Wanted to give a little update on the new Sierra.

Just turned 10,000 miles.

I use the new Sierra to tow the 84 over to the chassis shop in Baltimore MD 2 weeks ago..... Got a lot going on with the race car that I'll start a new thread about soon enough....

Anyway back to the Sierra.... Towed great. Plenty of power and plenty of brakes... even with no brake controller. Stable as a rock... barley even knew the trailer and race car were back there.

Pulled down 17.2 MPG running 70-75 MPH the whole way.

Last weekend I ran back over to the chassis shop to check progress on the race car and bring some small stuff I forgot first trip.

Pulled down 22.0 MPG average on the HWY unloaded running 70-75 MPG..... I took a little detour thru the city for about 10 miles to get there which dropped the average down to 19.2 MPG for the entire trip there.

Same route home and by the time I got home it had gotten back up to 20.4 MPG round trip and I did hit a bit of stop and go traffic around Washington DC.

Back and forth to work every day it's averaging 17.1 MPG which is mostly city driving for me.

Gas mileage is very good for a full sized 4X4 truck IMO.... way better than the best mileage I ever got with the Avalanche even cheated up with cardboard, duct tape and the mirrors folded (18 MPG)..... Also way better than our gas eating 5.7L Hemi 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokeed gets.

Everyone thinks it's crazy that a brand new truck with the towing suspension package, factory tow hitch, and HD engine/tranny coolers - didn't come optioned with the factory brake controller..... and the fact that you cannot buy the factory brake controller and install it..... So my brother-in-law bought me an aftermarket brake controller for Christmas and I hooked it up this weekend. It's a Curt brake controller and it was easy enough to hook up. Truthfully I have been eyeballing the Prodigy P3.... but free is great and I'm happy with the much simpliler Curt for now.

Still no snow on the ground here..... so I haven't got to use the 4X4 yet.

I have washed it 4 or 5 times..... and it's still dirty. Black cars are a real PITA to keep clean.
Will

There is a paint automotive rebuilders use called "Cast Blast". Its mfgrd by Seymour. Works very well on restoring bare cast iron appearance and offering some protection. Just don't spray it too heavy.

The car is looking beautiful.
Will

Looks like a nice build.

Who did you get the Yella Terra rockers from? They are very good rockers but availibility has been spotty in the US.

You have a cyl head capable of making 700+HP N/A if that's what you wanted to do.....

However, being that you intend to put a blower on it, I wouldn't worry too much about what kind of power it makes N/A. What ever it makes N/A is not relevent to anything with the FI power... It's not like you make 400HP N/A and want to add 300 with boost.... it dosen't work like that. With FI or power adder engines you build (cam/induction/compression) to an overall power and RPM goal.

I just want to caution you that looking at it any other way is a recipie for disappointment on one end or the other.
Will

Quote:

I really like it.

Everyone had to know the first thing I would do is find a place to race them. From 15 to 60mph the 2013 will put 3-4 truck lenghts on the 2003....

My 2013 will flat walk the dog on my 2003 Avalanche.

I was surprised because I have never had a problem with the power the Avalanche has and honestly thought it ran pretty good for a truck....

The new 5.3L is a pretty powerful little engine. Dosen't really seem it becausue of quiet exhaust and the new 6spd tranny shifting all the time but it's no joke compared to other 1/2 ton trucks.

As far as everything else.... I've put about 150 miles on it over the weekend and I do have some observations.

I don't like the drive by wire TB. The delay/lag sucks. It's almost as bad as the one on the wifes Hemi Jeep Grand Cherokee. Gonna take some getting use to. It's espc annoying in parking lots at idle engine speed and very low vehicle speeds.

I do like the Displacement On Demand system. It's totally un-obtrusive.... I didn't even know that my 2013 had this system on it until I was fooling with the DIC/dash read out stuff (after 2 days of ownership) and noticed it switching between V4 to V8 at anything past light throttle openings. Way better than the system our Hemi Jeep Grand Cherokee has.

The 6spd tranny. It's definatly tuned for economy when your just normal driving.... a couple times it has shifted out early and then kicks back down when I was just try to give it a little more gas to get going better.... It's just different than the old truck so it'll take some getting use to.

The Grenade 80 locking rear diff.... Unless your in mud, I think everybody hates these SOBs.... espc in a pick up truck on wet roads. The Avalanche (which also has one) has way bigger tires and isn't nearly as light in the rear as the Sierra.... so I'm now re-learning how to turn corners from a stop.

Right now I'm trying to figure out which Tonnuae cover to get. I like the Peragon cover and the BAK folding hard covers.

Also contemplating which exhaust system. MBRP, Corsa, DB Perf and Borla all have my attention... but that's later next year sometime for sure.
Will

Quote:

Well I also considered Toyota and the F150.... but I just like the GMC body style better and feel more confident in GMs drivetrain.

