Shop Updates

04/05/01-04/08/01
WE'RE RACING AT THE NHRA SUMMITRACING.COM NATIONALS IN LAS VEGAS!

02/18/2001-04/01/2001
We haven't been doing very good at keeping the Shop Update page current. After returning from the national event in Phoenix, Lyle has been doing the routine maintenence that is required. One problem that surfaced was that several of the connecting rods were out of round on the "big" end. Robert Howard came through (as usual) and got them re-sized. Hopefully this will solve some minor bearing problems that surfaced in Phoenix. With the reduction in blower overdrive this year, it seems that the car can be revved much higher in low gear. To help make that happen, Lyle and Mike Johnson installed a new dual range tach. This allows for the shift light to come on at a set rpm level in low gear and then a different rpm level in 2nd gear. This update wouldn't be complete without noting the unbelievably terrible service that UPS is providing us. Lyle had to send the diaper out for re-certification and the tach was sent off for the dual range modification. Both items were sent within one day of each other and UPS lost both of them. In the case of the tach, it was scanned over 30 times and took almost 4 times longer than the 3 days that were guaranteed.

02/15/2001-02/18/2001
WE'RE RACING AT THE NHRA CSK NATIONALS IN PHOENIX!

02/10/2001
Lyle took the car to a local airport for a calendar photo shoot. Photographer Bill Fouch puts out a automobile oriented calendar each year and asked if he could include us in his 2002 version. Bill brought along Yvette Aragon who added style and grace to the brute force of the funny car. We had a great time and look forward to seeing the pictures.

02/02/2001-02/04-2001
The car is on display at the Custom Automotive Supernationals car show in Albuquerque. This show consistently draws a huge amount of spectators (between 15,000 and 20,000) and provides our sponsors with considerable exposure.

01/22/2001-01/28/2001
Lyle completed the engine assembly, but before completing the clutch assembly, several discs had to be ground. It had been snowing for several days so Lyle finally had to just go out and do the discs in a driving snowstorm! His neighbors who saw this are now certain that he is "over the edge" <g>. After completing the assembly of the remaining parts, Lyle, Butch and Paul Greenberg (Lyle's Dad) braved the elements and got the car loaded in the trailer. We are basically ready - not only for the car show, but for the Phoenix event in 2 1/2 weeks.

12/11/2000-01/21/2001
The crew has been working hard to prepare the car for the 2001 season. The first race of the year will be the NHRA National event in Phoenix on Feb. 15-18, but we really have to get everything together by the first weekend in February for the "Supernationals" car show . We all know that will be here before we know it. Blake and Andy worked their magic to complete the body repairs and Lyle has the body back at the race shop. Although Lyle was very pleased with the way the engine looked after the Las Vegas event, there was the inevitable parts attrition. He ended up replacing 3 pistons - 1 had a crack and the other 2 were very used parts that had been called to duty mid-way through 2000. Several wrist pins had reached the end of their duty cycles and were replaced. An inspection of the cylinder heads found 2 intake valves with damaged edges and virtually all of the intake valve springs were getting pretty weak (even with shims). All of these were replaced. Lyle finished putting the shortblock back together and then got the heads put on. The flywheel and pressure plate have been resurfaced and the clutch disc and floater inventory has been freshened up. An inspection of the ring and pinion gears showed them to be looking a little ragged - small wonder with 20 runs on them! Robert Howard installed and set up a new gear set and it has been installed in the car. One of the new challenges in 2001 will be running the car with the reduced supercharger overdrive rule. We are now limited to 92% overdrive (vs. the 125% we used to be allowed). A new crankshaft blower pulley has been acquired to comply with this rule. Lyle is hard at work on the computer trying to determine exactly how to change the tuneup to minimize the effect of the new rule.

12/2/2000-12/10/2000
Lyle and Butch got the car loaded to do a display for the grand opening of a McDonalds and Chevron combination retail outlet. Lyle spent the day on Saturday talking to the many interested customers. No one has been very motivated to work on the car, but the blower bag has been sent off for certification. After the display, Lyle dropped the body off to Blake and Andy Johnson so that we can begin to do the fiberglass repair on our now infamous Las Vegas incident (click here for the Las Vegas race report for details and pictures). The crew spent a few hours Tuesday night beginning the 'glass work.

