Personally, the last thing I did to mine was take the slicks off and put the street tires on in December (slicks were losing air, didn't want them to sit flat). Somehow "stuff" has accumulated on it while it sits in the garage.

No big plans here, just a brake going-through, battery cut-off switch replacement, new poly engine mounts, and perhaps remounting the new-last-year leather buckets for better adjustability. Oil change, adjust rockers, check spark plugs, etc.

How's yours coming?

 

Well I'm actually really busy this winter.

Removing L03 and Tbi and swapping over to TPI L98. I'm also trying to fix a few loose ends (badly wired fog lights, sub wires need rerouted).

I also have to replace my passenger side electric motor for the window. UGH!

 

Its coming slowly but surely. So far new wheels/tires, Lakewood LCA's, new TTop gaskets, new tailights, new parking lights, tightened header bolts & exhaust, currently redoing the whole interior. Also installing a Spohn DS loop on Saturday. I will make a couple trips to the track this year but i am more focused on appearance and enjoying my car instead of making it any faster ... for now.

 

Still trying to pick the rods and pistons for my 406. The motor has been apart since October and spring isn't far away so I should get busy.

 

squeezing everything i can outta my 305! getting new tranny on saturday, gonna put that in with my new ATI converter whenever the shoulder is good to go, probably later this month. bought new wheels (draglites) should be on the car within the next two weeks. changed over from the drab 80's red interior to all new gray stuff. got a cowl induction hood. upgraded to 4.10's over 3.73's. went to a taller tire. got driveshaft loop in. cleaned up the engine bay. buying manual steering box in about 3 weeks. getting rid of more weight. got the car down to 3045lbs without driver. want under 3000lbs if i can. got grid taillights.etc. etc. etc. there is other stuff too, but this is the major stuff

 

I'm pretty much done and waiting for the track to open, which was supposed to be on 2/26 waiting on a few little things to show up like some new guages but otherwise looking to race, hopefully on the 12th for some testing and points start on the 19th

Steve

 

Got cut off switch to work properly today. Still working with Aeromotive to work out my fuel pump issues, actually sending it back again so they can look at internals and hopefully fix my problem.

New harnesses for expiration update, new snell2000 helmet, got my new intake all ported, just needs some minor smoothing out then run the bypass head coolant lines. Change fluids and hit a few T&T's before season opener to get my R/T back in sync.

Got new valve springs, but gonna wait till intake swap so i can measure where the current ones are at before I swap them out for no reason. Workin on little sponsor action for this years stickies, burnt up 3 sets last year so any help in that department will be great!!

 

Mostly just some fine tuning left to do. Engine runs and sounds good, Woohoo! I'm waiting for a seal kit for my BG400 fuel pump. The shaft seal started leaking. I also need to change some of the fuel lines around from the cell to the regulator. I've burned a couple gallons of fuel already and the car hasn't left the garage.

Biggest project left to do is fabricate some support brackets so that I can easily pull off the nose of the car. Right now the entire nose is only being held on with 4 bolts. I don't want to unbolt about 30 bolts and screws to pull the nose off.

2-1/2 months to go but when you only have time to do things on the weekends, there's not many days left.

 

i have to put in the trans i bought from IHI. should definately help out my launches this year a lot more with the looser 3600 stall. Also, need to thank him for that good venison on the car ride home. Nothing like an 8 hour road trip to get you in the mood for working on the camaro again. For some reason when i buy new parts i want to throw them on the camaro and get working on it more than just doing routine stuff. who knows....but i have 3 more weeks before the car has to be in for paint and prep work for the 05 season. Also probably going to have to buy a trailer this year since my buddy sold his. I don't think a suburban should have trouble towing it though.

 

I've told myself I have to get the taxes filed before starting on the car. The season starts exactly 1 week after they're due. I'd rather have them out of the way now so I can concentrate.

 

If you cant find any good deals over there on a trailer, give me a call at your wits end and I may be able to hook you up. It'd require another road trip to Bum F..k Egyup though LOL!! Actually guy I've been dealing with for the past 3 or 4 years is located kinda north west of Iowa City or just east of davenport so it would'nt be that bad....Big City Boys I tell ya, act like ya aint never seen flatground before.

I'm anxious to hear how that new tranny set-up is going to work for ya so have to keep me posted.

 

Got my 1.6 rockers on, new springs while I was at it, tuned the timing and stuff a little better, thought about buying a shift kit and headers, but I'm afraid...

