The
Nostalgia Nats I always thought was just as it says on the Tin an event purely
for the Nostalgia guys and their style of cars. So I had really never thought of
going down to this event before. I thought even if I did go down in my 34, it
would be like the Nostalgia do's in the States and they would send me and
my modern Terrr *wink* Street Rod to the naughty boys corner and scoff at my
jeans with no turn-ups.... I did consider going in the F100 but at 50mph it
would of been a long haul and the wind noise may have given me tinnitus by the
time we had got there Ha Ha!! And to be honest I was desperate for an excuse to
get out in the Rod. I have seen this event covered in Custom car my favourite
Mag, really my Hot Rodding Bible and I feel sure it just shows the flathead's
and such doing there thing at this meet. So I guess that's where my misconception
came from or I could of just made it all up in my head I often do ya know
:>)... Anyhow talking to a few guys on the uk-hotrods chat
room, Thursday and Sunday nights *Plug* I discovered it was a great event
and for us all, Poncys Rods, Rat Rods and everyone all together as one big happy
family awwhhhh aint that nice :>)
So
that got me wanting to go and have some Fun, though under no circumstances was I
going to give my 34 a whack down the strip as last years personal best of 15s
dead was far to embarrassing to repeat, especially when flatheads could wup its
puny ass all day long. Now also to compound my slow ET's even further, I had
swapped the power producing Holley for a economy inducing lecktric choked
Edelbrock carb instead Oh and the shift kitted C4 was now binned in favour of
even more less performance orientated 4AOD overdrive transmission, in my quest
for decent fuel economy performance was never the criteria in my Rod. Man a std
302 in a glass Rod is fast enough if ya drive it right aint it :>)....... So
this in mind I never intended to do the strip thing, I was going down Sunday, I
was gonna meet some old mates and hopefully some new ones, check out some great
cars, kick back and just enjoy the day did this happen....?
Did it heck as like....terrrrrrrrrrrr Read on!
Well Friday night the 34 was cleaned polished and ready to go, I was just gonna go down Sunday this time, I didn't want to push my luck with the misses, as I wanna do the Wet and Wild do in a couple of weeks and the Supernats was also on the cards, so that would be all.
There had been mention of total advance and stuff on the uk-hotrods e-mail group a few days before, so ya know how it is, I thought I'll check mine........... I did the truck first for reference 50degrees.... then I did the 34............ 66Degrees........... Jeez?????
Then I remembered, I had checked it last year and had already gotten another dizzy from me mate Smax to replace it with, doing the trans swap over the winter I had forgotten all about it........... Man I can be a major dick head sometimes. I had robbed the vac advance off it for the truck months ago and the mounting plate was damaged so a straight swap was out and a strip down of the dizzy was the order of the day or should I say night... To cut a long story, so its not as long, as a long story... the mechanical advance plate was loose and damaged so it could advance all it wanted.............on further checking, I had been running the 302 at 3degrees retarded to compensate so it didn't pink. Thus repaired and fitted set up and buzzing, I was convinced the 34 would now be a Drag strip Demon grrrrrrrrrr So now the Sunday would be me showing the assembled crowd at the Nostalgia Nats just how damn fast my 34 really was...no 15sec Quarters for me this time eh... Ho Hum!
I loaded the Tools and me and Fat Boy Slim (Pudzz) set off early (6am) for what should be a real cool day of Drag Racing and Hot Rodding Fun. The 34 was running just so fantastic, no pinking, dead responsive, real quiet and so very very cool.....It was perfect...We were chilling to Jamiroquai playing in the Cd player and just having a good crack. We arrived at Shakespeare County Raceway at 9.30am, we were greeted by it's friendly staff and paid our dues, and also we were made to feel real welcome by Keith Harman who gave me my pit pass and Wade (The 2002 ESRA Video is nearly finished) Pilkington both giving up their spare time to help put on a good weekend for us all.
