Since I had it out and lying around I decided to open it up and share what I found.    The oil pump gets the garbage and metal from the sump directly and has no oil filter in front to protect it.   A lot of junk from the trashed cam found it’s way here.

Looked even worse than I expected with serious wear on the end plates and deep scratches on the rotors and strange looking combination ding and scratch on the walls of the pump that meet the rotors.

Here are the three best pictures.   The rotors are underexposed to emphasize the scratches in the gear flanks..

(cyn-pu-1.jpg,  cyn-pu-2.jpg,  cyn-pu-3.jpg)

 

 

 

 

Nasty things were happening in there.

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

 

  

 

Due to health issues all of my projects have been stalled for a while.    I will explain more about them tomorrow.

Anyway, I managed to get Rustpuppy down from the jackstands where she has been for that last couple months.    When she was up I spent some time underneath inspecting everything.

I think I found part of the reason that the slip yoke on Rustpuppy is showing 1.5”. (which seems like too much) For some reason when Goody was first installed the internal parts of the motormount clams had been pushed off center causing Goody to sit about ½” too far forward.    I didn’t even know that was possible but that’s the way they were.

The slotted hole for transmission mount stud  on the crossmember is long and there is room for a lot of adjustment.  I decided to take some action on this issue.

First after loosening the transmission mount stud I pried on the motor mounts to see if the insides would change location.   I got the motor to move back about 1/8” that way but it still could move another 3/8” if I could pull on it hard enough.   I spent a few weeks figuring out a method of generating a 2000 lb (or more) force pulling the motor back to assist the prying.   When Goody is in her proper location I can tighten the transmission mount stud and that should stabilize the location.    Naturally after installing the kludge it involved jacking Rustpuppy back up..

I am hoping to get the slip yoke in a more normal configuration.

Yesterday I finished putting together the system to generate the ton or more of force.    See t&167-2.jpg  and t&167-3.jpg.

 

 

 

I left it pulling all night to see if the rubber in the mounts would flow and adapt..  

In the process of figuring out how to apply that large force without damaging anything I brushed my elbow against the snorkel tube.    See the results of my clumsiness in t&167-1.jpg.     You can see I keep a spare tube just for these episodes..

 

 

Also I was concerned that the slip yoke being out of place may have damaged the tailshaft bearing.   I set up a dial indicator on the end of the yoke at the u-joint and measured the deflection with a 70 lb force in each direction.    Since I have a spare tailshaft housing and slip yoke I have all the necessary dimensions to work backwards from that movement to the actual clearance in the bearing.  (which is only 0.910 inches wide BTW)

It worked out to 0.003 which is what I would have specified for a sleeve bearing that size in that application.   So there has been no damage at all and another bit of paranoia is put to rest.      I need to repeat this procedure on the Suburban now.   But it will have to wait till I am better.

Much more to come.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

 

The Thursday before G03 (the 10^th of this month) at 5AM I had a serious heart attack.    I wasted time at first since the initial focus of the heart pain was under my left shoulderblade only 2 inches from where I ruptured the disk.

I have had these before but this was a very bad one.   Then the pain intensified quickly boring through to my left chest and down my left arm.  I had the vise like sensation on my chest and couldn’t breathe.    I have worked in cardiac care so I knew exactly what was happening and what to do.

I knew how much oxygen is stored in my tissues so I knew how much time I had.   My vision was blacking out before I could get to my heart medicine so I did the high G exercise I was taught back when I flew aerobatics.   I got to the medication and did the other things possible at home for treatment and pulled through this one.

It was a big one and it did a lot of damage to my heart muscle (left ventricle)  I went in Monday to Dr. Williams and reported what happened.  The aftermath symptoms were so severe that I suspected electrical path block.   I insisted on an EKG so I could see my strip.   It indicated electrical path block exactly where I expected and that may cause me other problems in the future.   (reentrant tachycardia)..

But the strip also showed that enough of my big heart was functioning normally that I was in no danger of a repeat performance.  At least not in the immediate future.

Dr. Williams wanted me to go to the hospital for a few days for observation but I convinced him that at this point they couldn’t do any more for me than I could do at home.    Since the damage is so large it is going to take a long time to recover from this one so I am going to be out of it for some time.

I didn’t want to piss on the G03 celebration so I kept my mouth shut about this until now.    There are a lot of physical and mental issues in the recovery phase of a serious heart attack so I may not seem normal in my posting.   I am sorry if I get on someone’s nerves.

I will be in bed with the laptop a lot so I will be in constant touch.   For the most part my attitude is good and I promise to care for myself properly.

Thanks for listening.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

You guys and Ladies know that I can’t lie to the list.   I got so sick of lying in bed this afternoon that I went out and worked for an hour.  I did have to go out for water and food since I have no running water or refrigerator where I live now.  But instead of just returning to bed I went out to my shop.

Most of the time was spent in my shop sitting down and finishing a project I am doing for a sick woman who needs help.

But I did get under the hood on Rustpuppy.   The tension rig on the driver’s side had bottomed and one of the chain loops needed shortening.    I spent about 20 minutes on that.

I was tempted to crawl under Rustpuppy with the crowbar and do a little prying but I knew you all would give me hell if I did that.   So I am back in bed taking it easy.    I did manage to work up a little sweat and just that makes me feel better mentally.

I am such a nut.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

 

(Editor’s Note,  A few of the list members questioned my sanity for taking care of my heart attack by myself.    Here is my response..)

You don’t understand my status regarding this.   I worked in research on the first computer monitoring of cardiac intensive care patients (using mainframe computers) and this stuff was just part of my daily work.   

I worked with Dr. Budkin’s group at Miami Heart Institute.    It was one of the research centers that developed the cardiac catheterization test. I probably watched a hundred people die of heart problems during this part of my career. I know exactly how tough most people are and the amount of damage and time it takes to kill.   I would scrub and be in the operating theatre during the catheterization test development.  Since our patients were all in the last stages of terminal heart disease our mortality rate was about 25-30% during the surgery. And I helped in the writing of the first successful EKG analysis teaching program.   So there are no mysteries in this subject for me.

