Central Coast Autohaus sponsors Flying Pig

As we prepare for this weekend's Summit Series Race #5 and 6, Central Coast Autohaus has joined Flying Pig Racing as a sponsor, and we'll be flying their logo on the car.  Autohaus owners Dan and Jamie Hunt are no strangers to gofast endeavors.  Dan has fielded and driven winning cars in several classes on several west coast racing circuits, mostly of the left-turn persuasion.  But after hanging in the pits at the last three Summit races at Famoso Raceway , he's hooked on the drag race scene. 

                                                                   Dan and Jamie

Central Coast Autohaus in Los Osos performs automotive repairs on all makes and models, as well as being a certified Smog Center.  I've been using them for my daily drivers, and last year Dan handled the installation of my new Fauset Racing 557 Ford engine. 

Yesterday he completed installation of new stud girdles on the valve train.  The parts are so pretty I asked if we could come up with some clear valve covers so they could be seen! 

Blue anodized stud girdle.

                              

New tall valve cover for girdle clearance.

In the process of completing routine maintenance last week, Dan also uncovered a faulty master cylinder that was causing drag on the front brakes!  Can't wait to see what the car runs without the front brakes on! 

So we're off to Bakersfield with the best prepped car ever.  I think the flying pig is likely to lay down some stout runs this weekend.  Unfortunately, the weather is going to be pretty darn hot.  The weather gurus are calling for 95 degrees on Saturday, and a blistering 103 on Sunday.  That will hurt performance in two ways.  First, as the temp goes up, the amount of Oxygen in the atmosphere goes down, thereby robbing horsepower.  And 2, Track temps will be pushing 120+ degrees, which can make the track surface really slick.  Not good for traction, therefore reduced ETs.

Regardless, everyone races the same track in the same conditions, so the goal is to be consistent, chop the tree down, and go rounds!

SLO Racer. Out.

San Francisco

Ok. I know I said I would only blog about racing, car stuff, and day trips on the central coast...

Well this was a two-day trip! But we found some really cool new stuff in San Francisco, and what the heck...here goes.

Heading up the coast on Friday, we made the effort to get an early start so that we could knock off a couple things on the to-do list that day. But, first stop- drop off the dogs at 1000 Hills Pet Resort . Yeah you heard me. Check them out. It's the coolest doggy vacation spot yet! The dogs stay in individual "cottages" at night and run wild with all the other mutts all day! I swear, they are so worn out when we get home that they sleep for two days!

So, we rolled into the Marriott on 4th and Market around 1:30 PM, checked in, dropped our junk and took a walk down to the Moscone Center to see the 1904 Charles Loof carousel.

You have to appreciate that all of the true wooden American carousels were carved by just a handful of companies, and all done within a very short (20 year +/-) time frame. After that they began to use some castings along with some wood parts.

This particular carousel was hand carved by the Charles Loof company in 1904, and was bound for S.F. when the big earthquake hit in 1906. So it was re-routed to Seattle where it stayed until 1914. In 1914 it was moved to Playland At The Beach in San Francisco where it operated until 1972. It was then put into storage in Roswell, NM until 1984. In '84 the carousel re-appeared at Shoreline Village in California, and finally was moved to the current site at Yerba Buena Gardens in 1998. Quite an adventure! As you can see, the carousel is an amazing work of art as well as a slice of American History!

Having spent an hour or so reading the history of the carousel and watching countless kids (and a few adults) ride the 100+ year old ponies, we headed off to the Palace Hotel. Keeping with a theme I guess, the Palace was built in the 1800s and re-opened in 1909, having sustained damage in the earthquake of 1906. It's an opulent old world style hotel with an historic bar (which is what was drawing me)! There's a painting of the Pied Piper hanging behind the bar that has been there for, well, a hecka long time. Locals refer to the bar as the Pied Piper Bar, but it actually has another name- Maxfields. Anyway, here's some pics of the Palace...

It's a place worth visiting, and we'll have to look into staying there sometime to get the full experience!

On Saturday we went to the Flower Conservatory in Golden Gate Park.  They were having a special exhibit of man eating plants.  OK, well maybe not man eating...but they really do eat insects and small rodents!  That was cool, but what really fascinated me was their display of tropical forest plants, especially orchids.  Orchids I had never seen before.  Rather than drivel on, here are a bunch of photos.  But if you're ever in San Francisco, I say add all three of these stops to the tour.  Oh yeah, there was also the incredible dim sum at the New Asia Restaurant  in Chinatown, and the incomparable dinner at Maya , (south of market)!  Can't wait to do it again!!

 View from the Marriott

Chinatown

Best Dim Sum in SF

Famoso Raceway May 15th and 16th

Hit the Play button to view video.



Flying Pig Racing had a full weekend of racing. We ran Summit Race #3 on Saturday, followed by the continuation of the rained out Summit Race #2 on Saturday evening, and then Summit Race #4 on Sunday! We had a very successful weekend, winning 5 of 8 elimination rounds and landing a 2nd place in the PRO jackpot race!

Me and Dave "the wrench" Lee were joined in the pits by Dan (Central Coast Autohaus) and Barry, the bald headed, bearded wonders. Let's just call them the "twins".

Here's the wrench trying to figure out what to dial in for round number 3 on Saturday:

Oh wait. Maybe he's just trying to learn how to use his iphone!

Anyway, the twins brought a cooler full of beer and the best damn tri-tip I have ever tasted. As the rumor goes, Barry rubbed his meat for three days to acheive maximum tenderness and thourough flavor! He claims his dry rub recipe is over 100 years old...

On the track we did pretty well, including round wins against a couple of the heavy hitters, namely James Kirkman (currently 4th in points), and Jody George (currently 3rd in points). We're trying to claw our way into the top 10. Getting closer.
The big difference was in my reaction times. In races that are won or lost by a mere couple hundreths of a second, reaction time is everything. I worked the heck out of the practice tree at home the last couple weeks and it paid off in a big way. With the exception of one bad light, which came after my opponent fouled so it didn't hurt me, ALL of my lights were between .005 and .054. In other words, 5/1000 of a second to 54/1000 second from perfect. That and a consistent car, with GREAT dial in advice from the wrench and we were able to put together some great wins!

In June we have ANRA race #2 on the 19th and 20th, and Summit Races #5 and #6 on the 26th/27th. Can't wait!

Random Hot Rod Sighting

You never know where or when you are going to stumble onto a really cool, "never seen it before" hot rod opportunity. So, I try to carry my camera at all times, which never works. It seems that only when I forget the camera, does the opportunity arise! Like when I came out of the Ragged Point Inn resturant and there was a '53 Ford Country Squire "woody" Station Wagon parked right next to my 2010 Ford Flex. The owner of the CS and I both stood there marveling at how similar they were in dimension and utility. Seriously, they were nearly identical in width and length, but the woody had a taller roof line. The Flex has these horizontal lines that cut through the front and rear doors, giving a visual nod to the wood panels, and the bygone era of the woody. It was clear that there had to be some "inspiration" derived from the old wagon when the Flex was born. But I digress...

Today I did have my camera...well I went in the house to get it, because when I got home from my daily dog run, there was this 1936 International pickup in the neighbors driveway! These guys were there to wash the windows! And the rig was their equipment hauler. It was loaded with supplies and had a bunch of ladders on top! I chatted up one of the guys long enough to find out it's got a 318 cubic inch Mopar engine in it, and the proprietor has owned it since high school, some 40 years ago! The wood bed-sides are neatly engraved "Taylor's Window Cleaning 805-225-1515". The look is retro and professional. It is clearly though, a "work truck". Now this is a stylin' window washer rig if I ever saw one. Apparently, it's a family business which has been cleaning windows around the central coast since 1977. Taylor operates out of Morro Bay, and dad, Michael runs the Atascadero operation. They have 3 classic trucks that serve the business. Not a bad way to spend your working hours, eh!

ANRA Season Opener

I have really been remiss in not posting sooner after the April 17th/18th ANRA season opener at Auto club Famoso Raceway. This was my first foray into the ANRA events, and I have to say it was a ball. They really put on a first class event that features some of the best nostalgia cars around. From the Nostalgia Eliminator classes through the Gas classes and Hot Rod, Sportsman and Junior Dragster, there were hundreds of racers. They really packed a lot into two days. Here's a link to a little video montage. Credit to Larry Luna, Quarter Mile Productions.


Dave (the wrench) Lee was otherwise engaged that weekend so I headed up to Famoso on Friday to get an early start on setting up in the pits. Good thing I did, because I would say that more than 75% of the teams did the same. It was pretty busy. I followed a couple old acquaintances into the pits and ended up having a great weekend hanging with a couple heavy hitters in the C-Gas class, namely Mike O'Neil and Mark Capps. It was cool watching them sneak up on the 9.60 index and go rounds. Mark runner upped to pick up right where he left off last season.

I don't know where he gets his energy- He runs the Mustang Ranch sales, parts, and restoration business, races his hot rod in C/Gas, and is the head wrench and No.1 fan of daughter Sabrina's cool pink-wheeled Jr. Dragster.








Here's Mark's C/Gas '67 Mustang



And Sabrina's Jr. Dragster

As for Flying Pig Racing, well I dialed in at 10.70, and red lit in the first round. To add insult to injury, I ran 10.709, just 9/1000ths off my dial. It usually works that way. That's drag racin'! When I got home I immediately hit the practice tree. I swear I'm gonna wear that thing out between now and the next race. No more red lights!
Here's a look over my hood scoop in the staging lanes...

I can't wait to get back out there and avenge my bad lights and go some rounds!

