This was the first day out for Chris’ ’71 Chevelle in 2015 at the season opener at Pacific Raceway after freshening the motor and having the TH-400 transmission gone through in the off season.
On his first hit of the day, the car pushed through the lights when on the trans brake. Our transmission woes continue. After that Chris decided to foot-brake the car the rest of the afternoon and did very well making it to the 3rd round before being eliminated. He made lemonade out of lemons!
It was that last round that the car performed its best running a 10.468 @ 126.08 MPH with a 60-foot time of 1.434. That is an excellent pass for not having the use of the trans brake. With the brake it would have been in the 10.30s at a density altitude of 1815 feet. We’re very pleased with how the 406 is performing, but certainly not with the transmission that continues to plague us despite where we have it done!
So, we’ll once again pull the transmission and see if the trans brake problem can be solved. – Roger
May 11th 2015:
Just spoke with Bill at Hughes Performance, they are building us a complete TH-400 with brake, solenoid and deep pan. It will be about a month before we see it but I want to end the transmission madness and quit wasting runs on the engine.
Hughes wants us to use the Lucas Sure Shift ATF and we’ll follow their recommendations! – Roger
June 8, 2015:
Our new TH-400 arrived today and we’re looking forward to getting the Chevelle back out to the strip on June 20. – Roger
This was our first time out this year and first hits on our new 350 engine in our ’57, and Paul’s first hits in his newly purchased ’85 Mustang.
This evening the weather cleared, personal records fell, and we had a GREAT time at the strip. The crew at Pacific Raceways did another great job prepping the track this evening!
We put three hits on the ’57 and here are the results:
1) 10.548 @ 126.60 MPH. After we raised the launch RPM.
2) Records fell, 10.490 @ 128.05 MPH on our best pass of the evening and new records for the old buggy!
3) Slowed to a 10.664 @ 126.27 MPH when I missed my shift points and we dead hooked the car. I really love the new Strange double-adjustable front shocks! They tamed the beast on the shifts.
Paul’s Mustang ran well tonight recording a 12.104 @ 110.67 hitting the high-side chip near the finish line on his first hit. On his best pass he ran a stout 12.061 @ 111.87 MPH. One problem is the transmission is venting fluid near and after the finish line which requires our attention.
At some point we will need to gear both the ’57 and Mustang up a cog. The ’57 was turning 8500 in the lights and Paul’s 347 was about 6200. I like to get the trap RPM in the ’57 down a few hundred RPM and the same with Paul’s Mustang.
Next up is Chris’ Chevelle on May 9th for the opening race at Pacific Raceways. We’re looking forward to seeing how the Chevelle performs on its initial outing after going through the engine and transmission this winter. It has been a BUSY off season for the entire team!
Here’s some video from tonight. – Roger
Here’s a video comparison between our old Koni single-adjustable front shocks and the new Strange double-adjustable front shocks for 2015. No other chassis adjustment changes except for the 5.83 rear gears with the 331 and the current 5.67 gears with our larger 350:
I just got my new addition to Edwards & Young Racing home safe & sound tonight with big thanks to Bill Cadle whom graciously delivered the car after he gave me a good deal on the sale. I am super excited for the 2015 season in my new ride which is a ’85 Mustang 5.0 that is powered by a 347 stroker with a C4 tranny behind it along with an 9-inch rear end by Bill Scribner.
It will be an exciting season racing & working on my own car and I will once again have the best crew helping me as always! I am looking forward to seeing Dad, Chris & Torri kicking butt in their cars too as nothing better than them coming back with a big smile on their faces after a pass.
I will keep you all updated on the progress over the next week as we prepare for the race season.
Sincerely,
Paul Young
Dad has prepared one of his 9379 750’s for the Mustang
May 2nd 2015:
Chris, Paul and myself were working hard on Paul’s Mustang today. We replaced the fuel pressure regulator, installed my 750 carb, re-curved the distributor, installed a #6 wire from the back of the alternator to the positive terminal of the battery so the battery shutoff worked, installed a shift light, new belts for the driver and a few other odds and ends. The Muskrat is just about ready to go down the track! Should be a fun street/strip car!
