The 72 Demon Follies....
Well....time to update my old thread. Lots has happened since my last update in May of 2023. Car stuff, life stuff, and moving south! So let's start with June 2023. This will be less about the cars but hopefully explain what's been happening. Some have asked for an update so here goes. Mostly boring stuff but ....
After the successful installation and front end work on the avatar to get it to go straight, I was excited to be able to just focus on "the race" and tweaking settings/jets/etc to make the car faster and/or more consistent. With only 2 time runs each time out to the track, you can't really make a whole lot of changes/progress while there - I mostly just "run what I brung" for that given outing.
Racing:
6/4: Before we went back to the track on 6/4, I upped the front jets one number. The day was a nice clear day of about 75 degrees (1800 DA). But we had about a 10 mph headwind so I knew the car would be a tad slower. But every car had to face the same headwind so let's have at it! Sure enough, the mph was down about 1.5 to 2 and the et's were off about 0.075. Racing we did! Had to face last year's reigning track champ in the 3rd round and won. But then took a nap at the tree in rd 4 and that was that for the day. Quarter finals so not all that bad.
6/18: We went back to the track 2 weeks later with no changes. The weather was roughly 80 degress but the DA was quite a bit worse than before running right around 2400-2500. After the first pass at that DA, the engine felt sluggish in 3rd gear so I leaned the front jets out 2 numbers. The car picked up just a tad in the mph so it apparenty liked the change. Went to the 4th rd again - this time including beating the current season points leader. But somehow popped a -0.009 red-eye in the 4th rd and that was it for the day. Down to the last 6 cars....
7/9: The next outing was on 7/9 with no changes done to the car. Upper 70's but the DA was way up at around 2600+ all day. We also faced a headwind around 12 mph all day. The car slowed down as expected due to these weather conditions - off by about a tenth from the early June runs. This time I again went to the 4th round. I swear I was ahead at the stripe (scrubbed 5 mph off) but the other guy got the win light. Dang...down to the last 7 cars again! Oh well, it was fun.
Little did we know this would be our last race outing of the 2023 year. Went 4 rounds each time out but couldn't get past it.
Life got a bit in the way but some was self-inflicted. I was fortunate to retire on June 30. Hooray!! We had extended family out of town health issues to tend to and then the big Woodward Dream Cruise came up in August. We took our 71 Demon 340 to a Friday event as well as Saturday for the Woodward cruise. But each evening, we took this 72 Demon out to cruise the streets and see the sights. After all, one never knows when you might need that sudden burst of acceleration. Haha....just kidding! But it IS just such a fun little beast to drive around. It SOUNDS much faster than it is so those of you with 10 second cars...watch out! lol...
And then September arrived. We had been having a new home built in Florida for well over 2 years at this point. Come Labor Day weekend, we flew down to "supervise" the pouring of the concrete for the drive, etc. With roughly 6150 ft2 of concrete, I wanted to be sure it got placed where I wanted it. Good thing we were there as the forms were not quite right upon arrival so we got them addressed just after 6:00am the day of the pour! Then the house was FINALLY done at the end of September so we loaded up the enclosed trailer with the 69 Charger and as much other stuff as could fit and off we went down I-75. Oh the joys of a 1500 gas-engine truck pulling a 24' enclosed trailer at close to 10,000#'s. Like stopping for fuel about every 2 to 2-1/2 hours. But it towed just fine and we got to really liking every Buc-cees we could find for those of you familiar with them! And we learned to sleep in the truck at either a Love's truck stop or a Georgia rest area. What fun!
We arrived and closed on the house. We stayed about 10 days then headed back up I-75 for home (Detroit area) and left the enclosed trailer behind. We stayed in Michigan for roughly 5 days. I built a front "shield" out of some scrap lumber and rubber bed mat for the front of my open trailer. And finally got the stripes added to the avatar Demon - what a difference!! We loaded up the avatar Demon on the open trailer and headed south again. Another night at a Love's truck stop and 1200 miles later and were arrived in Florida again. This time we stayed about a week and then pulled the big enclosed trailer back up north. Had the joy of a nail in one of the tires to boot!
Our last stay in our Michigan home was for about a week as we worked to clean out the house (we were blessed it had sold) and get packed up for our "final" trip moving to Florida. We cleaned out our house and loaded up the 71 Demon 340 in the encloed trailer for the trip. Off we went and, after another night in the truck and 1200 miles, we arrived "home" in Florida on Nov 3. Just in time to escape the Detroit winter that had already started (it had snowed while the movers were loading up our belongings). Movers delivered everything the next day on 11/4 so on Sunday, 11/5, we did what any sane person who just moved would do: we went to the Garlits show in Ocala (a bit under 30 miles away)!! Great time as we met a husband/wife with a petty blue 72 Demon 340 that the wife had owned since new. They hooked us into a local Mopar club and the rest is history. We've met MANY people and one great benefit is these folks have WAY more cars than I do! So my wife now says that our 3 cars really isn't such a big stable after all!! There's a guy with 9 classics, another guy with 11, etc, etc. Amazing! And a whole bunch of racers - 9 sec cars seem to be the norm amongst these guys. My little Demon is a slow turd next to their cars.
