Ugh,,I was all ready today to get a new best but it didn't happen. It was unusually crowded, I waited forever in the lanes, get up to the burnout box and they held us for about 10 minutes. Never figured out why. While I was waiting, looked down at my temp gauge and it was @215. That has never happenned before. Then it vapor locked and stalled. Managed to fire it up again, they waived me on, did my burnout, staged, launched, went about 30' and it stalled again. I fired it up quickly and ran a 15.7@109MPH. graemlins/sad.gif How pathetic is that. Pulled into the pits let it cool, got back in line and then it rained. :mad:
Thanks for letting me vent :(

Dang, Jim! Sorry you had such a tough time. Any idea why the car ran hot? Thermostat sticking? Will you get another cahnce to race this year? I sure hope so graemlins/sad.gif

I have no idea what happenned to cause the overheating. Temp was 185 the entire 35 mile trip home. :confused:
I am going to try my best to get out again this year. Local track has 2 or 3 more weekends left. What really stinks is that my launch felt real good. Like one of my bests. I pretty much know right away when it is going to be a good run as soon as I dump the clutch and this one felt good...........for the first 30' anyway :mad:

Jim, I had a similar experience when my thermostat stuck while in the bleach box...it opened up about half track..arrgh. If I am at the head of the staging lanes I usually try to ensure the engine is warm enough to get the stat stay open to avoid leaving at 200 - 210.

I can imagine it was a pretty frustrating day. I finally managed to get in the 11's a couple weeks ago and have since spent the last two weeks trying to do it again...argh. :mad:

Man, that stinks. First, I'm not goodenough at all this to overcome BS at the track. Delays, etc. Guess they play with my head a bit still. Not to mention the mechanical end of it going away as you sit and wait.

Don't fret, You live to race another day!

Jim,

That really stinks.

For a while now I have been using a hollowed out thermostat as a cheap restrictor, just enough to add some turbulence to the system. Never had a stuck thermostat since.

I am able to stage the car at whatever temp I know I can maintain in case I go rounds. Usually stage at 150 and 160 on real hot days.

another bad day at the track: zero track prep,,best 60 was 1.76 the rest were 1.82-1.89 when i usually 60ft 1.70-1.74,,,e.t.s were best 12.10 the rest were 12.16-12.34,,,humid,overcast,few sprinkles...just a bad day

Originally posted by Rapid Robert:
another bad day at the track: zero track prep,,....

...just a bad day I hear ya Bob, I hear ya. graemlins/sad.gif

Keep your chin up buddy! Every day you wake and breathe deep and well is an effing awesome day.

Yeah, I know you got my old red car in your sights and are gunning for me! Stupid rect ports and all that!?

smile.gif Just trying to keep your competitive spirit kindled bro'. Have a great week! graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Oh, and if its any consolation, old red's best runs were at 50 degrees ambient and 84% humidity. the second run was at 48 and 94% ( it started sprinkling).

Well guys, I know this wasn't me but I crewed for my buddy and his blown alcohol 23 altered Saturday at the Nostalgia drags at Brdenton. We made a test pass of 6.85 at 204mph and would have the number one spot by at least a second in a heads up format from the way things were looking. Our 60' was horrible at 1.183 (usually 1.02) so we decided to check the clutch setup. Matt notices we have 40# of oil pressure at idle (usually 80+). We pull the oil filter canister apart and find lots of bearing material. Inspection found #4 and rear main Wiped! :eek:

We were a shoe-in to win this thing and the $1500 purse. Now we were on the trailer with the potential for an expensive bottom end rebuild. graemlins/sad.gif

So look on the bright side Jim.... it could have been worse! Hope you get to run again this season.

Troy.

Jim,
One suggestion would be to drill a bypass in the thermostat to prevent this from re-occuring.
The added benefits as that you will be able to circulate coolant while under the rated temp of the thermostat.

I took my thermostat out, but I like the idea of a restrictor better. I do not like thermostats. My rat runs 170 run after run.

Originally posted by ejrempel:
I took my thermostat out, but I like the idea of a restrictor better. I do not like thermostats. My rat runs 170 run after run. My thoughts exactly.