And I got burnt!

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]I'm here. I'm at Norwok.

[00:00:04]Dropped the car and trailer and everything off last night. Went into town, had dinner with Scott Leber at Lake Arms. Fantastic meal. Good time.

[00:00:14]Good visit. Scott. I haven't seen him in a while, but we made it. It's probably 10:00 here.

[00:00:20]There's not a lot of cars here yet. A few people, not a lot, but some of the celebrities are here, including me. Um, let me show you what's up.

[00:00:35]I got a ready for race trim. Filled up my tech card.

[00:00:41]Everything's good to go. I think muffler's off, slips on, diapers on. I believe in running an engine diaper.

[00:00:49]It's cheap insurance. I recommend that to everybody. Put a diaper on your car.

[00:00:55]Save you a lot of money in the end.

[00:00:58]Trailer's all set up sort of kind of I got stuff sort of laying around here.

[00:01:04]This and that. All that kind of stuff.

[00:01:06]Parts and pieces that I think I might need. Cooler for the water and beer. You got all my stuff for the road. My road bag up on top.

[00:01:15]Boy, I don't know if you can see that.

[00:01:19]Something's going on here. There you go.

[00:01:21]Now you can see it.

[00:01:24]must have bumped the bump the bump bump button. So yeah, [snorts] tools are ready, pop up here if I need it. So I'm going to get a chair out, relax a minute, maybe walk over and see Tommy Dri at the Summit truck, see how he's doing. So everything's good in the world. I'll share with you in a little bit. He'll make some time runs.

[00:01:46][snorts] Okay, it's day two here at Norwok. Got to make one pass yesterday before it rained and it sucked. So I adjusted the clutch and started getting rained on. So we headed out. But guys are coming in slow but sure.

[00:02:04]Show you what's going on. I got Mark here. He's my crew chief for the day.

[00:02:09]He's going to hang out today and help out. We got all the water dried off of her and just waiting for us for him to call us to sick tech. So, my six stickers falling off the car. So, I'll probably end up taking that off.

[00:02:23]Like I say, getting her all aired out.

[00:02:25]Everything's good here. I say everybody's slowing up, showing up slow but sure, and ready to make this happen.

[00:02:32]I'll share more info when we get going.

[00:02:36]Okay, everybody. Let's see how this goes.

[00:02:48]Where's that one at? Can you reach that one for me? I should have grabbed it first. I'm get I'm new at this drag racing stuff. You know, this one's a little loose.

[00:02:59]These are pull-ups.

[00:03:02]Better not right down there.

[00:03:12]There it is.

[00:03:13]Okay, now we're good.

[00:03:49]>> [music] >> Okay. Will you put that wind in the kn for me? Mark, this helmet sucks to get knotted up.

[00:04:11]All right, cool.

[00:04:43]Heat. Heat.

[00:05:04]Heat up here.

[00:05:31]Heat. Heat.

[00:05:53]Heat up here.

[00:06:05]Heat.

[00:06:18]Heat.

[00:06:56]Heat. Heat.

[00:07:13]Heat.

[00:07:31]Heat up here.

[00:08:02]and just like that, it's over.

[00:08:05]So, on the trailer, I'm home. This is what happened yesterday. I talked to you guys about not using 14 gauge tubing. It broke the freaking frame rail. Broke the bottom out of the frame rail. broke the box loose. So, I have to re-engineer all this stuff. Pull that all apart. You can see way up in there where it's broke.

[00:08:27]So, yeah, went into death wobble. I'm guessing that that 14 gauge tubing didn't like what we were doing. So, I'll come up with a plan B in the shop and get it all ready for um the 64 car shoot out of Blue Suede Cruise. But we are done for the turn and burn. So that sucks cuz I had the clutch figured out.

[00:08:52]And I don't know if the videos that I tried recording in the car stayed because I don't think the camera really liked the launches. So if they do, you're going to see them before this. If not, here we are. I'll keep you in loop.

[00:09:07]What's going on? Thanks.

[00:09:10]Hey everybody, it's Friday.