Okay - enough of my digression....but I wanted to share how life things happen and sidetrack at least me from my toys.
After driving the 72 around quite a bit on the streets down here - to shows, cruises, whatever - we went to Gainesville Raceway this past Saturday on 1/27. As always, you meet lots of new great folks when you go to a new track where you're not known. People were friendly and helpful showing me around the amenities there. My first impressions are for a track that is owned by the NHRA, I would have thought they would have made the place more of a showcase kind of track. The PA system was marginal at best, the restrooms were sub-par, the pits were paved asphalt (in Florida this must be nice in a couple months?), and they only bracket race 1x/month! 1x/month and you're the organization promoting the sport? Seems odd and was certainly disappointing. "Oh, well, we do it 1x/month but we race on both Saturday and Sunday that 1 weekend as many folks like to spend the night anyway and race the next day since they're already here." Okay...I guess...but???? The wind was quite strange as it was a headwind early in the day followed by a cross breeze that then turned into a tailwind and then back to a cross-breeze. All at between 14-18 mph! The temp was upper 70's with a DA of 2000-ish, very similar to our Detroit weather the prior year. The car ran it's best "1st run off the trailer" carding an 11.16 so I was excited to see what it would do. That was the only time run given so I took a guess and won the first round with a new personal best of 11.10 (timeslip attached). Took a nap at the tree in rd 2 and got sent home. But racing in January? Pinch me!!
So that's the last 7 months and why the avatar really has not had much track time. Got moved and been putting a ton of time in setting up our house and my new shop. It's a detached garage that's 50' wide x 34' deep with 14' ceilings. You would think that is plenty but I can tell you this packrat can find and hang onto more junk than anyone can ever need. So a lot of time has been spent finding places for things and pitching things! More work to do with bulding shelving, etc, but for now, I'm just happy to be here. The car will hopefully get out more living here in Florida but we'll see. It should certainly get even more street use given all the venues that go on on a weekly basis. Stay tuned....
Us on one of our many trips traversing I-75 betwen Detroit and the Ocala, FL area:
One of many times out on the streets at a cruise:
In the Gainesville staging lanes:
Personal best for the car - RH lane #6020:
The new shop - 2 10'x10' doors and 1 18'x12' door:
Oh what the heck - just for good measure, here's the 71 Demon 340 after a day at a show. I call it my "sheep in wolf's clothing" car as it is all stock/original and certainly not fast!!:
Well....time to update my old thread. Lots has happened since my last update in May of 2023. Car stuff, life stuff, and moving south! So let's start with June 2023. This will be less about the cars but hopefully explain what's been happening. Some have asked for an update so here goes. Mostly boring stuff but ....
After the successful installation and front end work on the avatar to get it to go straight, I was excited to be able to just focus on "the race" and tweaking settings/jets/etc to make the car faster and/or more consistent. With only 2 time runs each time out to the track, you can't really make a whole lot of changes/progress while there - I mostly just "run what I brung" for that given outing.
Racing:
6/4: Before we went back to the track on 6/4, I upped the front jets one number. The day was a nice clear day of about 75 degrees (1800 DA). But we had about a 10 mph headwind so I knew the car would be a tad slower. But every car had to face the same headwind so let's have at it! Sure enough, the mph was down about 1.5 to 2 and the et's were off about 0.075. Racing we did! Had to face last year's reigning track champ in the 3rd round and won. But then took a nap at the tree in rd 4 and that was that for the day. Quarter finals so not all that bad.
6/18: We went back to the track 2 weeks later with no changes. The weather was roughly 80 degress but the DA was quite a bit worse than before running right around 2400-2500. After the first pass at that DA, the engine felt sluggish in 3rd gear so I leaned the front jets out 2 numbers. The car picked up just a tad in the mph so it apparenty liked the change. Went to the 4th rd again - this time including beating the current season points leader. But somehow popped a -0.009 red-eye in the 4th rd and that was it for the day. Down to the last 6 cars....
7/9: The next outing was on 7/9 with no changes done to the car. Upper 70's but the DA was way up at around 2600+ all day. We also faced a headwind around 12 mph all day. The car slowed down as expected due to these weather conditions - off by about a tenth from the early June runs. This time I again went to the 4th round. I swear I was ahead at the stripe (scrubbed 5 mph off) but the other guy got the win light. Dang...down to the last 7 cars again! Oh well, it was fun.
Little did we know this would be our last race outing of the 2023 year. Went 4 rounds each time out but couldn't get past it.
Life got a bit in the way but some was self-inflicted. I was fortunate to retire on June 30. Hooray!! We had extended family out of town health issues to tend to and then the big Woodward Dream Cruise came up in August. We took our 71 Demon 340 to a Friday event as well as Saturday for the Woodward cruise. But each evening, we took this 72 Demon out to cruise the streets and see the sights. After all, one never knows when you might need that sudden burst of acceleration. Haha....just kidding! But it IS just such a fun little beast to drive around. It SOUNDS much faster than it is so those of you with 10 second cars...watch out! lol...
