THE VEGAS RIDE
On the first qualifying pass at Las Vegas August 17th,
#5 piston let go at 600' at about 140 mph. From inside
the car all I noticed was (in VERY quick succession):
a loss of power
the car going EXTREMELY left
a funny rattling sound

The car had launched perfectly using the 10" Continental
converter with a 1.14 sec 60' time on a good light. The
loss of power was the piston exploding out of the motor
on the left side. Talk about dropping a cylinder!  I ran
3 or 4 scenarios through my head in about 5 nanoseconds,
but then had more to deal with.
This "event" dumped about 4 quarts of oil and shrapnel
out the left side onto the left slick, and bingo, toward
the left guard rail I went. I got it away from the rail
only to feel certain the car was going to roll. I
wriggled around that and was ABSOLUTELY sure it was
going to get the guard rail this time. Miraculously, I
got it swaying side to side a few more times and then
straight.
At that point I was pulling the fuel shutoff and heard
what sounded like paper rattling. I still hadn't put
anything together.
I was just thrilled not to be on my head.
The 660' time was 5.23, about .4 to .5 off what was
looking to be a 7.50 pace at that point.
I went through the lights at only 94 mph but STILL at
9.23 ET, to give you an idea of how hard it was
charging.
Only when Rick looked under the headers in the pit
inspecting for an oil leak at the filter did we see what
had really happened.
No side of the block, no sleeve, no piston, no
pin...NOTHING but the top of the rod (which had NOT
broken). A fine testament to the C&A rods in there.

REPAIR/REPLACEMENT
We pulled it all apart on Monday, and I would have
scotch-brited the bearings and reinstalled them had the
motor not been nuked! Sadly, the left slick is cut
beyond safety considerations, and therefore a new PAIR
of slicks must be purchased ($846), as you can't safely
buy just one at a time.
I'm going to try some 36" tall fuel tires which should
fit now that the wheel wells have been dramatically
altered. One slight benefit will be that the taller
tires will drop the RPM's about 400 at the finish line,
down to about 7900 or so at 183 MPH. Or they could
increase top speed another 4 MPH!
The block sounds like a trash can full of glass every
time we tip it one way or another!
I have a spare 4.25" stroker crank, and I'm going to
sell off the perfectly fine 3.75" crank and 14 rods or
15 rods. The heads are pretty much OK.
Since I've got to replace the pistons and block anyway,
and with 2 rods costing half the price of a new set, I'm
choosing to build a spare motor nearly identical to the
542 primary powerplant. That will require finding a
siamese Bow-Tie tall deck block, and getting a new set
of rods and pistons. This probably means purchasing a
brand new Bow-Tie tall deck block. I have a connection
at Chevy to buy at 10% over cost, but that still puts it
near $2000 for an un-machined block. I MAY have a deal
from back east on a used block less than that, but that
is uncertain at this writing.

PRIMARY MOTOR
The 542 lacks only a set of .360 long rods (waiting at
Brooks right now) to make the car ready. I've purchased
some .080" head gaskets to drop the compression down
from about 13.2 to the low 12's, to make the combination
a little less touchy. 

BACK UP MOTOR
The spare motor will use about 11.5 compression, .400
long rod (cheaper since they're stock-size items), and
either the spare Chevy/Velasco crank, or the rebuilt
Cola if the new Elgin crank on order for the primary
motor arrives. This will allow us to have a tune up from
motor to motor that is pretty close, in comparison to
the 431 vs 542 tune ups we were using.
While the "little" motor proved it could do just fine,
I'm still convinced the big guy can loaf it, and save
wear and strain on everything. The "loafer" approach
worked great for the Scotts at Vegas, running a 540 at
10.5 compression, and winning with a fine 7.52 in the
final.

SCHEDULE
We obviously didn't make it to Phoenix August 31 nor
Sacramento September 14.  We're choosing not to make the
last race at Fallon at the end of September or the
Bakersfield match race in October. That will really be
CIFCA prez Jim Maher's call anyway as it's an invitational
(and the body's not painted yet). But it sure would have
been fun to win the season opener and closer in match
races!

THE BODY
The body was fully primered at Vegas and now is back in
the shop being blocked, primed, blocked, primed, etc.
until preparation perfection is attained. It appears
we've got another 4-8 weeks of hand blocking to ready it
for color. From the windshield forward it's VERY smooth,
blocked, and ready for another coat of primer.
Originally intended for red, then changed to yellow, it
may end up red by the time the trigger on the spray gun
is pulled. We're working on securing sponsors, and that
MAY determine the color scheme. Nick Johns' substantial
donated labor on the body work is requiring extensive
waiting periods for him to remain profitable on his
other repair jobs, hence folding it up for the last
races of the season.

THE THRASH, THE SLIPS, THE TRIP
As an insight into the effort sometimes required to make
the seven-second blast, a recap of the weekend might be
enlightening.

