Building Up A Blown Olds Motor for an "A/GS Gasser"
- Thread starter 2Loose
- Start date
I WISH some of you gentlemen were located locally theres so many times I could both help out or loan you access to tools or occasionally get help!
theres so many times that having two or three guys on site would make projects go far faster and smoother both from the increased combined skill level and having two or more sets of hands
theres so many times that having two or three guys on site would make projects go far faster and smoother both from the increased combined skill level and having two or more sets of hands
2Loose
reliable source of info
The eye is healing up nicely, but taking it's time....
When that happened I stopped reworking the front of the rear tire space to add additional room for the race tire expansion, so am back at it on a limited basis, now that I have an additional month to get it ready for the track....
Looking at this tire to run on the street with the 4.56 gears....
It's a michelin LT285/75R16, 32.8" tall, section width 11.3", they recommend max 9" wide rims, but I have a pair of 16 by 10" wide rims available, so think I am going to try them. They will fill out that raised and widened fender well lip nicely and should look (and drive) quite well out on the street. Then at the track just swap in the slicks and make my runs....
Later....
Willy
When that happened I stopped reworking the front of the rear tire space to add additional room for the race tire expansion, so am back at it on a limited basis, now that I have an additional month to get it ready for the track....
Looking at this tire to run on the street with the 4.56 gears....
It's a michelin LT285/75R16, 32.8" tall, section width 11.3", they recommend max 9" wide rims, but I have a pair of 16 by 10" wide rims available, so think I am going to try them. They will fill out that raised and widened fender well lip nicely and should look (and drive) quite well out on the street. Then at the track just swap in the slicks and make my runs....
Later....
Willy
2Loose
reliable source of info
Ended up buying a pair of Hoosier Pro Street tires in 31-12.50R15 size, 13.5" sidewall width, 10.5" tread width, 31" tall, should look good on the back end of this rig on the street....
And the eye healed up nicely, took awhile, but no problem now....
Got kinda sidetracked by a bunch of other projects, still have to finish off those rear fender well lips I raised and widened, and am slowly working on finishing up the mini-tubs on the '55 hardtop project....
But decided I needed to fix up my '58 pro street truck to tow the gasser to the track, with the slicks, floor jack and tools in the truck, so needed to fab and install a hitch receiver to the '58, which I finished yesterday and did a trial run with the gasser attached, mission accomplished....
Aloha,
Willy
LINK to more pix....
LINK to the gasser home page....
And the eye healed up nicely, took awhile, but no problem now....
Got kinda sidetracked by a bunch of other projects, still have to finish off those rear fender well lips I raised and widened, and am slowly working on finishing up the mini-tubs on the '55 hardtop project....
But decided I needed to fix up my '58 pro street truck to tow the gasser to the track, with the slicks, floor jack and tools in the truck, so needed to fab and install a hitch receiver to the '58, which I finished yesterday and did a trial run with the gasser attached, mission accomplished....
Aloha,
Willy
LINK to more pix....
LINK to the gasser home page....
2Loose
reliable source of info
The gasser has been a fun project, and still is, but I need it finished as there are a couple others I want to put more time in on. Particularly my '61 FL Harley chop, it's been parked way too many years, and I want to put it back on the road. Have other bikes to ride, but that one was always my favorite:
Link To My Bike Thread....
Spent yesterday working on setting up a second third member for the track, thinking I'd have one for just cruising around, and a second one I could stick in for best performance at the track a couple times a year. Hauled out my spare third members and my spare R&P sets and found a couple of things....
The setup in the car now is a Currie 9+ with a Daytona style pinion setup, a 1350 pinion yoke, a Detroit Locker and 3.00 gears, which seemed just right with the Doug Nash 3.28 low gear ratio, and the 28" cheater slicks I've been running lately on the street.
