Hi everyone.
After years of fantasizing about it, I've decided to take the plunge. Saw this '98 S-10 for $500 on fb marketplace and said "today's the day."
I've done a lot of odds and ends on my various projects and a couple engine swaps but nothing this big. I'm looking forward to learning a lot on this journey!
Ultimate goal is to make it to the salt, pass tech, and run in ?/MMP. Then if that works out, go really fast in ?/MMP. No idea on engine yet, LS platform is my comfort zone but I think a 2JZ would be a lot of fun.
Looking forward to bothering you all with dumb questions :cheers:
Hey...congrats on the S10! Oddly enough, I've also been looking at S10s as potential salt candidates, probably because of their "less-car-to-deal-with" appeal as a platform, although of course there's ALWAYS a lot more to deal with regardless of the car and class you choose. In any case, great idea to get the extended cab--it'll make getting a full-containment seat, cage and fire stuff in there at least a little easier.
Does that have the 2.2 motor or the V6? If it's the latter, you might consider rebuilding that instead of swapping it out for a bigger engine that'll be a PITA to squeeze into the little S10 engine bay (although race-only makes that task easier). Boosted and built, the 4.6 V6 can probably make upward of 400 hp...
Where are you located?
Gary - currently located in Norco CA. I honestly didn't even look at the motor. It was listed as "needs a head gasket" which I took to mean "it needed a head gasket a few thousand miles ago" and pretty much banked on free-throwing it into the dumpster. But I'll check it out, if it's not wasted it'd be nice to have something that will let it putt around while I figure out frame and suspension stuff.
No kidding on "lot more to deal with!" I got a rulebook on a whim a year ago after re-watching the Bonneville episode of Roadkill. Now several books and many, many hours of reading later, the rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper :laugh:
It sure does, although I'm one of the (probably many) weirdos who actually likes browsing through the rulebook...maybe it's the pictures... :-D In any case, good luck with the build, and when you have questions, this is the place to go--there are loads of people on here with infinitely more LSR knowledge than I'll ever have, and they're all willing to help... :cheers:
Quote from: fissionspeed on October 24, 2021, 07:56:42 PM
No kidding on "lot more to deal with!" I got a rulebook on a whim a year ago after re-watching the Bonneville episode of Roadkill. Now several books and many, many hours of reading later, the rabbit hole just keeps getting deeper :laugh:
There is no escape - you will be assimilated! :? :cheers:
Took a trip to El Mirage for the October meet and had a great time! Bumped elbows with some SCTA people and watched White Goose Bar Racing set a record in their very cool diesel minitruck. Everyone was very friendly, welcoming, and just a general great vibe in the air. Since El Mirage is only an hour away and there's a club in my area I think I'm going to go ahead and try to "get involved". :-D
The Road Runners meet monthly in Riverside. Give president Mike a call at the Ed Martin Garage.
You've probably picked the easiest platform on the planet to install too much motor into.
But let me suggest that you're best approach to obtaining a RECORD might be going with a small bore 4.
EVERYBODY builds V8 Chevys - I think you'll find every record above 250 CI in the class will be an LS or an older Small Block. It's the Belly Button principal at work - BUT . . .
If you head into the smaller engine territory, nobody wants to build them, and generally there's less competition.
If driving really fast is your motivation, than go V8 - but if figuring out the slickest way to max out an orphaned engine appeals to your sense of adventure, the Olds Quad 4 awaits . . .
Yep I'm with Chris... almost... I'm thinking blown Japanese in your Chevy... 2JZ ?... or ?...
About anything but a LS.... lots of choices outside the box....
Spend a couple days drinking with your buds looking at the options :friday cromag :cheers:
I think y'all are right about the benefits of a smaller engine. Not just for the sake of getting a record, but also because the 200 club minimum for C/BFMMP is something like 240 whereas F/ is 210... Not sure about which would be easier to hit from an engine building standpoint but as far as my nerves are concerned I certainly like 210 better.
Also, 2JZ has undeniable cool factor 8-)
There's a built for 1100 HP 2JZ on the site... for sale...
My guess is it takes about 200 HP to make one go 150ish... in a regular cab... maybe a bit better than a guess....
:cheers:
There's sometimes a lot of difference between going for a record and/or going for a 200 Club record with a minimum. No minimums for records on the salt. There are minimums at El Mirage because of the points system.
If you want a Bonneville record, there're dozens and dozens of motorcycle ones available with no minimum.
Stan, everybody that races Bonneville wants to set a record... and the ones that think they might be able to go 200+ want to be in the 200MPH Club... I know I did...
There are lots of possibilities in blown... At this point... I have to say don't skimp on the intercooler.... the one we got 20 years ago was OK and usable... the new one from Bell put 20+ MPH on the runs... YMMV
I think it's good to tell again -- setting a record over 200 MPH at Bonneville will not always get you a red hat. I broke that news a few years back to a well-known team as they thought going 248 would get the hat. Nope -- there was a 290 minimum in their class. As only an example, rational thinking leads to setting a minimum of say 240 for an "A" class record when the "B" record is 239.
(Also cuts down on a lot of rent-a-rides.)
Picking up on the smaller engine comments and given that my Lakester might eventually see salt with a 2 litre; what is wrong with the GMMP class (or is it just me that giggles reading that class as a word not an acronym?)
The GIMP could make 250 bhp (at sea level, not Bonneville I assume) via Honda S2000 motor and box, throttle bodies, fancy exhaust; 145 mph and change should see a record (but you will have to buy your own hat). I know a man in Irvine Ca. that specialises in them and does beautiful custom headers - buy two and hang one on the wall beautiful.
