Columbus Fellowship

[JimNolan]

Gang,
  Just got back from Columbus meet. We had a great time and met a lot of people we didn't know. Everyone made us feel welcome and I really enjoyed running my car there. I'd like to thank Bob Martin for saving me money on Thursday and his participation in helping put on this meet. Allen White for his great companionship and beating my A _ _ in the final. Tom Drummand for his companionship and advice and I'd like to thank two of the greatest people I met at he event, Larry and Teresa Nicholson. I was running Bracket 3 ( two rounds) and the 57 Ford Shootout at the same time. I had to make a run, get back in the staging lanes and run again without going to the pits or letting my car sit a while. I made three runs like that.  I was running out of gas and Larry brought me his spare gas while I was in the staging lanes. ( I owe you for the gas, we looked for you when we left and you were not at your site). He put it in for me also. ( I think Teresa made him do it ) just kidding. Great people and competitors. Connie and I had a great time, met a lot of new people and ended up having a great time dispite the heat. Wait till next year, I won't redial. Jim  PS. From what I understand Bob Martin and John Gambill put up the prize money for the 1957 Ford.com shootout, thank you again guys.

[Ford Blue blood]

Jim great report!  You did forget to tell us your times though......

[JimNolan]

Blue Blood,
1st Run ET 16.146 MPH 86.02, 2nd Run ET 16.148 MPH 85.73, 3rd Run ET 16.464 MPH 85.78, 4th Run ET 16.150 MPH 85.65, 5th Run ET 16.199 MPH 86.31, 6th Run ET 16.258 MPH 85.89, 7th Run ET 16.639 MPH 80.96, 8th Run ET 16.318 MPH 81.74. I had spent all day racing with a 16.14 Dial-IN. The 7th pass startled me and I re-dialed for 16.51 thinking my car couldn't run close to 16.14 again.
  At the water trap the guy waving us forward stopped what he was doing and walked over to my car and said. " Sir, you've been running this car at 16.14 all day, we want to make sure you really want to run at this new dial-in". I said yes, I do. Now for that guy to remember my old dial-in was impressive. But, I can tell you that the guy ( WV57'sforever) that won that race knew his car a lot better than I did mine and he's the one that should have won. Jim PS. I forgot my Reaction Times. .150, .132, .138, .120, .040, .121, .039, .194. By the afternoon with the heat index we had and having to run back to back to back races, it's a wonder I reacted at all.
EDIT: Dummy me just realized the guy waving us forward at the water box got his information from the tower. I'll catch on, give me time. Jim

[57AGIN]

Jim:

That really does sound like a blast.  It made me go upstairs and get out my "old" Lion Drag Strip timing slips.  They were done on kind of a heavy duty paper a little larger than todays slips.  They were very basic, just your cars number that day, followed by speed and ET at the end of the Quarter mile.  No reaction times, no 60 ft, etc. times.  And once you started running in your class, at the top of the slip was a little "W" for win or "L" for loss, and on the final eliminations either a "L" or a "T" for Trophy.  On one day back in 1965 I had 13 runs on my Mustang in one day of time trials and eliminations.  Boy, those were great days.  No trailers, just drive to the strip, crawl under the car and un-bolt the headers, unload the trunk of the spair tire and tools and head for the staging lanes.  Fun, fun, fun.

By the way my times with my original 57 were very slow.  272 Y-block, 3-speed with a Hurst floor shift kit and some kind of a 4 barrel carb.  On July 28,1962, I drove the hot rod to a whopping 18.80 ET at 72.0 mph.  Needless to say, that 57 was not a "runner."  But at 19 years old, it was all I could afford and I loved it almost as much as 57 AGIN.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Bob,
  That's what I did. The preparation for putting the car on the drag strip was taking out the luggage, tent, tools, chairs, food and dog and letting a little bit of air pressure out of the back tires. That's the extent of my preparation. I did change spark plugs Friday morning at the Motel. I'm not the only one that drove to the event and raced. Luckily I was able to drive it back. And guess what, it actually run better on the way home. Jim
    PS. I know a guy in a Mustang that dialed in at 13.03 that wishes I'd stayed home. He pulled a .030 light and I pulled a .040 light and I ran my time. Now that was fun. When he passed me he was doing 20 mile an hour more than me, but it was after the finish line when he passed me. Do you realize I saw cars there that had the word deep written on the glass and I didn't know what it meant. If that guy in the mustang with signs painted all over it knew who knocked him out of round one he'd have looked me up and kicked my butt for being there.

[RICH MUISE]

Ok...I'm clueless...Maybe 'cause I've never even been to an official drag race, never mind participating in one...
"the word deep on the glass"  ??
Also, what are you guys talking about with the "dialing in"?

[JPotter57]

Deep on the glass says that the driver is putting his car into the staging beams farther than usual until only the stage bulb is lit, the pre stage bulb is off.  Usually, cars that are slow reacting will do this to trick the clocks into thinking that they're quicker than they really are.  It is  a LOT easier to redlight doing that.  You have to be careful doing that, some tracks do not allow it, and will instantly redlight you if you do it, even accidentally.  Gulfport Dragway doesnt allow it.  I watched a dude in a Camaro get redlighted as soon as the tree started because he deep staged.  Dude wasn't happy, lol....

