Another epic day! Man work gets in the way of fun times :D

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1c8ee64d.jpg
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3f75f3a4.jpg

Super cool car. I am loving the gold! Looks like it wil be a lot of fun!

Aaron that is awesome!!! I can wait to get mine back on the road, and it's only been a few weeks!!

I agree 100% :cheers:

Thanks guys. After getting plates in the morning, dropped by the house to grab the car, hopped in and hit the road...nervous as all heck. Had to calibrate the Dakota Digital speedo, so I stopped and tripped the setup and drove exactly a mile and it was set right on, checked with a gps to be sure.

For a quicky eyeball alignment, camber was a bit towards kill-mode, it drove excellent, tracked straight with the steering wheel only off maybe 5 degrees or so :thumbsup:
Took the long way back to work or course. Had to give a few of my employees rides, then decided to call it an early day (had other things than work on my mind). So on the way home, 1/4 mile from the house it died, wouldn't restart. :shakehead: Had the laptop in the car so checked things out..no fuel pressure. :bur2:
Got it home after a short tow, checked some things out. Seems as though the Holley pump was completely fried. Hot wired it bypassing the relay and only get a little "click" from the tank. Anyway, new one is on the way today, Saturday delivery, bad one is out already. Talked to Holley tech said it sounded like I did everything right and they'd take it apart and look at it. Maybe I just got a bad one? 29 miles is all it made it.

Just a minor setback I guess. Things have been going too good, something had to happen. Boy was it fun before it quit though :drive:

Glad to hear your having a blast with it even with the setbacks!

Aaron, you are rolling....man what can I say? You lucky dog, you. :walkingdog: I'm so jealous bro. Congrats!! :bigun2:

"was" rolling :confused59:
So I got the fuel pump swapped out, no problems everything is fine again there. Drove the car some more yesterday and today, about 100 miles on it so far.

Another thing that has bothered me since I first drove it in the yard: there is a "rattling" or "rumbling" type noise from the transmission tunnel. It gets quieter when I push the clutch in but doesn't go away. Also is noticeable when driving but not as much as from a stop. Now after driving it for 15-20 minutes when I back pedal the gas going at speed, there is a squealing noise that doesn't sound good. It comes and goes, kinda weird. So, I've decided to drop the transmission.

Not sure how this is going to go, but we'll see. Either the throw-out bearing is junk or something is wrong in the transmission. It was fully rebuilt, so hopefully they will honor their work if it is that.

Anyway aside from a few challenges, it is an awesome feeling driving it. Couldn't be happier with the way the chassis feels and how the Ridetech spring/shocks feel. I have the shocks right in the middle and it rides very good.

Wish me luck on this challenge, hope it's just something dumb I did. I'll let you know when I find out. 11 days to Motorstate :drowninga:

Aaron, that is more than likely your clutch rattling. That's why it gets quiter when you depress the pedal.....it's loose. When you depress it, that puts tension on the clutch plates, hence, stopping the rattling. The rattling sound means the clutch is sort of "wobbling" as it spins which is what's making the noise. Check the bolts and make sure it is on the transmission input shaft right. I hope all this makes sense, because that's the best way I can explain it. LOL!! :computer: I don't know all the mechanic lingo and correct terms. :headscratch:

totally made sense Marcus. Dropped the tranny tonight. Unfortunately, everything looked just fine. I was hoping to see something more obvious. Good news is no metal shavings anywhere that I found. The only thing we found was comparing the knockoff GM throwout to an AP brand (OEM brand) throwout, was the fact that the AP overall compressed height was 1/4-3/8" shorter than the one I had. What I'm wondering is if the cylinder was totally bottomed out when the clutch was released causing the noise?? Got nothing else, bearing felt good, nothing looked wrong.
Anyway, put it back together with the AP throwout/slave...got to hook everything back up now that I had to remove to drop the trans.
Maybe tomorrow night.

