Doug G

Got a few weeks to wait here yet....if the weather ever clears up.

28-Feb-14 Open T-N-T date.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

UDP is on the way and should be here Monday. I also have a guy claiming to be sending funds for my SSM bars AND another waiting till the guy buys the SSMs before I will let go of my KYB shocks, both the fronts Ive already swapped to the Bilstein draggers, AND the rears that are still on my car. If all the stars a line, I will be ordering the matching rear Bilstein drag shocks tonight.
Its all coming right down to the wire on this track trip next Saturday. Got my fingers crossed that the changes to the car will be ready by then. If not, does anyone know how long it takes to rehab from a back surgery? LOL. It will drive me crazy to have to wait till a cool fall day in September 2014 to see what the ol Camaro will do now!

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

SSM bars are sold!! Waiting for the guy to send the money for the KYBs. Looks like I might have some good shocks out back too! Id love to grab some double adjust shocks, but the Hotchkis leafs on the back are shock sensitive . They have to be pretty good gas shocks ,or the rear bounces like crazy, just cruising around. And after its all said and done, this is a street car "first', so the ride has to be good.

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

I am pulling for you. Hopefully all the stars will align.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Thanks man, me too, LOL. Im gonna surf around and see if anyones got the rear shocks in stock and try to get them ordered.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Just ordered the shocks from Summit. They had them in-stock and I should have them by Thursday. Everything is looking possible for a track outing this Saturday. Hoping for good weather!!

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

Are they double adjustable or single adjustable?

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

They are a nether adjustable, LOL. They are Bilsteins rear drag shocks, designed and valved to work with the fronts I already have. They are a compromise street/strip shock that gives a great street ride, but allows instant opening with their gas charge . The idea behind the shocks are, to allow the springs to open without much ,if any restriction. At the same time, the gas valve will hold the extension, instantly, when it stops moving, then bleed back down slowly. I am impressed with the fronts, both in ride quality and weight transfer. Not a tunable shock, but Im not concerned with every last 1000th. They will act much better than the shocks I had on the car at the track, but offer great ride when Im not at the track, which will be 99% of the time.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Got the rear shocks today and they are huge for a mono tube! They also act spring loaded. It takes a considerable amount of force to compress them, and they spring open very quickly when you let go. Pretty cool stuff, and they should work well for planting the tires. Now the bad part, Bilstein says they fit the 67-76 f body. Well they fit the first gen, not the second. Nothing worth doing is simple, so Ive fabbed up the proper brackets to make them bolt up and am going to fab a couple spacers up to get the shock in the right position, extension wise.
I have to go pick a new belt up for the 25% UDP too. So, to recap, build spacers and get the right belt, and I will be ready to make a couple glory passes Saturday before Im down with back surgery for at least 4 months. Oh and the weather is suppose to have a high of 69* with fairly low humidity after a cool front moves through tomorrow. Might be windy, but this is my only chance to go with my surgery coming up on the 26th.
Last chance for estimates, guys !!

6D9

iTrader: (1)

Good luck!

topbrent

iTrader: (1)

How goes the friday night thrash?

Looking forward to your results tomorrow!

Give it hell!

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Done and ready to go tomorrow. I had to make some 2" shock extensions and mounts, but the shocks are in the sweet spot, finally, LOL. Got the right belt for the UDP after 3 trips to Napa. FYI, the Power Bond 25% UDP shortened my belt length by 2". Maybe someone can use that info down the road.
Im looking forward to seeing what she does with the weight transfer, 100lbs diet, and UDP. I don't expect it to break into the 10s ( that doesn't keep me from wanting it to , LOL), but I do expect a big improvement over the 11.65 last time out. I will be disappointed if it doesn't get into the 11.2s, anything better will be acceptable , LOL ! Thanks for the help, again !

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

Give it hell man. I am looking forward to your results!

P.S.
I am sticking with my prediction of 11.20s to 11.30s @ 120 to 121 MPH. However, with the addition of your new shocks you MAY get a high 1.6 60's time out of it with some practice.

bitterman

Sticking with my guess... even though I am hoping for a better 60' for you ... If you nail the launch I think a 1.68 is there with the new shocks... but don't think you will do any better than 11.10.....

