Yeah, you don't have to use the map sensor at all. It's completely optional. I'm pretty sure you can download the MSD software free from their website. The easiest way to post pics is to set up a free photobucket account, upload the pics there, and then use the IMG links to post them here. Good luck.

 

Just a minor update. I went back to the track Sunday to do some ignition timing tuning on the motor (NA). This was something that I should have done long ago, but I could no longer put it off after seeing just how much timing my combo liked pulled on a small 100hp shot of nitrous. I typically run 34* total timing on the motor and the 100hp tune up ran best with seven degrees pulled from that. To me, that seemed like a lot of timing to need pulled......unless that 34* was too high on the motor.

So.....I made a baseline run at my normal 34*, followed by a pass at 32* and 30*. The results are below.



Based on the MPH from each pass it would appear that there wasn't much difference in power production between 34* and 30*. But the weather was also warming up a good bit between these runs with the coolest time being during the 34* pass and the warmest being during the 30* pass. So after correcting for the weather (DA), the best corrected MPH was actually achieved at 30*. This kind of stuff drive me crazy because I'd like to trust the science and keep my timing at 30* but it's hard for me to see a lower 1/8th mile MPH on that slip and go with it....LOL. So I guess I'm going to have to repeat this testing on another day when the weather is a little more stable. Maybe I need to wait and test in the middle of the afternoon.

I guess the good news in all of this is that the car achieved all new NA bests in the 60', 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile ET and MPH.

 

Not accounting for weather or DA changes or any of that stuff...... I like the 32* run the best.

 

Yeah, I agree. It's the best 1/8th mph, best 1/4 mph any only slightly off in the ET in both places due to being slightly off in the 60'. I wasn't gonna say....but 32* is where I left it for now until I have time to test it again. This was based on how good the slip looks at face value, plus the fact that it likes 27* on a 100hp N2O hit makes sense since that's pulling 5 from 32.

 

I say keep testing. Keep moving the timing in both directions until it drops of notably. Then you will know more.

I don't know if your track has test and tune in the evenings, but that is when I like to test because the temps tend to stay more consistent although the humidity tends it rise as the evening goes on.

 

Unfortunately, as the season goes on at MIR it seems the test and tune sessions get few and further in between. I may have to look into Richmond Dragway but I hear it's a bit of a dump. VIR has a good reputation but it's about 120 miles away. I have some closer 1/8th mile tracks but I don't feel good testing much more than 60' time on an 1/8th mile track. Gains should show up in the 1/8th MPH but I feel like they'd be more pronouced in the 1/4.

 

Yours seems to like lower timing numbers, right? I think I saw you recently posted it liked 29 with blended fuel? I know yours is a cathedral headed motor and higher compression, but that makes me curious.

 

Yeah. Mine likes 27 to 28 degrees on pump gas. But, after reading a lot of threads, I have the impression that the square port motors like more timing in general. Mine also has 10.9:1 compression. What is yours?

 

Yeah, we probably read some of the same threads on the topic and I think it was Barrett's testing with his LY6 that finally convinced me to set mine at 34 as a starting point and I just never moved it until now since the car seemed to meet my expectations. GM rates the LY6 at 9.67:1 so I usually call it 9.7. Either way, it's more than a full point less than your LQ9 so that has to be a factor.

 

I finally made it out to a local 1/8th mile track (Summerduck) to try out a 63 N2O jet (~150hp). My real curiosity was whether or not the car would hook the full shot directly off the trans brake with no progressive controller. Well, the good news is that it did hook it. But the bad new is, it's only because it was down on power due to weather conditions.

The weather has been hot and humid. Friday at the track it was hovering near 90* with 80% or more humidity. That put the DA around 2300ft above sea level (track is 300ft actual). During my last trips to the track I was running in negative DA all day.

