Bob,
It will be a dream just to have it back in my garage again. It has been at the chassis shop for two years and then some.
Joe,
It was a Stage-One street/strip car running 11.20s at 120 mph in full street trim before the back half. It had too much race car in it to be a good street car, and too much street car in it to be a good race car. The compromises to be both street and race car left me with the worst of both worlds. 3500 rpm at 60 mph and a 4200 stall converter made it buzzy on the street, and the lack of race shocks and 600+ HP reduced traction to a possibility. It was not much fun to cruise, and the inconsistency of traction made winning races very difficult indeed.
I decided there was little HP to be gained from building another Stage-One after the Stage-One spun rod bearing #3, destroyed a nice girdled block and three Oliver rods. I was not comfortable with the idea of building my first (expensive) stroker without knowing more about them. So, I ordered a 494 stroker short block from TA, and planned to purchase a set of aluminum stage two heads for porting. I thought they would have the most expertise in building a durable, relatively carefree short block. I was offered more and more upgrades at a price discount as the project took longer and longer to be finished. It’s kind of a blur, but at some point a completed 525 Stage IV was delivered from AZ. Now the engine has been sitting for more then a year waiting for the chassis to be finished. I sent the chassis out once I realized how long the engine was taking. I figured even an uncompromised race suspension would still be challenged by the 525. So, off went the chassis for a back half, and here we are two years and some later. Hopefully I am nearing the end of the sad part of the tale!
It should run low 9s, and if I put more fiberglass parts on it may be capable of, dare I say it, high 8s.
