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April 24, 2025, Pope Francis

I am not Catholic but there are several life changing occasions that have happened during my life that have happened to me to make have a lot of love and respect for the Catholic Church. I was born into an African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) family and moved into the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church at the age of nine and remained until I married my wife Barbara. In 2007 I joined the Baptist Church to go to church with my wife. My Catholic story starts many years ago, when my cousin Edward ("Don") would visit Daytona Beach, FL each Summer. This was in the late 40's and early 50's during segregation in the South. Don attended the only Catholic Church close to our home, a white church. He was welcome whenever he came to visit. This really impressed me at as a young teen. During my last tour of duty on the submarine USS SCULPIN (SSN-590), I was blessed to be able to take a tour of St. Peters Catholic Church and to be blessed by Pope John Paul II in St. Peters Square in 1979. When I married Barbara, although she is a lifelong Baptist, she burns candles from the Catholic Church all the time. When my family doctor thought I had prostate cancer, Barbara and I went to the Catholic Church, lit candles, and prayed. When my Ufologist looked at the PSA and other reports, he could not believe what he read. He checked me again and found nothing! Prayer Works! Pope Francis has been an excellent Pope. I have agreed with the majority of his views and policies. Most of them do not apply to me anyway, but the World would be better off. God Bless Pope Francis (The Peoples Pope)

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April 20, 2025, That First test Burn-out!

Oh so happy to have my car back home! Just to be able to go out back and look at it, rub on it or just think about that first test burn-out! "Outlaw", Kevin Gray, came over yesterday to take a look. He loves what he saw. He did his normal thing, crawl all over, under and around everything and then give me his opinion. Well, he could not find anything wrong! (Nothing that we did not already have on our list of things to work on.) I was very happy because Outlaw always speaks his mind.

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April 16, 2025, The car is finally home!

The car is finally home! After 7.5 months of work, it was worth it. The car turned out better than I expected and I got more done than I asked for. Lynn did an excellent job. My trusted help, Eddie & Reggie, did all the work of moving the cac while I shot photos. The car is really low, VERT LOW, it was a challenge getting it onto the trailer. I am so happy that the car is back home! All of us just sat and looked at it and started making plans for all the wiring and parts that will have to be installed before we can go testing. Jeremy stopped by after work to look and talk. He liked what he saw. Many hours of hard work lay ahead, but now I have a big smile on my face! My Baby Is Home!

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April 16, 2025, Radiator is in, almost done!

Using 2-day shipping, we have our new, smaller, radiator in our hands. It will be installed Monday!

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April 10, 2025, The car is getting close to moving from the Fab

Reggie Jackson and Myself were asked to come to the Fab. Shop earlier today to look at the placement of the fuel cell. After talking it over, we decided to modify the front area behind the grill and mount the cell there. This will make us have to get a smaller radiator. Lynn will try to pick one up locally Friday. All that is left is the wheelie bars and we will be almost ready for the paint shop. The car really looks good. Actually better than I expected!

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March 25, 2025, Final Stages of the Front-End Conversion

he car is in the final stages of the front end conversion. We only have a few minor items to finish, but like most projects, those last few things seem to be time consuming and I keep finding more things to do. Here are photos of the new headers. I really like them. Can't wait to hear the sound! We have the fuel tank, radiator and front clip to mount. I added sone wheelie bar work and that should be it. Hope the next report is at the finish line.

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March 13, 2025, Lots of progress in one day!

Lots of progress in one day! Four tires on the floor and the front clip is hinging in place. Henry Turner stopped by and gave his stamp of approval👌🏾, that means a lot to me!

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March 12, 2025, Moving Right Along

Lynn has completed the Funny Car Cage and steering wheel that Jeremy wanted, and he completed lowering the rear end that he (Lynn) insisted on doing to go along with the new lowered front end. The items remaining are the stainless steel fender-well exit headers and the lift-off/tilt front clip that I wanted. Then it will be off to the paint shop to be painted inside and out. I am still trying to figure out how to configure the front of the engine and do the wiring for all of our new systems. We are installing a Power Distribution Module (PDM) to manage everything. I plan to write a good series on installing the PDM, because I cannot fine very much on the Internet.

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February 18, 2025 - Update on Masterpiece Progress

Extended blog content...

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February 15, 2025 - Update on Masterpiece Progress

This week started off great! We trial fit the engine into the front frame of our car, and everything fit like a glove. I was so happy. No bending, grinding, stretching, or cutting. Just a perfect fit. Oh, by the way, it was the first time I had seen the car since Oct. 2024.

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February 7, 2025 - Progress Report

Getting ready to fit the engine and transmission in place for measurements.

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February 1, 2025 - Update on Masterpiece

The struts and rack are mocked up and Lynn came over and picked up the fuel tank and radiator so that he can get the front spacing correct. While he was at my shop, he looked at the new fuel system and some of the other goodies that will go in the new configuration. I still think about all that new wiring that I have to get done. The car must be painted. That will take a lot of time away from the shop. My family is praying for people affected by the fires, hurricanes and other natural disasters, and now the two airplane tragedies. We hope all of you that read these words would join us in prayer and support for those affected victims and families.

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January 21, 2025 - Update on Masterpiece Progress

Today was a record-setting snow day in South Louisiana. I woke up to just over 2" of snow on the ground, and it just got heavier throughout the day. We accumulated around 6" of snow, smashing the old late 1800's record of around 2" in Baton Rouge, LA. There has been movement on the fabrication of the front of the car. We are a long way from being anywhere close to complete. In addition to the fab. Work, I have to install the fuel system and re-wire the whole front of the car. After the fab. work wiring, tuning of the new fuel system, and testing, we may be ready for Mr. Willie's Zydeco race at the end of March.

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Dec. 26, 2024 Update On Masterpiece upgrade

We have not made much progress on the front of the car, but a lot of planning and changes of course have been made. I think for the better. Taking our time, ordering the correct parts, and spending wisely. I switched from EFI, after evaluating several models, to a carbureted AED alcohol system. This took a lot of time to decide also. The people at AED Performance were so easy to talk with and work with. The complete system they provided looks to be top-notch. My Transmission is back from TCI, certified and upgraded. The Torque Converter is back from COAN and is ready for another 7-8 years. Wow! That fuel line and AN fittings are expensive! We are trying to be ready for late February 2025 for testing and for Jeremy to get acclimated to the new changes.

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October 22, 2024 - Update on Masterpiece Progress

After our last trip to SCR on August 9, 2024, to let my daughter Cynthia see the car make a pass, we pulled the motor and transmission out and sent the transmission to be freshened-up at TCI and we sent the Torque Converter to COAN for a refresh. With all of the electronics removed and other toys, the body was sent to the FAB-SHOP for a major refresh of the car. The work is being done by Lynn Augustus. As time goes on I will give a few updates on the progress. The Transmission and Converter are both back. We have a new NHRA Cert on our Transmission case.

Blogs

April 24, 2025 - Pope Francis

April 20, 2025 - That First test Burn-out!

April 16, 2025 - The car is finally home!

April 13, 2025 - Radiator is in, almost done!

April 10, 2025 - The car is getting close to moving from the Fab

March 25, 2025 - Final Stages of the Front-End Conversion

March 13, 2025 - Lots of progress in one day!