Anyone going to the 2011 Mopars at the Strip?

[johnl]

Congrats to all. I'm anxious to hear the stories, uumm a full report.

[Turbo224]

I will chime in here since I was at the show for a little while. My wife and I headed down on thursday night and got in around midnight. Looking at the weather forecast it showed that the temp was going to be around 50-60 for both friday and saturday with possible showers both days. We were only able to stay for friday and saturday, so we decided to take friday and do the vegas thing, and then spend all day saturday at the show. Turns out that was a BAD decision. Friday was actually a nice day in Vegas, a little chilly in the morning but it was really nice for the rest of the day. We spent 8 hours shopping. Saturday we headed over to the show early in the morning and it was looking to be a nice day. I had previously worked out a deal to trade my 89 CSX for an 85 GLH with a guy from TD who was also going to be at the show, so we spent the first hour swapping cars in the parking lot and getting thing loaded up on the trailers. By about noon black clouds came in over the show and the wind really kicked up. After about 20 minutes of miserably cold wind with light rain my wife and I headed back into Vegas for some lunch hoping the weather would clear up a little. We got back to the show at about 2 and spent about 4 hours in the show and a little watching some drag racing. The rain had passed but the wind was still miserably cold. We ended up leaving around 6pm and heading back home.

All together I have to say that this was probably the worst time I have ever had at MATS. Not only did the weather not cooperate but I wasn't able to stay for sunday which I hear turned out quite nice. Luckily for me I was able to bring home a new project car, so that certainly saved the trip for me. To all those who were also in attendance, I hope everyone had a good time and I am sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to anyone.

[440dart]

IIR he was already best friends with him from the last time he took the Rampage there

Ouch on the HG but sounds like good runs up till then!

Ah just a good excuse to pull the engine to rering and bearing my other engine put on a smaller turbo


Yeah that guy is a gem, i had to tell him to quit yelling at me lol the guy was a dick.




MATS really sucked this year cold rainy and disorganized all previous years were not bad but this takes the cake i dont think alot of people will be going next year.

[2.216VTurbo]

I took lots of pics and have a few stories to tell, but I had to cut my trip short, bail out Sunday am EARLY and go to Denver for a 3 day spine conference with 2500 Neurosurgeons. I 'll post some pics and a wite up Wednesday when I get home.

Tyler, I saw that blue GLH in the parking lot and was wondering where it went

[ForzaV12]

Ah just a good excuse to pull the engine to rering and bearing my other engine put on a smaller turbo


Yeah that guy is a gem, i had to tell him to quit yelling at me lol the guy was a dick.




MATS really sucked this year cold rainy and disorganized all previous years were not bad but this takes the cake i dont think alot of people will be going next year.

Can't really control the weather. What other issues were there? We sailed through tech, schedule was pretty clear(although the numerous exploded cars and crashes slowed down the racing-once again, don't think that was the fault of the organizers?)

I found a ton of great parts for my cars in the swap area, saved nearly a grand on a full Hotchkiss suspension set-up for the Challenger at the manufacturer midway, folks were able to run essentially unlimited autocross laps for free, stayed at a nice hotel next to the track, ate nice steaks in town, watched some good music and street performers, watched Kareoke from people I'd never thought would attempt it, looked at a ton of cool cars in the show area(including many very rare ones), my bud was able to sign up on the spot for the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the speedway and ran a number of laps in a Nascar stocker, had a fun cruise/caravan out and back to the event.

I'll be back next year-and will hope for better weather-although it wasn't that bad.

[Turbo224]

Tyler, I saw that blue GLH in the parking lot and was wondering where it went

Yup, that's my new toy. Other than a 2.5" exhaust, it's bone stock and runs really well. Now I need to decide what I am going to do with it...

Can't really control the weather.

I'll be back next year-and will hope for better weather-although it wasn't that bad.

Totally agree with you. Weather ruined it for me, but I will be back next year. It's just too close to home to miss out on a show like this. I have had a blast in previous years. Maybe next year I will bring a car to run down the track.

[Ondonti]

How did the van run this time around?
Tyler, does the battery charge lol.

[Turbo224]

Tyler, does the battery charge lol.

Ha ha, it's amazing how well everything works on a car when I dont screw it up!

