BUILD THREAD Street/Strip Cutlass Build: Race it, break it, fix it, repeat.
- Thread starter Kwik_Cutty88
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We decided to give Street Car Takeover-Charlotte one last try.
The event was even bigger this year, and man was it hot. I read somewhere online there was 500+ cars teched in, but I can’t confirm that.
The first pass I made was a 12.97 at 105. Slower everwhere, which I expected in the heat. It was 90+ degrees all day, track temps were 130, and in the staging lanes in car temps were 110-115 degrees.
The second pass I was waiting for close to a minute for the other car to complete his burnout and stage. By the time I rolled into the pre-stage beams water temp was just touching 220 degrees. It left decent but quickly bogged down before the 1-2 shift, probably vapor lock.
On a positive note, running a bias ply tire on all 4 corners totally gets rid of the swaying effect you get with a bias ply and radial tire.
This was probably the last time I do this event. It was just way too hot for racing, and there were way too many cars. But hey, I didn’t break anything, and didn’t crash.
The event was even bigger this year, and man was it hot. I read somewhere online there was 500+ cars teched in, but I can’t confirm that.
The first pass I made was a 12.97 at 105. Slower everwhere, which I expected in the heat. It was 90+ degrees all day, track temps were 130, and in the staging lanes in car temps were 110-115 degrees.
The second pass I was waiting for close to a minute for the other car to complete his burnout and stage. By the time I rolled into the pre-stage beams water temp was just touching 220 degrees. It left decent but quickly bogged down before the 1-2 shift, probably vapor lock.
On a positive note, running a bias ply tire on all 4 corners totally gets rid of the swaying effect you get with a bias ply and radial tire.
This was probably the last time I do this event. It was just way too hot for racing, and there were way too many cars. But hey, I didn’t break anything, and didn’t crash.
If you can’t go fast, you should at least look good (from a distance) lol
A few months ago I scored this Innovate Motorsports LM-1 Data logger on ebay for $40. Its old and outdated, but it still works and is able to log the air fuel ratio. I’ve been getting serious about perfecting the tuneup. So far I’ve leaned the idle out a lot and changed secondary springs from the lightest spring, to the medium.
While the secondaries come in pretty seamlessly, The air fuel ratio peaks at 14.7 then plateaus down to around 14.0. I’m going to take 1 jet size out of the primary, and go one size bigger on the secondary. It seems like it may need more accelerator pump also.
Tuning a carbureted car is a frustrating process when trying to use the “butt dyno”, but an air fuel ratio gauge actually makes it a fun challenge!
While the secondaries come in pretty seamlessly, The air fuel ratio peaks at 14.7 then plateaus down to around 14.0. I’m going to take 1 jet size out of the primary, and go one size bigger on the secondary. It seems like it may need more accelerator pump also.
Tuning a carbureted car is a frustrating process when trying to use the “butt dyno”, but an air fuel ratio gauge actually makes it a fun challenge!
I have done literally nothing to the car since my last track outing. I'm graduating from school in May, so all of my time and money has been going into that. I did come home the other weekend and ripped a few burnouts, that got the fire re-ignited. I think I'd like to get to the track one more time before the new year, weather permitting. I've priced out all the carb tuning parts I'll need:
gaskets
squirter tuning kit
accelerator pump cams
jets etc.
Its time to get this thing running perfect and chase down a new personal best ET.
gaskets
squirter tuning kit
accelerator pump cams
jets etc.
Its time to get this thing running perfect and chase down a new personal best ET.
Welp, this is embarrassing. Months have gone by where I have done literally nothing to my car. I havent even been to the track to race in over a year. Since I got my first “big boy” job out of college, I’ve been trying to aggressively pay off my student loans. I’ve been spending a little bit on my motorcycle here and there, but I can’t justify doing anything crazy to my Cutlass right now because it sits outside. But it runs and drives and I can still enjoy it and putt around! I think the next small project will be an electric fuel pump conversion. I want to do the Aeromotive Stealth setup. It seems pretty inexpensive, and will support my fuel injection setup later on. I’d like to try Holley Terminator TBI that supports electronic transmission control (4L80E swap). I think that will make the car a lot more fun to drive! But in the meantime, just enjoy it for now and try to pay off some debt!!
Sounds like you’re doing it right by taking care of existing debt instead of creating more. Your car looks great and headed in a great direction with upgrades.
Whenever you start making changes, try to overbuild everything if possible. You’ll thank yourself later.
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