Or is like the tee shirt: Injection is nice but I'd rather be Turbocharged (or words to that effect). :-D
John
At the time I got my rulebook, FMMP was completely uncontested in all classes (however Blue Mule just set the bar for C class this year) and BFMMP only had records in E and F. I figured since Gas has a record in every category (and since e85 smells nice and is forgiving to tune) that Fuel would be the way to go (blown or unblown yet to be determined).
After quite a bit of sitting I finally started cleaning things out. Very satisfying pulling all this stuff out knowing I don't have to remember how to put it back in :-D
The smaller displacement classes in MMP would be my choice. Jesel owns everything from D up. Pretty hard to be playing David Vs. Goliath when unlimited funds and unlimited buddies who want to drive squash all the records that were attainable for a new team racing on a budget. My .02
"... I don't have to remember how to put it back in." 8-)
Not to worry - just do as the manual says, "Reverse the order of disassembly!" :? :cheers:
So fresh and so clean! Finally had some time to work last night. Wife and I were doing a bunch of DIY work on our new house but are finally moved in, so I can see my new baby every night now.
Updates as of last post:
-all interior panels are out
-rearview mirrors are off
-locks disabled
-rear suspension is out
-front springs are out
-truck is sitting about 5 inches off the ground, about the limit of the stock front end. Might go for more when I get aftermarket stuff up there.
Next step I think is going to be getting new control arms, getting a little lower, then building up the rear end. I have a junkyard ford 8.8 I'll be putting 9 inch ends on (rules committee says disc brakes don't count for axle retention). Tentative plan is to step notch the frame and do a 4 link with a watts link.
Need to organize the garage bigtime :oops:
Updates:
As I save up for some of the big ticket items that I need to science out powertrain and suspension, I've been keeping myself busy with various odds and ends.
My job is nice enough to let me use the machine tools, which allowed me to modify my front hubs for half inch studs. Since our center finding tool is too small for the factory holes in the hub, I had to make a brass "button" to get the mill lined up. I was also able to make an installer tool. Unfortunately, my first try with .625 knurl failed, the 0.62 drill bit wiggled just enough to make the knurl a slip fit. Lucky for me S10s are plentiful so it was only a $20 mistake. These are drilled 37/64 for .594 knurl, which worked great.
I have also purchased gnomenator's model 4 bender off the classifieds section, so hopefully I can start on the cage soon. In preparation for that, I modified a popular CAD file for exhaust fabrication to match 5.5" CLR and 1.625 OD. This will hopefully allow me to mock the whole cage up with cardboard tubes before I start bending.
Oh, and I finally settled on a name: "Two Shakes," sticking with the nuclear theme of my little 3D printing business. The "shake" is an informal measure of 10 nanoseconds the Manhattan Project came up with (from "two shakes of a lamb's tail") to help deal with very short time intervals. A shake is about how long it takes a neutron to fly off and split another atom.
Also, I was able to get a log book and pick out a race number last Elmo meet, I chose #239 (the fun isotope of plutonium 8-)). Hopefully I can get a race in before it expires :laugh:
QuoteI chose #239 (the fun isotope of plutonium 8-)). Hopefully I can get a race in before it expires
In theory you should have around 24,110 years.
Back in 2008 the Burkdolls put a late model 1000 cc Kawasaki MC engine in an S10 as I remember and went 137 n.a. and 150+ with a turbo. I would be an easy installation, maybe a Hyabusa and you could probably go 150, n.a.
Rex
Quote from: Rex Schimmer on June 12, 2022, 12:33:23 PM
Back in 2008 the Burkdolls put a late model 1000 cc Kawasaki MC engine in an S10 as I remember and went 137 n.a. and 150+ with a turbo. I would be an easy installation, maybe a Hyabusa and you could probably go 150, n.a.
Rex
That would certainly be easier to get in and out than the iron block V8 :-D I have indeed been strongly considering making the car as modular as possible to facilitate different powerplants. For budget (and fun-having) reasons it would be nice to have a car that I can race before I'm able to buy all the gear to pass tech at 200.
Quote from: Doc B. on June 11, 2022, 11:47:53 AM
QuoteI chose #239 (the fun isotope of plutonium 8-)). Hopefully I can get a race in before it expires
In theory you should have around 24,110 years.
After that we change the number to 235 :-D
One of the things about MC engines is that stock they make more HP/CU.IN. than most highly modified auto engines.
Rex
Some loosely organized updates:
- After parting out everything, I've profited $300 on the chassis, so that's fun!
- Tested compression on the donor engine, was terrible. Was hoping to not let the magic out but took the heads off to lap the valves and install the PAC 1218 springs. Have yet to inspect the bottom end but the thrust seems ok.
- Picked up a bunch of parts on black friday, 1400cc bosch injectors, TRZ control arms to get some caster, sloppy mechanics "Best Cam" and other odds and ends.
- Welded in the step notch kit. This was a big time sink as I'm still new to MIG welding and metal fab in general, so had to get gooder at that to make all this happen. Lots of grinding :oops:
- Enlarged the brackets on the comp engineering 4-link kit to fit the ford 8.8
Next steps:
- Get all the suspension stuff under the car
- Get some mockup wheels and tires
- Make sure I can achieve the ride height I want with the current setup
- Weld it all in and finish narrowing the rear end
- Practice tube bending and start on the cage
Some pictures:
https://i.imgur.com/crMZPYN.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/crMZPYN.jpg)
https://i.imgur.com/y8K4Ttp.png (https://i.imgur.com/y8K4Ttp.png)
https://i.imgur.com/vnHcOZz.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/vnHcOZz.jpg)
https://i.imgur.com/oQ7zD03.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/oQ7zD03.jpg)
https://i.imgur.com/HEA8zxa.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/HEA8zxa.jpg)
Looking good! What's your Speed Week target for the truck? '24?
