​First of all the rear end - Wayne never really liked how MB looked from the back so a couple of weeks ago he when he was checking where MB had started to crack from tyre shake, vibration, speed , bouncing... he decided to change it. 10 mins later (after deciding the extra weight was slowing him down ) Wayne had chopped the bottom 6” off the rear corners which has the added bonus of making MB look like he’s wearing hot pants [Wayne says! 😂]. But now the rear lights were too low (which Wayne also didn’t really like ), but remembered he’d got a pair of ‘63 Ford Galaxy rear lights , and so the decision was made...

​Wayne likes re-purposing stuff and had the laser cut sheet of small MB silhouettes left from the Key rings that had been made a few years ago... and so the belt guard was born!

July 2022

It's all about Mental Breakdown this month, as we get ready to race heads up against Andy Raw in Nitro Bug at Bug Jam! MB has had new tyres, a new rear end including new lights, and a new belt guard. Wayne has also been working to counteract the issues he experienced last year after turning up the power, when MB struggled to keep his front wheels on the track.​

HOT ROD DRAGS - September 2022

WAYNE RUNS A 6! What a weekend we had at Santa Pod Raceway at The Hot Rod Drags! It was a weekend full of emotion, first a day of frustration on Saturday when we were unable to get oil pressure. After a day of checking the oil pressure relief valve and engine bottom end (as it had a rebuild after the last event) and both gauges (BOTH of which weren’t working for different reasons!) it turned out to be the oil pump.
Not having a spare we were ready to give up when, in true testament to the drag racing community spirit, Joe and Doug Bond kindly loaned us a pump that thankfully bolted straight on, and we were ready to race on Sunday!
On Sunday morning we were able to honour the last wishes of Andy Williams by carrying his ashes in MB’s parachute for one last run down the strip and release them in the shut off area for him to forever be at Santa Pod. It was certainly a wild last ride for Andy as MB was bouncing and wheeling all the way across the finish line with an ET of 7.3 at 179mph. After an emotional and bumpy first run, a quick service and MB was back out for a second run. The cross wind had picked up and it was pretty cold but MB left the line really strong and straight this time with no hopping around to run his first ever 6 second pass! 6.9 at 199.8mph!
From the very start, many years ago, it has been the ambition to run a 6 second pass (or 200mph, whichever came first!) in Mental Breakdown, so the whole team are absolutely delighted with this weekend’s result. Big thanks to the Bonds for the loan of the oil pump, to the whole Santa Pod team and the drag racing community, to Blackett Photography for capturing the track action and to all our supporters in person and online.

BUG JAM - July 2022

Bug Jam was all about Mental Breakdown going heads up against Nitro Bug - and of course our continuing quest for that 6 second or 200mph  1/4 mile. The race we had planned for didn't quite go as planned but we still had a fantastic weekend. A PB straight out of the lorry followed by another the following day! However, it wasn’t without issues and some emergency modifications to get back on the track on Saturday evening. We didn’t get the heads up race we wanted with Nitro Bug but we did get on track together and MB finished the weekend with a best of 7.10 @ 199.88mph into a head wind - and that was definitely something to be happy about!

Following the events at Bug Jam it was time to fit MB with new big end and main bearings as part of the service schedule , Wayne did a leakdown test on the engine and found 3 inlet valves were leaking and one cylinder on the rings , pulled the blower and heads off and found the three inlet seats needed re cutting , luckily a friend has a portable valve seat cutting tool and he was kind enough to bring it over and redid them, a quick lap in showed they were seating properly so Wayne installed a new set of valve springs as the spring pressures were starting to go off , next was the leaking piston rings. Wayne pulled out number 1 piston which had some scuffing , cleaned up the bore with a honer and fitted his best second hand piston. Then the heads went back on along with the supercharger , the high pressure fuel lines were changed for stainless hydraulic lines - as the old main line blew the end off at 199.88mph - but luckily the fuel didn’t ignite!  On top of the work to MB, Wayne also decided to repaint the cab of the lorry - in purple with metalflake (just to make a change!) 

Now we're ready for the Hot Rod Drags!