Skip's Racing Season
                               4th Quarter - 2003

10/1/03 - The engine is out of the old car, the motor plate that fits the new car is installed!  I discovered two leaking freeze plugs on the engine.  They have been removed and will be replaced tomorrow.  Houston Hawkins came by to talk and helped remove the front fiberglass body and get the engine out.  It took about 10 min. to get it out of the old body.  All of the electrical is done, except the coil mounting and everything has tested Sat..  I am waiting to see exactly where the valve covers sit before installing the coil in the engine compartment.  

Tomorrow we shall mate the trans. and the engine and put them into the car.  The new trans. cooler lines must be run and I have a new set of quick disconnects for those lines.  The headers must be installed, and what a set of headers.  The motor will finally get to breath the way it did on the dyno.  These headers were custom made for this body and have no less than 5 inches of straight tube before the first bend!  That should be worth a few HP, or about a tenth in ET.  The radiator and fans must be installed along with the fuel system and everything must be tested.  This should make start-up late tomorrow or sometime Friday.  I am still suspect of the throttle linkage. (None of this paragraph happened on time)  

10/2/03 - Replaced the freeze plugs and cut the hose for the trans. cooler lines.  Fitted up the radiator, fans and catch-can to be able to measure the trans. cooler line length.  Finding this stuff after 3 years of sitting around and ordering or purchasing this and that can be a challenge too. 
That is all the work for today.  Working with the BR SMART Program at Glen Oaks High School for the rest of the afternoon, and the Grandson has a football game later today.  

10/4/03 - The weather was EXCELLENT for the Louisiana Drag Classic.  Low humidity, temps. in the mid 80's.  Another great October in Louisiana!  We saw some very good racing.  The teammates participated for the first time and had a great time (all lost by the third round, including the Jr. Dragster.  Come on guys, we have got to improve our driving skills!)  This is the first time we competed in our own race.  The Hospitality Breakfast was a great idea and went over very well.  We had 50 doz. Donuts to eat and give away.  Viola Jackson insisted we had to have some sausage and she supplied and cooked over 30 lbs of good Louisiana sausage.  It was great!  Our awards ceremony just did not work out.  We had such a tight schedule and there was no downtime for cleanups or anything else, we decided to just announced the winners over the P.A. System and then we went to each winners trailer and gave them their award.  They were all sincerely happy to be honored with a BMRT Special Achievement Award.  We really had a good race.  This year we had the highest car count for the 4 years of the Louisiana Drag Classic. All we need now is a good spectator count and we will be in the really big race category.  Louisiana Drag Classic - 2003

10/8/03 - Went back to work on the new Camaro.  Worked on the fuel system fittings and placement of the fuel regulator.  Ordered a new 0-30 PSI gauge for pump outlet pressure.  I had to change the inlet fittings to the regulator from AN #8 to AN #10.  Talk about overkill!  I have #10 braided line coming from the back where the BG 400 Fuel Pump is located, up to the regulator where I have #8 going to each bowl on the BG King Demon 1050 CFM carb.  The old car had all #8 line from a BG 280 Fuel Pump with by-pass system.  
Tomorrow is another Thursday of Football with the Grandson and working with the kids in the SMART Program.  

10/12/03 - Skip was elected President, unopposed, when Houston did not elect to run for President again.  Houston is the new Vice-President.  

10/27/03 - Skip and Barbara returned from a weeks vacation in Florida.  For write-up and photos, see Mrs. Holbert. (click for vacation photos)

11/6/03 - The engine is in the New Camaro!  James Richardson come over and helped install the engine and transmission.  James also helped with all the other components that must be put in place to get the engine started.  Houston Hawkins and Willie Beathley also came by while the work was being done.  Willie showed us his New Wagon (click), which looks very nice.  

We discovered a bad gas leak during the fuel system testing, and the braided hose from the fuel pump to the regulator must be replaced.  We suspect that three years of sitting has deteriorated the hose.  We had just completed the 1 gallon fuel test.  The BG 400 GPH pump put 1 gallon of gas into a open jug in 10.43 seconds (345 GPH)!  That was through the #10 AN braided hose.  I will replace this #10 with #8 and rerun the test.  My old BG 280 pump had a 9% loss (257 GPH) so this pumps 8.6% loss (345 GPH) is about right, I suspect.  This pump was sent back to BG for reconditioning in 1999 and has not been used until now. 

