Every Thursday, before the track opens, a bunch gathers to sit in the shade and act like drag racers.

There's a measure of good natured smack of course but the technical jabber is most interesting to me. There's a lot of problem solving going down. I try to contribute but mostly act like a sponge and soak up the lessons.

Goes like this. Each in turn poses a question - did you check this?, what happened then?, what are you running?, did you brush your teeth before or after you put on deodorant? - trying to glean the tidbit that will solve the mystery.

My wobbly tire problem was most recently on the block, and yesterday it was Hugo's retrograde timing.

Sounds like a game show doesn't it. Anybody remember "What's My Line"? Let's call this "Are You Smarter Than A Drag Racer?". Except when I'm playing - then we'll call it "Are You Dumber Than A Door Knob?".

Wednesday night I reinstalled the GMPP dual plane manifold that came with the motor. I took some time to clean up the casting blobs, smooth out the port matching edges, and knife edge the divider. Pictures are --> HERE  

Thursday the car's reaction time caught me totally by surprise. Remember Sunday I had to roll deep to better a 540 RT? My first run Thursday RT was a 0.493  with tires slipping and a 7.42 ET. Haven't been in the 7.40s for a while. That's an 0.180 improvement over the 7.60s I'd been running lately.

The RPM Air Gap will make an excellent boat anchor.

I figured the red light was me. The next two runs were slower, with more tire slip, but the RTs were 550 something and 530 something as I recall.

KOH was next.

My burn out smoke, and tire condition on return, were telling me that I was carrying too much weight on the right rear. The left tire was slacking off but I didn't feel like crawling under the car to swift kick it. The offset wasn't much so I just unbalanced my tire pressures a bit expecting some improvement. Boy did I get some improvement!

First round against 107 year old Carl "Bracket Man" Swift the hook was deep. I went 0.491 red -  so I ran it out for a 7.38 ET. That's close to my personal best and a 2/10ths plus improvement from Sunday! It felt so good to be quick again I didn't care about losing. The red light wasn't me - the car's reaction time is quicker with the double pumper. That's OK - I can work with that. Next time....

So the search continues for more bite. 4-link bar changes are on the horizon. More horsepower is a priority now that my "tire problem" is fixed.

Turns out I have adjustable rocker arms after all. I'll back those puppies out so they're just tickling the valve tips. That's free horse power. Might as well put my roller rockers on while I'm in there.

John Pandeles suggests I lock the distributor advance. I know the car starts easily at 36 degrees. If it don't knock then don't knock it - right? 

He says I could gain a tenth or two. I'm skeptical but some door knobs have learned to have an open mind.