But as I mentioned earlier, I got carried away and bought a pair of 33" tall MT slicks, and had to widen and raise the "lips" on the rear fender well opening to accomodate those tires. That's mostly done now, still a little more body work to cherry that out, but needed a far different set of rear gears to get the most out of those tires.....
So one "spare" third member setup I had was 31 spline, I need 35 spline, but it had the 4.11 gear set I want to try. OK, pull it apart.
The next "spare" had 4.56 gears on it, too much I think, am liking the 4.11's more and more as I think about it...., but it had a 35 spline spool I wanted to use, so pulled it apart.
The third "spare" has the Daytona style pinion support with the 1350 U-joint yoke that I need, so pulled it apart, and it is getting the 4.11 gears and the spool stuffed back into it. Am putting that back together today and back in the car for a test run with the slicks, see how it feels....
The new Hoosier street tires I bought to get a taller profile in the rear look great, but do not look much bigger then the 28" tall cheater slicks I've been running, even though they are advertised as 31" tall. I took the car out with the Hoosiers on and with a GPS unit, clocked it at exactly 2,000 rpm on the road in 5th gear, or 1:1 ratio. 3.00 rear gear ratio. GPS clocked it at a steady 54 mph. On my excel spreadsheet that back calcs to a 27" tall effective rolling diameter! That's quite a ways off from the advertised 31"!
That makes me think about the advertised 33" tall slicks! How much less than that 33" is the actual effective rolling diameter off the line? 31"? 29"? It has quite an effect on what gears I should actually use to try to get the most out of those tires! And how much will it grow in effective rolling diameter with speed further down the track?
The calcs say that with the 4.56 gear set, at 33" tall I should be just rolling through the lights at 6,000 rpm at 128 mph (If I have the hp to do it....), but if the actual effective diameter is a lot less, then I need more gear (smaller number), like a 4.33 or a 4.11. I have both, but decided to play it safe, and set up the 4.11 for this first go round with these new tires.
Ran the spreadsheet for a bunch of possible tire diameters with the 4.11 gears, using six possibles from 28" to 33", with these results for 6,000 rpm in top gear:
28"-122 mph
29-126
30-130
31-135
32-139
33-143
I think the speed I need to try for is about 125, I figured the approx. rpm for that speed for each effective tire diameter:
28"-6250 rpm
29-6000
30-5750
31-5550
32-5400
33-5250
So looking at these range of possibilities, I decided on the 4.11 gear set as the best choice for this first go round. Now I just have to hook up solidly, shift expertly, and make the horsepower!!! A challenge at age 71, but I figure I'm up to it!
The next race is this Saturday, the 20th, and that day is also my local MC club's annual ride to the far end of the island, Hana, for the annual Taro Festival. We do it every year, and I wouldn't miss it!
Link To Taro Festival Thread....
So plan on having the car set up to go to the track, do the ride leaving my house at 7 am, and come back early, about 2 pm, and head down to the track. Did that last year and it was good, let's see if I can pull that off again this year!
Aloha,
Willy
Addendum:
Got the 4.11's assembled with the Daytona pinion support and the 1350 yoke, got it in and running, but had two rigs at the shop, so hooked up the tow bar and pulled it home! Problem: That spool in the diff only wants to go straight! Knew that, but honestly thought it would still tow ok if I went slow. 15 miles from the shop to my house, it all went ok, although a little iffy on hard turns, until the last mile. There is a steep downhill right hand turn just before my street, and the '55 went straight while my tow rig went right, couldn't stop it, jack knifed it right in the middle of the turn! Locked up the right front fender of the '55 against the right rear of the tow rig, lucky it wasn't my '58 truck I was towing with! The tow bar and the hitch were unaffected! Glad I built 'em stout! A buddy passing by in his big 4x4 truck, hooked up a chain to the rear of the '55, and pulled me back out straight, and I was able to tow the last mile home! No mechanical damage, but now I have some sheet metal damage to straighten out on both rigs!
