The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

[L98camino]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Sounds like great fun! Can't wait for the next update ;D

[CaminoKid]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Great looking car Micheal,keep up the good work.

[BetterWithBoost]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

x2. Love this thread... keep up the good work!

[mlcraven]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Thanks to one and all for the encouragement.

22 Sep update - turns out the Nostalgia Drags event planned for 29 Aug at the local strip was rained out, which was great news for me (daughter was married that day so I couldn't make it). The make up date was this past weekend, Sat 19 Sep. Perfect weather: sunny, clear, temp high 60s, humidity 48%, good track conditions. At my last outing I bagged a 13.158 @ 107, so was really itching to dip into the 12s (recognizing that HR Drag Week participants routinely run single digits, 12s are still magic for me).

During the two weeks prior to this weekend I re-read the BS thread started by MadmanMark '1st Outing to an 1/8 track - Any advice?' (14 October 2008, 13:00:10) and Caddyman's 14 Oct 2008 reply. A real goldmine of info and recommendations; here are the ones I followed:

1 - not yet having a set of drag radials (still running BFG TAs all round), I aired the front tires up to 45 psi and the rears down to 20 (from 42 and 22 on the previous outing)

2 - increased the ballast to 165 lbs from 120

3 - installed an Auto Meter Monster tach and shift light (see photo, damn those suckers are pricy in this neck of the woods), set to indicate at 5800 rpm



4 - kept the gas tank pressed full to the top.

Well, the result couldn't have been better . Fully accepting that the cool mid-September air undoubtedly had something to do with it, I was able to set three personal bests AND NOW HAVE BROKEN INTO THE 12s (very high 12s admittedly, but 12s nonetheless) ;D ;D ;D

The three best runs -- achieved in succession between 3.00 and 3.45 PM -- were: (1) 12.969 @ 107.5; (2) 12.942 @ 108.3, and (3) 12.854 @ 108.6. Pretty sweet for street tires, and radial TAs at that.

I eventually went three rounds in the street class, finally getting knocked off in the semis by a 427 big block 74 Malibu running 11.90s. But no shame there and some sticky Mickeys should narrow the gap

Anyhow, to say I'm stoked hardly begins to describe it. The unhappy news is that the racing season is at an end here in Ottawa, so time to put the car away for the winter. Going to be tough waiting for next spring.

[mlcraven]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Oh yeah, in all the excitement I almost forgot, I picked up the "Best Appearing Chevy" award (the judges must have been distracted, there were several much better looking candidates)

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Congrats man, but it looks like with the weather we've got - you might be in for extra innings at the track...

[mike343sharpstick]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

A 12 second car is no slouch, very cool!

[L98camino]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Hope you can get some good laps in anger with the stickies before the 7.5" lets go!!!! ;D ;D :o

Congrats on the show and the go!

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

A 12 second car is no slouch, very cool!

A 12 second car on JUNK (for the digs) rubber too. That's hella cool.

Just be careful of the 10 bolt when you start to use the good shoes. It sucks when the wheel and axle tear the crap our of rear quarterpanels as they are want to do when ejected. (Seen it happen lots).

Brian

[mlcraven]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Thanks for the heads up on that Brian...while I've kind of prepared myself for the 7.5 grenading and/or axles letting go, I hadn't thought about body damage being a likely result. Certainly changes my thinking with respect to the urgency I should afford the build and install of new rear end.

On a similar topic (and certainly in violation of the rules and all common sense) I've simply been laying the weights (barbell plates) at the back fo the bed. Not smart, I know. Anyway, I designed a secure retaining rack for them that includes hard points for a battery mounting. Picking this piece up tomorrow from the fabricators and looking forward to getting it installed and seeing if it works the way I want. Will post pic(s) here and in tech section.

[mlcraven]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

As stated in prev e-mail, in order to get some weight in the back, thereby aiding weight transfer and traction in a vehicle that is notoriously front end heavy,, I've been putting weight at the back of the bed in the Elky. So far this has taken the form of 35lb plates laid on top of the rubber bed protector like this:



Of course, this is neither safe nor smart, and certainly not IAW NHRA regs. So I needed a better plan. To this end, I fabbed up a weight rack mocked up out of cardboard and wood and took it to the local race car fab shop, Crilly Chassis owned by Ed Crilly. Ed chuckled at my work and suggested I should leave it with him to think about. That was several weeks ago.

Today I went over and picked up the result of his effort. As opposed to the rather rubbishy mock up I had provided, Ed has created a fully adjustable (from side to side) arrangement that incorporates flanges for a rear-mounted battery into the bargain. And its built to NHRA spec, capable of securing up to 200lbs. It looks like this:




Battery tray mounts here:



Plates mount like this (it will take up to 6 X 35lb and still fits under the tonneau cover):



Looks like this fitted in the box:




Needless to say, the winter project list includes getting it powder coated and installed with the 4 x grade 8 fasteners.

[trukluvr]

Re: The never-ending 80 El Camino Project...

Mike, that is a sweet looking set up.