I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race!
12-08-2003, 12:26 AM
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I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race!
Hey, finally got to get more than one run in at a time! This is a long post, but I hope you will enjoy it.
I went to the race put on by the Xtreme Corvette Club in Dallas at Hallsville TX on Saturday and won the Naturally Aspirated class!
Don't know if you guys have been keeping up with it, but this race has 3 heads up classes. #1 is Anything Goes (nitrous, turbos, blowers or any combination with slicks etc.) #2 is Naturally Aspirated only. Slicks are OK. #3 is anything goes, but must use regular street tires. It's pretty much a C-5/C-4 race with a couple of C-3's in for fun. Lots of serious stuff shows up with either stroker LS-1/LS-6's (434"), seriously tuned stock displacement ones with new heads and killer cams, 4000+rpm stall speeds etc. Many are built/tuned by the major players in the late model world and this is a good place for them to show their talents. These cars are amazing to watch if you've never seen them. They routinely pull 1.4 60' times which is a LOT quicker than mine ever has.
My game plan was to just have some fun and try to get a few runs in. Usually not having a roll bar ends my day early, so I was looking forward to getting to run at this NON-NHRA or IHRA track. If I was going to do well, it was just going to be good 'ole sloppy HP in a 3600lb less than swoopy ragtop '67 Vette!
Car was pretty much in the same tune it was on my last outing other than I had moved the shift light up to 7000 rpm instead of the 6500 rpm I was using before. It really likes to rev! I had recently installed a new Crane points conversion in it ( I know, finally gave up the points!) with integral rev limiter and ended up causing myself troubles.
Took it to the line for a time trial and gave it a shot. Right off the bat it didn't hook very well (cold track) but the real issue came when I tried to run it to 7000 rpm or so. Before the shift light came on it was hitting the rev limiter that I thought was set for 7600 or so. I believe the light is pretty accurate so I think the issue was in the rev limiter. Anyway, I don't know if you've ever tried to hit a gear when the engine is banging against a rev limiter but it ain't easy! After missing second and fourth gears because of hitting limiter, I coasted through with a 10.71@127.32.
Then I removed cap and tried setting rev limiter different. Of course it's a little difficult to see the funky little marks on it while in the car, so I just turned it to something higher than it was.
Next run I launched a little easier and it hooked better. It still found rev limiter on one shift before light came on, but I found all four gears and it ran a 10.65.
Then it was time for qualifying. With no way to trust the rev limiter setting not killing me, I decided to revert back to the old driving style and just shift about 6500 rpm and actually find all the gears. I figured that was a lot smoother way to get down the track at that point. I ended up with a 10.79 hitting that stupid limiter in 3rd and missed 4th! AAAARRRGGGHHHH!! So MPH was only 121.08!
Then I tried second round qualifying and just blew away the tires. It started spinning and wouldn't hook through the first two gears. But I found all the gears and ran a 11.93@124.74. Talk about a wild ride! Oh well....
Now it's time to race. Even with all that I'm the #1 Qualifier in my class. The other cars are all C-5's. One has a new 434" stroker to replace his old 408" stroker. He won the last race with the old motor. He's just getting in his first runs on the new combo. He's had a few shakedown runs at another track and it's running strong in the high 10's also. Another is running a stock displacement shortblock with new ported LS-6 heads and big cam, new converter and obviously lots of tuning and combo sorting. I've seen the car before and it's strong. It's billed as the quickest "Automatic/cam/heads" C-5 in the country! And that is before the newest mods. Plus he is killer out of the hole. Since I'm #1 Qualifier I get to run the #4 car. Another super quick C-5 running right around 11.0 or so.
I really don't get to the track much these days. Like about 5 runs in the last 4 years! So I'm a long way from cutting consistent good lights. These guys race regularly and are good. My lights have been terrible all day as I have spent more time concentrating on getting car down the track than winning races. But now it's time to get serious and I guess the pressure of knowing it really counts, must help. I cut a .607 light to his .640 and stuck to my game plan of coming out easy and shortshifting at 6500. It all came together with a 10.71@131.96 to his 11.19@121.72.
That race was at 6:03 pm and as I came back into the pits they told us to pull right back to the staging lanes as we were about to run again. No cool down time at all! Next run was at 6:14!! 13 whole minutes!
Now I gotta run that killer "Quickest Auto Cam/Heads w/auto" dude. Knowing he's got about .2 on me in the first 60' doesn't make me feel good. Plus he just put away that 434" stroker! Talk about pressure! I have no doubt these guys are good and I'm just the amatuer playing in their world.
So we pull to the line and I stick with same gameplan. Sure made me nervous when his burnout lasted about twice as long as mine did. He was determined to drill me out of the hole. He had already told me he he was surprised at my top end power (we raced in one of the time trials), so he was going to make sure he was way out in front. And my driving style throughout the day was for sure helping his confidence!
I knew I couldn't sleep on the line and when I launched I was awful happy to see I didn't redlight! It wasn't until later I found I had cut a .504 (perfect is .500!) That sucker almost flickered red! He was a little slower with a .704 light. Even though he ran a quicker time in the first 60' and in the 1/8 mile, I was still ahead. He never got in front of me, which really surprised me, I figured I was going to have to chase him and run him down. He was a lot quicker, but HP was helping me. I had him by over 3 mph at the 1/8th mile and ran a 10.69@130.89 to get the win light!! He ran a 10.80@125.87.
So the day ended with me getting a cool plaque and getting to hang out at the track with a buch of really nice guys. Being one of only 2 C-2's at the track (more on that in a minute) allowed us to get a lot of attention. For sure we had the "cubes"award. All the C-5 guys were great and made sure they made me feel welcome. One did joke with me about coming to "their race" and taking home the title, but it was cool. I can't say enough how great these guys ran the event and made sure everyone had a great time. At least when I went down the track everyone got to hear a different sound.
There is no doubt these C-5 guys have spent lots of time dialing in their combinations. I'm just in the beginning stages. These are the first runs this engine has ever made. The last time it went down the track without scattering rear end parts was with the 427. The new Dana 60 IRS works perfect. The engine never missed a beat and my new oil pan has solved my previous oil pressure problems. It never waivered. I will fix the rev limiter issue and be back again when I can really rev it like it wants to. I KNOW there is lots more in it, just had a weird issue with the dist. The Crane conversion worked perfect other than the rev limiter and I'm sure it will turn out to be something I did. I'm sure the kit works well. If not...I'll buy a new set of points! My slicks were bought used from a guy about 6 years ago when he got new ones, so I guess It's about time for me to get new ones so I can really launch huh?
Also may have to re-think my gearing combo. When I planned it, I was thinking of 26" tires with the "old" combo in the engine. The new one really likes to go higher in rpm and I'm just barely getting into 4th gear before the finish line and am just barely over 6000-6100 rpm at the line. This engine's peak power was made at 7400, so you can see the issue!
But the gearing helps the next (and best) part of the story.
Remember that "other" C-2 I mentioned? I've posted a few times lately about my best friend Donny with his '65 convertible and the 'lil 327 he is playing with. We drove it last year to Bowling Green from TX for the Corvette Forum Cruise-In last may. Lots of stuff conspired to get him up to last Friday night having the engine and new Doug Nash 5 speed just barely sitting in the car. We wanted to take it and jump on some C-5's too. He lives 175 miles from me and I went to his house Friday night and we worked 'till 1am getting it going. We still had to finish the trans mount building for the new trans and finish the whole install. We fired it up about midnight, broke in the cam and reset valves. We drove it down the road and trans shifted well with my old Centerforce clutch installed and the .060 over, 11.0 compression 327 sounded killer with that crazy 'lil roundy-pounder cam in it, and the new S/R Torquer heads with 2.08/1.60 valves and 1.6 rockers.
He was late gettting going on Sat. morning and then the oil filter adapter (remember this is an old 327 that came with a canister oil filter!) sprung a leak. He found another one and got it going finally. He took off towards Hallsville (about 140 miles from his house). New engine was broke in on the trip and when he got there he was ready to make a pass. He was too late to run in the official event, but he was able to make time trials. So he pulls to the line, launches and nails second gear and "WHAM" kills the spider gears in the rear end!! I thought he missed second gear...but no way...he pounded it! I guess the 38 year old diff wasn't ready for the new power of the 327 and a trans that does some serious multiplying!
So to end the day, we put my car back in "street mode" and loaded his on the trailer. He drove the pickup with his car in tow and my wife and I drove the "Fastest Naturally Aspirated Street Vette in TX" the 140 miles back to his house!! Those 3.07 gears were sure nice! And the tank was still almost full of the 93 octane gas we used during the race, so we didn't even have to stop for gas!
JIM :party:
[Modified by 427Hotrod, 11:32 PM 12/7/2003]
I went to the race put on by the Xtreme Corvette Club in Dallas at Hallsville TX on Saturday and won the Naturally Aspirated class!
Don't know if you guys have been keeping up with it, but this race has 3 heads up classes. #1 is Anything Goes (nitrous, turbos, blowers or any combination with slicks etc.) #2 is Naturally Aspirated only. Slicks are OK. #3 is anything goes, but must use regular street tires. It's pretty much a C-5/C-4 race with a couple of C-3's in for fun. Lots of serious stuff shows up with either stroker LS-1/LS-6's (434"), seriously tuned stock displacement ones with new heads and killer cams, 4000+rpm stall speeds etc. Many are built/tuned by the major players in the late model world and this is a good place for them to show their talents. These cars are amazing to watch if you've never seen them. They routinely pull 1.4 60' times which is a LOT quicker than mine ever has.
My game plan was to just have some fun and try to get a few runs in. Usually not having a roll bar ends my day early, so I was looking forward to getting to run at this NON-NHRA or IHRA track. If I was going to do well, it was just going to be good 'ole sloppy HP in a 3600lb less than swoopy ragtop '67 Vette!
Car was pretty much in the same tune it was on my last outing other than I had moved the shift light up to 7000 rpm instead of the 6500 rpm I was using before. It really likes to rev! I had recently installed a new Crane points conversion in it ( I know, finally gave up the points!) with integral rev limiter and ended up causing myself troubles.
Took it to the line for a time trial and gave it a shot. Right off the bat it didn't hook very well (cold track) but the real issue came when I tried to run it to 7000 rpm or so. Before the shift light came on it was hitting the rev limiter that I thought was set for 7600 or so. I believe the light is pretty accurate so I think the issue was in the rev limiter. Anyway, I don't know if you've ever tried to hit a gear when the engine is banging against a rev limiter but it ain't easy! After missing second and fourth gears because of hitting limiter, I coasted through with a 10.71@127.32.
Then I removed cap and tried setting rev limiter different. Of course it's a little difficult to see the funky little marks on it while in the car, so I just turned it to something higher than it was.
Next run I launched a little easier and it hooked better. It still found rev limiter on one shift before light came on, but I found all four gears and it ran a 10.65.
Then it was time for qualifying. With no way to trust the rev limiter setting not killing me, I decided to revert back to the old driving style and just shift about 6500 rpm and actually find all the gears. I figured that was a lot smoother way to get down the track at that point. I ended up with a 10.79 hitting that stupid limiter in 3rd and missed 4th! AAAARRRGGGHHHH!! So MPH was only 121.08!
Then I tried second round qualifying and just blew away the tires. It started spinning and wouldn't hook through the first two gears. But I found all the gears and ran a 11.93@124.74. Talk about a wild ride! Oh well....
Now it's time to race. Even with all that I'm the #1 Qualifier in my class. The other cars are all C-5's. One has a new 434" stroker to replace his old 408" stroker. He won the last race with the old motor. He's just getting in his first runs on the new combo. He's had a few shakedown runs at another track and it's running strong in the high 10's also. Another is running a stock displacement shortblock with new ported LS-6 heads and big cam, new converter and obviously lots of tuning and combo sorting. I've seen the car before and it's strong. It's billed as the quickest "Automatic/cam/heads" C-5 in the country! And that is before the newest mods. Plus he is killer out of the hole. Since I'm #1 Qualifier I get to run the #4 car. Another super quick C-5 running right around 11.0 or so.
I really don't get to the track much these days. Like about 5 runs in the last 4 years! So I'm a long way from cutting consistent good lights. These guys race regularly and are good. My lights have been terrible all day as I have spent more time concentrating on getting car down the track than winning races. But now it's time to get serious and I guess the pressure of knowing it really counts, must help. I cut a .607 light to his .640 and stuck to my game plan of coming out easy and shortshifting at 6500. It all came together with a 10.71@131.96 to his 11.19@121.72.
That race was at 6:03 pm and as I came back into the pits they told us to pull right back to the staging lanes as we were about to run again. No cool down time at all! Next run was at 6:14!! 13 whole minutes!
Now I gotta run that killer "Quickest Auto Cam/Heads w/auto" dude. Knowing he's got about .2 on me in the first 60' doesn't make me feel good. Plus he just put away that 434" stroker! Talk about pressure! I have no doubt these guys are good and I'm just the amatuer playing in their world.
So we pull to the line and I stick with same gameplan. Sure made me nervous when his burnout lasted about twice as long as mine did. He was determined to drill me out of the hole. He had already told me he he was surprised at my top end power (we raced in one of the time trials), so he was going to make sure he was way out in front. And my driving style throughout the day was for sure helping his confidence!
I knew I couldn't sleep on the line and when I launched I was awful happy to see I didn't redlight! It wasn't until later I found I had cut a .504 (perfect is .500!) That sucker almost flickered red! He was a little slower with a .704 light. Even though he ran a quicker time in the first 60' and in the 1/8 mile, I was still ahead. He never got in front of me, which really surprised me, I figured I was going to have to chase him and run him down. He was a lot quicker, but HP was helping me. I had him by over 3 mph at the 1/8th mile and ran a 10.69@130.89 to get the win light!! He ran a 10.80@125.87.