Theres alot to be said for keeping thing paid that are paid for.
Will

Quote:

No trade. No $$$$ down. Nothing.

I kept the Avalanche and already have a buyer... We are going to work something out where I take some money off for him doing some work on my house.

And that was out the door tax tags and everything.

Some good deals out there if you look. I've been looking for a while and finally decided to pull the trigger.

They had a similar one in PA for like 33K and it had the 6.2L engine.... I almost had it shipped down.
Will

Gonna tow the race car in style next season.

2013 year model. Dealer demo. Only 9,000 miles. Leather interior fully loaded. 5.3L, HD cooling w/external oil cooler, 6spd, 3.42 gears, Grenade 80 locking rear diff, tow package.

Gave $31,000 out the door. Bank gave me 2.29% on 5yrs so its almost like free money. Been wanting something really nice and this fits the bill.

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/IMG_20141125_132441_zpsk0zqi5hb.jpg.html][/URL]


My 2003 Avalanche has been such a great truck the past 5yrs. I knew I was staying with a GM product as it's replacement.

I mean we have beat the crap out of it.... towing, camping, offroading.... one or the other every weekend for the past 5yrs. Just hit 130,000 miles, been paid off for 2.5yrs and has just began to nickle and dime me. Needed cats and fuel pump earlier this year... front hub assy last year and now needs the other side.... Just normal stuff that wears out but for me its just time to move on and let someone else drive it to I'm sure well over 200K.
Will

Quote:

No reason to run a catch can on a Normally Aspriated engine. It shouldn't push out any oil.

If I did not want to run a PCV system, I would put an open element breather on the valve covers (this is what I have on my 92).
Will

I'm not positive how he intends to run the plumbing.

The way most route it (single line from the valve cover to can) your going to pressurize the catch can if the catch can doesn't have a breather.

Now if the catch can was run inline between the valve cover and TB... ie valve cover to catch can then from catch can to the TB... then yes you need a non-vented can.
Will

GZ Motorsports. Call and talk to Bill Huntington. GZ makes a catch can specifically built to go on the fenderwell by the radiator shroud of C5 and C6 Corvettes.

http://www.gzmotorsports.com/BT2-breather-tank.html

I use a GZ Vacuum Pump on the 434 in the race car - also have their catch can (baffeled w/breather), fittings and hoses (Red Horse).... Good quality stuff for the money.
Will

Happy Birthday Marines and OORAH!

General Dunford was a Lt Col and the Executive Officer (XO) when I was first was assigned to the 6th Marine Regiment.... Fresh out of school I was still a PFC when I arrived to my permant duty station Camp Lejeune and was assigned to HQCo 6th Marines.

I still have my Promotion Warrant from PFC to LCpl which has his signature (By Direction) on it - As at that time COL J.C. Hardee was the Commanding Officer of 6th Marine Regiment.

I never had alot of interaction with him when he was the XO at Rgt. Few times here and there when I would deliver reports from the HQCo Commander to the Regt Admin Office or when he would come in the office late in the evening when I happend to be the assistant duty to the Officer of the Day. I do remember him always being up beat and friendly in passing.

Later Lt Col Dunford became the Battalion Commander at 2nd BN 6th Marines.... I was able to spend a fair amount of time around him, espc in a tactical enviroment, during his stint as CO of 2nd BN.

I was a young Cpl assigned to the 6th Marine Regimential Operations Office (S-3) by then and can remember copying and distributing many map overlays, setting up operational briefs and other general stuff we do when handing out orders to subordinate units during training exercises. Again he was always a very nice espc around the young enlisted Marines like myself. Everyone liked him and looked up to him as far as how he ran 2/6..... He knew his shit tactically and professionally..... Everyone higher up a the Rgt though he was going to become "something special" as far as Marine Officers went.... turns out they were right.

Anyway it was a pleasure to serve under and with our now Commandant. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Will

Nice work. Lots of good ideas in there Bill.

My Brother-In-Law just bought a bare bones enclosed trailer for his new drag car and is working on some of the same stuff.
Will

Matt-
Yes the 84 has a D44 swap.

I built the D44 with Yukon Spool (that I modified to fit the IRS case) and Yukon 3.90 gears.

Andy-
I would be happy to put your sticker on the car and promote for the site.

If you get the chance be sure to click like on my wheel stand video link in the first post....

Maybe if the class promoter see's that the only Corvette in the class has some fans out there he will cut me some favorable rule changes.
Will

I'm happy to be building something bullet proof but kinda sad to no longer be on IRS.... I like the novelty of having an IRS drag car.... but the cost to build a one off fabricated bullet proof IRS like I think it should be built is almost 4X the cost of a 9 inch and 3 Link.

I am limited on tires. I can use the 28X10.5 slick or 275 drag radial.

The C&S Aerosol Billets are works of art. Awesome carburetors.
Will

This weekend was our season's end double header race.

