Dreamin Ta's
 

I finally have been spending some time on the firebird lately
Ridetech rear suspension is complete and I braced things
up. Finally installed the fuel cell, almost done with the
plumbing.. just a little wiring to do and hope to get it
back on the road again and off the Jackstand Racing Team:)

Bob

I bet you'll beat me at getting the car back on the ground, Bob. Glad you're moving forward again.

Dreamin Ta's
 

Finished up my wiring... had to shorten the battery cables
They are 30 year old real braided copper double ott.. not sure
you can but this good stuff any more

Bob

Nice to see it coming together. You coming out to GG in March with this hopefully?

Dreamin Ta's
 

Glassman
Yes I finally got it running again
Ordered a new containment seat
today. Might do Crowslanding in early
March to try to dial things in

It will be good to see you again

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Installing my new birthday present
I lowered the seating position along with
moving it back for better leg position

Bob

Dreamin Tas
 

So I have been missing the old Muncie
2nd gear so finally pulled the tko 600
and ordered not a M-22 or 23 they are now
making a M-24. Better cooling and gear angles
with a bunch of other goodies including
Gearing with better ratios

Midwest Muncies. Can't wait to see it arrive

Bob

Bob,

Any more info on this trans? Midwest doesn't have it on their website.

Andrew

Dreamin Tas
 

Andrew
Jeff at Midwest did not get it on the website yet
So I have 755 hp and his m-23 is good for 800 hp
I might tweak things later so his m-24 is good for more
It is an ultra case. Sealed bearings both ends better cooling
Dipstick 2 drain plugs and better gear angles
It still has all the good stuff as the m-23 lightened main shaft
Upgraded shift shafts and synchros etc. I am also getting the polished
Gears with ratios of 2.20, 1.50, 1.17 and 1.1 a lot better for
my engine with a .750 roller cam. The Engine did not like the Tko
Gearing at all. Give him a call if you want all the details
I almost bought a reconditioned Jerico but decided not to go that route

Back in the Stone age, I had a 2.20 first gear M22 in my GTO. I realize that different engine like different things, but it seems like that gearing is really close. A T56 has a 2.66 first gear typically and a M21 had a 2.48 (as I recall).

Just something to think about.

Andrew

Nice seat, Bob! What are you doing for a back brace? When it comes to a Kirkey, the back brace definitely seems to make the seat (that and the cover).

Your trunk space is very CP car now--mine looks pretty similar, with all the extra airflow and whatnot.

I'll have to make a point of getting down to a Crows Landing event this year, if only to watch. It's tough to give a day to an SCCA event where you only drive for like four minutes, but Crows Landing at least seems a bit more on par with the Marina course.

Dreamin Ta's
 

Seat brace is the one kirky sells for that seat
I did have to make a couple of shims so it would
bolt into the cross bar of of my 5 point setup.. it
was hitting in the middle of the bar so just a little
shimming out with some tube alum

Hope to get it up and running again soon then off
to Crows for a few events
I just need to stop changing things

Would love to see your Falcon/corvette creation:)

Bob

That trans sounds great Bob. Nearly identical to my G Force / Tex T101A ratios. And that 2-3-4 is outstanding for road course duty. :thumbsup:

Good luck with it.

Dreamin Tas
 

Flash
I have been trying to get a ratio close
to my Pantera but we changed the rear gear
many years back and no one remembers. So
I have been playing with the speed calculators
and trying to get close to that combo

Bob

Dreaming Tas
 

The new N-24 trans showed up today
Time to get it installed

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Transmission is installed.. made the rear 4 link
uppers easier to adjust so I can get the pinion angle
right

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Been driving the Pantera a lot lately
and it finally just turned over 100,000 miles
Not bad for an old car with a lot of new parts
Missed the Zero setting but caught it at 1,000 miles

Bob

Congrats, Bob! That's fantastic.

Dreamin Ta's
 

Finally getting this Transmission thing
done after my Mini Bike racing at Eagle field
and seeing Greggs beast last weekend

Install the exhaust tonight and off for a break-in
on Saturday Morning

Also just ordered up some glass flairs-Motion Iroc type
Took another 14 lbs out of the floor by removing sound
deadener... hope to throw it on the scales this weekend
to see how much weight I have reduced this time around

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

So I finished up the trans install, tweaked the pinion
angle and the rear end still makes a bunch of gear noise
I think I damaged it with the bad angles before so off
to the rearend shop to see what is going on

Good news is I finally weighed the car after all the
changes made and it was way less than I ever calculated
3019 lbs now... Front to back not the best at 55% vs 45%
but will have to deal with it unless I want to get rid of my
big inch aftermarket Pontiac block

Still have some door bars and door lightening to do so more
weight to shed.. not sure if the cam class is 3000 Lbs with
me in the car or not

Bob

Nice work, Bob! That's impressive that you were able to get so much weight out of the car.

