5th MArch 2010 Its been a real while since we have posted up, had some Internet Hosting problems and that has now been resolved. Work on the 2010 face lift is almost complete, the new axle is now built and the brakes on, bled and ready to provide some major stopping power. Th ebody is back from paint and new graphics being applied, we have some problems top address on te hshifting which is causing some head scratching, everything else except the new engine is in and being finished off. It looks like we will be running the new car at the Easter Thunderball with the old lump. We are behind with th ebuild but a concerted effort is bringing us back on schedule. Thanks to new sposors ARTEL who have provided us with the new hoses.
2nd December 2009 Team gridlock will be officially unveiling the new 2010 updated car at Race Retro at Stomeleigh Park. The car will be in Hall 3, a nicely heated hall so we all look forward to seeing some of out supporters there.
1st December 2009 Wheelie bars tacked up and ready for finish weld, dials and switches being mounted today, a massive thanks to Bill at Fester Race cars, anyone wanting chassis work, or a roll cage etc go to him, you will get a great job done. Engine now under way with some big news to be annouinced soon.
30th November 2009 After a great weekend where Adam was Awarded "Best Newcomer to the Sport" we are now back focusing on the new car. With the chassis nearing completion with just some tinwork and bracketry to finish we can then turn our attention to the body. Some modifications have already been carried out and need finishing but with some styling issues still to be addressed the body wont be ready fpr paint until Christmas. The car now has a much more agressive stance and once completed, we think it will look awesome.
6th November 2009 Been a while since we updated the page but lots of work still going on, the chassis is nearing completion, the engine is in work, new axle all built up along with the brakes, new wheels and tyres, so all is looking good for an early 2010 start for testing
11th October 2009 Well today is officially our first anniversary !!! At 9.58am 11/10/08 we recorded our first run at Santa Pod with an 18.71, 6.5 seconds slower than what we are now running. It was the start of a slippery slope that has taken over the family. Thanks to all those that have helped fuel the desire, have helped out in some shape or form and to all the staff and marshalls at the race tracks for all their efforts. Here is to 2010, a new season, a virtually new car, but thankfully the same people.
30th September 2009 Another visit to Fester Race cars today, sorted out all the rear axle, got some great stuff coming fron Strange, Strange Pro series brakes, all going to look great.
12th September 2009 A Visit to Fester Race cars today and the chassis is coming in well, really starting to look like a chassis now
3rd September 2009 New video uploaded
24th August 2009 Quite a sad day today, my Pop sold. But on a positive note, it has gone to a really nice guy who I am sure that he will give the car the care and use that it should have. Had a good move around so that we can get the old chassis outside so that we can cut it up. The plan is to cut it in half so we can mount it on the wall. Why? Well why Not lol? . The rest is destined for the scrapmetal skip
16th August 2009 Been a little quiet on here as we have beem mega busy at the workshops and planning the new build and getting components sorted. The old chassis is now bare, ready for cutting up all the relevant parts are with Bill for the chassis build, the new wheels should be here this week along with new hoosiers.
1st/2nd August 2009 Northern Nationals at York Firstly we would like to thank the York team for their top hospitality which was very much appreciated, they took us for a drive down the track showing us the return road and where we will do a U turn to wait for the recovery vehicles. Saturday was rained off so we dialled in blind for the Sunday, not knowing what effect the latest mods would make. Well to say we were surprised when Adz pulled a PB of 11.2 was an understatement, but fuel probs stopped us from getting a best top speed, what would the ET have been if we hadnt had that problem?. We had 4 great runs, but had a chassis failure at the end of the last pass which would have definately finished our season if it had happened earlier, not that it matters now as our new chassis is well on its way at Fester Race Cars.
29th July 2000 Finishing off painting the inside of the trailer today. It looks so much brighter now, all set for York, a long drive up so lets hope for some good racing.
24th July 2009 New axle case and stange ends came today, will be taking them to FESTER RACE CARS tomorrow
20th July 2009 Been playing with the carbs to try and sort out the bogging off the line, sounding pretty good now, so fingers crossed that we have solved the problem. Thanks to Daryl for his help from across the pond
16th Juky 2009 Spent quite some time with Bill Felstead at FESTER RACE CARS about the new chassis, all systems go now, let the build commence.