When I got sick with my heart issue back in 1992 I dug out my books and built a 12 lead EKG machine so I could monitor and treat myself.   My cardiologist was an idiot who damn near killed me with too large doses of the wrong drugs.   I still have liver damage from his screwup.  (he left town, and I hear he is out of Medicine now due to malpractice issues)

I have had 5 heart attacks before and managed all of them   This one just happened to be the most severe and left me with the most damage.    If you have a heart problem that is not “popular” and lucrative to practice in there is very little help from the medical profession.    You hear about people dying of heart attacks and the post mortems show a perfectly healthy heart.   That is where I am.   It is a congenital electrical problem and runs in my family.  Most of the male members of my family died of it before they were 60 years old.

 

I must be able to manage it myself, there is no real alternative for me.  With proper diet, stress control and a relatively new medication I have had it under control for about 5 years now.   But this episode took me by surprise..   I am not doing this for the fun of it.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

 

I have reached the point in my recovery that it is essential that I get a very moderate amount of exercise.    If I am too immobile it starts interfering with the healing process.     But I must be careful and pay attention to the smallest symptoms of distress from my heart and immediately stop what I am doing and rest.

It was easy to work out a schedule to get some low level work done on Rustpuppy last Tuesday.    I started early since I always feel better in the mornings.    First I slowly and carefully crawled under the front of the Pup and did the small amount of prying to see if the motormount clams had shifted.   Not much seemed to be happening.    The 2000 Lbs plus force had been pulling Goody back for days.  I then crawled under the transmission and tightened the mounting nut.

Then from a comfortable sitting position I took Rustpuppy down from the jackstands and got her back on her feet.    Time for a break so I went in my shop and fooled with the smashed snorkel tube for a while.    Instead of wasting the new one I decided to cut the smashed part off and then stretch the old tube to make it long enough to use again.   Believe it or not I picked at this piddly little job for over an hour.

 

I felt good so went back out to remove the chains and clamps that were putting the pressure on the motor mounts.    Taking my time  found that I could comfortably lean on the fenders and remove the chains, clamps, and wire cables.   Next it was a matter of carefully fitting the expanded snorkel tube to restore Rustpuppy’s cold air intake system.    I had spent 5 hours doing about a 45 minutes worth of work so you can see I am not overworking myself.

Then I removed the wheel chocks and checked the oil.   Do you have an idea where this is heading?

It has been over two months of misery since the last time I started Goody and took Rustpuppy for a ride.    I got in, fastened my seat belt and put the manual choke full on.    Since I had emptied the fuel line I knew it would take quite a bit of cranking to get Goody going.    Several seconds of cranking and pumping the gas and Goody sprang into life.    I had both windows down on Rustpuppy so the beautiful resonance of her exhaust was emphasized.    ( I always kick her up to 3500-4000 for a few seconds as soon as good oil pressure shows to get some lube on the cam.)

She sounded so sweet and beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes.   And since I was used to the much quieter Suburban sounded much louder than I remembered.    It was an emotional moment..    I sat there with Goody on fast idle and about a quarter choke for a minute or so to warm her up a little.   Then carefully backed out onto the road.    I drove slowly and modestly till I got to the clear area at the top of the hill and then it was

“go like hell” for a bit..    

 

The feeling of the g-forces pushing me against the seat and the steering wheel bending slightly due to my grip was wonderful.    Rustpuppy’s gas gauge was on empty so I knew I better stay within coasting distance of home..     I fooled around up at the top of the hill on the new asphalt for a while practicing launches and focusing on the interval between flooring the accelerator and the vacuum break releasing the secondaries.

According to my time sense it was about 1/3 of a second.   And sometimes a bit longer due to higher vacuum stored in the diaphram housing.    I think for optimum usage of the Drag Radials this delay (which made it possible to do pretty well on street tires) is not needed and is slowing Rustpuppy down.  Just disconnecting the vacuum hose and plugging it will disable this function and allow instant response from the secondaries.    Will be fooling with that later today.

It looked like I was out of gas so there would be no more fun till I go to town and get 5 gallons of 92 octane for the Pup.

Driving slowly back home (with just two exceptions) I decided to park Rustpuppy on the crest of the hill in front of my shop so the front wheels are elevated enough for me the crawl under and see how much good all of the pulling on the motor mounts did.     After doing that and getting the measurement I was disappointed to find that there was no apparent change in the dimension of the exposed slip joint.    Damn, a lot of work for nothing.  I noticed when I was under prying earlier that there seemed to be metal spacers embedded in the rubber to prevent much fore-and-aft movement.   So much for that theory.  Poop.

Yesterday I had to go to town for groceries and a business meeting.   Got the 5 gallons of premium for Rustpuppy too..  The little trip to town and the small amount of errands tired me out so nothing was done on Rustpuppy yesterday except parking her close to the front door of my shop.    See t&168-1.jpg.. 

 

 

Quite a slant there.   I plan on vacuuming her out and cleaning her windows first.   Then fool with the vacuum break hose and put the 5 gallons of gas in.

 

All this time the temporary spot welds that held the right side cutout in place worked just fine and I couldn’t even hear an exhaust leak.

In a day or two I will put Rustpuppy back up on the jackstands on the other side and get going on the left cutout installation.

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

Rats.

Felt good this morning.    Went out and planned on getting on the “clean up Rustpuppy” job.    But where she was parked at that severe angle made it too uncomfortable to work on her easily.

So I spent quite a bit of my time re-arranging my junk so I could park the Pup in a more reasonable work location.    Finally finished the organization (takes a long time since I am so far behind in everything) and was just messing around with some aluminum flashing for a new dash cover for Rustpuppy when I messed my self up for the rest of the day.

I have to be so damn careful.

What happened is this.    I was sitting in my chair trying to mark a cut line on a large piece of flashing.    I laid it on the floor to flatten it out.   Then I bent down more than 90 degrees to draw the cutoff line.

 

After a few seconds of this position I was in trouble.

By bending forward that much you increase the abdominal pressure by a considerable amount.   This pushes up against the heart pressing it against the breastbone.    In addition the heart is inverted and not suspended in it’s normal location so it’s weight is pressing against the breastbone.

This would not be a problem for normal healthy folk.   But old idiot Draganowski was pressing hard right on the spot on the front of his heart that has the damage and is trying to heal.    Really pissed my heart off and it let me know about it.

At that point it was time to go back to bed and no further work was possible today.