The camping area looked pretty much full with a massive variety of Rod Trucks and Yanks. The weather was stunningly sunny and swelteringly Hot already..... we drooled at the rods lining the camp area roads and made our way to the scrutineering veer the scenic route of course of twice round the pits. Scrutineering was simple and straight forward, the guys clearly into the cars and doing it for their love of the sport not the power as most of my previous encounters with Race scruntineers has been... We stopped and had a good Crack with Mark (Toad) Pointing and then had to hurry cus I wanted to get a quick look round before I got to show off how fast my 34 was.
We
stopped at Gary McCormack's pitch and checked out his magnificently Awesome
Fordson which is now sporting a massive satin Blower, what a fantastic set up he
has, and for a successful young guy he has no edge and didn't mind me storing my
access baggage in his Ford Lightening tow truck Cool eh!... Well now my car was
so exquisitely tuned I could knock about with nobody else could I really eh
:>)
While there
Mike Hughes stopped by in his Yum Yum 34 all repaired and looking magnificent after
its spot of Vandalizing. Mike had the new 5 speed in and was running strong and
well Happy with its performance.. I had been told of his exploits the previous
night trying to bait a Lamborghini and a Ferrari or two into some Street racing.
Mike had done a burn out or three to show his muscle and headed out onto the
highway behind the Ferrari Marannello? and the guy booted it only to find Mike
firmly stuck to his rear and just toying with him, bet the Ferrari guy couldn't believe
it as Mike even stayed there round the twisty bits :>) Mike has had some sh*t
happen lately but never stops smiling and uses his Rod hard, though it could be
a great show circuit Car it doesn't make him treat it with kid gloves and did 7
Runs up the strip on the Saturday and loved every second of it, with a wheel spinning
14.10 as his personal best, though he has yet to master the launch technique (hurr
tell me about it) and the car is capable of 13 prob I am sure. If all the previous
month crap hadnt been enough a Rodder had backed into his front fender and the
newly out of the paint shop Fender was now in need of another blowing over
Grrrrrrrrr
Beauty and the Beast HRG competitor Alix Rowley ( Hot Rod Barby) shows its not only Hairy
Rs'd fellas who can compete.
I had a good crack with Steve Enright, he told me all his secrets for the perfect launch and how to topple any opponent I may encounter..... I was now all fired up and ready to hammer the living daylights out of the 34 and then park it up for the day with my point proven... Yeah right!
Here's a test to see if you are a true Hot Rodder which is the most perfect
rear for you of this two excellent models :>)
There was a real friendly atmosphere round the pits and with the sun shining on the assembled Mass of Muscle in the UK where else would you rather be? I lined up for my turn to Boogie up the strip the queue was long but moving very quickly. The Gasser Circus cars were just the wildest things and lined up with us all, you gotta take your hat of to these guys who put so much money, effort and time into creating these drag Strip Behemoths. From Vettes to 57 Chevy's any style it seems can be gassed oh as long as it predates? er 1969? Hey what do I know :>) Someone chirped that the original Gasser was a mistake and the guy who did the first one saw a photo only of a Drag Car launching from the line nose in the air and thought that was its stance when stationary and designed his accordingly.. ....Drag Racer's aye :>)
I watched Gary Mac do a
storming 9.4 at 141mph and it looked Mind Blowing the crowd loved it and a roar
rang round the stands as everyone showed their appreciation of such an entertaining
and storming Run by the Fordson Flyer! The crack was great in the fire up road
and me and Pudzz just lapped it up.. It was soon my turn to be a drag strip hero
and one rule for draggin is you have to have your arms covered. Well I just
chucked anything in when we set of that morning and guess what I had to put on,
in the blazing sun in a stuffy claustrophobic rod ..... my winter garage work
shirt that's all, complete with thermal fur lining Ha Ha what a Numpty!!
I was bloody sweltering, and what happens as I get out on to the strip there is an oil down ohh no!! I sat there what seemed like and age and it was like I was in a shower, Fat lads, fur lined shirts, hot weather and being worked up do not a Cool guy make. I could hardly hold the steering wheel my hands were soaking, well at least I will be loosing some weight I thought to myself..
