Other than driving the car from the trailer around the block to the house, I haven't really driven the '82 Berlinetta #2 now with 2000 LS1/T56. I trailered it out to the track today since it doesn't have exhaust yet, and drove it around there a bit to get used to it, and to get it inspected for the upcoming racing season. I "registered" it for the Stick Shift class, and was assigned a track number to use throughout the season (and forever, as long as I re-register it every spring). The track numbers start with either the letter "B" or "P"; first he said, "How about B406"? Well, that might be okay, but I said it's only a 346. He looked back in the book, and said, "How about this?"

Does it get any better than this?



I had registered for the class the last two years but never made it out, had asked for that number but it wasn't available. Apparently the previous owner didn't re-register.

After driving up and down the return road a couple of times and around the pits, getting used to it as much as you can at no more than 20 MPH (right...), talking to a couple of other stick shift racers, I said to myself, "I'm going to go ahead and make a pass and see how it does. I decided to just keep the RPMs low and pop the clutch and floor it on the 3rd amber; the light was okay, but it bucked up and down a couple of times before it took off. Then I wasn't ready for the 1-2 shift, missed 2nd (how do you miss 2nd???), it bounced off the rev limiter a couple of times, and you see the results. 2nd pass I decided I'm just going to rev it up by ear (the tach is a little slow responding, so don't have much time after staging to "set" the RPMs), it spun pretty hard but didn't bog, turned in the best time of the day. Next pass didn't rev it quite so high, didn't quite bog but didn't "jump" off the line, either. Hit all the gears again.



They were letting us come around round-robin by then, and a lot of racers had left or were packing up. Next two passes I missed a shift again (3rd once, 4th the other time). Last pass I hit all the gears again.



Remember, this is at 5800' elevation. I didn't have my weather station with me, but I'd guess the DA was over 8000'. The best ET would translate to 12.59 at sea level, best MPH would be 112.7 based on NHRA altitude correction factors.

Even though I was pretty much "granny shifting", it was a lot more violent than I expected.

And I really, really need a 2-step.

Oh, that hand-written number on the bottom of the first time slip was the weight on the track scale with me in it and a full tank of gas.

 

It seemed to feel right at home.

 

Get used to the suspension reaction & keep YOUR R/T like that 0.015 and you'll be kicking tail all season!!

Off Topic--
did you pinstripe the taillights or is that stock?? Never seen that befor. Looks nice!!

 

Those are stock Berlinetta tail lights.

Actually, none of my RT's would look out of place in a normal stick shift race day. . .

 

So do they call you "Clutch" LOLol!!!
Is that a foot-brake class or can // do you use a line lock?

How many classes are you involved in?

 

those are good times. just wait till you get it tuned just right and get the SHIFTING down. good looking car.

 

Nice! Theres plenty to be shaved off that 60' and theres a LOT to be gained on the shifting. I never realized how much but Im a big fan of Ranger who makes it a calculated study and his own personal vendetta to see just how fast bone stock Vettes can run. He took a stock Z06 to 10.85 and most of his gains were by improving the shifting and by shifting at the exact correct RPM. The guys intense he only makes one change per try and then does three passes to see if it improves and goes onwards. For instance he might raise shift 2-3 500 RPM and keeps everything esle the same and does his passes and if his numbers go down he then makes that 2-3 shift RPM the new constant and tries adding/removing 500 RPM or whatever on the 3-4 and on and on.

If you read his articles its pretty amazing how much he gains by this. He typically gains a full second or better from his starting point.

So by that rational theres 11 second potential in your Berli

Mind you many guys on the boards nowadays care more about trap speed when comparing performance levels its a better indicator of power levels.

 

You're off to a fine start, congrats!

 

Awesome times.....

how much did people rag you about the hitch?

 

Not a word.

If anyone says anything, I'll just say, "That's for the trailer for Drag Week."

 

Oh the jealousy......or envy. I cant decide.

 

congrats on the new times, nothing to sneeze at. I'm sure once you get more comfortable with the car the times will drop and that 60' will get down and drop your ET a ton. My buddy has a built ls1 with h/c/i and with his 6 speed it's like, shift-shift-shift-shift. I don't think he's in any gear for more than a split second. I'm glad I just let go of the transbrake, pull back once, wait another second or two and pull back again and that's it

 

I'm not nearly as concerned with the ET's as I am with the inconsistency. Gotta get that down better. I was pretty much hot-lapping all runs Sunday, so if it is at least predictable, I'll be happy.