THE THRASH
The body was set back on the chassis at 5:30 PM
Thursday, the day before leaving for Vegas. The heads,
manifold, blower, and injector were set on that night
and torqued.
The starter, headers, blower belt, pump and mag were
reinstalled the following morning. When we fired it up
at 11 AM Friday morning, we found the trans was NOT
delivering anything to the rear.

THE SLIP
We pulled the pan, saw the linkage was perfect, and
pulled the trans out and ran it to A-1. As the pan came
off, the tech said, "Oh, I see the problem." NO pressure
regulator. Not in there at ALL! Just a SLIGHT oversight
on their part .
Ten minutes later we were on our way, threw it back in,
and it worked fine.
I had switched to the 10" converter (we've got an 8, 9,
and 10) to insure the prior soft shifts were not
converter-related. The converter worked perfectly, just
as Chris at Continental said it would. The shift was
solid, although a little early (approximately 5800 RPM
vs 7850 RPM), as someone had inadvertently switched the
Auto Meter shift module to 6 cylinder mode! I'll now
install a guard over that switch (more learning). We're
now running about 215-220 pounds of pressure in the
trans, up from the very low 185 previously.

THE TRIP
The trip to Vegas was HOT. We gassed up at the bottom of
the Baker grade at 108 degrees (AND 46% humidity) at
midnight, and boiled over 4 miles up the grade. The
overflow tank on the dually had a pinhole leak, and we'd
lost 5 gallons of coolant without knowing it.
The CIFCA family spirit prevailed as Jeff Seraphine
stopped, gave us a gallon of coolant. With another 4
gallons from AAA, we limped up the hill and cruised into
Vegas.
I replaced the radiator and overflow tank Saturday, and
things went well on the trip home. However, the dually
boiled over in the driveway!! Turns out the radiator guy
in Vegas had cut the hose when reinstalling the
radiator!
Yes, it IS tough getting good work these days, and not
just on the race car.

I've included a poem about the "Vegas Gamble" to give
you a little more insight into the events.

THE CREW
My lovely wife Millie, along with Rick, Mike, Nick, and
Bob did a great job. We worked seamlessly Thursday
through Saturday night, not killing ourselves, everybody
doing their job well. Thankfully good friend Randy Laur
came by Friday morning after his Fire Dept 24-hour shift
to help.
Dave McDannel was shocked to find us at the race, having
seen the car apart on Wednesday with no hope, in his
mind, of us ever getting there. He chided me after my
motor destruction that I hurried too much getting there,
whereas HIS piston meltdown came from a completely
prepared and ready operation!
Actually, we really didn't thrash. We just worked
efficiently. We're not fuel round material yet, but it
was a mighty crew improvement.
What we need now is some efficient funding work!  

THE DRIVER COOLING SYSTEM
The driver cooling system works pretty well, although
the significant restriction into the helmet could use
more pressure. I'm going to try a Chevy or Ford heater
fan motor (squirrel cage type). Mike Hilsabeck (the only
other driver with a helmet fan) uses something similar
and says it works great.
The cooling system portion still needs the radiator and
recirculating ice water stage installed. We'll
apparently  have all winter for that.
Should that system prove NOT to be all that is hoped
for, I'm going to invest in a Kool Suit. Meanwhile, one
step at a time.
The Deist Kool Packs, the Cool Suit, and cooling system
can all certainly work together to bring down the driver
temp to reasonable levels in Sacramento, Vegas,
Palmdale, etc., and combat fogging.

SPONSORS
To recap, we're still looking for a title sponsor ($20K)
and 4 more associates ($1K each). Nick Johns has
certainly earned HIS associate spot with the body work
to date and the paint to come.
The theme will remain a fire captain's car featuring the
"Learn not to Burn" logo in support of the Sherman Oaks
Burn Center. And the emergency light bar will stay
(unless Musco Lighting comes on board, in which case
I'll replace it with a 1,000,000 candlepower spot for
poorly lit tracks!).
We're anticipating a very full display schedule in 97,
looking to be seen by about 400,000 interested folks.
I'm working with a very talented sign painter and
graphics designer on a computer-scanned picture of the
car so we can generate any sponsor's name and logo for
pre-investment viewing. We're excited about the
possibility of using this technique in combination with
some of our CIFCA video footage to show sponsors a
variety of ways we can be of service, such as
demonstrating how track banners will look, previewing
the look of pit publicity, experimenting with trailer
decal sizes and locations, etc.
Meanwhile, we've got our spot on the CIFCA 97
poster/calendar, a place in the CIFCA Injection
Connection centerfold, and a new column entitled "Wags
World" 4-6 times a year in the Injection Connection.

Talk to you again in October/November.

"Qwik Dick" (still looking for money) Wagner