Lucky I was only going about 10 mph on that turn or it would have been a lot worse! And there were no other cars there at that moment! Cops showed up too, but once they figured out it was really a "single car incident" (meaning nobody else was involved, just this idiot towing this race car....) and nobody was injured, they let it go....
Yeah, I love an adventure, but....
Aloha,
Willy
Link To My Bike Thread....
Spent yesterday working on setting up a second third member for the track, thinking I'd have one for just cruising around, and a second one I could stick in for best performance at the track a couple times a year. Hauled out my spare third members and my spare R&P sets and found a couple of things....
The setup in the car now is a Currie 9+ with a Daytona style pinion setup, a 1350 pinion yoke, a Detroit Locker and 3.00 gears, which seemed just right with the Doug Nash 3.28 low gear ratio, and the 28" cheater slicks I've been running lately on the street.
But as I mentioned earlier, I got carried away and bought a pair of 33" tall MT slicks, and had to widen and raise the "lips" on the rear fender well opening to accomodate those tires. That's mostly done now, still a little more body work to cherry that out, but needed a far different set of rear gears to get the most out of those tires.....
So one "spare" third member setup I had was 31 spline, I need 35 spline, but it had the 4.11 gear set I want to try. OK, pull it apart.
The next "spare" had 4.56 gears on it, too much I think, am liking the 4.11's more and more as I think about it...., but it had a 35 spline spool I wanted to use, so pulled it apart.
The third "spare" has the Daytona style pinion support with the 1350 U-joint yoke that I need, so pulled it apart, and it is getting the 4.11 gears and the spool stuffed back into it. Am putting that back together today and back in the car for a test run with the slicks, see how it feels....
The new Hoosier street tires I bought to get a taller profile in the rear look great, but do not look much bigger then the 28" tall cheater slicks I've been running, even though they are advertised as 31" tall. I took the car out with the Hoosiers on and with a GPS unit, clocked it at exactly 2,000 rpm on the road in 5th gear, or 1:1 ratio. 3.00 rear gear ratio. GPS clocked it at a steady 54 mph. On my excel spreadsheet that back calcs to a 27" tall effective rolling diameter! That's quite a ways off from the advertised 31"!
That makes me think about the advertised 33" tall slicks! How much less than that 33" is the actual effective rolling diameter off the line? 31"? 29"? It has quite an effect on what gears I should actually use to try to get the most out of those tires! And how much will it grow in effective rolling diameter with speed further down the track?
The calcs say that with the 4.56 gear set, at 33" tall I should be just rolling through the lights at 6,000 rpm at 128 mph (If I have the hp to do it....), but if the actual effective diameter is a lot less, then I need more gear (smaller number), like a 4.33 or a 4.11. I have both, but decided to play it safe, and set up the 4.11 for this first go round with these new tires.
Ran the spreadsheet for a bunch of possible tire diameters with the 4.11 gears, using six possibles from 28" to 33", with these results for 6,000 rpm in top gear:
28"-122 mph
29-126
30-130
31-135
32-139
33-143
I think the speed I need to try for is about 125, I figured the approx. rpm for that speed for each effective tire diameter:
28"-6250 rpm
29-6000
30-5750
31-5550
32-5400
33-5250
So looking at these range of possibilities, I decided on the 4.11 gear set as the best choice for this first go round. Now I just have to hook up solidly, shift expertly, and make the horsepower!!! A challenge at age 71, but I figure I'm up to it!
The next race is this Saturday, the 20th, and that day is also my local MC club's annual ride to the far end of the island, Hana, for the annual Taro Festival. We do it every year, and I wouldn't miss it!
Link To Taro Festival Thread....
So plan on having the car set up to go to the track, do the ride leaving my house at 7 am, and come back early, about 2 pm, and head down to the track. Did that last year and it was good, let's see if I can pull that off again this year!
