Dusty Bradford is Qualified #4

[John Wilde]

Guys and Gals,

Dusty is qualified #4 as of now for the big race in Huntsville this weekend.
He runs EZ Street with is basically an Outlaw Drag Radial Class.
You have to run the stock supension and come in at a certain weight and besides that run what you brung. Dusty has a grey Regal with a SBC and a Precision Thumper, Wolfe Suspension and lots of hard work.

1. Donnie Key 5.225 141.64
2. D Carter - 5.406 132.63
3. Shane Stack - 5.444 132.86
4. D Bradford -5.582 133.77
5. E Rice - 5.605 128.28
6. D Mewborn - 5.721 124.72
7. Jeff Plemmons - 5.769 134.05
8. C Henderson - 6.274 120.64
9. W Wilhelm - 6.293 123.80
10. B Mather - 6.584 118.55

[Louie L.]

Dustys car has a lot left in it. He will be whooping on them in NO time! GO DUSTY!

[WINDMILL]

I've see dusty's ride and the pics dont do any justice. the car looks great. leaving on them guys will make alot of difference. it might get them shook up some if he get a big jump on them, and maybe they mess up.

[Dusty Bradford]

Hey guys, just got in. The weather is getting rough with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes so I came home for the night. We are still qualified 4th out of 12 cars but some hitters will be in tomorrow so I need to step it up a bit. I'm still having the trouble with the car not using the fuel. I run the same mph at 28# as I do at 26#. Valve lash adjustment didn't help, the car didn't respond to the timing change from 24-26 degrees. I have a 16 volt battery to install in the morning to get my operating volts from 13.1 to 14.7 and hope it starts using the fuel.

I was too conservative on the 1st pass....1.44 5.58. 2nd pass I went to 4600 on the 2 step and changed the boost ramp from 1.5 seconds to .2 seconds so it will hit right after the leave. My car doesn't like the 2 step at 4600 and this pass was no different, spun right on the line. Tomorrow I'll put it back to 4400 and raise launch boost.

Weighed the car for the first time.....3495 That's almost 200lb overweight. Donnie Key the #1 qualifier was 3320. It's making good power but it's a pig. I have to make a decision to leave the car stock looking or start some serious weight removal. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

[WINDMILL]

hey you can use the glass bumbers, and aluminum struts of my car if you need them. that will make some diff.

[TURBOKID]

way to go Dusty:

You may not have enough turbo or your runing thru the converter. that sounds like what my car would do with the 88 on it. My car down there loved no ramp from launch to first stage and a couple more lbs off the line then normal. That track worked a lot better then most all I was use to. Try and hit the tree hard the last runs on sat. and see what your lights are and if you need to change how far you go into the lights to help your lights. Your light will make more difference on sunday, your car is there to run with anyone. Good luck man wish I was there. I will be in Atlanta with or with out the car.
Richie

[John Wilde]

Originally Posted by Dusty Bradford

Weighed the car for the first time.....3495 That's almost 200lb overweight. Donnie Key the #1 qualifier was 3320. It's making good power but it's a pig. I have to make a decision to leave the car stock looking or start some serious weight removal. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Perfect weight for Orlando....
The is something going on with the combination.
I wish you and Chad had some extra help at the track.
Good luck tomorrow!

[John Wilde]

Originally Posted by TURBOKID

way to go Dusty:

You may not have enough turbo or your runing thru the converter. that sounds like what my car would do with the 88 on it. My car down there loved no ramp from launch to first stage and a couple more lbs off the line then normal. That track worked a lot better then most all I was use to. Try and hit the tree hard the last runs on sat. and see what your lights are and if you need to change how far you go into the lights to help your lights. Your light will make more difference on sunday, your car is there to run with anyone. Good luck man wish I was there. I will be in Atlanta with or with out the car.
Richie

Richie,

With the 98MM Dusty should have enough turbo for 14Xmph in the 1/8.
Even If he is running the 88MM cover I would expect it to have more left.
I wonder if you are right about the converter or if it is electrical like Dusty thinks?

[WINDMILL]

the way the weather looks right now they might not be a track their tomorrow. we are having bad storms tonight, lots of tornado's and straight line winds. I forgot how many years ago that the track got hit by a tornado. i think around 7 to 12 years ago. and they was a race going on at the time. a few friends of mine was in that storm, they was under a car with their hand wrap around the rear end of the car. i remember a enclosed trailor that was turned a 360 and landed on the wheels and looked on the inside and the cars was upside down, and a camaro was found in tenn that was caught up in the storm. sorry for the rambling on.

[Dusty Bradford]

Thanks Richie. I have the boost coming in fast now at .2 so I'll see how that does with the 2 step back at 4400 with 1 more # of boost at launch. I have plenty of turbo. I'm changing to the 16 volt system the morning to see if it helps. If not it has to be in the valvetrain. My springs had 275 on the seat when installed, I may be pulling a few after the race to check.

The lights......1st round .02......2nd round .002

John, I've spoken with Petty about which is why I went from .023 to .027 on the lash.

I have glass front bumper and struts already. I also had a glass hood to put on but it fit like $hit so it went back.

[John Wilde]

Originally Posted by Dusty Bradford

.

The lights......1st round .02......2nd round .002

John, I've spoken with Petty about which is why I went from .023 to .027 on the lash.

Wow, you have better lights than Christmas!

[86brick]

Good job Dusty!!! That is quite the accomplishment to qualify so well with those guys and with the car not even running 100%.. Awesome!

Hope you get her figured out and can turn it up so we can see what the beast really has in it!

[John Wilde]

Update:

1. D. Key - 5.225/141.64
2. Shane Stack - 5.335/134.25
3. Jeff Plemmons - 5.406/135.30
4. D. Carter - 5.406/132.63
5. T. Kincaid - 5.445/132.04
6. C. Henderson - 5.491/130.32
7. D. Bradford - 5.521/133.29
8. R. Culver - 5.587/128.61
9. E. Rice - 5.605/128.28
10. W. Wilhelm - 5.645/129.46
11. D. Mewborn - 5.722/124.72
12. S. Fereday - 6.268/128.24
13. B. Mather - 6.586/118.55
14. Kell Eubanks - 7.061/64.49

[HighPSI]

Hopefully things pick up tomorrow. Dusty found a problem with his CO2 regulator and is going to have to guestimate what the car needs tomorrow. Good Luck!!

[John Wilde]

Originally Posted by HighPSI

Hopefully things pick up tomorrow. Dusty found a problem with his CO2 regulator and is going to have to guestimate what the car needs tomorrow. Good Luck!!

Cal,

Is this what was holding the power back?

[Dusty Bradford]

Cal looked at his VE table for me and his also drops at the top as the inlet temps climb. After logging inlet temps it appears the car is making power and burning fuel but my temps really start to climb at the end of the run which makes the car fatten up a bit with fast making the adjustment. With the liquid cooler my temps shouldn't climb so early and I feel it's because of the arrangement of the inlet and outlet being on the bottom. It's fine in some cars but with mine sitting up I'm only using half the cooler because it's not staying full of water. It's just falling through the outlet side. Next week I'll pull it out and have the return bung welded on top so the cooler will stay liquid full and I can get all the air out of the water side.

The deal with the Co2. Cal had me log the controller with the car off and we immediately found the problem.....Cudos Cal.....The regulator had backed off so I was getting no Co2 to the gate. When I was changing the ramp speed all weekend it had no effect and I wasn't getting full boost until 4 seconds into the run. Now I have to guess at how much to apply to pick the car up but no doubt this will fix the problem. I pulled the wastegate off last night because it's making 28 # of boost with a 5# spring so it appears the wastegate is too small but Young's here in Decatur can get their 398ci with a 101 down to 20# with the same gate. I tested it with Co2 on the bottom and it opens and works like a champ, tested the line from the intake to the bottom of the gate and all was good also.....No explanation as to why it makes that much on a 5# spring.

We'll try and sneak up on it and find the spot to run it at if we can go some rounds. It's sucks to find the problem now and they wouldn't allow me a test pass last night.

Back to it

[John Wilde]

Ummm you ran that fast only getting full boost 4 seconds into the pass???
Between that and the intercooler improvement that thing is going to be scary.
Good luck today!

[Dusty Bradford]

Well, went out in the first round. Fixed the Co2 problem but somehow I put target Co2 pressure at 2# instead of 30# Go figure. I was able to catch it since it's now logged by the XFI but it was too late. I was at his door the whole run with full bost coming in at 4 seconds again. You live and learn, ATL is in two weeks so I'll give it another shot.

[John Wilde]