Mason Dixon Dragway was a beautiful place to be racing in the fall.... The mountains of north western MD is wonderful visually.

For this weekend I decided to remove the front suspension travel limiters, be more aggressive with my Progessive nitrous controller ramps and let the car stand up a little for the crowd. Most folks don't think an IRS car will wheel stand very high but they will if you let them......

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204132913702139

The car did this all weekend on almost every pass.... I lost in the first round of eliminations on both days but not because of it wheel standing (was having nitrous problems).... I will tell you that it was massive fun letting the car hang it all out off the line.

It's been a fun and challenging season. All in all I am pleased with the Corvette and next season will be even better.

Unfortunatly I did not reach my goal of a 5.50 pass on the IRS. My best pass this year was a 5.70....

I did reach my goal of 125MPH in the 1/8th on the IRS.

With an 8th place finsh I did reach my goal of 2 consecutive years of top 10 finsh in the points.

I am making some HUGE changes to the car for the 2015 season.

The IRS is gone. Dominic at Maryland Performance Specalties/DC Performance is building it a 9' Ford rear and using a 2005-20014 Mustang (or if you prefer GM 1958-1965 Impala) style 3 Link rear suspension with a panhard bar.

The TH350 trans is gone. I have a brand new TSI Proline 2500 2spd Powerglide transmission.

The 434 SBC is getting a good inspection and little tweeking.... The biggest change is by way of a new C&S Specalties Aerosol Billet 1000 carb. Of course there will be some serious dyno tuning time. 722hp last year.... Shooting for 750hp in 2015.

The old BG Nitrous Works single bar plate kit is gone. Being replaced with a new Monte Smith cross bar plate kit.

Dropping the car off to Dominic on Nov 30.... I'll be sure to post up pics as we go along.

Thanks to all Gurus for your support.
Will

The front exhaust hangers aren't that important, IMO.

After I installed my long tube headers on the 92, the front hangers won't fit any more (didn't line up with the Exotic Muscle extension pipes). So I just have the rear hangers on the differential and the muffler hangers on my 92.

I would take your old L-98 Y Pipe and cut each side off just before it bends - so that you have 2 straight sections comming off the Pre-Converter ball flanges.

Should be pretty easy to splice that to the LTX catback.
Will

Driving the 92 a few days ago and went to use the right turn signal.... it clicked on but didn't cancel.... I manually pulled it down and canceled it.

Next time I try and use the right turn signal (few mins later) it won't click up and activate.... Totally floppy like the gate is broke. No tension on the stalk going up at all, no click, no turn signal even if I hold the stalk in the up position....

Still clicks on, activates the signal and cancles if I pull the stalk downward to activate the left signal.

The cruise still works fine and the wipers still work but the speed control has always been flakey since the car was new and still is... so... except for no right turn signal it's working normally.

Doing some research I read that there are some springs in the collum that are prone to break causing this?

Anybody had this happen? Pointers? Or am I just gonna have to remove the steering wheel/air bag and go to it.

thanks
Will

Find a used LT1 or LT4 exhaust system and modify it to fit your L98.... Easy to do.

Heck I gave mine away to a guy for that purpose when I put the Corsa on my 92... now I wish I had it back on the car....

Will

I know some of this has already been covered by to parrot what others have recomended and my own info.....

Talk with a couple of brake companies.... there is a bunch of options out there but many are re-sellers/re-boxers of the same parts....

Muskegon is who I got to do the brakes on my 79 and my 76... they rebuilt my calipers and masters and shipped them back to me... I did this mainly because I wanted to them to use my known good matching cores for the rebuild.

O-Ring or lip seal is a big debate in the C3 world.... there are draw backs to both.... and both still fail at about the same rate. In the end I had ours SS sleeved and O-Ringed but I don't think it will pass NCRS... not that its a big deal for either my C3's.

Tires... I have 225 70R15's on both of my cars and they fit great.

Carb.. L48 has a Rochester Q-Jet so thats a pretty complicated carb to get apart... nto like a Holley. Get a book so you know whats your doing. Cliff Ruggles book is the best Q-jet book ever.

Also double check the condition of the fuel lines down on the fuel pump. Should be a 1 pc steel line from pump to carb and a short rubber peice from the frame mounted steel fuel line to the pump.

For the seats... since they are Vinyl or Leather some simple Green diluted in water with a soft rag will clean them right up.... after you dry them use some kind of Vinyl protectant.

For the paint.... it's Laq and should be easy to buff it with some rubbing compound and then protect with an old school carnuba wax.

Don't forget to change the engine oil!

Sounds like a nice project.
Will

Well another weekend in the books for me and the 84.

This was a tough weekend for me as due to other family commitments no one was availiable to come and help me at the track.

