As most of you know, we went to the last NHRA Division 2 race in Reynolds, GA this past weekend. Just getting there was a challenge as I spent the previosu three days and nights getting the motor back in the car to go.

Left Friday morning for the 4.5 hour drive. Got there around 10:30, got unloaded and teched. Made the call for the final qualifying session of the day. Keep in mind this is a fresh motor that I picked up about 2 weeks ago. I was delayed in putting the motor in the car waint on some hard to get parts. Do a burnout and pre-stage, notice a very strange "ticking sound". Shut the car off and pull it back to the trailer, no biggie, still got two qualifying shots in the AM. Check all the normal stuff (rockers, valve springs, look for trash in the oil, etc) nothing appears to be wrong. While looking under the car I notice that the flexplate is "wobbling". Upon further inspection there is a crack about 80% of the way around the bellhousing of the TH350.

So, what are the options? Put in the spare trans? nope its on the floor of the shop . Try and find a junkyard TH350 at 530PM on a Friday, and use the case to put all my guts in? Like trying to find a needle in a haystack . Finally find one of the Top Alcohol Dragster teams that has a TIG welder with them. They agree to weld it back up for me in the AM. Looks like its going to be ONE qualifying run on Saturday. Stay at the track till 11PM getting trans out of car and prepped for welding.

Saturday morning Richard Putz's Alcohol team welds the bellhousing for me and I am heading back to our trailer as they call the first qualifying run of the day for Stock Eliminator, time to hurry. Get the trans back in the car and go to fire it up. Bendix is broken on the starter . Thankfully there is a NAPA literally righ outside the gates of the3 track. Get a new bendix, put it on the starter, put the starter back on. Now lets try this again. CLICK, HUMMMMMM. Motor won't turn over. Must have broken something in the transmission when the bellhousing broke. Well now the damn thing is locked up and I can't get the torque converter bolts out. Looks liek we are done for the weekend, might as well watch some racing since the hotel is already paid for.

Head home Sunday, following another rig down GA96 when we pass a state trooper. YUP you guessed it, he pulls us both over. We were running downhill with a 40' trailer behind a dually. The only way to keep it under the speed limit is to wear out the brakes. Oh well. Mr. Officer doesn't care, nevermind the fact that us racers as a whole are probably the only people who come spend money in their podunk *** town. Besides why is the speed limit 55 on a divided 4 lane highway in the middle of NOWHERE Georgia, it should at least be 65. Oh well its been a while since dad got a ticket (glad he was driving) .

So this afternoon I decide to dig into this thing to see what has everything locked up. Pull the oil pan and see the tell tale sign of a rod hitting the windage tray. Pull the windage tray off and notice two rod nuts, a rod bolt, two bearings and a rod cap laying in the windage tray, all in pristine condition. The rod is wedged between the crank and the block. It seems somoene forgot to TOURQUE the bolts on #6 rod. So after a rather irate phone call to the engine builder, it appears I will be pulling the motor and taking it back to him to repair, HOPEFULLY all on his dime.

But a bad day drag racing still beats the hell out of a good day at work

 

I had a 502 Ford stroker built. Had problems and the guy went through the engine, no charge to me. He also pulled the engine and put it back in.

If I were you I would take him the CAR and tell him to have at it. A professional builder doesn't forget to torque the bolts. No excuse for that. A leaky gasket maybe, but not rod bolts.

You're a better man than I am. I would have gone ballistic.

 

Were there any good looking chicks there Chad?

 

What type of car are you racing?

 

Ouch!

 

 

that sucks.........but pulling a tranny at the track.......damn.........

 

 

Jeez, talk about an anything that can go wrong will go wrong weekend!!

 

short of wrecking everything, yes. And I forgot to mention no sllep because it was some hick college's homecomeing game and the stupid asses were raising hell all night at the hotel

 

Thanks for the update Chad, but not what we were hoping for

You might want to find aother engine builder.....forgetting to tighten the rod bolts is something I might do which is why i'm not in that business. Ever figure out why your flexplate was wobbling?

You certainly gave it you best shot.

I know a bad day at the races is usually better than a good day at work, but you must have a pretty crappy job

 

This engine builder is responsible for some NHRA record holders, former world champs, and a couple of the quickest HEMI SuperStockers in the country. He has offered to make it right, and it will cost him big. However I will give them another shot provided they do a satisfactory job fixing this issue to my approval. As far as the flexplate, it was wobbling because the bellhousing was cracked and the transmission was out of alignment

 

Wow, that's rough! Sounds like the race I had a few weeks ago, to a lighter extent. Tested the oval car the night before, ran great. First lap of race day's practice, blew the head gasket.... put it on the trailer, headed home, now waiting for April for the season to start again! lol
Rebuilding the whole car now that we found a bunch of things which need to be taken care of.

Not half as bad as that weekend though, but hey, it was an experience I see. Hope you get all the bugs tweaked out and have a hell of a bracket car.

 

Its an NHRA Stocker, NOT a bracket car. Thats the equivalent of calling a line backer a soccer player. No offence to soccer players or bracket racers

 

my bad lol