[68lemans462]

Took the car out to Bandimere Speedway tonight to socially distance myself from my house. 9100 DA air!! I always drive the car there make as many passes as I can and roll home. I noticed a miss in the car at higher RPM's yesterday when I took it for a quick spin. It missed a couple times on the first pass but ran OK considering how hot it was. I didnt think much of it but it was unusual. Pulled up to the line and did a burnout for second pass and the car died. It would crank and start for just a second then die. I yanked the cap off the HEI and noticed the MSD HEI/rev limiter module thing looked to be FUBAR'd (circuit board bubbled up).

The employee at the dragstrip who helped me push the car off was unusually cool/helpful and asked me if I needed some time to get the car going. I looked at it for a couple minutes and quickly determined I wasnt driving this thing home. He asked how far away I lived. I told him about 10 minutes away. He said "how about I go get you a truck/trailer you can borrow to tow it home". I told him I'd just call AAA, no worries. He then asked me if I wanted an enclosed or open trailer. I told him an open trailer would be fine and also told him again it wasnt necessary. Low and behold he and 3 other dudes show up with a truck and helped me load the car on the trailer. He said "bring it back by 9pm", didnt even ask who I was. I then went home, dropped the car and grabbed the kids/wife. They followed me back up there to drop the truck and they got to see a little action. They let the wife/kids in for free. Kids loved it. This experience says alot about the racing community and car people in general..I'm going to make another post asking about my distributor module, which failed. I need some advice on that one - but had to share this experience.

[Shiny]

Wow, those are unusually nice people! Thanks for sharing your good experience.

And your car looks fantastic. Paint color is gorgeous in the sunlight.

[dataway]

Yep, I could go for a little info on the paint, brand, etc.

[chuckies76ta]

Cool story. I got a kick out of the little guys laughing. Nice car. I ran one of those modules in an HEI and mine died also, but in my driveway. I switched to a MSD ready to run distributor and has been fine ever since.

Charles

[GTOLou]

Great story - nice looking family too. We all need to count our blessings in life!

[Torquewar]

Good ending getting the car back , glad its not a serious engine issue. I drive to the track and had my couple issues, not fun.
Nice to see fellow racers step up...Great looking car.

[hgiv]

Originally Posted by 68lemans462

I yanked the cap off the HEI and noticed the MSD HEI/rev limiter module thing looked to be FUBAR'd (circuit board bubbled up).

I don't think I gots one those in my points set up?

Awesome story. Always love it when you run into great people! They remind us to be a little better ourselves!

[Navy Horn 16]

Looks like a fun day.

Those MSD distributors are TRASH. My son had one in his 1977 K-10, and the module fried the same as yours did with less than 5000 miles on it. This is the part that was toast:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/msd-83647

His died in a similar fashion to yours. It sounded a little like a miss, then would randomly die. At least the one in his Chevy did us the favor of dying for good in the garage. We pulled apart my old Pontiac HEI, threw in that old module, and "Wolverine" been running fine ever since.

If you want a great distributor that is made in the USA, call up the folks at D.U.I. Those Memphis boys will hook up you! https://performancedistributors.com/
When you get it out of the box, you will see right away how high the quality is.

[OCMDGTO]

X2 on DUI and I had great luck with a Summit HEI for 10yrs that still worked fine when I switched. Really nice people out there apparently and cool to get the kids a taste of it. Nice looking car and track, still waiting for the track to open out here.

[77 TRASHCAN]

THat picture of you and the kids, made my day!!!LOL!!!

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by 68lemans462

Took the car out to Bandimere Speedway tonight to socially distance myself from my house. 9100 DA air!! I always drive the car there make as many passes as I can and roll home. I noticed a miss in the car at higher RPM's yesterday when I took it for a quick spin. It missed a couple times on the first pass but ran OK considering how hot it was. I didnt think much of it but it was unusual. Pulled up to the line and did a burnout for second pass and the car died. It would crank and start for just a second then die. I yanked the cap off the HEI and noticed the MSD HEI/rev limiter module thing looked to be FUBAR'd (circuit board bubbled up).

