2015 SpeedMullet updates
05-21-2017, 09:57 PM
#742
car came home from JSC Racing Fabrication today! Secret squirrel stuff no longer secret if you're on facebook, lol. for those of you that aren't following along on there, here ya go! i'm way excited about this. these guys really knocked it out of the park!
ok, so the car is home, but no more real progress will be made till the big side job is done and gone. lots to do on both cars, but it's critical that car make it to the show/race at the end of june. My big event this year is drag week. i may very well sit the june show/race out unfortunately. gotta pay the bills though
ok, so the car is home, but no more real progress will be made till the big side job is done and gone. lots to do on both cars, but it's critical that car make it to the show/race at the end of june. My big event this year is drag week. i may very well sit the june show/race out unfortunately. gotta pay the bills though
06-25-2017, 10:34 AM
#743
so just to update, the interview that i had back 2 weeks ago now was actually very promising, but we've had a hard time coming to an agreement on salary. i sent my final offer to them today and have the attitude of if they don't take it, i'll find something else. Dad has some work for me to do over the next 2 weekends for MotorManiaTV outside of my normal responsibilities for them and I will be able to maintain some income that way for a little while, all while being aggressive on trying to get another new 9-5. honestly, if WRC and MMTV take over, i could very well be better off. it's difficult and scary to try to do that though.
thankfully i have plenty in the garage to keep me busy and i decided to try to clean up the mess i have in the engine bay on my car before i built the exhaust, so i chopped the frame rails off right at the star of the wheel wells. i love the way it turned out. the exhaust looks awesome now too.
a cool side-product of these super tight fitting headers: the engine can be pulled with them installed.
now that the big car show we go to is over (yes, i took the car with no engine or front bumper cover, lol!) i can focus on some other parts of the car. i own all the stuff i need for the rear axle updates and i will move forward with that now, including the wheelie bars (i'm stoaked about those, lol).
engine updates: we are still waiting on pistons. things are slow there. we'll get it though.
thankfully i have plenty in the garage to keep me busy and i decided to try to clean up the mess i have in the engine bay on my car before i built the exhaust, so i chopped the frame rails off right at the star of the wheel wells. i love the way it turned out. the exhaust looks awesome now too.
a cool side-product of these super tight fitting headers: the engine can be pulled with them installed.
now that the big car show we go to is over (yes, i took the car with no engine or front bumper cover, lol!) i can focus on some other parts of the car. i own all the stuff i need for the rear axle updates and i will move forward with that now, including the wheelie bars (i'm stoaked about those, lol).
engine updates: we are still waiting on pistons. things are slow there. we'll get it though.
07-16-2017, 03:03 PM
#744
so the photobucket debacle (if you don't know about it, google it) had me pretty frustrated and i wasn't sure what i was going to do. i decided to use just another free web host for now so that the pictures could continue. I have no idea if i'll be able to repair the older posts in this thread or others or not yet. I could, but it would take way more time than i have these days.
I got the job at ATI Performance Parts in Baltimore and start tomorrow. that was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. this will allow me to focus the side work/parts sales back into the car again and i can try to get this thing back on track.
I got back into town this past monday from a two week trip to Ohio and Tennessee to help mom and dad's business some while I wasn't working. this allowed me to keep the money flow thankfully. I have spent the majority of my free time in the garage since then and have the wheelie bars fitted, which of course required custom brackets which i cut out by hand, lol!
I also got the anti roll bar built. The parts are from PA Racing, per usual.
with as low as the car is, i had to clearance the ttop well for the bars. i'll patch this soon.
something of real interest! fully assembled 40 spline axles with rifle drilling and flange lightening are 1lb 1oz lighter each than my solid 31 spline axles. totally blown away by this!
fuel system is updated with -8 return. pretty happy with the way this turned out.
that's all for right now. i may update more later tonight as i am hoping to get a few more things knocked out before the end of the day.
I got the job at ATI Performance Parts in Baltimore and start tomorrow. that was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. this will allow me to focus the side work/parts sales back into the car again and i can try to get this thing back on track.
I got back into town this past monday from a two week trip to Ohio and Tennessee to help mom and dad's business some while I wasn't working. this allowed me to keep the money flow thankfully. I have spent the majority of my free time in the garage since then and have the wheelie bars fitted, which of course required custom brackets which i cut out by hand, lol!
I also got the anti roll bar built. The parts are from PA Racing, per usual.
with as low as the car is, i had to clearance the ttop well for the bars. i'll patch this soon.
something of real interest! fully assembled 40 spline axles with rifle drilling and flange lightening are 1lb 1oz lighter each than my solid 31 spline axles. totally blown away by this!
fuel system is updated with -8 return. pretty happy with the way this turned out.
that's all for right now. i may update more later tonight as i am hoping to get a few more things knocked out before the end of the day.
07-24-2017, 05:38 AM
#747
it seems social media has really move over to facebook and instagram instead of traditional forums, so i have a lot of what i'm doing posted over there, however i will keep these threads going at least through the end of this year if possible.
started some mock up of the clutch hydraulics. i'm a little frustrated about having to use hydraulics instead of a real racecar type pedal setup, but honestly, i'm out of time/resources so this will have to do. looks like this will fit, but have to get the trans back in the car to make sure.
fuel pump mount is all done. i'm pretty happy with this.
in an attempt to keep things from moving around too much, i've welded the seams on the strut towers. this just seems like a good idea.
pause for life for a second. seems like i can't get a weekend in the garage without huge interruptions these days, lol. this weekend's interruption was brought to you by the drive belt tensioner pulley in the dryer exploding.