Bruce

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Disappointing trip , guys.....First pass blows the tires off AFTER the shocks go to full extension. Felt like the tire were about to lift, then straight to the red line, feather the gas to hook, CAR WONT SHIFT INTO SECOND!! I attempted to shift 3 times, each banging hard against the 7K limiter. Finally shifts but too late for anything to go right at this point, 14.52 at 104. I did accelerate from 63mph at the 1/8th to 104mph at 1320, so she is running good, LOL. I only had time for one more pass and was more concerned about whats going on with the B&M Hammer than running any times. I hot lap right back around, don't even worry about doing a good burnout, just drive it off the line and get it to the floor about 30-40 ft out...1.922 60 ft, 11.69 at 118.55
The good is, the shifter got right and shifted great the second time around, but I will have to look at it to see what happened on the first pass. The engine spins to 7K much easier and acts like it wants more, I guess from the 25% UDP taking some of the load off up top. The car weighed in at 3180 with 3/4 tank of fuel, but ol fat boy had put on 10lbs since the last time, LOL. With the extra fuel and my growing waistband , the car weighted 3420 race weight, so only a 60lbs net reduction from last time. I love the way the suspension acts now and it really wants to get with it, but the short sidewalls wont hold the car up and they go away once the car reaches full travel. Ive got a lot of time now, to work over whats next. Do I just not worry about 1/4 mile ET, stick the street tires back on the rear and just enjoy the car for what it is, a great driver that will haul the mail when the loud pedal goes down? OR, and this one is more likely, find someone that wants a great set of 13" rear brakes with fixed 4 piston calipers for a first or second gen F body and swap out to some factory style 10" rear disc brakes, find a set of spare rear rims in a size 15" and get a set of MT 275-50-15s? Tigger is right, the Nittos with a short side wall wont hold the power, even if the suspension works. The car has more power now and less weight, even if it is only 60 lbs and 10-12 HP, it is beyond the tires ability, OR my ability to drive out what the Nittos will let me do ( probably 1.7s pedaling).
To get my 10.9x, I will have to be able to hammer the gas straight off the line. So what would yall do, enjoy what it is, and in my mind its pretty dang impressive, or see what it can do in the 1320 by running down some tires and wheels? Either way, I will have a good 4-5 months to figure it out before I can physically do anything about it. Thanks for the estimates and sorry I couldn't make it a more impressive showing.

bitterman

sorry to hear about the disappointing news. I am sure you car has low 11's in it... just a matter of time and tuning.... I think you need some slicks..... and some tuning....

I hope you can get out again and have some fun before your surgery! All the best on that too! Fast recovery!!!!!!!! Very fast!!!!

Bruce

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

I definitely need some tires. I may be able to hook on a 17" ET street, but that would still require an extra set of hoops for the back. I will never push the car hard enough to NEED the 13" rear brakes on the car and selling them could help fund the tires and wheels. The factory rear disc setup can be put together for cheap, so are 15" tires AND wheels cheaper than 17s. It will probably work out best to go that route, for traction and dollars spent. As far as the tune goes, it runs great! There may be a little better timing curve out there for it, but its close, real close . The Fast EZ has had plenty of time to dial in the fuel curve, so its pretty spot on.
Anyway, thanks, Bruce, for the well wishes on my surgery. I don't mind telling you Im looking forward and worried at the same time about it. We decided its a quality of life thing. If I don't go with the surgery, Im stuck the way I am and slowly getting worse. With the surgery, I at least have a chance to get some of this constant pain off of me, and a chance to get something close to NORMAL again. We have all heard about the back surgery horror stories, but they are getting better at it and Im going to roll the dice for a chance to be better. My wife and kids deserve it .

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

Do you mean like this?



Would you believe me if I told you that a big part of your problem is the way the suspension acts? Remember when I asked you if your shocks were double adjustable?

The reason I bought double adjustable shocks was because I spent hours on The Bullet reading about suspension. I knew before I bought my shocks that 90/10s and such don't work on faster cars. Cars with heavier noses and radials are even more sensitive. I learned that if you don't slow down the front end rise on the launch that it will shock the chassis when it tops out and unload the rear tires.

After tightening up the extension on the front shocks on my car, it stopped spinning on the motor launches. Out of 16 potential clicks, it took 10 to get it to work right on the motor. I could go even tighter. On the nitrous, it wants to be even tighter. Next time out, when I run the nitrous I am going to try full tight. My car hooks every time on the motor now with low 1.5 60' times.


Lots of people have come before you. There has been many threads on this topic. I never even tried the nittos because of what others had said.

10 seconds is serious business. The hardcore racers don't even mess around with anything other than good tires and good shocks.

No worries. We have all been there. Successes and failures is what keeps us coming back. If this stuff was easy, everybody would be going fast. I will share with you everything I know and learn. I am enjoying your project too.

newschool72

iTrader: (12)

Yea, like that . I just didn't get the wheels up before the walls came down!LOL! My son said he almost dropped the camera when I left on the first pass. He said it looked like it was shot out of a cannon. He didn't even know the tires went away . That pass was a 1.91 60ft. It launched, broke loose, hit the limiter, I tried to hit second, but no one was home...3 times!! It was one of my less impressive feats of driving prowess ,LOL.
As far as shocks go, Im going to try something on the rear with a sidewall and see where that gets me. The Nittos I have are a used set I picked up for cheap. This whole attempt at 1320 glory was suppose to end with me sticking the Nittos on, run a hooked up 1.8 60 ft, collect my low 12 slip and go on my way with a nice street cruiser that ran strong. I never thought the car would be capable of deep 11s. Like I said in a post above, I will have plenty of time to figure it out while I sit around in a back brace, LOL. I will be bending your ear on this stuff soon. Thanks!

speedtigger

iTrader: (16)

Well, that video is of a nitrous launch. With your converter, you likely will not be pulling the wheels. If so, not much.

LOL! That is my story. I never intended to go drag racing. The car was just so damn quick, I got sucked in.

I look forward to chatting while you recover. When do you go in?