Rather than put the car in the shop to find and correct the, “Hard right”, problem, we decided to take the car right back to the track on Sunday and do all the work at the track and test it as we make the changes. The weather was perfect and lots of sun. The gates opened at 11am and we were there shortly after that. I took the car out and drove around the pit area twice to warm everything up. The engine felt and sounded good to me. Outlaw arrived just after I finished the warm-up.
First, Outlaw wanted to put the car up on 4 jack-stands, which we did. He got under it and went from back to front looking, inspecting and checking for tightness of bolts. This is something he does about every 6 months of running. This was the first time since before last Fathers Day Race.
Everything was tight under the car. Under the hood, we found one upper left side (drivers) motor plate bolt missing. We had to jack the engine up about 1/16″ to get a new bolt in place. Engine torque could separate the engine from the frame about 1/2″, more or less. We can only guess at what the effect was.
Outlaw had talked to Troy Collins, driver of one of the quickest Pro Mods at State Capitol Raceway, about our problems on Saturday. He suggested “tightening up the front shocks” to keep the front wheels on the ground or very close. I have Koni, continuous adjustable, shocks on the front. Due to the normal violent nature of the car on launch, we already had the shocks very close to Lockdown. Outlaw removed the shocks and I set them. The drivers side was at 3/4 turn from all the way locked down. We set this one at zero. The passenger side was at 1 and 1/4 turn from locked down. We set this one at 1/2 turn from fully locked. This is based on past history of how the car leaves with the wheels up in the air (from lots of videos). These were the only changes (motor plate bolt and shocks).
We painted the wheels on the wheelie bars and measured the height, but did not make an adjustment.
Off too the starting line we went. We bypassed the water box and went up to the starting line and took a measurement of the wheelie bars. Then we backed up and did a good burn-out.
The track was in excellent shape from the night before and most cars, slow and high-powered, were doing great.
The Mr. Skip Camaro and Outlaw did not disappoint! The right lane time was, 5.583 @ 123 MPH! Straight as an arrow. I stood behind the car and took photos and a video of the lines the wheelie bars made when he left. They were straight, but the left wheel was in constant contact with the pavement, while the right wheel hit then lifted for about 1 foot, then got back down and both lines went out for about 6-8 feet.
Oh, Happy Day!
After that excellent run, we pulled the three plugs that we found the gaps too tight and checked those plugs. All were in very good shape, both the gaps and the color of the tips, taking into account the drive back to the pit area.
No Changes. After cool down and battery charge, we went up for a pass in the left lane. This pass was just as good as the last one. We had a, 5.600 @ 122 MPH. Again, the car went straight. We put it back in the trailer and went home, HAPPY!
March 8, 2021