I don't really have alot to do. I've been trying to save up some money for a new carb and a few other odds and ends. Once I get those things, it's going to boil down to clearing the time to get those things done. Sounds like you guys are going to have a decent amount of money tied up in your truck this year. One thing about it is, once you make the initial purchase of stuff like that, it is over with because that stuff is highly reusable. What tires and headers did you guys go with??

I don't have any "new" pictures yet. I just have some scrub tires on it right now. I'm still deciding if I'm going to run street tires, bar tires or both. I acquired another set of bar tires last week so I've been contemplating mounting them and doing a little work on them. As soon as I get the tires on and finish a few other things, I will take some pictures, but who knows that could be close to pulling season.

I haven't heard anything else regarding a test and tune. I was out at Chris' this past weekend, and he hasn't heard anything either. I'm assuming they will probably have something on the 9th which sucks because even if you wanted to make some changes that only gives you a week. You could always hook it to something with a blade on the front and get a feel for a few things, but that doesn't really help you get used to driving it. I would think they should be setting some dates within the next couple weeks. I'll have Chris put out some feelers to see if he can find anything out.

 

Everybody claims that Cepeks are so much better then bar tires so we are switching to them. They are hard to find the small size used so we ordered a new set of them and they will get knifed and then hardened and hopefully be back in 3-4 weeks (part of that depends on when we get the wheels to the tire cutter). We will keep the the old firestones as backups.

On our old headers we didn't like how the pipes came out of the ports and then when we tried to put them on the new motor the wouldn't clear the taller valve covers. This time we will probably go with Shoenfelds. They are a little more pricey but I think willl clear the VC's and will already have the evac (blowby) tubes welded in. By the time we roll down the track this year we will probably spent enough that we could have bought King Cobra. Hopefully a lot of this stuff lasts a while.

I found a test-n-tune playday down in MO but not sure if we will be done and have tires mounted up yet. Yes I think they should TI and test-n-tune in mid to late May so we have time to change if needed. What kind of bars did you get? What is the advantage of running DOT tires vs bars?

 

Who did you buy the Cepek's through?? Did you finally find someone local to sharpen them, or did you have to ship them off??

I have a set of the Schoenfeld headers. Not on my truck, but I have a set. They seem like they're a pretty good header.

A buddy of mine works at a tire shop so he got the bar tires for me. They are a set of Armstrong's that are in really good shape. I really don't know why the company got new ones, I guess they had some slow leaks. I'm sure when I mount them I will find out what that means though. The interesting thing about them is though is that they measure right at 15 in. wide from the edge of the lug to the edge of the lug. They also measure slightly over 30 in. tall. My Firestone bar tires measure about 14 in. from lug to lug and about 28.5 in. tall. The tread pattern is also pretty good on these. Like I said they're actually in too good of shape so I will have to knock them down some. I'm not complaining for the price though-a case of beer.

As far as bar tires vs. street tires, it's hard to say which one is better. The Pro Stock guys swear they can beat a bar tire any day with street tires. The bar tires seem to be more forgiving on parts in that they take away alot of the bouncing associated with street tires. Some guys feel that bar tires on a four wheel drive cause the truck to be harder to control. I personally would like to see some street tire trucks come in and show that street tire trucks can pull hard and beat bar tires. That's a biased perspective simply because I wish the club would have kept a street tire class. I believe with an entry level class there would be alot more four wheel drives in the club then there are right now, and I like to pull in local pulls. There is a ton of trucks out there that pull really hard at local pulls. They may night look the best, but they sure do run. That's what I think it is all about.

 

The Cepeks are in Iowa. The guy that I found to cut them is about 3-4 hours away in South Central Iowa. He was going to double cut my bars for us but we decided to go this way. He mainly deals with tractor tires but since I talked to him a while ago he was able to work my set in. We are going to ship him the wheels and then we will drive out to pickup the finished product and to see his toys hopefully.

If all them parts would just get here then we could get some stuff done and get going. Did you find out if Chris is build a 2wd or is that top secret?

 

Yeah, I think Chris is going to try and have both trucks going this year. I think he was looking at dynoing both engines in a few weeks. I'm not really sure though how much work he has in front of him for the two-wheel drive.

 

Good to hear. It will be nice to have more trucks around.