 

Haven't done a thing to the car really Took care of a belt throwing issue that started the last time at the track. Also put some poly bushings in the lower control arms. Can't believe that actually made a difference, the tires break loose easier now. Might order up a 10 pt cage this month depending on what happens in the next couple weeks. I've been playing with the Toyota 4x4 in the snow too much to get anything started on the car

 

Well....it seams that my winter project will never finish. My new shortblock will be here next week....my heads are out getting ported....the new cam and mini-ram porting should be done in a couple weeks. The car itself is in my garage....installing the new rear, and new suspension seems to be taking a long time, because once i get it apart I wanna do it right. I took out all the lines....sanded down the underside of the car....primed...working on painting it, but its been so cold that I haven't finished yet. Installed the new fuel pump. Once the underside is all painted, I will be running the new braided fuel lines, putting the freshly built T56 in there....well maybe...I have decided that I refuse to do the front struts and springs until I get a tubular k-member and A-arms.....i may also pull everything else out of the engine compartment and sand and paint all that too. That is why I can't seem to get this car finished! Hopefully the car will be out in May-June....cuz once it is done, I have to have it towed far away to get dyno-tuned.

 

Finally got my my trans back together a couple weeks ago. Still need to remove my heads and send them out for some guide work. I suffered an air compressor pump failure (shop) about a month ago, but instead of fixing it, I decided to just upgrade to a whole new unit with a bigger tank/pump/motor. I've also been spending a lot of time/$$$ the last few months heading up north snowmobiling, so not much work has been done on the car recently. As soon as the weather starts to warm up a little, I'll be spending more time in the shop. For now, I'm headin' back up north for the weekend.

 

Pulled the 350HO, sold the heads, crankshaft, valve covers, intake, rocker arms.

Purchased:
Dart Race 220cc Heads
Billet Solid Roller Camshaft (262/266@.050, .676/.625 w/1.5's, 106LSA)
Probe Forged Pistons, looking for 11.8:1
Eagle 3.75 stroke ESP crankshaft
Isky Tool Room Valvesprings
Del West Titanium Retainers
Comp Valve Locks/Lash caps
Manley Race Master 2.08/1.6 valves
Scat SFI Flexplate
Rings/Bearings

Still Need:
ARP Rod Bolts
.150 offset Rocker Arms
Push Rods
Solid Roller Lifters for late model block
SFI Balancer, external balance
Super Victor Intake
4500 converter

Anyone have any of these things PM me .

 

Put on my 2.02 1.60 heads, solid motor mounts, solid LCA bushings, Jegs adjustable torque arm, lakewood 90/10s, v6 springs.

Waiting on my carb calibration kit to get here, to say its running lean is an understatement.

Still need to get a set of et streets, and take care of some exhaust issues. (1.5" of clearance isn't going to cut it )

 

hey man, just incase your looking for ideas for exhaust, here is a link to my cardomain site. my exhaust has around 5" clearance at the lowest point and it's got hedman longtubes on it. entire exhaust, including headers, only cost me like $275 or so.
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/437351/4

 

Scratch that, nearly threw it again tonight, the belt rolled and was halfway off. Took it up to 7,300 rpm doing a burnout trying to throw it Think I'm done with stock pulleys and brackets, time for something better.

 

march bracket with stock 85-87 pulleys. never have ANY problems. you can get underdrive pulleys in this version as well from March, BBK, and others. i hope to get the BBK ones. $120 for a 3pc set.

pic:

 

well i got the lt1 in at least. working on getting the rest of the parts i need. hope will be running soon

 

Yeah, I think you probably also have v8 springs, whereas I'm running v6 ones, and you also have a stock tranmission pan whereas I have a deep pan. The th350 in my car might be a little wider too, so I can't angle the S bends in as much. I'm going to get some more bends put in tomorrow, hopefully have 3" of clearance.

 

actually, i have stock v6 springs. the car was a factory v6.

 

hehe, you also probably don't rev as high as me. I'll PM you with a pic of my current setup.

 

your right, but it has seen several 7k+ burnouts, but i do shift MUCH lower when racing. *awaits pics*

 

I haven't been real modivated since I don't have heat in the garage but its starting to warm up now so I'll be getting started within the next couple of weeks. I'll be installing a sump in the stock tank and upgrading my fuel pump and fuel lines. I have most of the parts now, just got to get started. I'm also going to do a brake job and get a new set of ET Streets too.

 

Hmm I dunno then. Maybe my solid motor mounts drop the motor down a little lower, but more likely Its the the skinnies I've got in the front 185/85/r15. They are 25" tall (about 23.75 with the wieght of the car on them)

I measured my clearance from the lowest point of my headers and it was 5" there

Most clearance I'm going to be able to manage without modifying the crossmember is 2.5". Ohhh well

 

nope, solid motor mounts put them to stock height. i have a moroso set on mine.