I have to be so careful..

Attached is a picture of Rustpuppy in her new, more reasonable work location.

 

 

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

(dumber than a bag of dirt)

 

 

 

Been feeling down with the effects of the healing process on my heart but managed to spend some time on ol’ Rustpuppy.

Housekeeping first.  Vacuuming and cleaning windows, Ospho on the floor of the trunk followed by a nice thick coat of black acrylic brush-on paint.

Got to the tech stuff finally.    (spent days on the few hours work of the cleanup)   Remember back in Test&Tune 168 I talked about the vacuum pot delay on the secondary air doors on the Q-Jet?    That function was my next project.   See t&170-1.jpg for the target area.   

 

 

I had tested the time delay on 4 different smogger Q-Jets and they all had long damn delays.  From about 0.7 seconds to about 1.2 seconds from full throttle till the secondaries could be effective..    Bummer.

I tested the old pre-smog one on Rustpuppy and it was only 0.2 or 0.3 seconds of delay.   Exactly what my subjective time sense came up with back in Test&Tune 168..      It had to go..

First I had planned on removing the vacuum hose and plugging it..   Ha!

Fat chance.   Not only is it short but it is hidden behind the fuel line.  And it is the original hose that has been on there since 1975..   It seemed to be made of solid hard rubber and permanently molded to the ports..  Rats.

Then (being a little frustrated about losing to a tiny hose) I decided to remove the linkage to the air doors to disable the mechanism.     I made a pig’s ear out of that project in just a matter of minutes..    The part I really wanted to bend a little was hardened and heat treated and just wouldn’t.     Fearing that I may break something important if I got much rougher with this carburetor I gave up on this idea.    The damage I committed on it in just 5 minutes took about a half hour to fix.

Everything bent except what needed to be..   Sigh..

Then I just sat down for a while and looked at the simple little mechanism that had so far defeated me..    A bit of thinking came up with this idea.  Just drill a 1/16” hole in the vacuum side of the diaphragm and that would bleed off the forces needed to move it against the spring to clamp the air doors..   Hoo Haa!     Sounds much easier.  And the beauty of this plan is that it is reversible by just plugging the tiny hole..

See t&170-2.jpg and notice the wee little hole in the vacuum pot.. 

 

 

Some testing verified the concept..    Excellent.

 

Putting everything together in the engine compartment I took a snapshot.. See t&170-3.jpg..

 

Then the 5 gallons of 92 octane went in..

Then it was time to go up the hill onto the new asphalt area of my old road for some testing..

By this time I was feeling pretty weak so I didn’t spend much time fooling around with the testing..   Goody never got properly warmed up..   But even though she still had a bit of a cold bog seemed more instantly responsive to the throttle..   Good show..

Another thing I tried is to figure out the braked stall on Rustpuppy now..

Got on the brakes hard and slowly increased the throttle opening.  Rustpuppy hunched up and creaked like she does when I do this unnatural thing..     At 2450 she started pushing the front disks and I stood on the brakes as hard as I could (worrying that I may bend the pedal) and got her stopped.   Rpm kept building and at a hair above 2550 the Drag Radials started spinning.   Slow at first with a swooshing noise.   Then instantly building to a scream with the cloud of tire smoke that happens when they lose traction big..

What is the relationship between braked stall and launch stall?    I forget what I read about it..

Time to go home and rest.

More to come..

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

A little depressed this morning..   Found out that my coolest and best neighbors are leaving.   They say it is too crowded here and they can’t get used to it..     They are going back to Montana..

I took Rustpuppy for a ride to cheer me up.    I really should have her jacked up and be working on the driver’s side cutout but you know how I am..

Warm day for up here at 80 degrees with little wind..    I motored down to the end of the old road to the spot where I do the 0-60 runs and tried one.  It felt great to be going like hell again..   Time was OK at 4.77 seconds.

Then I decided to scout out Rustpuppy Run..    Conditions were perfect for some racing.

But.

There seemed to be an endless stream of motor homes and tourists going in both directions..     Sat at the entrance to 101 waiting for some time for a break but one never came..     I was frustrated..    Turned out on 101 and figured at least I would get Goody warmed up..   I had room to safely get her up to 5500 rpm in 3^rd..   (about 110-112 mph) and then braked down to 55..  Same story on the northbound attempt..    Headed home in disgust..  

Something strange happened at speed..    I noticed that the lift effects on Rustpuppy’s nose above 110mph  had pulled up a rusty piece of her hood.. See t&171-1.jpg

 

 

 

On the way home at the top of the hill where I fool around on the new asphalt I decided to do a G-Tech G-Force reading..  Goody and the transmission were at the top of their normal operating temp and I was hoping for a better stall rpm..

The launch seemed less abrupt than usual and I started wondering what was going wrong..     Then about 30 feet into first gear I noticed that Rustpuppy was wagging her tail a little.    The new asphalt was hotter than the hinges of hell due to the sun and Rustpuppy was spinning her Drag Radials.    But it was amazing how hard they kept pushing while noiselessly spinning.   The G-Force reading was 0.77G..

With the street tires when they started spinning they stopped pulling almost completely..     It is going to take some getting used to these racing tires..

Parked Rustpuppy with hot tires on my hot gravel drive and did some work in my shop.   Then I moved Rustpuppy a little and noticed this phenomena..  Them tires is sticky..   See t&171-2.jpg and t&171-3.jpg..

 

 

 

It was fun but I am going to  quit fooling around and get Rustpuppy jacked up to finish the cutout installation..

By the way,   the pig’s ear spot welds I made on the passenger side cutouts held up fine to all this abuse..

More to come..

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

 

Made my mind up yesterday that I was jacking Rustpuppy up and putting her on jackstands to get the driver’s side cutout installed.

Then early this morning something started bothering me.   Looked out about 5 am and noticed that the condensation levels were way down and it seemed dryer than it has in days.   (we have been having foggy mornings)

Then later at about 8am a little idea crept into my demented brain..     I could hear the traffic below on highway 101 and it seemed really light..

Hmm..

By 8:15 I was sitting in Rustpuppy warming up Goody..     The sun had been up on the flats for some time and the humidity levels were way down.    Wind was light..   Temperature about 60 degrees..

