Well, I made my first 9-second pass last Wed.
Went a 9.991 @ 135.29!
I am on the left below.
Not too bad for a little N/A, hydraulic roller, diaphragm clutch, 347.

I ran Open Comp in Bowling Green at the NMRA race last weekend and qualified 12th fastest out of 55 cars.

My best time was a 10.03 @ 134.4 - Almost got a nine out of her.

I ran up at the Joliet NMRA race in Open Comp a couple of weeks ago. Out of 43 cars, I qualified 9th fastest with a 10.09 @ 134.6.

I went out in the second round, but had fun none the less.

Made some passes up at US41 Dragway today. The weather was a bit warm and the air wasn't too good. Could not get the car to hook, and spun at the starting line on all three passes. Did lower my ET down to 10.15, though. Went 10.15 at 133.47, with two other passes of 10.17 and 10.18.

Still need to get the motor tuned!

Made two passes at Gateway International and went 10.26 and 10.22 at 132.6 right off the trailer.

Finally got the motor fired today. Sounds rather mean with the 3" bullets exiting the Bassani long-tube header collectors.

If it doesn't rain, will be heading to Gateway International Wednesday night to see what happens.

This past winter I installed a new set of 4.56 gears (chipped a few teeth in last fall's accident) into the 33-spline spool. All went into a new 8.8 housing fully braced and welded from DTS, Drive Train Specialties, out of Michigan. Also went with a TA Girdle, replacing the stock cover.

I have updated the rear suspension with a set of HPM Megabite Sr. LCAs for the adjustability and their spherical rod-end UCAs.

I have also taken a bunch of weight out of the car for this season, including 200-lb of lead from the rear bumper, the heater box (30-lbs) and the alternator (29-lbs including bracket and associated wiring). Will be running a 16-volt Turbostart battery this year.

A new straight-cut G-Force geared T5 built by Pro Motion is going in for this year too.

When I brought the shortblock up to JDC Engineering for a refresh, we noticed a bit of main cap walk. Discussions with Jon Carls resulted in the purchase of a new FRPP R302 block. I have the Sportsman block up for sale. Jon should be getting the block back from machining next week.

Did an interesting exhaust test on the dyno last month. I took the 3-inch Bassani x-pipe and mufflers off and bolted on a pair of 3-inch Bullets to the collectors. This made a huge difference as can be seen by the dyno graph below. I figure this is worth 2-tenths with 20 average hp more at the rear wheels and 40 less pounds.

Check out the dyno video here (4.3MB .wmv file)

For this year, I am keeping the AFM hi-rev hydraulic cam (a slight variation on the N-113 from last year) and the TFS TW heads. Still have to weight and balance the car after I get it back together but race weight should be in the 2850-2900 pound range.

We shall see if it will go a nine on the motor.

Had an interesting evening last Wednesday night at Gateway! Initially had trouble hooking the car and finally got the suspension going.

Went a bunch of low 10.40s at over 132mph and on the last pass, leaving at 6800, BOOM! As it turns out, I twisted both axle tubes, breaking the welds and tearing a few things up. Rearend is out of the car and up to Dolly's Machine and Welding. I think, with the low-to-mid 1.3x 60-foots, that it is time for a rearend brace!!

VIDEOs

I have uploaded several vids to the site and hope you like them. I have to thank my 12-year old son, Chris, for these. Now he is just learning the ropes so keep that in mind. There are a couple of cool ones from inside the car too.

Almost got my 10.2x pass today at MAR. Went 10.30 @ 132.4:

Will try again at Gateway this Wednesday night.

Finally took a few pics of my 5-gallon fuel cell install. I had Keith Dolly install the cell and mount the Aeromotive A1000 pump.

cell pics

I made it up to US41 last Sunday, getting the car out for the first time this season. I made 6 clean passes, all granny-shifted and all in the 10.70s, several at 130.5mph.

Need to tune the chassis some more next time out to the track.

I have added a graph showing my flow numbers on my AFM/JDC Stage V Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads. A bunch of folks have asked to see these.

Flow Numbers

I was having a little fun and have added a few Dyno graphs
comparing my previous combinations. The engine combos are
not all that similar, but it is still neat to see how they have changed
over the years.

The curves are here:

The first combo was a very streetable package that made ~310 rwhp and passed emissions with flying colors. This was when my Cobra was my daily driver and it did go 11.96 @ 112.

The second was my 12.3:1 306 that ran 10.92 @ 124 last year - not a street car by then. I was still using the stock block but we couldn't keep main bearings in it for very long at 7,500 rpm.

The bad-boy is my current 347 built off the FRPP Sportsman block. This combo has pushed the Cobra to a 10.43 @ 131.6 so far. I think she has a 10.20 in it for next year with the 131.6 mph trap speeds with a little chassis tuning and practice.

Plans for next year include upgrading the rest of my fuel system and
taking a bit more weight out of the car.

The Cobra is up at Dolly's Machine & Welding in Clinton, IL where
all my chassis work has been done. Keith Dolly is installing a 5-gallon
fuel cell in the car. I will be running the Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump
with a -08 supply line and -06 return line. Also, Keith is repairing my
upper torque boxes that got damaged this year.

Just having a little fun tonight (at my neighbors' expense).

I put together a short video - mostly for the audio portion -
of the Cobra at idle with the 3" X-Pipe and Mufflers removed.

Download it here - openheaders.mpg (0.976 MB)

First time to the track with the new 347 in the Cobra last night.
It was pretty muggy weather-wise out at Gateway but I didn't really care
as I haven't been behind the wheel in six months (it showed too!).

I only got two clean passes in, granny shifting both just feeling the car out.
My first good one was shifted at 7,000 and I went 10.828 @ 127.59
with a 1.434 60-ft. leaving the line at 6,000.

The second good run was the best E.T. with a 10.771 @ 126.99
with a 1.425 60-ft. leaving the line at 7,000.
I shifted at 7500 this time.

With some better weather and more seat time
I know the car has 3-4 more tenths in it.

Here are some pics from the track.

6/3/02

After seeing Rick Anderson's 347 make 471 hp at the wheels, I have decided to take that route myself.

I am having Jon Carls freshen up my 306 shortblock with new bearings and I will be selling it. This is the shortblock that made 402.8 rwhp and is set up with 12.27:1 Ross high-compression pistons with 61cc combustion chamber TW heads..