(My vanity is a little taken aback that no one commented on the assigned racer number. . . I thought it would even make a good personalized license plate - aka, "vanity plate" - there I go again. . .)

 

It would have been better if it were B346 instead of P346 ("B" for Berlinetta)

 

Funny you should mention that, because the track numbers either start with "B" (for Bandimere Speedway), or "P" (because they ran out of 3-digit "B" numbers). When I asked for B346, they said somebody already had that, so they offered me B406 - I said, "That would be nice, but it's only a 346." He looked at the book again, and gave me this one.

 

I wonder if the track guy got the reference, I actually chuckled when I saw that the first time...

it's amazing that alot of people think that an LS1 is still a 350 instead of the true 346 that the 5.7 actually is

 

On the tech card it asks for "CI/CC", I put down "5.7l". Two bits says the PA announcer will say, "...with a Chevy 350. . ."

At least the tech guy didn't say, "How about 347? That's close to 346. . ."

 

Thats a pet peeve of mine, and LS1 guys do it all the time with the hockey stripe decal kits. Kind of like my dad calling my LM7 a 327

Five7kid, I like the subtle hint of whats inside. Minor touches like that go a long way

 

Don't you hate that!

 

Race buddy I pit with has B427 (ancient history - he's running a 540 now). Another with a '66 Impala has B666 (that car was featured on "Pinks All-Outakes). His also runs a '67, B667. And a '68, P668.

Anything with "350" or "302" or "440" or "454" is long gone and horded. I was looking for something with "57" for the '57, had to settle for B757 (which isn't too bad, my first license plate was 38-B757).

My son will be running his '96 4.3l S10, his new number is P262.

Ah, the numbers game. . .

 

Whats the S10 run? lol

 

Low 17's up here. He already took off a couple of tenths by modifying the throttle body (removed a weird "hood" the factory riveted to the butterfly). About what Berlinetta #1 ran with the stock LG4.

He's watching for an LM7 for it. . .

 

I tried another T&T last night. This is a take-it-to-the-track deal, lots of front wheel drives on street tires, so the track is usually not all that well prepped.

I tried lowering the pressure in the DOT's, same launch RPMs, it still blew the tires off. 2.09 60', forgot to shift to 2nd and it bounced off the rev limiter, hit the other gears, ET was still 13.54 @ 104. So, looks like just need to get that 60' down and hit the shifts.

Next pass, it was starting to mist (had rained early afternoon), I was going to try more of a feathered launch. The other car double-bulbed me, I was creeping into the staged bulb, the instant I lit it the first amber came on, so I didn't have much of a chance to get RPMs up. The actual launch wasn't very controlled (I should have ignored trying to cut a light and just concentrated on the launch itself), after it moved a couple of feet the tires broke loose again but not as bad as before, best 60' I've had to date.

Then I missed 2nd. . .

After that it started to rain and they called it a night. Might have a chance to run it again tomorrow night for a "time only" session during the first points race of the season, but the weather forecast is pretty shaky. My next shot at the track may be Sunday, race day for the stick shift class.

 

Lol I guess i'll have to change my info under my avatar to 323 ci

 

What tire are you running? PSI?

 

26-9.50x14 Hoosier Quick Time Pro DOT's. First time out was 18 psi, yesterday dropped them to 15 psi. Ran the same tires on Berlinetta #1 at 16 psi.

 

I've run those before there not bad. I think 16 psi was the magic number for that car but this is going back aways now...

Regardless theres a LOT more 60 in that car. 1.7 at least if i was a guessing man. You have your front sway bar dropped?

 

No, the front sway bar is still attached. It's a relatively weak stock piece.

I'd be happy with 1.8's here at altitude.

 

I've had my best luck removing the sway completely but even dropping the end links off made a good bit of difference on my car. I also had to add LCA relocation brackets and even then I had to swap out the rear springs for some cut stockers as I run sportlines and they are just too dang low

 

I don't think LCARB's would help (but they might):



Don't have video yet, but the rear tires are getting pushed down pretty hard.

 

Ohhh yeah I forgot your running Petes Z bars! I dont see why they wouldnt work with those as well? So long as the arm points upwards your good to go and right now it looks a bit level but very hard to tell from that pic. Maybe a taller set of rear springs?

 

Now thats a LCA setup I havent seen in a while

Mini-ladder bar setup

 

They are a bit to the level side. I was hoping the rotating action on the body would be adequate. Now I'm wondering whether I should go with LCARB's as well.