Quote from: Gary Perkinson on January 10, 2023, 02:04:04 PM
Looking good! What's your Speed Week target for the truck? '24?
Yes, I think '24 is a safe target. In theory '23 could happen under ideal circumstances but I'm betting on at least one major hangup.
Starting roll cage design and mockup. I take measurements in the cab, put them in CAD, use the CAD to make a mockup, then test fit the mockup. After that I use the markings on the tubes and 3D printed adapters to correct the CAD.
Who's this guy Cad? He seems to be getting around more and more.
Crazy Ass Designer? :roll:
In my world, CAD is Cardboard Aided Design.
Steve.
Quote from: SteveM on February 02, 2023, 12:36:26 PM
In my world, CAD is Cardboard Aided Design.
Steve.
My personal favorite
Or Cardboard And Duct tape. :cheers:
Wayno
Whatever you choose I wish you luck brother.
Enjoy the ride.👊👊👊👊👊👊
Mike.
Hi, back again. Lots of waiting for parts, a little procrastinating. I did finally get around to rebuilding my 80e with a Jake's stage 1 kit. This was originally not in the plan but the more I lug all this junk around the less I want to have to yank it out if it doesn't work the first time. It did come out of a junkyard church van after all.
I would like to get the engine and transmission running on a stand to listen for any horrible noises before I put them in and go deep on cage work, but the purgatory of Terminator backorders may prevent that.
Whole fuel system, converter, wheels, tires, axle narrowing stuff, other goodies have all arrived, so it's starting to feel like one day it might actually be a racecar.
I know a guy with a engine dyno in North San Diego that you can run your engine on, make a couple of pulls to get a baseline tune. and he is a Land Speed racer legend.
Engine work began a few weeks ago. Regrettably, I made a rookie move and looked at the cam bearings:
(https://i.imgur.com/g17TqO5l.png)
Whatever happened to this motor also badly galled a lifter bore. Since I splurged to get some nice tie bar lifters, I didn't want to risk just honing the bore and rolling the dice.
So it was off to the yard to find another 4.8. A nice find this one was, as it was a gen 3.5 with the beefier rods and floating pistons.
(https://i.imgur.com/7OOFBFsl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/KvPucFkl.png)
Lifters installed. Running tie bars allows you to delete the stock plastic retainer tray, eliminating the chance of lifter rotation. I'm also hoping that removing the trays will help keep the oil out of the top of the motor.
(https://i.imgur.com/UNCPt5Gl.png)
Copper spray and pray!
As of now the engine is sealed up and ready for first fire. I finally got ahold of a terminator, so hopefully I'll have a first start video soon.
Bonus content: a scary friend at El Mirage
(https://i.imgur.com/SMSbGkKl.png)
I think that is a tarantula wasp, damn big and I hear that the sting will lay you out. I would advise against petting it.Your motor looks strong, 4 bold mains stock ! Nice.
Rex
Quote from: Rex Schimmer on July 13, 2023, 08:36:35 PM
I think that is a tarantula wasp, damn big and I hear that the sting will lay you out. I would advise against petting it.Your motor looks strong, 4 bold mains stock ! Nice.
Rex
Yeah, tarantula hawk! I didn't know we had them here but apparently they are everywhere.
I'm very hopeful about the motor. Most of my knowledge base is gleaned from its extensive use in drag racing, it will be an interesting challenge to make sure it stays alive for 5 miles.
Sadly my gamble on the stock piston rings did not pay off, and hole #6 and #8 were dead. Apart she comes again for a quick deglazing, rings, and bearings.
(https://i.imgur.com/0NDceCTl.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/X5LbA2Cl.jpg)
On the bright side, I've got my axle brackets and front brackets tacked in with some mockup bars, and it looks like the geometry is working out as planned. Wishing I had a chassis table and keeping my fingers crossed we don't have an earthquake :-D
(https://i.imgur.com/qLRgX3kl.jpg) (https://i.imgur.com/2KR52Ypl.png)
I'm thinking we will have a roller here pretty soon!
Updates:
I was able to start the engine! It made good oil pressure and didn't make any bad noises so in the truck it goes. It was one of those marathon weekends where a ton of little stuff needed to be done. Making AN lines, making cables, where did I leave those flexplate bolts, realizing you don't have the right AN fittings, etc.
One of these tasks was mounting the fuel rails to the intake. These are no-name china rails for a car intake (different mounting hole spacing) and a different injector length. In the end the only thing to do was 3D print some adapters. The final version will be made of Nylon so they don't melt.
After that, I had to test the fuel pressure regulator, it's an amazon special and bottoms out at 80 psi. Fortunately cutting a couple coils out of the spring brought it down to 58. Then, all that was left was to put all my sensors and injector data in the holley and it fired right up!
With regards to the chassis, I still need to finish the suspension. I am waiting to make a crossmember + driveshaft safety loop until the engine/trans are in the car and I can see where the shaft is going. Definitely going to have to make a tunnel. I also need to find a friend with a TIG welder or get one myself because my link bars are chromoly.
Also, I have discovered that I am not very good at tube bending! I went ahead and ordered a cage kit from S&W race cars, so hopefully that will save me some grief. I'll be keeping the tube bender, maybe by race car #2 I'll have more practice.
Sorry for the rambling! All in all I'm happy with the progress just wish I could go a little faster.
