AC DELCO DRAG RACE in Sydney September '06
 Our Olds Cutlass finally had a safe fast outing after numerous problems with a totally new combination of transmission, engine, clutch and chassis changes. This obviously gives credence to the age old adage of make one change at a time or you may lose the plot.
It obviously didn't help that since 2002 we were supplied a dud transmision. Many problems being blamed on chassis, clutch and setup have finally proven to be transmission related as the process of elimination has brought this to the fore.
We've been racing for over 35 years and no matter how experienced one may be the problem with changing too many parameters at one time can be a nightmare till the combo is finally sorted. The situation with our local Calder Park tracks lack of professional National Open race meetings means it is difficult to do laps and dial the car in without travelling interstate. We were finally confident with the latest setup after numerous outings including the last disastrous epic in April '05 where the problems seemed to be over. On it's maiden run yours truly had a chute fail to deploy, was not used to the car and then braked late. A gardening trip into the WSID finish line area resulted in a shunt which was mainly cosmetic although it meant parts needed to be sourced from the U.S, painting and lots of man hours to repair the mess.
This time at WSID I was ready with great new Stroud twin chutes, some new brakes and hopefully a trans/clutch combo that got the car down the track safely. After qualifying on the bubble (#16) out of a 16 car field with over 20 entries, we were able to actually get into the race. Frankly, we knew we would not be going rounds as our class Competition Eliminator is run on class indexes and we did not have enough runs to improve the car to a safe "below the index" number to be highly competitive. We were not fussed. Just happy to do the qualifying runs and try to get a handle on the new combo was wonderful. We learned a great deal and will hopefully do quicker runs next time.
The car ran its best time and speed in first round although still beaten by the tough indexes. A 7.29 ET @ 193 MPH (310 kph) was wonderful to feel again with 3 G's generated on the launch there is nothing like an awesome accelerating machine like this to make life wonderful. The car has an Oldsmobile based 500ci Big Block Chev V8 with dual 4 barrel carbs running normally aspirated and makes about 1240 BHP. It runs a new Lenco 5 speed planetary transmission and twin plate "ACE" racing Pro Stock 8" style clutch.
We need to thank "108 Towing" for safely transporting the car to and from the Sydney and owner John Bethune for looking after the car and our equipment like they were his own. If you need a car transported and it's your "baby" call John on 0431 751057 He speciallises in prestige, collectible and race car transport. With a guy like this looking after your pride and joy you just don't ever worry.
The crew: big brother Issy always makes sure everything is set up correctly and safe, Lee Logins and John worked hard to keep us on track while Ange Katsaros spent the 2 days in the hospital after some creeps jumped him at a restaurant the first night we were there. Down on crew didn't matter, we all worked well and a little harder but got the right results.
Thanks also to the WSID track officials for organising the event so well as it ran smoothly. The track prep was perfect and Sydney gave us some wonderful weather to enjoy the racing days.
Getting back to business, we are at the moment completing the development of several new products to suit the Holden V8. Some great looking and very functional valve covers and a new single 4 barrel single plane race manifold designed to be the best power maker for larger capacity Holden V8 stroker engines. Our testing has shown gains over the current best intakes of over 25 bhp and excellent torque as well. We hope to have the valve covers available in the next few months and the manifold shortly thereafter. Keep looking at our updates on the website for further news of the availability of these new products.
Furthermore, for those who have been patient and asking, our alloy COME Racing engine blocks are now an off the shelf item with no waiting for stocks. We have finally gotten over the production delays and casting backlog to be able to supply blocks immediately. Remember they are direct replacements for any Holden V8 cast iron factory block from 1969-1999 and are available with 4.125" bore size off the shelf (400ci) or optional 4.00" bore for those resticted by capacity limits. Blocks are $8800.00 ready to go with billet alloy 4 bolt main splayed caps, priority oiling and many other features for handling any power levels. Call (03)9571-4204 or email come@comeracing.com for more details.
Sam
7:29:43 AM 
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