Went home early today. Actually, i basically drove 2 hours today to take a picture or two and shoot a video or two.. Im completly kidding but that is how my day went... Wasnt a good day. Shortly before loading up and heading home. Im going to keep posting photos as the summer goes on. I'll be back next weekend.. Quick run down.. 71 Chevelle 2x3 square tube chassis 7.50 cert. Steve Schmidt N/A 584ci TCI powerglide
You talk about wore the frick out... I went back out today, had a pretty rough day. So many new parts and what not on the car, im having some issues. It was about 95 degrees at the track and closer to 160 at times in the car. I bought a new trailer a few months ago and its got a/c, i put it to the test today and it was amazing. We are back home, car is tore apart in my garage. I took a few photos, not very many. I'll get them posted up tomorrow. Visited a new to me track. 198 mile drive 1 way. Place is awesome! I will be back, probably next saturday for some more testing.
We hit the road by 6:30 Saturday morning. It was my Dad and I and then a buddy i met while scrounging firewood (hah) We got to the facility around 9:30 Place is so different then what i am use to and i completely liked it. It was awesome.. I wish i would of taken pictures of the place and a few pictures of some of the cars that were there. Place is cool... for sure. So, we have alot of bugs to work out of the car and a few issues to track down. Right now im having a pretty bad fuel pressure problem. I need to supply my carb with 7psi of fuel pressure, it jept dropping to 1 to 2 psi.. I would jack it up and it would drop again. My pump is good to about 80 psi, i had it cranked all the way up and got 22psi out of it. Thats a $550 pump and it has about 26 passes on it... So not to thrilled about that.. Another thing is, i have a horrible virbation. I mean... horrible. I first thought it might of been my front runners (tires) but im positive its not. Ive got no shake at all in the steering wheel, the rest of the car though.... very violent shake. Car got a brand new engine, trans and an older driveshaft that was built for the car with this specific type of trans was reinstalled. I cant tell if its driveline related or not at this point.. I'll get there.
We almost wrecked on the way there.. Witnessed my first "runaway boat" There was a stretch of road on I-39 that is under construction and extremely dangerous. They have sections of the road dug out and they tried to make the transition from the old pavement, to the torn up pavement smooth. Its not smooth... The little ramps they made are simply not long enough, so the inclines of them are steep. They are all labeled as "bump" with a sign.. I slowed down from 74mph down to 50 for the first pair and i swear the front of my truck came up off the road. The 2nd set i slowed down to 40mph and thats where all hell broke loose.. Guy in front of us was pulling a small aluminum v hull boat, like a 14 footer. Said sea nymph on the side. That sucker must of bounced 8 feet off the road, came un hitched and just took off! It clipped a few of those big round construction pylon deals to mark off the construction site, here comes one rolling into my lane. I yank the wheel and get around it, car moved in the trailer and things were ugly i'll tell ya that... Boat ended up going right and not crossing traffic, it did however go down the side of the interstate. It traveled about 400ft down hill until it stopped. It was wild.. My Dad slept through the whole thing in the back seat! hahahaha
Wow , especially the runaway boat craziness. You did well if you're dad never woke up. I-39, huh, north or south of you?
One of these days I'd like to run my bike down the dragstrip. Great Lakes drag away is not too far from me.
its warm for sure out. I worked on the car for a short while today. Got frustrated and hot.. Went back home. No idea about the vibration. Literally. When i do my burnout, i zing the motor up to 5k every time.. Ive got a rev limiter set for doing the burnout, while im warming the tires up i have no vibration at all. So im totally stumped. It doesnt start vibrating until about 100' out. Im going to try a few things and try and sneak it out to a backroad and see what it does. Ive got a new fuel pump, regulator, 3rd member and front pair of runners coming already.
Guy I used to work with ran a car very similar to yours...he had some sort of custom built 500+ CI GM based engine making 800+ HP. He said that when he first put that new engine in, he had a heck of a time getting the rear suspension and tires set up right. Once he finally got it to hook up, then he had issues with hopping and vibrations. IIRC, it was eventually sorted out with some suspension geometry changes/tire pressures, and shift points...like I said though, IIRC, it's been 13-14 years now since I talked with him. Just FYI, if you ever have another one of those "construction pylons" coming your way and you are not in a situation to avoid it, just hit it, they are thin plastic and fold up pretty easily. Might make a minor scuff on your paint and maybe crack some aftermarket ground effects, but still better than swerving and causing a bigger accident. Ignore this advise if on a motorcycle though! And flying boats are a whole 'nother issue...
It was a wild weekend, i tell ya. This car is no stranger to HP. I shouldnt have to make any chassis changes to accommodate this engine.
its not "blown" up.. There is a tight spot in the rotating assembly. There is actually a number of things to talk about with this motor, its been a pile of crap since day one. 12 passes and it finally popped. It literally popped and then shut down immediately following. Im betting i hurt a couple of pistons or a bearing or two decided to not play friday night.. Its getting fixed. I take it over Thursday to the builder who built it. Engine has a 1 year warranty, we'll see whats wrong and go from there. Its been acting up since my first pass though.. My car went a best of a 5.32 in the 8th with 150-175hp less. The best its been with this engine is a 5.66. I should be running in the 5.teens. Going to do everything i can to get it into the 4.90's. That is my goal. 4.90's with this car.
What is the difference between popped and blown up lol? If it's n/a the slugs have a good chance of being ok. A binding bottom end for me would be really disappointing. It could be a bad crank to like you said just a bearing. Good luck with the motor.
Rings are history And who knows what else.. I dropped it off this morning. I'll know more either tomorrow or next week
Took the car out yesterday. I think my best ET was 8.83 at 153 or 154 mph. I left my time slips at my Dad's. Just got the engine back about 3 weeks ago.