(https://i.imgur.com/WpPF1R6h.jpg)
My son and racing partner, Duke, works at Chuckle's Garage here i n Santa Rosa and they have been building a new small pickup for Bonneville. He designed and fabricated the cage. I have attached a pic that may give you some ideas on your cage.
Rex
Quote from: Rex Schimmer on October 22, 2023, 08:52:26 PM
My son and racing partner, Duke, works at Chuckle's Garage here i n Santa Rosa and they have been building a new small pickup for Bonneville. He designed and fabricated the cage. I have attached a pic that may give you some ideas on your cage.
Rex
I saw the truck revealed on Instagram, quite a machine. 1/4 million dollars. Glad I'm not running F class.
You are right that it is pretty impressive and the owner Scott is a great guy but I personally prefer projects like yours. Pretty much a one man deal and you have to watch the dollars. Lots of satisfaction when you do most of the work yourself. Keep it up and keep us posted.
Rex
Some minor updates:
- Those no-name china fuel rails ended up biting me. The injector bores were way out of spec and I pushed an o-ring out, spraying fuel everywhere. Glad that didn't happen under power. Tried a few different styles and had to return them all, it appears no matter who sells cheap fuel rails, they all come from the same factory. Ended up getting some holley rails which had the correct bore size.
- Torque converter and transmission are mated and ready to be bolted to the engine. I have my SFI blanket ready to install before it all goes in
- Motor mounts installed. The trans crossmember I got secondhand appears to be a factory error with the mount on upside down, so that will have to be modified
Major updates:
- finally finished narrowing the ford 8.8 and adding the ford 9" ends required for axle retention. I have a couple Quick performance axles, girdle cover, and drum brake kit on the way
- I got a TIG machine and was able to make my chromoly 4-link bars. With this done and the housing narrowed, I was able to put everything under the car and check my work on the whole rear suspension. Still need to add the diagonal link, but miraculously it appears I was able to keep everything relatively square. I'm pretty proud of that considering I didn't know how to weld when I started, and here in california the lines on the floor have a habit of moving :laugh:
Next steps:
- get shocks and springs (we'll have a roller at this point!)
- figure out how I want to cut the floor pan to get the engine and trans in the car
- get the engine and trans in the car
- add frame crossbrace and driveshaft safety loop
- get the roll cage in the car (currently sweating this. I'm pretty okay at welding on the bench but twisted up like a pretzel is yet to be seen)
- ??? (everything else on the car)
I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Need to hit it hard, only 127 days until el mirage tech inspection!
(https://i.imgur.com/ieTAweG.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/myVCPLG.jpg)
Spend a couple days drinking with your buds looking at the options
Sound approach, Stainless
Quote from: Gary Freudenberger on January 18, 2024, 01:32:35 PM
Spend a couple days drinking with your buds looking at the options
Sound approach, Stainless
Gary, It usually works for me... beergineering at its best... the solutions will come.... :roll: :cheers:
Since this project started the technique has been employed several times to great effect!
Quote from: Stainless1 on January 18, 2024, 03:41:10 PM
Gary, It usually works for me... beergineering at its best... the solutions will come.... :roll: :cheers:
Update: We're in. RIP oil filter who bravely sacrificed his life in this process. The oil pan is a tight squeeze but it looks like we're good on steering clearance. The engine sits nice and high which will be good for the lowered stance but I reckon some of the floor is going to have to go. Once I get the frame leveled back out (some migration occurred during the persuasion of the drivetrain) I can get the cage started. I'm hoping to have that all tacked in this week. 88 days to go and a hell of a lot left to do.
(https://i.imgur.com/sl6NRdW.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pVOZeaq.png)
Seat installed, driveshaft tunnel installed. Ended up not having to do a trans tunnel, instead I lowered the engine 1 inch by modifying the motor mounts. So far it looks like everything is lining up well, but I will need a 2pc shaft due to how long the car is. Also restored an old racing wheel with some 3D printed parts while procrastinating on starting the cage.
(https://i.imgur.com/nYZ4Rf8l.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/wzawLPMl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/AMNLbTwl.png)
Hey...haven't checked in in over a year...great job! I hope you can pull all the little (and some big) crap together before August...keep us posted! :clap
I am not a fan of a two piece drive shaft, just double the number of potential problems. Why not go with a larger diameter shaft? I would think that a 4 inch dia shaft would work. The loads a drive shaft see are both torque and also the sine wave torque fluctuation that is a product of the U joint angle. If you can get the angle of the shaft fairly straight then the amplitude of the torque fluctuation is lower.
Rex
While some driveshaft failures may be due to over-torquing, most high speed failures are due to uncontrolled resonant bending of the tubing, leading to buckling, generally at the midpoint. This is unrelated to u-joint angularity but can be aggravated by that.
Shorter unsupported lengths and increased bending stiffness (large diameter) raise the natural bending frequency of the tube and permit higher speeds. The mass of the tube also enters into it?aluminum, composite?
This is a handy chart regarding critical speeds of shafts that differ in diameter, material, lengths and speeds. Note the composite shaft has the highest frequency due to the inherent high stiffness of carbon fiber. This chart is based upon the natural frequency in torsion of the shaft, which is dependent upon the "E" value of the material , the diameter of the shaft, the wall thickness if using tubing and the square root of the cube root of the length (?) Which explains why the frequency is not linear to the length.
Rex
By my math I need to run about 7500 RPM to hit my goals at elmo (205) and bonneville (225) with a 3.08 and 2.73 gear respectively. Since I don't want to hang out at the critical speed RPM, I went with 20% factor of safety, so we'll say I need it to be capable of 9300 RPM. With a 68 inch length between my output yoke and my pinion, that diameter starts to get very close to my right leg. I figured it would just be simpler to eliminate the problem. The crossmember for the carrier bearing is already there anyway.
