Four of us (Chris, Nathan and myself with James at the wheel of the Suburban) departed Columbia just after 1:00 PM Friday afternoon and arrived in the Joplin area by 6:00 PM in time to check in at the LaQuinta before zipping over to the track down the road in Asbury, MO. The track opened at 7:00 PM and was open until 11:00 PM for a Friday night Test-n-Tune. We unloaded the BA 409 right quick and James went through tech and got lined up. There weren’t that many cars there so it appeared that there would be plenty of opportunities throughout the evening. At least for the cars that didn’t break… James went 12.2662 at 106.91 MPH in his first pass and then got back in line.
Second pass had a good burnout in the water box then James lined up the car and she shot craps at the light. Turns out that soldered-up open gave itself up (we all as expected at some point). No damage to the track, we had the car towed back to the trailer and loaded her up. Took a quick cursory look and it appeared internal to the rear end. Had to be either the chunk or the axles, or a little of both. We didn’t have good light in the pits, but we did get an offer from a guy nicknamed “WrenchBender” on the HAMB that James had connected with previously. He had a shop in nearby Waco, MO so we watched him and the others race a bit, then headed over to Waco later that evening.
First we went over to WrenchBender’s house to follow up on some arrangements he and James had over some hemi parts. Then we went to his shop nearby. It was getting late so we parked the trailer in his shop overnight with the idea of getting at it on Saturday. The Hot Rod Reunion was scheduled for Sunday, so we had the day to kill. Found out there was to be a car show in nearby Carthage, MO so we headed over there on Saturday morning. Lots of great cars, including a few “W” builds.
Here is one sweet 1961 SS clone I spotted when we first arrived:
And here is a neat '60 Chevy with a "W":
And another with tripower:
Later that Saturday afternoon we headed over to Waco to meet up with WrenchBender (whose real name is Randy Jackson but he goes by “Jackson”. James had brought a spare pumpkin with 4.88 gears that was also welded up from an open. Good thing because the soldered rear end had given itself to the metallurgy gods taking most of the parts with it.
Here's a shot of James and Jackson diving under the BA409 car:
Here’s a shot of the former rear end:
One of the axles was OK the left one had a bit of a twist going. WrenchBender zipped back to his place to possibly locate a suitable replacement. James went back under (he was doing all the heavy lifting while we watched and drank beer, a normal division of time and talent for the team) and reassembled the center chunk then installed the RH axle. A few beers later Jackson returned with a candidate axle, but it had a few differences so we went back with the original (and slightly twisted) axle. What the heck, we had to go with what was available!
We left his shop just before midnight and hit the local IHOP before passing out at the hotel. Left the car on the trailer out behind his shop, so we could slip by on the way to the track on Sunday morning without having to inconvenience Jackson. It was lonely out there by itself next to the bean field:
Sunday started out well, we picked the trailored BA409 up and headed back to the track where we had just broken down at. James put in two trial runs (got a little better each run ending with a 12.2568 at 107.32) and so he dialed in at 12.26 and took the first round of elimination with a 12.2406 run. I think it was a ’65 Chevelle that he sent home. Next run James dropped the ET on the windshield to 12.22 and good thing because he ran a best of 12.2319 at 107.45. The other guy cut a great light and we headed to the trailer. But the rear end stayed together (at least for a little bit). It is destined to be replaced with a modified Pontiac housing for next year…
A fun time was had by all who attended. Special thanks to Floyd and Travis Horton and to Mearl McBride for the personal connect. We look forward to meeting again at MO-Kan!
Cheers! TomK