August 19th 2013:
This past weekend Chris took the Chevelle out to Pacific Raceways for the divisional race along with helping Barry Hobson with his Top Dragster and Top Sportsman cars. Barry did well on Sunday making it to the 3rd round in both categories before being eliminated.
Barry Hobson at the hit in Top Sportsman – Pacific Raceways Divisional Race, August 2013
As to our Chevelle wagon, problems continue to plague us. A car that averaged 10.42 last season only mustered a 10.793 @ 124.88 MPH with a sluggish 1.473 60 foot time on its final pass on Sunday. Frankly I think we are having some engine problems which we must investigate. Or the transmission/converter is consuming a ton of horsepower. Either way, we need to take a step back and examine everything carefully. Until we can find the problem the car will remain parked. – Roger
UPDATE:
Chris informed me this afternoon that while taking the car off the trailer, the car wouldn’t back up. I guess my hunch that the sensitive transbrake switch was applying when the car came down and bounced after the lauch was valid. Now we have two transmissions to replace and the converters are in doubt.
Regardless, we will still run extensive checks on the motor. I hope the damage is limited to the transmissions. It has been a very frustrating year for all involved ! – Roger
UPDATE:
Since our original post, we checked the engine running valve spring pressure checks, leaked down the cylinders, checked the ignition timing and all is in good shape. The only wear we saw was with some of the lash caps which we will replace before next Spring.
Chris has since installed the new transmission with our rebuilt TCI torque converter we were using prior to the 2013 season. The Chevelle should be back to launching hard in 2014! – Roger
The good news is we now have the CAUSE identified. Now to repair the damage so we can get the Chevelle back on course in 2014.