Sounds like good logic, especially since the crossmember is already there. I like your thinking of going with a 20% cushion. Better safe than sorry.
Rex
Trudging along, life as always is getting in the way. As of now I've got the seat, main hoop, harness bar, and a-pillar bars in. Tricky job by yourself! Fortunately it appears the cage fits in the truck and I fit in the cage, so far.
Other updates: QA1 shocks are here so it's time fab those up. I'm just using a crossbar across the step notch with some CNC laser cut brackets. Once those are in and the cage is welded up I can roll this thing outside and put the bed back on which will be satisfying to see.
Picked up a ton of stuff from Holley's memorial day sale, window net, parachute, gloves helmet, arm restraints, etc. My poor budget :laugh:
Wife helping mock up some bars, it's starting to look like a racecar! Still not sure how I'm going to get out of it. I would imagine being on fire helps a lot.
(https://i.imgur.com/397jLR5l.png)
Never done it-- don't recommend it.
Still is probably the safest racing you could do with your truck. You'll find it a little expensive to start with, but read the rules carefully. There're some rules that allow us to spread the time out longer than other venues as we don't do it every weekend. And the SCTA doesn't change the rules on a whim.
And if all else fails you could put an escape hatch in the top and pop out that way...
Be careful not to weld yourself in there... :laugh: :cheers:
Shock mounts are burned in and rear crossmember tacked in place. Sadly this does not count as my safety hoop as it's not in the front 25% of the shaft, but it can't hurt and I need it for clearance. I'm not entirely happy with this rear suspension setup, it should be plenty strong and the geometry is correct it just doesn't look very professional in my opinion. We can get fancy with the next car :laugh:
I am going to try to post more here, it keeps me excited about daily progress. I need to keep a steady pace up if I want to see dirt this year.
(https://i.imgur.com/ofQiUwYl.png)
as always pardon the mess :oops:
(https://i.imgur.com/D1hbonml.png)
After much ado, I am finally happy with where the seat is. I discovered it was mounted much too high (head nearly exiting roll cage), and I didn't notice before I tacked the seatbelt bar in. Made some new seat mounts and lowered the bar to get the belt angle right, which I was finally able to measure properly thanks to my new HANS device (and SFI-20 carhartt jacket).
(https://i.imgur.com/HtfE6Mfl.png)
At this point all that remains to be fitted for the cage is the main hoop diagonal, roof hoop diagonal, and down bars out the back. I am still figuring out how I want to get the bed back on, besides taking the roof off the garage. I'm hoping to get a couple friends over for a "roll the truck outside, put the bed back on, finish welding the cage, roll it back inside" party.
Looking forward to being done with chassis fab, it is not my strong suit.
(https://i.imgur.com/CFpuH95l.png)
In light of the "get it on the dirt this year" timetable, I threw on some $130 ($40 after I pointed out there was a hole in them that I had to TIG back together :roll:) chinese headers so I can run N/A. They fit with some non-gentle persuasion. Dave Freiburger says dents don't kill power, I'll have to take his word for it! I also welded on some v-bands should I decide to make them part of my rear-mounted turbo plans.
(https://i.imgur.com/X3ZuKs6l.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/qKQ0F8Gl.png)
like a glove!
More progress. The cage is finally fully cut and tacked, and the wheels and tires mounted. I'm going to get someone from SCTA to come over and take a look to give the final approval (and tell me exactly where they want to see gussets etc) before finish welding the cage.
(https://i.imgur.com/szGcdNLl.png)
I'm finally starting to get the hang of notching tube! That last bar went in right off the notcher, no trimming :-)
(https://i.imgur.com/YcuLySRl.png)
There are one or two more bars I'd like to put through the cockpit once everything is welded up:
1. Passenger side lap belt mount between the seatbelt bar and frame crossmember, represented by the cardboard tube. It can't go in until the cage is free from the frame and can be lifted up. There is a factory lap belt mount on the body in that area, but I want both lap belts on the cage. Also, since I had to add a driveshaft tunnel to the cab, the factory brace across the floor had to be cut. With this bar, I can weld plates to both it and the floor, adding rigidity back to the area of the floor around the driver.
2. Additional cross bracing bar, and runner to the dash to provide something to mount my switch panel/fire handles to. This is laid out in pink string. I'm not quite married to this idea yet so if you have any feedback here that would be welcome. I might just send that runner back to the main hoop and make a control panel that goes next to the shifter.
(https://i.imgur.com/4PEyDkal.png)
The last few days were spent dealing with some body work - something I have now learned is probably best left to professionals!
The truck's original bed had crushed rear quarter panels, something I thought might be a problem should I ever get close to a record. I decided that since the bed can't come off once the cage is in, I would try to deal with it before re-installing.
The damage:
(https://i.imgur.com/UyAaDukl.png)
Driver's side came out ok-ish:
(https://i.imgur.com/ZDlmDZrl.png)
The passenger side not so much:
(https://i.imgur.com/icRodJ8l.png)
After all this and a quick coat of paint, I realized that I'd hate to look at this for the rest of my life, and it was too far gone for patch panels:
(https://i.imgur.com/fA23kX8l.png)
So I gave up and $500 later, I snagged myself a new-to-me bed in much better shape. And I'll find someone who knows what they're doing to pull that dent :-D Big thanks to GM for making millions of these things.
