The first casualty was Jeff...
The first casualty was Jeff West's clean '70 Challenger. On his third pass, Jeff injected his 340 with a shot of giggle gas. Right off the line we noticed the tailpipes were puffing steam like an old locomotive. Jeff said, "I lost power and coasted to a stop only a couple hundred feet downtrack." Luckily, there was no parts or fluid spilt on the track. The following weekend, Moe Keys and Jeff replaced the head gaskets and the 340 was back in action. Despite the mishap, Jeff had a great time and was happy there wasn't any damage done to the motor or drivetrain.
At The Track
With the help of two former shootout veterans, Moe Keys and Bill Worley, we were able to organize this shootout before E-Town closed for the winter. This get-together happened on the track's last day before shutting off their timing equipment. Even though there was cold weather and less than optimal track conditions, we had a diverse group of gearheads willing to beat-on and track-tune their cars.
On the night before the event, Tom Cannon was busy pulling out the 416 that served in three years of F.A.S.T. class competition because he discovered a 55-percent leakdown in the number three cylinder. he installed his old high-compression (13:1) 340. His old motor was used in the T/A before the F.A.S.T. class racing took off. On that swap night, a new adjustable multi-disc clutch was put in place. For the first pass, Tom forgot the 340 (less low-end power) liked to be launched at 1,500 rpms higher than the 416. Tom tells us he wishes he had more time to adjust the clutch and practice his launch technique. Still, running 12s at over 111 mph on Polyglass street tires through restrictive manifolds with only 340 cubes is mighty impressive.
The inseparable pair of Jim...
The inseparable pair of Jim Blackmore and his drop-top Dart GT have had the time of their life since 1989. The duo hadn't hit the strip since spinning tires to high 14s back in 1992. 'I love this gathering with a bunch of Mopar folks, the best kind of people I know," Jim said. Inactivity and a cold track didn't stop the pair from producing their best performance ever: a 14.12 at 100.47. On the fourth pass with their best holeshot, missing second gear slowed them to a high 14. Next, a leaky water pump developed and put them out of action. The coolant leak prevented the capable convertible from a possible 13-second quarter-mile on their great day out.
Barry Conrad was anxious to...
Barry Conrad was anxious to attend this shootout. It had been three years since Barry and his Demon dashed down the strip. Barry took advantage of his track time by progressively heating the tires and jetting up (richer) the carb for the cold conditions. Removing stuff out of the trunk, along with the spare and jack, also added to lower e.t.'s. All his efforts paid off when his Demon delivered its best-ever pass of 12.77 at 106.14.
Even though Moe Keys has traveled...
Even though Moe Keys has traveled the 1320 over a thousand times, he had his best day ever at the track. As far as Moe knows, this was the first time his Lime Light A-Body has ever made any quarter-mile passes. Moe said, "With better hook, I could have gotten it into the 13s." Like the others in this shootout, Moe realized if you use slicks, you might break parts. He said, "That's a risk I'm afraid to take with this original drivetrain car."
The cold track caused traction...
The cold track caused traction problems for Dave Verna in his cool '66 Plum Crazy 'Cuda. On his first pass with street tires (only 25-inch diameter), low 14s weren't cutting it. Dave said, "My car usually runs 13s on street tires through the exhaust." For the third pass, a pair of 26x8.5-14 slicks were mounted for increased traction. The slicks help lower the e.t. to 13.59 at 99.89. this was Dave's lowest e.t. through the restrictive 2-inch exhaust system. Uncorked, the bad little A-Body's best-ever e.t. was a 13.3 at 102. Forgetting that E-town had noise restrictions, Dave uncapped his headers and ran a tractionless (2.63 60-ft) 13.93 at 104.35. That run set off the decibel meter alarm and stopped Dave's sweet '66 from making anymore runs for the day.
When you consider the stock...
When you consider the stock appearance (except headers) of Bill Worley's AAR 'Cuda, it flat out runs. Bill set aside the original 340 for a 372 combo (360 crank, .030-inch over 340) he's been known for building long before the now popular 4-inch stroker cranks came into the picture. Back in the '90s, we were blown away when his stock-looking Challenger T/A was running 11s. As you can see in his tuning log, driving and tuning efforts lower the e.t.'s on each pass. Unfortunately, Third and Fourth gear let go on the sixth pass of the day. Without the transmission misfortune, we're sure Bill's AAR could have ran low 11s.