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It's been a while since I visited the Drag Racing SNS page. My '69 Nova has been down for the better part of 3 years while I did a LSX conversion, front subframe upgrade, and twin turbo installation. Over the past couple of weeks I finally got it back on the ground and logging some street miles. I plan to re-introduce it to the local 1/8 mile dragstrip this weekend for some test passes.
A quick run down of the drivetrain: 408 LS iron block (based on a 6.0 truck engine); 4" Callies crank; 6.125" Callies rods; Wiesco pistons; main&head studs; AFR-225 CNC ported heads; Victor Jr; 4150 Accufab throttle body; 80 #/hr injectors; GM ECM & harness modified and tuned by me using HP Tuners; twin Turbonetics GTK-650 turbos with 66mm compressors; air-to-air intercooler; TH-400 RMVB and transbrake; 10" stall (badly needs replacing); 10-bolt rear with Moser axles & 3.73 gears. Rear suspension is Cal-Trac bars with split mono leafs and Rancho adjustable shocks. Front subframe is by Martz and has coilover, tubular control arms, rack&pinnion, and Wilwood disc brakes.
Keep in mind this is a street car primarily, but the intention is to also knock down some quick ETs. Right now I am just running off the wastegate springs at 8-9 psi boost. Only real problem so far is that the 10" stall converter is now flashing to 5900 rpm. I plan to take it out this weekend to see what it will do with 26"x9" slicks, but I don't expect to maximize my ET until I get a tighter converter.
How about some ET guesses?
Here are some pictures to go along with the description:
Looks great Clyde. Gotta love the turbos. They pull like a freight train. Couldn't believe how the turbos pulled when we finished up my buddies Mustang kit.
I'm gonna have to come check this thing out at the track. Video is awesome.
Nice build. A friend of mine put an LS in a PTCruizer. One 98mm turbo, turbo 400 and Dana, 10.5 tire, street legal. Took it to Pinks in Fl a couple years ago. He went 9.07 at 158mph, and a poochy 1.50 sixty foot time. It got small in a hurry. My guess with yours would be around the same if it hooks up. The one problem I see with yours is that you don't have a cage in the car. Whatever track you go to, if it's faster than 11.49 you'll need at least a roll bar to run to 10.00 and a cage if it's faster than 9.99. Be careful. Oh, by the way, he went through a lot of parts to get to that 9.07 and make it bulletproof. So I hope whoever built it knew what they were doing. Have fun and be safe. Keep us posted. Dave
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65 Post 14.17 @ 93mph
Do yourself a favor and have it ran on a chassis dyno !!!! i just built a wicked 406 with a vortech v-7 ...only 7 psi boost ...30 degrees total timing ...and melted 3 pistons on my FIRST PASS ... I THOUGHT my fuel system was OK ...HELL it was fine for my 737hp bigblock ....JUST not enough for the blown smallblock ... it ran out of fuel in second gear ,,and melted down ... still went 6.70 coasting 1/3 the track though !
Do yourself a favor and have it ran on a chassis dyno !!!! i just built a wicked 406 with a vortech v-7 ...only 7 psi boost ...30 degrees total timing ...and melted 3 pistons on my FIRST PASS ... I THOUGHT my fuel system was OK ...HELL it was fine for my 737hp bigblock ....JUST not enough for the blown smallblock ... it ran out of fuel in second gear ,,and melted down ... still went 6.70 coasting 1/3 the track though !
Nice car indeed! Looks like it could be a real sleeper.. But I agree with the last post and I'm a true believer in the chassis dyno. Good luck and keep us posted
mid to high 5's is my guess
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Some good advice. I do agree that I'll need to upgrade my 6-point roll bar soon.
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Originally Posted by 65 Post
..So I hope whoever built it knew what they were doing. Have fun and be safe. Keep us posted. Dave
I can't blame anyone else except myself for that. Built the engine, wiring harness, turbo plumbing, and ECM tuning. I paid for a front end alignment though...Here is a picture of my favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Firing up a new build, laptop hooked up, working on the tune, and sipping a cold Diet Sundrop. That was a fine afternoon indeed:
Here is a shot of my tubing cut-off bin after the plumbing was finished...
