A new racing season that is.  This last winter was less hectic than the one previously as I didn’t attempt to rebuild my car.  Simply (that’s a funny word in context of who I am, nothing is simple in my life)  rebuilt the engine.  Well, not quite.  Upgraded the electrical to 16V, added a wideband O2 meter, a cool can, new headers, new intake, transbrake button, and a parachute for someday when I go faster, or if I need it in an emergency.

Other work this year is the kick off of SOULFISHERPHOTO.COM to sell the photos my wife has been taking.   Check it out and see the action photos from 2008 and 2009.  New photos coming this week with the Test and Tune at Rock Falls.

And for those who have noticed that I haven’t posted anything here for a real long time, it’s because I’ve spent most of my time updating on facebook.

Well, after Saturday, I should have an idea of how the car is running for 2010.  Looking forward to a great season and stretching myself by running in two classes – Pro and Super Pro.

Later.

Spent the weekend at Cedar Falls Raceway for Arm Drop Racing Live, you know, like “Pinks All Out”.  It was a blast.  Over 300 cars showed up for the Saturday event.

We ran a three test and tune runs on Friday along with a first qualifying run.  All of them were great runs, with the exception of my second test run where the other lane double bulbed and I let my mind wander for a brief moment forgetting we were running against a pro tree.  Doesn’t work to drop the trans brake and then accelerate unless you weren’t

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Again, my appologies to those who have faithfully visited this site waiting for photos.  I have finally caught up and got them uploaded.  If you see anything you like, you can email me at mark@soulfisher.net with the photo information – date, description, etc, and I will get you a print.  We aren’t in this for the money, so pricing will be reasonable.

Thanks again.

To those who come to see updated pictures, or read something interesting, my appologies.  Between vacation this summer and everything else going on, I just haven’t gotten around to keeping the site up to date.

I had a great weekend racing this weekend.  While I only went into the second round in every race I did, my car performed like a champ.  I had a consistency in it that I haven’t seen in nearly a year.  I just need to learn to trust it again.

So THANK YOU to all of you who have sent me notes, gave me calls or other suggestions on who and where to get things fixed this Spring.  I think it’s finally behind me.  I was able to drop the car off with the motorhome tonight and not haul it back to the garage.  That’s the first time since October that it hasn’t been being worked on.  I appreciate all of you and your friendship!

We will get some pictures posted up in the next few days hopefully.  Sorry, the horseshoe video has to stay under wraps until I put together another season video.

I guess it is to be expected that when you do as much work on your car as I did you will find problems.  This last weekend at Rock Falls was a mixed bag of results.  The first four passes were good, running 10.20 to 10.28, although not as good as the miracle run of 10.03 in Brainerd where everything came together.  However, that was the beginning of the end for success.

I did run the afternoon gambler and lost in the third round, but still got back more than my entry fee.  It was then that I learned I threw another belt.  After that, I ran the Saturday Night Special and lost in the second round, no money this time.  However, from the afternoon gambler on, the car continued to slow down.  Sunday time trials saw my car slow all the way to 10.51 and the first pass in the points race ended with a big ole red light.  I ran it out, but ended at 10.558 and pegged water and transmission temps.

As for gremlins, the car did overheat, cause probably was that one of the fan circuits ended up with an open short.  That along with the belt problems will have me bringing the car back into the garage for a little care and repair.

At this point, I’m going to skip the Cedar Falls MDRA race and will be back at the Rock in June.

Here it is, the finished product and I’m off to go racing!

The payoff of seven months of labor

It has been an intersting winter and now spring as I try to get my car ready to race.  The last 4 weeks have been one setback after another and rather costly at that.

First off, I bit off way more than I can chew in totally rebuilding the car.  Taking it down to a shell and putting it back together in my spare time from November to April was ambitious to say the least, but that never stops me.  So, it’s together.  Yeah, a few things aren’t quite as nice as I hoped.  Afterall, it was my first paint job, I was rushed and less than ideal conditions.  However, from 10 feet away, it looks great, and at 130+ mph, no one will know.

So, I’m ready to put it back together and ran into transmission / torque converter problems.  I tried the torque converter on another transmission and thought it was good, so I sent it all to Maryland to have it looked at.  In the fall, it took 3 days and it was on the way back to me.  In the spring, it takes 4 weeks before they look at it and find nothing wrong with the transmission, so I pay to have it shipped back.  Thankfully, I got a great referral from Joe Schmall on the torque converter and had Dick at Midwest Converter rebuild it.  So I put it together.

Oh, since I’m trying to go faster, I need more shielding.  The flexplate shield from TCI fit poorly to begin with but with perserverance and a little force here and there, I got it on.  Only to find out my headers don’t fit over it and it won’t fit in my transmission / firewall tunnel.   So, while I was hoping to race at Grove Creek tomorrow, I’m instead working on other things as I wait for a new SFI approved bellhousing.  No more shield.

So at this point, Brainerd may be my first race, and the first of a new decade for me as I turn 50.

Lesson learned: the first childhood is much easier and much cheaper.
Second lesson learned: patience.  There is nothing I can do about it at this point anway.
Third lesson learned: Grace for myself.  I did far more than can be expected and flaws are inevitable.

But I can’t wait to race.

I just posted up a video page that links in my racing Youtube videos.  Check it out by clicking on “Videos” on the menu up above.  Especially interesting is the Rock Falls Raceway 2008 video.

Well, I finished painting last night and couldn’t wait to come home tonight and remove the masking.  I’m very pleased with the look!  Check it out.