mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

With winter in full swing here in MD, I figured I'd take the time to share a bit of what I'm doing to prepare for the 2015 season. I would like to report that I'm finally buying a real carburetor for the car, but that just isn't on the horizon so for now, "ol reliable" as I've dubbed it, will stay on the car. However, there are other things on the car that need to be addressed, in hopes to get that single digit pass.

The list for this winter isn't super big, but there are some pricey bits in the list that are keeping the length of the list short:
-New clutch; Monster LT1-S (twin disc organic)
-New brakes front and rear with a manual conversion
-Pro gears for the rearend, including 35 spline pinion
-Billet slip yoke and pinion yoke. manual transmissions are tough on parts. in the driveline, it's best just to go with the biggest, baddest ones you can afford from the get go to prevent major carnage

My brakes have been on the agenda to update to a proper system for some time now. I kept pushing it back as a result of some other part that needed replaced or updated for function of the car. I started by pulling the ls1 front brake conversion off and selling it to a local enthusiast:



I weighed that setup. it's 50lbs per side!

I also took out the old master/booster combo:


I didn't weigh that, but I wish I had. I can guess this combo was around 12-14lbs though

Parts started rolling in, and it was like Christmas had been extended:






Also, I ordered this linelock setup from Jegs. The idea is to keep the master, linelock, and prop valve contained in one unit, so it is only a couple of bolts and a couple of lines from coming off the car in 1 piece.

http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performan...ductId=1728508

of course the prebent line they sent me doesn't fit with the way the firewall and clutch master is positioned, so i had to make my own lines to the line lock. I mounted the prop valve to the inside of the line lock bracket to complete it







I still need to run the lines from the line lock and prop valve to the brakes. That will come soon.

Next order of business was to get the strange brakes fitted. This starts by taking a stock spindle and cutting it up. This picture doesn't show all of the grinding I did for fitment, but gives the overall idea.



I had to do a mock up assembly to get a weight of the new setup:

The new setup weighs 26.5lbs. That's a weight savings of 47lbs!! of rotational, unsprung weight right over the front axle centerline. very stoaked!

Here is how the car sits right now. I need to pack the bearings and such before I install the brakes for good. Those aren't new struts, they're just painted lakewoods. No funds for new struts, lol!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

Additional goodies finding their way into the car this winter





New rear brakes and the driveshaft stuff will be on the way in a bit. I need to sell myself on the street corners some more to get that stuff paid for, lol! A big thanks to PA Racing, Monster Clutches, Jersey Shore Synthetics (Amsoil) and Tick Performance for providing some outstanding products and their support in my quest for that elusive 9.99

FRMULA88

excellent..

front brakes for me in the near future. Any reason you chose Strange over Wilwood?
My rear disc are Wilwood draglites.. I was going to do the fronts in also in Wilwood to match, but Strange is just 10 minutes away from me.. LOL.

who's kit did you use for the front coil over conversion?
that is another mod on my short list..
both to reduce unsprung weight.
rear coil overs are on the list too.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

coil over kit is from PA Racing.

I went with the strange because of peer reviews. Everyone that i've talked with that have had both have been more happy with the strange. it is a very very nice kit. I can't wait to get it rolling again so i can see how it feels.

FRMULA88

I ask because strange make a coil over kit too. Like I said they are local to me.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

the coil over kit from strange is a strut with a threaded body, coil, and camber/caster plate. the coil over kit i'm using is a conversion sleeve that slides over the existing struts.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

A little further progress last night. I got the bearings packed. Trying out the Amsoil Dominator grease. It's got almost a light peanut butter color to it (the filter on the picture makes it look pale green). It almost has the same consistency as well. Technically an NLGI 2 grease, it promises all sorts of ability to lubricate and hold up to heat real well and is supposed to be used on bearings and chassis components. it's my first time using it, but i will say the wheel spins very freely even after letting it go, it will coast a bit. I also spent a bit of time centering the caliper, so that i don't get any uneven wear on the pads or any parasitic loss due to the rotor dragging.



i been waiting a long time to be able to run no center cap and see a pretty hub like this poking through



If anyone needs pictures of anything on these brakes, feel free to ask. i'm sure i'll have the wheels on and off a hundred more times, and with good quality cell phone pictures now, documenting otherwise "unseen" parts of this stuff is easy.

depending on baby arrival, i may be running the hardlines this weekend

FRMULA88

congrats!

FWIW when baby comes, if your priorities are in order, all tinkering / racing stops for a while. Enjoy your newborn! they grow up quick, trust me I have 3.

The car won't complain either.

I can say from experience I don't spend time / money on the car until the kids', wife, house's, needs are taken care of first. Part of the reason it has taken me 20 years to build a race car, LOL

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

Thanks for the encouragement. I am definitely pumped about her arrival. I want to get the car to a point where we can just go and have fun as a family, and not worry about reliability. I intend to go after the 9.99 pass early this spring, then slow it back down to something that is repeatable and easier on parts. 10.2-10.5 range would be perfect.

