[Bomber '67]

I was all ready for some drag racing fun, I even cut out of work early to head off before the freeways got massively jammed.

A couple of miles before Irwindale my car just conked out. It did start back up afer a lot of starter cranking, and even seemed to run okay, so I motored onward. I was thinking maybe vapor lock because up to this time I had never driven my '65 in a miles long creeping freeway traffic jam

Then as I was going up the offramp it died again, but this time it would not light off. Traffic was massively backing up behind me, and a tow truck drove up after a little while. To clear the offramp the tow truck driver pushed my car the rest of the way up the offramp and into a safer place to work on the car. It took a lot of cranking, but it did start up and I drove into the Irwindale Speedway/Dragstrip.

Under better lighting I could see that the tow truck driver left me a reminder of the evening - my rear bumper was bowed and the tailgate was dented

I tried a few things but still could not get it running right, so I watched the drags for a while. It still wasn't running right when I left, but it did make the 40+ mile trip home.

Maybe there is some debris clogging a carb passage, or the ignition is weak. I'll find out on Saturday.

Thomas

 

[66rat]

Dang-it!

Well, a crappy day at the drags is better than staying home and getting tagged for some Honey-do's. With the exception of when someone puts a dent in your ride (that really sucks). I guess it's a safe bet that the malfunction isn't exhaust related let us know what you found out.

Rob

 

[Dave Kaveshan]

I've had coils go bad, acting the same way. They get hot (sitting in traffic) and quit. Sit for a while, they cool off and it will run again for a while. Going home, I'd guess it was cooler out and less traffic which could have kept it JUST cool enough. If you don't find a fuel problem, I'd start with the coil.

Regards/ Dave

 

[ssal396]

My car was doing that a while back, I was sucking debris off of the bottom of the gas tank & it was getting stuck in the needle & seat.. I would look at your fuel filter to rule this out..

Scott

 

[69 Ratt Vette]

None the lass Tom it was good to see you out there, thanks for the tools BTW.

I thought you and Dan had your problem traced it to your distributor cap?

 

[chvyhs]

That sucks. I hope to make it up to Irwindale real soon. I just need to make sure I can get off work early. It's a long way there from Camp Pendleton then home to Murrieta. I plan on towing the car there just to save my Drag Radial.

I heard that Irwindale is a real sticky track. Maybe I can finally get a wheel in the air! When I do make it out there for my first time, I expect to see a lot of Team Chevelle guys stopping by and saying "hi" to the guy in the Orange '66 Chevelle.

 

[LXS]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Thomas. Enrique and I were hoping to see you. I don't know if you got see Enrique run or not. I wasn't able to get there until around 7pm or so, so I'm not sure if you got to see me run (white '71, grey primered passenger door, #6113). I ended up taking a quick nap, woke up at 4pm, left the house in a hurry to go buy some Levi's so that they'd let me run at the track, came home, jumped in my car to fill her up, came back home to pick up my other half and daughter, then was told just to go by myself. I really REALLY wanted to get there by 4pm, but I still managed to get 5 runs last night :thumbsup: I'll be posting my new bests in a lil while

 

[Bomber '67]

I was there until ~ 9:30, went on a parts run, then watched the drags for a bit. I also tried to sign on as the guardian for two 17 year old drivers, but the track officials quashed that idea. If you were walking around the pit area I was parked next to John (69 Ratt Vette) and his beautiful '63 Corvette Split Window drag car, and the hood was off my car the entire time.

The one problem Dan helped me find in the ignition was that the carbon brush in the distributor cap had been installed on the wrong side of the rubber washer below the coil (HEI). Also, there was no great evidence of dielectric grease on either side of the rubber washer. I'm probably to blame for that, I have changed the cap and rotor out once in the last couple of years. Amazingly it ran pretty good that way. No doubt that took a toll on the coil, the spark was actually quite weak when we tested it. Although I bought a new cap and rotor and module at the parts store, I hadn't bought a coil, and they were closed when we left at 8:00p.

The lessons learned from the school of hard knocks are good ones, its a bummer that I had to relearn a lesson I first learned about 25 years ago! Yes it is possible to assemble things incorrectly and still have a good running car - its just that it is unlikely to be reliable or long lasting. In my case it only went a few thousand street miles before crapping out.

Thomas

P.S. Now I wonder how my beast will run with a hot ignition.

 

[69 Ratt Vette]

Bring her out the 27th, we should have a good time. There will be a lot of 6 second street cars there.

Mine is going to get a little nitrous also

 

[Hi-po SS 454]

27 th is a Sunday, is that for sure ??? This one I'd like to make....And you are talking Irwindale, right?

 

[EkS]

27 th is a Sunday, is that for sure ??? This one I'd like to make....And you are talking Irwindale, right?

Hey Probably meant the 17th. Check it out here http://www.irwindalespeedway.com/dragstrip/site/dragsched.asp

 

[69 Ratt Vette]

No private rental on the 27th, all slots filled.

 

[Hi-po SS 454]

17th is thursday night in 2 weeks.......:thumbsup:

 

[LXS]

If everyone is going on the 17th, I'll do my best to be there to, with slicks on!!! :thumbsup:

 

[Rich69RS/SS]

I'll be there on the 17 for a little test and tune......

 

[Hi-po SS 454]

I plan to show up