10/12/2000 - 10/15/2000
WE'RE RACING IN LAS VEGAS!

10/9/2000 - 10/11/2000
Lyle spent these two days getting the trailer organized and making sure everything was packed for the trip to Las Vegas. The tow rig is full of fuel and ready to go.

10/02/2000 - 10/08/2000
The team had a busy week as the Las Vegas race approaches quickly. Robert Howard did a spectacular job of completing the cylinder heads and they were on the car in short order. After getting several floaters ground so that they are perfectly flat, Lyle and Rick spent most of one evening grinding the disks and then building clutch packs. This process is somewhat time consuming, as every single disk and floater is measured for width. Then the pieces are matched up so that 3 complete clutch packs (each clutch pack has 3 disks and 2 floaters) are built that have approximately the same total width. This allows the team to swap the clutch packs between runs with a minimum of adjustments to the clutch. After the installation of the blower, clutch and transmission, the team decided that they had better try and start the car. Typically, they never start the car at the shop because of the possibility of angering the neighbors. However, with the installation of the new ignition, it seemed like a necessary step. After finding a loose connection, the car roared to life in Lyle's driveway. Lyle set the timing and everyone was satisfied that the unit was operating correctly.

09/18/2000 - 10/01/2000
The mystery of the oil on the top of the #7 piston has been solved. Lyle took the cylinder heads to Robert Howard for a general freshen-up. They also suspected that they would need to replace some valve guides. As it turns out, the pushrod rubbed a hole in the sleeve that protrudes into the #7 intake port. This allowed oil to be sucked out of the head/valley area of the motor directly into the cylinder. Because the cylinder heads are somewhat dated, Ken Veney no longer manufactures a replacement sleeve. So, we flipped it over and glued it back in with the hole no longer in the port area. While Robert works on the heads, Lyle and Rick pulled the rear end out of the car for an inspection. Although it appears to be getting a little worn (it has 18 runs on it), it will be ok for at least one more event. Lyle replaced a couple of connecting rods that had reached the end of their useful life and then re-assembled the shortblock. The biggest news is the acquisition of a new MSD 44 amp magneto. The team has been using an old Mallory Mag IV magneto that produces only about 6 amps of energy. As its name indicates, the MSD produces 44 amps of energy. It is hoped that the hotter ignition will allow the team to put more fuel into the motor without fear of dropping cylinders, plus produce more power. As with anything new, it will take some time to learn what tuning changes are required to optimize this setup. The installation of this setup seems fairly straightforward. Paul Baron made up a great looking tray to mount the coil and points box. The only remaining item is to build a stabilizer rod to keep the magneto from moving (it is such a massive unit and has such powerful magnets that we have heard they sometimes rotate without an additional stabilizing mount).

09/11/2000 - 09/17/2000
After taking the previous week off, Rick McCann and Lyle got to work stripping the car for its normal between race maintenence. After checking the leakdown and the valve springs, the motor and clutch have been totally disassembled. Even after putting in fresh piston rings, the #8 cylinder was puffing significant amounts of oil smoke whenever the engine is shut down. When the heads were removed, there was quite a bit of oil on the top side of the piston. At this point we suspect that there is a valve guide problem. We are not in a huge rush to work on the car as we have decided to skip the planned trip to Noble, OK for the Div. 4 FMDRS. At this point we are tentatively planning to go to the Div. 7 event in Las Vegas, NV in mid-October.

09/04/2000 - 09/10/2000
The Monday Labor Day holiday was spent at the farm belonging to Harrison Inglis. For those that don't know him, Harrison is one of the most dedicated drag racing fans around and is instrumental in keeping our team motivated. In addition to Lyle and his family, other attendees included nitro flathead heroes John Bradley and Max Romero, current nostalgia Jr. Fuel car owners Mike and Carolyn Algire, the Winslow supercrew of Chris Stinson and Ron Miller. Harrison's family put on a great BBQ, while the "guys" all hooted and hollered as they watched the US Nationals on TV. The race car was totally neglected this week as Lyle and the crew debated on how to solve the dropped cylinders that have been plagueing the team.