Aloha,
Willy
Addendum:
Got the 4.11's assembled with the Daytona pinion support and the 1350 yoke, got it in and running, but had two rigs at the shop, so hooked up the tow bar and pulled it home! Problem: That spool in the diff only wants to go straight! Knew that, but honestly thought it would still tow ok if I went slow. 15 miles from the shop to my house, it all went ok, although a little iffy on hard turns, until the last mile. There is a steep downhill right hand turn just before my street, and the '55 went straight while my tow rig went right, couldn't stop it, jack knifed it right in the middle of the turn! Locked up the right front fender of the '55 against the right rear of the tow rig, lucky it wasn't my '58 truck I was towing with! The tow bar and the hitch were unaffected! Glad I built 'em stout! A buddy passing by in his big 4x4 truck, hooked up a chain to the rear of the '55, and pulled me back out straight, and I was able to tow the last mile home! No mechanical damage, but now I have some sheet metal damage to straighten out on both rigs!
Lucky I was only going about 10 mph on that turn or it would have been a lot worse! And there were no other cars there at that moment! Cops showed up too, but once they figured out it was really a "single car incident" (meaning nobody else was involved, just this idiot towing this race car....) and nobody was injured, they let it go....
Yeah, I love an adventure, but....
Aloha,
Willy
sounds like a good car trailer and not a tow bar is the best answer.
I can tell you, when I was racing my car seriously I spent a good deal of time driving to the local track with a friend towing the empty trailer in-case We, or one of our friends ran into problems, and it was hardly rare for the trailer to get used to bring home either one of the groups cars or some smokin deals on car parts or project cars that we would not have gotten without the trailer.
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=845&hilit=trailers
I can tell you, when I was racing my car seriously I spent a good deal of time driving to the local track with a friend towing the empty trailer in-case We, or one of our friends ran into problems, and it was hardly rare for the trailer to get used to bring home either one of the groups cars or some smokin deals on car parts or project cars that we would not have gotten without the trailer.
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=845&hilit=trailers
2Loose
reliable source of info
There's a good one for sale locally from a friend, but I have nowhere to park it at my place. It's a bit of a problem. That's why I was trying to set up a safe "flat tow" arrangement. It towed fine when I had the Detroit Locker in there, might have to go back to one of those for the track! Another alternative is a Gear Vendors setup, gives me the "underdrive" gear ratios for the track, and the higher gears for the road! But that is a $pendy alternative!!! Can't really afford that....
Willy
Willy
2Loose
reliable source of info
Has anyone had experience with rear mounted "Tow Hubs"? Not anything you'd ever see around Hawaii, but have heard of them. That might be what works best for my situation with the spool in the diff....
Tow to the track with skinny tires and the tow hubs, and swap it out at the track for the stickies....
Tow to the track with skinny tires and the tow hubs, and swap it out at the track for the stickies....
2Loose
reliable source of info
Have decided against trying the tow hubs, with the 3" rear wheel studs there just is not much room there to make that work.
After the "incident" flat towing the gasser with the spool in the differential, I pulled it apart and put it back together with the 4.11 gears and a Detroit Locker, that will make it much easier to tow, and to drive to the track if I want on street tires, with my buddy hauling the slicks and jack down for me....
I was going very slow when I jack-knifed the gasser, so the damage was pretty minimal compared to what it could have been:
LINK to more pix....
Have been hammering on it, it is coming along, but will leave it at some point, it sorta fits into the rest of the theme for "Patches"....
The supposedly 31" tall Hoosiers I got have turned out to be actually 30.5" in diameter, unloaded. Under load the actual rolling diameter (figuring the radius to the ground from the center of the axle, and doubling it) turns out to be 27.8", so my plan to have some tall street tires which would allow me to run some steep gears that I could leave in for both the street and the track (33" tall MT's, according to the specs....), and not have to change rear gears just for the track.
The Hoosiers look good, but are just too short for what I wanted to do:
LINK to more pix....
All the taller tires I looked at are for off road stuff, would look ridiculous on this car....