[00:09:14]>> [gasps] >> Today I'm going to get back on this truck hot and heavy. Try to get the bottoms of the cow pieces fixed and as much rust repair as I can get done. Like I said, I'm going to go ahead and just finish all this stuff up. Try to get the floors to a spot where I can strip it and get everything back in epoxy and then get the running boards mounted and all that stuff. That way I can start working on getting the engine and everything in it. But let me show you what's going on.

[00:09:42]Changed the balancer on the truck yesterday. New timing cover seal. Tried to put some more silicone on the oil pan. I'm right now I am just going to try to get this some of this stuff away from the truck so I can work on it.

[00:09:58]Um yeah, like I say, get the the door out of the way. I'm going to cut that cowl loose and try to get that all in shape so I can um get that stuff all fixed. Like I said, I got some rust repair to do up in here.

[00:10:14]Crazy. Cut the dash out cuz I've got the new dashboard in the back here underneath the cardboard. Got to fill this hole.

[00:10:23]So, lots of odds and ends. And then I have to fix the fenders, which is no big deal. So, let me show you. I got to get a light. Sorry. I got to get a light to show you this.

[00:10:37]Me and my infinite wisdom. I should have had this ready for you, but I didn't.

[00:10:41]So, this little Milwaukee lights, these things are handy. They ain't cheap, but this one I've dropped and thrown, and it's been great. So, I've got a bigger one, too, that I use. I think you guys might have seen that. But, let me show you what's going on here.

[00:11:04]Steering box there on the floor.

[00:11:07]Um, I think the box is bad as well. And then Kenny gave me this GM box that I'm going to put back on it. I think it's just a lot better piece. Kenny and I when we were doing six smokeokies, we had the the top has come loose on this Chinese box a couple times. So, I'm going to put this GM box on it. But here's what happened. I mean, you can see there where it ripped the top out, but it blew the whole inside of the frame rail out in there. I think you can see that it ripped the whole bottom out.

[00:11:39]And I think it started because this piece here is welded in, but I think the weld was real poor. So, what I'm going to do is cut that out like back into here somewhere. You can see where that crack is.

[00:11:55]I'm going to cut that out back into there somewhere. And I'm gonna make a piece of 316 like a a channel piece to slide back in there. [snorts] And then I'll drill a bunch of holes and plug weld it in. I'm going to cut the whole inside of the frame rail out first. Then I'm going to slide that piece in there [snorts] and plug weld it top and bottom really good. And then I'll put the filler piece, the inner piece of the frame rail back in. And then redo the mount. But I will I will like gusset the mount. You can see how I got that tab on there. I'll lap them back over into the frame rail this time.

[00:12:34]And um get that all plug welded in.

[00:12:38]But I think more of it started in the bottom. You know, I can see rust in there. And I think that's what happened.

[00:12:45]It might have got a little rusty, but yeah, it tore the out of it. So I'll do that tomorrow. probably share all that stuff next week. But yeah, I'll do that tomorrow. Get that piece put in there and try to get this back together where it'll at least roll.

[00:13:03]So, I got to do some wiring changes. I don't like the fact that the um turn signals are don't plug in. I've got to fix all that. I got some Deutsch connectors coming to do all that. And I'll [snorts] probably pull this fender off, too. I'm not going to do anything like put the front end back together cuz I've got those new cylinder heads that I'm going to put on this engine. So, I'm going to go ahead and get all that stuff done. So, um yeah, tried to get this heat back together where it at least roll. It'll move under its own power. I won't put the radiator, nothing back in, but I can get all that stuff done. So, I will do that tomorrow on my own time. Like I said, today I got to work on the truck.

[00:13:46]I got to keep moving forwards on this.

[00:13:48]So, I'd like to have it rolling here in the next couple weeks. The doors on, all the sheet metal on.

[00:13:57]Uh, Chassis Engineering Parts. I bought a tie rod kit from them for the Malibu.

[00:14:04]The their tie rods are swagged, heavy wall. Fantastic stuff. So, I've been a a believer in chassis engineering for probably 45 years. I've bought their product when I started my shop in Florida way back. Um, I didn't have any credit. I didn't know anybody. [snorts] So, I talked to the guys from Chassis Engineering, Billy Carol and Dan Delasio, and they said, "Tim, you got you got you're a dealer here." So, they they helped me way back, and I've never forgotten that.

