After 2018s multiple expensive breakages, we fixed the body damage, did some front suspension upgrades, and had the LS1-383 rebuilt.
It was mid-June before the car was ready to go, but as you may remember, I didn't miss much as it rained pretty much all of May and June... You may notice the checklist of tape stuck to the windshield to avoid the previous year's catastrophes.
We went to GoodGuys in Des Moines over the July 4th weekend, where I tried my hand at getting back into the autocross game... first time at the starting line, 0 confidence and shaking from nerves. The car performed much better than my eyes, feet, hands, and brain did all weekend, but I struggled with wrapping my head around all the new adjustability I added with front DA coilovers, and determining what was "car" and what was driver error. I was slow, but gaining confidence and having fun with a great group of friends. No breakage!
I entered the Street Machine Challenge at the Street Machine Nationals. Again, car worked well except I fought a push, but then would get really loose if I tried to adjust it out. In retrospect, I think it was too much front brake bias and/or just too much braking on entry, overloading the fronts adding too much slip-angle before the tires could start to change the direction of the car. At this point I'm starting to question whether the lack of feel in the hydroboost might be contributing to my driver errors. Picture shows loose condition.
It made 404hp at the rear wheels at 5650rpm. Also kind of dissappointing, as I was expecting about 450hp at 6200rpm... looks like I need more cam.
In August, Jenna and I left the kids at Grandma's house and took a long weekend road trip to Strongsville Ohio for the NOCC show, featuring 100 '69 Chevelles.
At Dragway 42, I made one dissappointing pass (wasn't expecting a dead hook, and bogged badly nearly stalling it) and was informed I had a coolant leak that turned out to be the water pump weeping at higher RPM (which apparently leaked a lot bouncing off the limiter in the burnout box). New water pump was procured at Summit Racing, and then fixed in the parking lot during the car show.
I was actually kind of relieved when it was clear I wasn't making any more passes. I still needed this car to make it 700 miles home!
We received a "Top 50" award of about 325 cars, and the car did make it home getting 17.5mpg running 80mph at 2100rpm
In September, we went to "LS Fest" in Bowling Green, KY. This was a cool show, and I was entered in the "Grand Champion Competition" with 3 solid days of autocross, drag racing, speed-stop, and dealing with ridiculous traffic in hot weather. Again, the car outperformed my eyes, hands, feet, and brain. I had one mechanical problem, the crank pulley would spin, which loosened the bolt, walking the pulley forward misaligning the belts and also allowing oil past the front seal and slinging it all over under the hood. Ruined the belts, made a mess under the hood, and lost almost 3 qts. Luckily, I had 3 qts pressurized in reserve from the Accusump I installed just before going to this event. A parts-store run for the right 12-point socket and some loctite had us back in business. Still fighting the handling a bit, and still somewhat in denial that the hydroboost was masking the pedal feel too much.
Overall, I finished 26th out of 49 (30th in the autocross, 19th in drag race, 24th in speed-stop)
On the drag strip, I managed a best of 12.888 at 111.74mph
In October, I left the family home and went to Wisconsin Dells for a weekend of autocross with friends. (off-season allows use of Noah's Ark parking lot)
I finally started to just have fun, and not stress over the results... which resulted in better driving anyway.
I'm now very much convinced the hydroboost feel is the cause of much of my struggles.
-- Edited by Derek69SS on Monday 6th of January 2020 12:56:04 PM
Lost in the 60s said
Jan 6, 2020
Thanks, nice write up of your activities, but I don't see pics...
Did you need the hydroboost because of low vacuum ? I had that with John's car and added an electric booster, that works great.
more ambition than brains said
Jan 6, 2020
Love the update, and the license plate!!
Karl
BLyke said
Jan 6, 2020
Great update, looks like a really good year and hope you are all set for more in 2020!
dashboard said
Jan 6, 2020
Thanks for the update. The car looks like it going 90 mph sitting still, absolutely awesome. I like your QA checks system with the windshield stickers. On mine when something is completed I move the sticker to a story board on a wall, more than once I’ve gone back to it for a reference, my last one usually says start the car.
Very impressive accomplishment and a family effort. Thanks again for posting.
