[woodcote]

Thanks chaps! Couldn't have done it without the fabulous cars you all sent.

Jeff - your car was beautifully prepared and super-smooth - that's what we're finding makes a top Street Stock car. A good motor helps, but it's not the only factor by a long way.

Jeremy - no, it wasn't any of your cars that hit reverse on the start line and headed east instead of west. In fact, your Super Stock 6.0 cars were super - the quickest (I think) with the standard gearing... although mine wasn't too far behind. The really quick cars had some custom rear-ends with smaller crown gears, plus tall and narrow wheels. Mind you, some took most of the strip to get going... so that gear ratio has got to be a balance on such a short strip.

The 4-Gears remain a bit of a lottery. I was extremely surprised my Pro Stocker went quicker than Pete and Jerome's. After last time, I thought it would do okay, but... A couple of issues with the 4-Gears is don't go too stingy on the braids - they do seem to like a nice thickness between shoes and rails. Careful with the wheelie bars... I'm not sure the 4-Gears need them (apart for decoration) and they do cause drag if they are too low. Clive's fell off and he was much quicker! I eased off the chassis screw on a couple that felt very tight - it helped a bit. I think a big deal is a very wobbly fourth gear on the gear plate - there are videos on YouTube about how to tighten the rivet. This is one I've used...



I really enjoyed myself yesterday, so I'm very glad I delayed to a day I could have some fun... rather than it being another chore to tick off the list. Learned a few things from the tweaked format too. I quite liked doing the qualifying and eliminations back-to-back for the smaller fields... but I think I'll stay with Street Stock qualifying on Tuesday and then as the final race on Wednesday.

The plan is to get cars in the post to those of you that need them later today and first class - the December race isn't far off. Then I'll get issue #6 of South Coast HO Dragster ready - probably next Saturday. A few tweaks there too.