(https://i.imgur.com/gtgMWTQl.png)
Also very proud of the C30 for surviving its first day trip. Though I didn't trust it enough to shut the engine off :-D
The bed needs clearance for the step notch and rear axle. After much ado about how I was going to get fancy and dzus on a bent sheet metal cover, a simpler option presented itself: the humble 55 gallon barrel.
I've been looking for a chance to try out the plasma cutter, and boy is it fun! After removing the tops of each barrel (but leaving one rim on each, to hold the shape) I tacked the two edges together.
(https://i.imgur.com/nxAoUx0l.png)
Then, the tube was cut down the middle, cut for width, and the rims removed. The scraps:
(https://i.imgur.com/pTYUnYNl.png)
A little geometry gave me the arc length I needed to cover the fender wells and how much circumference to remove. With a little force, the radius of the tube was increased by pressing it down over the fenders of the junk bed. Can't be messing up the paint on the nice one!
(https://i.imgur.com/ID0uGm3l.png)
I was worried that it would kink, but it seems to have expanded nicely to the proper radius. I still need to remove a little material to lower it over the stock arches more, I need some more room in between the arch and the bed cover just in case.
(https://i.imgur.com/Djt1mtSl.png)
Not bad for $15, eh? 8-)
Here's the latest: Got a sweet driveshaft from IE driveline. They even gave a "fun meter" pin! Fun meter is currently somewhere in the middle.
The driveline angles look great, which is a relief! I guess I can measure stuff after all.
(https://i.imgur.com/HNv4SBUl.jpeg)
Driveshaft mockup revealed a critical error though: with a 2 piece driveshaft, you're supposed to use a bolt-on yoke. The 4L80e has different output shafts and they're not cross compatible. The bolt-on yoke output shaft has a shoulder to bottom the yoke out. Otherwise, the bolt does nothing. Guess which one I put in the transmission?
At least the shaft is still threaded. I made a couple pieces on the lathe that will let me weld up the yoke and bolt it on at the correct spacing.
(https://i.imgur.com/e2zrL1ql.jpeg)
200 days until the may meet :|
(https://i.imgur.com/fwZTn3em.png)
The bed is back on and the cage is getting finish welded. Fire bottles and parachute on order. Need to seal up all the holes, do seatbelts and window nets, then do the plumbing and wiring, and we'll be ready for some shakedowns.
(https://i.imgur.com/huhewzml.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VJDCrDJl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/qJ0RuoUl.png)
I decided to listen to everyone's concerns and whip up some bars that would let me hard mount the seat and belts to the cage rather than the floor:
(https://i.imgur.com/vP8qdW9l.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/y8QHRQ4l.png)
If anyone knows a good primer for how to make an aluminum dashboard, please link it!
I love the proper use of the 55 gallon barrels. 😎 🍻
Quote from: rockracer on January 21, 2025, 05:30:20 PM
I love the proper use of the 55 gallon barrels. 😎 🍻
Thanks! Unfortunately they are a little far forward - didn't realize that the factory wheel tubs are not centered on the axle. But that's ok, nothing the zip disc can't fix.
I'm starting a new job and managed to get myself a couple weeks off, and I've been having so much fun just working on the truck and fixing up the house full time. I wish it could always be like this!
Spent the last couple days making a swing-down parachute mount / push bar combo. I haven't painted the swing bar yet because I don't know my CG and therefore where to put the chute anchor. So I'm ordering up a couple brackets that will let me move it up and down. I figure when I pull my chute during my rookie runs we can dial it in. Got a couple grade-8 hitch pins on order for ease of use.
(https://i.imgur.com/FujmA3fl.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ipGAxdBl.png)
I got all my gussets in and painted the top of the cage so I can scoot it back up and send it to its forever home. My window nets are not yet here so I'm debating waiting so I can get the mounting tabs in the right spot while it's still down, versus trying to monkey around with a stubby TIG when it's in position. I need to get the door bars and all that in so I'm tempted to, as my wife says, "burn that bridge when we come to it."
(https://i.imgur.com/PowtMHol.png)
Flat black rust-oleum cut with a squirt of acetone on a foam roller works great for cage paint!
Looking good!
more thrash as May looms
Currently working on a dash. Not as good as I'd like it to be but it'll do. I had the notches for the bars going sideways, was quite proud of it when a friend said "how are you gonna get it out with the windshield in?" :roll: so now the sides have gaps. Oops. Might cover those if time permits.
(https://i.imgur.com/gpKmRa7l.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/ZxdQG3el.png)
Parachute mounts I had laser cut. The rectangle hole is sized so they can auto-fixture to 30 degrees on a piece of square tube.
(https://i.imgur.com/diXCOmol.png)
3D printed TPU lower radiator mount pads. These will be mounted to steel tabs on the core support. Upper mounts to come.
(https://i.imgur.com/bTSXGm5l.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/u40GRy8l.png)
go go go!!
Well, a lot has been done! I won't bore you with the details, mostly because I don't want to type them all. I've changed jobs twice since March but me and the boys have been absolutely wailing on this thing regardless. Long story short it's almost ready. Needs windows and wiring and whatever the tech inspectors say I missed. But it's coming very soon. Even if it's on the holley base tune this thing is running this year (he said for the 3rd consecutive year in a row).
Most importantly, we've started rattle canning it. We have a very cool warbird theme we're cooking up. It's the only way we could think of to make GM Pewter cool 8-)
(https://i.imgur.com/syPIgPn.png)
It runs, it drives, it kinda sucks! But it kinda rules too. At the minimum it will leave the start line. We will be there in May. Just don't expect it to go fast :tongue:
PS if I'd known how hard it is to move around in an SFI-20 suit I'd have started doing some cardio :cry: definitely need to practice bailing out over the next two weeks.
