Shakedown runs at the track

It has been a trying last couple of years since I blew up the old girl. Been chasing gremlins and other peoples screw ups since.
Wasted the entire 2002 season at Quest Racing on a failed attempt at a crank trigger / cam sensor w/ LS-1 coil packs. SRA Transmission out of Portsmouth RI used my Z as a test mule and created OSCAR so that solved my ignition problems. Then it was a miriad of things with the final problem (car would pull like a MOFO till 5500 and fall on it's face). The air filter was collapsing and the cobra head elbow I was using sucked in and I found an imprint of the impleller in the back of the cobra head elbow. Took that off and put the orange flex hose back on and got a green filter (4 x 14 inch) and achieving 6400 is no problem anymore.

I did get extremely discouraged with the project last summer and stuck the car in the garage and bought a 98 Z/28 LS-1.

This spring I brought the car down to SD Concepts for one of their spring loaded tensioners and that has cured my belt throwing problems:bow:

I've got to thank Lonnie Pavtis www.westol.com/lpavtis for all his help in choosing the parts I'm running and hooking me up with a great deal on a D-1 also. Lonnie has been there and helped me sort through all my misadventures via fax, phone, "E" mail and carrier pigeon;)

Yesterday my buddy and I went off to New England Dragway to race at Camaro day (I let me friend race my LS-1, he earned it as he helps me do most of my work on my Z's).

The last fix I made on my Z was to re-circulate the BOV back to the inlet side of the blower and I fininshed this mod Friday night and didn't bother to test it (big mistake).

On the way to the track I decided it was time to wail on it a little and "POP", so I pulled over and one of my inlet tubes blew apart. I got a screwdriver out and tightened the clamp (I realized I forgot to tighten it the night before) so I thought I was good to go and continued to the track, wailed on it again and "POP" the intake tube blew off the throttle body (and I'm using a T-bolt clamp) at this time I realized my second mistake (only brought a screwdriver for tools:rolleyes: ). Pulled the clamp off and stuck the tube back together and headed for Wal-Mart (no boost) and went in and bought some duck tape, zip ties and a cheapo tool set. Put the car up in the air and disconnected the BOV from the air inlet and taped up/zip tied the air inlet tube and re-directed the BOV piping to blow out the back of the car. A few test rips and it was time to go racing.

First pass -
left soft and cut a 1.769 sixty ft and it was pulling good through first and second and when it shifted to third the conveter locked up (Vig multi disc) and then I realized I forgot to turn the lockup off (had it set up to lock at 40 for the street). The rpm's dropped from 6100 down to 3K and boost dropped from 17 to 5, kept it to the wood and ran a 11.745 @ 119.69.

Second pass -
did a poor burnout so I left soft again and cut a 1.837 sixty ft and without the t/c locking up it kept pulling and ran a 11.060 @ 126.82 (also beat a twin turbo LS-1)

Third pass -
After a call to Lonnie I made a few changes to the FAST system and I did a better burnout and left with a kick ass 1.497 sixty ft and ran a 10.726 @ 125.42

Fourth pass -
Another quick call to Lonnie for some more wisdom yielded another few tenths

Cut a 1.511 sixty ft and went 10.585 @ 127.96

Not bad for a shakedown day at the track :D

I'm only running a street tune by yours truly and need to get it to the dyno but hey you gotta start somewhere.

I've got a video of the 11.06 pass and will post that after I get it thown on the web.

Marc

Glad to hear your getting things worked out. Nice times for a first outing too!!

-Tony

Hey Marc
10.5 @ 127mph is Nice times you got there. Take a lot of work and $ to get the car in the 10s without breaking things. I remember your car used to run mid 11s and trapping 117mph with your old P600b blower.

I am in the same boat, having the blower on my car over 2 yrs driving with no boost (belt slipage) I finally got all the craps fixed and beefed up my fuel system to a twin Walbro GS340M and twin feed lines to the rails. I am going to see Shalin on this coming up Friday for street/dyno tuning.

