The Regal (Luckily) Went Road Racing Finally! (huge post)
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Means a lot coming from you, Steve. I appreciate the tips and advice over the years. Speaking of which, I may try that adjustable stop method. I need to pick up some 7/16 bolts anyway for my sway bar. (The frame seems to be holding water on the passenger side sway bar bolts. They need replaced and I guess I need to drill a drain hole..) As far as the trans, I do have a trans cooler mounted in front of the radiator. As for the power steering pump, for good measure I flushed it all out with new fluid a couple days ago when I put new lines on. Hopefully that helps a tad. So for a cooler, would I just "tie-it-in" to the return line and keep the high pressure line intact? And unfortunately I learned all about power steering fluid getting on the left-front back when I first ran this engine, so I hear ya loud and clear there.
Your car sounds wicked man. what are the specs for your 350, cam, compression, etc? And if you could, record an exhaust clip. I want to hear what it sounds like and I'm sure others do too.
yes, the transmission cooler installs in the return line. We ran the powerglide in our circle track G body and had the same problem with the fluid flowing out of the breather so we put a long hose connected to the breather along with a cooler which helped. We'd get black flagged for any fluid being dropped by the car. Are you allowed to run Hoosier tires at the track?. If you can and your budget allows you can get Aero rims that comes in my different BS and the the Hoosier tires will give you better lap times. Another thing you might want to try is install a rear stabilizer that does not mount to the lower control arms. I use a GTA rear bar which I moved in the arms about 1.5" each side and the stock mounting hardware to mount it to an existing hole in the crossmember and a u-bolt with the stock hardware to mount it on the axle tube.
Well, the engine was a bit of a basket case that I got screwed on. I bought it as a "rebuilt" engine. Don't know when or why it was rebuilt, or what happened to the original owner (jail, I was told), but all I know is that it was in need of a better rebuild. Unfortunately I found that out the hard way. The lifters were shot and not knowing what a Buick engine is supposed to sound like I ruined the Comp Cams camshaft with them. (I tried replacing the rocker assemblies first.)
Sooo right now it has new Crane lifters and a full compliment of adjustable pushrods from TA Performance. These are working with a TA Performance cam, which I believe is ground by Schneider Cams. The TA part number is in my signature. (TA 284-88H) It's one of their more street-friendly cams, mostly because I have no idea what my compression is. I'm assuming the engine was rebuilt with 8.5:1 compression. I haven't tested it. I only know that the shop that rebuilt it said they used Power Cast replacement pistons. It's topped off with a TA aluminum intake, mostly just for weight savings, which is very substantial. The stock 4-barrel intake is a boat anchor. Horsepower TV once claimed a solid 57 pound difference in weight. https://www.powernationtv.com/episode/HP2011-13/building-the-other-350-small-block-engine (<--slow site) Also in my sig, I'm using Poston A-body headers. If you know Poston, you know they're out of business. BUT, the good news is that Hooker makes an identical header. A forum member named Toby (i think) used them in his SBB 350 Cutlass. Other than that, there's no other go-fast engine work like head porting. Just an oiling pump mod from TA. (I'd recommend it. I'll have to look it up again.)
Also, the mufflers are just some good ol' Thrush glasspacks. They drone bad around 2000rpm with no sound deadener, but I have a hard time ditching them for a full system. I may just add dynomat or something.
Here are some pre-uploaded clips:
And here's one with open headers I made as a joke, because I'm a goof:
I can run Hoosiers as long as I run in the Street Modified or C Prepared categories (I run my medium compound Hankook C51s in them, which I got on close-out sale 3-4 years ago). I plan on running CAM-T eventually (Classic American Muscle - Traditional) which is sort of a "stock appearing, unlimited" class but to be legal your tires have to be 200 treadwear or higher. So for the future I'm looking at 17 inch wheels with a good street tire since they really don't make good street tires for 16s much anymore. (All I can find are BFG Sport Comp 2s.)
Do you have any pictures of your rear bar here on the forum? I wouldn't mind taking a look. I know you've mentioned what springs you use; I need to look that up too. These Eibach front springs seem alright for now but my Hotchkis 2-inch drop rears might just be for show. I need to put focus on my rear setup now that I'm comfortable with the front. I have UMI arms back there with 1 roto-joint a piece. The uppers are adjustable but I only set them to stock length and left them alone.
Sounds kickass man! Sounds better than mine. All my exhaust is is the stock manifolds, TA 2.5 inch downpipes, and two 8" cherry bombs. had a 268 comp cam in it. Stock intake, 800cfm qjet. I used silvolite/KB hyper pistons and they have a deeper dish than the 10:1 pistons, .235 and .085 respectively IIRC. I think I was around 7.9:1 which is probably why the thing loved 87 octane. The 10:1 cast pistons are actually around 9:1 if everything else about the motor is stock like the deck height, heads haven't been shaved, etc. And I was on the fence about the 284-88 or going with another comp, but your videos sold me on it.
And here's one where you can hear the car under load. Pardon my talking.
If it still sounds warbled, trying adding headers. The order in which each puff of exhaust exits the exhaust has a large influence on the overall exhaust note. This is part of the reason why engines with different firing orders have their own distinct sounds. (Ford vs Chevy, etc) Another great example of this is when people use "180 degree" headers. These headers have at least one primary header tube from each side crossover and connect to the neighboring header. This simulates having a flat-plane crank shaft, and gives old American V8s that classic European "buzz" similar to a Ferrari.
That higher pitched sound from an american V8 just rubs me the wrong way, but to each his own. I think it was just my low compression. 7.9 is pretty pitiful. I mean it sounded good in person, way better than in video, but idk. Headers will be on my wishlist I know that much, just not in the immediate future. How well did the a body headers fit?
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