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

Car is coming along nicely! Im in the same boat with a baby girl on the way.... due date is feb 10 but will most likely be a week or so early. Congrats!

FRMULA88

It will take a few years because they have to be old enough to understand why they need to wear their hearing protection.

I wear plugs when I race better safe than sorry.

I cringe when I see little ones in the pits without plugs or ear muffs , talk about bad parenting but to each his own.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

i'm gonna get her some of these

http://earmuffsforkids.com/ems4bubsbabyearmuffs/

FRMULA88

that is a start !

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

I can't stop looking at these things, they're so dang pretty, lol. hardlines coming this weekend, time permitting

FRMULA88

nice piece for sure..

I will eventually pull the trigger on the Wilwood Forged Dynalite Drag brake kit for
3rd gen f-body Part # 140-1035-BD

http://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/Bra...rum+Brake+Rear

Mainly because my rear discs are Dynalite, and well if my rear calipers say "wilwood" the fronts might as well to. Seems to be a pretty similar setup to the strange brakes
both sites say these brakes are for "drag racing use only". they have 4 piston calipers so I assume performance will be similar.

Matt how much additional weight did you save with the front coil over? not much I assume just difference in weight from stock spring a arm. for me I would have to rework or replace lower tubular arms since they have coil spring perches, at that point the weight savings seems trivial for the effort/cost.

but replacing the OEM brakes on my car makes total sense, that could be close to 30 # in weight savings about 25$ per # LOL ! Stage 3 weight removal is not cheap !

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

trick springs: 24.3# for the pair
pa racing coil over: 6.6" for entire setup

stock a-arms: 29.4# for the pair
pa racing arms: 11.4# for the pair.

that's a 35.7# difference. quite significant if you ask me

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

Another piece to the puzzle showed up today.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

well, the nuts weren't any huge game changer, but it's more than a half pound difference, in rotating/unsprung weight it won't hurt things, lol.

here are the McGard's i'm pulling off


and the Champions i'm putting on

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

got the hardlines all run. i've never ran hardlines on anything before, so i'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out honestly.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

looks like i'm going to add motor/mid plates to the winter updates this year. i found i'm overpowering the k-member stands and getting more twist than i'd like. plates will make it all solid and should help with 60' times as well.

FRMULA88

were you running solid motor mounts on the k-member?

take weight out, put weight back, it's a viscous cycle.

alum or steel plate? If alum you will still need some steel to attach the plates to the frame

turning more into a race car with every mod LOL.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

well, it's pretty much all i do with the car is race it. motor plates won't keep it from driving on the street though.

mid plate will be steel, motor plate will be aluminum.

jg04222

Were the engine mounts on your k member bent or starting to break like other people have had happen?

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

motor plates wont add much weight at all. what they will add is a headache installing them. mainly the midplate. there is quite a bit of removing/installing the engine and trans getting everything where it needs to be and welded in. adding clearance for header tubes, etc. i did plates on an LT1 car last year and i laid down the cash for a mockup block to do my car this year.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

yeah, they're starting to tweak pretty good. jason told me back when i ordered the kmember the combo should be using a mid plate. i didn't listen. this is my fault. i overextended the design.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

I sold my headers and exhaust system to my cousin who will be doing an lsx swap for the 2016 season. That gave me enough funds to get the material to build my big tube headers and the motor and mid plates. headers will be 1 7/8" primary with a 3.5" straight collector. i priced out merge collectors and even contemplated making my own, but it's just out of reach. a buddy of mine ran the combo through pipemax and these are the specs needed for my engine, so i'm pretty happy with my decision so far. i've built many exhaust systems before, but never a set of headers. i hope it all goes well. The big thing here will be taking my time to get it right. if i can get away enough this week, i'll pull the transmission and start the mid plate mockup. I am going to build a template, probably from poster board, and send that to Jason at PA Racing who will lazer cut/water jet a mid plate for me off the template, so here's to forward movement once again! things left to get:
-35 spline billet pinion yoke and associated bearings
-billet slip yoke
-rear brakes

then i think i will be ready for the 2015 season!

zz17iroc

iTrader: (4)

Matt, it's looking more and more like a race car with every mod LOL. But that's okay man, boys and their toys! The quest for more speed rages on. I finally pulled my engine for a rebuild after 11 years of nitrous and turbo pounding. I took it apart only to find the #4 main bearing starting to show cooper, but all the other bearings were okay and the crank has no scratches at all to my surprise. The rotating assembly is at the machine shop getting rebalanced with the new dished pistons and the block is on the motor stand ready for reassembly. My car will remain a street car for sure because I have three kids to put through college and I enjoy driving it to and from the track making low 10 and high 9 sec passes. That's what it's all about for me!!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

for sure man, i'm glad to hear it Craig! I don't see a problem with driving this thing anywhere yet, but my definition of "street car" is pretty loose, lol!

