Well I've been busily working on FRANKENSTEIN for a long time now..... I've had misc. hurdles along the way, and have had to miss a lot of pulls.
I wasn't completely ready, but, I was tired of not getting to events due to not being ready!!! I had just got my front driveline loop fabbed up on thursday, and figured, I'd go and try out the truck anyway...
My shortcomings on the build weren't gonna keep me from hookin'. I went into the pull knowing I wouldn't be at the front of the pack, but wanted to see where I was.
Upon arrival, I bent the linkage to my clutch fork unloading from the trailer @#$%^! (Lots of pressure). So, I went ahead and maxed out the adjustment (3/8 all thread). At this point I walked over to the Sign in tent, where I was greeted by many nice folks.
May I just say that the NSPA is a great bunch of folks. Along with several pullers, Even the Co-Owner came over to introduce himself to me and welcome me to the association. Made me feel right at home!
Sure enough after the drivers meeting, we received our pulling order. I drew number one, and was stoked. Even if I liked my hook, I was gonna turn it down, so as to get practice. After weighing in RIGHT at 6200 even, is when I felt the clutch linkage getting mushy. At this point I knew I'd have to be lucky just to get the truck down the track once!
With my manual steering, low front tire pressure I hit the track. I had to jam it into reverse to get hooked, and again to take out the slack. I knew exactly what I had to do and eased into the throttle. I guess I over thought the clutch slipping due to the dry loose track from earlier, and way over did it on the weak take off. I was already at 50 feet before I dropped the hammer!! But, let me say, when I did, it climbed its way up the tach until I buried the needle! Its a cheap Autogage 8K unit. I didn't hear my rev limiter kick in, so I was just under 8000 RPM, and it sounded like it too! I knew my 4.56 gears were too steep, but this just solidified that notion. Dan was right about the manual steering not being too bad down the track. That could change when I lock up the front diff though? The CLAWS seemed to hook very well, and took me down the track all the way to 268' and change. I knew this was not gonna be enough, but could barely get off the track due to the clutch linkage, so I took the pull. I got the truck to the trailer and jogged back to watch the rest of the pack.
I was right about not being far enough down the track, but from first place to my 6th place out of 7 trucks was only around 16 feet. Exact footages should post on the NSPA website here shortly.
What did I learn?.....
- I need to change out my 4.56 gears for 4.10's
- I need to lock up the front diff
- I need to fix the clutch linkage to be stouter!!!
- I probably need to get the steering improved for the locked front
- I need to NOT slip the clutch so much, and get the rpms up more at the initial take off
All in all I think I did well, for not being quite ready, and am SUPER happy with the engine!!! I am currently converting the video footage from my 8mm camera, to digital format. I will post just ASAP.
In closing, I'd like to thank the NSPA for having a great event, and being very cool to the new guy. I plan to make the necessary changes over the next two weeks. Next planned pull will be Aug 1st in Brighton, CO. The next day will be just north of there in Longmont. Hope to see Frosty there. I should be able to hit Rocky Ford on the 14th, depending on my status with the CTTPA.
Laters,
Adrian Flores
Team FRANKENSTEIN Motorsports
http://www.myspace.com/chevypullin
floresfour@msn.com