It sucks having to remember to do everything required to get the car turned around between rounds and then remember everything I need to do as a driver.... Sounds simple to check tire pressure 3-4 times in the lanes, check plugs, check fuel pressure, check U-Joints, heat bottles, charge battery, replace fuel.....

Then get in car, get strapped in by self, get window net up by self, fire car off, turn on fuel pump, water pump, fan, remember to turn on NO2 after the burn out, then turn 1/4 turn valve open after burn out, rest air shifter sitch after burn out.... then line your self up in the groove while looking over a 6" cowl induction scoop that blocks all view... seems easy enough but it's not easy.

Anyway. I had the 250 shot in it for this weekend. Started with a real easy ramp in my progressive controller.... 25% to 40% in .65 seconds... then 40% to 100% in .20 seconds. So all in by .85 seconds.

Made a test hit pulling 11* of timing and the car went 5.82@122.7MPH with a 1.35 60ff...

I was super happy with the 122MPH... time to get after it with a little timing and shorter progressive ramp....

Q1 - I shortend up my ramp to 25% to 50% in .5 second... 50% to 100% in .20 second. I also went to -9.5* of timing and the car went 5.88@115MPH with a 1.29 60ft on the rear tires.

Totally baffled me why it tok off like a bad MOFO and then layed down..... I thought maybe I was having NO2 problems... so I sent the next 20 mins trouble shooting my wiring to find nothing wrong....

Q2 - I left it alone except for a fresh bottle.... 5.98@115MPH with a 1.31 60ft and my purge wouldn't work.... I left the wiring connector loose while trouble shooting the wiring after Q1....

Crap I'm qualified 12th out of 21 cars... that totally sucks.

Now I'm really worried about whats going one.... I set the timing back to -11* .. and trouble shoot the NO2 system wiring again 3 times.... I decide to leave the Progressive ramp alone. to add insult to inuury I forgot to buy gas for the generator and it runs out when I'm charging the battery and heating up the bottles..... now that's not happening. Nobody in the pit has Genny fuel.... I say screw it and decide to run the car as is with whatever bottle pressure I can get by leting the sun heat the bottles....

E1 - I catch a break at the expense of my competitior who cut a tire and cannot make the round... I would rather beat him straight up so I have on my truck and offer to let him use him my old slicks from last year and even offer to help him mount them but he says that he runs tubes and I don't.....

I pull in the lane and forget to turn the 1/4 turn valve in.... car dumps 250HP worth of fuel at the hit almost kills it but I quickly figure out what I did and recover to idle the car down the track to take the win with a 11.50@25MPH.

E2 - I have to run a guy I have beat every round this year.... he has a fast car but can't cut a light to save his life.... Anyway I am so stressed out about not being able to charge the battery and can't get my bottles up to the proper pressure and how everything is getting away from me ATM that I decide not to try and hurt anything.... I take the NO2 out of the car and decide to run it N/A and just go A-B, hope he sleeps on the line like he has been all season. Well he takes a nap with a .230 RT and I chop down the tree with an .075 but he goes a 5.70 and on my first all motor pass I go 6.24@109MPh - so he wins....

I am honestly happy to be done for the day and happy that I don't think I hurt anything with my NO2 problems....

I decide to take some time to check the timing.... should be 30*... well it's 36* and that explains everything.

I have been way over timed since day one with the new engine. Totally explains why it's so fast on my "conserative" test passes every week but when I "get after the tune up" it slows down on MPH and hits like a ton of bricks - ie takes off like a bad man.

It did the same thing but it wasn't as noticeable.... as I wan't running enough NO2 with that little 85 jet (180HP) in there (until now) to allow a huge difference in power show up like it has this week.....

36-11 is 25* total and I should have been at 19* or 20*..... thats a big mistake... even bigger when I went to -9.5 and had 26.5* in it.....


So now I have to go back and leak the motor down to make sure I didn't hurt it with those 3 stupid passes.... which is no big deal. It ran great N/A afterwards and the motor is a first class peice so I'm not really that worried about possible damage.

I am happy I finally figured out what the problem has been all along but kinda mad I didn't spot it first because timing is the first thing you should look at with the symptoms I had.

So hopefully next month things will go better. I'll have Elsie's help again and I won't have to worry about remembering everything and can concentrate onmy tune up and driving the car.

Judging from that 122MPH on the test hit (which was over timed as well) the car is going to run it's best ever.

Next month is a big deal for us. We have a regular race on the 11th at Mason Dixon Dragway and another big race on the 25th at Capital Dragway.... Then our final race the very next week on Nov 1.

I had moved up to 8th place in the points as of August and after this week I may have gotten another position.... I have to wait for him to post the results.

Feel free to check us out and hit like on FaceBook.

https://www.facebook.com/MPCRealStreet

or the internetz....

http://www.mpcrealstreet.com/

Lot of nice pics and new video posted every week of the cars I race against.

Will

All the best man.

