They were cool as expected. But basically the difference in ambient temps. The meth injection is going back on so that in the heat I can keep them sub 180, and hopefully sub 150.
On the 'mildly' Cheap SS Monte Carlo chasing a 9.0___
- Thread starter 64nailhead
- Start date
Been plugging away. 1st item on the agenda was dropping the trans pan to see what kind of surprises were in there for me. If it was ugly, then that means a trans freshening will be required which implies $$$$. Fortunately, the transmission gods were watching over me and the pan contained nothing metallic and virtually no clutch material. I was truly shocked and happy. This means that I can wait until mid to late summer to reassess before DW.
I have a list of areas to improve. 1st, is adding some rear end geometry adjustability. I bought some brackets for a Fox 8.8 from MAF Racing and modified them minorly to have them act as 'doublers'. Here is the before :
And here's the after :
I was able to re-purpose one of the original holes and had to drill the remaining 32. This started out seeming like a relatively easy process, and as usual, I was wrong. After drilling and reaming the top 3, the bottom 5 on each bracket required a right angle drill ......... all I'll say is that sucked. But hopefully the end result will be worth it. I can now change my antisquat percentage in 9% increments from 95% to 175%. And if I move the upper bar I can change the Instant Center length in 5-6" increments. Hopefully this will let me get the chassis to work on radial prep to no prep surfaces with just some bar changes, shock changes and weight adding.
Next is onto the parachute. If I haven't mentioned it before, the DW people and track folks during DW were giving me some heavy sheetz about not having a chute running over 150. I had a plan to fabricate a mount and work at getting it in the correct location to get it through the bumper. After reading too much and overthinking the situation, which is my usual modus operandi, I found Trick Chassis makes a direct bolt in chute mount for $250ish. So I pulled the trigger on it. I want to say, Alex (owner) is a fabulous guy and his products fit. I bought a tube core support from him in '22. When I ordered the chute mount he had all of my information and history in his computer system. I ran him through the ringer getting me measurements to confirm that his piece is a direct fit. And he didn't bat an eyelash at offering up the info. I had the part 4 days after ordering. Here's what it looks like :
It is amazing the amount of crud/buildup behind the enduro bumper. I've since cleaned it off. I dropped off the chute mount and my homemade hitch to be powdercoated. I should have them back next week for the small sum of $200. But I think it will be 100% better than me using a rattle can on them.
For those of you that haven't seen photos of the SSM 8.8 truss kit installed, here's a good one :
A friend told me that it looks like Killdozer piece lol. It's a chunk and not easily slid around on a jack. And it's not a weight saver, but it's tough as hell. Not pretty, but effective and budget friendly as well.
The remainder of the winter upgrades consist of a cam swap, re-working front a-arm geometry, and a converter re-stall. I'm hoping that these will get me the last .3-.4 to get me to 8.50 in a full interior street car. Time will tell. Fellow member Jdam has offered me an air launcher cylinder for the chute so that I don't have to mess with a damn spring launcher for repacking, and it's appreciated beyond what I can say. And I urge you guys to look at the Trick Chassis parts - Alex and his wife are the real deal - honest, hardworking people making quality parts for our cars.
Happy trails - Jim
I have a list of areas to improve. 1st, is adding some rear end geometry adjustability. I bought some brackets for a Fox 8.8 from MAF Racing and modified them minorly to have them act as 'doublers'. Here is the before :
And here's the after :
I was able to re-purpose one of the original holes and had to drill the remaining 32. This started out seeming like a relatively easy process, and as usual, I was wrong. After drilling and reaming the top 3, the bottom 5 on each bracket required a right angle drill ......... all I'll say is that sucked. But hopefully the end result will be worth it. I can now change my antisquat percentage in 9% increments from 95% to 175%. And if I move the upper bar I can change the Instant Center length in 5-6" increments. Hopefully this will let me get the chassis to work on radial prep to no prep surfaces with just some bar changes, shock changes and weight adding.
Next is onto the parachute. If I haven't mentioned it before, the DW people and track folks during DW were giving me some heavy sheetz about not having a chute running over 150. I had a plan to fabricate a mount and work at getting it in the correct location to get it through the bumper. After reading too much and overthinking the situation, which is my usual modus operandi, I found Trick Chassis makes a direct bolt in chute mount for $250ish. So I pulled the trigger on it. I want to say, Alex (owner) is a fabulous guy and his products fit. I bought a tube core support from him in '22. When I ordered the chute mount he had all of my information and history in his computer system. I ran him through the ringer getting me measurements to confirm that his piece is a direct fit. And he didn't bat an eyelash at offering up the info. I had the part 4 days after ordering. Here's what it looks like :
It is amazing the amount of crud/buildup behind the enduro bumper. I've since cleaned it off. I dropped off the chute mount and my homemade hitch to be powdercoated. I should have them back next week for the small sum of $200. But I think it will be 100% better than me using a rattle can on them.
For those of you that haven't seen photos of the SSM 8.8 truss kit installed, here's a good one :
A friend told me that it looks like Killdozer piece lol. It's a chunk and not easily slid around on a jack. And it's not a weight saver, but it's tough as hell. Not pretty, but effective and budget friendly as well.
The remainder of the winter upgrades consist of a cam swap, re-working front a-arm geometry, and a converter re-stall. I'm hoping that these will get me the last .3-.4 to get me to 8.50 in a full interior street car. Time will tell. Fellow member Jdam has offered me an air launcher cylinder for the chute so that I don't have to mess with a damn spring launcher for repacking, and it's appreciated beyond what I can say. And I urge you guys to look at the Trick Chassis parts - Alex and his wife are the real deal - honest, hardworking people making quality parts for our cars.
Happy trails - Jim
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