Bill Cadle did some excellent work with the car prior to Paul purchasing it. Has adjustable Strange struts in the front, nice roll bar and excellent tin work!
Thanks to Pam and Mel who provided PLENTY of food for the crew! – Roger
Paul’s one proud Mustang owner!
May 16th 2015:
We accomplished a LOT today. Removed the gas tank and fixed the gas leak, installed a tank vent, new fuel pump & relay, repaired the wiring so the fuel gauge works, installed a relay for the cooling fan, removed the thermostat, replaced two bad switches on the dash, removed the transmission pan and repaired the drain plug (now tapped for a 3/8″ pipe plug). My thanks to Chris for bringing all his tools out to Paul’s so we could accomplish the mission!
Our thanks to Mel for providing breakfast & lunch! She took good care of the crew! – Roger
How about a moratorium on unchecked growth until our region comes to grips with our terrible traffic problems? The fiasco yesterday when an overturned truck completely shut down Southbound 99 and paralyzed our city for over eight hours should be a wake up call. Clearly SDOT was NOT prepared for such an accident to remove a heavy truck in the Bertha pit area known as the cattle chute. If they can’t clear an accident in open space, how will they clear such an accident in the new, enclosed tunnel? In fact the entire tunnel project has paralyzed the city. We need intelligent solutions, not more bike lanes and expensive pie in the sky proposals.
Local politicians shoved the Bertha tunnel down our throats. And the taxpayer and citizens are paying the price in higher taxes and longer commutes. This weekend the 99 viaduct will be closed again for another inspection making travel north again difficult at best. This is the city we’ve allowed politicians and greedy land barons to destroy. I’m for recalling the Mayor of Seattle, the entire City Council and send them packin’ along with the Seattle Tunnel Project idiots for the mess they have created with no end in sight. I’d like to know about the payoffs to local politicians for all this unchecked growth and mayhem they have created. They have turned “America’s most livable city” into a hell hole. – Roger Young
“We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.” Dec 13, 1881- Konstantin Josef Jireček
This past weekend at the Gatornationals, Larry Dixon’s Top Fuel car chassis broke at the foot box resulting in a heart-stopping crash. Both videos are courtesy of NHRA.
On January 30, 2015 Ridge Motor Sports Park issued the following press release which includes information on the long awaited drag strip at Shelton, WA.
It would appear that wait only gets longer – if ever. I’ve posted a link to their press release below. – Roger
January 17, 2015: Tomorrow is the big game here at CenturyLink field where the Seahawks are hosting the Green Bay Packers for the NFC title game! I suspect the Hawks will win with their #1 defense, and also suspect the Hawks will be facing New England in the Super Bowl.
It has been another great ride watching the Hawks this season! ON TO THE SUPER BOWL! – Roger
Feb 1st 2015: It’s THE big game day, Super Bowl XLIX. Feed the Beast and REPEAT!
Proud of our Hawks today and congratulations to the Patriots. Hard to understand that last play call when you have the best running back in the NFL. Lynch played a great game! Going to the Super Bowl back to back is very special!
This says it all, Lynch had a big game but his number wasn’t called when the game was on the line… – Roger
Today Chris and Paul removed the transmission and have the engine nearly ready to pull from the car. Chris intends to have both transmissions gone through and we’ll tear the motor down to freshen after 199 hits and also do some upgrades to the fuel delivery system.
We’ll be updating this page as we move forward, including the comment section below. – Roger
February 8th, 2015:
Today with Chris and Paul we got the 406 out of Chris’ Chevelle and torn completely down. Except for the high leakdown in #8 cylinder of 28% (poor ring seal), the rest of the engine was in tremendous condition. Bearings, piston skirts look like new!
I’m very impressed with that Dart Little M block. Other than some small shadows in the cylinder walls, I don’t see any core shift, and the lifters with the taller bores look fantastic! – Roger
February 28th, 2015:
Today Chris and I got the heads torn down and checked all the valve springs on our Rimac bench tester. All, except two springs, were in excellent condition at 275# on the seat and 750# open. We’ll be replacing the two that had dropped to 260# while we are going through the motor.