09/02/2000 - 09/03/2000
WE'RE RACING IN ALBUQUERQUE

08/28/2000 - 09/01/2000
Most of the hard work is done. We got the body installed and the car loaded on Wed. night. On Friday night we went to Paul Baron's shop and helped him put the finishing touches on his new "funster" (150" wheelbase altered). We got it finished and headed for the track to park the truck and trailer, as well as help Paul make some shake down runs during the test and tune session (look for a full story on this adventure soon).

08/21/2000 - 08/27/2000
We ordered and received a new set of Hoosier tires that we hope will help the car's launch and cut down the tire shake in 1st gear. Our friends at "Its Tire Time" in Albuquerque are busy mounting and balancing these new tires. Lyle didn't like the way a second ring felt in the #8 piston so he replaced it, as well as a couple of rods and wrist pins that were slightly out of tolerance. We got the engine honed, the end gaps on the rings set and the shortblock put together. The valve spring on the #3 intake valve was replaced after we found a broken inner spring that had reduced the valve spring pressure by about 75 pounds. Crewman Rick McCann got his indoctrination into clutch work as he got the very dirty job of grinding the clutch discs and floaters. By the end of the weekend, the car was ready to run with just the installation of the transmission remaining. Next week should be an easy week, as we just have to put the body on the car and roll it into the trailer.

08/14/2000 - 08/20/2000
The car spent a good part of this week at Robert Howard's shop. Robert is our former crew chief and is one of the best craftsmen we know. He did an expert job of repairing the crack in the chassis. While the car was at his shop, we were able to pull the transmission apart to check its condition. The clutch packs in the transmission now have 9 runs on them, but look like they are new. We attribute this to the AMSOIL synthetic fluid that we have been running. We received a new set of rings, as well as some spare rods and wrist pins from Bob Newberry, so now we can get to work putting the motor back together.

08/01/2000 - 08/13/2000
The first order of business is to get some work done to the trailer. We have been having trouble with the hydrolic ram that raises the nose of the trailer. With ground clearance of only a couple of inches, we have to raise the trailer's nose every time the car is loaded or unloaded. Needless to say, it is very inconvenient to have the nose stuck in the up position! The trailer was delivered to Action RV Service in Albuq. and they not only solved that problem, but freshened up the axles with new shackle bolts. After seeing that the #8 cylinder had continued to pass oil, the decision was made to put a complete set of fresh rings in the motor. By the end of the week, the motor and clutch were apart. A very large crack was discovered on the bottom framerail that will need to be repaired. It appears that the crack has been developing for a while behind a bracket and only recently traveled outwards to become visible. We are hoping that this may have been part of our handling problems the last few outings.

07/03/2000-07/30/2000
We've decided to skip the Mile High Nationals in Denver, so everyone is going to forget about the racecar for a while. Lyle and his family took a two week vacation, Blake and his family have taken some time away and Andy has been doing his best to try and fish every stream or river in New Mexico. The car hasn't even been touched, but the plan is to start work on August 1 to prepare for the Supercharged Outlaw event in Albuquerque over Labor Day weekend.

07/01/2000-07/02/2000
WE'RE RACING IN ALBUQUERQUE!

06/26/2000-06/30/2000
Its a good thing we left the car out to try the tires - these Hoosiers are WIDE! Even with 7/8" of wheel spacers, the sidewalls hit some of the chassis tubes. We have to send them back to be mounted on another set of wheels that have about 3/4" less backspacing. In the meantime we go ahead and load the car. If the tires don't fit with the other wheels, we don't have anything else to try. We get the tires back on Thursday evening and put them in the trailer to put on the car at the track. On Friday, as we are getting ready to leave for the track, we notice that one of the tires has gone flat. Lyle airs it up and it is losing air fast. A quick trip to the tire shop fixes a faulty valve stem and we think we are in business. Lyle and Rick take the rig to the track to get it parked in preparation for the two day event.