Derek69SS said
Jan 7, 2020
Mitch, I tried the hydroboost because I figured I wouldn't have enough vacuum. I never tried a vacuum booster on this engine though. I'm going to try manual brakes next, with a Wilwood 7/8 bore aluminum master cylinder, which besides making the brakes more controllable (with a lot more effort though) it should shed about 20 lbs off the nose by losing the hydroboost and all the plumbing.
Karl, thanks! The plate was a suggestion from the club (I think Steve S.) several years ago.
Bruce, it was a really fun season, but it got quite expensive doing all those long-distance trips. For 2020, I'm going to focus on dialing in the car and work on driving better with more low-cost local events rather than a few big expensive trips.
Kevin, thank you, and it was fun to see you at the NOCC show!
Lost in the 60s said
Jan 7, 2020
I would still recommend the vacuum pump over manual. The pump I installed might weigh 5 lbs. I fabricated a mounting bracket and hid it behind the left headlights. The hose runs behind the inner fender well and comes out at the firewall. It is barely noticeable. The really great thing about it is, you can turn the key to on and let the pump run for a few seconds and have 22" of vacuum before the engine is even started. It, also, provides vacuum if the engine stalls, as it is independent of the engine. The only way it would stop running, in an emergency situation, is if it lost the 12v power supply. You could install a smaller booster too...9", maybe even a single diaphragm 7" and still have plenty of vacuum to assist the pedal pressure.
I figured out the pic issue, they are from facebook and I can open them by right clicking, but it takes over the page and when I close the pic, the page is gone too. Not sure why it works that way. You can post pics directly from your hard drive too on a desk top pc, but I imagine you only use a phone now ?
Mitch, I tried the hydroboost because I figured I wouldn't have enough vacuum. I never tried a vacuum booster on this engine though. I'm going to try manual brakes next, with a Wilwood 7/8 bore aluminum master cylinder, which besides making the brakes more controllable (with a lot more effort though) it should shed about 20 lbs off the nose by losing the hydroboost and all the plumbing.
Derek If you have not bought it already I have a 7/8 bore wilwood master that did not work for me. Give you a good deal on it.
Derek69SS said
Jan 7, 2020
Damn, I just bought one a week ago.
Chris R said
Jan 8, 2020
67ss wrote:
Derek69SS wrote:
Mitch, I tried the hydroboost because I figured I wouldn't have enough vacuum. I never tried a vacuum booster on this engine though. I'm going to try manual brakes next, with a Wilwood 7/8 bore aluminum master cylinder, which besides making the brakes more controllable (with a lot more effort though) it should shed about 20 lbs off the nose by losing the hydroboost and all the plumbing.
Derek If you have not bought it already I have a 7/8 bore wilwood master that did not work for me. Give you a good deal on it.
I may be interested in it if Derek isn't.
AK said
Jan 8, 2020
Great summary and fun to see the challenges and upside - congrats on the recognition in OH!
Derek69SS said
Jan 9, 2020
Thanks guys. I still have a lot of improvements to do to the car yet.
Immediate short term:
-manual brakes
-fix dash lighting
-hook up e-brake cables
-new tires
After 2018s multiple expensive breakages, we fixed the body damage, did some front suspension upgrades, and had the LS1-383 rebuilt.
It was mid-June before the car was ready to go, but as you may remember, I didn't miss much as it rained pretty much all of May and June... You may notice the checklist of tape stuck to the windshield to avoid the previous year's catastrophes.
We went to GoodGuys in Des Moines over the July 4th weekend, where I tried my hand at getting back into the autocross game... first time at the starting line, 0 confidence and shaking from nerves. The car performed much better than my eyes, feet, hands, and brain did all weekend, but I struggled with wrapping my head around all the new adjustability I added with front DA coilovers, and determining what was "car" and what was driver error. I was slow, but gaining confidence and having fun with a great group of friends. No breakage!
I entered the Street Machine Challenge at the Street Machine Nationals. Again, car worked well except I fought a push, but then would get really loose if I tried to adjust it out. In retrospect, I think it was too much front brake bias and/or just too much braking on entry, overloading the fronts adding too much slip-angle before the tires could start to change the direction of the car. At this point I'm starting to question whether the lack of feel in the hydroboost might be contributing to my driver errors. Picture shows loose condition.