Marc, we gotta hook up someday to battle Shalin's new toy, his Twin turbo Viper GTS. :) What do you say eh?


Bruce

Originally posted by 1st and goal
It has been a trying last couple of years since I blew up the old girl. Been chasing gremlins and other peoples screw ups since.
Wasted the entire 2002 season at Quest Racing on a failed attempt at a crank trigger / cam sensor w/ LS-1 coil packs. SRA Transmission out of Portsmouth RI used my Z as a test mule and created OSCAR so that solved my ignition problems. Then it was a miriad of things with the final problem (car would pull like a MOFO till 5500 and fall on it's face). The air filter was collapsing and the cobra head elbow I was using sucked in and I found an imprint of the impleller in the back of the cobra head elbow. Took that off and put the orange flex hose back on and got a green filter (4 x 14 inch) and achieving 6400 is no problem anymore.

I did get extremely discouraged with the project last summer and stuck the car in the garage and bought a 98 Z/28 LS-1.

This spring I brought the car down to SD Concepts for one of their spring loaded tensioners and that has cured my belt throwing problems:bow:

I've got to thank Lonnie Pavtis www.westol.com/lpavtis for all his help in choosing the parts I'm running and hooking me up with a great deal on a D-1 also. Lonnie has been there and helped me sort through all my misadventures via fax, phone, "E" mail and carrier pigeon;)

Yesterday my buddy and I went off to New England Dragway to race at Camaro day (I let me friend race my LS-1, he earned it as he helps me do most of my work on my Z's).

The last fix I made on my Z was to re-circulate the BOV back to the inlet side of the blower and I fininshed this mod Friday night and didn't bother to test it (big mistake).

On the way to the track I decided it was time to wail on it a little and "POP", so I pulled over and one of my inlet tubes blew apart. I got a screwdriver out and tightened the clamp (I realized I forgot to tighten it the night before) so I thought I was good to go and continued to the track, wailed on it again and "POP" the intake tube blew off the throttle body (and I'm using a T-bolt clamp) at this time I realized my second mistake (only brought a screwdriver for tools:rolleyes: ). Pulled the clamp off and stuck the tube back together and headed for Wal-Mart (no boost) and went in and bought some duck tape, zip ties and a cheapo tool set. Put the car up in the air and disconnected the BOV from the air inlet and taped up/zip tied the air inlet tube and re-directed the BOV piping to blow out the back of the car. A few test rips and it was time to go racing.

First pass -
left soft and cut a 1.769 sixty ft and it was pulling good through first and second and when it shifted to third the conveter locked up (Vig multi disc) and then I realized I forgot to turn the lockup off (had it set up to lock at 40 for the street). The rpm's dropped from 6100 down to 3K and boost dropped from 17 to 5, kept it to the wood and ran a 11.745 @ 119.69.

Second pass -
did a poor burnout so I left soft again and cut a 1.837 sixty ft and without the t/c locking up it kept pulling and ran a 11.060 @ 126.82 (also beat a twin turbo LS-1)

Third pass -
After a call to Lonnie I made a few changes to the FAST system and I did a better burnout and left with a kick ass 1.497 sixty ft and ran a 10.726 @ 125.42

Fourth pass -
Another quick call to Lonnie for some more wisdom yielded another few tenths

Cut a 1.511 sixty ft and went 10.585 @ 127.96

Not bad for a shakedown day at the track :D

I'm only running a street tune by yours truly and need to get it to the dyno but hey you gotta start somewhere.

I've got a video of the 11.06 pass and will post that after I get it thown on the web.

Marc

I call BS without a video of the 10.5 pass. :D

First Marc I want to take the opportunity to congratulate you on running an awesome number. The car is defintely amazing. Just out of curiousity what gear are you running in your car? Also I see the car going possibly 10 teens after Lonnie tunes your car. :)

Marc, Glad you finally got to enjoy it.