[00:14:41]And, you know, and I know Clayton, too.

[00:14:43]So, I just I'm a firm believer. They got the best wheel tubs, too. They got a like their aluminum wheel tubs are, you know, heavy gauge. Awesome. So, I recommend buying from them. And then Brian sent the bushings and stuff. The bushings and the ball joints for the lower control arms. So, we got to get the [snorts] spindles modified. We got to get all that stuff done next. Then we can get the motor out of it and finish welding up all the steering stuff. We'll get some satin black on that front end mounted. So, as you all know, I got the back end done, the wheel tub silicone.

[00:15:19]Um, that's something else I wanted to show you guys, too, on wheel tubs.

[00:15:25]See if you can see this.

[00:15:29]I showed it in another video. You got to cut them away from the body so it's not putting any dents in the body. But then you got to glue them like this with the silicone so the smoke don't go in and the dirt don't go in. As you can see, I got it glued everywhere. But I want to show you what I use and why I use it.

[00:15:52]I may have sh I may have shared this.

[00:15:54]I'm an old guy. I don't remember. But this to me is pretty important. So, um, it's man, this stuff is like super super good.

[00:16:08]It's DAP Dynaflex 230 and it comes in different colors, but I usually use the black. This stuff here is super flexible and it don't crack. It is tough, man.

[00:16:22]This stuff is super tough. Like, you put it in there like it wants to stick to water. So, you use rubber gloves when you do it cuz it'll stick to you and won't come off.

[00:16:32]But I've rearranged the shop. I got the front end out of the way and the forklift and the welders. And like I say, I'm going to get this little bit of junk out of here, out of the way of the truck and get beating and framing on that. So, um, on my truck, I use this. I don't know if you guys use this stuff, right?

[00:16:53]Stuff, but this stuff works in a hurry.

[00:16:58]So, I think what I found, the balancer wasn't bad. It had a little bit of a mark on the seal saver, but I think I never used silicone on the outside of the seal when I put it in the timing cover. I think was leaking around the outside of that. So, I sealed that. And then I also on the front edge of the pan rail, I smeared some silicone in that just because I was under there. So anyh who, that's what's happening in my world. I hate the fact that I didn't get to finish, but man, I got to visit I got to see Jeremy Bonnet. I got to see him. Um, I got to hang out with Jeff and Jeffrey Lutz for a while. They've been friends for a long time [snorts] and we got to visit while there wasn't, you know, a bunch of fans in the way. So, that was great. You know, um, William Spangler, Bill, they had the Fair Lane. Him and Jeff were there with the Fairlane or the Fairmont, I'm sorry. And I [snorts] think they were doing okay, but I didn't get to um stay. And and I got to share this too. I posted a picture on Facebook of what happened. I was already home, you know, frustrated and I had several friends over in that area that we could have taken this to and probably patched it together. Like Travis Kangelo within a minute called me. He said, "Bring it to my shop. We'll fix it."

[00:18:31]Well, my concern was that it looked like it just wasn't something I could beat back together and weld. But you can see now it look that it still would have been a thin frame rail and I couldn't afford to take it out on the highway and have it break again. So, and the box is bad. So, there's nothing I could have done there. But the, you know, I man more than appreciate the fact that Travis reached out, Zack Lever reached out right away. Bring it to the shop. Scott Lever reached out. Bring it to the shop. you know, and I just and they probably had a steering box that could have bolted on it, too. But, and I just I I was concerned that this lightweight frame rails wouldn't [snorts] have held up anymore. So, in in hindsight, when I built the car and it had this front clip on it, I I I was contemplating about throwing these frame rails away, but where do you stop? You know, where do you stop? And in hindsight, I'd you know, if I'd have gusseted the box better, tied it into the frame rail better, maybe it would have held up, but maybe not. It just would have ripped a bigger chunk out.

