NateCrisman
Well-known member
Today was an insane rollercoaster ride with #139. I got to the shop at 9 to pick up the car and leave for the track. Tools all packed and ready to go on friday. So I get in the car, it won't start. sounds like dead battery, but it reads 12.5V. (WTF) Put on battery charger and it starts, but is vibrating. I have had a clunk sound while cranking for a while now. The vibration scared me, and I had loose flywheel bolts in the back of my mind. Last thing I need is the flywheel to blow up.
So I decide to see how fast I can do a trans job on my back in the driveway (#255 was stuck on the lift in mid-partout). Started disassembly at 9:30 and had the clutch off by 10:45. Spend about 1/2 hour staring at parts trying to figure out what's going on. With the front ear broken off the engine block, there is now only 3 bolts and one dowel holding the trans to the engine. The 3 bolts were tight, but the rear dowel (the 12mm little bolt goes through it) was all all mushroomed and deformed enough that the bellhousing was sitting low relative to the block and the flywheel was hitting a notch inside the bellhousing. . It must have not been centered the last time I tightened the trans bolts and it was crushed.
Possible VR4 was on his way to the track, so he shows up at my shop about 11:15. We decide, F it, let's try and salvage the day. I flip the existing dowel (couldn't find another one) putting the mushroom end into the trans and the clean end into the block. Benchpress the trans back in and we tag team the remaining assembly. (I make Frank pump in the gear old though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif ) The car is on the ground and running before 12:30pm. Fix a fuel leak, set fuel pressure, repack tools and we make it to the track at 1pm.
Thankfully, the track is pretty empty for the last day of the year. 2 gallons of 116 sunoco racegas, hook up extra battery to the bottle warmer, and open nitrous bottle: not even 600psi. ack go over to tech lane. Tech guy is cool, he knows car went 11.1 last time out, and has no rollbar. He advises to make a few easy passes then "run it out the back door" on your last run. But he is clear that once It goes 11.49 or better I'm done. So that's the plan.
Run one:
nitrous is turned off, I wanted to check to see what boost is set at and see if changing the vac line from compressor housing to the intake manifold helps the boost dropoff problem I was having. I left at 6600rpm and about 6psi then lifted right after the car launched. Half wanting the car to bog down, A to be sure it didn't break on first pass and B to just run wot through the gears and get a log. Seems even trying to run a slow easy pass I nearly get booted: RPM bogged down to 3500rpm in first gear while I lifted. Log says I shifter 1-2 at 7000rpm on the nose, normally I shift at 8000. I ran 2 and 3 out to 7500. 23 to 26* timing, ~28psi of boost (between 28.9 and 27.7), mid 11's AF, 0 knock. Ait temp at the line was 77*F up to 102*F at the traps.
1.585
4.666
7.144 @ 100.88 (100mph at the 1/8 whoo hoo one milestone down)
9.283
11.082 @ 125.92
MPH sure did pick up. Boost stayed consistent 28 to 27psi in every gear. SOLID boost control is finally here! Air temps seem to have improved with the new intake pipe as well. MPH is about 3mph better than previous run on the same tune even with worse driving. Also had some orange rust colored water sprayed around under hood, seems my radiator cap was leaking, so we swap with PossibleVR4's colt beater car.
link
So I decide to see how fast I can do a trans job on my back in the driveway (#255 was stuck on the lift in mid-partout). Started disassembly at 9:30 and had the clutch off by 10:45. Spend about 1/2 hour staring at parts trying to figure out what's going on. With the front ear broken off the engine block, there is now only 3 bolts and one dowel holding the trans to the engine. The 3 bolts were tight, but the rear dowel (the 12mm little bolt goes through it) was all all mushroomed and deformed enough that the bellhousing was sitting low relative to the block and the flywheel was hitting a notch inside the bellhousing. . It must have not been centered the last time I tightened the trans bolts and it was crushed.
Possible VR4 was on his way to the track, so he shows up at my shop about 11:15. We decide, F it, let's try and salvage the day. I flip the existing dowel (couldn't find another one) putting the mushroom end into the trans and the clean end into the block. Benchpress the trans back in and we tag team the remaining assembly. (I make Frank pump in the gear old though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif ) The car is on the ground and running before 12:30pm. Fix a fuel leak, set fuel pressure, repack tools and we make it to the track at 1pm.
Thankfully, the track is pretty empty for the last day of the year. 2 gallons of 116 sunoco racegas, hook up extra battery to the bottle warmer, and open nitrous bottle: not even 600psi. ack go over to tech lane. Tech guy is cool, he knows car went 11.1 last time out, and has no rollbar. He advises to make a few easy passes then "run it out the back door" on your last run. But he is clear that once It goes 11.49 or better I'm done. So that's the plan.
Run one:
nitrous is turned off, I wanted to check to see what boost is set at and see if changing the vac line from compressor housing to the intake manifold helps the boost dropoff problem I was having. I left at 6600rpm and about 6psi then lifted right after the car launched. Half wanting the car to bog down, A to be sure it didn't break on first pass and B to just run wot through the gears and get a log. Seems even trying to run a slow easy pass I nearly get booted: RPM bogged down to 3500rpm in first gear while I lifted. Log says I shifter 1-2 at 7000rpm on the nose, normally I shift at 8000. I ran 2 and 3 out to 7500. 23 to 26* timing, ~28psi of boost (between 28.9 and 27.7), mid 11's AF, 0 knock. Ait temp at the line was 77*F up to 102*F at the traps.
1.585
4.666
7.144 @ 100.88 (100mph at the 1/8 whoo hoo one milestone down)
9.283
11.082 @ 125.92
MPH sure did pick up. Boost stayed consistent 28 to 27psi in every gear. SOLID boost control is finally here! Air temps seem to have improved with the new intake pipe as well. MPH is about 3mph better than previous run on the same tune even with worse driving. Also had some orange rust colored water sprayed around under hood, seems my radiator cap was leaking, so we swap with PossibleVR4's colt beater car.
link
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