[shelbyconcepts]

[Reeves]

Denver for a 3 day spine conference with 2500 Neurosurgeons. I 'll post some pics and a wite up Wednesday when I get home.

Tell us about the MATS instead!

[440dart]

Can't really control the weather. What other issues were there? We sailed through tech, schedule was pretty clear(although the numerous exploded cars and crashes slowed down the racing-once again, don't think that was the fault of the organizers?)

I found a ton of great parts for my cars in the swap area, saved nearly a grand on a full Hotchkiss suspension set-up for the Challenger at the manufacturer midway, folks were able to run essentially unlimited autocross laps for free, stayed at a nice hotel next to the track, ate nice steaks in town, watched some good music and street performers, watched Kareoke from people I'd never thought would attempt it, looked at a ton of cool cars in the show area(including many very rare ones), my bud was able to sign up on the spot for the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the speedway and ran a number of laps in a Nascar stocker, had a fun cruise/caravan out and back to the event.

I'll be back next year-and will hope for better weather-although it wasn't that bad.

Um probley waiting in tech line then finding out that they didnt give me a tech card and the guy getting all pissy at me about it, and me buying into the stick class them telling me i dont need a tech card and come to find out that i did need a tech card even though i was already teched in and the guy getting all pissy and yelling at me yes i am serious he was yelling at me. Then i asked him a question and he got all pissy again finally i had enough told him to quit yelling at me that i was only asking him a simple question, i was getting to the point of breaking his teen out i guess a lil hick comes out every now and then sometimes people need a little physical thearopy then there not such --------. All in all yeah i probley wasnt bad but dealing with this iam to thrilled about comeing back as i can drive 250mi instead of a 2600mi round trip

[mock_glh]

Good grief, what a weekend. For the first time in the six years at this event I didn't win any money. I blamed a new untested fuel pump for some major power loss problems in qualifying and the first round of eliminations. Finally I hooked up the datalogger after running a 13.01 at 101 mph . The thing was going seriously lean during boost (like 18:1) and suddenly I suspected the fuel regulator. The vacuum line had blown off, meaning I was running about 20 psi short of fuel pressure. It's a miracle it didn't melt the pistons or even the spark plugs.

I won the first round by sheer luck, as my 17.7 second opponent laid down a .017 light to my .109 but broke out by almost 2 tenths, probably for fear of being outrun by 50 mph .
I had my power back for the second round but I kept my dial in at 12.50. My reaction was .069 vs his .063, very close. I spun thru first, doing a 1.80 60 ft. (a tenth off the norm), then passed the guy in third gear so fast that I was almost 2 lengths ahead across the stripe, breaking out with a 12.30 at about 81 mph. No 1/4 final loser money for this class.

For all accounts though, I won the event at the blackjack table Friday night, with the generous help of Mr. Jones, who bought me in , and for his kindness was even luckier than me .

[johnl]

So the pump and regulator were OK and it was just that the regulator's vacuum line had blown off?

[mock_glh]

So the pump and regulator were OK and it was just that the regulator's vacuum line had blown off?

Apparently.

[2.216VTurbo]

So in the 5-6 weeks before MATS I temporarily threw in the towel on the Rampage RT to bring another project to the meet. After some serious arm twisting, lotsa Tequila, and a fat stack of Benjamins, Forza sold me his well prepped Sublime Green 86 GLHS #110 roadracer that you see in his sig line. Yes, the ex LaCarerra Panamerica class champion car was mine now and I didn't want to change a thing. Well except the color... and it's soley track focused mission... and it's interior... and, well you get the idea. The Sublime is cool but just a little too high profile for my level of hyjinx, I don't need that kind of attention from the man(unless of course it's justified by the attention it would garner from the ladies but let's be honest, it's an Omni after all) So back to black was goal #1, in fact Forza generously loaned my his paint guy(who has like um, a few, of Forzas cars in his shop at any given time) and I didn't even take possession until the shiny new pigment was applied. After that, weeks of Boneyard hunting ensued before I found a 'little old lady' gray interior Omni. Crickey L bodies are getting scarce in the yards 3 weeks and 8 yards later, a perfect specimen gave up its carpet, front bumper, and lots of interior bits.