(https://i.imgur.com/yKps7l5l.png)
Rookie meet complete! We did it :cheers:
It went 140 something, I forgot to grab my time slip so we'll have to wait for results to be posted. We'll likely stay in unblown fuel for the remainder of the season while we finish up some noncritical things (air dam, tonneau, etc) and get some much needed seat time.
I was very happy about 140+ on a base map and pump gas. The plan was always to run turbo but now I'm wondering what's possible with E85 and some spray :naughty:
Quote from: fissionspeed on May 19, 2026, 04:30:42 PMRookie meet complete! We did it :cheers:
It went 140 something, I forgot to grab my time slip so we'll have to wait for results to be posted. We'll likely stay in unblown fuel for the remainder of the season while we finish up some noncritical things (air dam, tonneau, etc) and get some much needed seat time.
I was very happy about 140+ on a base map and pump gas. The plan was always to run turbo but now I'm wondering what's possible with E85 and some spray :naughty:
Well done! Tell us about your experience on the dirt. How did the wind affect you? What was the course like? What about the rookie orientation and procedures? How did they treat you at inspection and registration?
I'm sure your experience could help others!
Quote from: MRK on May 19, 2026, 08:26:05 PMWell done! Tell us about your experience on the dirt. How did the wind affect you? What was the course like? What about the rookie orientation and procedures? How did they treat you at inspection and registration?
I'm sure your experience could help others!
Well, the wind on day one was a trip! Being that it was my first trip out, I was pedaling pretty much all the way, and I couldn't tell whether I had built the car wrong or whether the wind was blowing me off course or what gear I was in or anything. I was just focusing on making it through the lights and pulling my chute.
Rookie orientation was nothing if not thorough! I've been coming out to the dirt for several years so at this point I'd heard it all before, but I still caught myself wondering what I was going to forget to do right. Fortunately the important bits are repeated several times.
Inspection was a breeze, but I also agonized over the rule book while building the car. They did point out a couple things we should consider adjusting by the next meet. To anyone in the future reading this and thinking about building a car, join a club and start talking with them! Send photos to car tech before making big decisions. Some of these rules are hard to understand if you've never done this before. The two guys who inspected my car were amazing and were giving me great bonus advice the whole time. The inspectors just want you to be safe and go fast, and that was clear the whole time.
There is a fair amount of procedure and ceremony to all of this but there are many many people who will tell you exactly what you need to know, and that's honestly the only way we got all this done and survived our first meet! Love being a part of SCTA.
PS: we went 141.008
I saw you out there. It was crazy windy Saturday!
Quote from: fissionspeed on May 21, 2026, 10:49:14 PMQuote from: MRK on May 19, 2026, 08:26:05 PMWell done! Tell us about your experience on the dirt. How did the wind affect you? What was the course like? What about the rookie orientation and procedures? How did they treat you at inspection and registration?
I'm sure your experience could help others!
Well, the wind on day one was a trip! Being that it was my first trip out, I was pedaling pretty much all the way, and I couldn't tell whether I had built the car wrong or whether the wind was blowing me off course or what gear I was in or anything. I was just focusing on making it through the lights and pulling my chute.
Rookie orientation was nothing if not thorough! I've been coming out to the dirt for several years so at this point I'd heard it all before, but I still caught myself wondering what I was going to forget to do right. Fortunately the important bits are repeated several times.
Inspection was a breeze, but I also agonized over the rule book while building the car. They did point out a couple things we should consider adjusting by the next meet. To anyone in the future reading this and thinking about building a car, join a club and start talking with them! Send photos to car tech before making big decisions. Some of these rules are hard to understand if you've never done this before. The two guys who inspected my car were amazing and were giving me great bonus advice the whole time. The inspectors just want you to be safe and go fast, and that was clear the whole time.
There is a fair amount of procedure and ceremony to all of this but there are many many people who will tell you exactly what you need to know, and that's honestly the only way we got all this done and survived our first meet! Love being a part of SCTA.
PS: we went 141.008
Thanks for sharing your experience! This is great stuff and will help future racers learn more about the nuances of racing with the SCTA. See you in June!
(https://i.imgur.com/wJBXaMOl.jpeg)
Second weekend out was a tough one but we managed to put a bow on it. We were excited to try out our new "home depot aero" that we just finished putting on.
Run 1: new PR at ~142. We broke the push bar (again) so the rest of the weekend is no push truck
Run 2: Blistering hot. Track starting to go away. 135 or something.
Overnight, we decide to try raising the shift points since we're falling on our face when the car hits 3rd. With 308 gears in the rear we probably need about twice the horsepower.
Run 3: I forgot to change the global rev limiter so I never make it out of second gear :cry: but I don't pull the chute and we manage to fix it and get back in line pretty quick
Run 4: We get a tailwind and the car revs up great! New PR at 147.158.
We need more weight in the rear so I don't have to baby it as much, and mo powah.
Trying to talk myself into running Bonneville but it's a trek!
Thank you for all these postings. Since life is short (and Bonneville also keeps getting
shorter), I suggest you plan to race there. If nothing else, it could provide you with
some nice memories. Good luck to you.
If you haven't experienced Speedweek, I too suggest you plan a trip to the Great White Dyno. As a Bonneville rookie, you'll have a great time out on the short course. You'll most likely have Nick Arias acting as Chief Starter on that course and he really enjoys working with the rookie drivers. Besides the racing, Speedweek is a gathering of the tribes. It's like Burning Man for gearheads! If you don't want to make the haul in one day, there are a few different places to overnight all depending on which way to decide to go up. Being from the IE, I'll guess you go up through Las Vegas, take the route that brings you in on 318 to 6 into Ely. Tons of BLM land on the way that you can overnight on.
