AlkyIROC

Edmonton is switching from IHRA to NHRA this year. That means I will finally have to get an NHRA license. With the NHRA license I will also be able to race at Medicine Hat. This is enough of an incentive to finally get the car race ready again.

All my SFI stuff has expired and so has the chassis certification. I need to change or modify the back cross tube to pass another chassis cert and the inspection date is somewhere near the end of March or Early April which doesn't give me a lot of time.

First priority however is getting the engine running. I toasted the starter last November trying to get it started so I went to the local auto wrecker and grabbed one of the mini starters used on early 2000's GM's. It was an aftermarket replacement and had a date code on it that was less than a year old. Got around to putting it on a few weeks ago and toasted that one too. Went out and picked up another today but this time I also got an extended warranty on it so I can keep going back to the junkyard for 13 months replacing the starter if I have to. This starter looked more like a dirty OEM version than the aftermarket replacement I found last year. Didn't take long to fry this one also. Armature won't turn now. Ran back and got another replacement. Success! I got the engine running today. I haven't had it running in 3-4 years. I'd say it brought tears to my eyes but that was just the exhaust fumes.

Temperature was hovering around the freezing mark and I had the garage door open to get the burning alcohol fumes out. My neighbors were probably wondering where the noise was coming from. My girlfriend has said in the past that the windows rattle in the house when the engine is running even with mufflers and the car is in a detached garage. I currently don't have the mufflers or exhaust on the car so it's really loud. Just 4" open headers. Had it running for about 10 minutes. Didn't have the water pump turned on and the engine didn't make any heat in the coolant. Gotta love alcohol.

Now I need to get the back cross tube replaced, finish making a transmission tunnel and replace all the SFI stuff that's expired. Belts, transmission and flexplate shield should be about it. Flexplate should be done also but I don't know if I'll have the time to pull the transmission to replace it. After that, there's just some fine tuning stuff I still want to do but can still race if I don't get them done. Drag strips will probably open in May. I'm not sure if switching my license from IHRA to NHRA will require any licensing passes yet.

MoJoe

iTrader: (5)

Right on! Maybe this will help find me some gumption to continue re-assembling my 87.

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

good deal! i hate to see them sit. glad to hear you're going to put it back together.

3rdgenmaro

iTrader: (9)

Post pics as you go please

skinny z

Subscribed.
I hope to see you in Edmonton this year.
I imagine you'll be in the Saturday/Sunday series. I try to make the Friday test and tune (missed all of last season due to work) but if I know you're going be in town, I'd head to the track.

izcain

I can totally relate. I took a couple of years off (just collected parts) and when I finally fired my car my son had not sat in it since he was a baby so at 4 he was in shock that the hulk in the garage made noise lol

SFI stuff can be a killer to get up to date when you don't keep up on it. 5 years had my changing everything lol

Go get em!

AlkyIROC

Castol has the 2017 season posted and it looks brutal. Not counting the Rocky Mountain Nationals there are 31 race days counting Saturday and Sunday from the first week of May to the last weekend in September.

Tell me about the Saturday races. Is it all day racing like a normal Sunday or just Saturday night?

I can't see myself making it for a double header. Best guess is to make it for a Sunday race every couple of weeks. I'll also have Medicine Hat to race at but they don't have a schedule posted yet. I don't know what Rimby is doing this year either.

AlkyIROC

Pictures, pictures. Everyone always wants pictures.

So I started off with the starter so that I could get the engine running. I had one of these starters on the car. It's actually the second one like this that I've had. Nice starter, You can clock the starter to fit just about any configuration but I've also had the clocking bolts come loose and the power post rotates down and touches a header tube. I use a remote solenoid so there's no power there until I try to start the engine.

https://www.summitracing.com/int/par...9500/overview/

I burned the starter out so I eventually found a junkyard starter for a fraction of the cost and it still starts my high compression engine. It just doesn't look as pretty as a race starter.

So here it is installed on the car.







It's a real tight fit. The outside starter bolt is directly above a header tube. I have the tube dented for a little more clearance. So to get the starter off, I unbolt and remove the slip on collector then unbolt the front and back header tubes. With those two tubes loose, there's enough room to wiggle the tubes over enough to get at the bolt with a wrench and it gives me enough room to slide the starter out. My header tubes are all separate. That's the only way to install the header. One tube at a time like a jigsaw puzzle. The header tubes are 2-1/4".



So that gets the starter done. Now to fix the cage to pass a chassis cert.

AlkyIROC

So the roll cage has passed a chassis cert twice now but just barely. The rear cross tube behind the seat barely passes the minimum wall thickness. I have a few options on how to fix it. The simplest way would be to just cut it out and replace it however I've fabricated a tubing mount which attaches the seat directly to the cage. My seat is not bolted to the floor. Works out really well as I also use a 6 point harness. The crotch belt is a double strap and instead of attaching to a single point under the seat, both straps attach to the side bolts that the lap belt attaches to.







Since there are tubes attaching to the cross bar, cutting it out means a whole lot more work to fix the seat tubes as well.

The option I'm going with is to install a new tube below the one that's currently in place. It will just clear the floor covering the rear frame rails. This is an acceptable repair but I'm not stopping there. I still need part of the old tube to hold the seat tubes and for a place for the belts to attach. I'll install a vertical tube between the 2 tubes then cut out the rest that goes over to the passenger side just so I don't have 2 rear tubes. The new cross tube will also be a wider diameter. Instead of 1-1/4", I'm putting in 1-1/2".

Lastly will be to finish the transmission tunnel. I cut it out a few years ago so that I have much better access to the bellhousing bolts, lines, shield etc. I want to cut out what's left of the passenger side floor so that it's flat then make a removable transmission tunnel.

skinny z

Last year Saturday and Sunday were all day affairs (in as far as I know).

Now that they've gone to NHRA, it looks as though the format has changed. I can't say how the weekends will shape up this year. I can see that one series races on Saturday (NHRA's Land of Leaders ET Challenge) and another on Sunday (Summit Race Series) so I'd say it's a safe bet that both days of the weekend are full days. The ET Challenge has only a four date schedule so what happens on the off days looks to be full day bracket racing like last year.

AlkyIROC

Well, like I said, best I can hope for is a Sunday only race every couple of weeks but even then it all depends on weather etc.

I don't have a sponsor for my fuel any more. Methanol is still much cheaper than race gas. Called the local industrial supply yesterday to see how much a barrel of methanol was. 205L is now $385.70 CAD. I still have around a half a barrel left over but a typical good race season can use 1-2 barrels of fuel. I have no idea how much a barrel of C12 or C14 is worth.

redneckjoe

sounds like you have a good plan of attack.

i made a removable doghouse/tranns tunnel cover on an s-10 once. cut and notched some angle to fit the opening, then welded it in. then made a matching frame that was removable. fill with sheet metal. sure made it easy to reach bellhousing bolts, etc.

glad to see you've got the motivation.

skinny z

Last time I bought 110 unleaded at the roundy-round track (in Ontario) it costs me about $5/litre (about 4 years ago). I was blending that with pump 94 octane while I was trying to resolve a high compression tuning issue. Pricey stuff for sure.

AlkyIROC

So back then a barrel would have cost $1025. Did a quick online search and found VP C12 for $670/barrel. Now that's US pricing. Add in the current crappy exchange rate and that now jumps to $881 not including shipping and taxes. Best guess would be if I had to buy race gas locally from VP, a barrel of it would probably be at least $1100. You can also buy it in 5 gallon pails for easier storage and transport.

Still glad I run methanol. Using methanol is great. If for any reason, I run out of fuel, I can run down to the local Home Depot and buy every jug of methyl hydrate that they have. It won't be cheap but it's still fuel. Yeah I need 40 liters of this stuff today for a hobby. I gave up on carbs years ago. Injected alcohol is the way to go.

My engine is somewhere around 13:1 to 14:1 compression. I'd like to have it around 15:1 but can't do it with my current heads and piston choices for the big engine. I already have a piston with the biggest dome possible. That's also the downside to doing something like putting turbos on my engine. Compression is way to high.

If I was going to do it again however, I'd buy SR20 heads which need special pistons, intake and headers but the heads make huge amounts of power. Current heads on the engine are Dart 360 which have been ported out to max. Never flow tested them but they're probably in the low 400 CFM range. There are sleeves in the intake ports to go around the head bolts so you can get an idea of how big the ports are.

izcain

I am going thru the fuel pricing right now as well and I can tell you what vp has advertised on their website is NOT the price that the distributor gives you. I called the vp dealer in my area and C12 was 945.00 a barrel after state tax. Ouch. I am going to switch from the vp110 that I buy now by the gallon 11.99 to a barrel of renegade 112 which has a better motor octane and is a better fuel for my use (nitrous car) and the barrel price from the distributor was 462.00 so with tax I will be right at 500 bucks which is a lot better!

izcain

At my home tracks they would have a problem with rubber on the trans lines also. Seen a couple cars catch fire from it at the track before. I got rid of mine after seeing that and watching the track give grief to people over it.

AlkyIROC

My trans lines are steel except for the short section of rubber that joins the lines to the cooler mounted under the floor.

I laugh when I hear people say for high octane fuel, they use the unleaded stuff. Might be fine for NASCAR and street cars but any engine with really high compression or a power adder needs even higher octane fuel which means leaded fuel and the extra cost of it. They don't make unleaded fuel with enough octane to handle turbo cars making 45+ pounds of boost.

redneckjoe

any thoughts on this race gas concentrate mix? i see summit and jegs, etc, are selling it now. claims to not be one of those BS "snake oils."

http://race-gas.com/

AlkyIROC

I see all those "better mileage, performance, lower emission" additives as marketing hype. If any of this stuff was any good as the claims, the manufacturers would be using it from the factory, gas stations would be putting it in the fuel etc.

BUY THIS Performance octane booster and raise you octane level up 3 points. Read the fine print. 3 points means you go from 87 octane to 87.3. It would be cheaper to buy mid range gas.

There are race gas octane boosters you can make such as using Toulene in your gas. A 30% mixture can raise your octane levels considerably however to bring it up to the higher levels of race gas, it's still cheaper to just buy race gas unless you're getting Toulene for free.

Avgas? 100LL is a low lead 100 octane fuel. I doubt you would be able to buy any unless you own an airplane and it's currently around $4 - $4.25/gallon

Also the trouble with blending is the consistency. Add this 1 pint container to a tank of fuel. OK, now how much fuel is in your tank. How much is in your tank the next time you do it. 1 or 2 gallons different will change the blend which will change how much power the engine makes. Bracket racing is about consistency.

Before committing to any of these performance enhancing claims etc, research real world results. Never believe the manufactures claims or people who are paid to test the products. If you have to spend $20 on a product that might see a 5hp gain on a dyno, it's not worth it for street use. Look at Edelbrocks performance claims from cam/intake packages. It's unlikely anyone will actually see the gains they claim due to so many variations in an engine but people still buy them and say they have a "420 HP package" installed.

"These special designed spark plugs will give to 10 more HP!". If you compared them to a set of new normal copper plugs, chances are you won't see any difference but if you're comparing them to your old dirty plugs then you will see a difference. Platinum plugs are good in a street engine because they last a lot longer than a copper plug. It depends on your mileage but with normal street driving, copper plugs should be replaced every 2-3 years anyway. I run NGK copper race plugs in my engine. I have a couple of different heat ranges because plugs are cheap. I ended up going with a cold plug.

Just went and looked at the race gas concentrate listed on Summitracing. $30 gets you a 32 ounce can. 2oz to a gallon of gas will raise your octane 4 full octane numbers. OK. so a 32 oz can can treat 16 gallons of fuel. Now the real purpose is to get as high an octane number as possible but lets start low. How much is 87 Octane fuel? How much is 91 Octane fuel?

I'm just going to use gasbuddy and use LA gas prices. Today, cheapest regular gas is $2.49. Cheapest premium is $2.75. Now assuming your tank is empty and you can take 16 gallons, regular fuel is $39.84 to fill while premium is $44. That's only a difference of $4.16 to go from 87 to 91 octane. That's a lot cheaper than the $30 can from Summit.

How much octane do you need? There is no more BTU energy in 87 octane fuel than there is in 91 octane fuel. Octane is the fuels resistance to burn. It prevents the fuel from self igniting under compression. Having a high compression engine or boost or NOS all increase the compression of the air fuel mixture. If your engine does not knock under load then using a higher octane fuel isn't required.

People make claims that they get better performance and fuel mileage from their newer cars with higher octane fuels. That's because they'll never hear the engine knock. The knock sensor will detect knock and automatically retard the timing to make it go away. Retarding the timing reduces performance under load. Switch to a higher octane and the engine knocks less and timing isn't retarded as much and you get better performance.

Older mechanical engines are a little harder. If the exhaust is quiet enough, you may hear engine knock under load. Switching to a higher octane will help but you only need enough octane to reduce or eliminate detonation.

Now get into even more modern cars. many are going to a high pressure common rail fuel system to spray fuel directly into the combustion chamber. These engines can easily run 12:1 compression and still use 87 octane fuel because there's no fuel in the cylinder as the air is being compressed to self ignite.

Damn. I type too much.

AlkyIROC

Progress update.

First of all I stopped in at one of the local speed shops where the chassis certification is going to be held on April 22. As of Feb 1,there are already 35 appointments booked and 12 spots are left. Earliest time I was able to get is 12:40. I was hoping for something closer to 11:00.

So anyway, they had 5 US gallon cans of C12 in the store so I had to ask the cost. $120ish for 5 US gallons so $24/gallon. 5 US gallons is just slightly under 19 liters (18.927) so that works out to $6.34/liter. Assuming the cost stays the same for a 205 liter barrel, the barrel would cost $1300. I think I'll stick with methanol. You burn roughly twice as much methanol as gasoline and 2 barrels of methanol would cost $771. I could buy 3 barrels of methanol for less than the cost of 1 barrel of C12. Injected methanol is the way to go for a race engine. I'll never go back to carbs.

The reason I went and got the chassis cert appointment was because I started welding the new rear crossbar for the cage last night. I got most of it welded in then my MIG torch started leaking. By the time I took it apart to fix it, it was getting to late to finish the welding. I hope to get the cage repairs finished tonight. Technically the new crossbar in place is enough to pass a chassis cert but I'm going to add a support then remove a section of the old bar since it isn't required.

To get access to weld on the drivers side, I took out the seat. I'll take some pictures of the framework I fabricated to the cage to hold the seat.

AlkyIROC

Pictures

First picture shows the new back tube looking in through the passenger door. You can see the vertical support I installed to join it to what's left of the old back brace. The end of the tube is capped off. You just cut a piece of flat metal with a hole saw for a plug and weld it in. I have no idea how that old tube got installed many years ago. I measured the tube after taking it out and got 0.110 wall thickness. Minimum spec is 0.120. The new tube below it is DOM and measures 0.130. It's also 1-1/2" tubing while the minimum spec for that tube is only 1-1/4". You can also see the seat framework I fabricated. 2 rear supports attach to the back cross tube. You can also see one of the seatbelt tabs.



Next 3 pictures look in from the drivers door. I had to cut a notch in my electrical panel for the new crossbar to attach. I didn't melt anything that I know of. You can also get a better view of the seat framework. The seat bolts to the framework and not to the floor. I have the rear mounts lower than the front to recline the seat for added headroom. I use a 6 point seatbelt. That means the crotch strap is dual and instead of a single mounting point under the seat, they attach to the same mounts as the lap belts.







Last picture just shows the steel plates bolted to the bottom of the seat that are simply bolted to the framework.



Now I need to paint the new tube and the welds before reinstalling the seat and that should be enough to get another chassis certification for 3 years.

izcain

looks good man! I like how you have your wiring setup.

red rock

iTrader: (2)

I pay $80 for 5 gal of VP C12 in Wisconsin. I race snowmobiles in the winter, but I don't think the price changes for summer. We have a lot of dirt track racing and 1 NHRA track close by. I have my little 383 tuned for 92 Premium non ethanol pump gas. Good luck with the certification.

AlkyIROC

That was my third attempt at wiring in 10 years of racing. When the car was still basically stock the wiring under the dash was a complete rats nest. I couldn't figure out where anything went and I did the wiring. This wiring was done quite a few years ago. Pencil and paper made a whole bunch of schematics to follow since I knew everything that I wanted wired. I've changed a few minor things over the years but nothing drastic. There's simple things like the overhead console has most of my switches and a voltage gauge. Since the switches simply turn on relays, they didn't need to be all 14 gauge wiring. I run a single 14 gauge wire to power all the switches and the voltage gauge and use a harness with a bundle of 22 gauge wires in it as return circuits for the relays. Bottom right of the panel are two 5 volt regulators to power the datalogger pressure transducers. I have 4 sensors and power 2 sensors and each regulator. A single regulator would have worked just fine. The vacuum switch in the overhead doesn't do anything now. It used to turn on an electric vacuum pump but I use a belt driven one now.





Fuel cost. My quoted prices are also in Canadian dollars. Our exchange rate really sucks but $80 US at todays exchange rate converts to only $104.22 Canadian dollars so you're still getting a better deal.

1986Z28OWNER

iTrader: (1)

Both your intake and headers would fit with the 20 degree heads. PS the dart version makes more power than the brodix and is a better casting

mw66nova

iTrader: (13)

i'm not thrilled about that stub coming up off the crossbar and stopping in thin air. that is now a hinge point. i'd have run the upright all the way to main hoop. or better yet, cut that crossbar out entirely and put two uprights behind you from the new crossbar to the main hoop to attach the seat mount to.

AlkyIROC

Chassis cert is this weekend. I still haven't fabricated a new transmission tunnel but that's not required for a chassis cert. I also have a new flexplate and transmission shield to install.

Today, I took the wheelie bars off, filled up the tires and took the car off jack stands. Managed to get it fired up without toasting another starter and took it out of the garage. I probably had it running for about 10-15 minutes total. Swept the floor and brought it back into the garage. Open mufflers is loud even with a quick blip of the throttle to 3000 rpm. Even though the exhaust system weighs 45 pounds, I'll sacrifice the extra weight for my hearing by running the car with mufflers. Just not ready to install them yet.

At least I know the car will move so I can load it on the trailer Saturday morning.

skinny z

Good to see some updates.
Post up if and when you're heading to Edmonton.
Hoping your season will go better than how mine is shaping up.

AlkyIROC

Chassis certification went well but be did offer a suggestion before I get it recertified again in 3 years. He wants me to install another vertical tube between the new crossbar and the old crossbar directly behind the seat then move the seatbelt mounts to the new vertical tube. He said there's nothing really wrong with the way I have it but moving the seatbelt mounts to the new tube will mean they'll wrap around the seat and hold me in the seat better.

$160 USD but since we're not in the US, $255 CAD for 3 years.