Well my rollercoaster of highs and lows continues. Dropped the trans Monday night and swapped the throwout bearing with the AP one. Put it all back together. The rattling noise is all but gone, thought I found it! But after driving for 15-20 minutes and a few spirited runs, there is still an annoying "squealing" that comes and goes when you backpedal the throttle at speed. No idea.

So after being let down after I thought it was fixed, headed for home...lost another fuel pump.

I haven't diagnosed it for sure, but it failed the same way as the first one. Must be something in my setup, but I've got absolutely no idea on the cause. Any insight from you guys would be appreciated. I'm at wits end. Very frustrated.

Wish I had better news. I'm going to post something in the fuel tech area I guess..

I really like the multiple mounting rails on the radiator. is that self created? or did you purchase it like that? if so where?

It's a Flex-a-lite radiator. It has been customized a bit (by them) from their standard. Flex-a-lite
They are nice for attaching/mounting but they are thicker too (packaging concern).

You may want to make sure the tank is vented correctly. I have heard of people having issues with that before.

10-4, tank is vented. I've confirmed after driving by opening the gas cap and there is no pressure/vacuum present.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Sure hope you get it figured out soon! Can't wait to see some smokey burnout videos of this bad boy. :drive: :cheering:

Thanks, me too! Actually, I may have turned a tire or two already :whistling:
Camera wasn't rollin' though.

Is your fuel pump
 

grounded to the car or to the battery?

Hey Payton, it is grounded to the chassis by the tank. The battery is grounded to both the body and also to the chassis. Would a ground cause a complete failure or just poor performance?
Thanks for the help!

I about burned my car
 

down by hooking the fuel pump direrctly to the battery once. Have no idea what I was thinking, I will blame it on the Miller lites.

If I can get a hold of Ron Schwarz, I will ask him his thoughts on our problem. He does not get on here often.

Is it sucking air are getting hot? Is that a race pump and not made for street driving?

lol, musta been a lot of Miller Lites :lol: Some quality homebrews get you to that point alot quicker :headspin:

Ok, here is an update: It's not electrical. I spoke with engineering at Holley. The first pump I sent back was seized mechanically. They are thinking it is cavitating or straight up sucking air. He explained they are fixed volume pumps and move alot of fuel. They can create the "toilet bowl effect" -you know how you give a swirly :lol: That would make sense if you were just driving along with minimal sloshing. So I'm thinking I need to do something with the pickup inlet. Also, I can't see how the return line interacts with the pickup, hopefully its not pointing right at it or that could cause aeration too.

here is a shot of the pickup tube removed and placed directly above where it is mounted. Notice the slash cut doesn't point down, but more forward and up just a bit. Hmmm
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4507382d.jpg

hard to see but just above the writing on the tank there are three spot welds, that is where the baffle wall is that the pickup tube goes thru.

No need to call the big shooter in yet! I'm sure Ron could figure out the electrical gremlins though. I saw him in action at Kershaw on Tom's car, lol

Thanks Payton.

Easy for me to say
 

after you figured the problem. My first thought was sucking air but I thought you were running a Rick's tank that was all baffled up.

I am suprised that your car was not stumbling. When mine would uncover the pump it was very noticable.

I did call Ron and asked him. He knows that those pumps are voltage sensitive and if for some reason your alternator is charging more than 14 volts they will burn out. But again, they said it was mechanical. You could always try a GM unit from an F body.

It is a Ricks, but an older version. It's a lot shallower (its only 6-1/2") than the current design. And evidently the newer version went to a revised venting design.

It was strange they both died without much notice. The first one stumbled maybe three times, 5 secs later it was done. The second didn't hiccup, just wouldn't accelerate then it stopped.
Holley does rate them as up to 18.5V operating voltage, don't think there is a way I could be generating that much. The voltmeter in the dash is rock solid around 13.5V when its running.