06/19/2000-06/25/2000
The good news is that we really don't think anything is hurt from the Phoenix match race on June 17. We've got two weeks to prepare for the Supercharged Outlaws event here in Albuquerque. The guys got the car out of the trailer and started pulling it apart. Rick McCann and Lyle got the car leaked down, valve springs checked, bearings checked and put in a fresh clutch pack. Pretty routine maintenence. The new set of Hoosiers arrived on Friday, so we will get them mounted and balanced. We spent most of the afternoon on Saturday grinding clutch floaters and discs to freshen up a couple of clutch packs. All of the pedaling from the Phoenix match races took its toll on the floaters as a few of them were warped so bad that our "low buck" machine couldn't cut them enough. Luckily, Robert Howard can come through for us and put them on a flywheel machine. We decide to wait until next week to load the car so that we can trial fit the new Hoosiers.

06/17/2000
WE'RE RACING IN PHOENIX!

06/12/2000-06/16/2000
The car is ready to go, now we just need to get our fire bottle back. The car shook so hard in Phoenix that it set off the fire bottle. We sent it off to be filled and its taking a little longer than expected to get it back. On Monday, I was assured that it would arrive in Albuquerque on Thursday. I knew I was in trouble when the manufacturer called and said that UPS had damaged the box and returned it to them. They were going to next-day air it to us so we would have it in time for our 3:00 pm departure for Phoenix. Of course, the 10:30 am "guaranteed" delivery time on Friday came and went with no sign of the UPS truck. Lyle burned up the phone lines trying to figure out where the shipment was, but nobody at UPS seemed to have any idea. He took the truck and trailer to the truck stop at about 3 pm and got a call back from UPS that the box was lost. When he hung up the phone, the cell phone had a message that the box had just been delivered! To summarize, UPS screwed up the shipment twice in the same week, then said it was lost at exactly the same moment it was being delivered - needless to say they are not on Lyle's list of companies that are providing good service. Blake got to the shop about 4 pm and they left about 4:30 for Phoenix. Andy Johnson and James Hosier were rounding out the crew on this trip and were leaving later in the evening when James got off work.

05/25/2000-06/11/2000
The general consensus of opinion is that the engine did not like being pedaled at low rpm on the first run. The car made a move to the right that caused Lyle to lift about 1/2 second into the first run. When he got back in the throttle, the engine rpm had dropped to about 3,500. This had the effect of lugging the engine which probably created some random detonation. Upon closer examination, the rest of the motor wasn't as happy as the bearings had indicated as there were a total of 6 rods that were bent beyond the safe tolerance. These were all replaced and the shortblock re-assembled. The rocker arm and adjustor nut on #6 cylinder were replaced and the cylinder heads reinstalled. A fresh clutch pack was installed and the clutch tuneup was adjusted to what we think might be more effective for the Phoenix race on June 17 (where we assume the track will be hot and greasy). We also spent some time reworking one of the outside lights on the trailer to make it a little more user friendly. Next week we will concentrate on getting the trailer organized and the car loaded so we can leave for Phoenix on 6/16.

05/22/2000-05/24/2000
Leaked the cylinders and found that #8 had gotten worse (it was already a concern after the first run at Phoenix) and #7 was now a problem too. Pulled the heads and popped all of the pistons/rods out. As we suspected, #8 had a pinched ring land. It had also been detonated pretty badly as evidenced by the amount of moly that had been pounded out of the top ring. The big surprise was that #7 not only had a pinched ring land, but also had a severely smashed rod bearing. The only logical explanation is that the multiple "pedals" that Lyle was doing in his quest to put on a good show caused the back cylinders (7 & 8) to go lean and hurt themselves. The rest of the motor was fairly happy - no other bearings smashed too badly. One nice thing was that the rocker arm adjuster that broke on the last run in Phoenix was sitting quite nicely on the windage tray of the oil pan, showing no evidence of having come in contact with anything else. So far the tally of used up parts is 2 pistons, 2 rods, some rings, a pushrod and a rocker arm adjuster.

05/15/2000 - 05/21/2000
We got the car unloaded and safely stowed in the shop. Lyle spent some time going over the computer data from the Phoenix event to verify that all of the record-keeping was up-to-date and accurate. Most of us want to spend a solid week with our families, so the real work won't start until next week.

05/13/2000
WE'RE RACING IN PHOENIX!

