Good stuff Lance!! I hope the work, and parts expense, pays off handsomely with a big W in Putnam.
Interesting comment on the wheels.... and it reminded me that maybe it was you that used Shark Skin or similar sealer on them?? I was wondering how that was going to work out should you need to come back and clean them up again. Some of these sealers work great - until they don't - and then they're hard as hell to get off when you want to bring the luster back. Will be interesting to read what takes place there.
RE: Alignment specs
I drove the '33 on a couple long road trips and wasn't happy with the front end. Bring it home and throw on the toe plates - and it has 1/8" toe OUT.... WTF! Set it to 1/8th toe in... Check the caster... it's set at 2*.... another WTF! Set it to 7* and BAM! Drives like a different car. LOL After only 10,000 miles I had to buy new front tires because of the tread wear on the inside edges.
So I've been fighting one of the AC bracket bolts that doubles as a header bolt ever since putting this engine in. The top of the hole threads in the head are a bit compromised so I've been very leery of cranking too much torque into the bolt...and it kept coming loose. The last time I tightened it...it sort of felt like it was pulling what was left of the threads out so I just stopped and left it. Yesterday the bolt and spacer left the car as I was traveling down the highway...so now I HAD to fix is.
I picked up a 6" stud and some metal pipe for a spacer and got busy. The stud threaded all the way in, hit bottom and snugged up real well with a double nut on the other end. So I marked the stud to show when it's all the way in, cut the spacer, cut the stud to length and put a groove in the end of it so I could run it in with a screwdriver. Dab of high temp RTV in the hole to fill in any voids then ran the stud in until it hit bottom. It snugged up real nice and it felt REAL good to me to really reef on the nut while holding a screwdriver in the stud and it didn't budge. It's tight now...hopefully the last time I have to deal with this.
So I set out to do some parking lot testing of all the new stuff. This car is now OMG fun on corner exit!! It had me laughing out loud to myself!! That's what it's all about right?
Bring on Test n Tune and event 1 next weekend...I'm ready.
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Lance
1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car
Interesting comment on the wheels.... and it reminded me that maybe it was you that used Shark Skin or similar sealer on them?? I was wondering how that was going to work out should you need to come back and clean them up again. Some of these sealers work great - until they don't - and then they're hard as hell to get off when you want to bring the luster back. Will be interesting to read what takes place there.
Yeah, that ShineSeal doesn't come off so easily... What I did find out is there is a bottom of Shine Polish in the box of the rest of ShineSeal stuff and that stuff really cleaned up and made the other 3 wheels look real good again. The one I polished so long on also cleaned up pretty good and now has a fresh coat of ShineSeal and then polish on it as well.
They aren't Car Show quality clean, but they look pretty dang good for race car wheels. I'm still a believer in sealing up Billet wheels...if you EVER plan on driving your car on regular basis.
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Lance
1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car
Glad you got that fixed easily. I've been using studs on SBC headers for a long time due to situations like this. Have them on the TA, too. I've found them to be a great solution for tight fits or when the bolt doubled as a mount for accessories. You don't need to crank on the studs though. Just spin then in by hand til they bottom. Once you torque the nut, the tension created will keep everything from loosening.
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Trey
Current rides: 2000 BMW 540i/6 and 86 C10.
Former ride: 1979 Trans Am WS6: LT1/T56, Kore 3 C5/6 brakes, BMW 18in rims
My friends that autocross a lot know that there are a lot of factors that go into posting a fast time on course. Once you get past basic car setup and have some experience with driving lines and car control, it really comes down to just finding a way to get those last few tenths you can get out of the driver and the car. Those few tenths can sometimes mean the difference between a win and second place. Sometimes it’s a course design that fits your particular driving style or one that benefits your car setup, sometimes it’s a good night’s sleep the night before, and sometimes you can’t find your rear end with both hands while out on course. I’ve had plenty of those types of days the past year or so, changes to my car requiring changes to my driving style and trying to tie it all together led to a frustrating year in finishing results last year.
Those results carried forward to our Test n Tune last Saturday, I was trying to get used to some new suspension parts and some new power under the hood while in a non-points, lots of runs type of scenario on a course that should have been big car friendly…and I was a few tenths off all day. It seemed like nothing I tried worked any better than before, just the same old same old from last year. Then sometime Saturday night I had an idea, something I could try with my shock settings that was different than anything I had tried before. The knowledge I gained from Ron Suttons suspension workshop last fall gave me an idea and I texted Ron Sunday morning with my idea and asked his thoughts. He replied right back with a “sure, give it a shot”.
I had 4 shots Sunday at a track I’d never seen before so I figured I’d try the new settings for a run or two and if it wasn’t working I’d go back to my basic set up. I went halfway with my new shock strategy on run 1 and I liked it, it seemed to help the issue I was having and I put down a pretty good time. So I went the same amount again on my second run and picked up over a second. This is where I was trying to go with my point though… watching my videos back Sunday night, I realized it wasn’t the shock settings that gained me that second, it was the driver nailing two key elements on the course. On my subsequent runs 3 and 4 after, I blew both of those elements and never got close to that time again. That’s how fickle autocross can be at this level. Those drivers that are always on the top of the charts no matter what car they are driving, they are the ones that nail all of those elements continually, and it is a LOT harder than it looks.
That second run netted me a class win for the first time in over a year by 2/10s of a second on a 43 second course. I could not have done that without my fantastic #Ridetech shocks, #RonSuttonRaceTechnology suspension tune, the new #UMIPerformance rear sway bar, and the Yancy Shepard power under the hood, but in reality it came down to the driver and car fitting the course, the weather on my side, and maybe it was just my day. Regardless it felt great to get a win again…finally!
We had 142 drivers post times yesterday, 10 were in CAMC cars, 6 in Junior Karts, and competition was fierce in many of the other classes. It made me happy to see all of the active participation continuing to grow in this sport.
Here's a video of all 4 runs in order...
See if you can figure out which two elements are the two that made all the difference.
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Lance
1985 Monte Carlo SS Street Car
Lance, Car looks and sounds very stout. You are dead on with the drivers, it's hitting the same spots and the right spots every time. Nothing will help the car more than seat time.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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