kris396ss

Haven't been on here in a while, but some of you may remember my posts from when I started my build a while back. I fired the car up in 2020 but the following next two years consisted of replacing 5 4l60e's built by some of the supposedly top builders in the country (won't name names) and not being able to make any solid passes with the car. Finally, in 2023 I went to a built 80e and proceeded to have a blast the entire 2023 season driving and racing the crap out of the car.

First time out to the track was a 3 hour drive through city traffic in the summer to Island Dragway in NJ and I didn't give it much time to cool. I wasn't sure how well it would hook up so I came off the line REALLY gently and ran an 11.0@128.8 with a 1.79 60', then was then told to slow it down or leave (no roll bar) so I ran the rest of the brackets I entered into with an 11.5 dial letting up at the 1/8th.

Second time I went down to Cecil in the fall since their tech was a bit more lax. Temps were much cooler. First pass I ran a 10.7@132 with a 1.75 60'. Second pass I got into it a little harder off the line and ran a 10.66@ 132.6 with a 1.73 60'.

Finally, I drove it back to Island also in the fall for another Impala SS club bracket event and after being eliminated in the brackets just before the track closed up for the day, I made an all out pass and ran a 10.67@131 with a 1.57 60'.


All these passes were made on the Toyo 345/45/17 TQ Proxes drag radials that I drive to and from the track on, aired down to about 19PSI. I found the best results with a really long burnout, I think even longer would work better but it's a balance not skyrocketing the IAT2's during the burnout. I've found on a good prep I could roll into the throttle pretty aggressively off idle, but just can't stab it too quick. I was shocked at how well they hooked up for the 1.57 60' pass, but they actually broke loose after the 60' a bit which I think hurt the ET (Island's prep definitely isn't as good as Cecil). Considering how many miles I get out of these tires and how nicely they cruise, I'm really happy with them even if I can't get them to hookup worth a damn on the street/no prep runway.

1-2 shift happening way too soon at 5650ish RPM, the car was still making power till 7k on the dyno but I don't trust the LS3 valve springs that far, so my 2-3 shiftpoint is at 6450. The 1-2 came in way too short since I was having trouble with it making the 1-2 shift on a no prep runway I race on in the summer locally with all the wheel speed on such a poor, weathered surface.

All the passes were made full street trim, full tank of gas, back seat, subwoofer, heavy stock front wheels wrapped in p255/50/17's, no nice in the ice box etc... The car has AC, stereo system with a 12" sub...it's a great and super comfortable street cruiser.

Mods are as follows

96 Impala SS
Boxed/notched chassis with some other reinforcements I welded in, some custom suspension components I made and Speedtech coil overs, sway bars, front A arms. Turn 1 steering box, Kore 3 C5/C6 brake kit F and R with DBA SLA3000 rotors, Hydroboost, factory 8.5" 10 bolt I built with 3.73's. Moser axles and an eaton 400# posi. I set the car up for pro touring with handling in mind, but it seems to like pretending it's a drag car lol

LSX B15 376 crate engine, untouched with the GM ls7 cam it comes with, sounds like a stock car with exhaust idling
Jokerz 'chaos' ported LSA blower, probably being choked by the 90mm TB but the street manners are amazing
2.45 upper, 9.06 lower, about 16psi
DM reinforced brick, zl1 lid, custom HX, Rhodes 5 gallon trunk tank with a PWM CWA 400 pump filled with 50/50
GM flex sensor (all passes on pump E85)
5" intake
1 7/8 headers
3" exhaust
Aeromotive "phantom" hat in stock tank w/ twin 340's (2nd one on a racetronix 7.5psi hobbs)
ID 1050x's



huge thanks to Rob of RK tuning in NJ, I went through a few tuners before I found him and none of them could come close to dialing the car in the way he did. I'm sure the car was fast with the other tuners, but his attention to detail regarding street manners made this thing feel as good or better just cruising around than any new car i've driven. Also Accurate Transmission Inc of CT for giving me a solid trans I could finally have some fun with.


On any other build I'd already have plans to upgrade, but this setup drives too nice for me to want to change anything. I think I'm just going to work on dropping IAT2s with maybe an aftermarket lid/brick, raise that 1-2 shift point and see if I could get a 10.4-10.5 out of those Toyo's.
Also been considering adding a GV overdrive unit. The 3.73's work so well with the car, but I'm not thrilled with the cruising RPM on long out of state drives at 80mph. I figure the GV OD would not only drop me down to a much nicer cruising RPM, but I could use the 3rd gear OD for 1/2 mile racing so there's no need to shift into the 80e's OD at WOT

10.66 pass @ Cecil

10.67 pass @ Island

Doug G

I agree on Cecil's prep being great... but I guess it depends on the Tech guy you get. All the Tech's been great though.

Was there a ways back and went 11.6 something, but guess there was a light or two out when the board lite up looking like an 11.0 something, so I got talked to. Showed him my slip, and was all ok.

Congrats on the times, and to cruise to/from NJ to Cecil, run mid-10's.... got to love that.

zzracer

iTrader: (33)

Awesome build, congratulations on the times. I think you would be surprised what a better tire would do for your 60' and et.