632C2

I made four 1/8th mile runs on Saturday at Pacific Raceways. The best 1/8th mile MPH was 111.12! That was on the third run. The best 1/8th mile ET was 6.55. That was on the first run. Pacific Raceways dragstrip is a ¼ mile but due to heavy rains preceeding the race, the officials decided to only allow racing to the 1/8th mile. They couldn't get the whole track dry enough. I was disappointed but clearly understood from a safety standpoint.

The motor is a 582” BBC with a factory 1967 tri-power intake manifold, factory cast iron exhaust manifolds, a 3.5”/3” exhaust system, and all accessories connected. The transmission is a Clutch Turbo with a McLeod 3 finger Borg & Beck pressure plate, aluminum flywheel, and sintered iron disk. The pressure plate has a bronze facing and the flywheel has a bronze insert. The pressure plate is non-adjustable and is set to 2500 lbs.

Here is the motor:


Here are the four runs:


On my first run I messed up badly with the burnout procedure. This was my first time out with the clutch turbo in the car. It has been since 1983 or 1984 since I used that transmission. Everything was new to me. With a TH400 you should do your burnouts in either second or third gear. If you start in second gear you should immediately shift to third once the tires are spinning. I did the 2-3 burnout on the first run and stayed in it way too long. My entire car was engulfed in smoke. The tires spun badly in first gear which resulted in a 60' time of 1.632 seconds.

The second run I decided to do the burnout in 3rd gear. Big mistake! The guy at the waterbox didn't stop me until I was about 18” out of the water. When I tried to do the burnout the clutch started slipping badly. There was so much black smoke coming from under the car that a few people wondered if I had a diesel in the car! I got out of it when I realized what was happening but the damage was done. The 60' time increased big time to 2.534 seconds – horrible! On the launch, the clutch felt like it was slipping pretty good. When I got back to the pits the clutch was still smoking. I opened the hood and just let it keep smoking until it finally stopped.

For the third run I went back to the 2-3 burnout method. The clutch was again slipping badly out of the hole but I could feel it grabbing by second gear. The 60' time was still a terrible 2.065 seconds but the MPH at the 1/8th mile went up to 111.12!! I am quite encouraged by this MPH. The first time I raced this car in October of 2014, the 1/8th mile MPH was 102.19 and the 1/4 mile MPH was 131.24. That means the car picked up 29.05 MPH. This means that this car is in the 140 MPH 1/4 mile area!

The fourth run was real bad all the way around. The clutch never did stop spinning and I was hitting the rev limiter in first and second. My day was over after this.

I feel the car has more left in it if I can get a little more seat time. I will be back next year to find out.

Steve

Pop Chevy

NIIICE ! Are those iron heads ? What are you running for tires?

GTOguy

Nice....and very well done. Much respect to you for drag racing with a stickshift. My favorite kind of racing!

Westlotorn

Think what that beast could do with open headers! Very nice!

wmf62

i'm not sure what he means by a "clutch turbo" unless it's like a 'clutchflite"; an automatic with a manual clutch instead of a torque converter.

if so, then it's not quite a 'stickshift'.
Bill

Donny Brass

JMB

Outstanding results Steve for just being able to make a few "shakedown" passes! Can't wait for a good full pass so that we can see 9.xx's @ 140+MPH....what a shame that we have to wait until next season, good luck!

632C2

Pop Chevy: The heads are Dart 335 CNC Pro 1. I tried to disguise them as factory cast iron heads. The tires are M/T DOT radial tire 275R60x15.

Westlotorn: Thanks! No headers for this car!

GTOguy and wmf62: Bill, you are close. A Clutch Turbo is a Turbo 400 with a clutch in place of the torque converter.

Donny: Thanks! Coming from you that means a lot!

JMB: I guess the weather is why some people move to Arizona. I seriously can't wait until next year! Thanks!

Steve

427Hotrod

Wow Steve.....great to see the "toy" out in its new configuration!!

That Clutch Turbo has to be fun......I bet most folks have never seen one.

That is a sneaky motor for sure. If I hadn't seen it all in person way back when I'd think you were smoking something....but I know you and what you can accomplish in your little "skunk works" out back!

My car ran 9.90's@142-143'ish. Those runs usually had 6.40-6.50 1/8th mile runs and 112-113 MPH trap speeds. I think the best it ever did was a 6.38. My 60's were generally in the 1.40's...best was a 1.38. I never got a chance to run when it wasn't 90*+....so I'm sure there was more in it.

When you got that slow 60' time, it showed the correlation between trap speed and ET. When the 60's and ET's are relatively slow,,,the MPH goes up. When it hooks it goes down.


BTW- did you see my newest plan for an exploit? 1/2 mile runway blast with some boost!

Also, it's so unreal...as long as it's been since you've been on here...and since we last saw each other.....today of all days I'm in Everett WA!! Flew in yesterday...worked in Tacoma and then up here tonight. Gotta fly out in the morning. I was thinking of calling you (like last time) as I passed the Puyallup sign.....but it was about 9;30 last night. Catch you next time!!

Anyway, great runs....love that car!!


JIM

ptjsk

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

Love to see the tri-power in use for drag racing.

Pat

632C2

Jim: Great to hear from you again. Too bad you couldn't have stopped by. Like you said, maybe next time! The clutch turbo is definitely a blast. Once I get it dialed in I think it will be the best of both worlds. Especially for someone that uses a chassis dyno as much as I do. Thanks for the feedback!

Pat: Thanks! The biggest reason they are not used is because they don't make real good power. A couple of years ago I removed the tri-power induction system from this motor and installed a box stock Dart 4500 manifold with a box stock 1050 dominator and picked up 37 rwhp and 22 rwtq!

Steve

C5rider

Very cool car! Thanks for sharing. I had heard about the car but this is the first time that I've had the opportunity to see it. I love the fact that you've kept the factory feel, but included some upgrades without resorting to flash and splash.

Nothing wrong with some bling, but doing so with parts that so many folks feel have passed their usefulness for performance is very cool. It shows that there are still folks out there that can think beyond a part number and make positive changes.

We put a tri-power set up on a 572 (620hp) one time, and we all wondered how much "more" could be had with a different intake. You couldn't deny the cool factor of the tri-power though!

Good job!

632C2

Hey, thanks for the excellent comments! It sounds like we are on the same wavelength. I also agree 100% about the tri-power "cool" factor. Everyone at the races thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Steve

Westlotorn

You guys have me thinking the 406 I'm building will be a wimp. Cool Cars, enjoyed the read.
Mark

632C2

Thanks! Your 406 will definitely not be a wimp. I have a 383 in my '67 convertible that I am extremely happy with. It makes over 400 rwhp with exhaust manifolds and runs in the high 11's.

Steve

Westlotorn

You are polite but compared to a 582, or the twin turbo 540, a 406 is a wimp.

Mark

Donny Brass

I could only dream to have 406 cubes...........

ajrothm

Nice first trip out Steve! Car definitely has 9 second potential on a good track. All while looking stock under hood.

Wasn't that motor in a different car (convertible maybe?) before the coupe?

Either way, congrats on building a killer motor.. Sub'd for the track updates.

632C2

Thanks, Alan. The motor did indeed start out in my red '67 convertible. I will keep taking the car out to the track until I get booted for no roll bar.

BTW, I see you have a new Z06! That color is amazing! I have read that those cars run mid 10's with the A8.

Steve