BBR's 83GT - 552 BBF version 3.0 (at least)

[BBR]

All this work seems entirely too easy. Something is wrong.

Tell that to my neck and stomach muscles!

[TheSilverBuick]

I on the other hands saw the pictures and cringed thinking of the pain in the ass it had to of been cutting those out in that cramped area.

[BBR]

Good night at the track. Car went from end to end and home again without any real issues. Seems to run run a little warmer than the old motor on the road. Water temp would hover just under 210 on the gauge at highway speed and would actually go down a little when slowing or when stopped.

First pass of the night was a 10.90 at 125. That was an interesting run because it lit the shift light sooooo fast I was in 3rd waaaaaay before normal. I went back to the pits and bumped the shift light up 500 rpm and softened up the rear shocks. This netted a 10.86 @ 127.4, but the 60 foot was a dismal 1.69. I decided to check the timing and bumped it from 32 to 36, let 1 pound of air out of each ET Street and went up 4 clicks on the rear shocks. Car drove thru the pits like a pogo stick or so it seemed. The car liked it and went 1.56 in the 60 and 10.69 @ 127.47. New best ET and mph in Amarillo. Whoo hoo. By then it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night.

Wot afr was glued on 12. DA was 6000 feet last night.

Overall a great night, car did it's job and I think there's still more in it with more tuning.

[DanStokes]

XLNT, James! Quicker than anything I've ever owned. Carry on my wayward son.......

Dan

[BlueCuda340]

Glad to hear it went well! Are you going to the Buick V Ford Race this year?

[Beagle]

if it goes much faster, you're gonna need a physical and a license at sea level!

[BBR]

Glad to hear it went well! Are you going to the Buick V Ford Race this year?

Yes I am. Looking forward to it because the old motor would drop 0.5+ seconds just from the elevation difference. Old setup went 10.40's in Noble.

[squirrel]

...and on a cold morning in Tulsa, you'll run 9.96

[BBR]

First pass on new motor. A buddy and his turbo LS GN is in the other lane......

Reverse lights are on because I need to adjust the microswitch....

[CDMBill]

Great news on the new personal best James. What was the DA and humidity compared to your previous PB?

AFR seems fat stil to mel. Those heads have a similar chamber to mine which likes 12.5 the best. I'm also struck by the amount of advance, btu I think that may be altitude. You might try going the other way next time without changing anything else. My heads like 26 or 28 BTDC mean best timing.

[BBR]

Yes the AFR is still a bit fat. This trip was more about making some laps than really doing much tuning. 60 foot times are still slower than I'd like but I am on the right track. I am considering putting the 3.90's in the other 8.8 along with the 33 spline axles and spool. I don't think the 3.55's are doing me any favors getting this turd out of the hole.

Timing. I can give it a whirl when I am out next time. At 36, the engine seemed to make less heat on a pass. It would be about the same temp on the return road as it was at the line. Of course, this is a GM HEI module and they are famous for retarding with rpm. Maybe someday I'll upgrade to something with more zap, like an MSD.

Overall I am very happy with how it ran. I don't remember the exact conditions of the last personal best here, but it was about the same time of year and very similar weather and the car was on the full slicks then vs. the bias ET Street's I have on it now. The slicks are going back on since I am not running a series that requires them any more. I also had dang near a full tank of fuel.... oopsie.

I'll keep tweaking it. Tuning the old motor took it from 11.20's to 10.80's in Amarillo. Just gotta figure out what it likes. If it will run 50's in Amarillo, I will be doing mental back flips because real one's are out of the question.

[DanStokes]

On that ignition deal - I ran a DUI on the Camaro and it was killer. Mine had an external rev limited but the new ones have an internal one. I understand they are compatible with the MSD stuff, too (my chips are MSD). Guess I'm saying it probably would be worth looking in to.

Dan

[BBR]

Going back to the slicks but they leak down so dang fast (mostly around the beads) I decided to just put tubes in them.

[STINEY]

Careful not to shear the valve stems off. Tire slippage on the rim can cause the wheel to cut the schrader valve right off the tube.

We ran into that issue with the paddle tires. Solution to that was to run a mixture of 16oz antifreeze/8oz aluminum stopleak (silver aluminum shaving stuff for radiators)

Basically a slick and a paddle tire are the same thing. Sidewall porosity is a design feature apparently, lol. This cures it without corroding the aluminum rims like the commercial green tire slime does.

Think about it, the cooling system is aluminum and rubber too.


Anyways, hope you don't have any trouble with the tubes. Maybe carry a spare tube or two?

[squirrel]

my MH slicks hold air forever, no tubes. Strange.