What a week it has been! I don't know where to start so I think the easiest method for me to remember stories is to talk about some of the pictures I took well in New York. That is "Scott Miller" on the left and me "Andy Dunn" on the right, as we head to Ontario Airport to catch a Delta flight to Atlanta and then onto Islip. I found out that I had been saying it wrong for weeks...it does not sound like "his lips", instead it sounds like "Ice Lip".
One more thing before I get going, here is a page on my site with all the pictures and two videos. TextAmerica is a great free site but sometimes they have bandwidth issues so you might find it easier looking here.
The Pictures!
http://www.piratesofhorsepower.com/jemc/index.html
Airports
We got to the airport early and I brought along 10 auto mags. Scott sipped an ale and we read through Muscle Mustang and Fast Fords. Scott was a little nervous on the first flight as they packed us in like sardines. Atlanta airport is monster sized and we walked from A to C which might of been a mile. We decided to suck back some Wendy's fries Scott was tricked, like so many of us are, when he ordered the Wendy's frosty. He sucked his lips off trying to drink it through a straw, when really it is more like DQ ice cream. He was about to grab a spoon as they called our flight to board. I grabbed the ice cream from him like an ice cream nazi and belted out "no time to eat...go go go...time to board!" Have you seen the trash cans in Atlanta airport? They are kind of scary because each one is like a mini trash compactor.
Pam Lent Us Her Ride
I rented a car from this company called Pam, but we ended up referring to the girl in the office as "Pam" and the company as Pam's car rental. In the Holiday Inn lobby, I could see Alamo rent a car, but I could not find Pam! I called Pam on the cel and she said "just walk to the front door and look around". I kid you not...Pam worked out of a broom closet! Here is Pam's signage Here is Pam's Office which is literally a broom closet between the two front doors at the Holiday Inn. Here are Pam's employees hard at work in the closet. Sadly I forgot to take pics of the notorious Pam herself, but she did rent us her one and only set of wheels. Pam's car worked great and I would rent from Pam again!
Bill Mitchell
The greatest thing was that the Holiday Inn was one mile from the airport and Bill Mitchell's was only a couple miles further. As soon as we got there we were greated by General Manager Keith. Man, this dude knew his stuff. Keith has us moving around chop-chop. I love good organization and Keith was the black ninja pro-level master of organization.
The first step is to unpack your create. PHR and Bill Mitchell really wanted the engine masters to concentrate on the engines, and not to have to worry about the logistics, and so you were appointed staff at every stage. The stages went something like this
1. Unpack Crates
2. Engine on Wheel Stand In Warehouse
3. Pre Assemble in Warehouse
4. Final Assemble in On Deck Room
5. Onto Dyno for the Full Pull
The staff quickly found our crate and the unpacking began. Here is stage two where the engine was lifted from the crate and onto the very efficient dyno dollies. Each competitor was given a rolling parts rack which could be filled with tools and components and would follow your engine everywhere. Once the engine was on the dyno dolly, into the pre-assembly hallway they went. This was also the area where the six top engine were stored.
The Valve Cover Incident
We hit one snag when unboxing the engine...it's difficult to see in this picture, but near the left valve cover stud, is a small crack that Scott spotted. The shipping crate was so tight on the engine, during shipping, it must of applied repeated force on the valve cover and one stud sheared right off, one bent, and one cracked the bolt. We took off the cover and found the damage. This really isn't a big problem...it would just be an oily mess. Our plan was to squirt in some goop and let it dry...it would be ugly but work for a few pulls. The very kind Keith "chop chop" Ferrell was walking by and said, "Hey, can I lend you a valve cover or two for the event?" We replied "Yes thanks!" Keith produced the very rare, one-off, Man O War. Here is the inside scoop on the Man ;) you read it here first...Bill Mitchell now has a new block for small block fords. This will compete with Ford Racing and Dart. The block is really sweet and extra beefy. They have added four additional head bolts on each side for the people pushing blower and turbo compression to the limits. You don't have to use these extra stud holes with regular heads, but BM is going to also release a head to take advantage of them. ;) I think the block and heads will be under the Man O War brand name.
Once you are on the crate and pre-assembled (headers and card and stuff), you then get wheeled into the main room for the big show. In this area, Bill worked his magic and made sure we were ready for the dyno...this means double checking things like:
-plug wires
-water pump wires
-msd wires
-radiator hose sizes
Here is an example of the on-deck stall...in this pic, Jon Kaase chats with Ron Shaver whose engine is on-deck and ready to go.
At the end of the room are the three dynos and this is where the biggest crowd forms. That's Charles Williams watching the scores in the blue shirt and beige pants on the left. I believe the lad in the beige shirt in the middle is Trip Manley of Manley Performance. We all watch and listen to the engines, and the DTS people display the scores on a large video screen above dyno 2. The video screen was awesome. My only suggestions would be to have the Torque dial as big as the HP dial, and perhaps also show a top50 list along with the top three dyno lists. The screen made the event so much more enjoyable.
Now I didn't think about writing all the scores down. I could barely read my own writing and gave up. LoL I am kicking myself now because I could of typed it into my cel phone note pages. Everyone has been emailing me for a list of results...does anyone have a final list that they made that they would care to share? Maybe the DTS people would consider emailing me one...I might try and call them monday. If you have a list and would like to share it...please email me andy@lips.com and I will post it up here asap and give you full credit. I know everyone would enjoy seeing it.
Here is another look of the main room where the competition took place. In front of the dyno room is the control desk which has the main computer monitor. I believe that is the back of Michael Simpson as he insures everything is in order. Here is a picture from inside one of the three dyno cells.
Everything was really well queued. One dyno would run, while the other dynos were being unloaded and loaded. If a mill made one of the top two scores on that individual dyno, that engine was then moved into winner's row.
Of the final six engines, four were Fords and two were Chevy. The four Fords had three different heads! CHI, Trickflow and AFR. The winning three mills had CHI, Brodix, and Trickflow heads.
In the evenings, Scott and I would head into the Holiday Inn's Brickyard Bar. Scott and I would drink the ale, eat the pizza, and blab with many new friends about engines and racing. By the end of the night, I would have had three too many Guiness's, and would trip home to my room, passing Pam's Rental closet. The Brickyard was a great spot to hang at the end of a dyno racing day.
Those are the stories for today. More stories and pics coming. Again, if anyone jotted down the score lists and would care to share, please shoot me an email andy@lips.com. I do run a spam filter called spam arrest and it may ask you to clink one link to verify you are not a bot.
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