For the Adventure – Jerry Wilson Takes On a Family Chevelle Project to Participate in First Drag-and-Drive at This Year’s Sick Week
“I'd urge anyone who's been thinking about doing a drag and drive event to just make it happen.
Find a car you like, prepare it best you are able and register it in an event. You only live once!...Do it!!...It's a hell of an ADVENTURE!!!”
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This week’s “For the Adventure – Stories from the Road” comes from Jerry Wilson, who took on rebuilding his brother’s 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle, and overcame a huge project to take part in his first drag-and-drive at this year’s Sick Week:
My Sick Week 2024 story actually begins around 1997, when my older brother bought an "actual 1970 Chevelle SS454". Whether the car is a real SS454 is not known to this day (I really don't much care), but it had a built 454 cid big block and Turbo 400 transmission combo, with a 12-bolt and 4.88 gears, and had clearly been a drag car at some point.
It had an old Holley blue fuel pump that was no longer plumbed, but still bolted under the front of the trunk pan, and a sheetmetal covered hole in the trunk floor where a fuel cell once lived. There were also stubs still welded to the frame where someone cut out a ladder bar cross member.
Anyway, the car was a little too radical for him, and he didn't drive it much. After a few years, the engine wiped a camshaft lobe and needed to be gone through. He pushed it aside with intentions of getting to it eventually, but never did.
Nearly 20 years later, my brother gave the Chevelle to his son and grandson, who were wanting a father-son project. Unfortunately, the car had sat mostly outdoors and showed considerable rust.
When they pulled the black vinyl top off, it got worse. The vinyl was hiding not only a lot of rust in the roof and sail panels, but a crudely repaired hole where a sun-roof had previously been (filler was nearly an inch thick)! My nephew decided it was not a project he wanted to tackle, and offered it to me.
I had wanted for some years to do a drag-and-drive. The first Sick Week, being close to home, really sparked a desire. So when this Chevelle was offered to me, I decided to do Sick Week 2024 with it. Unfortunately by the time I started working on it, the event was just six months off.
It needed A-pillars, roof panel, drip rails, upper cowl, outer wheel wells, full quarters, complete trunk pan, deck lid filler panel, deck lid, engine rebuild, trans replacement, complete differential rebuild, complete brake job.....hell it needed everything.
And so the cutting, fitting, tweaking, re-fitting, re-tweaking, re-re-fitting, welding, etc. started on the body. I worked late into many, many week nights and long weekends, with help from my brothers Richard and Wendell.
I spent my savings, and then some, on parts and pieces. Rebuilt the 454 short block, and installed Air Flow Research cylinder heads, Howards hydraulic roller camshaft, Edelbrock Victor Jr intake manifold, Mighty Demon 850 cfm carburetor, and Hedman 2-inch primary headers.
FTI Performance supplied a Turbo 400 with full manual valve body, transbrake, and a 3200 stall converter. The rear end received a new 3.73 gear set, using the Detroit True-Trac that was already in it.
A Wilwood brake kit on the front, along with rebuilt stock drums on the rear, are plumbed with new stainless lines to a new master cylinder.
A complete new Painless wiring kit was installed, along with Dakota Digital gauges. Interior work consisted of new carpet, new headliner, new seats, new dash, some new weather stripping, cleaning up the old door panels, and re-installing them just to help keep the elements at bay.
Three weeks out from Sick Week 2024, the pressure was on. The car was mostly together, but still hadn't fired up, let alone driven.
Two weeks out, we started it for the first time, and installed the front and rear glass. One week out we drove it to Orlando Speed World to make a couple shake down runs, but it developed a drive train vibration, so I decided not to. I replaced a bad trans yoke the Monday before Sick Week, and drove it to work Wednesday and Thursday to feel it out a little.
We drove it from my home in South Orlando over to Orlando "Sick” World Dragway on tech day, and it overheated. On a fairly cool day! After tech, we found one of the cheap cooling fans I bought had expired.
I hoped that by pushing the car through the staging lanes and starting it just before time, would allow us to make at least one test pass, but two delays ahead of us were too much for the one working fan, even though I shut her off for each delay. We ended up limping down the track to a 17 second time slip, and 250 degrees of coolant temperature.
Monday, January 29th, Day 1 of Sick Week, we arrived at the track with a Honda factory cooling fan my brother happened to have. After the drivers meeting, I bought a Spal fan from Summit, but it wouldn't be available for pick it up until Bradenton the next day.