Anybody know of any good looking 33" tall street tires, 15" or 16", that would fit on a 10" to 12" wide rim???
Aloha,
Willy
After the "incident" flat towing the gasser with the spool in the differential, I pulled it apart and put it back together with the 4.11 gears and a Detroit Locker, that will make it much easier to tow, and to drive to the track if I want on street tires, with my buddy hauling the slicks and jack down for me....
I was going very slow when I jack-knifed the gasser, so the damage was pretty minimal compared to what it could have been:
LINK to more pix....
Have been hammering on it, it is coming along, but will leave it at some point, it sorta fits into the rest of the theme for "Patches"....
The supposedly 31" tall Hoosiers I got have turned out to be actually 30.5" in diameter, unloaded. Under load the actual rolling diameter (figuring the radius to the ground from the center of the axle, and doubling it) turns out to be 27.8", so my plan to have some tall street tires which would allow me to run some steep gears that I could leave in for both the street and the track (33" tall MT's, according to the specs....), and not have to change rear gears just for the track.
The Hoosiers look good, but are just too short for what I wanted to do:
LINK to more pix....
All the taller tires I looked at are for off road stuff, would look ridiculous on this car....
Anybody know of any good looking 33" tall street tires, 15" or 16", that would fit on a 10" to 12" wide rim???
Aloha,
Willy
Forgive me if you are actually measuring the rolling distance, it just sounds
like you are measuring the diameter.
I would measure the circumference (rolling distance), the accuracy would be
better. Probably by a factor of 3.14 . I have a steel tape that is flat and will
bend backwards that I used for my Kart Racing days. Jack the car up and
wrap the tape around the tire to get your measurement for rolling distance.
I bet the guys in Indy Cars or NASCAR are measuring the rolling distance
when they are wanting something with a 1/4 inch or less difference. If
nothing else, sneak out your wife's tape that she uses for alterations.
As far as loaded, I'm assuming you mean with the wait of the car on the
tire. That would, in my opinion, NOT change the rolling distance. It would
change the shape, yes it would be flat for a short distance and then
be round again, but would NOT change the rolling distance. Speed will
change that rolling distance like you have already talked about, because
the tire is stretching.
Again if you are measuring the circumference (rolling distance), then
just ignore my comments.
2Loose
reliable source of info
The actual effective rolling diameter (twice the rolling radius) is calculated. For example, I measured the speed at 50 mph (measured with an accurate GPS) and the rpm at 2500 in 1:1 (fifth gear) at the tranny, and 4.11 at the differential, the actual rolling diameter calculates as 27.8". Changed the gears to 3.50, same 1:1 in the tranny, and measured 59 mph at 2500 rpm, again it calcs to 27.8" rolling diameter. Half of that is 13.9", which is the exact measurement from the pavement to the center of the axle when rolling at a steady 2500 rpm on the road. I can try to measure the exact height of the center of the axle from the ground when parked, but it will not be as exact as calculating it from the known rpm, mph, and the trans and diff gear ratios. That method is exact.
At the track with racing slicks, with the soft sidewalls, the effective rolling diameter changes a lot throughout the run depending on a bunch of factors. Launch transfers a lot of weight to the rear, "squashing" the tires down to get a much shorter rolling diameter and a longer contact patch for traction and an effective lower rear end ratio for the launch. As the car moves forward and the weight transfers back forward, the rolling diameter increases and the rear end ratio picks up the speed a bit. Then there is tire growth with wheel speed, it will grow a bit, again increasing the rear ratio as the effective rolling diameter increases slightly.
I spun my new slicks on jack stands to 5,000 motor rpm in fifth gear, with the 3.00 diff gears, and they expanded a whole bunch in the middle, making contact with my wheel wells at the front. Wanted to do that to check clearances, so adjusted the front of the wheel well to give the needed clearance in that rather extreme condition. At the track, if I do actually see 6,000 motor rpm with the 4.11 gears, those slicks will not be spinning as fast as they were during my testing at 5,000 with the 3.00 gears, so I think there will be no problems on that one. But I have very strong doubts that the bottom of those slicks will grow that much with the weight of the car on them.