And I did send up a good thought, when we pulled the car up right before this pass.

Sorry I didn't get the burn out but be assured it will do a monster one.


https://www.dropbox.com/sc/q8djpluzp6b ... AAA0lxN7eXdkB4WyT0qOBBNRa

Hope the video makes you smile for a second.
Will

Whatever it is - Stay positive.

I'll be at Yellow Bullet Nationals this weekend... Not driving mine but working as a crew member on the Outlaw 10.5 car.... I'll send you a good thought when he lights that bad boy up in the box.
Will

Looks great Bill!

Congrats!

Those are good numbers on a Mustang Dyno for the engine combo you have.

The Super Rammed 383 I built for blackharleymans 91 back in 2010 also made 336RWHP... Interesting that power peaked right at 5000RPM as well....

http://www.corvetteforum.guru/modules ... id=129318#forumpost129318

His was on a Land and Sea dyno.

Don't get caught up in the drivetrain loss %...
Will

How's it going gurus?

Pretty slow day for me. It's nice to be on vacation and forget about work for a week.

I'm enjoying this nice Fla sunshine here in Daytona.

Take it easy.... I will be.
Will

I got the 84 all fixed up with new outer stub axles, halfshafts and U-Joints.

I bought and installed the Van Steel U-Joint girdles. Hopefully these will better support the U-Joint cup and give me a little longer life on the needle brgs.

Brand new MT 28X10.5 slicks.

We had some serious problems to work out this week.

I am sorry but I didn't make any video's with the Go-Pro this week but we do have some camera phone video's I will have to fighure a way to upload later.

I made 2 practice passes to try and get a handle on my new 93N jet tune up... but the car was turning right as soon as the front tires left the ground... turned out that I wasn't holding the air pressure gauge right and had 17 psi in the right rear and 21.5 psi in the left rear.

Also the engine was flat and just wouldn't run on the 93N jet tune up. Only went like 117 MPH and then 116 MPH... and it should have been like 125 MPH. I honestly don't know wha tto d as this tune up has never worked right on this plate kit and I am going to have to talk with the guy that flowed the plate and see what he thinks I should do.

My NEW super fancy, ultra light weight one wire altenator seems to have a normally open diod which runs the fricken battery dead as long as the Alt wire is hooked up .... No time to fix it before this race so now I have to wire in a constant duty solenoid in line off the battery cut off switch for the altenator. We just unhooked the wire between rounds and kept the battery charger on it in between rounds for this week.

To add to those problem the car was spikong the water temp after the run as I drove back.... it pegged the temp gauge once... No idea what the heck is going on there but I am going to rebuild the water pump this month just to be safe.

For Q1 I played it safe and put the 85N jet tune up back in it. I had a ver conserative ramp in my Progressive controller (40% to 100% in 1.0 seconds). With the rear tires now aired up equally to 15 psi the car went straight and clicked off a 5.97@118 MPH. 1.37 60ft.

For Q2 I tightened up my Progressive controller ramp (40% to 100% in .85 second) a little and the car went a 5.89@118 MPH. 1.35 60ft.

That got me in the field at number 8 (or 8th fastest) out of 15 cars.

For E1 I had to race the number 7 qualifier. We were very close on time so I knew I needed to go a bit faster and cut a good light.... I tightend up my Progressive ram even more (40% to 100% in .75 second) and the car went a 5.87@118 MPH. 1.33 60ft. I won on a hole shot with a 1.54 RT to his .335 RT....


So here I am.... Thrilled to have made it to the quarter finals in Eliminations again... but I have to race one the fastest guys in the class again...

I tighten up my Progressive ramp even more (40% to 100% in .65 second). Then I go and add 2 degrees of timing - to make the car leave harder. The car responds well and runs a 5.82@118MPH with a 1.30 60ft and I cut a great light (for me) with a .097 RT to his .111 RT but his turbo car ran a 5.40@132 MPH and he drove around me about 200ft out no problem.

I have to do something with the nitrous tune up. The car is running great on this little tune up but its time to turn on the big power this engine is built for.

I have 2 more tune ups left on this plate. The 93 jet and a 102 jet. I am tempted to put the 102 jet in it next month and let it eat to see what happends... Althou I know I should go one step at a time.... but it's just that I have historically had problems with the 93 jet from day one and am about to just let that one go all together, unless my nitrous guy can tell me something I am totally missing....

Am also VERY tempted to tell him to just go and build me that killer 450+HP plate kit we have been talking about for next season's upgrade....

Anyway I am solidly in 8th place in the Championship points and not far off of 7th....

https://www.facebook.com/MPCRealStreet

My next points race is September 13th.

I will let you guys know how I do next race or if we go and make some test hits before that race....

As always thanks for giving me a place to talk about the 84.
Will

Quote:

I have honestly no idea....

Up until now everything past the halfshafts was OEM as it came from GM in 1984 with 30yrs and 101K miles on it.

