I don't want to trample on the convention thread so I will explain a little about our experiences at the convention. Several have already asked about the name I selected for the car. How many times have you been asked, what is a 409? If a sbc is a mouse motor and bbc is a rat motor,, what is a 409? Seemed obvious to me that it is a rat but spelled with a "W". The evil looking little varmit is carrying a bag full of 409 parts he "found". 
Thanks again to all who donated parts to the bag. The orange letters represent chevy-orange engine paint. We spent 1 1/2 days trying to fix a brake problem. The Pack-Wrat spent most of the time on jack stands. Several of us took new cars that were really not ready to the convention. We all did the best we could and we will do better next time. Loren (gearhead409) , Jim and Jim came over to offer help with the brake diagnosis. Loren quickly bled each component and found the proportioning valve was bad. Barry and I started looking for steel brake line and fittings to plumb around the valve. Jim says, "pull the valve, take the guts out, and use it for a junction instead of a valve.. Simple and brilliant. Brakes worked great the rest of the event. Barry said the rears never grabbed too much so all was good with stopping. Now, if could just make it run. Cheapskate Russell put a cheapy Summit brand electric fuel pump on the car. I constantly tried to save every cent I could because my financial situation ( I,m broke ) is not good. 
I learned not to scrimp on something that supplies the engine with fuel. I knew the rear suspension is a joke but wanted to get the car to Kansas and knew the components could be changed later. Barry had to abort one run because the car was almost out of control 100 ft out. I told him that was the most entertaining launch I had ever seen him do. I'm glad Dan ( ishiftem) had on clean clothes when he came by to say , hi. If Dan had laid on the ground and looked at the rear suspension,,, he would have stood up, shook his head, and walked off without a word. Fuel pump is no.1 on the list,,, rear springs and shocks, no.2 and the rest of the list is long. Barry dialed a 11.55 on the last run, let off the gas to keep from braking out, and still run 11.39. The car falls flat and sputters and bangs in some of 1st gear and half of 2 nd gear because of lack of fuel. So, we are optimistic about the future. I think the car has enough hp to run 10.80s , so that is the goal for the future. Thanks to all who dropped by and offered help. Thanks to all who signed the door panel. No doubt, the door panel is now my most cherished possession. 
Thanks again to all who donated parts to the bag. The orange letters represent chevy-orange engine paint. We spent 1 1/2 days trying to fix a brake problem. The Pack-Wrat spent most of the time on jack stands. Several of us took new cars that were really not ready to the convention. We all did the best we could and we will do better next time. Loren (gearhead409) , Jim and Jim came over to offer help with the brake diagnosis. Loren quickly bled each component and found the proportioning valve was bad. Barry and I started looking for steel brake line and fittings to plumb around the valve. Jim says, "pull the valve, take the guts out, and use it for a junction instead of a valve.. Simple and brilliant. Brakes worked great the rest of the event. Barry said the rears never grabbed too much so all was good with stopping. Now, if could just make it run. Cheapskate Russell put a cheapy Summit brand electric fuel pump on the car. I constantly tried to save every cent I could because my financial situation ( I,m broke ) is not good. I learned not to scrimp on something that supplies the engine with fuel. I knew the rear suspension is a joke but wanted to get the car to Kansas and knew the components could be changed later. Barry had to abort one run because the car was almost out of control 100 ft out. I told him that was the most entertaining launch I had ever seen him do. I'm glad Dan ( ishiftem) had on clean clothes when he came by to say , hi. If Dan had laid on the ground and looked at the rear suspension,,, he would have stood up, shook his head, and walked off without a word. Fuel pump is no.1 on the list,,, rear springs and shocks, no.2 and the rest of the list is long. Barry dialed a 11.55 on the last run, let off the gas to keep from braking out, and still run 11.39. The car falls flat and sputters and bangs in some of 1st gear and half of 2 nd gear because of lack of fuel. So, we are optimistic about the future. I think the car has enough hp to run 10.80s , so that is the goal for the future. Thanks to all who dropped by and offered help. Thanks to all who signed the door panel. No doubt, the door panel is now my most cherished possession. 