11th /12th July 2009 Mini Nationals at Shakespeare Counrt Raceway. Saturday morning wasnt looking good with the rain, as soon as it stopeed we were in the queue for a first pass. The car died on the line and we pushed back out ofstage, upon the fire up a core plug let go and spewed water out so back to the pits. A few minutres later and we were back in the pairing lanes A 12.01 followed by a 12.10 and we ran out of time for any changes, so dialled in a 12.05 for the Sunday. Sunday Morning was rain but at lunch the track dried up with great work from the Shakey team. 3 good solid runs with the consistancy slowly coming together 3 Personal bests and we got 3rd Place for our efforts. Perhaps 3 is our new lucky number!!! Well done to all concerned. Getting ready for York now which will be our last outing of the season,
6th July 2009 New Face book page now up, 52 members in 3 days, so sign up if you can, lots of stuff will be going on there
1st July 2009 New Boss Hogs Hi Stall Torque converter went in today, will be interesting to test out at Shakey on the 11th and 12th of July
27/28 June 2008 The Nostalgia Nats The weekend started bad, the Accelerator pumps were fouling on the manifold so had to remove the carbs and a recess filed out and replaced. We had just finished, test fired the engine when a core plug let go, water everywhere. Thanks to fReQ who gave us a core plug to solve yet another problem. Had one good run on Saturday and Adz pulled a PB. 4 Runs on Sunday and we were 2/100th of a second outside our average dial in to come 5th. Recorder another PB down into the 11's, also was awarded "BEST APPEARING TEAM", well pleased
18th June 2009 New Tacho now in and what an improvement.
17th June 2009 The new tacho arrived today, will go in tomorrow
15th June 2009 The new Tunnel Ram is now installed, looked wicked. Slightly shorter than the Offenhauser, will have to see how it performs. The ram also needed some modifications as the dizzy cap fouled on the ram intake. Is nothing ever easy anymore? Also put the noice new Blue Harness in, looks nice.
13th June 2009 Photoshoot with Jade and Sarah, a very good shoot with Mark of MFpix working his normal magic.
12th June 2009 New Harness and Torque Converter arrived today, may have to put the TC in after the Nostalgia Nationals
8th June 2009 The new isolator switch arrived and was put in with a new mounting bracket
5th June 2009 New wheels, New Hi Stall Torque Converter, New Harness, New Isolator switch now on order, fingers crossed that everything comes in so we have enough time toget it installed.
3rd June 2009 reworked the existing spindle so that we can now get the Altered out of the trailer, will be fitting it Saturday and will then be able to see if there is any further damage once it is back in the workshop. Old trailer went today as well, sorry to see it go as its done us proud, but we now have the humungous one so it was no longer needed.
1st June 2009 Stripped down the front steering, we are going to junk the old spindles and install nice new Strange Stilleto spindles, deciding on what wheels to run now. Also new Hi Stall Converter to help with the launch, 0-60ft time far too slow. A few other bits and pieces on order, just hoping that everything arrives in time to be installed before the Nostalgia Nats
30/31 May 2009 Yanks Weekend/31st Gary's Picnic. 3 good strong runs and a Personal Best on the Saturday and was up against the historic DORSET HORN, which was fantastic. The anticpation and excitement for a great days racing proved a bit too much when Adz red lit in round one against the well experienced Tikki Munki. A good strong and solid run until he turned for the return lane, a front spindle gave way (Metal fatigue) resulting in the front wheel departing the car and taking a visit to the local undergrowth. Assessing the damage now, looking like a complete new front telmetry and uprated spindles at the very least.
29th May 2009 New Tunnel Ram arrived just before we were about to leave for Shakespeare County Raceway so put it in the trailer as some insurancve for the weekend.
26th May 2009 The two new Residual Pressure Valves arrived today and got them fitted this afternoon, a million percent improvement. Also did the new padding on the roll cage today so getting ready for the big weekend. Still waiting for the new tunnel ram so fingers crossed that is gets here in time. Lots more bits to arrive this week.