I motored quietly (in second gear) down to the end of the old road..  Staged for a 0-60 practice run..    A little bit of tire spin from the Drag Radials (but not much) and a nice time of 4.69 seconds..

Then it was up to Rustpuppy Run.    Sat at the entrance waiting for a clear patch of traffic.    But the widely separated cars kept coming just enough to compromise a run.    Finally it looked clear.   I zoomed to the

southbound staging area and tried to settle my nerves.   When I hit the go button on the G-Tech I knocked it out of level.   And by the time I got that straightened out a car appeared oncoming around the bend about a mile and a half south of where I was..   Rats..

Motored down to the first turnaround and waited for clear traffic.    Got a good patch!    I quickly (full throttle) headed up to the northbound staging area.    Everything was working, I got my nerves under control, road was

clear.   And it was time to go.    Launch seemed soft as the traction at the northbound launch area is worse than the southbound one.     But those cool tires were still pulling like mad..    Run felt hot and good..    And it

was.   Time on the G-Tech was 13.40@109.7..    I like it.

 

Got skunked on another try at a proper southbound run by the carefully timed and inconvenient traffic..     So wound up with another northbound run..

Tried staging a little further up this time hoping for slightly better traction..    Launch was great and this run felt hot too..   Most excellent..    Time on the G-Tech was 13.37@110 flat..   Even subtracting the G-Tech speed exaggeration it was the fastest speed in the quarter so far for old Rustpuppy..

As time passed with me farting around waiting for breaks in the traffic flow the road was getting dryer and better each minute..

Finally got a chance at southbound run..    I was hoping for a little better time with better traction.   The launch was a much harder hit and the run felt good..     I am having too much fun to be legal..      The time was 13.34@107.7 on the G-Tech..   I may have got off the gas just a little bit early on the end of this run..

Final run of the morning coming up..   I am so worked up I though my head would explode..      This time on a northbound run I tried a new spot of asphalt that they had patched Rustpuppy Run with about 2 years ago..  Never launched on it before as it shortens the braking distance at the end.

This launch felt the best and the run was great..    Goody was running as sweetly as she ever had and instead of going slower as she heated up she was going faster..   (cold air induction is good)     This run felt just right in every way..    And the time on the G-Tech vouched for that feeling with 13.33@109.6...    Hoo haa!!

Time to motor home like a good citizen.   It was all over by 8:45..    Half hour of great fun..

Will be going out in a few minutes and put a temporary halt to this madness by putting Rustpuppy up on the jackstands..

What a wonderful morning I had..

Rick Draganowski

p.s.  Rustpuppy was running light with nothing in the trunk, front bumper off, and only 5 gallons of gas in the tank..   And I am considerably lighter as well..

 

 

 

 

No way can the excitement of Test&Tune 172 be maintained..    Back to dull plodding auto mechanics stuff..

Rustpuppy got jacked up for the left cutout implant the day after the racing..    Since I am in recovery from that damn heart attack I get tired so quickly that it took all the next day just for this little job..

Pathetic..    (See t&173-1.jpg and t&173-2.jpg)

 

 

 

My first task is getting the rusted and jammed on rear brake drum off..   I had ground on the inner edge of the drum openings and the ridge on the centering spigot on the axles the last time the drums were off (had a hell of a time with them then) but I didn’t want to mess up the centering of the drum so I took a minimum amount of metal off..

 

It wasn’t enough..     A little bit of corrosion plus the slight interference fit welded them puppies back in place..     The problem is that I am using 1976 brake drums on an early 10 bolt axle (have no idea what year,  could even be from a Camaro) and they do not fit properly..   Damn..

 

I finally hit on the procedure of pulling on the drum.   I would pull the axle out to the C-Clip  and hit the end of the axle back toward the center pin and depend on the inertia of the drum to do the pulling.    Worked good but it took quite a while as only a tiny amount of movement was possible with each impact.

Finally it was off!..  (see t&173-4.jpg)  

 

 

I was relieved that I didn’t have to fool with home made pullers again..  (that shoot brake drums at your stomach unexpectedly)

Whenever I have the opportunity I check Rustpuppy’s brakes and verify that they are in top condition..    Looks damn good in there to me..     (see t&173-5.jpg)

 

 

Time to get serious about that clearance issue..  Out came the trusty die grinder..  I ground on the centering spigot ridge (t&173-7.jpg)

 

 

and center hole of the drum (t&173-8.jpg)

 

 

until the clearance was more than any rust could block.   I also applied a thin layer of chassis grease to the spigot and hole to protect them from corrosion..    I don’t want to go through this again..

 

Then the weather changed for the worse..    Cold fronts, fog, light drizzle, and high humidity combined with cold temperatures..      All of my health issues are worsened by these changes in the weather so I mostly have been staying in and doing tech work and editing on additions to Rustpuppy.org.

 

I did spend some time in the shop cleaning up.     Then I used the vice grips to pull the silly tin caps out of Rustpuppy’s phony acorn lug nuts.  Then I chucked them in the lathe and turned off the hollow ends to make them pretty..   (See t&173-9.jpg)

 

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

 

This report is not as happy as most as I have found out (the hard way) about the major down side of the new BFGoodrich Drag Radials.

They have been tuning the rubber compound to maximize the traction at launch at the expense of instant wear-out..     The 2003 Drag Radials don’t even come close to the tread life of the older formula tires..     Some estimates say about 0.05 quicker on launch but with only about 7-10% of the tread life.

Rustpuppy has less than 200 miles on her Drag Radials and only ten quarter mile runs.     An additional ten 0-60mph runs and about 8 or 10 burnouts.  None lasting more than 2 seconds.

That has used up about 50-60% of the tread they started with.   Damn, this is going to get expensive..

See pictures.   (t&174-1.jpg, t&174-2.jpg, and t&174-3.jpg)

 

 

 

 

Rick Draganowski

(not alone, you should see how the Mustang crowd is bitching)

 

 

 

 

This report is a mixed bag of subjects.

I figured out a way to secure the exhaust pipe on the driver’s side so that cutting it with the hacksaw would be safe for me.   When I did the passenger side I ruptured a disk in my back due to my carelessness.    It is 14 or 16 gauge stainless so I know it will require more than an hour of sawing.

