I sent this to some friends last night so I hope you don't mind me being lazy and reposting it here. ;^)
After a 2 year hiatus, the T/A rolled down the strip in paint for the first time ever. It was a frustrating night with two big oil downs so I only got 2 passes in but it was worth it. With all of the attention to painting the car, I've neglected the driveline and it showed tonight. Two friends watched the first pass and noticed that the driver's side tire never spun while the passenger tire hand no problem hazing for as far as they could see down the track. No more posi. I also noticed the pressure plate isn't up to the ordeal as the car filled up with burned clutch smell before I hit the 1000 ft mark. To top that off, the carb was jetted way too lean. That one is my fault, I rejetted before heading to the track and the power loss was noticeable even on the way to the track. But with all of the problems, the T/A turned a 13.44@108.23 on the first run.
The second run was too much fun. Another chebbie blew up and I was stuck in the staging lanes again. When they started runs again, there was some shuffling and I ended up against a shiny black slammed ricemobile, don't ask me what it was. It was very hard to do, but I kept my cool till we were in line behind the burnout boxes. I shut the car down for the wait but when we got the go signal, I started the car and opened the electric cutouts. The look of amazement on that poor kid's face was worth every penny I spent on the cutouts as I rapped the 462 a few times. I didn't even do a burnout, just rolled up and staged to keep the clutch cool.
A sidenote here. On the first run, someone decided to run a Pro Tree on us and imagine my surprise while lined up against a 406 SBC 3rd gen when all the yellows came on at once. I cut a .924 light and was pretty proud of it. But with no traction, the Camaro beat me out of the hole but I was running him down till the end with a 2 mph advantage.
Anyway, the Pro Tree had me wound up and I cut a .514 1/2 second light. I dunno what happened to the ricer but I only beat him by 21 mph. My first open header run (106 mph, the clutch was really fading) and it was a hoot; I'm still pumped from it. It reminded me of my first run at a drag strip against a good friend but this time I was in the win lane. ;^)
A new clutch is a good idea since I will finally install the scattershield I picked up three years ago. I'll have to look around for someone to fix the posi or maybe buy an Eaton unit. The carb is pretty trival to fix but it will probably be a while before the next run down the track.
Dave