23rd 24th May 2009 Been sorting and spraying the trailer with the crew this weekend, many thanks Adz, Val and Lorraine for a jobbie well done, looking sweeeeet. Just waiting for UK customs to release our nice new tunnel ram and we will be rocking and rolling all the way.
22nd May 2009 Ordered a couple of new bits for the trailer today, reflectors, a new rear light, and some vinyl for the graphics, just hope we can do this and all the other jobs before next weekend.
19th May 2009 Just collected our new (used) race trailer, its mahusive, kitchen and almost enough room for another car, 24' long, 3 axles.
16/17th May 2009 Spring Nationals at Shakespeare County Raceway. A very wet weekend, Saturday Morning started bright, we slowly moved forward to our turn, the ignition key was turned Adz was just about to fire up when.............. RAIN. Covers on and there we sat for about 3 hours until the race marshals called the day off. There was several intervals when the rain did stop and the Shakey crew did everything in their power to get the track ready, must say how hard they worked and very well done to try and get racing started again but the rain gods were not having any of it. Come Sunday we queud with the other WBers and moved into stage, suddenly the revs hit nearly 8000 and wouldnt come down so we had to shut down. A couple of adjustments and we were ready to stage, moved into position and.............Yes...........RAIN. Covers on, but theis time it was relentless, the rain just got worse and the event was called to a halt. On a positive note we were awarded best Altered which we were obviously extremely pleased with, especially with all the other great altered that were there, a great compliment. Thanks to the Wild Bunch for making us so welcome on our first competitve event and the all at Shakey for their efforts in trying to keep racing going --- See you in two weeks.
8th May 2009 Rollers now adjusted, have a photo-shoot tomorrow so will probably do the final time up on Monday. Will be spending a couple of days next weeks doing the last checks and having another go at the brakes, a bit more on the trailer then ready for the WB first round. Getting so close now, this time next week we will be loading up ready to go on the Saturday. Aiming for some 11's now, not getting too ambitous its a slowly slowly approach, now that sounds daft for a fast sport !!!!!
7th May 2009 Even though the season is just starting, we are already making plans for 2010, something major in the pipeline, cant say too much as yet but its got us well excited
6th May 2009 Dizzy turned up late yestreday, put it in this afternoon. Rough timed it by eye and it fired first time. Will adjust the tappets and make up the nice new 8.5 race leads tomorrow before timing up ready for testing.
3rd May 2009 Went to the Damn Yankees show today, shame that we never had a dizzy so we could have taken part in the cacklefest. What a bloody shame.
2nd May 2009 The dizzy never turned up yesterday so royally pissed off. Three weeks now so definately not impressed with the manufacturer.
1st May 2009 Been promised that the dizzy will be back today, fingers crossed that it arrives very soon so we can get down the workshop and retime the engine.
12th April 2009 Spent a few hours on the trailer looks a million times better now
11th April 2009 The acellerator pedal has now been modified to give full throttle. It will need completly re working when we get time as the linkages at the carb end look horrendous and the pedal assembly again looks awfull but it works fine now. The only nice piece is the cable supplied by RCS. All jobs to go on the list to produce a great car for next season.
9th April 2009 Dizzy gone back for repair. Noticed some scuffing by the accelerator pedal on the bulkhead, it seems that it was stopping the accelerator from opening fully, looks like we will get another 15% of throttle, yet another problem to sort out AGGHHH
6th April 2009 Done some tests to see what we find out. No spark at #3 so changed plug, still no spark. swapped out lead still no spark, moved #3 lead and got a spark so its either dizzy cap or the Dizzy
5th April 2009 Happy 23rd Birthday to Adam, have a great day
4th April 2009 Testing Day at Santa Pod, not a great day for us but Ken did well passing a 14.5 in his Cobra Mustang, well done. We had found that we had dropped a cylinder, #3 wasnt firing and showed some signs of oil, has disaster hit us again?
16th March 2009 Back from the show, pretty good but we were in a crap place so probably got missed by many of the punters. One of the good bits was that we picked up another sponsor (RCS Cables) and the gorgous Nikki who was with us got into the show DVD, along with the equally luscous dragster lol
12th March 2009 Off to Stoneleigh Park for the International Historic Motorsports Show, hope it will be a good time
7th March Just picked the car up from AUTO IMAGINATION whio have kindly sponsored the new race headers. In todays economical climate it is fantastic that these guys have helped us out, so check them out at http://www.autoimagination.co.uk/ and spend lots of £££££ with them, they are great guys and Mark will be crewing with us at some events in 2009.
26th February Not long now to the International Historic Race show (www.retrorace.com) so will start to get the polishing cloths out ready for the show.
21st Feb Santa Pod - 4 good solid runs, no problems other than loss of traction and a bit of a wobble, 4 other runs in the truck , RT's coming down, two PB's one in the truck and one on the dragster, at long last we have some luck
15th February Took a chance on another RWYB, forecast was 10% chance of rain before 3pm so off we set. Only 4 cars before us in the queue, and we had to hold, only slower street cars were going down. While we were waiting Adz took the truck for a blast, no traction for virtually the whole legth of the strip, so no way would the altered have got down safely. When we did have a dry enough lane, we had no forward or reverse gears. Off to the pits, sorted that out and the spots of rain, drizzle and more wet stuff fallaing from the heavens. Dissapointing day but several lesson learned so definately not a waste. Can now unload the trailer single handed although it is easier with two.
1st February Off to the pod.... 3 slow passes and no problems, will be raising the rev limiter up progressively for the next runs, also will be replacing the old brakes, they are useless!!!! A few more bits to do and we may even be ready to race.
30th January Went to do a quick test fire before loading and the fuel pump has gone, a quick trip to Customville and we had a nice brand new Blue Top fuel pump.
24th January We picked the Altered up from Bill at Fester Race Cars with the new roll cage and kidney bars and a beautiful job he has done. All ready for some shakedown runs now.
21st January The Altered has gone to Bill Felstead at Festers for a new roll cage and kidney bars just to make it a bit safer and to make Adz a bit more comfortable (Tart!!! its 0nly for 10 seconds lol) we fired the engine before it went, here is the video
18th Jan Spent most of the day working on the dragster, rad in, made up the hoses, sorted out a couple of leaks, just have to sort out the fuel pressure as it may be flooding the carbs, timing, bleed the brakes, and sort out the transmission cable before Wednesday as its going to Bill at Festers for a new cage and some kidney bars just to make sure its safe
9th Jan We have pressure and lots of it, fired, ran, all good, then ran out of fuel LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5th January 2009 Went for a fire up, on the second turn it burst into life, unfortunately there was no oil pressure AGGHHHHHH
27th December Talk about fight you all the way !!! Just before Christmas we were doing the Valve lash and mislaid one of the tappets, Hauser racing helped out and got us one to us on Christmas eve, We were putting on the High Rise whe we realised that the new gaskets didnt cover the water way that used to feed the the old manifold, so dug around for a new gasket, found one and then ran out of blue Hylomar. Got some more gloop and finally got the high rise on the engine. Back to the workshop Monday, hopefully the engine will admit defeat and stop fighting us now
7th December Background video now up from the F.A.T and Apple Bottoms shoot with Mo-AM.
4th December Got a nice spread in the Muswell Hill Journal, another "feature" for the collection lol
29th November A great weekend at the International Performance and Modified show at Ally Pally. We had the dragster on display along with Adz Mustang, we won Best Modified with the dragster and runner up Best American for his mustang. It also looks promising that we are getting another sponsor, more news to follow on that one. Pics in the photo album under AllyPally08
25th November Put the new oil cooler in, its too close to the nice new balancer, so off to make some more brackets
23rd November The unfinished engine went into the chassis ready for the show, looks much better than an empty hole
21st November Its fighting us all the way, heads on and looking good, new lifters in, new pushrods and new roller rockers, uh oh!! something is wrong..... the new lifters are different to the old ones (mating surface lower, push rods shorter making the whole thing not tall enough, and then to find out that 4 spacers are missing on the roller rockers - had enough for the day, gonna have some wine (for some read lots!!!)
20th November Magazine Photoshoot tonight with all the cars, gonna be a late one!!!! Hope to get the heads on tomorrow and engine in by the weekend.
