Heading out to the track... Hopefully!

DorianL

DorianL

solid fixture here in the forum
Staff member
Hey All,

It's gonna be a race before the race.

I am running a heavy Chevelle with a 400 SBC, a mild roller cam, AFR 210 Eliminator heads and at D1-SC blower.

Till now I have been plagued with trans and traction issues.

I have a thing for 200-4Rs and am trying to make that work. Call me stubborn. ;)

I just discovered last weekend that my converter (a turbo buick D5) was the source of my woes. I got it back rebuilt today. The clutch material had been torn off, a damper spring snapped and some fins were compromised. At this point I have a new kevlar clutch + brazed fins. It's the best I can do here in Belgium.

Problem is, I have to rebuild the trans and stuff it in the car by Friday PM because then I am driving to the race! So it will be a mad dash before the race and very little time to tune.

www.eurodrag.com

This will also be the first time (if iget there) that I run 325/60R15 drag radial tires on a VHT-prepped track! Man if I don't stick on lauch this time, I'll put a match to it!

Stay tuned!!!!!

D.
 
Grmbl. They did not let me race. No racing license. Grmbl. Not that terrible considering how much it rained.
 
DorianL said:
Grmbl. They did not let me race. No racing license. Grmbl. Not that terrible considering how much it rained.
Click to expand...
So you won the first race and lost the second race. :roll:

When is your next chance to race and what will you have to do to get your license???......spend some more money!
 
DorianL said:
Grmbl. They did not let me race. No racing license. Grmbl. Not that terrible considering how much it rained.
Click to expand...

thats a bit ODD!
what kind of license is required and WHY?

If its a street driven car ,
here in the states ,in most tracks theres a

"RUN WHAT YOU DRIVE"
or
"TEST & TUNE "
or
"BRACKET class"

that's, there for the street cars,
where a brief safety inspection and a helmet with the SFI sticker on it,
is all thats required,
your not required to have a license or a roll cage,or any serious safety mods on the car unless you run faster than 12 flat in the 1/4 mile



heres a sample set of rule info
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/nhra ... index.html
 
Dunno yet how to get that License. Assuming it's not free. Need to find out more

The website said they "no license? No problem! We'll issue one for a day.". What it did not say was for Dutch citizens only. And this is in belgium. In a nutshell the event used to be a test and tune run by Belgians. Now it's run by the Dutch and they call it drag racing. As I understand, simply changing name is enough. It relates to insurance it seems.

No clue why I can't run my car. It's slower than 12 and completely street legal.

Hmmmm.
 
5776e56d.jpg


From ze race...
 
That's not very nice to just show us a picture of the outside without showing the engine. I want to see that blower!!!

How's that 200-4R working out??? I was warned they would never hold up without a lot of work and then he showed me some of the internals from a stock trans. I was considering the 200-4R because it's almost exactly the same length as a TH350 that I have now. The 700R4 is several inches longer and my drive shaft is only 13" (center to center), so that wasn't much of an option.
 
Good point I really should do a photo shoot. Possibly this weekend. It's been a while.

The 200-4R held out great at 480 ponies. At 640, it needed some more work. Oops! Broke it.

There are several advantages to the 200-4R. You mention one of the most important ones right there. Another advantage is the 1-2 rpm drop. It's less on a 200-4R than a 700-R4.

Extensive work did go into the trans. I trimmed down the 4th gear piston to add a clutch, new pressure regulator, deep pan, huge servo, shift kit, forged drum, modified input shaft, extra wide band, forged planetary and OD carrier, rollerized center support.

This pretty much happened in two steps... Before and after the 480 to 640 jump.

The converter was the trickiest bit... Save money, buy the right one the first time round ;)
 
DorianL said:
Extensive work did go into the trans. I trimmed down the 4th gear piston to add a clutch, new pressure regulator, deep pan, huge servo, shift kit, forged drum, modified input shaft, extra wide band, forged planetary and OD carrier, rollerized center support.
Click to expand...
I will usually consider doing most things, but not the transmission. Did you just dive in, or did you have some working experience with transmissions before you worked on your 200-4R???


Rick
 
I am a political scientist. <groan> Inclined as I might be, I have no mechanical background whatsoever.

I bought my car in 2001. It had a 250L6 in it and I had hardly ever seen a carbureted V8 before.

I put in a shift kit in my THM350. Found a used 200-4R and dove in... I am quite comfortable dropping a trans and rebuilding it at this point. Tho dropping and installing a trans is a PITA on your back in a cobble stone driveway. ;)
 
DorianL said:
I am a political scientist. <groan> Inclined as I might be, I have no mechanical background whatsoever.

I bought my car in 2001. It had a 250L6 in it and I had hardly ever seen a carbureted V8 before.

I put in a shift kit in my THM350. Found a used 200-4R and dove in... I am quite comfortable dropping a trans and rebuilding it at this point. Tho dropping and installing a trans is a PITA on your back in a cobble stone driveway. ;)
Click to expand...
You sure know how to hurt a guy!!!

Evidently you are in the wrong profession sir! So next your year you start your own racing team..........Penske better look out!!! ;)
 
DorianL
is one of those rare people that's both not afraid to jump into a project and willing to do some extensive research and actually read thru enough info and ask enough questions that he has a good idea what hes doing on the first attempt, and then follow thru on the project and see iit to its finish!
(I,M honored to help where I can)
.
that's so rare that I only know about 5 people that Ive met that operate like that, out of hundreds of people,I feel a strong kindred spirit , because, on most projects, that's how I was forced to learn also as most of the older guys that really knew what was going on , rarely wanted to take the time to teach the younger guys while I was learning (mostly thru mistakes)
most guys want to have all the answers before they start and about 99% of the guys still won,t work on the car without experienced help the first time a components being worked on.
that's one of the major factors in why I take the time on this site to try and help where I can.

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