Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

[Monster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

That is a cool story, thanks for the telling (and pics).
;D

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

That is a cool story, thanks for the telling (and pics).
;D

X2. I was wondering if having grudge nights and such helped decrease the street racing.

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

I'd have to say no. After doing some covert ops on the street racing scene and trying to put together a "sting" (then being told NO by the admin of the PD) the hardcore street racers think its fun to cause problems for the cops. I'd say the "good" kids that I came across and became friends with, truely respected the law and understood it was about more than just having fun at any cost. And the obvious was true, the older the kid, the more they got it....

[rack4u]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

That is a cool story, thanks for the telling (and pics).
;D

Ditto !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

So in 2004 I decided it needed a new engine. The plan was a budget 383 shortblock, decent heads, solid lifter cam, etc. I landed a sponsor (The Transmission Shop/Bobby Johnson) that put the 6 point bar in it as well as built the bullet proof 700R4. He hooked me up with his engine guy (Hi Pro Engines, does anyone remember Junior Kaiser from the 60s Top Fuel era?) that gave me a great deal on machine work.

I used a factory 400 crank, new GM rods and hypereutectic pistons. I scored a set of Dart Pro 1 heads at a screaming price. After all was said and done, the new combo put the chevelle in the 12.8- to 12.90 range on the motor. After it was well broken in (10 passes) I hit it with a 200 shot, afterall, the old 350 had taken tons of N2O on hyper pistons. Here is what the result was:







That was the no 1 cylinder, the only thing salvageable was 6 rods, the crank, and one cylinder head....that season was over!

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

:o Everybody loves carnage pictures, no one like paying for them :'(

Was there a compression difference between the 350 and the 383?

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

The 350 is 10.5:1, the 383 was 11.0:1, so not a huge difference. All the other pistons that came out were fine other than all the divots and cracks from all of the debris that went thru the motor. The no 1 rod was obviously bent and the no 2 was slightly bent also, more than likely from the result of no1 coming apart. Suprisingly, the crank is still good.....and the heads were repaired by Dart for the cost of shipping and parts only, didn't charge labor.

[Scott Liggett]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

Hypereutetic pistons and N2O do not mix. I'd run cast with the gas before hypers. When they first came out, hyper pistons had issues of the sand pooling and clumping in the alloy mixture. Those clumps in the pistons became the very brittle and weak points on the pistons. They've obviously improved the casting process over the years that GM uses them in almost every engine they make now. They wouldn't use them if they weren't dead nuts reliable.

[70chevyC-10]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

Interesting story about the DPD Race a Cop program Dan - thanks for sharing that.

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

Hypereutetic pistons and N2O do not mix. I'd run cast with the gas before hypers. When they first came out, hyper pistons had issues of the sand pooling and clumping in the alloy mixture. Those clumps in the pistons became the very brittle and weak points on the pistons. They've obviously improved the casting process over the years that GM uses them in almost every engine they make now. They wouldn't use them if they weren't dead nuts reliable.

But the interesting thing is, the 350 thats in my camaro is the original short block out the chevelle. It was built with the hypereutectics when they were relatively new to the market, and I literally have put tons of spray thru it and never a problem. On that engine I ran as much as a 250 shot when it was fresh, so IDK. After looking at the carnage, and it only being one hole, I'm thinking manufactur flaw with that piston.....

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

....and this brings me up to the current combo in the chevelle:




It is a .060 350 block, Eagle forged crank, 6" H beam rods and SRP pistons (12.5:1 cr). The Dart heads were repaired and match ported to the Victor jr. but other than that they are box stock. I went with a Reed solid lifter cam, and I'm going from memory here, 554/566 lift & 254/268 dur @ .050 on 101 CL.

The trans is a 700R4 built by my good friend Bobby Johnson who owns The Transmission Shop here in Denver. If it weren't for the car and the Race-A-Cop program, I never would have met him and became such good friends with him. When we were planning this trans build, he gave TCI a call. They were looking for unmodified powerglide valve bodies for their trans builds. Bobby is the go-to guy for PG transmissions in the area, and he normally throws the PG valvebody in a 55 gal drum and bolts in a TCI VB. The rep @ TCI told Bobby they would pay $25 bfor each one that he sent them, he had 93 of them. I crated them up and shipped them back to Mississippi (for $119) and they gave us all of their race parts, including a bulletproof convertor to build the trans. It works fabulous too!!!

I still run the Mallory shift light tach that I bought back in the 80's, as well as the original Mallory unilite and hy fire ignition. If it ain't broke, why replace it?

[Blazerteam]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

Good read..good story ;).i know a cop or two..one of them had a 72 Mach 1 some years ago,that i did some work on.On the test ride,i had 100mph in it,with him in the passenger seat ;D.He just laughed ;D.

But you are cooler,cause you wrench for yourself ;)

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

A little update. I had a little spare time on my hands, so I added a second shot of nitrous (125), 1st shot is 175 hp.

Is it BS approved to stack plates?



The "afterburner" button is the 2nd stage.



I figure once it shifts into 3rd gear, I can manually add another 125 shot. So far on the single 175 shot, the car has run 10.96@124 .... I'm shooting for 10.60's.

[ksj1]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

Be CAREFUL!!!!! ;D ;D

[Bamfster]

Re: Bamfster's Chevelle, the History & Coming Attractions ...

When we built this engine, it was set up to take 400 - 450 worth of nitrous, I'll only be at 300!!!

Here's the bottles/trunk:



I am running a separate fuel system for the nitrous side. Blue pump and 3/8 line from the cell to the regulator. According to NOS, that is sufficient for what I'm doing.