So we modified the factory Honda fan to work, and crossed our fingers it and the second cheap fan would make it through a drag strip pass, and the drive to Bradenton.
Finally at about 4:30 pm, we made our first pass. With no real break-in time on the engine, not to mention the factory driveshaft and stock axles, I didn't want to leave the line at 3000 rpm on the transbrake and risk breaking something.
So I left at idle, easing into the gas until full throttle at about 200 feet, then backing off the gas in high gear at about 5000 rpm, and holding it through the lights. She ran 12.77 at 109 mph. I was pumped!
With a proper driveshaft and upgraded axles, or a 9-inch rear, a full send pass would probably be in the low 11-second range. Load her up!
The drive to Bradenton turned out very uneventful. We arrived at our camp site, about 30 miles from Bradenton Motorsports Park, at around 9:30 pm. After a fairly sleepless night, we finished the drive to the track.
Day 2 at the track started with installing the Spal fan in place of the cheap one, jacking her up, and doing a good inspection. We discovered a minor oil leak from a cracked weld on the oil pan. We cleaned it and smeared RTV over it, but it would pester us the rest of the week. Otherwise, she was fine.
Unfortunately, the carburetor didn't like the big up-swing in air temperature on day 2 at Bradenton, so the car fell on its face on our first pass, 13.75 at 108 mph. We debated adjusting the tune and running again in the all-run, but decided to tweak the carburetor and load up. On to Gainesville.
She got a little warm a couple times in traffic, but we made it to the hotel with no trouble. After a few drinks at the hotel, and an alcohol-assisted good nights sleep, it was on to Gainesville Raceway, where making a drag strip pass had been one of my bucket-list items.
Day 3: Gainesville. After crawling under the Chevelle, mopping a little oil and giving it a once over, we put her in the lanes. 12.84 at 111 mph, still taking it mighty easy on her. Load up!
The drive to South Georgia was great. No problems at all, nice scenery. Made it to the hotel early, had a few drinks and slept like a baby. Awoke Thursday morning to ice on the car and a hung over passenger. Luckily, I had rebuilt the heater and it took care of the iced-over windshield. No such luck for my hung-over little brother.
Day 4: South Georgia Motorsports Park, started the same as day 3. Mop oil, inspection, to the lanes. Same easy pass as before, 12.43 at 113 mph. You guessed it; Load her up!
The drive back to Orlando was almost as good as the day before, even though I think it was the longest drive of the week. Once again, no problems with the car at all. She drove 65-70 mph at about 2900 rpm from Daytona to Orlando on I-4 without a hiccup.
We got home about 4:00 pm, and I got to bed early and slept soundly with the knowledge that the car I'd busted my ass to build over the last 6 months was a short drive and a drag strip pass away from finishing Sick Week 2024!
Day 5: Even though we didn't have to be at Orlando "Sick” World Dragway until early afternoon, we were there early just to enjoy the day. The Chevelle was still doing great, so all we did was clean the oil up again, watch the show, and wait for our class call.
I seriously considered pushing her to see how fast she might actually be, but thought better of it. Same easy pass resulted in 12.52 at 110 mph. Over the five passes she averaged 12.86, with a split of 1.32 seconds. Next year we hope to be faster, and also consistent enough to vie for a trophy.
Overall, the event was just a great time. We met some good people, were able to help folks out a couple times, got lucky enough to not need any help ourselves, and I personally checked several bucket-list items. I do wish we'd have taken a little more time to hang out at all the check-points. Next year, hopefully.
I'd urge anyone who's been thinking about doing a drag and drive event to just make it happen. Find a car you like, prepare it best you are able, and register it in an event. You only live once...Do it!!...It's a hell of an ADVENTURE!!!
Tell us your story, and we might share it here on For the Adventure.
We’re looking for you to contribute to the Sickness with stories, articles, event coverage, and more! You don’t need writing experience, just a desire to share your stories. It can be about a build you’re doing in your garage or driveway, your experience on a drag-and-drive (from a participant or cruiser perspective), or even an article about your plans to participate in a drag-and-drive.
Interested? Send your submissions to info@sickthemagazine.com and check your e-mails and spam folders. We might select your story, and will send you a follow up before it gets used! We will publish one story each week on the Sick the Magazine website on Thursdays! We can’t read your stories until you submit them, so get on it!
Written by Jerry Wilson. Photos courtesy of Jerry Wilson and BME Photography.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com