11/7/03 - The gas line has been replaced and leak tested.  Everything is OK.  Now I can return to the final steps of startup.  Mount the coil, install the starter, put in the ATF, connect the trans cable, set the timing to get it started.  That is all that is left. 

11/8/03 - With the help of my two grandchildren, all the little things have been fixed and we are ready to push the start button tomorrow.  We changed the oil and filter today also, I installed a PF-1218 filter and 7qts of synthetic oil (four 10W-30 and three 10W-50).  When we finished today it was too late to start the car in the neighborhood with no mufflers.  

One of the problems that must be solved is how to put mufflers on this car.  The headers are not designed to accept the muffler insert that I ran on the old car.  We will have to cut the end of the collector off and notch a cross member on the chassis to allow the new extended collector to pass under the frame and to be able to install the muffler insert.  

We reran the 1 gallon fuel test, using the #8 line, and the pressure was higher, which makes sense, and the time was only slightly quicker at 10.40 sec (346 GPH), most likely it was the same.    

11/9/03 - There's life in those cylinders!  Jeremy (Grandson) and I started up the New Camaro today!  After a couple of false starts, a distributor repair, and several guesses at the timing, we got it started.  Sounds very good.  We set the timing at 35 degrees and the idle at 1200 RPM.  The transmission was topped off with ATF and it shifted very good on the jack stands.  We heated the engine to over 210 degrees F and the two new freeze plugs held very well. 

The brakes do not work very well.  I must bleed them again and check out the complete brake system.  They must be pumped to actuate and they bleed down between uses.  I installed the pressure retention check valves in the front and back systems, but they still leak down.  I don't care for the brake petal setup either.  I have modified it once, and still don't care for it. 

It is not very convenient to reach over the shifter to hit the start button on the low mounted switch panel.  I will mount an under hood start push button to help with tuning and valve adjustment.  I also need a power point under the hood on the drivers side for my timing light.  I don't care for the little cowl panel under the windshield where my fuel and oil gauges are located.  This panel must removed to check the trans. fluid level and to remove the distributor.  

Both fuel bowls on my BG King Demon 1090 CFM carb. are leaking slightly.  There is a story there, which I will wait for another time, about gasket selection (I will switch to Holley or Mr. Gasket non-stick gaskets for use with the racing gas). 

Feels good to have the car almost (brakes) ready to go to the races!  PHOTOS

11/11/03 - James came over yesterday and we bled the brakes.  We put the front end fiberglass back on and cleaned everything up.  Greased the front end and squirted liberal amounts of oil and WD40 on everything that moves.  

Today I polished and shined everything and started to take the car out of the back yard and almost hit the fence in front of the car, at two MPH!  The brakes are not what I want them to be.  I took the car to the street in front of the house and parked it long enough to take a few photos and then put it back into the back yard.  I am going to change the master cylinder to a high volume unit and add a proportioning valve.  The car will not leave the back yard until I have enough petal to safely stop in front of the fence.  

11/13/03 - A part of me has been taken away.  Today is the end of an era.  "Masterpiece" is gone.  I have a big empty feeling inside of me and although I know it was "just a car", it feels like a relative has moved away that I may not see again for a long time.   I could not even take a picture.  It really looked good as I pulled it into the trailer for the last time, the sun glittering off the rims and that strawberry pearl paint.  

The new owner is just starting out in drag racing and wanted to start slightly ahead of the game.  It may be a while before the car hits the track.  I asked him to make sure he takes really good care of it as I kissed it goodbye for the last time.  Don't be surprised if this car becomes one of the "Beat The Heat" police drag cars in the future.  The new owner is a Baton Rouge Policeman. 

I will miss the predictable straight runs, the looks that everyone gave it in the pits, the raves from tech. inspectors around the country after not being able to find anything wrong and the feel of confidence that I had when I ran against anyone.  

I only hope the new Camaro works itself into my heart the way "Masterpiece" did.  After having 2 other cars named Masterpiece, I will retire the name.  The new car will have "Mr. Skip" on the side when I get around to lettering it. 

11/17/03 - No progress on the brakes.  Not that I have not tried.  Nothing works so far.  The M.C. has been changed, the 2 PSI Residual Pressure Valves have been replaced and moved to get them closer to the M.C., the M.C. was removed, bench checked and bled again.  The system has been bled using two or three different methods.  Now I am looking for answers.  

I did change the gaskets on the carb to stop the gas leaks between the body and metering plates in the King Demon.  No more leaks!

11/19/03 - Success!!  The brake problem is solved!  After reading 5-6 different web sites on how to bleed brakes, how to use different methods and what to look for in case you have problems, we (Houston came over and helped me.) finally arrived at the problem.  Did you know that you are suppose to completely change the brake fluid every two years, and use different color fluid so that you know when you have all the old stuff out?

First we isolated the Master Cylinder (put plugs in the front and rear outlet holes) and found it was good.  Then we left the rear isolated and found the front was good, after getting out a very small amount of air.  Then we found the rear brakes very spongy.  We tried to bleed them but had no luck, just solid fluid.

One web site suggested we look at the orientation of the caliper and the bleed screw, which should be at the top.  Our calipers had the bleed screws on the side at about 45 degrees from the top.  Remember, this car was built from scratch.  The car has a Ford 9" rear end with GM discs adapted to it!?  Whoever did the work, put the calipers directly at the top, which put the bleed screws on the side.  Now I know why most calipers are located at about 45 degrees on the disc.  This will helps to correctly locate the bleed screws on the top.

We removed the calipers from each of the rear discs and bled the air from them.  We did get a shot of air from each of them and the petal firmed up right away.  We put everything back together and tested them.  They held up fine.  We retested them after 2 hours and 8 hours, and they are still firm.  With the car back on the ground and the engine running, it stops under power and I can hold it while bringing up the RPM.

One last problem with the brake petal.  It was very long (and high off the floor) when I got the car and I cut it down about 2 inches.  I will have to put at least one of those inches back in.  The petal is suppose to provide a 6 to 1 mechanical advantage over the Master Cylinder (more information from various web sites - isn't the internet great!).  I had removed some of that mechanical advantage.  This problem will be attacked tomorrow.  At least we now have a firm petal to work with.  

After Houston and I had the problem solved, I received an email from my engine builder, Bryon Durham, with most of this same information on what to try, except for that removing the caliper thing.  Bryon says, Pro Stock cars have had the M.C. located under the floor for over 20 years and the only thing they use is the Residual Pressure Valves. He said not to try any exotic parts or fixes.  We have the two 2 PSI Residual Pressure Valves in the system, one in the front and one in the rear, located as close to the Master Cylinder as we can get them.  There is no proportioning valve in our disc/disc system. 

11/20/03 - Added about 2 inches to the length of the brake petal and moved it over about an inch closer to the gas petal.  It works very well.  I will now be able to STOP!  I may go out to State Capitol Dragway tomorrow night and test the new Camaro.  A couple of easy passes to make sure things are working right, then one or two all out passes.  

I may go to the Edmund Hall race in Atmore, AL on Sun., Nov. 23rd, if I can run a respectable 6.00 in the 1/8 mile.  I will not be quick enough for the 5.30 class and may be too quick for the 6.00 class.  The old car ran between 5.91 and 6.03 sec in the 1/8 mile, most of the time.  I expect this one to run around, let's say,  5.80 in the 1/8 mile?  We shall see. 

11/21/03 - As we say in Submarine talk, everything went, "Hot, Straight and Normal!  The car ran just fine, for the first time out.  I took it easy on the first pass and came out of the hole slow and accelerated as I went down the track.  I crossed the line at around 10.50 @ 123 MPH.  The line lock did not hold on the first pass and the burn-out was not good, but the car left straight.  The gas pressure dropped off to zero about half track and did not come back until I was on the return road.  We think the pressure from the pump is too low (bypassing too much).  We did not have a gauge installed to monitor the pump pressure, so we did not play with it.  The gas tank level was low, so we filled it to the top and decided to make another pass.  

The second pass, the line lock held just fine (after I put enough pressure on the brake petal.  Remember the 6:1 ratio?  I don't think I have that much).  We left at almost full throttle, off the t-brake and I left with the wheels about a foot off the ground (no wheelie bars on this car).  I really felt good!  I am not use to all the noise of a full aluminum interior with the exhaust dumping right in front of the driver.  I will HAVE to use ear plugs from now on.  Now I know what it feels like inside of a drum.  Again, the car left straight and continued down the track with no corrections to the steering.  Just a good ride.  The fuel pressure dropped again and the people in the stands could hear the starvation as the car kind of just leveled out.  I don't think I had the accelerator petal all the way open because I thought my foot was about to slip off of the petal.  I crossed the line at 9.53 @ 139 MPH.  What about the 1/8 mile time?  Six-O-Five (6.05 sec. in the 1/8 mile).  

