Planning An Arizona Meet

Nice place to spend the 4th Robbie.

The last time I stayed up at the Bison Ranch, they were having a car show there.

It's nice up on the Mogollon Rim. Thanks for the invite!

 

It was good to get out to the track for the first time in 5 years. I had my worst day ever. I thought I was having carb issues because it was stumbling after shift into second. Turns out I was having fuel preesure issues and draining the float bowls. I barely limped it home on 3psi fuel pressure. Either the filter was getting progressively clogged or the electric pump was taking a ****. But we got my brothers 65 falcon down to 13.6 on its first time out so that was good.

 

What kind of filter are you running?
Did Gene make it out there?

 

See...going to the track helps uncover problems you never knew you had!! You failed to mention how your day started out...having to change out the alternator in the Checker/O'Reilly parking lot before the race... oh brother...but it was a great day for racing and alot of fun. As soon as you get the fuel pressure issue resolved you'll need to get back to the track and show your brother a thing or two...LOL...

 

Yeah...still having those first round blues though... But set a personal best et so that is good.

 

Me too. In the last 6 races i have Red lit 4 times in the first round. It sucks.
Just trying to hard..
Great news on the new best time. Cool.

 

Oh ya, I totally forgot how the day started, with everything else afterwards it was kind of a blur. I forgot that on the way home from the first Maverick meet my Alternator light came on. I figured it wasn't a big deal because it did that sometimes and went off later. I left the house and saw it come on. (Yeas this is the first time i drove it since the meet) So I stopped in Checker to get it tested just to make sure i wouldn't have trouble at the track. And I had no low voltage, but the tester didn't say diode pattern was bad. So I changed the regulator out. Still no good. I noticed the regulator plug was loose fitting so I cleaned up the contacts with a pocket knoife and contact cleaner and pinched down the connectors to make a good fit. Now it tested low voltage AND diode pattern pattern. So now still in the parking lot i yank out the alternator and bench test it. no good. And not under warranty becuase Checker only had this 100 amp LIncoln alternator in a 1 year option last time I needed one. New one, $75, my cost.... $50 . So I swap out the pulleys for my serpentine belt and bolt it in. Hmm, this isn't fitting. Adjuster bracket on top hits the case, go inside and look at the old one and see I had to grind it down in one spot. So the guys let me borrow a file and I go to town clearancing my alternator for my serpentine belt tension adjuster. I finally get it all on and tests good. 2 hours later and on the way.

 

Fuel pressure, fan and alternator problems all at the same time. Take a good close look at your electrical supply to all those accessories. You'll get it cured in the three weeks you have before the get together.

 

It has a cleanable filter. I'll try soaking it in carb cleaner and blowing it out. And I'll order another filter elemenet for $10 so I don't ruin my day if it happens again.

 

Oh ya, my electric fan won't come on either. That should be a fuse or dirty contact. It worked when i took the relay out for the winter, so Im guessing a blown fuse from water and dirty corroded contacts for the relay or fuse since it got so wet last time it was out.

Maybe I should go back to just letting the car sit in the garage so I don't remember all this. Did I mention I spent hours on Saturday trying to find my seat belts? Could only find the retractor side. Went and bought some universals from Checker, came home and couldn't find my bolts. then I finally found the seat belts and bolts in the first place I looked earlier in the day. It was one of those weekends. But had a great time at the track anyways. Since I helped my brother put that car togethor I was happy to see it run good.

 

Are you running a Holley blue fuel pump? Back when I had the race car I had a similar situation, only not as bad as yours. My et's were dropping off and I finally realized that my fuel pressure was dropping down to about 3 pounds as I was approaching the traps. Fuel pressure was fine just idling or driving around the pits. Filter was fine...pump was going out.

 

Yep, got a holley Blue pump. And its about 12 years old. If the filter dosn't fix the problem then it may be time to replace the pump. Then I either need to get a wideband A/F gauge or some dyno time to tune in the carb.

 

Yeah, but the problem with dyno time is you can tune the a/f ratio but as soon as the ambient temps gets hotter or colder that will change your a/f. I would love to have a a/f guage...are they a PITA to install and how much do they cost??

 

The AEM Wideband gauge is pretty popular. Not hard to install. Run power, ground, dashlight power like a normal gauge. Then the other wire/s go the oxygen sensor that you have to weld the bung into your exhaust pipe for.

You can get it on Amazon for $180
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/AEM-AEM-30-4100-Digital-Wideband-Gauge/dp/B003ITFA9Q"]Amazon.com: AEM AEM-30-4100 Digital Wideband Air/Fuel UEGO Gauge: Automotive[/ame]

 

Dyno time would atleast get me alot closer than I am now. Other adjustments would be minor for Max power, I just want most of the power