Turns out, Omni bumpers sit waaaay out there So I sectioned the supports, shortening them 2.5" and rewelded them for a nice tuck. Carpet went in with 5-6 lbs of DynaMat, roll cage got some attention on the sidebars and padding. Then there was the matter of that slight little barely perceptable decel bottom end rattle that was inaudible until a full over-the-axle exhaust was installed. 4 days before MATS now and the pan is off and I'm chasing rod bearings. First set of Clevites for a 2.2 rod, no workey. Next day, SRT4 bearings are a no go either WTF are these Crower rod specs. MockGLH to the rescue on that one. He surmised that they'd be 283/327 SBC rod specs and he was right First set fit bitchen. After resizing the right at the tight end of spec and buffing the crank with some 1500, plastigage (yeah I know Todd N. it's for amatures but hey, it's me) said .0015, a litttle loose but acceptable. Back together and running 12 hours before leaving for Vegas, so much for all that tuning I was gonna do...

Drive to Vegas was great, Forza and the Polara CHP crew kept us entertained with flybys and video quaility antics. Rain however on treadless R1 DOT's was not great. 55MPH during the dump-with no wipers(they were on the to-do list) was not so great. Eventually we did have sun for the rest of the drive. Made some stops and took some pics(left my entire boneyard bag sitting on a bench in a Shell Station! Fortunatley, an honest employee brought them in and set them aside and with some tracking skills courtesy of the CHP lead man Todge, MockGLH was able to retrieve them for me on his way thru the next morning)

The S has tons of great parts on it(see that one off billet crank??) but the whole set up is still coming together. Boost was slow to rise to its 22PSI setpoint ( DBB GT30's should spool better than that) and the top end pull tho strong was uninspiring. first pass was like 14.70@103. By the second and last pass of the day, I'd played with ignition timing, and added 5 degrees of cam timing. I was 'rewarded' with a 15.20@93 MPH for a net loss of 10 MPH with the adjustments So lets move the cam the other way 10 degrees, 5 I just put in it and 5 more. time to leave the track and do some Vegas after dark activities(that has to be a separate thread at some point because I *KNOW* there is Karaoke video out there somewhere!) S car is a whole 'Nuther animal with the cam timing now. First run on Saturday am, I get paired with a well prepped Chally SRT8 with slicks. Forza told me later that he was sittting in the stands near the guys buddies and they said something to the effect of 'If he looses to THAT THING, he'd better just keep on driving strait on down the road' he didn't lose (damn 2.4 60' spinning all the way thru 2nd) but he did get MPH'd by the S car, my 109.45 to his 107.30 another 300' and he woulda been mine Trurns out after it SNOWED on us about lunchtime, the track was never the same and that was gonna be my best run. There's plenty more in it, but this is a roadcaurse car(in fact the fastest auto-X participant at MATS)after all and drag racing it is less than ideal for the set up.

EDIT BAH, the Wifi at the hospital is wayyy to slow, I'll have to upload pics from home later

[GLHS069]

So in the 5-6 weeks before MATS I temporarily threw in the towel on the Rampage RT to bring another project to the meet. After some serious arm twisting, lotsa Tequila, and a fat stack of Benjamins, Forza sold me his well prepped Sublime Green 86 GLHS #110 roadracer that you see in his sig line. Yes, the ex LaCarerra Panamerica class champion car was mine now and I didn't want to change a thing. Well except the color... and it's soley track focused mission... and it's interior... and, well you get the idea. The Sublime is cool but just a little too high profile for my level of hyjinx, I don't need that kind of attention from the man(unless of course it's justified by the attention it would garner from the ladies but let's be honest, it's an Omni after all) So back to black was goal #1, in fact Forza generously loaned my his paint guy(who has like um, a few, of Forzas cars in his shop at any given time) and I didn't even take possession until the shiny new pigment was applied. After that, weeks of Boneyard hunting ensued before I found a 'little old lady' gray interior Omni. Crickey L bodies are getting scarce in the yards 3 weeks and 8 yards later, a perfect specimen gave up its carpet, front bumper, and lots of interior bits.