I pulled it down as far as possible and clamped it to one of the jackstands so it is possible to sit on the ground with my legs beneath Rustpuppy and do the sawing.    I plan on making a backrest so I can rest during the job and look forward to getting it done.    It is marked and ready.    (See t&175-1d.jpg)

 

 

On the subject of cutouts I have a theory as to why some motors with mild cams like Goody like to have a longer pipe on the cutouts than straight out some short distance behind the collectors.    It is that the pressure wave generated by reflection at the open end of the cutout interferes with the operation of the pressure wave generated by the header pipes opening into the collector and spoil the tuning.    This effect is strongly dependent on cam timing and rpm so it varies so much that it cannot be predicted very well.   Rustpuppy’s cutout pipes extend 50 inches from the collector outlets and the cutout opening reflections shouldn’t interfere.   That is what I am hoping anyway.    But the main reason they are so long is to make it easy for an ol’ cripple to operate them without crawling on the ground.

I got sick of looking at the sorry wrinkled and deteriorated aluminized cardboard dash pad on Rustpuppy and spent some time making a replacement out of wide aluminum flashing.    I added the struts to prevent it from vibrating.   (See t&175-2d.jpg and t&175-3d.jpg)

 

 

 

After the cutouts have been tested (bet they will be loud) I have more plans for Rustpuppy.    Waiting in the wings is another performance modification.  I put the Victor Jr. intake manifold with the Edelbrock special single-plane to Q-Jet adapter plus the modified for racing Q-Jet on Cynthia to get dimensions and get a fuel line together for it.   It is considerably taller than the ordinary Performer manifold on Goody now but I am hoping to fit it under the hood.  (see t&175-4d.jpg)

 

 

A curious phenomenon has been taking place during the last 180 quarter mile runs ol’ Rustpuppy has made.    When I grab for second or third on the shifter I use a strong grip so there is no chance of my hand slipping.  This habit combined with the small rotation of my lower arm due to the straightening of my elbow has generated a tiny but powerful rotation clockwise on the shift knob.   Despite the locknut being tight it has rotated one complete revolution plus almost another 90 degrees.   I have been watching this and I thought I would share it with the list.    (see t&175-5d.jpg)

 

 

Now we get to the serious part of this report.    As the list knows I cannot stop analyzing problems once I start.   I think of them at odd times throughout each day until I am satisfied with the solution.   It must be from part of my training or something.   Anyway I have been mentally picking at the “rip the tread off the Drag Radials” phenomenon.   There were several bits of information about the problem that I had not properly thought through.

One of them being that I have the habit of visually inspecting the tires on Rustpuppy each time I return home.    How could I have missed the degradation happening?    The second bit being the difference in launch behavior in Rustpuppy after making the Q-Jet modification that disabled the secondary lockout timer.    Prior to that mod the Pup was launching on the Drag Radials without any wheelspin most of the time.   After there was wheelspin every time due to the stronger hit on the tires at launch.  Another bit of information was the almost noiseless nature of the wheelspin and only the slight fishtailing and softness of launch shock and second gear hit to give it away.   Another bit was the photo I took on July 29^th of the gravel sticking to the tires. (see Rustpuppy Test&Tune 171)   I enhanced and analyzed the picture and determined that the tread looked normal without the exaggerated wear it shows now.  The tires still looking good after six quarter mile runs and nine 0-60mph runs.

So the conclusion is that almost all of the damage to the Drag Radials was done by the single 0-60 run and the four quarter mile runs documented in Test&Tune 172..

Damn.   They were all back to back with no inspection of the tires so I had no idea it was happening.    And I was launching on the most abrasive parts of Rustpuppy Run that gave the best time with the street tires so everything was set for the problem to appear.

We live and learn.

I am putting the street tires back on Rustpuppy and taking out the Q-Jet modification and reserving the Drag Radials and the mod for track use only.  No more running them on the street.    This picture shows the status of the street tires with 170 quarter mile runs and 5000 highway miles compared with the Drag Radials after four quarter mile runs and about 140 highway miles.  (see t&175-6d.jpg)

 

 

I am probably buying the Firestone Indy 500 tires (235/60-14) to replace the worn-out BFGoodrich street tires.

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

Test&Tune 175 left off with the exhaust pipe on the driver’s side positioned for an easy hacksaw cut. I promised myself that no matter how long it takes I will not hurt myself doing the sawing.

I did the cut and despite not having room to sit up during it still was in a comfortable position.    I took my time and never did more than 10 minutes cutting at a time.  It took a couple days as a result.   Patience pays off.  Results are in t&176-1.jpg.

 

 

No problems this time as I really learned a lesson by hurting my back on the last manual cut.  I have the chopsaw in a better and more permanent location.

Note the spark catcher..    It is set up for the second cut on the exhaust stub in t&176-2a.jpg.  

 

 

I am hoping for a better fit on this side to cut down on the struggle of installation.   The assembly ready for installation is in t&176-3.jpg.

 

 

Amazingly, it fitted together perfectly and would stay in place by just being pushed together..    Much better.   t&176-4a.jpg and t&176-5a.jpg  show the miracle.   I still worried about it falling apart so I rigged some wire and clamps to hold the assembly together.   It shows up in later pictures.

I spent a lot of time practicing my spot welds till I could do them in my sleep.    See practice piece in t&176-6c.jpg.. 

The Cebora is a great welder and I cannot blame it for any screwups.    It is made in northern Italy (south end of the Po river valley) and believe it or not one of their main markets is Austria and Germany..  They have been making welders for 50 years.   I bought mine from Harbor Freight about 17 years ago.   They put the stupid Chicago Electric logo on it instead of the spiffy Cebora logo..    See Cebora.jpg.

 

 

 

Next morning I checked outside at 4am and found no wind for a change.   So it was time to take a shot at spot welding this side.    I needed some coffee and breakfast to get me going so it was shortly before 5am that I was out wrestling with my heavy welder.   Some near disasters as a wheel slipped off the ramp and almost tipped the thing over..    Despite the temperature of about 50 degrees I was sweating when I took this picture.  t&176-7c.jpg.

 

 

By this time it was almost 6am and the sky was beginning to lighten.    And the damn ocean breeze was just starting up.   I took my chances and tried for a couple spots during the lulls.    Naturally even the lightest wind blows the shield gas away and the welds exploded with dazzling brightness.   My helmet is set at 9 and the arc with oxygen added requires about a 12.    So I not only was making pig’s ears I was practically blind while doing it.    I gave up for theday and the results are in t&176-8c.jpg.