With a little tuning, it will pick up quite a bit.
The tune is not aggressive.

With race fuel you could add 3-4 more degrees of timing. That is probably worth 30-40hp.

I know there is at least 4 more mph in it.

It is still at 11:1 A/F on top so leaning it out will also help.

Who ever said a cc305 is too small?

Marc, Call me tomorrow & we can discuss specifics.

Glad to see the car finally made it out... I remember back in the day when someone on here suggested using the Cobra head intake... I ordered one for my car from Precision Turbo I think. As soon as I pulled it out of the box I knew it was way too flimsy and would have problems. So i sent that POS back. I'm very glad now that I didn't use it, as your experience proves i was right.

My car has been on jackstands for about a year and a half, so I understand how good it must feel to finally get to drive it again. Luckly I have a lot of friends with Fbodys that ocassionaly let me drive, or else i'd prolly have bought another one too. Hopefully I'll have mine together in a few months.

Post the video and keep us updated on the progress.

Thanks all ;)

Bruce,
I still have fond thoughts of the resteraunt / entertainment place we went to in Virginia (it was a titty bar that also served the best prime rib :D, definately could use one of those in New England).

Tell Shalin I said Hello

I'm running 3.42 gears in the back and was running a Hoosier QTP's 27 x 11.5 x 15 and stock tires / rims up front.

TimberSS it was a problem with the air fitler collapsing first and then after it collapsed and the blower couldn't suck the metal tube together it pulled in the cobra head elbow, as I have a hole in the back of it I will not re-use it but am not sure if the air filter wasn't dirty and didn't collapse first that it might have held up. You could also re-enforce it a little but screw it I'm going to fab up a solid intake tube, just need some time to do it.

I'll post a video and copy of the timeslip shortly :D

Lonnie,
Thanks again, I'll give you a call.

Marc

Mark, nice numbers! You finally got it running good. I am thinking the 127mph is a little low for your setup, but like you said it could be in the tune. Not to mention very mild gearing as well. Looks good. I am hoping to be in the 130+ mark with my 383 Vortech buildup this summer. What kind of rwhp/rwtq numbers do you think your putting down? Keep us posted!

Realquick
The car is not finished, this was some shakedown runs. See above for Lonnie's comments.

There is alot more there, this was just the first time out of the gate ;)

Guys,
Here are the two 10 second timeslips and a link to my 11.06 @ 126.82 mph video.

http://www.tta89.net/marc/10sectimeslip.jpg

http://www.tta89.net/marc/vsbrad.MPG

Marc

Originally posted by 1st and goal
Realquick
The car is not finished, this was some shakedown runs. See above for Lonnie's comments.

There is alot more there, this was just the first time out of the gate ;)

Guys,
Here are the two 10 second timeslips and a link to my 11.06 @ 126.82 mph video.

http://www.tta89.net/marc/10sectimeslip.jpg

http://www.tta89.net/marc/vsbrad.MPG

Marc

Nice run. :)

What kind of pulley combination are you running and how high are you spinning your motor btw shifts? :)

Nice runs Marc. Good to see your car running again.

Originally posted by IDOXLR8
Nice run. :)

What kind of pulley combination are you running and how high are you spinning your motor btw shifts? :)

Thanks guys,
I don't recall the pulley size, I'll have to check.

I was shifting at 6400 rpm.

It does feel good to do something other than work on it ;)

Marc

Just read you've been out of action since July '01. Man, that makes my 18 month downtime look pretty lame. :D

Marc,
I would like to see how much it picks up by removing the cats. I doubt they flow enough for 700+ HP.

That may be a good test for the next track outing....

It would be cool if it still passes emissions.

