Nitrousbird Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Ugh, what a freaking day. Me and some Cols Racing guys drove down to Norwalk. On the way there, my car starts getting this vibration that keeps getting worse. I end up pulling over, pulling out the jack/tools. Thanks to Shawn (Tsi guy), Dave Schot (non-member here), and the Intense guys, we quickly found that my a few of my front right lug nuts backed off, and I broke a wheel studd. Tightened down the remaining 4, and was good to go. No good reason that should have happened; same lugs/studds/wheels have been on there for years, and I haven't had that wheel off since spring and a couple thousand miles ago. If only that was the begining. Get to Norwalk, swap on the ET Streets. Make two crappy N/A passes to just get the tires warm/make sure the car was running good N/A. Kick on the spray. Same jets I've always used, straight 94 w/ 9 degrees of retard, identical setup motor/nitrous/PCM/ignition/fuel wise as I ran at Trails a few months ago when I ran an 11.29, and the car ran perfectly there. Car launched decently (I wasn't agressive enough; not used to a track that hooks), sputtered a bit on the 1-2 shift, good through 2nd, good thru 3rd, started breaking up BADLY in 4th. Knew then it was running on 7 cylinders. Only pulled a 11.39 (blah), and drove back to the pits. Opened the hood....yup, blew a head gasket. Same thing happened early last year (that time I was running 93/94 mix and only pulling 3 degrees of timing), most likely lifted the gasket on the #1 cylinder, overpressurized the cooling system causing coolant to shoot out the puke tank. Sadly, I live 117 miles from Norwalk. AAA only good for 100 miles. After that, it's $3/mile PLUS the cost of fuel. That would have been a good $75 to get it home! But a HUGE thanks to Mike (copperhead), as he offered to tow my car home from the Flying J in Delaware after he dropped Matts car off. So all I did was throw in some $$ for gas, and saved a bundle of money. That was awesome of him to take the time to do that for me. I wasn't the only breakage, though. Ray (COFBA member w/ low 10 second T/A) destroyed his tranny 1st pass. Matt toasted his clutch first pass. Another COFBA member damaged his clutch (another POS SPEC clutch bites the dust on a near-stock car). So I'm done w/ the car for the year. Screw this stock shortblock crap; time to pull the motor and get a little more serious with it. I have a feeling something around the #1 cyllinder might have issues anyway, so it's probably a good idea to just go over all of it. Had the head gasket held, the car probably had really high 10's in it today, but things didn't work that way. She'll definately be in the 10's w/ a stroker motor, more spray, and a bigger cam next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
302Powered Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 If you need a hand tearing it down, give me a call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted September 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 I will if I can't get any help. I've had the motor out before to do all the gaskets, so it's something I'm familar with. It won't be too bad of a project (unlike project Jimmy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Glad to hear you made it back without too much expense. The blown head gasket sucks but is a also a great opportunity. Now it's time for 10s, scratch that 9s! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted September 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Glad to hear you made it back without too much expense. The blown head gasket sucks but is a also a great opportunity. Now it's time for 10s, scratch that 9s! Yeah, I can't thank Mike enough for helping me out! 9's is probably stretching it a bit on my car. You saw what a pig it was on the scales! I'd like to see 10.50's w/ the car next year on a 200-225 shot. She'll have the MPH, but launching a stick car on spray is tricky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted September 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Fast cars are unreliable Fixed. Maybe one day you'll have one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted September 10, 2005 Report Share Posted September 10, 2005 Anytime btw, working at 7 am on saturdays sucks ass, i finally got home at 10:30 pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mensan Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Is the plan to keep it a nitrous engine, or is a blower/turbo in your future? If you're keeping it on the bottle you might benefit from a healthy increase in CR as well as more cubes. Sorry to hear about the problems, but it sounds like an excellent time to upgrade, especially considering you are probably used to the way it drives. Time to make it scary again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted September 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 I'd like to go the turbo route. My wallet doesn't agree with that plan. I'll be going either a 383 or 396 route most likely. CR would be somewhere in the 11-11.5:1 ratio, and probably a 200-225 shot of giggle gas. That should put the car well in the 10's without doing anything else. Might lighten it up a bit as well if funds allow (tubular K-member and skinnies would knock almost 100lbs off the front of the car). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thorne Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Good luck man. Sounds like a beast in the making Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mensan Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Tubular K makes things SO much easier to work on. I would NOT recommend AJE at all. I have been to the guys house; his facilities are less than desireable and his customer service is HORRIBLE. BUT, you can do the K at any time. Might be easier when the engine is out, but just a little. 396 is badass, 427 even better. Sounds like you have it all figured out. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted September 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Tubular K makes things SO much easier to work on. I would NOT recommend AJE at all. I have been to the guys house; his facilities are less than desireable and his customer service is HORRIBLE. BUT, you can do the K at any time. Might be easier when the engine is out, but just a little. 396 is badass, 427 even better. Sounds like you have it all figured out. Good luck. 427 on an LT1 is BBBIIIIGGGGGGG bucks; tons of difficult machine work, sonic testing on multiple block to select the best canidate, and definately not worth the cash. You'll never normally see larger than a 398 on an LT1, unless someone is going for the ultimate high-dollar N/A setup. I believe people have gotten it up to 434ci, but these are people with deep pocket books and a desperate need for the win light. For a K-member, I'd either go BMR like my roomate has (very nice piece, they make tons of quality stuff), or PA Racing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fattyona12 Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 i was popping head gaskets as well with a 225 shot on my 347. I switched to multi layer steel gaskets and they seem to be holding up great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lustalbert Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 At least it wasnt something bigger like a rod or a piston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoMeSomeFun Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 Arent you able to reuse multi layer steel gaskets, i remember reading about some kind of head gaskets that you could reuse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest crazylady Posted September 12, 2005 Report Share Posted September 12, 2005 i was popping head gaskets as well with a 225 shot on my 347. I switched to multi layer steel gaskets and they seem to be holding up great. copper work's well to...heads studs help the most! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitrousbird Posted September 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Copper has way too many sealing issues to deal with. I'll have to decide what kind of head gasket to run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Removed Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 ive used copper up to 300hp shot any thing more and you need mls gaskets! that copper spray helps alot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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