My Bullitt will see the drag strip for the first time tomorrow

[kevinvan6000]

Good luck today!

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[Torinate]

Good luck!!

In for results! Hope to see a couple of nitrous passes!

Do they still have the 1/8 mile track in St. Pete’s by the airport?

 

[NGOT8R]

Good luck today!

Thank you!

 

[NGOT8R]

Good luck!!

In for results! Hope to see a couple of nitrous passes!

Do they still have the 1/8 mile track in St. Pete’s by the airport?

Thanks! If everything goes well, I’ll try and make at least one hit on nitrous.

I’m not sure about the 1/8 mile track up in St. Pete.

 

[NGOT8R]

Okay folks, I’m back from the track and let me be the first to say, that it was exactly the opposite of what I had hoped for. There were several things that went wrong. Let me try and go in chronological order here, while being completely transparent.

Run #1 - The car hooked and the force on my body caused me to inadvertently pull the gear shift lever out of 1st gear and into neutral. Needless to say, the run was botched.



Run #2 - Launching issue (my error). I did not press the trigger button for my Hitmaster 1st stage launch, as the indicator light on the dash was illuminating when I pressed the clutch in. I was thinking this was a good thing, as I wouldn’t have to hold the trigger button and shift knob at the same time (one less thing to do). This resulted in a sloppy 12.50 pass at 115 mph. I returned to the pits and began analyzing things. I looked under the driver’s seat at the two digital timers for the Hitmaster and noticed that only the shift timer was counting down and triggering the indicator light on the dash. It was at that moment that I realized, I needed revert back to pressing the 1st stage trigger button and releasing it and the clutch at the same time. It was also during this time, that my buddy asked me what rpm I was launching at and I told him 7400 (I wasn’t looking at the tach, but rather going off of what I though I had set the 2 step launch rpm at on the WOT Box a month or so prior). Well, a quick test of the 2 step revealed that it was set at 5K rpm and not 7400.



Run #3 - Not captured on video, but it was a 12.40 pass at 111 mph.

Run #4 - I adjusted the Hitmaster 1st stage valve and launched. It felt pretty good (a very smooth launch with some spin, but nothing too crazy) and then I miraculously went from 1st to 4th gear and the run was botched. I decided to call it a night after that.



Here is the checklist that I created and mostly adhered to for all but one pass.

Prelaunch checklist

1. Turn off TC and Adv. Trac
2. Pull into water box
3. Dump clutch and dust off tires (stopping short of staging beams)
4. Arm Hitmaster
5. Pre-stage, wait for opponent and stage
6. Grab and press 1st stage trigger button with right hand
7. Depress clutch, put car on 2 step and release clutch and trigger button
8. Successful launch (provided all the above went well)

Here is a demo video of steps 6 & 7. You can only see my right hand pressing/releasing the Hitmaster trigger switch, but I am also releasing clutch pedal at the same time.



The moral of the story is, I F’d up and didn’t do some things right and it showed. I’ll take some time to carefully go over the WOT Box programming with my laptop and make sure everything is set right before the next outing. Lastly, while this was not what I had hoped for, there were several lessons learned and therefore, I don’t consider tonight’s track visit a failure. It’s just going to take some time, but I’ll improve with time.

Time slips

 

[kevinvan6000]

Sorry to hear it didn't work out as well as you had hoped. I've had nights like that as well and it can be frustrating. It sounds like you have a good handle on what to do next though. It will make the next outing that much better. Keep us posted on your progress, I've enjoyed following your build.

 

[Torinate]

Definitely not a failure. I’ve been goi g to track for a LONG time! I know we all want things to go off without a hitch and run our best times ever. This is extremely rare on the first outing with a bunch of changes to the combination. It’s like learning everything all over again.

The great news is that everything is functioning except the process. Next time out, you’ll be that much more prepared and will rip off some great licks!

I for one appreciate your genuine honestly. Some people might tend not to do a write up or sugar coat things. It is what it is... growing pains...

Better luck next outing! I’m sure you’ll have everything sorted out and ready to go!!

 

[Coyote Chase]

Okay folks, I’m back from the track and let me be the first to say, that it was exactly the opposite of what I had hoped for. There were several things that went wrong. Let me try and go in chronological order here, while being completely transparent.

Run #1 - The car hooked and the force on my body caused me to inadvertently pull the gear shift lever out of 1st gear and into neutral. Needless to say, the run was botched.



Run #2 - Launching issue (my error). I did not press the trigger button for my Hitmaster 1st stage launch, as the indicator light on the dash was illuminating when I pressed the clutch in. I was thinking this was a good thing, as I wouldn’t have to hold the trigger button and shift knob at the same time (one less thing to do). This resulted in a sloppy 12.50 pass at 115 mph. I returned to the pits and began analyzing things. I looked under the driver’s seat at the two digital timers for the Hitmaster and noticed that only the shift timer was counting down and triggering the indicator light on the dash. It was at that moment that I realized, I needed revert back to pressing the 1st stage trigger button and releasing it and the clutch at the same time. It was also during this time, that my buddy asked me what rpm I was launching at and I told him 7400 (I wasn’t looking at the tach, but rather going off of what I though I had set the 2 step launch rpm at on the WOT Box a month or so prior). Well, a quick test of the 2 step revealed that it was set at 5K rpm and not 7400.