Originally posted by mongse_1
Just read you've been out of action since July '01. Man, that makes my 18 month downtime look pretty lame. :D

July 27 2001 @ 7:04 PM but at least the car died an honorable death at the track ;)

It has been painful but the LS-1 has helped lessen the impact since last August.
The rest of the 2001 season (after I blew up my Z) I raced my brothers big block 79 Z/28 which ran 12.2 @ 110 on street tires so that wasn't too bad. I got a little worried I was gonna break something and have to fix it so I stopped racing it in 2002 as I started to realize the amount of cash I was burning errr spending on my 94 and I never thought the peckerheads over at Quest Racing would take 5 months to get the car to run on 5 cylinders.

Lonnie,
Good point, the car is running FLP longtubes with dual cats and the 4" Mufflex w/ Spin tech muffler.

It passes visual emissions ;)

Marc

Originally posted by 1st and goal

It passes visual emissions ;)

Marc

Marc, your only running a cc305, why wouldnt you pass the sniffer? I am looking for a custom ground cam from bauer racing to pass emissions and maximize power output. Did you lighten up the weight of those cats at all ;)

Originally posted by RealQuick
Marc, your only running a cc305, why wouldnt you pass the sniffer? I am looking for a custom ground cam from bauer racing to pass emissions and maximize power output. Did you lighten up the weight of those cats at all ;)

Don't be dissing the 305, seems to be working well for me ;)

I live in NH aka no sniffer :)

Nope, the cats are fully functional.

I have off-road pipes so I can just throw those in whenver the sprit moves me.

Marc

Originally posted by 1st and goal
Don't be dissing the 305, seems to be working well for me ;)

I live in NH aka no sniffer :)

Nope, the cats are fully functional.

I have off-road pipes so I can just throw those in whenver the sprit moves me.

Marc

Bastage! No sniffer. Your lucky. I had a hollowed cat on my car for awhile (just for visuals), but its loud, so i put a regular hiflow cat on. Its a single cat setup right now. I may need to switch to a dual cat setup when the stroker is finished. You could probably pass emissions with that 305 cam if you had to.

Wow Marc, I bet you are stoked!!

I spoke to Lonnie last night and he told me about your runs. I am happy to see the car is really hauling azz! Congrats.

Now how many sellers/vender guys would take a call on the weekend to help another person out with tuning and advise. Lonnie is the MAN!!

thx,
Claude

Nice times.:)

I have been thinking about building a low compression blower 355"LT1 but this makes kinda change my mind b/c my stock bottomend 350 LT1 with a Cam, ported LT1 castings, stock valves, 3550+Lbs., 3.42's, stock suspension and on a 150NX shot the first day out it runs 10.80's@126mph 1.60 60' spinning quite a bit on stock suspension. This si thru the mufflers and on 26x11.5" ET streets. What do you guys think? I was going to do 10-12psi on the stock PCM along with a little shot of n2o. Later

Claude,
Yea, I'm very pleased :D

IDOXLR8,
I'm having trouble locating the spreadsheet where I wrote down the pulley sizes but I believe they were 3.75 blower pulley and 7" crank pulley. I remember Scott from SD concepts telling me I had a 9.2:1 drive ratio (not 100% sure how he did the math?).

Marc

Crank pulley is 7.65"
Internal Ratio is 4.44:1
With a 9.2:1 overall ratio, it would be a 3.7" blower pulley.

Still leaves some room for turning it up......

Originally posted by Lonnie Pavtis
Crank pulley is 7.65"
Internal Ratio is 4.44:1
With a 9.2:1 overall ratio, it would be a 3.7" blower pulley.

Still leaves some room for turning it up......
>this is kind of off the subject , but how far are you from Altoona , Pa ? I will be going there shortly and do you deal with Vortech S/C's ?

Originally posted by Lonnie Pavtis
Crank pulley is 7.65"
Internal Ratio is 4.44:1
With a 9.2:1 overall ratio, it would be a 3.7" blower pulley.

Still leaves some room for turning it up......