 

Well, I see that the TI and Test and Tune are going to be on June 9th in Craig. I was hoping they were going to be earlier. Now, it is up to when the little one decides to be born. He is due on the 8th so now we will just have to wait and see how everything plays out. I plan on setting up an individual TI sometime before that, and if everything works out, I will show up to the Test and Tune on the 9th. Did all of your guys' parts come in?? Any new pictures yet?? I ordered some wheels last week for my street tires and got the bar tires mounted so hopefully in the next week or so I can get some photos taken. I'm going to order the carb and some other parts tonight so I'm hoping that stuff will be here in the next week to two weeks.

 

Just noticed that too. Got the wheels sent to the guy so he can cut the tires. Seems like new parts arrive every day. Got part of the frame painted on Sat. We have been busy building stuff. Got some personal stuff happening this week but after that I will have more time. We have to do some fenderwell cutting and redo our steering so the new headers will fit. Hopefully in the next week or two we will have made enough progress to get some new pictures. Looks like some of the pulls didn’t come through. Oh well we will still have fun. I am ready to get going and see what this thing will do now. It should be a vast improvement.

Since you are mounting both sets of tires I am guessing that you are still undecided on what to run.

Good luck on the little one.

 

I didn't think you would have to do work to the steering to make the Schoenfeld's fit. I know a guy that is running them. He made enough adjustment by loosening the column and shoving it down and over some. You may have to drill a few new holes for the plate that bolts to the firewall though.

I'm not sure which tires I will run. Most likely I will run street tires, but I would like to try both and see which ones the truck likes more. One reason why making it to the test and tune would be nice. I still have to do some work to the bar tires to knock the lugs down some.

Once you have all the parts, things really go fast. Once you get everything dialed in, I'm sure you will be very happy with the results. I was going to ask you. What head and intake combination are you running on the new engine??

 

I don't remember the head specs. I will have to ask Bryan and see if he remembers what Joe told him. All of this was on the motor.

We took off the power steering box and put on a manual so we needed to make a new shaft anyway. It will at least have to be dropped down a little bit.

 

How are you guys coming along? Last night we got the motor, clutch, and bell housing mounted. Tonight we will tie up some loose ends and then probably put that heavy transmission in. Got the steering situation worked out. Got some other loose ends to tie up then we should be able to mount the headers and really start seeing some progress. Not a lot of fab work left just a bunch of putting stuff together. I will start taking my camera to the shop with me.

Talked to some guys locally that are considering running NPPA. If they do they will be in your class and running street tires too. By my count we have less than 6 weeks. I am ready to get the pulling season started.

 

Kind of just waiting on some parts. I ordered some rims and one of them showed up as a white spoke so I had to jack around with that. The correct one finally came in today so the street tires will be ready. Bar tires are mounted, I just need to plain them down some. The carburetor is backordered, which it has been two weeks today since I put my order in, so if I don't see a status change by the middle of the week I will give them a call and try to get an estimated ship date. I have the rest of my parts so I'm basically waiting on that to switch everything over. I have a bigger radiator to put in. I also need to finish my ladder bars for the front. Besides that, I will need to get everything tuned in once the carburetor is on and give it a whirl. I would like to play around a little bit and try a few things out on my own...Just in case I can't make the Test and Tune. I'm going to put the street tires on this weekend so I'll get some pictures taken.

Do the guys that are thinking about joining have trucks that have been around at local pulls, or are they new builds?? Most likely Chevy's??

 

They have been around a while but the truck has a new motor and the body will be WAY different (not a rusty POS). Yes it is chebby.

We hope to have our wheels and tires back in about 2 weeks. I am so excited to see them. How is everybody else up that way coming along? I can't wait to hear this thing fire but we still have while before that happens. I look forward to the pics.

 

OK... I will go first. Not too exciting. You can see the box is off and bottom is painted along with the frame. You can see our mess inside of the cab along with the new (to us) 5 speed. Then you can see the new headers on the motor.

 

It's looking good. Once you have all the pieces, it's amazing how much you can get done in one weekend. I'm hoping the rain holds off this weekend, at least Saturday, so I can pull The Wood out and snap some photos. I noticed one really good thing from the photos. The Bud Light in hand on the last photo. That always proves that you are working hard, yet having fun.