And then September arrived. We had been having a new home built in Florida for well over 2 years at this point. Come Labor Day weekend, we flew down to "supervise" the pouring of the concrete for the drive, etc. With roughly 6150 ft2 of concrete, I wanted to be sure it got placed where I wanted it. Good thing we were there as the forms were not quite right upon arrival so we got them addressed just after 6:00am the day of the pour! Then the house was FINALLY done at the end of September so we loaded up the enclosed trailer with the 69 Charger and as much other stuff as could fit and off we went down I-75. Oh the joys of a 1500 gas-engine truck pulling a 24' enclosed trailer at close to 10,000#'s. Like stopping for fuel about every 2 to 2-1/2 hours. But it towed just fine and we got to really liking every Buc-cees we could find for those of you familiar with them! And we learned to sleep in the truck at either a Love's truck stop or a Georgia rest area. What fun!
We arrived and closed on the house. We stayed about 10 days then headed back up I-75 for home (Detroit area) and left the enclosed trailer behind. We stayed in Michigan for roughly 5 days. I built a front "shield" out of some scrap lumber and rubber bed mat for the front of my open trailer. And finally got the stripes added to the avatar Demon - what a difference!! We loaded up the avatar Demon on the open trailer and headed south again. Another night at a Love's truck stop and 1200 miles later and were arrived in Florida again. This time we stayed about a week and then pulled the big enclosed trailer back up north. Had the joy of a nail in one of the tires to boot!
Our last stay in our Michigan home was for about a week as we worked to clean out the house (we were blessed it had sold) and get packed up for our "final" trip moving to Florida. We cleaned out our house and loaded up the 71 Demon 340 in the encloed trailer for the trip. Off we went and, after another night in the truck and 1200 miles, we arrived "home" in Florida on Nov 3. Just in time to escape the Detroit winter that had already started (it had snowed while the movers were loading up our belongings). Movers delivered everything the next day on 11/4 so on Sunday, 11/5, we did what any sane person who just moved would do: we went to the Garlits show in Ocala (a bit under 30 miles away)!! Great time as we met a husband/wife with a petty blue 72 Demon 340 that the wife had owned since new. They hooked us into a local Mopar club and the rest is history. We've met MANY people and one great benefit is these folks have WAY more cars than I do! So my wife now says that our 3 cars really isn't such a big stable after all!! There's a guy with 9 classics, another guy with 11, etc, etc. Amazing! And a whole bunch of racers - 9 sec cars seem to be the norm amongst these guys. My little Demon is a slow turd next to their cars.
Okay - enough of my digression....but I wanted to share how life things happen and sidetrack at least me from my toys.
After driving the 72 around quite a bit on the streets down here - to shows, cruises, whatever - we went to Gainesville Raceway this past Saturday on 1/27. As always, you meet lots of new great folks when you go to a new track where you're not known. People were friendly and helpful showing me around the amenities there. My first impressions are for a track that is owned by the NHRA, I would have thought they would have made the place more of a showcase kind of track. The PA system was marginal at best, the restrooms were sub-par, the pits were paved asphalt (in Florida this must be nice in a couple months?), and they only bracket race 1x/month! 1x/month and you're the organization promoting the sport? Seems odd and was certainly disappointing. "Oh, well, we do it 1x/month but we race on both Saturday and Sunday that 1 weekend as many folks like to spend the night anyway and race the next day since they're already here." Okay...I guess...but???? The wind was quite strange as it was a headwind early in the day followed by a cross breeze that then turned into a tailwind and then back to a cross-breeze. All at between 14-18 mph! The temp was upper 70's with a DA of 2000-ish, very similar to our Detroit weather the prior year. The car ran it's best "1st run off the trailer" carding an 11.16 so I was excited to see what it would do. That was the only time run given so I took a guess and won the first round with a new personal best of 11.10 (timeslip attached). Took a nap at the tree in rd 2 and got sent home. But racing in January? Pinch me!!
So that's the last 7 months and why the avatar really has not had much track time. Got moved and been putting a ton of time in setting up our house and my new shop. It's a detached garage that's 50' wide x 34' deep with 14' ceilings. You would think that is plenty but I can tell you this packrat can find and hang onto more junk than anyone can ever need. So a lot of time has been spent finding places for things and pitching things! More work to do with bulding shelving, etc, but for now, I'm just happy to be here. The car will hopefully get out more living here in Florida but we'll see. It should certainly get even more street use given all the venues that go on on a weekly basis. Stay tuned....
Us on one of our many trips traversing I-75 betwen Detroit and the Ocala, FL area:
One of many times out on the streets at a cruise:
In the Gainesville staging lanes:
Personal best for the car - RH lane #6020:
The new shop - 2 10'x10' doors and 1 18'x12' door:
Oh what the heck - just for good measure, here's the 71 Demon 340 after a day at a show. I call it my "sheep in wolf's clothing" car as it is all stock/original and certainly not fast!!:
