....and the track scale wasn't working so I couldn't weight the car for the rear end change.

 

Back out last night and something's not right. A lot of wheel hop.

I found out what tripped the SES light last time out. It was a knock sensor. There is a little engine noise on startup when it's cold out. It is a 223k mile engine after all. The sensor must have picked up a little piston slap or whatever pain the old engine is feeling. I get the same pains in my old body when it's cold. Anyway, I cleared the code and it has not returned. I wonder if a little timing is pulled when the sensor goes off as evidenced by a little better mph after the code was cleared.

Only two passes last night again because of cars breaking and oiling the track. First pass resulted in a lot of wheel hop in the burnout so I let out at soon as I could so not much of a burnout. It wheel hopped bad on launch so I let out and pedaled it. The rearview mirror shook loose. Time stunk but mph was 107.x, which is a silver lining because last time out it was 106 on a much cleaner pass. I am hoping for 108 - 109 in good weather.

I thought I found the problem - one of the coilover springs was unseated from jacking the car up. Fixed and tested in the parking lot and all seemed well. Added a little air to the tires and second run finally got a decent burnout with no hop. But had a mix of hop and tire spin on launch so more pedaling and 2.something 60'.

There's work to do. Something's not right. Time to start diagnosing.

 

Weight on the track scale was 3,080 without me and half tank of gas. With me it was 3,285. Weight before the 9" was about 3,030 empty and a quarter tank of gas. Adjust for 30 pounds of gas (6 lbs x 5 gallons) and I estimate a 20 lb gain from the rearend and suspension. I lost 15 lbs to do my share.

 

I know I am bringing up a long dead post, but am wondering if the op is still running and building this high mile Z-28.
It was cool hearing about this 225k LS1 engine still doing what it was meant to do after all those miles.

 

Thanks for asking. I still have the car. it's in storage along with my GTO and haven't had it out since January of 2019. I had some life changes happen but i plan to keep moving forward with the car, hopefully later this Fall. Our good Houston 1/4 track shut down so I may be doing 1/8 mile. We'll see. The rear end is leaking from the yoke and I still need to get the rear suspension set up figured out.

 

OK. Thanks for the update. Looking forward to see how this grass roots real world ride does as you mod it.

 

I got the car out of storage. As I was driving it a few miles to the shop the battery died at a red light and a police officer came and started giving me crap about the lapsed inspection and no interior in the car. Definitely not a car guy. lol. He asked me where the rest of the vehicle was. I was lucky he didnt give me a ticket. New radiator, hoses, belts, fluids, gas and it passed inspection with only one seat and strange rear brakes with no emergency brake and no abs. Still looks like a big piece of crap. I have a c7 zo6 and I get a bigger thrill out of driving this old POS. I love this loud, crappy old white trash thing.

You can only imagine what the tires are like. drag radials sitting since January, 2019. They are square and shot. Time for lightweight wheels and new dr's. I'd love to take another 25 - 40lbs off the car. I dropped about 40 - 50 lbs myself.

Shopping for the lightest combo I can reasonably get. Front skinnies and 15 * 10 rears. Want to run a 275 DR. Either Hoosier or MT r's. Any suggestions on the lightest combo? I figured a draglite with Hoosiers is probably a good combo. Using 7.5" backspacing. Or maybe 7.25" if I can't find 7.5. I don't mind cutting the rear fenders. Hope I don't have to grind the rear strange brake calipers. 15 * 5" for the front probably. A little heavier than 3.5" I know, but i like the idea of a little wider wheel for the front. I'll take any advice you guys can offer. There are so many wheels out there that research takes forever.

Thanks in advance!

 

Gusto, sorry to see no one has responded with recommendations for wheels and tires. I don't have any experience in that department.

It's interesting that you mention the C7 Z06. I sold my 2000 Camaro SS in 2017 and miss it. I purchased a 2011 Corvette Grand Sport M6 thinking it would relieve my yearning for the Camaro. I was wrong. I still miss the Camaro.... there's something about the Yank 3600 in the setup I had that just "does it" for me.

 

After seven long years I finally got the camaro back out to the track. It sat in storage all this time. Other than a few oil leaks it was fine. i ran a fresh tank of gas through it and changed the oil.

I had three passes total no nitrous. Two almost identical at 7.79 and 86 mph on a 1.65 60". It hooked great and felt strong.. These times are very similar to my best passes with the old 2.73 10-bolt. I was hoping for a couple of tenths with the gears but that hasn't happened yet.

I lost the brakes after the third pass, thankfully as it was idling back down the staging lane. It has no pedal, probably from sitting so long. Can't wait to get it back out and get some more seat time.

 

Congrats for getting back out. Those are some good passes for just coming out of a long break. I'm surprised the tires still hooked to give you a 1.65 60'.

Remind us about your current set up (a brief run down please). Engine, trans, exhaust, tires, etc. Thanks.

 

Thanks. It's a stock engine 223k miles, slp lid, borla catback and tune (285 rwhp), 4000 stall and 3.89 gears. The car weighs between 3000 - 3100 lbs. The interior is mostly gutted and the emissions stuff, a/c and heat are deleted. I run 275 MT SS drag radials.

Weight reduction, high stall and tune go a long way. Free weight reduction alone took the car from 13.6x to 12.9x. Going from a 2800 converter to a 4000 converter and a tune took it from 12.9x to 12.3x.

 

Gusto, I was on my phone when I asked and couldn't see your signature. I can now see the info in your sig now that I'm on my desktop. We had similar journey's with our high mileage Camaro's. I too ran a 13.6 when stock and did similar mods to get 12.0 back in 2017.

 

I had a bad fitting on the line lock that killed the brakes but that's fixed and it's nice to have brakes and a working line lock again. ALWAYS double check your lugnuts. I had three back out that's scary. Lesson learned. Don't be careless like me.

The car was slightly slower last night because the weather was warmer and humid. My best time was 7.80 flat at 86 on a 1.67 60" but that was about 11 pm when it cooled off. Otherwise it ran 7.9x at 85 when it hooked. The car hooked great in the right lane but spun in the left so I'm going to try 15 lbs of tire pressure instead of 20.

I got kicked out because I left "sand" all over the line. I don't know what happened. I checked my tires in the staging lanes and the track guys lined me up for the burnout. Maybe i had gravel up in the wheel wells from the return road. I need to make sure it doesn't happen again. I don't want to ruin it for the other racers and **** off the track people.

 

Looking forward to seeing you continue to go faster. There is a lot of ET to be gained doing the little things.

 

Yessir. Just trying to get some passes and seat time for now. Here's a vid of a 7.9x pass on a 1.7x 60' It's really nice to have a line lock for the burnout. .
Oh btw, here's my 1965 Dodge Coronet A990 426 Hemi: