Chevelle Projects 2014

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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ttamrettus
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by ttamrettus »

TireSmoker wrote:
Loving my car again.. :-)

-Dave
So glad to hear it.
Matt Sutter
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Basement Paul
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by Basement Paul »

I agree with the 108, but I'm thinking the ET will be lower with tires and open exhaust. I got to drive it again today, and it's really cool. It drives like a newer car in an old package. I even got to stick it to a Harley while behind the wheel. One of my favorite things to do! I'm not a big fan of Harleys...

Can't wait to hear what the final numbers are.

-BP
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TireSmoker
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by TireSmoker »

Just trying to keep expectations in check... especially for the first-outing.

-Dave
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GMJohnny
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by GMJohnny »

So in my mind I'm trying to figure out what the car "should" run compared
to the Vette. I think Dave is a bit heavier but I'm not sure of the gear ratio
and the other factors that could make him faster. My rear wheel horsepower is
385, which has Tiresmoker at a bit of a power advantage. I run a 3:42 rear end
and a 2400 stall. The best et of the Vette was 12.31 @ 113.5.....

GM
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by TireSmoker »

Ok, my car, with me, weighs about 3700 lbs. (when it had a full interior). Weight Advantage: Vette

I have a 3.55 rearend + Andy's old 700R4 + 10" 3000-stall. So, I have a better stall. Gearing Advantage: Chevelle (barely)

My ZZ383 is rated from GM at 425HP / 450 TQ. So I probably have a TQ advantage. But who knows how close I am to optimum. Let's assume I've got some Smokey Yunick tuning ability and I hit the max. TQ Advantage: Chevelle. HP Advantage: remains to be seen

I run slicks (M/T ET Streets), and I think John just runs his street tires: Traction/60ft advantage: Chevelle

Aerodynamics. Advantage: Vette

My last name is Studly. Kind of an intangible "it" factor! John is part of an uber-successfull racing patriarchy. Advantage: ???

:-)

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by TireSmoker »

Since everyone loves a little video..

https://youtu.be/kNZthP12WDY
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ttamrettus
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by ttamrettus »

Saying "Studly" is like saying "Chuppa". It is intangible, also incalculable. Advantage.....Studly. FTW
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Basement Paul
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by Basement Paul »

In street trim the Vette wins, on the track...????.....

-BP
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Blue_69_malibu
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by Blue_69_malibu »

TireSmoker wrote:John is part of an uber-successfull racing patriarchy. Advantage: ???
Did Dave just use the term "patriarchy"......on Tiresmoke, no less? :mrgreen:

I'm going to try to make it out to TRP on Wednesday....with either my GoPro that I haven't really sat down to understand yet....or my iPhone.....and maybe even a tripod.

The 383 crate motor is already an absolute success, regardless of what happens at TRP this week. Dave's Chevelle is running again, running well, running every time the key is turned.....and running away from the five year a&s ache that it put to an end. It was his destiny......Luke.
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GMJohnny
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by GMJohnny »

A couple of things here that need to be known:

1) "Studly" is a sweet last name. That being said, I'm not certain
that it has the same racing prominence that Chuppa does. Chuppa,
after all, is the gold standard of racing in Northeast Ohio.
2) My car doesn't need slicks.... but I do have to do a burnout that
wastes about 100 miles on the rears every time I go in the bleach pit.
3) I'd bet that "Dave" has a pretty big advantage in the hole. My best
60' time has me in the high 1.8's. My guess is that he'll be quicker.
4) I'm certain that if we raced a mile, the Vette would win. I think that
the aero-advantage is in my favor.
5) If Dave has done an awesome job (video proof above) of making it
"look" like he is doing an interior refurb, on his Chevelle. It just "happens"
that it is a great way to shed a few unwanted pounds off of the car.
Hmmmmmmmm! ( Ha! )
6) Good luck, Dave! It'd be cool if you could get an 11.99!

GM
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by TireSmoker »

Made it out to TRP today with the Chevelle! Man, did it feel good to drive it out there. Heck, I even made it through Chardon hitting only 1 red light! While the outing was an overall success, it wasn't without problems.

I arrived before the gates opened and had to sit on the road for a few minutes. I was car #10 through the gate. For the fact that it was just about perfect weather, car count was less than 75. Not crowded at all! Once I'm in the gate, I grabbed a pit spot and changed over to my ET Streets. I left the exhaust closed for now. I get the slicks bolted on and am just waiting for them to call time runs. When they do, I hop in the car, turn the key and *nothing*. No fuel pump, no starter, no dome light... WTF??? I've been driving this car for a couple weeks and have had ZERO issues. Luckily it was just a loose battery terminal. Tightened them both up, and off to the races.

I pull into the lanes and don't have to wait very long for my first pass. Did a nice burnout and staged. Tree comes down, I launch, and about 20-30 feet out, the car just STALLS -- engine off. WTF!!?!??! I quickly restart it and continue, running a 16.48 @ 105, with a 4.5 (!!) 60-ft.. The MPH was encouraging, though. I have no idea why it stalled like that. So I pull around for another run and again, didn't wait long at all. The car bucked something terrible a few times, before finally going down the track, but something wasn't right. The computer wasn't properly secured and the vacuum line for the MAP sensor came loose. Went back to the pits, secured the computer better, and went for a third pass. Car bucked again off the line, but not as bad. 14,39 @ 104. It would just leave terrible then catch itself.

I decided to try slow-rolling into the throttle a little to see if that would help, and it did. I was finally rewarded with a 12.9981 @ 106, with a 2.00 60-ft. Finally making some progress. Tony had arrived by this time, and we both chuckled that his car's 12.9952 was still a touch quicker. Coming to the understanding that the car/engine/EFI wasnt happy with the throttle being instantly being mashed, I went around for another run and got a 12.93 @ 106 with a 1.98 60-ft... finally, 2 good runs and a glimmer of consistency, although the ETs were a little disappointing. But at least I had now beaten Tony's car. :-)

At this point, I decided to run back to the pits and un-cork the exhaust. It's the very first time I ran this engine with open headers. I hadn't touched anything in the computer and decided that I wouldn't. Let's just see what it would do. I *finally* got a great launch, 1.76 60-ft, but I when I went for the 1-2 shift, I moved the shifter too far, into D, so the 2-3 shift was on the governor at 5100-5200. But otherwise a really good run, 12.61 @ 106, with the 1.76 60-ft. Staging lanes were closing in 10 minutes, I had time to get back in line for one more time run. Car bobbled a bit off the line, and also in 2nd gear, but ran an otherwise decent run of 12.76 @ 107 with a 1.96 60-ft.

Here's the video of runs 5, 6, 7. (12.93, 12.61, 12.76) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB448JbhXC4

After reviewing the 12.61 run, I'm pretty sure I would've made my goal of 12.5x had I 1) not hit the rev-limiter in 1st and 2) not short-shifted 2-3. But man did it feel GOOD to run this thing again.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by Blue_69_malibu »

Don't forget, you beat me (and yourself!) when it was much warmer out than last November...and you didn't have to open your exhaust to do so.

I don't know how much the mph will move, but I see some 12.3 and 12.4s once the Megasquirt gets the funk tuned out of the bottom end.

Today was just the beginning.....and it was a lot of fun.
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

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Well, I went to the track for a 2nd week in a row and it was plain awful. I made 1 aborted pass that took me over 20 seconds to complete. Very strange for a car that I *drove* to the track. It dead stalled on the launch, and then wouldn't take throttle very well. I went back to an empty area of the pits and started brake torquing the car to see what would happen. When the car would *move*, I could stall it pretty easily, repeatedly. When I held the brakes really firm, it would just power through to the top of rev-range in a burnout. I didn't believe it could fuel-level related, because I added 7 gallons to a not-empty tank at Rt 6 & 166, just 10 miles from the track. I tried loading in the same tune from my 12.61 pass but it kept doing the same thing, which makes me think hardware related. After trying different things with the computer in the pits for 30-45 minutes, I called it a day and went home, tail between my legs. I'm gonna drop the gas tank and see if anything looks fishy in there. Maybe the sock filter came off??

New Shoes!

Despite my track troubles, I have been really enjoying being able to drive it on the street. But my rear tires had less tread than my M/T ET Streets! I *really* needed rear tires, and the fronts probably dated back to 1998. I really wanted new wheels too, but I wasn't prepared to drop $1500-$2000 for a complete set of (nice) new wheels & tires. I found a real nice set of Centerline Telstars, which I had never heard of, on craigslist. They looked nice, it was actually a set of 5 (3 fronts, 2 rears), tires were in excellent condition, and the price was good at $1000 for all 5. I had seen them listed for a couple months. I finally called the guy on a tuesday, but due to his work schedule, we couldn't get together till the following Sunday. Except, he calls me on Saturday night and says he doesn't wanna sell the wheels after all -- WTF? I was pretty bummed, because now I was back to square 1. Well, he called me again on Monday and said yes, he would sell them. So, on Friday I drove the Chevelle there, he let me bolt them on to make sure there was no clearance issues (no issues) and I paid him. He was actually a cool guy with a sweet property in Hiram. Loaded the old wheels into the trunk and back seat area, and drove home. I'm *very* happy with them. I do need to buy new lugs for the front, because they're metric after my disc brake upgrade back in '01.

Just a couple hundred feet from the previous owner's house.. you can see the back is all weighted down with 5 wheels, my big floor jack, tools, etc.
Image

A few more taken later..

ImageImage

ImageImage


-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by TireSmoker »

So after the disaster of an outing at TRP, I looked closely at the computer side and I became convinced that there was nothing in the tune that would make the car do what it had been doing. I dropped the tank, I didn't see anything goofy with the fuel pump. The sock was intact and clean. BP gave me an old pump from his S10, but it needed a sock and I couldnt get one locally. So, I put my original pump back in. I also adjusted the fuel-level sending unit, so it now reads properly.

I could go into a long, stupid explanation, but the short answer is that the fuel pump was not well grounded. After re-doing it upon re-installation of the tank, the car is now running tip-top. And I mean 100% tip-top. It is driving perfectly, idling perfectly, and after 3 times driving it around, it finally has a reliable feeling to it.

Weather permitting, I'll definitely be going out to TRP on Wednesday. I'm half-considering making my first-ever venture to Quaker City tomorrow just to see what it'll do. It's the Royal Knights car club T-n-T and is $40, slightly pricey, but if I got a lot of good runs, could be worth it.

Good story -- Gwen and I took a quick ride in it yesterday, and while we on our way back home, we were coming up Wilson Mills, a state trooper goes by and I see him turn around. Crap.. I didnt even think I was speeding, and I was allllmost home. So of course, he pulls me over. I pulled into the side street right before mine.

Trooper: So do you know why I'm pulling you over?
Me: Honestly, no.
Trooper (sarcastically): Really? I had you at 59/45.
Gwen: We were just on a tuning run (points to laptop on seat)
Trooper: oh yeah?

I showed him a couple screens on the laptop, telling him about the EFI and I asked "You wanna see the engine?" he says "Sure!" , I got out, popped the hood, we talked for another minute, or two, and he let me off, not even a written warning. He was pretty cool, Officer Jeff Meyerhoffer.

-Dave
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Re: Chevelle Projects 2014

Post by MostMint »

Welcome to the 40+ club. At 18 you're getting a ticket
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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