If I could log actual speed in mph against actual motor rpm and gear selection during a run at the track, I could calculate the actual effective rolling diameter of those 33" tires during my run, at any point during the run. I might try to do that. The Innovate O2 logger I am using for tuning, has that capability. It will accept 5 data inputs in addition to the O2 reading at the exhaust collector. I just need to figure out how to locate the sensors for the input. rpm is readily available. GPS mph might be a little more difficult to access and get into the logger. Gear changes are readily seen on the logger, even though it won't specifically tell me which gear I am in, I can easily see the 5 gears used during the run. And O2 readings are logged, which will tell me how rich or lean I am running during any point in the run. I could even install a knock sensor and log that information.
Not sure if I will actually do that or not, sometimes more fun to just do the run and figure it out by the "seat of my pants"....
But I am going to put the slicks on today, with my 3.50 gears that I have in there now, and take it down the highway, get some rpm vs mph measurements. Will let ya know what I find as far at the spec'd "33 inches" goes for those slicks.
I did pull the spool out of my spare third member and put a Detroit Locker in yesterday, with the 4.11 gears. Got a good setup, 25 inch lbs on the pinion bearing preload, and 6 to 10 thou backlash on the ring and pinion all around the ring gear, very acceptable figures, with a very nice wipe pattern on the ring gear teeth....
It will be quite a bit easier to "flat tow" to the track now with that setup!
Plan on running that 4.11 setup at the track May 23-26 at our annual 4 day event.
Aloha,
Willy
At the track with racing slicks, with the soft sidewalls, the effective rolling diameter changes a lot throughout the run depending on a bunch of factors. Launch transfers a lot of weight to the rear, "squashing" the tires down to get a much shorter rolling diameter and a longer contact patch for traction and an effective lower rear end ratio for the launch. As the car moves forward and the weight transfers back forward, the rolling diameter increases and the rear end ratio picks up the speed a bit. Then there is tire growth with wheel speed, it will grow a bit, again increasing the rear ratio as the effective rolling diameter increases slightly.
I spun my new slicks on jack stands to 5,000 motor rpm in fifth gear, with the 3.00 diff gears, and they expanded a whole bunch in the middle, making contact with my wheel wells at the front. Wanted to do that to check clearances, so adjusted the front of the wheel well to give the needed clearance in that rather extreme condition. At the track, if I do actually see 6,000 motor rpm with the 4.11 gears, those slicks will not be spinning as fast as they were during my testing at 5,000 with the 3.00 gears, so I think there will be no problems on that one. But I have very strong doubts that the bottom of those slicks will grow that much with the weight of the car on them.
If I could log actual speed in mph against actual motor rpm and gear selection during a run at the track, I could calculate the actual effective rolling diameter of those 33" tires during my run, at any point during the run. I might try to do that. The Innovate O2 logger I am using for tuning, has that capability. It will accept 5 data inputs in addition to the O2 reading at the exhaust collector. I just need to figure out how to locate the sensors for the input. rpm is readily available. GPS mph might be a little more difficult to access and get into the logger. Gear changes are readily seen on the logger, even though it won't specifically tell me which gear I am in, I can easily see the 5 gears used during the run. And O2 readings are logged, which will tell me how rich or lean I am running during any point in the run. I could even install a knock sensor and log that information.
Not sure if I will actually do that or not, sometimes more fun to just do the run and figure it out by the "seat of my pants"....
But I am going to put the slicks on today, with my 3.50 gears that I have in there now, and take it down the highway, get some rpm vs mph measurements. Will let ya know what I find as far at the spec'd "33 inches" goes for those slicks.
