www.the351cforum.com

Let's see if this works.

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1969 mustang, 377C/powerglide
2011 Roxboro Dragway Top ET Champion

That was weird. Went to load the car and it wouldn't go in to park. I never had any of that stuff loose. I had to adjust the cable quite a ways to get it in to park.

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1969 mustang, 377C/powerglide
2011 Roxboro Dragway Top ET Champion

Don't worry about it. Park is over rated anyway.

Well that could have gone better, but it also could have gone way worse. I was actually kind of expecting it to be worse.
It runs ok, but I really think the springs arent up to the task. It was wanting to lay down pretty bad before the shift, and I had to turn the shift point down quite aways to get it to stop doing that, and even then it would still do it once and awhile. I made a total of 8 passes, 5 time runs, then lost third round of elims. My man was .005 and dead on with a 2. I was .021 and dead in the water, then broke out trying to get there first going 6.213 on a 6.22. It's leaving like gangbusters, and I really think if I can get to where I can turn it up a little it will go 6 teens pretty easily. I'm only shifting it at 6800 right now, and even with that, it's still laying over once and awhile. And even when it's not laying over, the EGT is way high. That's telling me it's not keeping the valves closed and fuel is still burning in the pipes. I'll pull a valve cover tomorrow and check on cylinder out and see what it has for installed height and seat pressure. Hopefully I have something on the shelf that will work that's better than what is on it. Although I think I tossed all my old springs earlier this year when I was cleaning the storage building out.

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1969 mustang, 377C/powerglide
2011 Roxboro Dragway Top ET Champion

Houston, we may have a problem.
I pulled one of the springs off the heads the good shop did for me. The heads where I bent a valve and tore up a guide because my dumb ass didnt check valve to piston clearance last year. They were 2" installed, 270 on the seat. I pulled a spring off the basket case heads. It was 2.10 installed, 165 on the seat.
That's not gonna cut it, not even close. I'm gonna pull all the springs/retainers/locks off the heads that need repaired and put them on the basket case heads. At least that way I know it has good springs on it for the last few races of the year.

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1969 mustang, 377C/powerglide
2011 Roxboro Dragway Top ET Champion

Got one side almost done. Ran it to a small snag. Those 5/16 stem valves threw a wrench in to the plans. I couldnt use the locks from the newer springs/retainers on them because they were the wrong size, so I had to re-use the ones already there. They were a +.050 lock, so that made the installed height of those two valves taller. So I had to stick a shim under them to make up the difference. Then worse, when I was setting lash, I noticed both rockers were sitting on the retainers. The stem was too far down for the rockers to reach until the valve started to open. That's bad news. That breaks stuff (been there, done that.) Probably a good thing I needed to change the springs, because if I would have kept running it like that, it might have broke the valve. The locks have the recess cut in them for lash caps, but since they are 5/16 stem I dont have lash caps that fit. I have them on order, but honestly, I'm not overly eager about going next weekend now. That late week thrash session kind of took the wind out of my sails. I was having a hard time today staying motivated to work on it anyways. I told the better half, if it's done before next weekend, great, I'll go. If it's not, oh well, I'll finish it over the weekend and be ready for the big all doorcar race in two weeks.

Better to wait and do it right, than do it hastily and break something.

The speed of which I do stuff has minimal bearing on my junk breaking or not. LOL

I got home from work tonight and decided I didnt feel like working on it, so I didnt. It's not looking promising for me to go this weekend, and I'm ok with that.

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1969 mustang, 377C/powerglide
2011 Roxboro Dragway Top ET Champion

Sometimes the stuff just wears you down. No weekends available this month as we're keeping the grand kids all day on Saturday. One usually stays over to Sunday, so little gets done. Good thing the Falcon only needs fuel right now.

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Chris - Merkel, TX
http://raceabilene.com/kelly/hotrod
"Owner built, owner abused."

I would definitely say it wore me down last week. I have today off for the holiday, but it's raining and is supposed to rain until sometime friday. I wont be going this weekend.
I'll take this weekend to get the rest of the springs changed, then be ready for next weekend.

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1969 mustang, 377C/powerglide
2011 Roxboro Dragway Top ET Champion