Next the block goes out to DG Machine to have the block honed with torque plates and have the valves ground. There is nothing evident in the engine that would account for the inconsistent runs last year which gets back to issues with the transmissions. – Roger
March 24th, 2015:
Yesterday Chris picked up the block and heads from DG Machine. Today I assembled the heads with new intake seals. We’ll start assembling the block in the near future – Roger
Today Chris and I were checking all the clearances on the 406, since we didn’t get any real specifics from Shafiroff that machined/assembled the original short block. We also ordered a new set of main bearings as the lower half on the #4 main was flaking the top coating. So we’ve opted to wait for the arrival of new main bearings. – Roger
March 30, 2015:
While waiting on the main bearings, Chris began file-fitting the new rings for the 406 today. – Roger
Chris filing & checking ring end gaps
March 31, 2015:
Today we got the new main bearings polished and installed the Callies crank after checking main bearing clearance and thrust clearance with a new FelPro rear main seal. We also installed the new Jesel Timing Belt and checked camshaft thrust clearance.
Next we’ll file-fit the four remaining cylinders and begin installing rod/piston assemblies. Making good progress! – Roger
Installing the Callies Crank
New Jesel Timing Belt installed
April 1, 2015:
Today Chris and I got four piston/rod assemblies installed in the 406. When we have the rods resized at the next overhaul, we’ll open the rod side clearance. – Roger
406 Wiseco pistons and 6″ Manley rods
Bottom end of 406
Four pistons installed
April 2, 2015:
Today we got the last four pistons in, clayed the valves with 1.6 rockers (we’re using 1.6 rockers on the exhausts this time around, were 1.5’s), installed the balancer. – Roger
April 4, 2015:
Today we got the 406 fully assembled, leak-down tested, and primed ready for install in the Chevelle.
And after I left this afternoon, Chris got the engine resting in the Chevelle this afternoon! – Roger
406 valve train, 1.6 rockers on exhausts, 1.5 rockers on intakes. New roller lifters
Crane pressurized roller lifters for tall lifter bores in the Dart Little M block with open valley.
Completed 406, primed and ready to install
April 11, 2015:
Today we installed the new floats in the Dominator, installed the carb and primed. Just the transmission remaining!
April 18, 2015:
This past week Chris got our old A-1 TH400 out to Dirty Dan’s Trans and we learned that unit, except for the shafts and planetary section, is a complete loss.
He then took our last transmission out to Dan and learned that it is in reasonable condition except that an assembly error was applying high gear all the time. Therefore while going down the strip high gear was dragging all the time, which gets back to what our data and engine inspections were telling us, that the problem with the car being inconsistent and slow was in the transmission as we had concluded!
We should have the transmission back and ready to install next week. – Roger
April 23, 2015:
Today Chris got the transmission in the car, we fired it up, set the timing and ran the transmission through the gears and checked the trans brake. She’s ready for the strip! – Roger
As of December 30th 2014, I have moved our Tech Tips section from our original racing site to here on our blog. If you access the old page location it will automatically transfer you to the new page here.
You can also access these articles from our main menu above below the header. Have a good New Year! – Roger
Posted inEdwards & Young Updates|Comments Off on Edwards & Young “Tech Tips” Moved to our Blog
Brought to my attention by my son, Chris, this is an important discussion and such technology should be banned in my opinion. It is becoming very tough for the average bracket racer to compete against such technology as mentioned in this article – Roger:
After September 2026, I will no longer be hosting our entire website. This includes military news, the Silver Spur sites, nor our racing pages. After 27-years it will be time to close it all down. Be well. – Roger
Pam, U.S. Navy – YN2/E5
CINCPAC Joint Command
Vietnam-Era Veteran Operation Homecoming
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We wish to acknowledge the invaluable photo contributions by the following talented individuals that make our photo galleries possible: Candy Caldwell, Jim Doyle, Robert Fedyk, Mike Gardner, Tony Hutchison, Gary McMillian, DataMutz, Larry Pfister, ProStreet Photography, Dave Stoltz, Mike Ward, Gary Wells, Troy Williams (Purple Nurple) and our family, Chris, Pam & Roger Young
