Weather delay

    Paul Gibbs and the Cuda Beast team hoped  to be starting their 2018 season this weekend in Bradenton, Fla., but bad weather and a few loose ends related to the racing effort will keep the new-look Cuda in the garage -- but not for too much longer.

    Paul, who is a homebuilder, said the recent spate of bad weather has put his work way behind schedule, so he couldn't spare the time to race this weekend. Also, he is getting some work done on his two duallies that will move car and team to the races this year -- one to pull the trailer and the other to pull a camper that will provide sleeping quarters for the team.

   Still, the Bradenton track remains the target for the season's first race, as Paul has been invited to run the NMCA (National Muscle Car Association) promod series this year.

    The first NMCA race is scheduled for March 8-11 in Florida. That is followed with a race just down the road from Paul's shop, at Atlanta Dragway April 5-8. A likely third race would come May 17-20 at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky.  Depending on how he stands in points after the early races, Paul said he might run the entire six-race NMCA series.
    There is a lot of anticipation for this season, as the Beast is packing several new upgrades that should put it in the upper tier of pro boost cars. The visual differences include Hoosier tires (actually, Paul switched for last year's abbreviated season), and a sleek new Bohr/Hammer blower hat.

  
      The new hat creates a vastly lower profile for the Beast, apparent in the top photo. As Paul put it, "The car looks two feet longer." The hat sits atop a new Fowler supercharger,

the company's  latest offering, which in turn sits atop the BAE hemi that has seen just minimal track time since it was installed.  All of those upgrades are being handled by the latest torque converter from PTC.
     The mechanical state of the Beast has never been higher. The test now will be transferring all of that potential onto the track. That should come in a few weeks.

'17 Wrap, '18 Preview: Fowler Play

        It would be gross understatement to say that 2017 was difficult for Paul Gibbs and the Cuda Beast team. Paul's mother died early in the year, and then Paul was involved in a serious traffic accident that put him in the hospital. Any thoughts of racing went to the back burner quickly.
       After a lengthy recuperation, Paul got the Beast out in July for a race at Chattanooga, but did not make the field. In August the Beast went to Steele, Ala. (above), and again did not qualify, but there Paul sensed that something was not right with the new engine. Back home, he started going through the engine and found bad valve springs. Fortunately, there was no damage and all the cylinders checked out at 100 percent.
      But when Paul cranked the car, it wouldn't idle, reaction to the throttle was slow, and then it just didn't sound healthy. Back into the engine, Paul found oil in some of the cylinders. He hooked up the computer to get some fuel usage data and cranked the engine a few more times. The data indicated that there was no fuel boost -- in fact, the car was idling with negative boost, which got worse as the RPMs went up.
      The next day, after a night of poring over the engine data, Paul removed the blower belt and started to turn the blower pulley by hand. He said that if all is good inside the blower, the pulley is hard to turn. This time, it turned easily with one hand. That indicated serious problems inside the case, which Paul subsequently found. It's a lot of technical stuff, but is basically this: A real important gear inside had all of its teeth sheared off. Hence, no boost.
     When he learned that it would take four months to get a replacement part, Paul changed course and bought the latest Roots-style blower from Fowler Engines of Columbus, Ohio. Fowler has long been respected for the performance of its superchargers, and Paul is excited by the change. It's a win-win in every respect -- more boost, less weight, etc.  In fact, Paul said the Beast should be lighter, as the new engine weighs less than the old one. The injector hat will also be new, which means I might have to change the picture of the car on the website masthead.
       So, when will this new combination hit the track? How about this month?

     Plans are to make this race at Bradenton, Fla. Right now, it's in the 40s, 50s and 60s, down there, so we hope the "Outlaw Winter Warmup" will truly live up to its name. I'll be back closer to race day with another post.