The employee at the dragstrip who helped me push the car off was unusually cool/helpful and asked me if I needed some time to get the car going. I looked at it for a couple minutes and quickly determined I wasnt driving this thing home. He asked how far away I lived. I told him about 10 minutes away. He said "how about I go get you a truck/trailer you can borrow to tow it home". I told him I'd just call AAA, no worries. He then asked me if I wanted an enclosed or open trailer. I told him an open trailer would be fine and also told him again it wasnt necessary. Low and behold he and 3 other dudes show up with a truck and helped me load the car on the trailer. He said "bring it back by 9pm", didnt even ask who I was. I then went home, dropped the car and grabbed the kids/wife. They followed me back up there to drop the truck and they got to see a little action. They let the wife/kids in for free. Kids loved it. This experience says alot about the racing community and car people in general..I'm going to make another post asking about my distributor module, which failed. I need some advice on that one - but had to share this experience.

Nice!! The racing community is an awesome bunch of folks. Much rather spend my weekends their than a local cruise night.

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by dataway

Yep, I could go for a little info on the paint, brand, etc.

The paint is a PPG 2 stage. Color is called "sherwood green". We tinted it a shade darker than the off the shelf sherwood green. I love the color as well.

[68lemans462]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Nice!! The racing community is an awesome bunch of folks. Much rather spend my weekends their than a local cruise night.

Agree. I have had the opposite experience at car shows/cruises. Never really enjoyed them that much anyway. I'd much rather be at the strip huffing some exhaust fumes.,

[FrankieT/A]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Nice!! The racing community is an awesome bunch of folks. Much rather spend my weekends their than a local cruise night.

I second that!

[Half-Inch Stud]

You did good. They did good for you too. Decade ago, the 68 ate an Alternator Belt at mid-track at Cecil,County. Ran around the pit at 9PM asking for a spare belt of any size. All wanted to help but it was a Chevy nova fella with a spare 1/4" belt! He said just take it and good luck.

Night Drive home through Philly was charming, we made it the belt made it. and phew.

[Sirrotica]

When I used to race on dirt tracks, we at that time (70s) mostly flat towed the race cars to the track.

If a car was badly damaged due to an accident, it certainly can, and does happen. One of the wreckers that the track has at all events would tow a car if it still had one set of wheels that were undamaged back to town after the races. Or someone would load it on a trailer and make a trip into town to get your car home, unload it then drive back to the track and load their own car on the trailer. You never wanted to leave a car at the race track overnight, because it was a known fact, it would be stripped by the following day. Anything of value would be gone if it was left unattended for any length of time.

Loaning of parts was commonplace, and either you removed it at the end of the night, just paid for it, or replaced it with another like part the following night of racing. Great brotherhood at local dirt tracks.

[David Jones]

Good stuff.

[mgarblik]

For about 3 years, we had Snap-On sponsorship for our race team. We had quite a nice set-up when we were racing the Grocery Getter. Often loaned out tools, spare parts, you name it at the track. Lots of people around, hard to keep track. Typically loaned out 3-4 items at every race and they ALWAYS came back before we left. One time I loaned out my favorite Snap-On 24 Oz ball peen hammer. Next race, I needed it, it was gone. Got another one from some cheap place like Harbor Freight. About 2 months later, I get a box at home with my hammer in it and a thank you note. Said he would have returned it sooner but had to research my address. Racer's are the best!! BTW Your car is beautiful. Love the color. 9100 DA, Ouch!!

[77 TRASHCAN]

I used to go watch my engine builder race. Was at a race at the Texas Motorplex. Got to go down with a friend, stayed 2 nights, maybe. This was over 20 years ago. Drag racing was growing big time. An exciting time for racers and spectators. It was getting late in the day, sun still up...
Back then there was a small time fuel funny car racer, named Tim Groce. His pit was always frantic, they weren’t terribly competitive, a potential blow up, each pass. They had been thrashing seriously trying to get their car ready for a run. In all the zaniness of having an engine scattered here, and there...someone got off with a souvenir. It may have looked like a piece of garbage, likely laying on the ground, BUT they really needed that main cap back to put the engine back together! The PA announcer was kindly asking the guilty party to bring it back!!’ Lol.
I think they did get the main cap back...

[TedRamAirII]

Racers are a cool bunch. There is some honor there! Just one comment about the tie downs on the car, that's not a good way to tie it down. One strap failure, and that car can leave the trailer. Should be tied straight, no criss cross.