I did pull the spool out of my spare third member and put a Detroit Locker in yesterday, with the 4.11 gears. Got a good setup, 25 inch lbs on the pinion bearing preload, and 6 to 10 thou backlash on the ring and pinion all around the ring gear, very acceptable figures, with a very nice wipe pattern on the ring gear teeth....
It will be quite a bit easier to "flat tow" to the track now with that setup!
Plan on running that 4.11 setup at the track May 23-26 at our annual 4 day event.
Aloha,
Willy
2Loose
reliable source of info
Ran the MT slicks down the road a bit, had 17 psi in the tires, got 66 mph at 2,500 rpm with 3.50 rear gears, trans was in 5th at 1:1. That calcs to a 31" effective rolling diameter. Will be using that in my calcs for the quarter mile at the track.
LINK to more pix....
Aloha,
Willy
LINK to more pix....
Aloha,
Willy
2Loose
reliable source of info
I am hopin' it'll hold together and push hard enough to go through the lites at about 125, which should get me into the mid to low 11's, let's see....
Here's the latest page outta the spreadsheet machine....
First three data sets show my Hoosiers running the current 3.50 gear set, and also 3.00 and 4.11. Then there are three data sets showing the MT's with 3.50, 4.11 and 4.33 gear sets. I'm thinking the 4.11 is probably the best one to try at our next track event, May 24-26, our annual 3 day event for Memorial Day....
I've highlited in red that data set, with the speed I hope to achieve running through the lites, assuming I can pull off a good launch, hit my shifts cleanly, not lose traction anywhere, and the motor, tranny and rear end all hold together! Remember, this is a 46 year old motor, even if there are a lot of new parts in it....
(AND, driven by a 71 year old "lolo".....)
Maybe it needs an "eyepatch" over the missing headlight? My grandkids think it looks like a pirate....
Wonder how much air pressure I should run in those MT race tires? At 17 psi yesterday I ran it up to 100, and it felt a little "wobbly" in the rear, am thinking up it to 20 psi. After all, it weighs 4,000 lbs with me in it, might need a little more air pressure with those tall sidewalls....
Any suggestions?
Willy
LINK to home page
Here's the latest page outta the spreadsheet machine....
First three data sets show my Hoosiers running the current 3.50 gear set, and also 3.00 and 4.11. Then there are three data sets showing the MT's with 3.50, 4.11 and 4.33 gear sets. I'm thinking the 4.11 is probably the best one to try at our next track event, May 24-26, our annual 3 day event for Memorial Day....
I've highlited in red that data set, with the speed I hope to achieve running through the lites, assuming I can pull off a good launch, hit my shifts cleanly, not lose traction anywhere, and the motor, tranny and rear end all hold together! Remember, this is a 46 year old motor, even if there are a lot of new parts in it....
(AND, driven by a 71 year old "lolo".....)
Maybe it needs an "eyepatch" over the missing headlight? My grandkids think it looks like a pirate....
Wonder how much air pressure I should run in those MT race tires? At 17 psi yesterday I ran it up to 100, and it felt a little "wobbly" in the rear, am thinking up it to 20 psi. After all, it weighs 4,000 lbs with me in it, might need a little more air pressure with those tall sidewalls....
Any suggestions?
Willy
LINK to home page
I read that and blinked....
"at 4000 lbs my first suggestion would be to take the 15 sand bags out of the trunk"
honestly Id be looking into where all the weight is,.... and swapping to a fiber glass hood, trunk lid, front fenders , front and rear bumper ETC. would be on my mind, Ive seen several guys get a 55-57 chevy with a BIG BLOCK down in the 3200lb range, still with an interior and less with only a race aluminum seat
http://www.artfiberglass.com/auto/55chev.html
http://www.up22.com/chevy55N.htm
"at 4000 lbs my first suggestion would be to take the 15 sand bags out of the trunk"
honestly Id be looking into where all the weight is,.... and swapping to a fiber glass hood, trunk lid, front fenders , front and rear bumper ETC. would be on my mind, Ive seen several guys get a 55-57 chevy with a BIG BLOCK down in the 3200lb range, still with an interior and less with only a race aluminum seat
http://www.artfiberglass.com/auto/55chev.html
http://www.up22.com/chevy55N.htm
2Loose
reliable source of info
Yeah Grumpy, I blinked a couple times myself!!!