 

 

 

I promised myself to start much earlier the next try.    Grinding down the initial pig’s ear welds showed about 3 adequate spots under the garbage.  See t&176-9c.jpg. 

 

 

Part of my welding was in still air so it wasn’t a total waste of time.   I left the welder out next to Rustpuppy that night with everything in readiness.    I even added a cardboard and tarp wind screen to block the wind on the west and north sides of the work area.

Tomorrow is another day.

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

In the last report I made a pig’s ear out of the initial cutout welding due to the wind.    Since “Stubborn” and “Stupid” are the basis for my success I vowed to do better.    The next morning I was up early,  damn early,  before 3am..

I got breakfast and my coffee down and was out next to Rustpuppy at the pitch dark stroke of 4.    I better beat the wind this time..  It was perfectly still when I started.     I got the lights on and the gear in place in just a few minutes and was just crawling under the car when the damn wind showed up early..

Poop!

Falling back on stubborn and stupid I rewelded yesterday’s work and managed one more section before being forced to give up.     But enough metal was on to secure the pipes and prevent any separation.   The wire and clamp kludge came off.    I was hopping mad and swore that I would beat this problem or else..

Some of the welds today were pretty good and plenty of metal was put down.  The slight wind was just enough to make them ugly..    See pictures t&177-1.jpg, t&177-2.jpg, t&177-3.jpg, and t&177-4.jpg..

 

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like I may have to take drastic steps.

We will see..

Rick Draganowski

(damn wind)

 

 

 

 

 

So there I was.   Despite all of my best efforts including getting up at the unholy hour of 3am the welds were not finished.    Like I said before “drastic measures will be taken”.

I did my best not to think about Rustpuppy the rest of the day but the issue kept gnawing at my peace of mind.    I went to bed early that evening at about 7pm hoping to get a good night’s sleep.

But.

Just before 11pm I awoke filled with a terrible resolve. (after about 4 hours of sleep)  Some small rational part of my mind protested my insane behavior but I was dressed and out the door to Rustpuppy’s side by 11:15pm..     Basically the middle of my night.

Finally, there was no wind.   I was tired and had some physical issues but pressed on regardless.    Lights on and positioned for the inside welding and gear in place I pulled myself under enough to see and reach the side of the pipes closest to the center of the car.

The welds started OK and despite being a bit sloppy were just fine for this application.   See t&178-1.jpg for a partial indication of the beginning of this midnight adventure. 

 

 

It seemed to be going well.

But.

On the other end of the cutout (toward the front) and the most difficult to reach I started having problems seeing what I was doing.   I thought I was just suffering from eye dazzle and pressed on in my stupid, stubborn, and now blinded state.    I knew that I was putting down good metal but I had little idea of exactly where.    I was also starting to feel physical difficulties from holding my head and arm in position and then something really bad happened.

 

At first I felt unusual heat on the right side of my neck up under the edge of the helmet.   Then my helmet filled with smoke.   Damn.   I had set fire to myself.

So there I was, with the cables to the welder across my stomach and chest and way under the jacked up Rustpuppy with precious little room to maneuver and I was on fire.

My next coherent memories were of me out from under the Pup beating my burning coat into the dusty gravel of my driveway.   Some automatic system in my brain must have kicked in since I have no memory of how I got out from under and got the coat off before getting any burns.    The fires (two of them) started in my right collar and was very close to my tender neck.   See t&178-3.jpg.

 

 

What had happened is some large droplets of white hot molten metal from my blind welding fell and were deflected by my welding glove onto my coat.    The metal fell due to dwelling the arc in one place too long.     It will be obvious as to where from this picture, t&178-2.jpg..    Note the artistic form of theobviously misplaced welds further up the pipe.

 

 

The reason for my blindness and the trigger for this debacle was simple.   I was not dazzled by the arc.   The stupid knob that sets the density of my Hobart hood is located on the left upper part of the helmet.    The part that was pointing up in my cramped area of work.   It hit on something and was turned from 9 (my normal setting for light duty MIG) to above 12..   Very dark for a weenie arc.

I retired for the night at this point.   I was a little shaken by this episode and it was difficult to compose myself for sleep.

I had planned on putting the events of the next day plus some medical issues in this report but it looks like they must wait till Test&Tune 179 is prepared.

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

(on fire in Oregon)

 

  

 

 

Despite the excitement of the previous night I awakened refreshed at about 5am.  I had managed to finish my interrupted sleep.  I was anxious to get to work but I knew I should take my time and I had all day to do the few things that needed to be done to get Rustpuppy back on the road.

First I crawled under to inspect and grind the work done last night.   It looked a bit strange due to the blind welding but there was plenty of good metal in the joint and I could race the piss out of the Pup in this state.     The proper finish welding could be done by old Tim Harding at any time.     See t&179-1.jpg and t&179-2.jpg for the welds done before the excitement started last night.

 

 

 

At first I was so anxious to get Rustpuppy back on the road I planned on just swapping the street tire with the Drag Radial and getting her off the jacks.  But that still small voice of sanity insisted on freeing up and repairing the stuck brake drum on this side.    So I spent considerable time fixing this as reported about the other side.

Then the old street Radial T/A went on and it was time to get Rustpuppy down from the jackstands.    The piddly little two day job of tacking on the cutouts had taken old, slow Draganowski about 3 months.    But I had some excellent excuses.

I took my time on getting Rustpuppy down from the jackstands and she was finally back on the ground in just before noon.   It was a welcome sight.    See t&179-3.jpg..    I thought briefly of putting the Moons back now that she was back on 14” wheels.   But I had gotten used to the “Road Warrior” look and will just clean up and paint the great wheels that Rob Roberson donated to the Pup.

 

 

Then it was time for a test drive.   The added volume of the closed cutouts added to the exhaust pipes  have had an unexpected side effect.   Rustpuppy’s exhaust note is quieter and more mellow.    Really beautiful.  I will not open the cutouts until I can make a recording of it to share with the list.

