My 1965 Buick Skylark L92/6L80 Swap
05-14-2014, 01:21 PM
#421
Getting the car ready to take to the track. The Hoosier drag radials came in today. Actually this is all I really need at the moment to make some shake down passes as I already have the skinnies for the front. I have had good luck with the Hoosier tires on my 1989 Trans Am and decided to stick with them for the Skylark. One tire weighs 21.6 pounds. Here are a couple of pictures.
By the way the 160 degree thermostat is working a lot better. I think I had air in the system from changing the thermostat. Even in 90 degree weather like we are having now. So it will be a keeper.
By the way the 160 degree thermostat is working a lot better. I think I had air in the system from changing the thermostat. Even in 90 degree weather like we are having now. So it will be a keeper.
Last edited by 1989GTA; 05-14-2014 at 01:29 PM.
05-14-2014, 02:25 PM
#423
Yep, getting closer. 
As to weights, here are some numbers. My front tire weighs 29 pounds. Front rims weigh 22 pounds. Wheel and tire weigh 51 pounds each. The skinny with wheel and tire weighs 27 pounds. So that is a savings of 24 pounds per tire or 48 pounds total up front and rotational weight at that.
On the rear the wheels are probably about the same weight as the front. The rear tires are 32 pounds. The Hoosiers are 21.6 pounds. 10.4 pounds per tire savings and 20.8 total.
So front and rear that is 69 pounds of rotational weight. So race weight at the track without the driver would be about 3511. Maybe with a little less gas in the tank and we are talking 3495 pounds. Getting better all the time.
Edit: Found the front wheel weight of 22 pounds.
Edit: Rear drag wheel with Hoosier tire weighs 42.2 pounds.
As to weights, here are some numbers. My front tire weighs 29 pounds. Front rims weigh 22 pounds. Wheel and tire weigh 51 pounds each. The skinny with wheel and tire weighs 27 pounds. So that is a savings of 24 pounds per tire or 48 pounds total up front and rotational weight at that.
On the rear the wheels are probably about the same weight as the front. The rear tires are 32 pounds. The Hoosiers are 21.6 pounds. 10.4 pounds per tire savings and 20.8 total.
So front and rear that is 69 pounds of rotational weight. So race weight at the track without the driver would be about 3511. Maybe with a little less gas in the tank and we are talking 3495 pounds. Getting better all the time.
Edit: Found the front wheel weight of 22 pounds.
Edit: Rear drag wheel with Hoosier tire weighs 42.2 pounds.
Last edited by 1989GTA; 05-19-2014 at 06:59 PM. Reason: Front Wheel Weight
05-14-2014, 03:00 PM
#425
05-24-2014, 10:42 PM
#428
05-26-2014, 01:47 PM
#432
Took my car over to my friend Pat's house to do a look see in preperation for the track. Found out the rear tire/wheel combination weighs 57 pounds on his scale. The Hoosier rear tire/wheel combo on his scale reads 43 pounds.
So that is a 14 pound difference per side or 28 pounds total on the rear. After weighing the front tire/wheel combo and the skinnies on his scale it looks like there will be a total of about 75 pounds rotational weight savings at the track from swapping out the front and rear tires.
Remember my car weighed 3580 on the scales. So at the track we will be down to 3505. With a little less gasoline in the tank it will be easy to get down to 3490. Now it is time to quit talking and get to the track and see what she will do.
Edit: How can I forget my floor mats. With the rubber bottoms they are an easy 10 pounds. With the gasoline savings we are down to 3480.
So that is a 14 pound difference per side or 28 pounds total on the rear. After weighing the front tire/wheel combo and the skinnies on his scale it looks like there will be a total of about 75 pounds rotational weight savings at the track from swapping out the front and rear tires.
Remember my car weighed 3580 on the scales. So at the track we will be down to 3505. With a little less gasoline in the tank it will be easy to get down to 3490. Now it is time to quit talking and get to the track and see what she will do.
Edit: How can I forget my floor mats. With the rubber bottoms they are an easy 10 pounds. With the gasoline savings we are down to 3480.
Last edited by 1989GTA; 05-26-2014 at 02:52 PM.
05-28-2014, 04:12 PM
#435
As to the track weight it will probably be closer to 3740 including my helmet and with me driving. If my racing friend does the driving then we are talking 3640 or so. Going to the 1/8 mile track this Thursday evening(tomorrow) for some shake down runs. One is to make sure my car is shifting at the correct speed/rpm and how well the chasis reacts including the tires hooking up. Should have results posted sometime this Friday. Density/Altitude will be a little high but that is the way it goes for this time of year.
Speedtigger, what seats are those in your car?
Last edited by 1989GTA; 05-28-2014 at 04:19 PM.
05-28-2014, 09:02 PM
#437
Thanks, I was looking at I believe the Procar Elite model.
I think the plan at the track tomorrow for the first couple of passes will be to just see how the car is hooking and how it is shifting. The problem is I think the car might be capable of a 6.99 pass. If that happens we will be asked not to run the car anymore. So we will have to sneak up on all out run. There are some track rental days where things are a little more relaxed. Those will be the ones where I can make the Bonzai 1/4 mile runs.
