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

[lilbowtie]

Have been following your thread and it looks like the drag racing bug has really bit you. You have been on quite a learning curve and it only gets bigger and better. Your life parallels ours that started with the Regal except I am the father. You may not realize it but you are a big part of your fathers life in helping him live his dreams. I'm sure he has taught you a lot but soon you will find your selves as equals bouncing questions and problems off of each other. I know I have learned a lot from my son. I'm quite impressed how the car is running for the 311 HP your 60's should only be in the 1.7's so you must have a torque monster. On that same thought I couldn't see where you were shifting at but I would be short shifting around 4600 cause you start falling off after that. You also need to get that car 60 footing the same every run, when you take your 60's into consideration the 330's fall on top of each other. Buy the way what event was running a pro tree? There is still a lot of power hiding in that engine 325 HP will get you in the 12's or put it on a diet. Your quite lucky living in NC our season is all but done here and time to put it away. My daughter lives in Charlotte and I had the pleasure of her getting me VIP passes through her work for the 4 wide nationals - it was great. Her friend had connections and took me on a personal tour of Petty's and Roush-Yates engines. Have fun and enjoy and thank you for the time you put into this site.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Wow that means a lot, thank you for the kind words! I have learned a ton from my dad, and i think he’s learned a lot from me too. I think he enjoy’s living vicariously through me too.

Now that my car is pretty much problem free, I want to devote my attention to getting my dad’s high school car (1985 Trans Am) back on the road. I’m hoping we can have the same adventure with that car all over again.

The 4 wide nationals is an awesome event, I’m jelous at the VIP seating lol.

Getting consistent is my next big goal. I may invest in a second go pro pointed a little better at the gauges, and one on the outside of the car. Sometimes its hard to remember exactly what you did and how you drove the car after a pass. I’m still learning how to drive the car effectively, and what works better with this setup.

This event was Street Car Takeover Charlotte. They run a pro tree for all classes, even test and tune.

The engine has really surprised me as well, it makes about 325 ft lbs of torque. The last time I had the car on the scales with a 1/4 tank of fuel and me in it, it weighed 3600lbs.

I found some areas I can cut some weight and move it around. Wheels, trunk mount battery etc. As crazy as it sounds I kinda want to keep the car similar to how it is now and not cut it up into a race car. I’ve seen too many people turn their cars into a borderline racecar, and then realize they miss driving it on the street. I want to keep my stereo, and AC. I can always make more power right? Lol.

I also think this engine has some untapped potential still, I’d like to add an MSD box, that may help a little bit. In the future (maybe the next year or two) I’d like to try a small shot of nitrous. The camshaft in this engine has a really early intake valve opening point, which may make a pretty decent nitrous cam, but that’s quite a while from now.

Again, thank you so much for the kind words, that really means a lot.

 

[lilbowtie]

I hear you trying to stay stock, we were the same way with the Regal but as you progress (which I'm sure you will) your views will probably change. Even though we have made many changes it is still street able (rarely) and stock looking. Your engine defiantly has a lot left in it, a bigger cam for one. Don't expect an MSD box to up performance but it will open a lot of options. As you said consistency being your next goal will be a big factor turning on the win light and that filters down right to tire pressure. It's kind of hard watching rpm and staging at the same time
we actually use a shift light set to our staging rpm and use a Shifnoid to shift on rpm. I posted a vid on our G-body of the month (March) if you want to see. Just some food for thought - your probably going to get to the point of needing a cage. My son custom bent ours to follow the sail panel, stay to the outside of the deck lid hinges and catch the frame behind the wheel. Keeps the back seat and the truck is open.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Oo I do like that cage. Nice and tight, thanks for the tips!

I’ve already been starting to think about moving my tach/shift light around for better visibility.

I think we have the tire pressure dailed in, but I’m eager to try our setting at a different track to see if we get the same results. We started at 15 lbs and kept dropping it down until we got our 1.6 short time with 12 lbs in the tire. I didn’t run tubes.

I checked out your GBOTM post, i like the shifter idea. I also like the air cleaner tray, I’ve been thinking about making a setup like that.

 

[lilbowtie]

Honestly we just got away from the air pan because of consistency. Up here when you start racing into the night temps and DPT change pretty quick. Even with our weather station and computer we found ourselves breaking out with better air - just pulling the under the hood air it was more consistent. 12 psi is just too low for a slick your size, if you take a video of your launch you'll see your crushing those slicks and really beating up the sidewalls and without being screwed to the rims w/ no tubes??. More HP and you will go into tire shake. Besides that all that sidewall movement is lost reaction time. I have to apologize, I was looking at your torque and HP opposite what they are (da) - your pulling good to 5200. What is concerning is the inconsistency from 4700 to 5200, something is causing it and it's quite a bit.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

We made sure to mark the wheel and tire to make sure the tires didn't move on the wheels, and yes, no tubes. I realized I made a mistake, the tires were actually at 14psi, I wrote that on the back of my time slips. We started at 16, and after the first pass went down to 14, and that's when I achieved a 1.6, and we left it alone from there. Track prep that day was awesome, so we may experience some different results with 14 psi somewhere else.

Here is the best video I have of a slow motion launch, this pass was only a 1.98 60 foot. (Ignore the horrendous reaction time, I was really trying to concentrate on my launch. My first time lining up to someone that "bumps in" to the beams, which to be honest distracted me a little bit. I was worried about holding the car on the converter too long, something I'll have to work on.

Also here is a slow motion of the pass with 1.6 60 foot. The tire is a lot harder to see here.

My chassis dyno graph shows the engine making good power until around 55-5600 rpm. I'm trying to shift just before that. I have a slight 2-3 shift flare, so RPM's may jump up 2-300 before the shift is actually completed. Add that to the list of things to sort out. I did short shift on one pass, that could be the inconsistency you are seeing.

 

[lilbowtie]

There shouldn't be a shift in the pull. You might have noticed we use a blocker on the tree.

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

Just figured I'd throw up some photos I took a few weeks ago. I've been itching to get back to the track. I want to work on the tuneup a little more in the meantime. I know its always been rich on the primary side, when I had the car at the dyno they confirmed that too.

My buddy has an Innovate Motorsports O2 data logger thingy I might borrow for now. It runs great and has no drivability issues, but I know I can always do better lol.

 

[pontiacgp]

I saw this picture and I thought you gave you car a cryogenic treatment......😎

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

I saw this picture and I thought you gave you car a cryogenic treatment......😎

haha, doesn't quite get that cold here in North Carolina. Now Canada on the other hand... 😉 lol