Turns out, Omni bumpers sit waaaay out there So I sectioned the supports, shortening them 2.5" and rewelded them for a nice tuck. Carpet went in with 5-6 lbs of DynaMat, roll cage got some attention on the sidebars and padding. Then there was the matter of that slight little barely perceptable decel bottom end rattle that was inaudible until a full over-the-axle exhaust was installed. 4 days before MATS now and the pan is off and I'm chasing rod bearings. First set of Clevites for a 2.2 rod, no workey. Next day, SRT4 bearings are a no go either WTF are these Crower rod specs. MockGLH to the rescue on that one. He surmised that they'd be 283/327 SBC rod specs and he was right First set fit bitchen. After resizing the right at the tight end of spec and buffing the crank with some 1500, plastigage (yeah I know Todd N. it's for amatures but hey, it's me) said .0015, a litttle loose but acceptable. Back together and running 12 hours before leaving for Vegas, so much for all that tuning I was gonna do...

Drive to Vegas was great, Forza and the Polara CHP crew kept us entertained with flybys and video quaility antics. Rain however on treadless R1 DOT's was not great. 55MPH during the dump-with no wipers(they were on the to-do list) was not so great. Eventually we did have sun for the rest of the drive. Made some stops and took some pics(left my entire boneyard bag sitting on a bench in a Shell Station! Fortunatley, an honest employee brought them in and set them aside and with some tracking skills courtesy of the CHP lead man Todge, MockGLH was able to retrieve them for me on his way thru the next morning)

The S has tons of great parts on it(see that one off billet crank??) but the whole set up is still coming together. Boost was slow to rise to its 22PSI setpoint ( DBB GT30's should spool better than that) and the top end pull tho strong was uninspiring. first pass was like 14.70@103. By the second and last pass of the day, I'd played with ignition timing, and added 5 degrees of cam timing. I was 'rewarded' with a 15.20@93 MPH for a net loss of 10 MPH with the adjustments So lets move the cam the other way 10 degrees, 5 I just put in it and 5 more. time to leave the track and do some Vegas after dark activities(that has to be a separate thread at some point because I *KNOW* there is Karaoke video out there somewhere!) S car is a whole 'Nuther animal with the cam timing now. First run on Saturday am, I get paired with a well prepped Chally SRT8 with slicks. Forza told me later that he was sittting in the stands near the guys buddies and they said something to the effect of 'If he looses to THAT THING, he'd better just keep on driving strait on down the road' he didn't lose (damn 2.4 60' spinning all the way thru 2nd) but he did get MPH'd by the S car, my 109.45 to his 107.30 another 300' and he woulda been mine Trurns out after it SNOWED on us about lunchtime, the track was never the same and that was gonna be my best run. There's plenty more in it, but this is a roadcaurse car(in fact the fastest auto-X participant at MATS)after all and drag racing it is less than ideal for the set up.

EDIT BAH, the Wifi at the hospital is wayyy to slow, I'll have to upload pics from home later

What are you doing with a 4 door? I don't know if we can allow you to join "our club"

[GLHShelby291]

Here are some pics taken on Sunday April 10th at MATS.
-Thomas G.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasg...7626376348387/

[johnl]

Nice pics Tom; thanks. Nice write up Alan; yeah, I know it was a joke Forza but the car should be black, or anything but that green. Nice pic of Butch.

---------- Post added at 10:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 PM ----------

Boyd, your PM box is full

[2.216VTurbo]

Well, I was gonna post a few more pics but Tom's Flicker account covered it pretty well Interesting note on that Hotchkiss 70 TA Challenger, it was the *ONLY* car faster on the autocross course than the GLHS with a 25.3 to the S's 26.0. That car is owned driven by 12 time Nation Auto X champion Mary Rice who used to campain an 86 GLH-T Needless to say, she was stoked to take a few hot laps in the S car, she came around after a lap and exclaimed "Man I love driving FWD cars around the course!"

Eiker, first TM I ever rode in/drove was my cousin's 85 GLH/NA in 1985 when you were still in diapers. So I'm thinking it's MY 4 door club, not yours

[GLHS069]

Eiker, first TM I ever rode in/drove was my cousin's 85 GLH/NA in 1985 when you were still in diapers. So I'm thinking it's MY 4 door club, not yours[/QUOTE

Very funny but i wasn't in diapers in 85!!