I'm considering other options at this point. If Holley is willing to work with me I'll try to make there's work first. I'm leaning towards multiple pickups with the Walbro tank pickups in each corner. Sounds like a good design project :cheers:

Payton, you gonna make it to Motorstate? Ron's car is a taxi anyway, he'd wouldn't mind you ridin' all day :poke:


:thankyou:

I will not be at Motor State
 

May try and make it next year. I like Gingerman.

I had one of Rick's first tanks with the A1000 pumps. It would uncover at anything under half a tank. Got the new design and never had a problem, also changed and went with a walbro pump.

Mine had the A1000 in when I got it. I just thought it was way too big for my fire breather. Thanks Payton


Little update on where I'm at with the gremlins I've been having. Picked up the loaner tank and pump from Tom this weekend and proceed to install it as soon as I could. Got it mocked up Sunday night. The power leads had to be lengthened, the fuel output port was a different size, the return and pressure ports were flipped position, the filler neck was different and the sending unit was in a different spot. Oh, it's deeper which we knew and takes different straps. Other than that, the tanks are the same, hey they are both stainless steel.

I can't thank Mr. Farrington enough for getting me moving again

So, still waiting on the longer straps from Rick's. UPS shows them being delivered here tomorrow, the day before the Motorstate Challenge of course. Lot's to due tomorrow still but mostly gathering stuff to take along.

Tonight I tightened up all the tank connections and wiring and tossed 5 gallons in it. I couldn't wait to start it to make sure everything was going to work. Guess what? It worked. Obviously starting it on blocks with the jack holding the tank there is not a real road test, but it does work.

Also, got the PWM (pulse width management) function from the Holley EFI to work for the cooling fan. Not exactly sure on the numbers, but it starts at 25% duty cycle at 195, then 50%, then 75%, then 100% at around 215 I believe. All adjustable numbers, just had to start somewhere.

So, interior is like a patch work quilt, but hey its in. Harness are installed, alignment is close with a digital level for camber and caster. I can see I'm gonna have to revisit the front geometry later. I'm thinking spindles and steering arms will be in order.

on your transmission noise im going to go with internally.I just fought my T56 in my daily driver and had symptoms backward from yours, meaning if you push the cluth pedal in, then you got noise. But if your getting noise when its not pressed in then either your clutch is pushing into your throwout bearing or internal problem is my guess.

Did you measure to see if the clutch setup needed a shim behind the slave? That would have told you if its binding too

Thanks Scott, I'm thinking its internal as well. D&D said don't worry, just drive it. So, I'm driving it :_paranoid

Motorstate Bound
 

Well, on March 19th I set a goal to maintain motivation, and get the Chevelle on the road. Technically, I'm not at the event yet, but the car is loaded and (mostly) ready to go to the Motorsate Challenge tomorrow morning.

Wow, with all the weird things that popped up since I fired it on July 3rd, now I'm heading to my first event. Probably more of a shake down event than actually trying to be consistent. So many things that can be adjusted, so many knobs to turn, so many unknowns, where do you start?

Anyway, I could not have reached my goal without help and patience from some very key people. #1, my wife Jill. This would be the patience department. I mentioned it before: take your significant other to an event and get them a ride if you want them to know why you do what you do! #2, Tom Farrington (sorry Tom about the whole #2 thing). Said it before, I'll say it again, he is the man. Not just for his willingness to lend a hand, find a part, loan something, but for the therapeutic phone calls and general friendship too. #3, Billy Utley of B&B Classics for last minute weld jobs, tool loaning, and late night LS technical questions. Oh, and the trailer loan, I might have to keep it.

Whatever happens this weekend, I feel great about where I'm at. Sure, there will be issues to work thru, no doubt. Just hope nothing is catastrophic. Totally looking forward to ripping on this thing

Ok, proof it's on a trailer. Wish I was driving it there, but it's too risky at this point. I want to have some fun on the track first

If anyone is at the Challenge, please stop by and say hi!

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps996d5b47.jpg

http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8bc4f6b0.jpg

Glad your making it to the event. I hope you get some video of the runs so I can live through your Chevelle since I don't know when mine will ever be done.