The scales are those four-wheel stress pads that give good cross wheel results for Chassis tuning.
Don't know where that weight is. 3880, Add my 170 and over 4000. It's a project that is what it is! Not going to spend anymore on it!
At that weight if you go 12.2 at 118! With lots of tire smoke! I'm figuring about 650 at the rear wheels. We shall see!
Aloha
Willy
The scales are those four-wheel stress pads that give good cross wheel results for Chassis tuning.
Don't know where that weight is. 3880, Add my 170 and over 4000. It's a project that is what it is! Not going to spend anymore on it!
At that weight if you go 12.2 at 118! With lots of tire smoke! I'm figuring about 650 at the rear wheels. We shall see!
Aloha
Willy
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=489&p=10225&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p10225
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=3404&p=8992&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p8992
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=775&p=8401&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p8401
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=2052&p=6212&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p6212
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=677&p=5642&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p5642
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=783&p=5414&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p5414
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=1482&p=3337&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p3337
A few threads to read thru that might be rather related
one fact I also learned the hard way myself
is that its a whole lot harder to make a heavy car perform impressively
compared to a light weight car... drop 800 -900 lbs and you can,t believe the difference and
yes that takes a great deal of planing, a custom frame, and body components,
and its not necessarily what you want in a street car
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=3404&p=8992&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p8992
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=775&p=8401&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p8401
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=2052&p=6212&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p6212
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=677&p=5642&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p5642
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=783&p=5414&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p5414
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=1482&p=3337&hilit=take+fast+ratio#p3337
A few threads to read thru that might be rather related
one fact I also learned the hard way myself
is that its a whole lot harder to make a heavy car perform impressively
compared to a light weight car... drop 800 -900 lbs and you can,t believe the difference and
yes that takes a great deal of planing, a custom frame, and body components,
and its not necessarily what you want in a street car
just a bit of info, Ive owned dozens of fast cars but the big block chevy powered 1965 lemans and a 1969 big block camaro were most likely the most fun, both were only mid to low 11 second cars, a 1968 corvette with a full roll cage, 4 link rear and dana 60 differential was faster, it was lighter in weight, it was fun to race, it easily ran very low ten second 1/4 mile times at 135-137 mph, but it was a money pit that was not as fun to drive on the street
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=898&p=1469&hilit=first+lemans#p1469
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=1938&p=16754&hilit=first+lemans#p16754
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=898&p=1469&hilit=first+lemans#p1469
viewtopic.php?f=87&t=1938&p=16754&hilit=first+lemans#p16754
8
87vette81big
Guest
2Loose said:
There is alot of weight in the old Chevie's Glass Willy.
Pexi glass all around would save around 100 to 150 lbs there.
Front & rear backglass around 5/16 " inch thick.
Made everything strong & stout back then.
2Loose
reliable source of info
And it's a four door, just think about all the extra metal going into adding two more fully functional doors? Plus I have beefed it up here and there to make the frame and cage solid! All steel, no plastic or fiberglas anywhere. And full seats front and rear, full upholstery, it's got that weight, that's for sure. 20 gal fuel cell was pretty full when we weighed it. And that Olds with the 6/71, plus the Nash 5 speed, some weight there too, I've pulled them in and out enough times to know how heavy they are....
Am concerned that the Nash trans is not gong to hold up. Getting a little noise I think in the input shaft, you can hear it, maybe, when letting the clutch out in neutral, sounds noisier than I like, maybe.....
Am concerned that the Nash trans is not gong to hold up. Getting a little noise I think in the input shaft, you can hear it, maybe, when letting the clutch out in neutral, sounds noisier than I like, maybe.....