Former Race Car Build-Up

Bye-Bye Baby, Bye-Bye.

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 03:10:02 +0000

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.

At It Again!

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 08:13:02 +0000

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'm going to need rat poison if I want to drag race in Thailand."

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sun, 22 May 2011 03:50:06 +0000

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.

At last . . . a test session.

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sun, 15 May 2011 13:19:17 +0000

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!

Race Car Ready to Test . . . .

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sat, 14 May 2011 09:39:41 +0000

. . . . But Weather Not Cooperating!

Transmission Re-Installation

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sun, 08 May 2011 02:20:50 +0000

Well . . . it's all back together. After a 10-hour day of toiling under my race car . . . OK, after my worker toiling under my race car all day . . .

Parts laid out, tools scatterred; the work begins.

Because the 1UZ torque converter is thicker, we had to trim off the cross member trans mount to get the trans back up into position. This was a really tough job. He and I really struggled.

After everything was in place and bolted up tight, the trans mount had to be welded back in place. It went well. We put in the trans fluid, the motor started, it went in gear, and the tires spun.

But the most WONDEROUS part of the day was this incredible sunset storm.

Getting Around To 'Little Jobs' . . .

Dr. Jeff Harper — Thu, 05 May 2011 02:59:51 +0000

When I installed the Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump I was lazy: the A1000 has -10 fittings on each end, but the outlet on my fuel cell, as well as the fuel filter, were already -8. At the time I felt that that was "good enough."After talking to some knowledgeable road and drag racers who use the A1000 successfully, I learned that the A1000 has a habit of overheating (and burning out) unless the fuel lines and filter are sized correctly. So, since I had time and money, I ordered a complete set of -10 fittings, high quality German hose, and a proper TrickFlow -10 fuel filter. I'm glad I did. I will install it this week-end when I reinstall the transmission.

New Torque Converter & Trans Mods

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 08:46:06 +0000

My bad luck is sometimes paired to good luck. It's a push.

Michael at MV Automatics in Australia and I determined that the turbine had pulled loose inside of the original 4200 stall 1JZ MV converter (the grey one). Bad luck. Art in Pattaya happened to have a Percision Industries 1UZ 4000 stall billet race converter (the pink one). Good luck.

If you look closely you can see that the 1JZ and 1UZ torque converters are not the same. The 1UZ is thicker, and, more importantly, the input shaft from the transmission registers differently into the torque converter. I will not need the drive ring to mount it now.

The Precision Industries billet converter is a very nice piece.

This is the 1UZ front pump. The distance between the front pump and the shaft splines is just differnt enough [to the 1JZ splines] so that the splines will not engage. So, to properly index the splines to the torque converter I have to change the front pump over to the 1UZ; A340 transmissions are otherwise the same -- I am essentially making my old (non-electric) 1JZ transmission over to a new 1UZ transmission so I can use it with the new 1UZ race converter. Whew! But that's not all . . . .

There's your problem! Just kidding. It's good to be in a country that assembles Toyotas because there are ocasionally broken parts that come out of the containers. When this happens Toyota sells the broken parts as SCRAP! Lucky me! My man Art gets these brand new broken A340 transmissions from Toyota for a song and a dance and has passed his savings on to me. Lucky me!

Look closely at this pile of A340 parts - yep, brand new - really brand new 0 miles A340 parts. So, I will be putting 100% new internals into my trans case. Knock on wood . . . . "Lucky me."

Trans Issue Diagnosed - At Last!

Dr. Jeff Harper — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:43:21 +0000

After much head scratching and the complete disassembly of the transmission (it was "like new inside), I sent these photos to Michael at MV Automatics in Australia . . . because the only thing we could think of was that the torque converter had failed.

These are the splines inside of the torque converter.

These are the transmission input shaft splines.

This is Michael's reply:

"I've just seen [the photos] today. Whats actually happened, the imput shaft splines are intact but the hub has torn out of the front turbine. The steel hub is riveted into a press steel turbine. You can see a small amount of damage on the end of the input shaft where the clutch seal runs. The converter has to be cut open to be repaired."

I may have caused this . . . . or just too many hard runs. Either way, I am glad to know what happened. So, what to do?I have access to a 4000 stall speed converter for a 1UZ (not a 1JZ converter like I now use). I will change the front pump on my existing race-built transmission from the 1JZ to the 1UZ pump, which will index everything correctly and eliminate the need for the drive ring. Wish me luck.

A Day in the Race Shop

Dr. Jeff Harper — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 12:50:26 +0000

I hired Khun Somchai to help me remove the broken transmission today.

Somchai did all the heavy lifting and back-breaking work. I am old now.

The transmission was very reluctant to be taken out from the bottom . . . with the motor still in . . . but we did it.

This is the drive ring I had made to correctly space the torque converter to the transmission input shaft splines.

The supercharged 1UZ race motor is just sitting there . . . raring to race . . . . but noooo . . . . more delays!

I am continually amazed at the cars that turn up in Thailand. This very nice 455 TransAm ran a respectable 14.20 e.t.

An approaching mid-day (!) storm threatened to put a stop to the track activities, but it never rained a drop. Amazing Thailand!