Ok Boys and Girls it's Storytime

[68Gold/white]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

Well the first outing went well. I raced the LODRS event at Thunder Road in Gilliam La this past weekend. I left Wednesday afternoon blew a trailer tire 40 miles out. One of my good friends and racing buddy Charlie Owens rescued me with a spare and an unmounted tire. I got back on the road and blew another in Waskom Tx. Pulled the tire off and limped with five tires to Flying J truck stop in Greenwood La. Got another tire mounted and hit the road again. Got five miles from the track and boom another one let go. I said to hell with it and limped to the track with rubber flying. A 130 mile trip took me 4 1/2 hours, it was beer time. Thursday morning we tried to figure out a way to fix the trailer but I decided I came to race so thats what Im doing. I got my chassis cert done and teched for the race then made three time trials. I tell ya 148 felt like 200 lol. I made some adjustments and felt like the truck was working well. Friday I had a four run reaction time average of .009 needless to say I was happy and confident I could be competitive. On to Sunday morning, I missed the tree and had a .037 light but my opponent went red. Second round I was .025 on the tree to my opponent's .030 light and I won the round. Third round I made some adjustments to shoot for a .010 to .012 light. I ran Tony Fuller third rd, I turned the top bulb on and he ran in and turned on both bulbs. I guess I let it get to me and got in too deep and it rocked on the transbrake. I went .005 red and he was .020 green. It was a round I could have won so I wasnt happy with myself. All in all though the truck did great. I put four tires on the trailer monday morning and came home. I have some videos and some cool Go Pro video coming soon.

Hey Regan,
Had a racer friend w/ similar trailer tire experience. He now runs his tires 4 years, and they come off, regardless of how they look.
Most companies that recap tires will not cap a tire older than 4 years old. Tire knowledge is part of my job. Knowing how old your tires are is a good thing, for any vehicle.
Hope you make it to Oklahoma again soon!!! The Tulsa divisional race is weekend of June 13, 14.
Thanks again for show me your pickup at Noble last fall!!!
Jeff

[hotrod 80]

Hoping the weather holds out for you . Everything got cancelled down here . Alot of my buddies are up their with you . James ogden and David Sheets in top dragsters quit a few 10.90 guys also .

[regan wilson]

I havent given an update becuase it was not a good trip. I had fuel system issues from the start. Finally got it down the track on 3.5 pounds of fuel pressure and it was 11.00 at 149.50. The air conditions and the wind were horrible fri and sat but all the passes I made were good mph. Sunday first round I screwed it up and gave the stripe up by 15 thousands and lost first round. But it looked to have been on a 152 mph pass. My generator gave me hell all weekend. It had an exuast valve guide that gave up on me. Now I have to replace a head on my Onan 7000 generator. Its never ending!

[hotrod 80]

Bump for an update :

Sportsman Series Points
Driver: Regan Wilson
Class/Registration: SST/469C
Hometown: Tyler, TX
Points Sum Type Event Code And Location Date
30 30 HD 41-Ennis, TX 04/19/2015
30 Events Attended/Counted: 1/1
Points listed in green background are included in the total.
Points listed in red numbers are not eligible.
Type: HD=Home Div, NA=National Event, OD=Out of Div

[regan wilson]

LOL Hotrod... Your not going to do that to me all season are you? Ok heres the update since you ask. I just got my generator parts this week. Put a new cylinder head on yesterday but still have an hour or so of work to finish. Also they didnt send my manifold gaskets so I have to find some. They postponed the Belle Rose La race till July becuase of rain. I am supposed to be going to Tulsa next week but Im not sure I can go. All the sudden my old trusty Goat decided to develop an exhaust manifold leak. Also I have an equipment install thats going to take all day wednesday next week(when I should be loading up). On top of that Houston is the week after on June 19th. I really dont have the time to do both becuase its just too much time away. It looks like the plan is Houston, Topeka(two races in one), Shreveport, and Noble Ok. That will only make six for the year but at least I will still have one to throw out(we only count five). See you in Houston for sure.

[regan wilson]

Ok HotRod you shamed me into going racing.im in Tulsa right now. I'm by myself so does someone want to come take care of my tires? Lol I'm spoiled
Posted via Mobile Device

[regan wilson]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

Ok HotRod you shamed me into going racing.im in Tulsa right now. I'm by myself so does someone want to come take care of my tires? Lol I'm spoiled
Posted via Mobile Device

I've made two runs so far today. First one was 10.93 @ 151.82 second 10.82 @ 151.32. Seems to be working pretty well since I rescaled it.
Posted via Mobile Device

[regan wilson]

Well it looks like my water leak has reappeared . I went this morning for our first time trial. It got warm just as I got to the lanes and wouldn't cool down like it should. I finally got it down to 150 and made my run. I was .002 on the tree and went 10.855 right at 151 mph. It was really hot at the end of the track. I got it cooled down and pulled the radiator cap. The water level was at least 10" low. Pulled a valve cover and it had a half inch of milk in it. I literally raked it out with my hand. I'm done for now and probably for the season. This will require a total tear down.
Posted via Mobile Device

[regan wilson]

On the other hand ! If you do the math my last thee runs. If my delay was set the same my light would have been .000, .008 and .002. I was .020,.011 & .002. It sucks to go home when you know you could be really competitive. There's too much at stake to take the chance.
Posted via Mobile Device

[hotrod 80]

Man sorry to hear the bad news .

[aggie91]

Man that really sucks...

[68Gold/white]

Regan,
You get that engine ordeal figured out?