Agreed! TOW is about 3550 or so depending on the fluid levels and that is with the LS engine and the fiberglass hood. I do have a carbon front bumper that would drop close to 100# if I could get it installed. And I probably have 100# or more of Dynamat in the car too. Oh well, creature comforts. ;)

Dreamin ta's
 

So got a call from Gearmasters and the 12 bolt
Posi gears look like they had a meltdown. Best news
I have had in a while as I was thinking I could not get
a proper pinion angle with my new 4 link. Learned a lot about a
adjusting and made it easy to do now

So I had that 12 bolt built 30 years back and broke one
Axel, blew up the spider gears and destroyed the piñon bushing
but never replaced the gears. I had to laugh as the guy said it looks
Like it wasn't broken in properly. Break in really !!!...the car started lfe with
me autocrossing the hell out of it. Not sure if I should listen to him
about break in as this one will never last as long

Dreamin Ta's
 

Picked the car up from Gearmasters
and he gave me the old Gear set
I guess 30 odd years finally took a toll
This is the worse gear another one is
almost the same with a few others chipped

Hopefully I can now Race this thing at Crows

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Filled the bumper recess with
1/16" ABS and a little Aluminum
Saving weight

Bob

Dreamin Ta's
 

Fixed the broken rear spoiler extension and
installed the Dreamin Ta's decal that my wife and her
friend made up for me two years back
Finished the new harness belts Car is almost
ready for Crow's this weekend

Bob

don't know how I've missed this for 4 years.

Great looking cars Bob! Nice work you've done as well!

Have fun out there Bob...not sure how you can not with that car on a course like should be up there.

Hey Bob,

I just wanted to say sorry for leaving you hanging for the course work on Saturday. It honestly didn't even occur to me until I'd left the base--the sun took away some brain cells, plus I had the whole birthday excuse . . .

Hope it was not too much torture--it was a decent day of autocross, even with an automatic. It was great cookin' in the sun with you and Ron and the romance of race gas exhaust.

The whole course work thing is definitely a mark in favor of the track day . . .:bang:

Dreamin Ta's
 

Paul
It was great hanging with you Paul
Great seeing your creation
The work group at the end of the day was brutal
Very hot almost felt like a couple of us got heat stroke
Went back today and 10 degrees cooler. Staring to figure
the car out with all the changes. Driver still needs to get
the rust off. Ride tech four link really hooks up
American Autocross guys really know how to set up a great
Course. Will be going back to Crows Landing in a few weeks
Bob

Agreed, Bob, both on the point of getting some driving skills back in shape and how awesome the American Auto-x Series track setup was. Most would not believe the speed levels the fast guys/gals are hitting out there. I definitely plan to get out to another one of their events!

Oh, and all of those kids in Subarus and Toyotas (and super-loud modern Mustangs) really need to see more old American iron. We were a bit of a minority out there, which is of course cool . . .

What rear gear ratio are you running Bob?

I am in the SF Bay Area too - south bay. Would like to come join you guys and beef up the quantity of old school muscle out there.

I just finished a refresh on a 71 Camaro I bought last year - all Hotchkis suspension, bilsteins, DSE UCA's, T56, StopTech manual brakes, 520hp 406 carb motor. It's a street car that I plan to do some autox and track events with from time to time. Nothing too serious. I used to do that - ran a 3rd gen in FS and ESP with SCCA 15-20 years ago, then got into HPDE and ended up racing in the NASA CMC class for a few years. Gave all that up 10 years ago to put the kids through schooling.

Would love to get together some time to chat about cars and events where we can have some fun with them here in northern CA.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ba8d70d9_b.jpg

Dreamin Ta's
 

Would love to have you join us... very nice car you have
I am just getting back into autocrossing regularly myself
as been tracking my Pantera for many years

My car has a 4:11 rear gear... Muncie 4 speed now with
a 2:20 first and 1:70 second... lets the horsepower work
better... I am very happy I changed the transmission
... ran this car hard 25-30 years back

I will be at Cars N Coffee this Saturday at Starbucks
1815 hillsdale ave.... near target... then heading
to my shop in Campbell close by... we are dropping
in an engine in my buddies mustang... you can tag along
if you want to see our Cave

Come by and we can meet
Also doing Crows Landing again July 27,28th
American Autocross Series

Bob

Cool. I was strongly considering 3.89 - my ratios are 2.66/1.78/1.34/1 so almost identical to your set-up in 2-3-4 anyway.

Sure this Sat AM looks good for me - pretty much in my back yard too - I am in SJ.

what time? I'll bring the 71

If you guys are out on the town Friday night, my band is playing a Number One Broadway in downtown Los Gatos. Classic rock band. I play keyboards

- Scott

Dreamin Ta's
 

Cars n coffee starts at 7am but I usually don't
The get there until around 7:45. Usually goes to
10-11am

Will check our calendar for Friday
I do live in Los Gatos

Bob

Cool. Normally I'm an early riser even on the weekends, but after that gig I get home maybe 2:30AM! I'll probably still be up by 8. I will need copious amounts of coffee - good call holding this in a location that can help with that!

9:30PM start time at #1 btw. It's a great venue and great crowd on a Friday night. We play a lot of fun party tunes everybody remembers from the 70's, 80's and a few from the 90's and current day too.

Do you run in CAM-T class btw?

Dreamin Ta's
 

Scott,
Yes I ran in Cam T... Still learning the car
and getting the rust off me as really I have not
run for 2 years and then only a few times
Seat time is the best thing.. trying to get some now
and not change the car too much

Bob

I have lots of rust. Have't done an autox for 10 years+, and haven't been on a road course for at least 8 years myself. Was racing w/ NASA up until about 10 years ago I think. Maybe longer.

Lots of rust.... Hopefully it's like riding a bike!! :thumbsup:

Bob, if you're on facebook, hopefully you're a member of the AAS page. Alvin Cheng downloaded a lot of pictures from the LPM and got some good pictures of you in the Firebird.