Before I decided to put the good used one I already had on it, I went and looked and couldn't even find the tapered brg ones for sale anymore.
Will

Well you know on a C4 these wheel brg/Hun assembly's are sealed one pc units that not intended for tech's or owners to fool with....

I don't know if you have ever had one apart before but it's a really simple design with 2 rows of ball bearings. An outer race that is actually the spindle with the drive hub on one end and an inner race that is pressed on to the spindle... the ball bearings are held in tension by the 2 outer races.... but not supported by a race on the inside between the 2 rows... probally why they go bad so quickly in a Road Racing car with lots of side load.

Would be nice if we had a way to set the brgs up, do maintenance, buy replacement parts ect... even the PITA system like on a C3 would be better than this sealed assembly crap C4's and newer have.

Well at least the rears are fairly cheap and easy to change out.

Will

This weekend I was busy swapping out parts to get the 84 read for it's next race on 2 August.

Here is a pic of the broken drivers side outer Stub Axle.

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/IMG_20140725_144106_zpsdpbe0tl5.jpg.html][/URL]

I didn't take a pic but it also pushed the Wheel Bearing/Hub assembly apart.

So I started inspecting it. At first I thought it didn't do any damage to it except it basically dissassembled it. Pushed the inner race off the spindle/outer race.. brgs still looked nice and full of grease, so I figured I could press it back together and have a good wheel brg.


That's when I discovered the inner race had no press fit on to the spindle/outer race anymore.... I cold tap it right together with a hammer and then pull it back apart with minimal effort.

I am thinking that the drivers side wheel brg got damaged when I exploded a U-Joint last year and after a year of racing, it finally got loose enough on the first race of this season to put the stub axle in a bind and broke it. All the new power I have have didn 't help either.

We thought it was just track conditions making the car so squirley during Q1, Q2 and E1 - but that drivers side rear brg being loose was allowing tow change under load would explain the handling problem I was having. The car did the same thing every pass - pulled to the right.

BTW - I had good used GM brg/hub assy laying around in my parts stash, so I just put it on the car.

At any rate, I have 2 new (to me) half shafts, 4 new SPICER U Joints, 2 new outer Stub axles all installed on the car.

I'm waiting for some Van Steel billet U Joint caps to button it all back up. Should have them this evening when UPS comes to the house.

I reckon I'm going to have to inspect this stuff more often this season.
Will

Quote:

Yes, it attaches at the distributor hole in the intake...

It sits about even height wise with the distributor hold down.

If your dead set against having the distributor hole in the intake you could try and do something with welding/brazing an attachment boss in the lifter valley of your block to use an LTX style drive.
Will

We use them quite a bit when we convert to a front drive dizzy thats run off the belt drive.

Mallory makes the cheapest high performance billet alum version of what you want for about $80.00.

http://www.jegs.com/i/Mallory/650/290 ... JbKjqS51r8CFVQV7AodMUkAAw

MSD makes one as well thats about $150.00

You can't use a LTX style in a GEN 1 SBC because there is no boss in the lifter valley to mount it to.

Melling makes a plastic replacement one for use in the Mercury Marine Vortec engines but everyone of those engines I have been into needed a new one and I replaced the cracked plastic one with a Mallory or MSD unit.
Will

Great looking C5. Congrats.
Will

Quote:

Staying with IRS for rest of this season. That axle that broke was orginal to the car and had well over 150 passes on it. I knew they were at the end of their life.

I have some used but never raced outer axles and halfshafts to put in it. With everything else that needed to get done there wasn't time to change the rearend stuff for this race.

If this becomes a regular failure, I'll have to convert to a 9" for next season. By class rules my only option for rear suspension when I convert to a straight axle is ladder bars... and I dislike ladder bar cars.
Will

Well Guru's after 2 weeks of working till midnight every day after work and all day on the weekends, my 84 was back up and running with the new 434... just in time for our next race.

There is still so much to finish up on the car but the car is running and raceable, so I decided to leave the old stub axels and U-Joints and half shafts in it from last season for this one race... Forgot to add that the rear tires are still the same ones from last season as well...

I installed my new Go-Pro Hero 3 (X-Mas present from Elsie) on the passenger seat headrest so you guys can see what driving this beast is like. Took a few tries to get a decent view of inside the car but I have one video from Round 1 Eliminations that is good.

My goal for the car this race was to just go A-B nice and easy. Get some tuning data for the new engine and see how the car handles all this new HP.

I did not get to make any test hits and my first pass was in Qualifying - Round 1.

Super conservative on the NO2 tune up. 85N jet... only 185HP. My progressive was setup with .05 sec delay, 35% starting percentage and 1.6 sec build time to 100%. Real low on the shift RPM.... I have it chipped down to 7000RPM.

The brakes were kinda rusty from sitting all winter so it pushed thru the light when I tired to getup on the converter but once it got going the motor ran well.

