Took Funny Car to Track

Finnaly after four years of gathering parts and assembly we took the funny car to the track.
On 10/5/08 at LVD
Our first attempt at some licence passes with my son Chris at the wheel.
Out of the trailer and warm it up and check it over.No dyno time on motor
and newby at alcohol so set tires to 8lb. and lets see what happens!
tow up to staging lanes,suit him up ,Fire the car up,stick it in 3rd(yes 3rd),
Roll him thru the water and let him go.Rattled the tires hard in the burnout.
Stage the car and off he went on the first 1/8 mile pass.1.11-60ft. then loose
after 330 ended with a 7.47 at the 1/8 mile.
Back to the pits make a few adjustments and head back to the staging lanes
this time with 7lb in the tires.
Fire it up roll him thru the water and he makes a good burnout.Back him up
and stage the car.Green light (woops )foot sliped off throttle and double stabed
it to a 1.39-60ft and a 10.58- 1320(damn size 13 shoes)oh well still good enough
for licence runs.
Back up for the 3rd pass.
Fire it up roll thru the water and hit the throttle.WTF hit me in the nose OH!
a piece of the blower belt.But I didn't fell so bad the starter got the rest of the belt
in the gut.(NOTE to self never buy a used rubber belt).That ended that day.
Back home straighten starter bracket and belt gaurd.Install new carbon fiber belt.
Repair fiber glass (not dameged bad) and rework throttle pedal to handle size 13 shoe.
On 10/19/08 back to LVD
1st run check out pass 12AM --51degrees 13.98 1/4 mile-track is just not there.
Wait till 2:30 to make another pass hopping for better conditions.
Drop the tires down to 61/2lb and fire it up,thru the water and let it spin.
Staged and off 1.11-60ft 5.14 to the 1/8mile and shook the tires.
3rd run fatten the fuel up a little and see if it will hold.
Ran a 1.08-60ft 3.18 to the 330 mark and started skating first to the center line
corrected and hit it again and skated to the wall and gave it up 4ft from the wall.
Called it a day and will have to wait till spring for the full throttle passes.But went
home with no trama, some experiance and a good time.
470cuin BBC
11.1
671 non striped-clearanced for alcohol at 33.3percent
4.30 gear
34.5-17-16 Hoosire's
turbo 400 modifide an transbrake
Bird injection flowed an setup by Spud Miller at Fuel Injection Enterprises
(Note-Spud gave me a excelent tuneup.Would recomend him to anyone)
ED ECKERT

 

first outing

Congratulations to you and your son. After years of hard work it must have been a great feeling to get out on the track. Good looking car. Best of luck to the both of you, keep us posted!

Jagger

Earth Shaking Entertainment

http://www.myspace.com/earthshakingentertainment

 

That Firebird is still my favorite funny car body.

 

Ed.....nice looking car....keep us posted

 

Hey the car looks very good. Great work. One thought though- don't be afraid to round up somebody with some tuning experience to go to the track with you. Some mistakes can end your whole season and if somebody can get you past those you are money ahead. Most guys in Top Alcohol Funny Cars are running tire pressures somewhere in the 4.5-5.5 psi range. Even if you aren't looking to rotate the world don't be afraid to lean on somebodies experience to help you the first few times out. Dave Germain

 

I agree with dave on seaking some good help. I watched alot of guys do burnouts, settled on the way randy parker does his. nice and smooth. he was also good enough to visit with me about how. I have also cheated by talking to acouple guys that went to hawleys school. thanks dave. a quick piece of advice; if you're out of shape or have to lift. stay out of it, dont try and "save" the run. come back, check car then go again. these things can bite you quick. best thing I ever read about a driver was "he has mind over foot"

 

Thanks

Thanks guys I wont Be running the numbers you guys do.I hopping for around
7.0.The best thing about drag racing is most people are willing to help you out
evering thing is not a secret.One question tho the car has a 1"lip for a wing with the spill plates .Is this enough of a wing for what I am doing?I was thinking of adding 2 or 3" to help at marginal tracks.
Ed Eckert

 

Nice ride

Hey Ed,
Great looking car! I have spent many hours with my sons at the Drag strip and have really enjoyed our time together. In reading your post I noticed you had trouble with traction, if those slicks are old, that could be your problem.
Best of luck with your car,
Ken