BUILD THREAD 86 GP 2+2~Blown 6.0

[81cutlass]

Either a poor (loose) connection or a poor ground looks to be the cause of that mess. I guess you'll know what parts to carry around as extras.

I did encounter some budget connectors for relays that the pins would loosen very quickly, then just what you found was what I was seeing.

Sounds like you had a good time - great pics!!!! Did you go alone?

Yeah these relay holders are $3 at the surplus store and I have 3 under hood without issue, but they keep breaking out back for the fuel pump. Not sure why? The main relay shut off due to the ground pin coming undone when the plug fell apart. It split in half and nothing was holding the assembly together. They seem to be OK under the hood but not under the trunk area.



The wife and I went to the Maine Atlantic coast, Acadia, Bangor/Bar Harbor for 4 days and Rhode Island & Boston area for a day. Neither of us have been to the northern New England area outside of metro Boston for a half day.

Maine is actually really similar to the MN north shore on lake Superior. The water is salty, got to see some whales which don't exist in MN, and some more boats. But the landscape, weather, and trees are super similar. Went to a few of the Vanderbilt mansions in RI and stopped in Salem MA for a witchy museum.

Maine is 100% the vacation spot for rich Massholes. The maine residents will take their money but passive aggressive don't like it lol. Saw a few trucks with 'go back to mass' written in the dust on the tailgate. Had a fun trip though.

I also got to sing
3rd boxcar midnight train, destination

 

[motorheadmike]

got to see some whales which don't exist in MN,

 

[81cutlass]

My relay parts showed up yesterday and the differential shim kit arrived today.

Got the 2" square tube today and got started on the tire carrier. I brain failed and bought 1/4 wall instead of 1/8 wall so it's stupid heavy but it turned out nice. Holds the drag tires nicely. I had some leftover studs that I pounded into the tabs and each wheel is held on by 2 lugs.

Relay wiring, oil change, and probably rear end shim and pinion seal change is on the schedule tomorrow. Line lock install is going to have to wait until next week. Race Saturday I hope.

 

[motorheadmike]

My relay parts showed up yesterday and the differential shim kit arrived today.

Got the 2" square tube today and got started on the tire carrier. I brain failed and bought 1/4 wall instead of 1/8 wall so it's stupid heavy but it turned out nice. Holds the drag tires nicely. I had some leftover studs that I pounded into the tabs and each wheel is held on by 2 lugs.

Relay wiring, oil change, and probably rear end shim and pinion seal change is on the schedule tomorrow. Line lock install is going to have to wait until next week. Race Saturday I hope.

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What? No TIG welding? 😉

 

[81cutlass]

What? No TIG welding? 😉

Lolz, yeah I thought about flexing with the tig on this project but it's 3 hours away at Dad's so I pulled out the hot glue gun welder instead 🙂 . He has been fiddling with the torch and pedal on his Maxtron 450 big arse welder since that is TIG enabled and wanted to see if that works.

I should be getting into my fair share of TIG work this winter with turbo pipe fab work on my Cutlass so just be patient 😛

 

[motorheadmike]

so just be patient 😛

 

[81cutlass]

Changed my relays to better Delphi stuff
Pulled the diff cover intending to find my backlash out of spec. It was actually fine, the slop I feel is just the internal backlash in the truetrac. Resealed the cover and filled the oil back up.
Changed the oil, swapped the front tires to my drag set and packed my tools.

The only thing I didn't get done that I wanted to is installing the linelock.

Heading to the track tomorrow morning so hopefully I get some launches figured out.

 

[Turbo Zach]

Just went by Cedar Falls. Staying in Independence tonight. Going to the Amish country tomorrow. I would rather be going to the dragstrip though. Good luck!

 

[81cutlass]

Well today kinda turned into a turd sandwich.

One or both of my front runners went out of balance in the last year and damn near shook my teeth out on the 90 minute drive to the track. They were fine for the first 3 years but something changed.

The tire caddy also hit resonance on certain road patterns and shook the car. I need to shim the gap between the hitch and the tire caddy.

Got to the track, Swapped tires and made a few runs. 60ft timers didn't work? But the 1/4 times were in line with where I usually am. 1/4 trap speed was like 6-9 mph off. Ran an 11.79 which is like my second best time (cool) but it ran an 8.1 1/8 mile which is 0.6 seconds slower than my best 11.75 pass at 120mph (what?). I do think the 1/4 times are semi accurate but the mph is a total quack.

Talked to the guy next to me in the pits. His family was racing and 3 different cars. Times on the boards were different than what the slips were printed and they all said the slips were showing slower than what their cars usually run. Ok it's not just me.

Car had 3 repeatable launches and felt decent. Bumped tire pressure from 19 to 18 and it shook the tire on the 4th pass so I aborted the run.

They shut down for lunch and fixed the 60ft beams which apparently also fixed the rest of the timing system. There was a bug and everything was screwed up.

Went for my 5th pass and couldn't get the car in 1st. The clutch had good pressure but it felt like the friction disk was welded to the flywheel.

Jacked the car up and looked through the port in the bellhousing and the clutch has like no life left. I can put a screwdriver between the flywheel and friction disk so it is releasing but it must be warped or Pringled in there or something. It's not terrible to put the car in gear when moving but really hard at a stop.

So I limped the car home.

Car needs a clutch. It had +50% when I had the trans out this spring but it's maybe 15% now after 2500 miles. Not sure where it all went but at least it went today and not on drag weekend.

 

[64nailhead]

Well, ouch, I guess?

The car looks great with the skinnies. Were you happy, other than with the clutch mess?