Lastly, I must send a big thanks to Mike and Allene, Mark, Diana and Sabrina, and Garret and the rest of the "family" for your help over the course of the weekend. You guys are awesome!

Summit Race #1

HOLY COW! The first Summit race of our Division 7 season was Saturday. I rolled up to Auto Club Famoso Raceway at about 8:45 AM, fifteen minutes prior to the gates opening. I couldn't believe the number of racers waiting to get into the place. Prior to opening the gates they stage us in a big field between the track and Famoso Rd. The overflow was clear out onto Famoso Road! I can't remember when I have seen more racers, not to mention high dollar rigs for a sportsman race. This just gets better all the time!
After a short wait the line started to move, and we rolled forward to the greetings of the best darn track operators and staff at any race track anywhere! These guys always greet me with open arms, and make us feel like the most important people at the track. Once inside we picked our favorite pit location, about half track and one row off the fence. This location proved to be of extra benefit because we were directly across from the Andrada/Beasly clan, and their three, count 'em THREE, Wicked Wayz mopars.

Andrada helped save my bacon when we had a major carberator snafu right off the trailer. Me and Dave (the wrench) Lee were all over the primary side of the carberator trying to find the cause of the problem. The thing would start, run ok for a few seconds and then start drowning. A serious fat condition at idle. We had already missed the first time run. I enlisted the help of the Wicked Wayz cheif guru, and he instantly found the problem to be on the secondary side of the carb. Thanks a million for pointing me in the right direction. Once again, drag racers prove to be the most willing to help out a fellow racer at the track. We found a little sliver of rubber lodged in the needle valve, replaced the valve just to be safe, and voila, problem solved!

We got through tech and made it in time for the last time run. The car went 10.75, although I was a little late on one shift. So with only that one pass to go on, we dialed a 10.74 for the first round of eliminations. My opponent red lit, giving me the opportunity to "run it out the back door" which I did, posting a 10.71. Second round we dialed 10.69 and I was paired with a car dialed at 11.54. I knew I'd be waiting at the tree for almost a second. I expected he'd be leaving about on my top bulb, but when I saw my top bulb on I paid more attention to his leave then mine, and I totally blinked. When I woke up, I was staring at the bottom yellow and it was BIG. Needless to say, I had a really crappy light. He dumped me near the finish line, allowing me to take the stripe first, but there was no way I could have overcome the bad RT. We ran another 10.71. In fact, identical to the thousanth of a second, with MPH identical to the hundreth, compared to our round one run! That, at least, is consistancy!

The day ended earlier than planned, but there is something rewarding about finding that consistancy, especially after the thrash to get the carb right.

Summit race #2 (on Sunday) got called during the first round of elimainations, when a huge cold front moved into the area, beginning with a massive dust storm that dumped all kinds of crud all over the track. The Famoso crew got out there with the sweepers and vacuums, but the wind wasn't about to let up, and they made the right choice to pospone the completion of the race until May 15th. We were in the lanes awaiting our first round, so we'll pick up there on the re-run. Time runs went pretty well. We ran 10.68 on both runs, with only .002 separating them. The wrench has some pics and video from the Saturday, and I'll pop the in here when I get them from him.

Looking forward to the ANRA opener April 17th!

2 WEEKS UNTIL SUMMIT RACE

Why do I always wait until the last minute? It's just two weeks until the first Summit race at Famoso , and I decided to move the Flying Pig out of the current storage joint. It's just gotten too expensive, not to mention the storage facility was 130 miles from home, and 90 miles from my "home track"! Don't ask.

Things went nearly perfecty. Well, until we started the pig, and fuel came sqirting off the steel braided lines like they were used for pin cushions in the off season. Maybe Dave punched holes in them so he could prove his wrenching skills. What the?! So we went over the fittings, checking everything for tight...and bottom line...the fuel lines need to be replaced. But not today. So that means we get to use the old winch to run the pig up onto the trailer. But first let's re-wire that water pump and fan onto two separate relays to eliminate the pesky fuse blowing that plagued us at the end of last season. Untangle a spaghetti of wires and guess what- they already ARE on separate relays. Crap. So why is the water pump blowing 30 amp fuses? Time for a new pump. I don't know why we didn't do all this a month ago...

On a good note, I got to tow with the new Flex for the first time. It was outstanding. I was really impressed with the power and the gas mileage. Remember the Flex is just a V6, albeit a twin turbo V6. This thing is unbelievable. It hauled my 4000 +/- LBS with no problem, and got 16.5 MPG while doing it. While cruising at 60MPH it was only taching 1600 RPM. The Flex never ceases to surprise me!


Anyway, after long day on Saturday, including about 300 miles of driving, the flying pig is now located just down the street, and I can spend the next two weeks (really) getting ready for that first race. We have Summit Race #1 and #2 on the 10th and 11th of April, followed by ANRA #1 on April 17 and 18th. I am looking forward to putting this "off season" behind me and getting back to competition. It's a lot less stressful than getting ready! :)