I think the plan at the track tomorrow for the first couple of passes will be to just see how the car is hooking and how it is shifting. The problem is I think the car might be capable of a 6.99 pass. If that happens we will be asked not to run the car anymore. So we will have to sneak up on all out run. There are some track rental days where things are a little more relaxed. Those will be the ones where I can make the Bonzai 1/4 mile runs.
05-29-2014, 01:25 PM
#438
Saw this post by Vararam on another forum. It is about the intake manifold I posted on page 20, post 389 of this thread. I sure hope this comes true. I am at the point where horsepower is hard to come by with out spending major money such as on aftermarket heads. Here is the post.
"The VRX manifold
General Q & A update.
WE hope this answers some of the questions that have been posed on this forum.
Does it fit under a Camaro Hood? – YES, it does. In general if something fits under a Corvette hood, it will fit under almost anything.
Look Of the unit- The manifold shown is a rapid prototype in Glass nylon for testing on cars and on the Dyno.
You can expect to see Gray or Black Plenums with Red lettering and Gray or Black Runners.
This all depends on the final molded “LOOK”. We will leak this out on multiple forums to judge reaction.
Power- There is a substantial amount of power to be gained from a stock car and even more from cars with a cam, heads/ cam or larger cubic inch combinations. (my add on)
We will have numbers for you soon. We have been testing to dial in closer to each combination to generate the maximum power from each. All combinations will very, however, RPM range and general flow rate from the most common head combinations is about the same.
Price- The unit will be competitive with the current polymer manifolds that are on the market.
Send us any questions you have via PM or vararamindustries@gmail.com
VR tech"
"The VRX manifold
General Q & A update.
WE hope this answers some of the questions that have been posed on this forum.
Does it fit under a Camaro Hood? – YES, it does. In general if something fits under a Corvette hood, it will fit under almost anything.
Look Of the unit- The manifold shown is a rapid prototype in Glass nylon for testing on cars and on the Dyno.
You can expect to see Gray or Black Plenums with Red lettering and Gray or Black Runners.
This all depends on the final molded “LOOK”. We will leak this out on multiple forums to judge reaction.
Power- There is a substantial amount of power to be gained from a stock car and even more from cars with a cam, heads/ cam or larger cubic inch combinations.
(my add on)We will have numbers for you soon. We have been testing to dial in closer to each combination to generate the maximum power from each. All combinations will very, however, RPM range and general flow rate from the most common head combinations is about the same.
Price- The unit will be competitive with the current polymer manifolds that are on the market.
Send us any questions you have via PM or vararamindustries@gmail.com
VR tech"
05-30-2014, 01:04 PM
#439
Well, things did not go so well at the track. The better news first. Had trouble launching the car. I think this combination needs a higher stall torque converter. It now has a Yank SS3200 which is probably a little low for track work.
Anyways we started out with 19 pounds of pressure and the car just would not hook at all. Got back to the pits and the pressure was up to 21 pounds. So we dropped it back down to 19 pounds again. It ran a little better. So we dropped the pressure down to 18 pounds and got the best run as shown in the picture. Car was still not launching right.
I beat everyone I was up against and every time they got me off the line but I was able to run them down.
So now for the bad news. On the final and 4th run I hurt the motor. It may have already had problems as the oil consumption was way higher than it should have been. This was a junkyard motor. Anyways back at the pits it was making a chirping sound which I thought was the belt, water pump or maybe the idler pulley. Decided to call it a night. On the way home the motor started to make some noises like a rod knocking sound. The oil press dropped to 20 pounds. I called a tow truck. Personally I don't think the motor was 100% to begin with do to the higher oil consumption.
So it looks like a new short block is in order. I am looking at a Texas Speed 416 short block with around 11:1 compression. The difference in price versus the 376 short block is only like $500 so that is probably the way I will go. So the car is going to be down awhile while I build up my funds.
Anyways we started out with 19 pounds of pressure and the car just would not hook at all. Got back to the pits and the pressure was up to 21 pounds. So we dropped it back down to 19 pounds again. It ran a little better. So we dropped the pressure down to 18 pounds and got the best run as shown in the picture. Car was still not launching right.
I beat everyone I was up against and every time they got me off the line but I was able to run them down.
So now for the bad news. On the final and 4th run I hurt the motor. It may have already had problems as the oil consumption was way higher than it should have been. This was a junkyard motor. Anyways back at the pits it was making a chirping sound which I thought was the belt, water pump or maybe the idler pulley. Decided to call it a night. On the way home the motor started to make some noises like a rod knocking sound. The oil press dropped to 20 pounds. I called a tow truck. Personally I don't think the motor was 100% to begin with do to the higher oil consumption.
So it looks like a new short block is in order. I am looking at a Texas Speed 416 short block with around 11:1 compression. The difference in price versus the 376 short block is only like $500 so that is probably the way I will go. So the car is going to be down awhile while I build up my funds.
.