It made 404hp at the rear wheels at 5650rpm. Also kind of dissappointing, as I was expecting about 450hp at 6200rpm... looks like I need more cam.
In August, Jenna and I left the kids at Grandma's house and took a long weekend road trip to Strongsville Ohio for the NOCC show, featuring 100 '69 Chevelles.
At Dragway 42, I made one dissappointing pass (wasn't expecting a dead hook, and bogged badly nearly stalling it) and was informed I had a coolant leak that turned out to be the water pump weeping at higher RPM (which apparently leaked a lot bouncing off the limiter in the burnout box). New water pump was procured at Summit Racing, and then fixed in the parking lot during the car show.
I was actually kind of relieved when it was clear I wasn't making any more passes. I still needed this car to make it 700 miles home!
We received a "Top 50" award of about 325 cars, and the car did make it home getting 17.5mpg running 80mph at 2100rpm
In September, we went to "LS Fest" in Bowling Green, KY. This was a cool show, and I was entered in the "Grand Champion Competition" with 3 solid days of autocross, drag racing, speed-stop, and dealing with ridiculous traffic in hot weather. Again, the car outperformed my eyes, hands, feet, and brain. I had one mechanical problem, the crank pulley would spin, which loosened the bolt, walking the pulley forward misaligning the belts and also allowing oil past the front seal and slinging it all over under the hood. Ruined the belts, made a mess under the hood, and lost almost 3 qts. Luckily, I had 3 qts pressurized in reserve from the Accusump I installed just before going to this event. A parts-store run for the right 12-point socket and some loctite had us back in business. Still fighting the handling a bit, and still somewhat in denial that the hydroboost was masking the pedal feel too much.
Overall, I finished 26th out of 49 (30th in the autocross, 19th in drag race, 24th in speed-stop)
On the drag strip, I managed a best of 12.888 at 111.74mph
In October, I left the family home and went to Wisconsin Dells for a weekend of autocross with friends. (off-season allows use of Noah's Ark parking lot)
I finally started to just have fun, and not stress over the results... which resulted in better driving anyway.
I'm now very much convinced the hydroboost feel is the cause of much of my struggles.
-- Edited by Derek69SS on Monday 6th of January 2020 12:56:04 PM
Thanks, nice write up of your activities, but I don't see pics...
Did you need the hydroboost because of low vacuum ? I had that with John's car and added an electric booster, that works great.
Karl
Very impressive accomplishment and a family effort. Thanks again for posting.
Karl, thanks! The plate was a suggestion from the club (I think Steve S.) several years ago.
Bruce, it was a really fun season, but it got quite expensive doing all those long-distance trips. For 2020, I'm going to focus on dialing in the car and work on driving better with more low-cost local events rather than a few big expensive trips.
Kevin, thank you, and it was fun to see you at the NOCC show!
I would still recommend the vacuum pump over manual. The pump I installed might weigh 5 lbs. I fabricated a mounting bracket and hid it behind the left headlights. The hose runs behind the inner fender well and comes out at the firewall. It is barely noticeable.
The really great thing about it is, you can turn the key to on and let the pump run for a few seconds and have 22" of vacuum before the engine is even started. It, also, provides vacuum if the engine stalls, as it is independent of the engine. The only way it would stop running, in an emergency situation, is if it lost the 12v power supply.
You could install a smaller booster too...9", maybe even a single diaphragm 7" and still have plenty of vacuum to assist the pedal pressure.
I figured out the pic issue, they are from facebook and I can open them by right clicking, but it takes over the page and when I close the pic, the page is gone too. Not sure why it works that way. You can post pics directly from your hard drive too on a desk top pc, but I imagine you only use a phone now ?
Derek If you have not bought it already I have a 7/8 bore wilwood master that did not work for me. Give you a good deal on it.
Damn, I just bought one a week ago.
I may be interested in it if Derek isn't.
Immediate short term:
-manual brakes
-fix dash lighting
-hook up e-brake cables
-new tires
slightly longer term:
-torque-arm rear suspension
-SFI steel bellhousing
-15" drag slicks
-clutch-tamer
-bigger cam
-250hp nitrous shot
long term:
-more power! build 416ci LS3 stroker