Fun Ford Weekend
Monday, March 28, 2005, 12:00 PM
Fun Ford Weekend is just around the corner, and WCR has dialed it up a notch this year.
In the past few years, we competed in the “Quick Ford” class, which is essentially a no-electronics footbrake bracket race. This class usually has a boat load of competition, and we were lucky enuff to be semi-finalists one year. This year will be all together different. We’ve stepped up to running a show-down class this year called “Open Class”. This class has three qualifier rounds with eliminations beginning on Sunday. There will be a handi-capped start with a .1 second break-out pad. This makes it similar to brackets, but the payout is far better. I ran the car last year, so it’s Joey’s turn this year. So with all that said, Joey, get to practicin’ on that tree! For more info regarding FFW, go to http://www.funfordevents.com/ . This all happens April 29th – May 1st. We’re looking forward to it!


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Saw it, wanted it, got it.....
Saturday, March 26, 2005, 11:27 PM
Ever want someting that wasn't absolutely necessary??....Ok, even REMOTELY necessary?? If you said no, then the 1st liar doesn't stand a chance...
Guys go down a purchase a hand gun for "home protection". While the every day garden variety S&W .38 caliber pistol would stop a coked up gorilla in it's tracks, we opt for the Colt 44 magnum witha a 10" barrel & ventilated rib........
Why? Because it's COOOOOL.
Women want to remodel thier kitchen. While Armstrong makes padded inexpensive linoleum in every color & pattern, ceramic tile that has to be flown in from Sicily is selected....... Why? Because it's COOOOOOL.

OooooK, that's probably enuff justification for the latest addition to our lil' pony. A couple of weeks ago, I sat down and designed a wing for the 'Stang. Bill Waite w/Angleton Sheet Metal did the fabrication as per the drawing. We purchased the strut hardware from Jerry Bickel Race Cars, w/an upgrade to include bumper brackets shaped like mustangs. The stuff showed up un-painted, so we had to figure out how to paint it. I know, I've been acused of being "slightly" anal, but the wing and brackets turned out as shown below.
I almost forgot to mention that my wife pressure washed the entire house while I "screwed around with that *^%#$@! wing all day" (her words, not mine). I might add she did a bang up job too. I consider myself a lucky man to have her.

This is one of the four bumper brackets after painting


This is the bracket installed with strut attached


And finally, this is the wing installed (soon to be painted '98 Ford Denim Blue)


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Wanna go for a ride?????
Wednesday, March 16, 2005, 07:04 PM
Yesterday and today have been one of those rare sick days where I've stayed home to nurse a bad cold. Aside from feeling like crap, I've got cabin fever to boot. Joey's got this crud as well, & he missed work this AM, but managed to go on to school this afternoon.

A couple of weeks ago, Joey & I got to tinkering around the shop and lo & behold, presto -- We fabricated a camera mount that attaches to our roll cage. We tried it out last Friday nite, and it turned out OK. The problem was then, how was this computer illiterate pipefitter gonna get that clip out of the camera and into this blog? Weeelll, I've been reading up on this stuff the last couple of days, and with the help of Travis & some Dayquil, I've managed to get it stuck in here somehow. Attached below is our first attempt at a "windshield cam". We learned several things: 1, It's better to do this in the day time, and 2, we need to put a piece of tape over the microphone as the audio freaks out at 6500 RPM generated decibels. The pass on film was a 6.61 second pass @ 104 mph.

I promise the next one will be better, but for now, come take a lil' ride........click on the link (then click on the little 45 degree arrow in the upper right corner to bring it to full screen)

Windshield Ride

PS: FYI -- Don't take Dayquil and Robitussin max strength cough formula together...it'll make you a little "loopy".

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A "Rare Bird" on a "Rare Bird"
Tuesday, March 15, 2005, 12:29 AM
The following isn’t race related, but it’s something I want to share.

Jack Cherry was one of my best friends.....
he was also my dad, and of course Joey’s, Travis’, and Beth’s “Grandpa Jack”. He left us seven years ago today after a six month battle with cancer. Jack was one of those “universal fits all” dads, which seems to be a rare commodity nowadays. He could fix anything, take you hunting & fishing, tell you a story, tell a gazillion Aggie jokes, lead a bunch of Boy Scouts, and pretty much handle anything that was thrown at him. The word “character” comes to mind, as he not only had a lot of “character”, but he was one helluva character as well.
Dad grew up in Wharton County, Texas. He went through the great depression and WWII. If that wasn’t enough, he married my mom, put himself through college and graduated as a Mechanical Engineer from the University of Texas, raised three sons, and had a 30+ year career with the Dow Chemical Company before retiring.
Dad was mechanically inclined from the get-go, as he piece-milled Model A Fords (Ford fanatic, must be genetic) together as a young man. He later joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, and that same mechanical inclination made him a crew chief in charge of keeping P-38 Lockheed Lightning fighter planes and B-25 light bombers in the air over the Pacific Ocean.... One of his finer military accomplishments was to go out and retrieve a downed Japanese Zero fighter plane out of the New Guinea jungle, and restore it for U.S. military intelligence. Talk about a frame-off restoration! As I understand it, there are only two authentic Zeros existing in the world today. Attached below is a “rare bird” sitting on the wing of a “rare bird”. This airplane was actually flown by a U.S. pilot, therefore it had U.S. insignias painted on it…. Even then it had P-38’s escorting it.



I only wish he could be here to take part in the whole race car thing. He’d bitch the whole way about practicality and everything, but I’d bet a pay check that he couldn’t keep his hands out of it…..that’s the way he was. If you knew him, you liked him.

Jack Wilburn Cherry… February 19th, 1923 – March 15th, 1998.

Rest in peace, daddy. I miss you every day.


[ 4 comments ] ( 51 views )
Ladder Bar debut
Monday, March 14, 2005, 11:58 PM
Man, it's been too long since we posted anything.... We ran the car Friday nite, and everything seemed to go pretty good. Rick was supposed to meet us to do a lil' chassis tweeking, but he got caught up helping his neighbor. The car handled well, although I was hoping for some better 60' times. We're planning on another Friday nite outing, only this time we're T&T'ing only until things get optimized. 6.60 @ 104 mph

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