[regan wilson]

I haven't posted anything in awhile but I'm trying to get going on this. I got everthing worked out as far as the block and heads go. My left cylinder head had a crack that didnt show unless it was tourqed down(this head has been through hell and back). When I say through hell and back I mean it. Anyhow Brodix helped me find the problem and they fixed the problem. I have all new seats, 14 new valve guides, and a pretty (I mean beautiful) new surface to work with on the heads and block. My new rings were on the porch when I got home today. I also bought a cylinder hone (brush hone) so I can re-ring without a trip to the machine shop. I will get started on this in a day or two. I dont think I'm going to any more divisionals this year(but you never know). My plan right now is to get it together and go test and then run it wide open. I want to know what what the old Blue Truck can do!

[71Dragtruck]

I want to see some wide open runs with the blue truck also, please have someone video if you can.

[68Gold/white]

Noble divisional is last weekend of this month.....a good test
No need for a recording (for me at least)!!! I'll be there!

[djracer]

I would love to see what it runs WOT.

[regan wilson]

Well guys the troubles continue. I had the shortblock together since probably October. Had too much work so it was on the backburner. Finally put it all together and started it new years eve. New Years Day I found water in #1. I've done everything I could think of to resolve the issue with no luck.

I pulled the motor on 1-16 after a leakdown test. #1 pushes compression straight into the water jacket. #4 is real oily and #8 has too much leakdown.

The sealing problem makes no sense at all. The surface of the heads and block are like new from Brodix. Upon examination the head gasket was leaking in between layers. They were all flat layers unlike the Cometic I tried last year that had a fire ring stamped into it.

So now I'm in the middle of a mechanical autopsy. I hope to figure out what I need today to put it all back together. I have six weeks to be ready for our first race in Houston.

[regan wilson]

On the other hand, Is this motor cursed?
I guess the Devil is in the details!
It is real close to 666 cubic inches! LOL

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

Well guys the troubles continue. I had the shortblock together since probably October. Had too much work so it was on the backburner. Finally put it all together and started it new years eve. New Years Day I found water in #1. I've done everything I could think of to resolve the issue with no luck.

I pulled the motor on 1-16 after a leakdown test. #1 pushes compression straight into the water jacket. #4 is real oily and #8 has too much leakdown.

The sealing problem makes no sense at all. The surface of the heads and block are like new from Brodix. Upon examination the head gasket was leaking in between layers. They were all flat layers unlike the Cometic I tried last year that had a fire ring stamped into it.

So now I'm in the middle of a mechanical autopsy. I hope to figure out what I need today to put it all back together. I have six weeks to be ready for our first race in Houston.

That suxs. Hope you figure it out.

[regan wilson]

Well it looks like I dont have any real issue with the rings. My Total Seal top rings were lined up wrong on #8 causing the bad leakdown. The oil gap was in line with the wrist pin on #4(there is a gap where the pin is exposed) thus the oil in #4. Ill be able to fix all that easily.

Hopefully today I can solve the head gasket delima and get some parts on the way.

Now all I have to do between now and Feb 21st is,
Put the motor back together and get it running
New 5" collectors and exhaust tubing with collector tethers
Put on the rebuilt anti-roll and scale it

Sounds easy if you say it real fast!

[regan wilson]

Well I have all my parts now. I'm going to try to finish the motor today.I have the shortblock back together and the pan on it already. I found no reason for the Cometic gasket to leak. But after the crappy customer service from them I wont buy anymore. I just hope it works with the Fel Pro because this is getting a little disheartening. I hope to have it running this weekend and get back on track.

[regan wilson]

Well I was wrong! I bolted down the head with a FP gasket and aired up the cylinder. Air was coming out of the water jacket. Pulled it back off and found what looked like a crack where the fire ring seals to the head. I called Jeff Brotherton and begged like a little kid for help. The head will be at Brodix today and hopefully they can get it back to me before next weekend.

It looks like my heads are just getting old and soft. Thats a shame because they work so well. You wont see too many of these old castings that will flow over 530 cfm. My guess as to what happened is the Cometic gaskets I tried last year had a embossed inner layer so strong it weakened the head surface even more (it left impressions on the head surface). So all that being said its not Cometics fault ! (although I still didnt care for the customer service)

I found the problem but will be under pressure and a major time crunch to be ready for Houston at the end of Feb. If i get the head back next week I have two weekends to get ready. I love this stuff !!!!!!

[aggie91]

Well the good news is you found the problem!

Hope it all works out for you and you can make the Houston race!

[regan wilson]

Well I put my other head on yesterday just trying to do everything I can with the situation. I have been looking for some shim stock to space my rocker stands because the machine work multiplies into the valve train setup. I dont have time to send off my Smith Bros ex pushrods and i dont want to replace my Manley int pushrods. Anyway I was disgustedly looking at $500 worth of useless Cometic gaskets sitting on the bench and thinking (I need to throw those away). Then a light bulb went off !! Those are multi layers off shim stock just waiting to be cut to shape. I pulled all four off them apart and now I have 10 thou and 15 thou shim stock. I felt pretty dang smart. I must admit though it felt good cutting them up! LOL

[regan wilson]

I got my rebuilt anti-roll back on yesterday. Put on a new master cylinder and bled the brakes. I guess I left out the fact I almost ran off the end of the track in Tulsa. I might have been in trouble somewhere else. If it wasnt for the long uphill shutdown I would have been.

Anyway my head should be back home today. Hope to have it running by wednesday. Then its off to the chassis shop for the new collectors and convert all the exhaust to 5".

If all this works out I will be in good shape and ready for the first race.