Aaron,
Thanks for the kind words, but the great thing about this hobby is the "like minded" individuals who care more about the camaraderie than the competition. I for one can't wait to take my first ride in your Chevelle!!! 8/10ths on the road course right? ;-)
Oh yeah, I will take a 2nd to Jill any day.

Glad to see you are on your way
 

That Tom dude is a cool cat. Have fun!

Just chewed through all 12 pages! What a great build! It's always great when a plan comes comes together! It's experiences like this when family and friends get involved that make it even more worth while - especially for your boys! Car looks awesome and very well thought out. Congrats!

Great news. I survived a few sessions at Gingerman and doing unbelievably well in the autocross today, I was one proud guy. Sure got some things to work out, but I ran about 3-4 seconds faster than I imagined I would've in the autocross (comparing to cars I'm familiar with and how well they did).

At Gingerman, in the first session I was able to hit 110 on the straight with ease. Still getting used to the manual brakes, I was braking waaaay to early, but hey it was a shake down run

Second session I sat out as I was trying to find the squealing noise as it was back big time. We determined it was in the front accessories, not in the transmission like it sounded like before. So hoping for an easy fix I replaced the idler pulley...nope, looks like the brand new power steering pump has a bad bearing. Oh well, everyone got out of my way in the pits because it was so obnoxious to hear coming So, I need to address that.

Third session I went back out and got stuck behind some "touring" guys that obviously didn't listen to anything the officials talked about in the driver's meeting, grrrr. So, due to being blocked, never got a good clean track for even an attempt at something close to 8/10th's speed.

The autocross was my happy place. Pretty fast couse was setup with a few tricky spots. The first three attempts, somehow I managed to go on the wrong side of a gate, so those were DNFs. Then on a run that was going very good, another car spun and took out the timing light in front of me...so I got a do over lap for that. The do over was a good clean time and my last time was also good and even faster at 34.9

The car felt great, very balanced but with low rear grip (due to the used, hard tires I'm sure). It turned in very well and was very stable cornering. I don't know what to change

Couldn't be happier guys. If it wasn't for the power steering pump screaming when it got warm, it would've been perfect. It exceeded my expectations for the maiden voyage for sure. It's in one piece, drove it back on the trailer and we made the trip back safely.

A few cheesy pics for now, there will be some up that I can link to in a few days.

In the pit
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48f6eaee.jpg
getting ready for my first session behind Deb, with butterflies
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps866ea52f.jpg
on track in turn 2 (I know, kinda cheesy)
http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6148ea47.jpg

:cheers:

Congrats Aaron!! Not cheesy to me. The car looks great in that turn if you ask me. I bet it felt good.

You're going to make them wait? I can't let that happen.....

I was fortunate enough to take a couple of rides with Aaron during his DNF runs. Car does really well without even considering the short time to shake it out and the old tires.



https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...0/IMG_6651.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...0/IMG_6668.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B...0/IMG_6680.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n...0/IMG_6683.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...0/IMG_6685.JPG

Hope you don't mind me posting Aaron, but I'm off to China in the morning so this is the only real chance! Thanks again for the rides! :lateral:

Hope I don't mind!! heck no, those are great. You need to give my wife some camera lessons lol.
Thanks Brian, glad you made it out to the event.
I'll have to get with you when you get back to get a good copy of these.

:thankyou:

Awww, bummer video is "private". Such a teaser. :warning:

Great to see the maiden track day went well Aaron! It looks right at home going around the cones.

By the way the video works for me!

Thanks Rick! it was an incredible experience. I'm very pleased for just knocking a "eyeball" alignment on it and throwing it on the trailer, on how well it did the autocross. Can wait for some new tires for more rear grip :bigun2:

Yeah, Brian fixed the video. Thanks again Brian!

That thing is sweet! I am glad you got it back on track and made it to the event.

Car is KICK A$$ :thumbsup: Congrats