BUILD THREAD Street/Strip Cutlass Build: Race it, break it, fix it, repeat.

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Here are some pictures of the sunroof gasket, replace/install. I literally only snagged these few pictures to remember how the mechanism all went back together. The sunroof pan itself was rotted in some places, and one of the drain spouts was totally broken off. I filled all the pitted/rotted/pinhole'd areas with jb weld and used a piece of brake line to recreate that missing drain spout. The front passenger side spout was the one that broke off from rot, and as soon as I went to clean out the drain hoses I figured out why. Someone had taken the metal inner fender off at some point (not since I've had it) and when they put it back on, they pinched the drain hose between, the body and fender. And then threaded the bolt through the drain hose. They must have had a hell of a time trying to get the bolt through that hose.

Anyways, once I figured that out, all the drain hoses were good to go. I took apart the entire sunroom mechanism to clean, paint, repair rust and lube. Then cleaned and installed both seals. Even after lubing everything with sunroof specific lubricant my dad had, the sunroof still squeaks when operating. We tried lubing the tracks more, and the motor, and the cables to no avail, so I just dealt with it. I figured it would quiet up a little bit once I get a headliner put back in it. I still have a slight leak, I think the sunroof actually has to be adjusted up a little more, but that is an easy fix. It's a lot better than it was.

 

[Texas82GP]

Could the squeeling be rubber to rubber? If so, some Silicon spray will help that.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Could the squeeling be rubber to rubber? If so, some Silicon spray will help that.

I don't think so. They only rubber to rubber (I believe) contact are the little rubber "wheels" (they don't spin, just glide). But when we tested the roof out of the car, and I put my ear up to the mechanism it didn't sound like it was those little rubber "wheels", really sounded like it was coming from the cables.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

I was able to get back to the track after installing a 26 spline posi (temporary while I save for a quick performance 9") and 2800 stall. I ended up finding the posi for $56 shipped on eBay, it was a deal I couldn't pass up. I made 9 passes, well really 9.5, you'll see.

Quickest pass at of the night, 8.49 @ 79. You can hear the car lay over right at the traps, and then I let out of it. We think its running out of fuel pump. I have a 5 year old mechanical pump, and can't remember the flow rate. That really killed a lot of mph. I was really happy to achieve a 2.05 60 foot time on street tires even with a little wheel hop.

This pass had a ton of MPH, no laying over at all. Went slower everywhere but picked up 5 mph. Crazy.

This is my buddies 32 ford. It made 305 rwhp and 325 rwtq. My dad was driving the car, first pass he tree'd me, but I freight trained him at the big end and nearly ran him down. This pass I won on a hole shot. It feels good to keep up with a 1900 pound car. You can hear the car running out of fuel again.

AND, my .5 pass, the last pass of the night. I think I broke the rear end, the car will free roll in park and the driveshaft doesn't spin. I haven't had time to pull the cover off the rear end though. It felt like it hooked really well, and as soon as I got out of the hole and put my foot all the way down...you'll see. I would have loved to see what the 60 foot time was for this pass.

That's just part of drag racing!

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Its been awhile, I've been so busy with work and school but have had some time to wrench on the car. I did end up breaking the rear end, what fun! The posi housing seems like it was actually warped, I had to grind it just to pull the cross pin out. I blew the side gears totally apart. Luckily the ring gear came out pretty unscathed, just one small nick. NOW FOR THE CARNAGE!!!

We actually ended up pulling the trans out thinking it was the culprit, since the wheels spun fine on the lift, but not when the car was on the ground. Live and learn, I should have just pulled the cover off first. I went ahead and changed the valve body because it had some sort of home made shift kit in it that would not allow the trans to kick down.

Anyways, we went ahead and installed a TCI trans-scat shift kit to remedy the issue. It fixed that but it now has a shift flare, so I'm going to have to look into that at a later date. Everything about the transmission was perfect inside when we pulled it apart, so I'm thinking we messed up installing the shift kit. I'm going to check line pressures and see if a boost valve and reverse boost valve will be a bandaid fix.

I threw the open rear end back int the car just to get it rolling for summer. I was tired of the hard trans lines so I made some braided transmission lines which I am very happy with.

I also went ahead and installed a new carter 120gph fuel pump. I had an 80 on it before and as you may remember ran into some fuel starvation issues at the track. The fuel pump was 5-6 years old anyway. I pulled the tank down as well to make sure the strainer in the tank was not clogged. Threw in a new sending unit and tank seal while I was at it. I haven't been back to the track (yet) to see if that fixed the fueling issue, but it seems good so far.

A few weeks later a guy my dad works with actually gave me a pretty much brand new 28 spline Auburn posi out of an early 4th gen camaro. So I snagged a set of GN axles for cheap on eBay and threw that in. I did have to grind down my original c clips to fit the GN axles. We also had to shave 50 thousands off the end of each axle so they would fit in the housing properly. So far so good with this one.

I had planned to head out to Street Car Takeover at zMax dragway in Charlotte, NC. However that event got rained out. I did have a Chassis dyno appointment booked for July 1st.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

The chassis dyno went well. I am super happy with the results. The dyno operator said air fuels were pretty good, it could use a hair less fuel on the primary size.

 

[pontiacgp]

I blew the two pinion gears in the 7.5 posi I had. The pinion gears don't have much meat on them, you'd do better using an open carrier and welding the pinions gears to the side gears or get something like this...

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

I had looked into those, but $$$$$. I'm not planning on putting any more money into the 7.5". My next plan is a bolt in G Body 9". I got out of putting posi's in both times pretty cheap so I wasn't really against doing it at the time.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Had a great time at the the track this weekend. I ended up finding a set of 26x9 Hoosiers for cheap, so I threw those on a spare set of wheels I picked up.

Survey says... 13.22 @ almost 104 mph! I even managed a 1.6 60 foot. And the 7.5" survived! (for now.) I think it will go high 12's in its current trim. In the near future I'd like to put an MSD box on it, and try to cut some weight. But I am keeping my AC, my bench seats, and full stereo.

Here is the in car from that pass, this is the pass that I did a 1.6 60 foot.

Time slips from the day, bracket car!

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

I'll share some more media from my last track outing. I'm really dying to get back.

I also made this video real quick, just so I could analyze my driving. It's pretty clear I have some improvements to make. Just one of the many reasons I love having a go pro!