 

moroso's here too.... hmm must just be those tires and clearance around the th350.

I had some mis-information in my previous post. Tires are 185/65/r15

 

must be. go with a 26" tire, that would help your et's and r/t's too!

 

I haven't done much yet. Still mostly accumulating parts. Got a solid roller setup, a different (just a 7-5/8" for this season) rear end, and the leather interior from my friends low mile GTA.

Still need to piece together a new shoftblock and start working on the car. It was warmed up into the 30s this week but there is still lots of snow around here. First test day is in 7 weeks and the first race is in 9 weeks.

 

got the new tranny/converter in the car, WOW! what a difference!

built 700r4 w/ transgo shift kit
2500stall ATI 10" converter

need some m/t's now!

 

mw66nova where did you get that alt bracket assembly? does sit just include the upper bracket or does it have upper and lowers? as for pulleys i have the same as yours the 85-87. ASP makes a crank pulley for us i can get the part number for you if ya want it

 

BBK makes a 3 pc set i am planning on getting for $120.

march braket includes the upper heim joint deal and a sweet lower bracket made from billet aluminum. also includes all spacers and hardware required for installation. Jegs p/n 655-20121

i am also planning on deleting the p/s and going with an s-10 manual box by the end of the month.

 

Left off last year at 14.3@96mph. Just bought a set of draglites from the board and intend on running some QTP's and a line lock so I can actually launch the car instead of leaving off of idle. 60' last year was only a 2.3

Also going to yank the AC before it gets too hot to regret doing it. as well as the backseat.
Need to do the TB bypass also, I don't know whats been keeping me from doing all the simple stuff.

As for the rest of the season. Converter and mini-ram intake are in the plans as well as a 100 shot.

Should be a little less of a snooze down the track as it was lastyear at gateway.

 

my winter upgrade wasnt all that much. I just gained 2.6 liters of displacment. I went from a 3.1 to the good old TPI350!!! Fun s**t. Getting the car ready for the ET's

 

my project was turning my 540 into a 598 and running 9's on motor with a tight nitrous converter.ran it for the 1st time last saturday and it went 9.89 at 139.9 and only turning 6300 through the traps..i swapped to a bigger carb and a bigger fuel system this week and hope for som 9.70's 142mph...and then turn the juice on for some mid 8's at 160.

 

UPDATE:

After removing my heads, I found damage to the top of the piston on the same cylinder that dropped the valve guide:



Luckily, there was no bore/block damage, and only some minor dings in the combustion chamber. It seems that something made that particular cylinder get hot, and resulted in the piston failing due to detonation, and the exhaust guide to drop out from the excessive heat. Notice also how the upper part of the head gasket has been pushed toward the lifter valley, as evidenced by the elongated head bolt holes. This condition is prevalent on both head gaskets. Since I don't want to get involved with the hassles of running copper gaskets and O-ringing the block, I'm going to try the all steel Cometic gaskets, which I've been hearing a lot of good things about lately.

Anyway, despite the piston problem, I decided on going with a full-boogie CNC port job on my Dart 360 heads. The guy doing my guide work gave me a very tempting offer that I just couldn't refuse.

 

Stuck with stock stuff for now but made a new spacer for the alt, haven't thrown the belt, yet... Might be making my own exhaust pretty soon, got a welder for my b-day woohoo!

 

i have had good luck with the cometics so far mike.

 

www.corteco-usa.com

those guys make an incredible gasket! they are the title sponsor for the NSCA, i don't have their had a gaskets in my motor, but i know alot who do and they are thrilled! they just came out with a new coated copper gasket you might want to look at. they are supposed to cure all the leak problems associated with copper gaskets.

as far as me, well, i broke the locker the first night back out to the track since the tranny/converter install. i hope to be beefing up the rear completely by/before mid-summer. the motor will also see a 650 double pumper and upgrading to all MSD ignition.

evilcartmen: good luck on the belt issue! i know just how frustrating it can be! i'm telling you though, that bracket i bought fixed all the issues i had.

 

Thanks for the reference to the Corteco gasket sight. I've always wondered about their product, since I don't know anyone personally who uses them. It seems like their new "white" gasket is a worthy piece. I like the fact that they are reuseable, like the Cometics. I will have to research this further. Either way, I'm done with the Fel-pro's.