I only had a gallon or two of gas left so I knew I was limited to just a quick drive on the old road.    I took it easy to get Goody warm and happy.   After a bit of sane driving I did the Alan thing and punched the throttle.    Since the Q-Jet mod that allows the secondaries to open immediately is still in place the hard hit put Rustpuppy sideways in a cloud of smoke.   It smelled and felt great.

At this point hitting the throttle hard just blows the street tires away on any of the surfaces I tested.    It is great fun.    I had to share.   I knew that my new neighbor was a bit of a hot-rodder from the conversation we had when I went up the hill to pray this morning and met him walking his Dalmatian.     So while I still had a bit of gas left I headed up to his house on the hill above me.   I just sat in his drive with the Pup idling as his dog was going nuts about a strange car.   It is best to stay out of a neighbor’s yard if his dog responds to you by going nuts.     Russ popped out of his house in just a matter of seconds and took the dog in.   Then he came out to where I was and I just said.  “Get in.”    And he got in and fastened his seatbelt.   I expect he knew where this was going.    

 

I did a couple roll on launches with about 20 feet of wheelspin at launch and another 20 or so at the second gear shift and Russ was having as much fun as me.    Then I did a couple full throttle Alan style sideways launches and he was laughing out loud.     I knew that the Pup was out of gas so I got Russ back home.    I could coast home from there in a pinch.

 

He wanted to talk about his cars and rodding and the Pup and everything in the world so we yakked away for a couple hours..    He has a 55 Chevy with a 454 in it.  (back in Arizona, his winter home)   And he is a nut about chrome plating and restoration so it must be a work of art.

It was a great time..

 

Now for something a little less fun.   I have been debating myself as to whether I should share another health related issue with the list and it looks like I will inflict it on you all.     (whining and complaining is my specialty)  

As you know I have arthritis.    One of the results is that my feet are twisted and crippled and despite special orthotic shoes I get pressure sores on my feet and toes..   (I have other problems from the arthritis in my back, right hip, hands and wrists, right shoulder, neck but the hip and the feet are the worse.)  The pressure sores are a chronic problem for me.   I must stay active but there is a price to pay.

 

A couple weeks ago one of the sores got infected with one of the nasty 21^st century bugs.   It was scary how fast the infection worsened.   I was lucky to have some great high tech antibiotics on hand (samples from Dr. Williams) or I would have to go to the emergency room.    And they would probably have flown me to the trauma center in Rogue Valley Medical Center to avoid legal issues.    By the time I got there I probably would have been in danger of losing my foot..

 

Damn..

But the high tech antibiotics worked and I got a prescription for plenty more.  I have been taking care of the lesion, draining and bandaging as well as close monitoring.

Dr. Williams advised me to stay off my feet till the lesion was healed but I thought I could get away with some Rustpuppy work as described in this and the two previous reports.     It was stupid and stubborn.     I am sure that it interfered with proper healing.

The infection did a lot of damage and the arthritis deformed knuckle bones of my toe are exposed and it is best to leave them uncovered as scar tissue forms.  So I have been stuck in bed the last few days and cannot safely walk anywhere.  I am angry with myself again so please don’t lecture me about my stupidity.    I will try to do better in the future.

More to come.

Rick Draganowski

(fun mixed with misery..)

 

  

 

Still stuck in bed.    And the rains have started.   Couple inches since Sunday..    The change in the weather aggravates all my health issues.

 

I did some research on healing my foot lesion and decided to change my treatment protocol Saturday night.   I was not getting the response I had hoped for from having it exposed to air.     As a matter of fact I had a roaring inflammatory response.    It was discouraging at first.  

I have been staying in bed as much as possible but had to get to town yesterday to see Doctor Williams.   He was impressed by the great healing response I got from the new protocol and told me to keep using it.

I picked up 5 gallons of 92 octane and a bunch of groceries after the doctor visit.   Put the gas in Rustpuppy today and checked the tire pressures and fluids..     I was itching to drive the Pup again.   But it had rained this morning and the roads are still soaked..   But you know me.

I had left the window open so when I sat down in Rustpuppy it was cold and uncomfortable (my butt is still wet).    Goody started up quickly as she always does and I was out on the old road.    The traction from the street tires in the wet was way better than the Drag Radials so I wasn’t risking too much.  (I thought)    I did step a little too hard on the gas down at the bottom of the old road on my way home.    I was going about 35-40 mph..     Rustpuppy downshifted to second and spun the tires so fast that it caught me by surprise.

Sideways at 40 on a crappy old farm road always increases your pucker factor.  I haven’t disabled the instant response mod of the secondaries so the Pup is a bit too sudden for safe driving in the wet.

When I got home despite my promise to not open the cutouts until I could share it with my friends on the list I left Goody idling (about 700-900 rpm) and opened the passengers side cutout..     Damn it sounded good!    Something is special about the sound of a small block with a cam and open exhaust..    I didn’t really break my  promise since I only opened one side..    (learned that dodge from the Clintons)

Then I jumped back into Rustpuppy and sat in the water again.    I revved Goody up to about 4500-5000 and was amazed to find that she is not uncomfortably loud.  Since the pipes open straight out the sides most of the sweet noise goes out away from Rustpuppy.   I am really looking forward to some open exhaust testing on Rustpuppy Run..

I have a problem with the microphone input on my new HP laptop and it seems like I can’t get the Sound Blaster preamp to enable.    As a result the microphone input is useless.     I downloaded the latest drivers for the sound card from HP but it made no difference.    I guess I can drive the Pup over by my office/home hovel and use the sound card on my antique Win98 company system.     I really would like getting the laptop working right so I could record some loud racing for the list..

Does anyone have any suggestions on getting it working??

It will be drying out starting tomorrow (the rains are not the miserable interminable winter rains but normal fall showers)    and at the rate my foot is healing I should be good to go by the weekend (I hope)..    I have to remember to stick the tape on to get the secondary delay back..

Rick Draganowski

(sideways in Oregon)

 

p.s.  I wonder of it would be correct to call Rustpuppy a “Twenty-first Century Rat Rod”??

 

 

 

I am supposed to be in bed..    Still have a ways to go on healing the foot but I had to get out and about to fetch water and do dishes and other chores so I started thinking.  It was hot this afternoon (only about 80 but the roads are hotter than the hubs of hell from the northern summer sun.    The wind was moderate with gusts to about 20mph ..    Mostly from the north so it wouldn’t interfere with a run..