Agreed :) You can still turn the blower another 5000 rpm before it hits the redline. :)

Originally posted by IDOXLR8
Agreed :) You can still turn the blower another 5000 rpm before it hits the redline. :)

No plans at the moment to crank up the boost but who know's;)

I built the car to beat my buddy's Turbo Trans Am (with the 3.8 GN motor, he was turning 11.2 @ 121 before he blew it up and he was working to build it pretty nasty before getting disgusted with the project and he's since decided just to rebuild it so it runs like it did before he blew it up but have a nice rugged bottom end) so my incentive for turning up the wick will have to be festered by other competition:rolleyes:.

Besides 10.5 out of the gate is pretty damn good:D

Marc

Originally posted by 1st and goal

Besides 10.5 out of the gate is pretty damn good:D

Marc

Damn straight it is! Congrats on the awesome shakedown passes :bow:

Brady,
Thanks ;)

Hey, you used to run some big ass tires on the street at one point in time and I can't seem to find the pictures on your website.

What size tire were you running and what size rims?

Seem to have a little traction issue with 245/60/16 Nitto DR's on the street:rolleyes:

Thanks,
Marc

Originally posted by 1st and goal
No plans at the moment to crank up the boost but who know's;)

I built the car to beat my buddy's Turbo Trans Am (with the 3.8 GN motor, he was turning 11.2 @ 121 before he blew it up and he was working to build it pretty nasty before getting disgusted with the project and he's since decided just to rebuild it so it runs like it did before he blew it up but have a nice rugged bottom end) so my incentive for turning up the wick will have to be festered by other competition:rolleyes:.

Besides 10.5 out of the gate is pretty damn good:D

Marc

Yeah 10.5 is awesome in my book. :)

Wow. Great times. Sounds likes there's more there, as well.

Great job!

Way to go Marc.

I'm glad ONE of us 15# D1 383 guys got off the jackstands and to the track. I only hope to get those numbers although if I go faster then 10.99, me and the vert will be done racing. Not interested in getting a roll cage.

I'd also be interested in seeing the FAST tune. I played around with mine last spring but not sure things are right as they could be.

I got the engine bay painted recently and have been waiting MONTHS for the engine to come back from the current builder. i have to keeo nagging him and progress is way to slow. Problem is he is a neighbour as well and helped me out a lot last srping on the tune at basically little cost. (He has a high performance shop)

Hopefully get on the road in 4 - 6 weeks.

Hey congradulations Marc!

You could have easily given up on that car. Glad you stuck with it now, ha.

I still have my '94, as I love the car a lot. Hard to believe I've had this car for 10 years. For now I am going to try the vortech v2 blower w/the aftercooler, as it makes about half the noise of the ati one. Also, I really got fed up with the ati tensioner, it presented too many problems.

Been working on the car for a few months now, it's almost done.

It's all about patience and doing things right.;)

Originally posted by EDS Z28
Hey congradulations Marc!

You could have easily given up on that car. Glad you stuck with it now, ha.



Thanks,
I did come close to parting it out, actually not that close but I did mull it over and come up with a list to get a rough I idea of what I could get out of it (and what I could transfer over to the LS-1).

I'm going to run it again next Wednesday and hope to have some better video's, then it's off to the dyno and then yank the converter out and send it back to Precision Industries.

Really don't want to throw the old girl back up in the air on the jackstands and let it sit for a couple of weeks but you do what you got to do......besides it occupies that side of the garage very well:rolleyes:

Marc

Very Nice :cool:

Ken,
Thank, it was sure nice to start racing again :D

I went to the track the other day and the temp was in the high 80's vs 75 for the shakedown runs and the car was fairly consistent 10.91, 10.88 and 10.94 @ 128 mph (127.64, 127.94 etc).

Track prep was not stellar so the sixty ft's were 1.702, 1.708, 1.65) which sucked as compared to my 1.49 / 1.51 runs but hey it was street night.

The video's didn't come out that great so I'll hold off till after I get some better runs in before I post them.

Going to dyno tomorrow and will yank the tranny on Thursday so back on jackstands it goes :rolleyes:

Marc