 

well, my father's motor was put together using them, and they work REALLY well!

i have the intake/carb gaskets on mine, my motor was built before i knew about corteco. when i do my head swap, i am calling Pat Lynch up at corteco and having him send me a kit so i can run his stuff. it's great. 70% of the guys i know running with us at the NSCA ( www.nsca-racing.com ) is running these gaskets.

 

Upon disassembly of my short block, I found that 6 out of 8 of my pistons had partially seized wrist pins (press fit pins on rods). I'm not sure what exactly caused this, but I have decided to not only get a new set of JE pistons, but also upgrade to some Eagle H beam rods, with bushed ends (full floating), complete with the high end ARP L19 bolts. I also found one of my Crane Pro series roller lifters had a really rough bearing, and 4 others had metal "fretting" issues on the actual rollers. After talking with someone at Crane directly, they offered to exchange these lifters with their new Ultra Pro series, at a discounted price, which I decided to go with.

All things considered on my engine (and transmission), It's going to cost me a lot more $$$ than I expected, but I will have better/stronger stuff, and make some more power to boot. I also consider myself lucky that I found these problems before they really caused some catastrophic damage.

 

This was my old setup -- my 406 in my '70 Chevelle. Edelbrock Performer RPM. Holley 3310, HEI w/ MSD 6AL.

I ran a best of 12.70 @ 108 with it, and 12.80-12.90s were pretty common. It was pretty consistent too, as I like to bracket race.

-Dave

 

And my new setup.. :-) Same 406, still Holley Equipped!

Computer is a MegaSquirt. Ignition is currently a TPI/TBI distributor, running on base timing. Trying to figure out how to control timing with the MSnS-Extra code. I may just upgrade to MegaSquirt II and use its ignition control instead.

If I could tune this thing right, hopefully I can pull a 12.62 or better.. my buddy's car has run a best of 12.63 :-)

-Dave

 

Monday was sunny, warm & dry, so I actually started the car and drove it a few miles. Then the rest of the week I worked on my daughter's car (home for spring break). I finally got the car up in the air, the tranny fluid is draining, and the front tires off to start the brake work.

That only took me a month...

 

There's only a small handfull of roller lifters that are good enough for a race engine.

Crower Extreme Duty
Crane Pro Series

The Ultra Pro's a very new but so far from what I've heard, they're surviving pretty good.

If I could afford them, I'd only buy the Crowers. I'm going to have to price out the new Ultras to see how they compare. With valve train abusing cams, typical race roller lifters don't last much past 1000 runs. Most are changed after 300 runs just to be safe.

 

after i twisted the frame in my 85 z28 i picked up an 85 IROC and have been building it from the bare frame since december. Despite being an architect student/junior architect, and the freezing temperatures, i managed to drop an engine and tranny, sell it, paint up the underbody with por-15, run new gas lines, still gotta finish running new brake lines, got my gas tank up, bolted on a 95z28 rear, and put in the z28's brakes and front suspension.

other then the inconvience of droping sockets in 2 feet of snow at times id say it was an experience. calling it a fun experience is debatable. especially when i had a mint car 8 or so months ago.

now all thats left is getting my old 305 and t-5 in there along with all the odds and ends to get her back on the street.

something tells me next winters jobs will be funner...building my 350 4bolt and a paintjob...

 

Sounds about like my rate of progress lately...

Stephen, there's no doubt that when you're building an engine with a roller cam, DO NOT scrimp on the lifters. If one fails, most of the time it will wipe out your engine. Also consider that you have 16 of these little "bombs" in there. The Crowers are definately highly regarded pieces (I have their SS rockers which are bulletproof), and I've also heard good things about Isky Red Zone's, but if I had the $$$, I'd probably get the Shubeck's, that totally eliminate the bearing. I've gotten 7+ years of use out of the Crane's (including numerous street miles), so I really can't complain.

I talked with a tech at JE regarding my piston/pin problem, and he informed me that they fit the pins on the tight side from the factory for a full-floating application, and they should have been opened up slightly for pressed fit use.
I guess I probably don't have to worry about this with the full-float Eagle rods, but will be checking the clearances regardless.

Monday I'm going down to Diamond Pistons (which is only 3 convenient miles down the road) to compare their blower pistons to my JE's, which spec out identically, but are about 50 grams lighter. I'll probably end up buying their stuff, since I have all my balancing done by them anyway.

ckjoshz28, your story reminds of a time years ago, when I replaced a starter on a good friend's Chevelle (he was stranded) on a side street in downtown Detroit at aout 2:00 in the morning. It was about 2*F out and snowing and blowing like crazy. It probably would have been a pretty simple job, but the right side exhaust header had to come off!! At least I was sheltered from the snow underneath the car.