[wv 57s forever]

it was a lot of fun. it was really nice to meet you.  i deep staged on you by accident.had so much fun it was unbelievable. oh by the way Larry's last name is Nicholson. i also went back and read some old newsletters my car ran a 16.34 in 2004 shoutout.now 15.18 with out being all the way on torque converter and letting off at the end, not bad for same motor just a carb, cam, intake, stall converter,gears,slicks,c4trans instead of c6,msd. next year maybe new distributor,aluminum heads,and maybe nos re-plumed so it will work.

[JimNolan]

Al,
  I really did have a blast. I'd never raced against anyone in competition before. I went out and cleaned my car up this morning and it hadn't used a drop of oil the hole trip. ( I'm wondering why I want to make it go faster ). I enjoy getting to leave the line first. I get to concentrate better on what I'm doing. As hot as it was my car's water temp got to 180 degrees once (I run a 160 degree thermostat). That's an added feature of not running a lot of HP.
  Anyway, I had a blast, can't wait until next time. Enjoyed seeing everyone. Jim  PS Thanks for letting me know Larry and Teresa's correct last name. The older I get the worse I get.

[57AGIN]

Jim:

All I can say is that when the tree starts flashing down and the revs are where you want them, it is like you are a teenager again.  At age 67, that is a wonderful thing.  Although I'm told that too much of a good thing is bad for you, I still want some more and more often.

Bob
57 AGIN

[JimNolan]

Al,
  I'm thinking about getting drag radials for next year. My 215R70X15 Michelin Harmony racing tires really didn't give me the traction I wanted. LOL Jim

[JPotter57]

Drag radials are the way to go.  I plan on using old fashioned M&H Racemaster cheaters...I love the way those things look.

[JimNolan]

James,
   I'm serious as cancer, so give me a good recomendation. I can't haul my car to the track, won't do it. I've defeated the purpose for which I built the car if I do. So what would you recommend for highway use ( and you know I travel long distances ) and then put it on the track when I get there. This trip to Columbus included tent, table, two chairs, small dog kennel, spare tire, tool box, cleaning supplies, cooler, four suit cases, air tank, extra car jack, me, Connie and Buffy. The car was loaded to the hilt and there is no room for a couple more tires.
   This trip to Columbus was a good recommendation for those 55 Ford rear shocks, they didn't bottom out once.
   The upcoming trip to Gulfport will be the same. I need tires that can give me good traction on the strip and handle the highway for extended periods of time. I just don't have room to carry a couple tires besides all the stuff I need for a trip. I WILL BE RACING AT GULFPORT. The last time I was there I busted my transmission during the test and tune. I plan on more than that this time. My equipment is better.
   You know if they make a tire that would fit my needs I'd get them. What's your suggestion. As far as rain is concerned, I can slow down for that if need be. I'm getting older and the glare from a wet highway at night has limited me from making trips at night like I used to. Maybe what I need is just the widest radial street tire I can get to fit under my fenderwell. What would you do. Jim  PS  I'd have sent this e-mail but I thought someone else may like to know your thoughts if they too would like to drive to an event instead of using a car hauler.

[JPotter57]

Jim, I really like Hoosier products, have never used their drag radials, but if they're as good as their slicks, should do well.  I hear a lot of people talk about BFGoodrich drag radials, but for the very best you can get, I dont believe anything could come close to the Mickey Thompson drag radials.  From everyone I've talked to, to everything I've read on them, they hook every bit as good as the ET Steets, which are as good as ET Drags...so, pick a size that will fit in your quarters, and mount them up to a pair of either matching wheels, or some painted steelies from Wheel Vintiques.  You can get a pair of 15 X7 or 15 X8 (15X8 I dont recommend as they are a bit tough to get on and off), put an ET Drag Radial, somewhere around a 235 75 15 on it.  It should hook in a dirt pile then.  Just my opinion, but I think you're smart to not go to a full on slick, as you then have to have driveshaft loops, long wheel studs or open end lugnuts so they can see the nut engages at least most of the stud.

[JimNolan]

James,
  I've been looking all over the net to find out about the longevity of Drag Radial tires. I found one website where they were complimenting Nitto NT 555R Extreme Drag tires. They say they are getting about 15,000 miles on them on the highway before they wear out. They mentioned Mickey Thompson and Bf Goodrich just getting about 3,000 miles before they wear out. They did mention they weren't as good for 60 ft. times but I can sacrifice some of that just to not have to change tires when I get to the race track. From what I've seen drag racing is a lot like hunting with dogs. When you hunt with dogs 90% of the enjoyment comes from how easily the dogs are to handle. The best rabbit dog I ever had would come to me when I whistled if she wasn't on a track. She'd jump up in the cab of the truck and ride to the next letout. She wasn't as fast or had the better noise as some of the other dogs I had, but for some reason she was the one I took most of the time. I want drag racing to be the same way, easy. Jim
PS. I did take AL or Larry's advice ( forget which ) and ordered some adjustable front shocks.
EDIT: Forget the Nitto. They only come in 11.1" width. I'll check my wheel well again tommorw. One things for sure, the Michelin Harmony race tires are gone.