Scott - I like your ET predictions. A lot will depend on what kind of sixty foot times I can get out of it with the lack of a boost controller and the loose stall. But I do like the sound of working my way into the 5's with a new stall and some R&D on power management.
Jason - you speak good advice on the fuel. While I have made several short pulls on the street with good AFR and zero knock , I do recognize it can be a different story under full power for the 1/8 mile. I'll ease into the WOT and closely monitor the AFR, timing and plugs. I really appreciate the advice from you guys that already have experience with tuning boosted engines and running fast. My biggest accomplishment this weekend will be to make some test passes and drive it back home.
Last edited by chevy406; 13th-October-2012 at 12:26 AM.
Nice job on the project and it's gotta feel good to see it back on the ground. No ET predictions here, there are WAY too many variables so are pretty much a waste of time. In most every instance they set people up for disappointment. Take it out, don't worry about ET's and most importantly, have fun with it.
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Scott - I like your ET predictions. A lot will depend on what kind of sixty foot times I can get out of it with the lack of a boost controller and the loose stall. But I do like the sound of working my way into the 5's with a new stall and some R&D on power management.
I have ran 5.40's with twin 66's blow-thru carb on 357 cubic inches running on E85 with an air to air intercooler and 20 pounds of boost. Sixty footing in low 1.20's with a best of 1.18.
On 10 pounds the car would 6.10's. Good luck and keep us posted. I know you will run easy 5's when we get everything worked outed and increase the boost.
Well said Mike, and I appreciate you taking the time to give advice. I'm really just looking for some baseline tuning information and see how the chassis reacts, and just get some seat time with the new configuration. First couple of passes will be partial for sure.
71 Chevy - I let Shaun at Virginia Speed pick out the turbo grind cam for me. It is a reverse split with mid 230s intake and right at 230° exhaust duration @ .050" with .610" lift and 115° LSA. This profile gives 0° overlap at .050" lift which I suppose helps spool the turbos. Side benefit is lots of vacuum at idle for great street driving characteristics. On the shift point - I'm thinking around 6,500 to 6,700 rpm. The short block is strong enough but I don't think the cam profile will pull higher than that.
Weather isn't looking promising for test & tune tomorrow. If I get rained out then I'll probably spend the afternoon pulling the torque converter out and just move on.
By the way, a good friend of mine is plodding along in the middle of building his '67 Camaro into a twin turbo SBC Pro Turing machine. The project has idled for several months... until last weekend when I took him for a ride. He called this morning to ask me about places to order mandrel bends, and air filters. My mission was accomplished to re-motivate him. That's also a strong reason I post on these forums. To get motivation from other people's projects and learn.
Scott - you make it almost sound easy to break into the 5s... but we all know it takes a well thought out package to achieve. Thanks for the encouragement though. Sounds like you have already accomplished some amazing performance.
Last edited by chevy406; 13th-October-2012 at 01:13 PM.
Easy?! Never! However it was fox chassis on 26x8.5 slick.
It takes a complete package. You have the power to get there, soon you will have to learn how to manage it. That is where the fun is for me, tweaking.
It is a close friends car and a motor I built. Stock block with scat crank and rods along with SRP pistons. Nothing special. Ran it hard for a few years in local 275/8.5 tire classes and eventually cracked the stock block after a year running 20+ pounds of boost.
Assembling a little M with more cubes and better heads. Shooting low 5's. Time will tell.
Well, I let a little rain keep me at home today. I'll just take the opportunity to order a new stall converter and make sure I am fully ready for the first track visit. I spent the afternoon today cleaning up some extra parts to put up for sale and raise some capital for the converter purchase.
Well, I let a little rain keep me at home today. I'll just take the opportunity to order a new stall converter and make sure I am fully ready for the first track visit. I spent the afternoon today cleaning up some extra parts to put up for sale and raise some capital for the converter purchase.
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... I THOUGHT my fuel system was OK ...HELL it was fine for my 737hp bigblock ....JUST not enough for the blown smallblock ... it ran out of fuel in second gear ,,and melted down ... still went 6.70 coasting 1/3 the track though !
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