1.42 -- 60ft
3.89 -- 330ft
5.97 -- 1/8th mile
120 MPH

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rkles ... ual1_zpsb253295e.mp4.html

In Q2 we picked things up a bit by taking the delay out of the Progressive, 50% start, build time of 1.5 sec and dropping 1 psi in tire pressure.

1.35 -- 60ft
3.81 -- 330ft
5.87 -- 1/8th mile
119 MPH

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rkles ... ual2_zps94abe89f.mp4.html

This pass got me solidly qualified in the 9th position (out of 19 cars). Not great but not half bad for the first 2 passes on a brand new combination.

The track was hot and my car was spinning pretty bad in low gear and on the 1-2 gear change... so for Eliminations I pulled 2* of timing out of it.

Had to run a very nice 1986 Fox Body Mercury Capri with a Turbocharged 393 inch SBF Windsor.

Vette-----------------Capri
1.31-------60ft-------1.52
3.79--------330-------4.28
5.87----1/8th mile----6.50
118 --------MPH------- 113

Felt great to take the first round WIN.

Here is the in-car from my Go Pro.

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rkles ... 14R1_zps4031f06f.mp4.html

And outside viewed from the starting line.

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rkles ... und1_zps35fdb30f.mp4.html

Things went bad in round 2 when I had to run one of the fastest cars in the class. We tuned her up with a 93N jet and even with old tires - it was too much power for the 101K mile and 1 race seasons old outer stub axel... drivers side broke just after launch ending my night. Just from looking doesn't appear anything else got hurt.

http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rkles ... und2_zpsa7b763ca.mp4.html

All in all, it was a great night... Could have done without the broke axle but stock parts only last so long with this kind of power and I knew they needed to be swapped out ASAP.

Next race is the beginning of August.

I will get the new stub axels, U-Joints, Half shafts and tires installed on the car.... and we will have the RPMs up to 7500RPM and even bigger NO2 tune ups to get after these guys.

I have to get a shout to my love Elsie for the Video of my runs, My buddy Chris for pit help, my brother Cliff and his son Gauge for coming up to help me out with tuning on a very important and busy first race.

Thanks Guru for giving me a place to post up about my Corvette racing.
Will

Love it!

Your old C4 is hauling the mail down the straight and thru those "S'es".
Will

On all GEN I SBC's water is routed up from the block (front to back) up to the rear of the Cyl Heads... it then goes forwards (back to front) in the cyl heads to the Thermostat housing at the front of the heads (and then out the radiator).

Some TPI intakes have a "crossover" at the rear of the intake. It only goes from one head to the other head at the rear.... It was intended to equalize water temps across both sides of the block better..... it also provides some heat to the lower intake base to help in very cold conditions with De-Icing....


It's not a big deal wether the TPI intake you use has this rear water passage crossover or not. SBC's never had this feature until the L-98 and then only some of them had it. Additionally we have never used anything of the sort on our race or street engines.
Will

Arghhh!!!! Come on Bill....

JUST LIKE THE STIG TO TEASE US WITH PROMISES OF HIS DRIVING AND TALKING PROWESS - THEN POST UP LINK TO PRIVATE VIDEO...... LOL.

On my front the 84 is finally ready for the track. Lots of late night trashing to get it done in time but we are ready for the 5th.
Will

Quote:

Here I am.

The measurements on that DC page is about right.... every car is going to be alittle different due to production tollerance and how far the motor mounts have sagged....

IMO 9.25" at the Throttle Body is the limit... you will have about .25 clearance to the bottom of the hood.... Mine is 9.25 high at the TB.

You do have more height at the rear of the block but the way the hood slopes down at the front really tsakes away alot of height at the TB so you kind of have to slope the intake at the TB flange in the same manner....

Those measurements are from the china rail of the block to the bottom of the hood.

I have an Edelbrock 2925 Super Victor single plane intake with a sheetmetal plenum/TB adapter on my 92.




Awesome intake set up for a serious street car. Mine makes over 400RWTQ starting at 3600RPM... carries over 400RWTQ to 6000RPM. That is on a small 380 inch engine with a pretty healthy camshaft. Of course it's Normally Aspriated on 93 octane pump gas.
Will

Morning Guru's.

My butt is dragging this morning. Didn't stop working on the car until 1130 and made it home at midnight....

Got a local Corvette owners group dinner tonight.... then maybe finish up some little stuff on the car.

Will

What's up guys.

Got another hour at work then going to head over to 93 ragtops and gear up for another long night of working to get the race car ready for it's 2014 debut at the July 5th MPC Real Street race.

Seems I did this all the time when I was younger and somehow the fun of it all has worn off in my middle age....
Will

Hot here too...News said we set a record at 97F...

Hope you feel better Tommy.
Will

Here is the Dyno Sheet and graph.







