The Photography of Dr. Jeffrey P. Harper

My beloved drag race car and shop equipment have been sold, and paddock lease given back.  I saved a few tools and a lot of good memories.  It was a major lifelong dream of mine, from early childhood, to drag race with a 'real race car' one day. It is almost the only constant in my life of constant change.  I spent countless hours imagining every detail of the car I would build and drive one day.  I spent countless money on drag racing related books and magazines to educate myself before I eventually fulfilled the dream with this race car.  It was very, very difficult to make this dream come true in Thailand and required all my perseverance and patience in the face of not enough quality, timely, or reliable mechanical help available.  But still, it was always an adventure to find myself in strange environments while trying to complete race car construction tasks in Bangkok and surrounds. I met a lot of good people and made a lot of good friends through my racing -- but also some cheaters and many posers. Drag racing for me was a very simple thing: the phenomena itself was captivating -- I didn't analyze it, I just enjoyed it as a crazy desire.  The noise and the cars are, somehow, Beauty to me.  The best compliment I ever received was an American hot rodder who said, when I asked him if he liked my race car, "You built it, you didn't just talk about it."  Yes I did. It is by no means my only accomplishment in life, it is only a small accomplishment, but it carried so much meaning to me because, I now believe, it was a positively affirmative answer to the doubts of a youthful self about my own efficacy in the big world.  I often said that drag racing was the only high risk behavior that a 60 year old man should be involved in Bangkok. I have many more dreams yet to fulfill, but my "race car attachment" -- what has kept me from being a Once Returner (Sakadagami) this time -- has been satisfied. Thanks for the memories.  I happily move on toward my eventual death: the tank shows only 1/4 remains.

Well, Here I  am again: sorting put my little race truck.  Unfortunately, tonight's efforts were thwarted by a failed ignitor in the ignition system. I have triple-checkd everything and the system IS wired correctly (the ignitors are beween the AEM ECU and the MSD Dis-4 Plus CDI, as recommended by AEM in this configuration).  This clip shows the racer running on six cylinders. However, I feel that much progress was made overall.

But it was not a complete wash out: we were able to swap in a complete fuel cell-to-fuel pump -10 system with new -10 fuel filter too. (iPhone photo)

I had a two hour window at the drag strip before it rained: fuel, oil, trans fluid - check. Turn on the power and put some heat in it - what's this? . . . fans  coming on and off, lights flickering . . . . what the . . .? Oh Droppings! Rats, the mice ate the wiring! AGAIN!  I'm going to need rat poison if I am going to drag race in Thailand! There was an actual nest inside the dash.  I did not reach in to clean it out: this is Thailand -- there are vipers and cobras here that follow mice to their nests and then take a nap after their snack. Time to call the electrician.  Oh well . . .

. . . at least there was another insanely beautifully colorful sunset tonight.

After the big rain ended, and after I finished up some last minute "small jobs" on the race truck, I made a few test blasts on the return road of Bangkok Drag Avenue.  Unfortunately the strip had closed by the time I was ready.  There was nobody around to record the actual test runs, but I can tell you; it romped and stomped!

. . . . But Weather Not Cooperating!