this might be a distraction, or it might be for my sanity. trying to get things cleaned up in the bay. i was never satisifed with the last brake line setup, and the line going to the rear was messed up (not beyond function, but it needed to be redone). so, here we go, lol
and i got the radiator hung. pretty satisified with this too. more parts coming this week. hope to have the engine bay in paint and the rearend reassembled.
speaking of rearend, we have a new strategy. i will be seeking out a 29.5-30" tall street tire, and running a set of 4.57's. after how this year has gone, we just haven't been able to do enough testing and practicing of the gear swap, and i know it's gonna be a problem if i try to do it. so, 55 mph cruising speeds it is.
started some mock up of the clutch hydraulics. i'm a little frustrated about having to use hydraulics instead of a real racecar type pedal setup, but honestly, i'm out of time/resources so this will have to do. looks like this will fit, but have to get the trans back in the car to make sure.
fuel pump mount is all done. i'm pretty happy with this.
in an attempt to keep things from moving around too much, i've welded the seams on the strut towers. this just seems like a good idea.
pause for life for a second. seems like i can't get a weekend in the garage without huge interruptions these days, lol. this weekend's interruption was brought to you by the drive belt tensioner pulley in the dryer exploding.
this might be a distraction, or it might be for my sanity. trying to get things cleaned up in the bay. i was never satisifed with the last brake line setup, and the line going to the rear was messed up (not beyond function, but it needed to be redone). so, here we go, lol
and i got the radiator hung. pretty satisified with this too. more parts coming this week. hope to have the engine bay in paint and the rearend reassembled.
speaking of rearend, we have a new strategy. i will be seeking out a 29.5-30" tall street tire, and running a set of 4.57's. after how this year has gone, we just haven't been able to do enough testing and practicing of the gear swap, and i know it's gonna be a problem if i try to do it. so, 55 mph cruising speeds it is.
07-27-2017, 05:39 AM
#748
monday night i had an accident in the shop. while using the wire wheel on an angle grinder, the wire wheel caughtt he edge of a piece of the engine bay, ripped out of my hands and ricocheted off my face. it was running unfortunately and it road rashed my cheek up pretty good, as well as tore my lip. so i took tuesday off from the car.
however, here's where the engine bay is now. pretty happy with this.
hoping to have that in paint soon.
in other news, i got a new set of wheels and tires for the rear. 15x10 draglites with 6.5" back spacing for $150, then a set of 265/75/15 tires from the used tire shop down the street for $80 mounted and balanced. these are 30.6" tall. it should kill some rpm for sure. they're tight, but they fit
i spent the majority of last night getting the shop organized and formulating new plans of attack. here's to hoping for more progress soon!
however, here's where the engine bay is now. pretty happy with this.
hoping to have that in paint soon.
in other news, i got a new set of wheels and tires for the rear. 15x10 draglites with 6.5" back spacing for $150, then a set of 265/75/15 tires from the used tire shop down the street for $80 mounted and balanced. these are 30.6" tall. it should kill some rpm for sure. they're tight, but they fit
i spent the majority of last night getting the shop organized and formulating new plans of attack. here's to hoping for more progress soon!
07-28-2017, 05:34 PM
#749
10 Second Club
And THIS is why we are REQUIRED to wear a face shield anytime we use a grinder/wire wheel/cut-off wheel/ETC.
Glad it wasn't worse
But hey, chicks dig scars
Glad it wasn't worse
But hey, chicks dig scars
07-30-2017, 09:05 PM
#750
i slaved all weekend. end result:
this week includes running new brake hardlines, getting the wiring figured out for the couple circuits i need to add for street equipment (wipers, horn, turn signals), getting the racepak in the car, a few gauges, and getting the rear axle all put back together. a ton of work truthfully, but i think i can do it all over the next week and this coming weekend, so long as i stay diligent.
this week includes running new brake hardlines, getting the wiring figured out for the couple circuits i need to add for street equipment (wipers, horn, turn signals), getting the racepak in the car, a few gauges, and getting the rear axle all put back together. a ton of work truthfully, but i think i can do it all over the next week and this coming weekend, so long as i stay diligent.
08-03-2017, 09:29 PM
#751
well, good news
also, fresh white paint sure makes that purple pop!
i put the center section back in the rearend for the 2nd time this week when i realized the locking tabs for the side adjusters on the center were sitting next to my bench vise, lol. everything is in place now though and ready for fluid back there.
next big item for this week will be brake lines. i'm hoping to knock them out tomorrow after the girls go to bed.
also, fresh white paint sure makes that purple pop!
i put the center section back in the rearend for the 2nd time this week when i realized the locking tabs for the side adjusters on the center were sitting next to my bench vise, lol. everything is in place now though and ready for fluid back there.
next big item for this week will be brake lines. i'm hoping to knock them out tomorrow after the girls go to bed.
08-04-2017, 03:08 AM
#753
Looks Fantastic Matt. Love the purple with the white, looks excellent. You do great work. Did you make any big changes to the motor? Gongrats on your new job!!! How do you like it so far?
08-04-2017, 05:05 AM
#754
we made some huge changes. the only thing that remained was the block. it is now 372", 14:1, solid roller, jesel rockers, ported dart pro 1 ls3 heads, CID intake, and a big carb. it will be run on e85.
the new job is going well so far
the new job is going well so far
08-04-2017, 11:37 AM
#756
Great to hear you like your new gig.
08-15-2017, 07:26 PM
#760
weekly update. the engine bay is all basically done, and i've got the car rewired and added a few circuits for some street equipment. i was able to secure a front set of draglites for $125, and got new tires on them today for another $90. we are in the 11th hour and there is still a ton to do. Being a 1-man-band is making things go very slowly. I do have good news though, the engine is home
here's some pics, then i'm off to go do more work.
tinzy aronson would be proud
here's some pics, then i'm off to go do more work.
tinzy aronson would be proud