Run #3 - Not captured on video, but it was a 12.40 pass at 111 mph.

Run #4 - I adjusted the Hitmaster 1st stage valve and launched. It felt pretty good (a very smooth launch with some spin, but nothing too crazy) and then I miraculously went from 1st to 4th gear and the run was botched. I decided to call it a night after that.



Here is the checklist that I created and mostly adhered to for all but one pass.

Prelaunch checklist

1. Turn off TC and Adv. Trac
2. Pull into water box
3. Dump clutch and dust off tires (stopping short of staging beams)
4. Arm Hitmaster
5. Pre-stage, wait for opponent and stage
6. Grab and press 1st stage trigger button with right hand
7. Depress clutch, put car on 2 step and release clutch and trigger button
8. Successful launch (provided all the above went well)

Here is a demo video of steps 6 & 7. You can only see my right hand pressing/releasing the Hitmaster trigger switch, but I am also releasing clutch pedal at the same time.



The moral of the story is, I F’d up and didn’t do some things right and it showed. I’ll take some time to carefully go over the WOT Box programming with my laptop and make sure everything is set right before the next outing. Lastly, while this was not what I had hoped for, there were several lessons learned and therefore, I don’t consider tonight’s track visit a failure. It’s just going to take some time, but I’ll improve with time.

Time slips

The most important thing you did, was taking it to the track! That can be the most difficult first step to any kind of racing!! And you succeeded!
After a 35 year gap between Racing Seasons, I approached racing from a different angle. I ran my first full season factory stock, no modifications to my car. Instead, I worked on the driver, and made plenty mistakes! But, by the end of the season, I felt comfortable behind the wheel.
Now, the most important thing you need to do, is return to the track! As soon as possible!!
Have fun, be safe!

 

[mindo389]

Enjoyed reading about your experience. I agree with the other's posts, you were basically back to square one: driver's education. Get back to the track asap!

 

[NGOT8R]

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone! I plan on going back next Thursday (weather permitting) to continue working on sorting things out. I don’t give up easily and I am determined (more than ever now) to get the car all figured out. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on the process.

 

[331GT]

your first time out went better than mine!! i spun mine. pure luck i kept it off the wall.

you didnt break anything and didnt wreck your car. you learned a few things about how to do better next time. doesnt sound like a failed day at all to me. everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[Coyote Chase]

While watching your videos, it occurred to me, you have a lot going on in the driver's seat! Staging by itself is difficult... Yet, you have to deal with a button and gear shift, I think you did great!
Does your electronics allow for flat foot shifting?

 

[NGOT8R]

While watching your videos, it occurred to me, you have a lot going on in the driver's seat! Staging by itself is difficult... Yet, you have to deal with a button and gear shift, I think you did great!
Does your electronics allow for flat foot shifting?

Thank you. Yes, the WOT Box thst I have on the car does allow No Lift Shifting. I had that portion programmed to the default setting of 350 ms. You can hear the long interruption between shifts in run #2. I am going to reprogram that to a lower kill time for the next outing.

 

[NGOT8R]

I was able to make it back to the track for the second time yesterday and the car didn’t impress me at all. I ran a 12.40 and 12.50 pass @ 113 (trapping in 4th) and one 12.30 pass @ 116 (trapping in 3rd). I’m still having trouble with the car and don’t know what to do to make it perform better, or as it should for the mods that it has. I thought I had made the proper adjustment to the Hitmaster after the last outing because during testing with the key on and ignition off, when I released the trigger button, the clutch would dwell at 2/3 pedal travel before releasing the remainder of the way, after the launch timer timed out, which is what the manufacturer said it is supposed to do. I should also,add that I had reached out to the owner of the company for setup assistance after the first outing (emailed him time slips, videos of the runs, a detailed explanation of the Hitmaster’s adjustments at the time and how the car performed, as well as several questions), but his responses were very vague. This left me feeling like I would be all alone in figuring out the proper setup.

Additional notes: When I put the car on the track yesterday, the clutch felt like it was slipping each time I made a pass. I sounded Like I was fanning the clutch and I wasn’t doing that at all. I also got locked out on the 1-2 shift during three other attempted passes.

I really feel like my the clutch may be on it’s way out. However, during the drive home from the track, everything seemed normal, but I wasn’t doing any testing with high rpm launches or shifts either. I really wish I could have at least figured out how to properly set up the Hitmaster (before experiencing potential clutch issues), which I do feel has attributed to my troubles. As it stands now, I’m going to pull the drag wheels, put the factory wheels back on and baby the car on the factory clutch, while I regroup and decide which direction to go from here. I don’t know if that will be installing a new clutch only, or possibly a tranny upgrade. Either way, I’m super frustrated after working on the car for the past 22 months and getting less than favorable results out of it, especially with all of the money and effort involved here.

 

[Brad1810r80]

You need to launch higher , a little (little lol) wheel spin is good for N/A motor . With a 1.9-2.0 60ft you must be bogging the motor down. That will kill ET and MPH.

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