zz17iroc

iTrader: (4)

It's just that, a definition! It is all about personal preference and what you can tolerate while driving it on the street. For me I like creature comforts such as having heat on those chilly cruise-in days/nights and listening to some music on my way to the track too.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

new headers and exhaust showed up today





also got partially disassembled. i'm pretty beat with the new baby here so i'm gonna take this slow. front motor plate and exhaust flanges should be here tomorrow though

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

here is the motor plate. got it in the mail today.

heavy_chevy29

where did you get those "mufflers" and what size are they. im hoping to hit some 8.50 index races at cecil and atco this year. so im going to need some sort of a "muffler"

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

they are from summit. dynomax part number 24251

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

flanges showed up today. these are pretty nice pieces. i paid $57 shipped for these from ebay

357 Camaro

Very nice car keep up the good work =)

STREETDEMON

matt, looks like you are staying on top of it! quite a big difference in weight with the new brakes.

looking forward to seeing your headers.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

things are going...slow...

this past weekend i spent most of the time rounding up new washer and dryer, and doing house stuff, but i managed to get a kerosene heater this weekend and got away from the honey-do list for about an hour sunday and pulled the trans. i built a template for my midplate and got it boxed and ready to go to PA Racing so he can cut me one from .125" steel. this is going to incorporate the block saver plate and mid plate as one unit so i don't have to shim my slave, or worry about multiple things stacked under the bellhousing. pretty pumped about this.



that's all for this installment. i hope to have something more exciting to post about next time. i plan to order my rear brakes this week

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

What is the benefit to a motor plate and mid plate? I see these a lot and don't understand the theory behind them.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

they tie the engine into the chassis and take the load off the k-member. this turns the engine into part of the chassis. the engine will have no place to move now. it also takes the load off the side of the block where i've seen folks rip the mounting pads off the side of the engine block.

for me, i've tweaked the k-member engine mount stands. this is no fault of pa racing, i simply took the combo further than it should have gone. i'd put money on this design taking the abuse from an auto, but stick shift is a whole 'nother ball game.

RubberDucky

iTrader: (4)

I see. Thanks for explaining it.

zz17iroc

iTrader: (4)

Hey Matt, I see you've moved to West Minister. That's about 25 minutes east of Frederick. So how are you liking the area? Is 75/80 Drag Strip going to open this season?

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

i love where we live. I'm actually about a mile north of woodbine and about 10 miles from 75/80. unfortunately, there is not any news of them opening again. they keep saying they're done for good. it's a shame, i'd have loved to run there at least one time as that was the first track my dad ever made passes at.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

well, still nothing major to report, but this came in the mail yesterday, and is another part of my quest for being light weight. this will be used at the track only. if for some reason i need to do any street driving, i'll put the stock one back in.



dry weight. i'm waiting on a buddy of mine to weigh his stock dry radiator to get a guess of what i've lost with this. my guess right now, based on weight of the new vs old, plus the loss in coolant capacity, is 15-20 lbs. if this simply doesn't keep things cool, i will gladly recede and put the big radiator back in. but for $48 shipped, i figure this is worth a try, lol!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

more goodies showed up today if anything, this stuff will be adding a little weight (those rear brakes are replacing some wore out aerospace components brakes, which use a 2 piece rotor with aluminum hat), but ideally this will make things a bit more reliable

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

oh, i almost forgot! the radiator dry weight of the factory radiator (plastic tanks) is 9.3 lbs. i figured the difference in capacity to be ~1.11 gallons, for a total weight savings of 14.1 lbs, not including the difference in weight of the bigger 2 fan setup to what will be a single small fan for this radiator. i assume 20lbs won't be a problem at all.

no green

Looks good, Matt. I'm glad your putting up a build thread going through all this... My little 350 is about wore out, and the way your going is how I pictured putting an ls in my car. Keep it up, and good luck with the kid!!

Who's headers are these? The hawks stuff is nice, but I sure cant swing the price.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

that's a summit branded kit. who knows who actually makes them. they're technically for a sbc in a door car with a tube chassis, but you can't beat the price for all those bends. i hope to get them started soon, but i'm running out of steam with the new baby, and my work schedule. i just hope i can find some time to get some more junk done in the next couple of weekends.

no green

10-4 on being short on steam... the weather sure isn't helping, either.

Good luck with it, looking forward to progress.

Edit: for $89 for that kit, it's damn well worth a shot!!

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

this is the kit i bought...actually...i bought 2 of them to make sure i had plenty of material. but if you price out what it costs to buy individual bends, i'm WAY money ahead

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-670187/overview/

it's been below freezing for weeks here now. the kerosene heater helps, but the garage isn't sealed up well enough and the cold still creeps in. i need to get this stuff done by mid april at the latest, so we can go test in early may. that gives me just under 2 months.

no green

At least the garage is a step up from the trailer top engine swap in the other thread