 

I quickly fetched a piece of masking tape and got the secondary delay vacuum pot working again.    At the top of the hill I tried a few launches with Rustpuppy to see what would happen with the sorry old BFG street tires.    As I suspected there was a 0.3 second delay for the secondaries of the Q-Jet to open and then the tires blew away..   Damn, not the best response for racing..

 

Pressing on regardless I motored down to the end of the old road for a zero to sixty run..  Tires kept blowing away in first and second and I had to work the throttle to stay on the road..   Miserable time of 6.24 seconds..   And lotsa smoke..

 

At this point I should have just gone home.   Yeah, right..

 

Waiting at the entrance of Rustpuppy Run it seemed like everyone in the USA was using highway 101 today..     Giving up in disgust I motored down to the south launch area..    I stepped on the gas a little just to warm Goody up and the Pup was going about 100 in no time..  Then it was time to lurk at the south entrance waiting for a break in traffic..  Finally one came.   But rounding the corner at the beginning of the Run I could see three damn motor homes lined up coming my way.    I just stopped in the damn road at the launch area and waited for those 40mph turtles to pass.   Then it was time for a run.

 

My nerves were good but I didn’t expect much..     After the 0.3 second delay the tires took off smoking and I was pedaling the throttle trying to get traction back.   Got it and then when I got back on it they blew away a second time..    This is not going to be a good time with me stopping twice after the launch..

 

Finally Rustpuppy got enough traction to get going.   It felt great to be back on Rustpuppy Run doing what I do..     The time was terrible as I expected.  13.92@103.8 on the G-Tech..     But I was amazed that Rustpuppy could stay in the 13’s after stopping twice during launch..

 

On the way home I did some g-force readings.   Best I could get with throttle modulation was 0.71 G but normally the tires blew away at about 0.6 G.  The traction issues with the street tires is aggravated by having 30psi in them instead of the proper 22psi race setting.   And about 150 lbs of stuff in the trunk and gas tank is needed to hold them tires down..    Rustpuppy is running light for the Drag Radials and I haven’t loaded her back up.

Normally the Radial T/A’s  need half a tank (about 60 lbs) or more of gas plus the 85 lbs of trunk junk and the tires at 22psi to stick to the road at all.

 

Goody is running better than ever, the gas is good, tuning seems perfect and the cold air system is working great.

 

I ordered the Firestone Indy 500 235/60-14’s a couple weeks ago and expect them any day.    Hoping for good things from them after breaking them in.

.

Back in bed now and working on Rustpuppy Test&Tune Chapter 10 and this report.

 

More to come.

 

Rick Draganowski

 

 

 

 

Yesterday (Sunday) when I went out for chores (Doc Williams said it is ok to be up and about for a couple hours each day) I carefully checked the weather..  It was about 11am and the humidity was low with a temperature of 70 degrees.  Wind from North about 15-20 mph.   Good weather for a run.

 

I slowly loaded the 85 lbs of trunk junk back into Rustpuppy.   Then adjusted the rear tire air pressure down to 22psi.   Wish I had another 10 gallons of gas.  (60 lbs)   The Pup only has about 5 gallons in the tank now.

 

Then it was time to hit the road.    At the top of the hill I did a practice launch.  Considerable cold bog and 0.71G of acceleration.  Then I did a 0-60 practice run at the bottom of the hill.    It was much better at 4.8 seconds.   There was just a slight bog and a little wheelspin.

 

I lurked at the North entrance for quite a while but the traffic was miserable for a Sunday morning.     I really wanted to do a Southbound run (no salt rime on the road and favorable wind) but finally gave up.   Damn.   Motored to the lurking area on the South end.  It seemed like a big enough break in traffic for a run.   But a car appeared about 200 yards behind after I got onto the Run.    Went ahead and staged anyway, since I figured the Pup would be able to stay well ahead of it.

 

My nerves were steady despite the distraction (they have been better lately, wonder why?) and the launch proceeded normally.

 

But.

 

The salt rime on the South end from the surf driven by the fall winds was too much.   Damn street tires blew away with amazing ease and I had to throttle way back to get them to grab again.   Seems like I was just sitting there for a long time (just a fraction of a second, but my time sense speeds up when I go racing) just fooling with the launch. The BFG’s finally settled down at partial throttle and the run went on.    I have picked up the bad habit of lifting prematurely but I stayed on it this time.   The Pup was probably pulling about a 125mph air speed against the wind before I lifted.

 

The time reflected both the bad launch and the wind with a reading on the G-Tech of 13.81@106.6.  It probably would have been about a 13.5@108 with better traction and no wind. (like a Southbound run)  But it was still great fun.

 

On the way home I did several more g-force readings at the top of the hill.  Since Goody was warm and happy they were poor at 0.59G, 0.64G, and one at 0.68G.  I was just rolling on the throttle for these and the last one was taken during some wheelspin.

 

Now for something completely different.

 

Craig Hauber is sending me a device to allow higher quality recordings of Goody music.    But due to my stubborn/stupid nature I decided to open the pipes and use my kludgy audio pre-amp gizmo.   It does not have a fraction of the dynamic range needed to properly record open cutouts but I will fool with it anyway.  Since I opened the pipes (couldn’t hold myself back any more) and I promised to share it became necessary.

Attached to this letter is open1e.mp3.    This recording was made from about 12 feet behind Rustpuppy and centered.   The audio level is enough to give some indication of the idle sound.  (but it is way louder)

 

Then in addendum 1 we have open2e.mp3.  This one was made about 10 feet out from the passengers side pipe outlet.     Audio turned down to just a tiny percentage of reality to accommodate revving Goody to 6200 rpm.  It overloaded and distorted anyway.    Smooth huh?

 

Turned down the audio pre-amp even more for the next recording. (in addendum 2)  Open3e.jpg is back centered about 12 feet behind Rustpuppy.    Goody revved to 6200 again..    I love the sweet sound but it almost hurts it is so loud.

 

Thinking about going racing with the cutouts open but don’t know if I got the nerve.    I must go to town this morning so I will put a couple gas cans in the Suburban for Rustpuppy.   Racing seems to use it up fast.

 

More to come.

 

Rick Draganowski