and finding the best "heavy duty" set I could find...they broke on the 2nd ring. So back to find something better. Drove a long ways to Northern Tool...found some that were better...but they were still POS. I managed to use them, along with some lock ring pliers and a few screwdrivers...and a lot of language...to get it done. I will definitely be ordering some good ones before I have to swap it back to drag race mode in a few weeks.

Anyway...got the gears swapped around. This G-Force trans really is a neat piece.

Got it put back in a little while ago. A little too late for a test drive. Maybe tomorrow morning.

Now if I can get some wheels here......

Still a lot of little things to do....but I think I might pull this off.

More to come!

If you look at the fourth gearset from the left (4th gear) you can see the difference in the teeth count that make it O/D. The middle pic is O/D.

The old ratios were 3.49/2.39/1.77/1.43/1.00.
The new ones are 3.49/2.39/1.54/0.92/1.00

I'll just use 1-4th at the TX Mile. I changed 3rd gear ratios so it wouldn't be so big of a drop in 4th. Not the most efficient way to do it and weird....but it works!!



JIM
 

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#20 ·
If you look at the fourth gearset from the left (4th gear) you can see the difference in the teeth count that make it O/D. The middle pic is O/D.

The old ratios were 3.49/2.39/1.77/1.43/1.00.
The new ones are 3.49/2.39/1.54/0.92/1.00
Very interesting, I assume you mean the 2nd picture is the new ratios, and the 3rd is stock?
And you swap gears on 4th, not 5th which are basically reciprocal of first to get 1:1?
 
#19 ·
Please get used to 4 only, that 5th at 200 mph will stretch things a bit, not that you haven't done it already:D. I think you have a handle on it.:thumbsup:
 
#24 ·
When I grow up I want to be like Jim >:)
 
#27 ·
Alright....another update:

The wheel fiasco came together finally at 3:30PM this afternoon when the right ones finally arrived. And they fit!! My wife was waiting outside for the UPS guy while I was on conference calls. She grabbed them and took off to the Goodyear store to have the tires removed from the wrong wheels and installed on the correct one. She had called ahead and he said if she got there before 4Pm he could do it. She walked in at 3:58 and they were waiting for her.

The correct fasteners for the hardtop arrived today too...so got that secured. Double checked everything I could think of and took a little test drive and then loaded up tools and the car on the trailer. Heading out first thing in the morning...about a 5.5-6.0 hour drive.

Here's the latest look. For as many years as I've whined about "rubber band" tires....I gotta admit it's growing on me. Definitely different! Heck...I might as well stick the front swaybar back on and start Auto-X now!!

JIM
 

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#29 ·
Here's the latest look. For as many years as I've whined about "rubber band" tires....I gotta admit it's growing on me. Definitely different! Heck...I might as well stick the front swaybar back on and start Auto-X now!!

JIM
It will never work...you will suck up all the cones when you go by and all those behind you will be confused. :D
 
#31 ·
I got teched in today. Gotta make first pass in morning between 180-199 mph to upgrade license. The car is ok'd up to 215 mph.

After license pass pass I can go for broke. Some fast stuff here. Motorcycles over 240 and have seen several 200+ cars.

Rain shut things down today for awhile. It looks good for tomorrow.

Jim.
 
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