Did 4 runs tonight. All 4 were not pretty.

First run just wasn't going right. Not sure what the problem was. The engine was popping all the way down the track. It was like it was hitting off the rev limiter. I disconnected the crank trigger and plugged the distributor back in. It's possible the engine was just a little too cold also. Ran a 10.27

Second run. Much better. Got a 9.6 pass but it still didn't feel right. The throttle wasn't opening all the way. Readjusted a couple of linkage arms to allow the throttle to open right up.

Third run. Found out why the throttle wasn't opening all the way last time. Another part of the linkage fell off around half track. I coasted across the finish line at an idle at 10.962 @ 85.62 mph. Pulled off onto the return road, reconnected the linkage and drove back to the pits. It was still a good run because I forgot to turn on the water pump and fan.

Fourth run. Still not a perfect run but did get a personal best. Ran 9.523 @ 142.13 mph at 4300 feet density altitude.

All 4 runs are on video recorded with my digital camera. Not as good of quality as the miniDV camera I used last year but at least it's still video. I never played with any of the jetting on all 4 runs because I had other issues and was still testing stuff. The EGT wasn't high enough at the finish line so I know it's running fat and I can lean it down for even more.

Watching my replay tach from the last run, I shifted at 7600 and crossed the traps at 7400 to get that best ET.

Here's the raw video from the last run I made.
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/C...car_163625.htm

I can see the back of my hood lifting as I cross the finish line. Something else to look into I guess. At least the engine is getting enough air into it. I didn't have the oil accumulator turned on. That's why the oil pressure light came on. The light comes on at 20 psi. It never dropped below 10 psi before coming back up.

 

Awesome man, wish i could ride shotgun on that pass!

 

great video - seem to have gotten a good jump at launch - was it a wheels up??

must try that one of these days

 

Actually, my best reaction time was the first pass of the night with a .045. At least I had no red lights. All 4 passes were T&T so it was just a heads up race with no competition. I was playing with throttle and launch settings so my reaction times were all over the place. The starting line enhancer works perfectly although I need to adjust the low setting. That's why I was burping the throttle trying to stage. Just after I do the burnout, I push the bump button on the control panel mounted beside the shifter. That drops the pedal to the floor and allows me to stage at a low rpm with the throttle right to the floor. Once staged, I push the transbrake button, take my foot off the brake and wait for the top yellow light to come on. There's currently a 1.035 delay from when I release the button to when the transbrake releases. Transbrake button is released on the first yellow. 0.800 seconds before the transbrake releases, the throttle goes to WOT on the 2-step. Transbrake releases on the last yellow and the car launches.

The wheels do come off the ground but I don't trip the 60' timers with the rear tires. The video I made from last fall was with a different 4-link setting so the car launches a little differently now.

I've watched the video lots since Wednesday night to see what else I can see.

I see me shifting around the 330 mark so I shift less than 4 seconds off the line.
From the playback tach which you can't see in the video, I launch at 4500. RPM jumps to 6000 (converter stall speed). Shift at 7600 and go through the traps at 7400. Rev limiter is set at 7800.
Oil pressure stays good all the way down the track but dropped below 20 psi when I slowed down. That's when the light came on. I may bump the accumulator pressure up.
Back of the hood needs to be pinned down. The scoop is catching too much air at 100+ mph.
Coolant temperature is around 170 when I launch and is still under 180 when I cross the finish.
I can't see the EGT in the video but I'm sure it's around 900* when I cross the finish indicating I'm running a little fat.
Watch the steering wheel as I launch. It's so straight and smooth I could probably let go of the wheel. Before the rear anti roll bar was installed, as soon as I launched, I was yanking the wheels back to the left.
My shift light wasn't working for some reason so I shifted on feel/sound.

Times on that run

RT - 0.153
60 - 1.406
330 - 3.957
660 - 6.108
MPH - 114.4
1000 - 7.955
1320 - 9.523
MPH - 142.13

My Vehicle Reaction Timer said the VRT was 0.0488. That's the time between when the transbrake releases and when the VRT detects .8g. I've had it as low as 0.0472 when I launched at 6000 rpm last year.

I'm still after that 1.3x 60' time and may get it this year if this was an indication of how the car will run.

 

I've also noticed I have better fuel mileage. I only used 5 gallons of fuel to do 4 passes. With the carbs, I was getting 3 runs on 5 gallons. If I go right down to the end of the track like in the video, it's a 2 mile round trip back to the pits but only 1/4 mile of that is at WOT.

 

$5 per pass for your fuel... Not a bad deal! Cheaper than a roller coaster ride, I'd say!

Nice to hear you are still attacking the strip with that car of yours.

Cheers,
-drb

 

Actually my fuel is free. My sponsor bought me 2 barrels of alcohol this year.

A barrel of alcohol was $385 for 205L = $1.88/L. The price is still fluctuating but that's the cost when purchased.

1 US gallon = 3.785L

5 gallons = 18.92L - We'll round up to 19L because what I used wasn't 100% accurate.

19L @ $1.88/L = $35.72 - We'll round up to $36

$36 / 4 runs = $9 per pass.

Under $10 per pass so that's about a dollar a second

You can also think of it as using 5 gallons to go 8 miles for 1.6 MPG and I have a 4 gallon fuel cell.

 

Looks great! Cant wait to see everyone tuned better.

 

very nice, i need to make a inside camera mount like that

 

The miniDV camera I was using last year had a much better quality picture because of how it saves uncompressed data on tape. The digital camera I'm using now is a Kodak MD853 with a 2GB SD card. The video quality is 640 x 480 in Quicktime MOV format and the 2GB card can hold about 45 minutes of video. I downloaded the videos after each pass and recharged the battery through the USB connection. For online videos, it's more than enough for quality.

I found that I can use Nero to export the format from MOV to AVI using a different codec and keep the same quality. I haven't tried to convert it to MPEG yet. The AVI file is 2.5x the size of the MOV file.

I hooked up my vacuum pump to the crankcase to find the oil leak. The rear seal on the oil pan has a huge sucking sound so I guess I'm pulling the oil pan this weekend.

 

Nice run!! your hood doesn't move that much. The scoop will catch a lot of air, at those speeds. Mine moves more than that and it hasn't broken or cracked in 2 years. Haven't been back to the track since my tranny failure, maybe next week.

 

I got a different torque converter to try. My sponsor had a new rebuilt one from a friend of his that's never been installed after the rebuild. It stalled at 4500 behind a 7 second turbo car. He was going to try it in his car but the car's not ready to run yet so he'll let me try it.

Again, watching my replay tach, I launched at 4500. RPM jumped to 6000 then climbed to 7600 where I shifted. RPM dropped to 6500 after the shift then climbed to 7400 where I crossed the finish line. My stall speed might be a little too high so I'll see what the 4500 stall converter will do next week. If results are good, which I expect them to be, I'll send mine back to get the stall speed lowered into the 4500-5000 range.

 

well on a 7 second turbo car, he's gonna be making loads more torque than you so that 4500 stall speed on his car probly will be 4000 or less on yours

just an idea

 

That's almost what I'm going to expect. Mine is an 8". This one is a 9". Both are from the same race series of converter made by the same company with a slight modification in the part number. I have the model numbers and serial numbers from both so I'm calling the converter company tomorrow to get some info about them before I do the swap.

My mistake, it wasn't a turbo car but a NOS car that wasn't hitting the NOS right off the line.