Had to convert these from a PDF so not sure how well they will look..... If they lok bad I will do something else.

Also still trying to get the video uploaded from my carmera.
Will

Just got off the dyno with my new 434.

722HP @ 7000 RPM
585TQ @ 5900 RPM

I made one pull where it made 727HP but after some retuning for a better average power across the RPM range it lost a few peak horses.

We went down 2 numbers on the jets and moved the ignition advance from 36* to 38* and finally best average power came with 40*.

I had a slight issue to start the day and lost a few hrs tuning time fixing it so we didn't have time to make any "hero pulls".

The AF is super safe at 11.9 to 12.0 in the real RPM band.

These numbers are with my QFT950 carb using VP NO2 fuel.

I did make one pull with my brothers C&S Aerosol Billet dominator but it was pig rich pulling 10.0 AF and made 712HP but like I said we just didn't have the time to really tune it in and make the hero pulls I wanted.

Have video and dyno sheets I will post up when I get home Monday.

It's a bad man and I can't wait to crack open the nitrous.....
Will

The biggest thing that bothers me about this VA scandel is the corruption.

The Govt in my lifetime has always run by Corruptacrats... and they do what they do... mess up everything they touch for others, while making bank for themselves - all the while making pretty speaches on TV about how they are the only MF's that can fix the problems.

Shinseki while being a veteran himself, can't use that as a cloak to hide from the responsibility of this.... If anything I hate him more because he should have known better than to sell us out. I expect to be sold out by a life long scumbag, POS politican... not by a fellow veteran.

(1) Glad to see he's fired.
(2) Scared to death to see who replaces him.

He (and whoever replaces him) shouldn't have taken the job in the first place if they are not willing to lay it all on the line to help those that need it.

Will

Here is a pic of how I port them.

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/Noland/DSC00748.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/Noland/DSC00789.jpg.html][/URL]

If your going to grind on it do the whole thing right. Despite what some think there is alot ot be gained from the runners. Get a cheap set of snap gauges (or inside Mics)and a dial caliper....

You want to put about .125 of taper in the runner width. The runner should be bigger at the plenum tapering smaller at the flange. Since the runners are paired together on a SBC you want the center walls straight and the taper put into the outer walls...

Stay off the floor of the runners! I can not stress this enough.... It is Ok to poilish it up for cosmetics and I do that as most people are not head porters so they don't understand when they paid to have something "ported and polisshed" you leave an area untouched.... Do all your real grinding on the roof and sides of the runner. Keep and eye on how thin the roof of the runner gets just above the injector boss... I generally rais the roof about .150 and that leaves about .080- thickness at the thinnest point.

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/Noland/DSC00787.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/Noland/DSC00746.jpg.html][/URL]

Will

I do every one I port in that manner.

There is the IAC passage at the bottom.... don't cut it out.

There are pics of blackharleymans intake in my photobucket. I will link them later when I get off this tablet.
Will

Without a doubt the VA is a last resort for me as well.

Tommy nailed it, with the time and effort thing.... I have delt with the VA for my personal benifits once trying to use my GI bill and after that experience, I hope to god I never have rely on the VA for anything medical releated....

When I did my final physical at Bethesda in 2007 the Doc was looking over my papers and stopped at my hearing test and asked me if I was going to apply for VA disability... I told her about my previous experience with the VA and that I would just wait until I was too old to work a real job before I applied because I was quite certain I be at least that old before I got approved anyway.

At least they make it easy to get your certificate of eligibility for the VA home loans. I wish getting the benefits we were promised and deserve were all as easy.... but the way the system is set up only the truly messed up or scammers with nothing else to do are capable of devoting the time nessecary to get it done.
Will

More pics for those that are interested.

Engine is complete. It just needs the valves adjusted but I will do that on the day before the dyno... I don't want it sitting around for 2 weeks with the valves open.

This thing may turn out to be a complete dog but it's a pretty good looking dog.

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/1984%20Corvette/photo%202_zpsfpvesfdq.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/1984%20Corvette/photo%201_zpshnkyiwud.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s50.photobucket.com/user/rklessdriver/media/1984%20Corvette/photo%202_zpsbkftgokz.jpg.html][/URL]

My brother got the crank mandrel Accy Drive built and it looks like it's just under 6" from the front of the block to the end of the mandrel... this Accy Drive was a real SOB to build because of how low the engine sits in a C4 Corvette and the steering rack being infront of the engine v/s under it like most cars... You would think with all the engine set back, fitting the Accy Drive would be no problem....

With the car here in Va and the engine in Ga there were a lot of long phone calls between us about how to situate the 2 simple things (Alt and Vac Pump) on this Accy Drive....

All that's left is some minor work. Need to build an adjustment rod bracket for the vaccum pump and re-paint the rocker covers where we welded the new fittings on them.

We go to the dyno on the 13 June.
Will