Many of the team mates were on hand for the initial passes.  Reggie Jackson and Houston helped throughout the night.  Many others gave much needed encouragement, support and prayers. 

Tomorrow I will install the fuel pressure gauge and reset the fuel pump outlet pressure.  The air bottle knob for the air shifter is in an bad position, and must be changed.  The drivers window cannot be operated very well when strapped in.  

The new Camaro will take a lot of getting use to.  I had not run since May of this year so I had a few "Sr. Moments" at the track tonight.  Such as, now both the pre-stage and stage lights are on, now what do I do?  This may be the reason for the 1.04 RT during the first run!  I found the delay button on the 2nd run!  For a while I wondered why the car would not back up.  Maybe the reverse in the trans is broken, it was overhauled during the swap-over.  Then I remembered I have a Pro-tree brake!  Push the delay by-pass button Old Man!  Now where did I put those ear plugs?

11/22/03 - After installing a small fuel pressure gauge on the outlet of the fuel pump, I adjusted the fuel pump pressure to 20 PSI at the outlet of BG 400. I have the regulator at the inlet to the Carb set at 9 PSI.  

I did not have the instructions, but I went to Google Search and put in: Barry Grant 400 Fuel Pump + Instructions, and it found the complete set of instructions in a PDF file that I downloaded.  Isn't the Internet great?!  If you are not familiar with "Google Search", you should try it sometime.  www.google.com  is THE BEST Search Engine on the Internet.  They have a toolbar that you can download to make them your search engine of choice.  Look under Google "Tools & Services".  I use them for almost all of my searches.

I glued a non-slip cover on the accelerator petal.  Did not play with the air bottle position yet. 

Van Johnson was looking at the engine photos of the new Camaro and he noticed the BG two-port regulator.  He warned me that this regulator is only good for up to 650 HP.  Van has talked to the people at BG and they confirm that information.  I also read it in some BG information on the two-port regulator.  Ben Lett, an old friend in Pascagoula, MS, has experienced the fuel starvation caused by the two-port regulator on his BBC with a Dominator.  

My engine was dyno tested at 778 HP with this same regulator, but it had a BG Gold Claw 775 CFM carb on it (like a 750 Holley 4150).  Now the engine has the larger BG King Demon 1090 carb, the equivalent of a Holley Dominator 1050 CFM.

For greater than 650 HP, a four-port regulator is needed.  We are strictly talking about BG products.  The two-port regulator does not have the capacity to feed the larger carb.  Maybe this is why the other car only picked up about one tenth (9.33 to 9.21 sec.) when I changed from the smaller carb to the King Demon.  I will put the four-port regulator on this coming week.  

11/23/03 - We took the new Camaro to Atmore, AL, Edmund Hall's Baby Pro Mod Race.  "It was the best of times, and the worst of times", as a famous writer once said.  The good times are:  The car is super consistent around the 6.00 sec. mark in the 1/8 mile.  We made four runs of; 6.03, 6.04, 6.03 and 6.06 seconds.  It drives straight as an arrow.  Nothing broke!  Everything worked just as it should.  No leaks.  I cut an .075 RT on a .400 Pro Tree.  This last fact makes the whole project worthwhile.   The worst of times is; I lost in the first round!  But, all in all, I am very pleased with all the work, the car, and the results.  I think I will have to revise my estimate of the ET for the new Camaro.  It will most likely run about the same as the other car (9.20's - 9.40's), only the RT will be better on the .400 Pro Tree.  If I stay consistent around the 6.0 mark in the 1/8, I don't have to worry about slowing it down (Edmund Hall does not allow throttle-stops).  I should do better in Super Gas this coming year, where I will have to throttle stop down to 9.90 anyway. (Atmore PHOTOS)

11/30/03 - While racing in Atmore, we visited with some old friends, Ben & Estell Lett of Moss Point, MS.  Ben has a 67 Camaro with a 467 BBC that is a very nice car.  Ben and I have been racing together since the early 70's.  Here is a photo of Ben's car:
  Ben passed away in 2006.

12/2/03 - Skip speaks to prospective GOHS Auto Tech Students. 

     Dec. 2003      1st Qtr. 2004