19th November Heads just finished, valves all seated perfectly, springs in and all ready to go on, unfortunately we wont have time to do anything until late Friday or Saturday (bloody work!!) We did get the new oil cooler today, made up some nice brackets and it looks the nutz. Just waiting for our nice new rad to be delivered.
18th November Loads to update, so little time!! We have had a great photoshoot with the dragster and also its going to be in a music video with top girl trio "Fresh as Tommi" The engine is well on ots way, bottom end completely done, heads are now in work - Do we love grinding in valves - you bet (not) Heads should be ready to go on Thursday. We are also getting the Pop and Adz Mustang ready for the International Modified and Performance show at Ally Pally at the end of the month. Oh yes, we got our Wild Bunch racing number today we are WB99
2nd November Nice new Moroso Sump arrived today with windage tray and trap doors so this should stop any lack of oil under hard acceleration or braking
17th October It looked like a con rod bearing got destroyed due to lack of oil, which caused the rod to fail. Not 100% sure but it was a mess.
12th October The strip down has started - I want to cry !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11th October The dragster got loaded late last night and off we went to Santa Pod for the cars first shakedown runs. At the line it was soon apparent that Adam could not see the staging lights, with some help fom the officials he made his first run, the car ran nice and straight, stopped ok but with a small water leak which we soon got sorted he went for run number 2. All looked good, the car was running well , his foot was on the floor, it was looking like an extremely creditable run until at the third gear change the engine blew. From the first inspection it looks like one of the conrods got afraid of the dark and decided to exit both sides of the sump. As we had already paid for a days testing he took the truck down a few times, doing low 15's consistantly, not bad for a big heavy pickup truck!!!
Sump hole--- the good side
25th September Back from hols so we stripped out the gearbox ready for refurbishment and upgrade, also stripped out both rear brakes again for new seals and complete refurb. Also found a piccy of the car at the HRD on www.eurodragster.com in the events section.
14th September A good trip to the Hot Rod Drags, when we got there the fields were a boggy mess, we just managed to get into the pits. After some work, we gave the car a good fire up, she was running well. We hadnt had a chance to test the gearbox properly and when we tried to move forward it was apparent that something major was wrong, 4000rpm and it wasnt even doing 5mph!!!! Also the water pump had then srung a leak - Defeat admitted, we watched some great racing, put the car back in the trailer and then the long journey home .
13th Spetember All ready to load, just had the gearbox filler/dipstick to put in. Lady luck frowned upon us and after we filled the car with water it had a leak on the rad. A quick trip to our Capri and we robbed the rad, made it fit, sorted out the hoses with a little jiggery pokery. and now going to load. The car is in the traler we are all very tired after a long day, and we locked up the workshop and then realised that the keys to the snap-padlock were inside along with the dipstick and filler tube. Just to make matters worse, we only have one key and to get into the complex we need a key fob to deactivate the alarm system. Its surprising how resiliant high security padlocks are but are no match for some determined drag racers/hot rodders that have busted ther asses to get the car to the HRD. WE ARE GOING............................
12th September Gearbox all done, brakes were siezed on the rear so it was a complete stripdown, this put us well behind for the Hot Rod Drags tomorrow so wont make the Saturday Now but will be there Sunday
11th September having to replace 3 out of 4 of the trailer tyres, not worth taking a chance as two have punctures and one has a bubble on the side wall, so another job to add to the list!! The engine fired today, what a buzz, 5.9 litres of Mopar, no headers, lots of flames, and a little bit of noise, mmmmmm. Still needs some timing but she fires, the major things are the gearbox and brakes now
10th Spetember Dizzy in, leads made up and all wired, took a little longer than we thought but getting there. Went for a fire but the battery that we were using didnt really have enough guts, its late, tomorrow is another day
9th Spetember (AM) Turned the brake pin last night, the Dizzy arrived lunchtime along with a matched coil, so off to the workshop to put it all in, make up the leads and wire, hopefully tomorrow go for a fire up --- fingers crossed
8th September 2008 5 Days to the hot rod drags, still have a list as long as your arm to get done, waiting on the dizzy to arrive so we can get the engine fired, brakes to do, also waitring on new slicks from Hoosier, wiring to finish, trailer to finish, update tomorrow
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