I have been successfully convinced to go to Speed Week. I guess we'll see you on the salt!
I've ordered a spare set of wheels and a set of 24 inch tires to shorten up the gearing a little. Hopefully that'll let us keep it on mile 2 and not get too hot. I do have a big radiator and trans cooler but probably best not to get anything glowing hot when there's half a season at el mirage left.
Still not sure what speed I should be expecting. All the calculators I've used say about 170 but that's taking a wild guess for coefficient of drag. We're not sure how slippery the truck really is. Personally I'd be ecstatic if we went that fast with no power adder.
Current project is a fiberglass airdam and splitter. The design isn't really scientific, just tapering in from the outer profile of the bumper to allow a splitter. More taper at the front than at the sides. Again, no science here, but it's what the OEMs do so they probably know why.
For anyone searching for this far into the future, assuming AI hasn't fully gatekept free information, the way I got the profile of the bumper was this:
1. Place a sheet of cardboard under the bumper
2. Use a plumb bob to get your XY points
3. Take a picture (as far away as reasonable, to avoid lens error)
4. Plug the picture into university of Tennessee's WebPlotDigitizer to digitize it
5. Take those points and put them into your CAD program. This is less than trivial in OnShape but it can be done with a plugin
From there I 3D printed a buck that will be used to make a fiberglass mold, and from that mold, the air dam.
I can't paint anything without getting a fingerprint on it so lord knows how I'll do with fiberglass and gelcoat but I'm hoping for the best :grin:
(https://i.imgur.com/G3kxqJfl.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/jIAaY25l.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Du3IlbRl.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Nby5YXLl.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/kkWCp29l.jpeg)
(https://i.imgur.com/t1NfSUal.png)
(https://i.imgur.com/fmasUnJl.png)
Making the air dam didn't exactly go as planned.
I spent a week doing bodywork, primer, mold release wax, and gelcoat work on the 3D printed buck, all of which went remarkably well for a first timer. However, I foolishly tried to do the first layer of the mold in one pass instead of working in sections. The failed layup had to be peeled which meant I was now a week behind, with no time to ship more gelcoat.
Therefore a strategic pivot was in order. On the advice of my composites guy, I decided to quickly rewax the buck and pull the part directly from it, rather than make a mold and pull from that. The surface profile is "wrong" by 3/16 of an inch, but I was hoping it would work out in the end.
And it did! It's not the fancy gelcoated class A finish I was hoping for, but I think it looks very grassroots and fits the vibe of the truck very well. The laser cut splitter bolted right up, with some persuasion.
We do not have time to paint it :cheers:
See you on the salt baby!!!
(https://i.imgur.com/6FWonPYl.png)
What day are you leaving? I should be on the road Friday at 4am
Quote from: 1leg on July 29, 2026, 09:14:23 AMWhat day are you leaving? I should be on the road Friday at 4am
I'm hoping to be rolling out no later than 10AM Thursday.
Sometimes things just go right. Qualified on the rookie run at 138.722. Packed the chute in impound, snugged up the air dam and left it alone. Went 144.966 in the morning for a new record of 141.844.
I had the room booked until Tuesday but sadly my cat passed away on Saturday so I was needed at home.
Feels good to accomplish the main goal of this project but the hat beckons. We'll be back in some other configuration for sure. In the meantime we'll torture the junkyard motor with some nitrous and see what happens at El Mirage.
Big thanks to the Road Runners and all the LSR guys who made this possible, I knew less than nothing when this project started and I couldn't have done it without the community.
(https://i.imgur.com/qb35eQIl.jpeg)
:friday
Hell yeah man! that's awesome! I've been following the livestream, I get pumped every time I hear a record broken!
Ready to cause a little trouble come October! Still no dyno tune, but it seems happy from looking at the datalogs. Supposedly you can do a 100 shot "for free," so I've got it jetted for 100 until we can have someone who knows what they're doing take a look at it.
It's a dry system with the holley doing all the work. I've also got a knob on the dash that I've programmed to reduce the duty cycle on the shot. So the plan is to make a run with no spray (and our new smaller tires), then start easing it in and see what happens. Just to make sure we don't do a burnout at 150 mph :grin:
(https://i.imgur.com/cbZ8GDe.jpeg)
Well, to mirror our Bonneville experience, sometimes things just go wrong!
The good news is we picked up almost 20mph on our best no-tailwind time (158.543). The bad news is we're missing a few ring lands.
Which is a bit strange because everything about that shot was conservative. Long ramp time, pulled timing, additional enrichment, race gas, etc. Checking the datalog didn't really yield any answers.
Supposedly, broken ring lands means too little ring gap. But this motor had about 30 thousandths top and bottom, which I figured would be plenty. But then again, I'm new around here.
I've sent the injectors off for testing to make sure we didn't lean out a couple cylinders. If those come back clean, the only other suspect is the stock GM coil packs, which supposedly have a habit of firing early when they're on the way out.
In the meantime, the motor is out of the car and I'm checking it out to see if maybe we can throw it back together and make the November meet. It really looks pretty good all things considered. Though I might feel a little bad about tossing nice parts in a junkyard motor that'll probably just eat them.
Offerings to the gods of speed :laugh:
(https://i.imgur.com/c72bCV0l.jpeg)
Are you loging EGT's?
Quote from: 1leg on October 20, 2026, 03:56:30 PMAre you loging EGT's?
Unfortunately our ECU doesn't have provisions for that yet. I think you can buy an expander kit to do it. It would be a great thing to add in the future.