[00:19:42]So, I think the way I'm going to fix it is going to be it's going to work. You know, everything else holds up. I mean, it it pulls the wheels off the ground a little bit, but not much. I mean, you know, when when we were down in um Crossville, Kenny and I had it tuned up right and hell, it pulled the wheels off the ground about 6 in. So, I'm hoping I can get back there. This transmission I and I don't, like I say, I don't know if the videos, the test videos turned out or not, but this transmission with that with this gear ratio, it's, you know, it's not as fast cuz it doesn't leave as hard, but it's okay. It's got reverse and it doesn't make any noise.

[00:20:24]It's quiet. I I'll live with it.

[00:20:28]My thoughts are this fall I'm going to take this little motor out and I'm going to take this LS5 and I'm going to rebuild this LS5 with a hydraulic roller cam in it. A mile cam.

[00:20:45]I've got the aluminum intake that was on the Chevel. I'm going to put this in it.

[00:20:50]We'll build a mile big block and put in it. Um, my buddy Mark Kobach came over and hung out with me for the day and he had a similar engine in his chvel and that thing hauled butt. I mean, it's a 10-second car. So, we're going to we're going to try to make this move, you know, and I'll I'll probably I don't know what I'll do for headers yet. Like I tell you guys, always build around a set of headers. I may try to find a set of trifives or street rod headers, but I don't know that they'll clear them silver bars. So, like a Chevy two header would. So, I probably will have to build my own headers, which is fine. It ain't the first time I've ever had to build a set of headers. So, [snorts] um that's where I'm at. You know, that's where I'm at.

[00:21:40]I was text messaging Conniey's cousin Kurt. He bought my Chevel and he said it's got a cam lobe out on it. And I honestly I did not know that. I changed the intake manifold, you know, put the quadrojet on it, you know, pull the valve covers off and I I even like when I change the oil, I cut the filter apart to see what's going on and it was clean. So, I did not know that it was doing that. But I believe it the the previous owner probably tightened it up and didn't tell me. And I hadn't driven the car a ton. I took it to a couple car shows and drove it to dinner a couple times. So, I didn't put any miles on it, per se, but you know, I feel bad about it. I do bums me out. I didn't know. So, anyh who, that's how our Friday is going to end up. I thought I'd share. And um like I say, I'll save what I do tomorrow with the Chevy 2. I try to save that in pretty good detail so you guys can see all that. I'll get this video ready to go and then that'll be all part of next week's video. So, thanks for putting up with me. Sorry I didn't get to share more from the turn and burn, but I thought it was so far it was going to be a great time. I love the format and I really really hope it works out for um the Bader family at Norwok Summit Motorsports Park of course. you know, talked with um Jason from Mickey Thompson quite a bit. Had some interesting information he shared with me. So, yeah, made me look at things a lot different. Um, Bobby got to spend some time with her.

[00:23:21]You know, I haven't seen, you know, consider myself part of the Bader family because I worked for the Bader family for about three years.

[00:23:30]And honestly, working for them changed my life. How I looked at things and how I do things. So, but like I say, here I am having fun. Oh, [snorts] I'll share this, too. Connie got a new puppy dog.

[00:23:45]She got her a a dachshund. So, she is happy as a clam and he is a little cutie. So, um life's good in the in the Irwin household. So, thanks for watching everybody. Again, I'll um I'll share what's going on tomorrow. See you. Okay, I'm going to give you a heads up in this Friday how I fix this here. I um like I say that this was um the door was hanging down lower than this here. So, I split it along this seam right here and then I cut it in this way in a few spots. You can see right there, there's like four spots I cut it. Then I put the door in and I lined all this up with a door. Then I got a bunch of tack welds here to hold this in shape. Pulled the door off. And then I made a filler piece to go in here. Like a pies-shaped filler piece in here. Then welded all these cracks shut here.

[00:24:40]Then I moved this one up here.

[00:24:44]See, I got that lined back up. What I did is I split it along this seam here.

[00:24:49]And then I come out here about an eighth of an inch and split it. And I I just pushed that whole thing for I kept grinding here until this would line up right here. And then I I tack welded this in here. And then I made a filler piece to go in here and got that all welded up and ground. So that's ready for the body. Man, needs a little bit of filler. But hey, everything I do needs a little bit of filler. So I'm that far there. Now I'm going to work on fixing this mess in here. And I'll probably save that all for next week.