The oil down sorted, I lined up in the spectator Lane, ahh
everyone will get a real clear view of my soon to be storming run wont they
Yeeha.. 
I was pitted against a late
60's Impala I think. Should be a quick car I thought, but he wont have a chance against
my fully sorted street storming 34 will he Ha Ha like a lamb to the
slaughter.......... I staged shallow (technical term us Drag racers use) as soon
as I saw amber, I was gonna be on it! AMBER lights Boot it Yahhoo ..........
Nope it was.Bluuuurrrrrr *splutter* Man I thought the motors blown up, it just
died totally and utterly I had my foot buried in it and nothing was happening?
No noise, no forward movement, Nowt, zilch, narda! *huh?* mean while the Impala
was off on his drive up the strip :>)
I back off my buried right foot and something happened?? I buried it again and it spluttered forward, it coughed again and I pumped it and finally got some forward moment though not at a pace I would of liked..... then as things got moving the 34 seemed to wake up and started to charge real good, changing into each higher gear real crisp resulting in even more rapid forward motion, thankfully the Impala waited for me and I Blattered past him to save a little face but man was I gutted, I now had looked an even bigger prick than last year *Boo Hoo* *Shame*
Pudzz came up to me after the run with a face down to is knees and was puzzled at what I had been playing at on the start line.. I explained what had happened and we shot back to the pits to think about how we could sort it like! More advance and some more fuel was the key we reckoned and Puddzz set about it. Also we found the fuel filter was empty???
While this was going on, a
couple of guys I have got to know through doing this webs site, came up and had
the crack, which I find so Cool. I never in my wildest dreams intended this web
site to grow like this, but it has made me some real great friends who I guess I
would never ever got to know if I hadn't been doing it..... Proof in point is
Dave Brown who owns the Amazing Ally A40 Van actually came up and introduced
himself to me, now how Cool is that. I was only sorry I was up to my eyes in it,
he deserved more of my attention than I feel he got, but Pudzz was on a mission
and needed my help. Dave was just the nicest and down to earth guy you could
ever wish to meet he invited me to come and have a proper look at his Amazing
Ride when I was sorted. I hear all these stories of how some of the guys with
the top rods are up them selves but I have yet to meet one. Dave Brown though having
what must be one of the top Rods in the country went out of his way to speak and
you can tell he gets as much pleasure out of other people enjoying his Ride as
he does owning it which is great dont ya think *respect*Car sorted we lined up
again, but it was to be 3hrs from joining the back of the queue to actually
getting to do my 2nd run so by the time we had parked back up and eaten Dave had
gone :>(
We were having some great crack me and Pudzz in the line up and the wait time
though long seemed to pass very quickly, with loads of people who I know from
the e-mail group I have on the uk-hotrods web site, coming up and spending time
with us. I really cant remember laughing as much as I did in them few hours any
other time at a Rod Meet in the past it was great. The reason for the long wait
was oil downs again and even when I lined up again for my 2nd Run sweltering,
there was another one. Very frustrating for the NSRA I bet and must be so boring
for the spectators but there is nothing anyone can do that's just Drag
racing.
Oh and another Hold up
was the very unfortunate Armco slap that the Guy in the Izzeta Bubble car did.
We were all watching this amazing liddle car, it has an Hayabusa engine in it
and did 107mph through the traps the previous day.. Nothing could of prepared
you for what happened this time though. He left the line straight, true and
quick, then just a few yards out it just exited Armco left for no apparent
reason. I first heard the crowd go "Oh No, awwhhh" "what a
bloody shame" But Man it was so f**ing Funny to see, It was just
one of those moments ya knew it was tragic, you knew it could be serious and it
was gonna be costly but ya couldn't help but see the comical side of it. I
am sure the guy built it for it's comical appeal as it is just such an amazing
concept a Bubble car that is so mind bogglingly fast Crazzeee for sure..... Well
all around me suddenly realised though as comical as it looked, this was no
comical incident and we all stopped and just really felt sick for the Dude. We
were all very concerned now as there aint much in the front of them if you do go
Armco bound. When he got out Ok we all cheered with admiration for this Bubble
car pilot and mostly with relief he was Ok... I intend to send the video to You've
been Framed and if I get £250 I will give him some of it for sure!