So, bottom line, the car was faster on the 53 jet in great weather than it was on the 63 jet in crap weather. Friday the car ran three passes, all were 6.60's @ 102 with high 1.4 to low 1.5 60' times. Last time out the car was going 6.40's (one 6.36) at mostly 104 (one 106) with 60's in the low 1.4s (one 1.39).

So all in all I can't complain given that Friday was representative of the hottest weather I'll probably ever run in. But it still leaves the question of whether the car will hook a 63 jet in good weather. I'm looking for some low 1.3 short times!

 

Not sure if your electronics support it, but if you can retard your timing post high gear shift, MPH will go up and ET will drop. I did this with switch on my shifter, MSD box setup on a bracket car years ago. It should help with you NO2 also

 

Yeah, I wish I could. The MSD 6012 box only has one retard function. I could set that up on a switch to pull extra timing in high gear NA, but it's the only retard funciton I have for nitrous (unless I want to load a different lower timing map before a nitrous run; then I could do as stated above). May be worth playing with a little.

You can also advance/retard timing using the MAP sensor input to the MSD. If I could figure out a way to "trick" that input I may be able to pull additional timing that way.....hmmm.

 

Very Very NICE car!, i can't wait to get my LS installed in my 73 2nd gen :-)

 

Thanks man.

 

Hey Gary this is my project over at Nasty, http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=259266

 

Gary,
So as it sits now, what car is quicker at the track? Camaro or Trans am?

 

Cool, your car is looking great and nastyz28 is a great resource for all things second gen. I used to have a build thread going over there too but I stopped updating it when it started to seem like most of the guys there were losing interest in it.....and let's face it, we maintain these threads to get to share ideas and interact with other like-minded people. Many of the nastyz28 members are "purists" and don't want to see the cars modified far from stock. Most of the LS-swappers over there seem be mainly interested in pro-touring style cars with fuel injection, power steering and A/C (I don't have any......LOL), and the drag racers on the site seem to be mostly into SBCs and BBC. ^^^^^All of those are great things, but I'm not sure what I've done with my car quite fit in.......LOL. Here's my old thread though: http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170213

I'll definitely be checking in on your car though. I hadn't logged in over there in over a year and I still remembered my screen name and password!

 

That's a good question Jim. As they both sit right now, motor for motor it would be a dang good race, but I think the Camaro would take the stripe. I think the Camaro is about a tenth quicker in similar weather conditions.

On nitrous I have no idea.......but I'd probably still have to give it to the Camaro. But I never really got a good nitrous pass in the TA the way it sits right now. It always seemed to be something. If I had a full bottle and good tires, the track conditions wouldn't be there. If the track was right and the tires were fresh, my bottle would be mysteriously empty (I learned later I had a leaky bottle valve). If all three things were right......I'd break something (transmission, rear, driveshaft.....etc). So at least I can say the Camaro reliably goes down the track on the spray. That alone gives it the win in my book.

And for what it's worth, I'm in the process of changing the TA up a little anyway. I'm gonna put the sway bars back on, along with some creature comforts and some 18 inch wheels and make it more of a street cruiser again. I want to take it on Power Tour next year and don't want to do it the way it sits.

 

Gary I just put your car in my subscriptions over at the NastyZ so you need to update it!

The Nasty Z is a good place, not as busy as this forum but still a great bunch of guys!
Darryl I have been watching your thread for a while over there and your car is coming along great! I had a long thread on my big block 73 Camaro over there that I just sold http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=230565
I dont really have much on the T/A I just bought since its such a low mile car and I am going too keep the mods to a minumum, just drive the car and enjoy having something with A/C that gets better than 8mpg and doesnt leave me stranded on the side of the road!

 

Thanks man, I've actually been thinking about going back over there and at least bringing things back up to date a bit. I guess I'll have get on it.

I hope I didn't sound like I was bashing the site or any of it's members. Nothing could be further from the truth. I got a lot of great info from there and interacted with a lot of great guys; even bought and sold some parts. Guess I just felt like I was drifting away from the core audience with my carb'd LS "drag car".....LOL. I really do need to check back in over there.