cas0484
03-15-2008, 08:39 PM
The Good
I decided to take the TA up to Next Level Performance for a baseline Dyno run to see what the car had in it prior to putting in the cam(CC 503 is just about ready to go in). Overall I’m pretty happy with the results. Out of all the runs the Max HP was 274.39 and Max Torque was 289.08. The first two runs were with the cutout closed and the second two with it open so, Borla pretty much flows great. The numbers aren’t too bad for a 110,xxx mile Bolt –On LT1 through an auto, stall and 3.73 gears. Here is the graph.
http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/40452/2605038440078622896S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2605038440078622896VIkfDV)
The Bad
So, after I finish my last pull and we’re removing the straps to take the car off of the Dyno we see the car leaking some fluid. Upon a closer look, its coolant and its pouring out of the rear of the block. The tech at NLP takes a look and sees that it’s blown out a freeze plug. My day just got crappy, it’s leaking out so much coolant so fast that there was no way I could get it home. I just went from being pretty damn happy about my dyno results to racking my brain trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do. Here is a picture of the culprit. As you can see, it rusted right through and the strain of running it on the dyno made it finally give out.
http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/42730/2464229080078622896S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2464229080078622896hBsxMP)
The Great
With the car out of commission I figured I would have to catch a ride home from a friend, call a tow and take the car to a local shop/dealership. It being a Saturday and all, this meant I probably wouldn’t get in till at least Monday. Since the car is my daily driver and my only one I figured I would have to miss a day or two of work…no biggie, life happens. But then Geoff, the owner of the shop approaches me and says not to worry, that he has a tech and an open lift. He pulls the car into the shop, puts it on the lift, calls around all the local dealerships/parts stores to find the freeze plug and has it delivered to the shop. A few hours later, (I didn’t realize how much of a pain it is to get to the rear freeze plugs…gotta drop the trans and some of the exhaust etc…) my car has a new freeze plug, is leak free and back on the road. I was amazed. Bear in mind that this was a Saturday and that I’m not a regular customer or anything. In fact, this was the first time my car had even been to or in their shop. I wasn’t buying some elaborate and expensive heads and cam or turbo set-up, I was just there for your bear bones $75 dyno pulls. What I got was excellent treatment and service (unexpectant emergency service for that matter) which saved me time, money and a lot of hassel.
I want to extend a huge thank-you to Geoff, his tech and everyone else at NLP. You could have just as easily of blown me off and left me to mind my own problem, instead you took time out of your Saturday to help out a new customer. A customer that as a result, will continue to return!
Here is a video of two of the runs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oFQhJHyjaQ
I decided to take the TA up to Next Level Performance for a baseline Dyno run to see what the car had in it prior to putting in the cam(CC 503 is just about ready to go in). Overall I’m pretty happy with the results. Out of all the runs the Max HP was 274.39 and Max Torque was 289.08. The first two runs were with the cutout closed and the second two with it open so, Borla pretty much flows great. The numbers aren’t too bad for a 110,xxx mile Bolt –On LT1 through an auto, stall and 3.73 gears. Here is the graph.
http://inlinethumb05.webshots.com/40452/2605038440078622896S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2605038440078622896VIkfDV)
The Bad
So, after I finish my last pull and we’re removing the straps to take the car off of the Dyno we see the car leaking some fluid. Upon a closer look, its coolant and its pouring out of the rear of the block. The tech at NLP takes a look and sees that it’s blown out a freeze plug. My day just got crappy, it’s leaking out so much coolant so fast that there was no way I could get it home. I just went from being pretty damn happy about my dyno results to racking my brain trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do. Here is a picture of the culprit. As you can see, it rusted right through and the strain of running it on the dyno made it finally give out.
http://inlinethumb43.webshots.com/42730/2464229080078622896S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2464229080078622896hBsxMP)
The Great
With the car out of commission I figured I would have to catch a ride home from a friend, call a tow and take the car to a local shop/dealership. It being a Saturday and all, this meant I probably wouldn’t get in till at least Monday. Since the car is my daily driver and my only one I figured I would have to miss a day or two of work…no biggie, life happens. But then Geoff, the owner of the shop approaches me and says not to worry, that he has a tech and an open lift. He pulls the car into the shop, puts it on the lift, calls around all the local dealerships/parts stores to find the freeze plug and has it delivered to the shop. A few hours later, (I didn’t realize how much of a pain it is to get to the rear freeze plugs…gotta drop the trans and some of the exhaust etc…) my car has a new freeze plug, is leak free and back on the road. I was amazed. Bear in mind that this was a Saturday and that I’m not a regular customer or anything. In fact, this was the first time my car had even been to or in their shop. I wasn’t buying some elaborate and expensive heads and cam or turbo set-up, I was just there for your bear bones $75 dyno pulls. What I got was excellent treatment and service (unexpectant emergency service for that matter) which saved me time, money and a lot of hassel.
I want to extend a huge thank-you to Geoff, his tech and everyone else at NLP. You could have just as easily of blown me off and left me to mind my own problem, instead you took time out of your Saturday to help out a new customer. A customer that as a result, will continue to return!
Here is a video of two of the runs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oFQhJHyjaQ