Well that all over it was
my turn, I lined up against a full on Drag Race 34 (See Photo) and knew in my
heart I was gonna look like a super prick for the second time today, but I was
man enough to take it... The lights turned Amber I booted it, by the time it was
green I was still there Ha Ha and though the motor hooked up it seemed to
proceed its forward movement at quite a leisurely pace *F*K* I thought come on
Ya Barstard get a bleeding move on, the other guy is nearly half way up the
Strip already and we are still poncing round a few yrds out :>)..... It seems
the Overdrive box doesn't feel any one who fits one would desire a quick hook up
from a stand still, so takes it's time..... but Man once it does wake up, it
does seem to get a move on.... I managed to knock 2 seconds off the 1st Cough
and sputter run but I was gutted still only a 15.2s :>(
So thoroughly peed off I
parked her up and had a Curry, like all self respecting Fat lads do. Followed by
at last a look round the trade stands which were plentiful and well stocked also
a look round the Camping area was in order to see what tasty machines may be
lurking there that we hadnt seen. There were some very Cool looking Rods parked
up, which had never ventured near the strip today, so I was glad we had finally
got to have have a look at em.. One sight which I wish I had more about me to
ask if I could take a shot for the web site was, Me and Pudzz where just
meandering round the cars and as I spotted another Rod worth checking out, I
turned left between to large vans to be confronted by two of the Biggest
Breasted girls in the Universe well the Nostalgia Nats anyway.... They were
laying down on their fronts propped up by their elbows and their amble Bussoms
where just danglin there in all there glory..... I must of just looked opened
mouthed and maybe even blurted out a sound or two in shear shock, amazement and
Joy Ha Ha Man Thank You who ever your where you made an old man very happy that
day! I only wish I had asked them to keep that pose for me to capture it to
share with you all on here, its still vivid in my head but shall soon just be a
fading memory ahhhhh !
The Day was slowly coming to an end, it had been frustrating but great fun we had met some real nice people saw loads of great cars and watched some very Wild Drag Racing and we still had the Joy of driving home to come yet so what more could ya want for ya dollar. We waved our good buys and set out on that highway to the North... I went to fill up at the local gas station and saw the most beautiful 32 Sedan coming out, I nodded in acknowledgment to my fellow Rodder and the driver shouts "alright Holmsey" I was gob smacked, people in such cool cars know me.. it wasn't until I was well into the journey home I realised it was Simon Phillips who's 32 is in my garage scene pages Derrrrrr .. I have a terrible memory and Names well just forget it I hardly remember my own sometimes.... Sorry Si !!
Mark (Pudzz) asked me how I had felt about my 34's performance today, my reply was "I am gutted mate gutted". I was convinced the dizzy mechanical advance problem would of transformed its performance but it wasn't to be...Now Pudzz is never really one to philosophies more take the piss really but I guess he felt my pain Ha Ha.
He made me
feel real good about the day by saying "Well Mate. You have taken
your performance carb off, you have swapped your performance trans for the
overdrive Box, you have put in a 3:54 diff now instead of the 4:1 and really transformed
it into a real useable Car it drives like a Production car, its quiet, it
handles, it is now very economical and most important you have made it no slower
than it was... It did 15s last year it did the same this year so be happy"............
Hey guess what now I was, Thanks Mate.... We belted it home and there is now way
it can ever be called a slow Road car, I wont say what speed we came home at but
we were home 1/2hr earlier than we thought we would be and I still got 27mpg
cant be bad from a 302 eh! Seeya all at Wet and Wild come say Hello but please
tell me who Ya are even if I have met ya before I have a real bad memory for
names... *respect*
My bit of self indulgence Trucks, Trucks, Trucks Nurse pass me a tissue!
