Motor Blog

I had an opportunity to go to the drag races, I hadn’t been since I was a kid and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you have never seen Top Fuel Dragsters race it is an experience you will probably never forget. They are so loud and powerful you literally feel it, if you get to see them at night there are flames a foot high coming from each piston, they take off the rear tires wrinkle from the stress, the front end leaves the ground and it is over in 3 seconds.

I have also always been interested in diesel engines, they were invented by some French guy named, (you guessed it) Diesel. They are the motors that power trucks, boats and heavy equipment.

If I may use an analogy I realize that I am neither a diesel or a top fueler, I have known some folks who are spiritual Top Fuelers, they take off with an impressive display and it seems they can do anything, but there is a problem with Top Fuel Dragsters, they run off of nitro-methane, (the nitro part should give you a clue) and the motor usually has to be rebuilt after every race.

There are some who just keep running like nothing is wrong, they say they are still in the race when they are running with a thrown rod a burnt piston and two dropped valves. It is obvious to everyone what has happened by the loud rattling sound, the oil dripping from under the car and the smoke billowing out of the tail pipe, but you cannot point out the problem lest you be accused of that unpardonable sin of judging someone.

There are others who are diesels, the diesel has the ablility to carry unbelievably heavy loads for thousands of hours and not blow up like the Top Fuel motor. It is designed to carry the stress that is placed on it, for an extended period of time.

I don’t really want to be a Top Fueler and I don’t believe I will ever be a diesel. My goal is to be like a 350 Chevrolet motor, if you are a Ford person I am sorry, I am sure God can overlook that and use you anyway hopefully you will get your heart right.
This is my blog and so I am going to use the Chevy analogy. I had a 350 Chevrolet and it wasn’t incredibly fast and it couldn’t carry huge loads for extended periods of time, but it always was ready for service and it always got me where I wanted to go. It had it’s own little problems and peculiarities but it was reliable. This motor survived Bro. Taylor, myself and then was put in little wanna be race car and never did quit. I am sure it is long gone now but during it’s life it was faithful and reliable.


There have been times that I have run too fast and hard and got ahead of God and had to be rebuilt and there have been times that I have had to carry a heavy load and tried to do it in my own strength and realized it just wasn’t there. So I know I haven’t reached my goal, but when this old 350 finally gives up the ghost I don’t care about someone saying how much he accomplished or how impressive he was, I just want them to be able to say the old 350 was faithful.