03/13/2000 - 05/12/2000
Well, we haven't done a very good a job of keeping up with the shop updates. Among the projects that got finished prior to our match race in Phoenix on 5/13/2000 were:

* A new hitch coupler was installed on the trailer.
* The clutch was sent to Crower for recertification.
* The bellhousing went to Apollo Trick Titanium for recertification.
* The seat belt system was sent to Simpson for re-webbing.
* The chassis was recertified.
* The rear end and bottom end of the motor were disassembled and inspected.
* A new round steering wheel was installed to make the car easier to control.

03/06/2000 - 03/12/2000
Blake and Paul came by the shop and helped unload the car. The regular maintenence needs to be done, but we don't think anything is really hurt. After the thrash that we put on getting ready to go to Dallas, no one is anxious to work to hard this week.

03/02/2000 - 03/05/2000
WE'RE RACING IN DALLAS!

02/28/2000 - 03/01/2000
Thursday - Blake and Lyle spend another hour or so re-working some of the tie down straps so that the car will hopefully stay put in the trailer. A final bit of loading - tool boxes and trays - and we are ready to go. A quick stop for lunch and we are on the road for Dallas at 11:30 am (MST).

Wednesday - Lyle finished putting the B&J transmission back together with the sea-level transmission ratios and the new clutch packs. Paul spent the afternoon changing the 3116 Caterpillar engine in the Kodiak over to AMSOIL. Paul then picked up Lyle and they went to pick up the car at Race Prep Motorsports. Some last minute details have to be completed and we'll be ready to race. Gary has to finish cutting the holes in the lexan side window and has to bolt the stovepipe to the window. By 8:00 everything is done and the car goes in the trailer. Lyle goes back to the shop and spends another few hours loading more items in the trailer.

Tuesday - Bret Williamson called and agreed to overnight the straps for the Buck-It "diaper". Lyle, Blake and Andy convene at Race Prep Motorsports to drop the chassis off for the final fitting of the stovepipe. Blake and Andy work on installing a water tank in the trailer, while Lyle and Gary worked on the firewall and stovepipe.

Monday - The clutch packs were ordered from B&J to be overnighted to Albuquerque. Blake bought some new sanding pads and belts for the clutch grinder. Most of the evening was spent loading the trailer.

Sunday - A new belt sander unit was purchased for our home built clutch machine. Its not as nice or as accurate as the $4,000 units that the "big boys" have, but it works for us at about 5% of the cost. Lyle took the transmission apart intending to change it to sea-level gear ratios. When he took the clutch packs out he found that they were not in very good shape. One set absolutely needed changed and the other was marginal. We will have to get some ordered tomorrow.

02/21/2000 - 02/27/2000
The thrash is on!!! We are working so hard that for at least a while we will report each day separately.

Saturday - Lyle, James Hosier and Paul picked the chassis back up from Race Prep Motorsports. Gary is well on the way to being finished with the installation of a new firewall and the stovepipe. With the car back at the shop we put the transmission in, put fluids in the motor, pushrods in and set the valves. Lyle has never been one to fire the car up much, for fear of upsetting his neighbors. However, we felt like we needed to make sure we didn't have any leaks or other problems that need attention. We also needed to make sure we all knew what our responsibilities are, since we will be running the car without Robert Howard. We were very pleased to have Robert there helping us make sure that we didn't miss assigning any of his former duties. Lyle went ahead and warned a few of his neighbors and we lit the car off. It fired right up and sounded fine. We got the timing set and shut it off. As it turned out we had a minor leak from around the o-ring on the blower plate. We went ahead and pulled the blower off and replaced the o-ring. Then we loaded the chassis back in the trailer. Hopefully we will be able to go get the body on Monday night and we will be ready to rock and roll!

Thursday - Lyle and Paul delivered the chassis to Gary Armentrout at Race Prep Motorsports. Gary needs to be able to have the body on the chassis to fit the firewall and stovepipe. We are still trying to make sure we have enough help. Some good news on that front was that James Hosier agreed to go to Dallas to help us. James runs a Drag Boat and has a solid background.

Wednesday - We installed the center section and got the bellhousing put on. A bit more work on the trailer and the night was complete.

Tuesday - Blake and Lyle spent the entire evening organizing the new trailer. Even though we really don't have much in the way of spares, there is still quite a bit of "stuff" to organize and put away.

Monday - Robert finished the rear end and Lyle brought back a truckload of parts that had still been hibernating at Robert's shop.

02/14/2000 - 02/20/2000
Former Crew Chief Robert Howard spent the evening on Wednesday (2/17) re-cutting some valve seats and doing a quick valve job on the cylinder heads. Lyle was able to go through the valve springs and shim some of them so that we can squeeze a few more runs out of them. The center section was left with Robert for installation of a different gear.

On Sunday (2/20), Lyle put the cylinder heads on and got the clutch reinstalled. He also finished flushing out the fuel system to make certain there was no residual debris left from the last race they ran in Denver. The appropriate hat and port nozzles were installed into the fuel system and Lyle took a guess at the clutch settings based on what he thinks the track will be like in Dallas.

02/07/2000 - 02/13/2000
Lyle met with Gary Armentrout to discuss putting a new firewall in the car, since it is pretty beat up from the two blower explosions that we have had in the last two years. Gary is an old friend from Lyle's mini-sprint days who has opened a race car fabrication shop in Albuquerque named "Race Prep Motorsports". He is the former crew chief on Galles Racing's Indy Car Team and raced against Lyle back in his Mini-Sprint days. Lyle has agreed to be Gary's first customer and have him fabricate a new firewall and install the stovepipe (when it gets here). Lyle and Paul (Lyle's Dad) took the body up to Gary's shop on Sat. (2/12) so that project can get started.

Lyle got the cylinder heads back off the car, the transmission and clutch out and the rear end center section out. Now that the decision has been made to go to Dallas, we can set the transmission ratios and rear end gear ratio up with the appropriate combinations for that track.

01/31/2000 - 02/06/2000
Lyle and Blake took the car down to the New Mexico State Fairgrounds on Thursday (2/3/2000) and set up our display. Lyle spent most of his time Friday night, Saturday and Sunday at the show answering questions and renewing old acquaintances. He met Perry King, a great guy who does wonderful ink drawings of race cars. Perry did a drawing of the funny car that is way cool! Look for some of Perry's work on our web site soon. Considering that the funny car is a real race car and has its share of war wounds and battle scars, our 3rd place trophy in the "Competition Car - Bodied" category was more than acceptable.

01/24/2000 - 01/30/2000
In the last week, we have finished the engine by installing the cylinder heads, manifold, supercharger, fuel pump and magneto. Although its really not ready to race, it will look good for the car show next weekend. I put my kids to work polishing the body and it looks pretty nice. But, no one will ever mistake it for a show car - its a race car, complete with battle scars. Had a team meeting with Andy and Blake Johnson and decided to try to compete at the NHRA Div. 4 FMDRS in Dallas the first weekend of March. The biggest obstacle to this will be getting the newly mandated "stovepipe" installed in the body. This is a unit that is designed to vent pressure away from the firewall when the burst panel vents manifold pressure from a blower backfire. The carbon fiber kit is currently on backorder since every single car that has a PSI blower has to have it installed to run in 2000.

01/19/2000 - 01/23/2000
Yesterday we got the shortblock put in the car. Today the bellhousing and transmission went back in and its starting to look a little bit like a race car again. Since we really aren't sure where we are going to start the season, we are going to wait to freshen the transmission until a little bit later. We run different gear ratios in the tranny depending on the track and altitude. The cylinder heads were disassembled and a couple of "iffy" spots identified on some valve seats so we will do a little touching up on those next week.

01/09/2000 - 01/18/2000
We received a new set of pistons from Bob Newberry and a new set of Brooks rods from Tom Akers at Wizard's Warehouse. An inspection of the rods that were in the engine when we had our blower explosion in Denver showed 4 of them bent enough to warrant replacement. This leaves us with 6 new spare rods and about 10 used spares. Of the pistons that we replaced, 5 or 6 are in pretty good shape, but the rest are rough and will only be used as a last resort. Here is the continual story of the low budget racer - we never are able to accumulate enough spares to really feel flush. Anyhow, the shortblock is built. The next project is to get it put back in the car, then freshen up the heads.

01/08/2000
Today we loaded the rolling chassis into the new trailer for the first time. The car fits quite well and we have lots more storage space than before. We will store it in the trailer for the time being so that we have more space in the shop to assemble the engine and freshen up the transmission. Once we get that accomplished, we'll put the car back in the shop.

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