BUILD THREAD Street/Strip Cutlass Build: Race it, break it, fix it, repeat.
- Thread starter Kwik_Cutty88
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Not much to report. I finished up the install in November of ‘21 (look a few pages back if you missed the write up). Its really been driving fantastic. I’m learning more and more about it each time I drive-I can’t help but bring my laptop with me! I have not sourced an electronic transmission yet, and that’ll likely stay on hold for a while, while I save for a new motorcycle/house. I do want to get back to the track this summer. I’m finding that dialing in the drivability is much tougher than the WOT sections of the map. But I’m really enjoying figuring this out myself. I would not hesistate to install Holley EFI on any car in the future. I hate to jinx myself, but I have not had a single issue other than the fuel gauge sender.
Hadn’t seen an update so I was wondering how it was going.
And you’re spot on, startup and cruise are much harder to tune than WOT pulls. I think Holley is same as everything else, meaning you spend more time tuning startups and drive ability than WOT.
Glad to see you’re still alive 😉
And you’re spot on, startup and cruise are much harder to tune than WOT pulls. I think Holley is same as everything else, meaning you spend more time tuning startups and drive ability than WOT.
Glad to see you’re still alive 😉
Yep, still here! Dialing in the cold/hot start was really rewarding. Its good now, I have a hard time leaving it alone.
I've admittedly been really absent on this forum lately. Between saving for a new house build, maintenance on two motorcycles and two cars, taking on more responsibility at work I've been a little short on time. But I did manage to make it to the track last weekend with my car. It went really well. Made around 10 passes, and reset my PB to 12.49 @ 107. I made 4 passes back to back within an hour that were within .071 seconds, also pretty stoked about that! Since I had the car running consistent, we were able to try to a few things and confirm they did/didn't work. Unhooking the sway bar didn't pick up any 60 foot, neither did the old football jammed in the right rear coil spring trick. I tried timing swings from 32-38 degrees, and seemed to run best, only just slightly on 34 degrees. My WOT fueling was within +/- 4-7% correction, so a little bit of work to do there. I pretty much played with the laptop most of the day and just opened to hood to make sure the engine was still there. I think it is time for a dry 100 shot of Nitrous to get this car into the 11's. I have had two NX 10lb bottles in my garage for a while, the plate and purge kit is pretty cheap. I also think its time I try to race competitively, this car may be a great bracket car on motor!
Wow, is that a good 60’ for the power imo.
You have the Term TB correct? That will handle nitrous easily (I’m guessing you know that. ) If you have the bottle, you need a relay, line and plate - to heck with the purge kit - purge it by tapping it in the burnout box. Unless of course you want to ‘do it right’ lol. And you can always add one later.
You’re pretty squatty on the hit. What do you have for for rear shocks? If you’ve mentioned this before, then I’ve forgotten.
p.s. I’ve been waiting for this post 😉
You have the Term TB correct? That will handle nitrous easily (I’m guessing you know that. ) If you have the bottle, you need a relay, line and plate - to heck with the purge kit - purge it by tapping it in the burnout box. Unless of course you want to ‘do it right’ lol. And you can always add one later.
You’re pretty squatty on the hit. What do you have for for rear shocks? If you’ve mentioned this before, then I’ve forgotten.
p.s. I’ve been waiting for this post 😉
Yes, terminator X Stealth throttle body. It has 4 100lb/hr injectors. Planning to shoot dry, but did set the fuel system up for wet just in case. 340 aeromotive pump. Planning on doing the NX Mainline or Hitman plates and just capping off the fuel side. Probably nothing more than 100-125 shot but we’ll see.
Rear suspension is 100% stock. Springs, bushings, control arms etc. Shocks are street KYB Gas-a-just that are probably 6-7 years old now. Was thinking of doing some cheap drag shocks to see if it picked up any. I typically run 14-16lbs of tire pressure.
Get a set of double adjustables. QA1, Strange, Viking, etc. with nitrous, it will become obvious that you need shocks. Or I should say, you’ll battle with traction until you get a set. 81cutlass (Jake) put me into the Viking shocks I have now. They were night and day compared to what I had. And once I figured out where to set them (with some help), I went from 1.6’s to 1.4 60’. And I haven’t found the limit of them. Hopefully Jake pipes in. He put me onto a vendor that sold them to me for less than $500 for the pair.
$500 can seem like a bunch of money, but they work. Ditch the budget shock program - it will be money saved to spend elsewhere.
Of course a coil over conversion would be better (and more $) if you can swing it. With the nitrous you’ll be hitting at or close to the same level that I am. With some tuning you should be able to see a 1.3 optimistically, but a 1.4 for sure.
$500 can seem like a bunch of money, but they work. Ditch the budget shock program - it will be money saved to spend elsewhere.
Of course a coil over conversion would be better (and more $) if you can swing it. With the nitrous you’ll be hitting at or close to the same level that I am. With some tuning you should be able to see a 1.3 optimistically, but a 1.4 for sure.
Yeah I bought my rear double adjustable shocks from trick Chassis in Wisconsin. They were under $400 when I bought them a few years ago but I assume the price went up.
$150 for a set of comp eng rears seem tempting but they are a pain to adjust from street to track.
In my opinion the $150 cheap set are probably fine for a track only bracket car sure but adjustable are so much better. If you have wheel hop issues go for doubles but if you are at the power level where you don't need them I'd hold off.
I'd say mid 12's is the tipping point where adjustable shocks help.
$150 for a set of comp eng rears seem tempting but they are a pain to adjust from street to track.
In my opinion the $150 cheap set are probably fine for a track only bracket car sure but adjustable are so much better. If you have wheel hop issues go for doubles but if you are at the power level where you don't need them I'd hold off.
I'd say mid 12's is the tipping point where adjustable shocks help.
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