Project Dragula Update --->

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07-10-2002, 08:02 PM

Pro Stock John

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Project Dragula Update --->

Hi folks it's been a while since I went over the progress of the car, but since I am stuck here at the desk I'll talk about the things we have tried since the last big update.

December 01
Well at the end of last year I had run the Formula at US41 Dragway and clicked off a 11.15@120mph. I cut a 1.53 60 ft which was good but I was underwhelmed by the MPH. I did some more runs and noticed that the shift points were all really low, like 6100 on the 1-2 shift. But Old Man Winter was around the corner and the track closed and I was done.

A pic from a couple months earlier... https://ls1tech.com/moderators/psj/p9150016.jpg

January 02
Got to run the car in late January when we had a freak warm spell. Drove the car 70 miles to US41 and went 11.20@120mph into a headwind. Discovered that removing the air filter (left the airbox on) yielded an increase of 1 mph and a reduction of about .08 in ET. I cut a 1.51 on one pass with the filter in but with the headwind only went 11.25 that day.

March 02
Well I showed the car at World of Wheels in McCormick Place which was a ton of fun but it did make me realize that the car was starting to accumulate some scratches under the front nose and some on the rocker panels from racing and from getting towed a few times.

Dynoed the car a bunch at www.LS1Speed.com. Got up to 450rwhp unlocked and about 490-502rwtq... Improved driveability and idle quality.

April 02
A few months later it was finally nice out and I put on some 275-60-15 MH Racemaster (full tread) bias ply tires on some 15x8 Pro Stars on the car to cut down the 4.10 on the highway. RPMs dropped bigtime, no more 3000 rpms at 75-80mph. But with radial skinnies up front and bias ply monsters in back the car has that shimmy where the rear feels like it's skating, and it's only worsened by the bigger sidewall of the 28's... So the car handles like it has ET Streets in back. Drove the car about 300 miles in one day on the www.MFBA.org annual Spring Cruise. I was the only car on skinnies... Here is a pic of the car North of Milwaukee which is almost two hours from my house...

http://www.boxofwires.com/mfba/mfba0...02-46-jpg.html

May 02
Well raced the car a few times with the ghetto MH tires... Won't hook better than a 1.60 with them and the average run is a 1.65 or so. Ran a string of 11.3's on 1.65's where I spun about a car length but I still managed to get air under the fronts... Only went 120-121mph on the runs which is a huge bummer, thought the car would run 122-123mph with the new dual exhaust and tuning... Sure the car is a tank but something is holding the car back...

June 02
Did some weight reduction, removed the stock carpeting, front bumper support and located some used PA K-member/A arm stuff that I need to jump on.

July 02
Slow month for the car, went on vacation, barely drove it so far. Pulled the trigger on some changes though. I am an ARE guy so I called up Nick and we talked about the 120mph of the car. Car ran 11.15 at 3650 raceweight back in December.

We determined that a few changes are in order to shift the car to more of an NA car. I have backed off from using nitrous and may only use a little bit in the fall but we'll talk about that some other time.

First order of business is to get the new 28x10.0x15 /15x10's on the back. I hear I need to cut the bump stops off and clearance the front inners a bit so the tires won't rub. Next I need to check a bunch of things on the to make sure they are all snugged up...

Third is engine modifications. I will be installing a set of stage III LS6 heads. They will bump my compression up from 10.7:1 to 11.7:1. I will need to reduce my timing from 31 degrees to about 27-28. I will run the car with that change on the dyno.

I'm going to need more stall too I think. Current stall is about a 3600. It's a Yank Thruster Pro Extreme 3600 with the 6 lug setup. I could use a bit more stall out of the hole and I need more shift extension, the rpms are dropping too much on each shift (6500 rpm shifts). But I will wait to see how the motor performs unless I can sneak in a converter swap in the next two weeks.

I might run this weekend and might squeak out a a 10 second pass but the last time I weighed the car it was still 3550 with me in it... (sigh) But all of the weight reduction was in the front of the car which is nice. The new 28's might work out great, but I might pick up some 28x11.5x15 ET Streets and put them on my 15x8 rims since the MH's feel real greasy and hook like crap...

I will say my ARE 422ci Iron block has not been superfast thus far but has probably been one of the most reliable big motors out there. I have like 4000 miles on it and have never added coolant. The weight increase hurts but I like the reliability!

Once I get the new heads on and loosen the stall I will ask the coach to put me back in the game.

[ July 10, 2002, 08:03 PM: Message edited by: Pro Stock John ]

Project Dragula Update --->

Project Dragula Update --->

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