Saturday morning at a little after 7:00 AM we are on the road for the 70 mile drive to Arlington. The weather report is for sunshine but the morning is typical NW crap, overcast with just enough moisture to occasionally dampen the windshield, but not the pavement.
My spirit is already a little dampened as we discovered a stripped out bellhousing starter bolt hole when we went to load the car up on Friday night. I was able to get the car started to get it on the trailer, but had made the decision not to try and start the car at the show so as not to wound the flexplate or starter.
A little after 8:30 we arrive at Arlington Airport and there are already a few hundred cars there. We fill out the entry form and are guided to a spot with room for the truck and trailer on the grass and the Falcon on asphalt. Two spots over from us was a '23 'T' Altered belonging to Novel-T. We help them get their EZ-Up 10x10 set up (gotta get one of those) and he and his boys help us push the Falcon off the trailer and get turned around and properly parked. Amazing how heavy a light car can get with a full spool and slicks. Really enjoyed meeting and chatting with you and the guys, Boyd. Look forward to doing it again. BTW, wife's name is Nancy, not Heather.
Then it started to drizzle a bit. Man, here I am at a fairly premiere show, can't start my car and now the moisture is falling. Fortunately it only lasted a few minutes and never got very cold. By days end everyone had sunburns or tans, so the weather did finally co-operate.
Cars kept rolling in all day, vintage race cars, Pro-Street cars, stock and or restored classics, rat rods, and of course the customary easter-egg colored street rods.
Since I couldn't start the Falcon I pulled the hood off, so that at least people could see what I had built, even tho' they couldn't hear it. There I am, surrounded by front engine dragsters, blown A/Fuel Altereds, really a lot of heavy hitter cars. And much to my surprise (and joy) the Falcon got it's fair share of attention. It was even photgraphed by Gasser Wars magazine. Whether or not it'll ever see print is another matter, but still pretty cool to me.
Periodically throughout the day you would hear and see some of these cars start up. Jim Green had his blown SOHC 427 digger there and it really sang a sweet song.
The thing that bugged me the most tho' was that damnable starter bolt on the Falcon. Cars are starting up all around me, they even did a Top Fuel car push start. I really wanted to start that sucker up.
We decided to leave a little early, around 2:30, and I really didn't want to push or winch the car onto the trailer. I had brought the aluminum jack and a couple of stands so I got under the car and was able to snug the starter up a bit. I said screw it, let's see if it'll start and then we can drive it up on the trailer. If not, we push.
The Totally Awesome Missus Murff walked around to the front of the car with the squirt bottle of gas and waited while I crawled into the car. When I got in and looked up at her to give her the go ahead to give me a little squirt I was amazed to see about 30 people had stopped and were standing there, waiting for the fire up. Holy ***!
I open the butterfly's on the hat and she gives it a healthy squirt of 91 octane Chevron. I figure we'll only have one or two spins of the starter before the bolt loosens up so we'd better give it hell. I push the fuel shutoff to the open position, hit the starter, let it spin a couple of seconds (so far so good) and hit the mag switch. The little 351 lights, coughs, sputters and of course dies. Caution to the wind, I motion for Nancy to squirt me again. Spin the starter, hit the mag, it lights, coughs and just as it's about to die I can hear the alcohol beginning to find its way to the injectors.
Varoom! Houston, we have ignition! Now I lift my eyes past the engine and Nancy and I see that the crowd has now grown to the point where I can't see the other cars around me or across the strip. I was just about busting with pride as I saw the thumbs come up and the smiles and nods of approval as that 351 began to settle in at a nice, lopey 2000 RPM idle. I was now one of "those' guys that had one of "those" cars. Granted, the car still hasn't been down the strip but I just felt such a feeling of satisfaction at what I had accomplished so far with this car and the acceptance of a pretty tough audience, it's just indescribable.
I motioned to The Totally Awesome Missus Murff to clear the crowd a bit so that I could get the car turned around and on the trailer and the look on her face at what was transpiring was awesome. Amazement mixed with pride at what we had done. The crowd parted as I made my 3 point turnaround, I almost went for a spin through the show but remembered I didn't have very much alky in the tank, so I just put it on the trailer.
I don't usually brag on myself but this was such a totally amazing experience for me and Nancy that I just had to share it.
Oh yeah, I took some pictures, but they're still a bit large. I'll edit later and add the pix. Right now I'm going to pull my 3 1/2 gallon tank and install the 5 gallon that showed up Friday, and craft a workaround for that stupid starter bolt.
Peace, Love, and Groovy Vibes.
Murff
Arlington Dragstrip Reunion
Excellent report, Murff! I love it. Check dragblog.com. bp
Bill Pratt
Draglist.com - Crowdsourced drag racing history.
Headlines and Results: http://www.draglist.com/
Drag Lists: http://www.draglist.com/draglist/draglist.php
Draglist.com - Crowdsourced drag racing history.
Headlines and Results: http://www.draglist.com/
Drag Lists: http://www.draglist.com/draglist/draglist.php
Cool shots, Boyd! bp
Bill Pratt
Draglist.com - Crowdsourced drag racing history.
Headlines and Results: http://www.draglist.com/
Drag Lists: http://www.draglist.com/draglist/draglist.php
Draglist.com - Crowdsourced drag racing history.
Headlines and Results: http://www.draglist.com/
Drag Lists: http://www.draglist.com/draglist/draglist.php
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