So the day ended with me getting a cool plaque and getting to hang out at the track with a buch of really nice guys. Being one of only 2 C-2's at the track (more on that in a minute) allowed us to get a lot of attention. For sure we had the "cubes"award. All the C-5 guys were great and made sure they made me feel welcome. One did joke with me about coming to "their race" and taking home the title, but it was cool. I can't say enough how great these guys ran the event and made sure everyone had a great time. At least when I went down the track everyone got to hear a different sound.
There is no doubt these C-5 guys have spent lots of time dialing in their combinations. I'm just in the beginning stages. These are the first runs this engine has ever made. The last time it went down the track without scattering rear end parts was with the 427. The new Dana 60 IRS works perfect. The engine never missed a beat and my new oil pan has solved my previous oil pressure problems. It never waivered. I will fix the rev limiter issue and be back again when I can really rev it like it wants to. I KNOW there is lots more in it, just had a weird issue with the dist. The Crane conversion worked perfect other than the rev limiter and I'm sure it will turn out to be something I did. I'm sure the kit works well. If not...I'll buy a new set of points! My slicks were bought used from a guy about 6 years ago when he got new ones, so I guess It's about time for me to get new ones so I can really launch huh?
Also may have to re-think my gearing combo. When I planned it, I was thinking of 26" tires with the "old" combo in the engine. The new one really likes to go higher in rpm and I'm just barely getting into 4th gear before the finish line and am just barely over 6000-6100 rpm at the line. This engine's peak power was made at 7400, so you can see the issue!
But the gearing helps the next (and best) part of the story.
Remember that "other" C-2 I mentioned? I've posted a few times lately about my best friend Donny with his '65 convertible and the 'lil 327 he is playing with. We drove it last year to Bowling Green from TX for the Corvette Forum Cruise-In last may. Lots of stuff conspired to get him up to last Friday night having the engine and new Doug Nash 5 speed just barely sitting in the car. We wanted to take it and jump on some C-5's too. He lives 175 miles from me and I went to his house Friday night and we worked 'till 1am getting it going. We still had to finish the trans mount building for the new trans and finish the whole install. We fired it up about midnight, broke in the cam and reset valves. We drove it down the road and trans shifted well with my old Centerforce clutch installed and the .060 over, 11.0 compression 327 sounded killer with that crazy 'lil roundy-pounder cam in it, and the new S/R Torquer heads with 2.08/1.60 valves and 1.6 rockers.
He was late gettting going on Sat. morning and then the oil filter adapter (remember this is an old 327 that came with a canister oil filter!) sprung a leak. He found another one and got it going finally. He took off towards Hallsville (about 140 miles from his house). New engine was broke in on the trip and when he got there he was ready to make a pass. He was too late to run in the official event, but he was able to make time trials. So he pulls to the line, launches and nails second gear and "WHAM" kills the spider gears in the rear end!! I thought he missed second gear...but no way...he pounded it! I guess the 38 year old diff wasn't ready for the new power of the 327 and a trans that does some serious multiplying!
So to end the day, we put my car back in "street mode" and loaded his on the trailer. He drove the pickup with his car in tow and my wife and I drove the "Fastest Naturally Aspirated Street Vette in TX" the 140 miles back to his house!! Those 3.07 gears were sure nice! And the tank was still almost full of the 93 octane gas we used during the race, so we didn't even have to stop for gas!
JIM :party:
[Modified by 427Hotrod, 11:32 PM 12/7/2003]
12-08-2003, 06:42 AM
#7
Drifting
Member Since: Feb 2000
Location: Clarksville,Tn,USA TN
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Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (Mystery Machine)
Very cool and totally awesome :cheers:
Wish I could of been there to see it all..Your motor looks like a monster sitting in there that is all about business..
Neil in Tenn
Wish I could of been there to see it all..Your motor looks like a monster sitting in there that is all about business..
Neil in Tenn
12-08-2003, 07:10 AM
#8
Le Mans Master
Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (Nomad78SA)
:hurray: Woohoo, that sounds like a really good time :D !!
12-08-2003, 07:27 AM
#10
Team Owner
Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (427Hotrod)
Cool school, shows you don't have to have absolute cubic bux or a computer to go fast....nice job....
when you putting DPFI on the engine???
:D :eek: :cool: :cheers: :smash:
GENE
when you putting DPFI on the engine???
:D :eek: :cool: :cheers: :smash:
GENE
12-08-2003, 07:35 AM
#11
Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (Corey 68)
Dude that is freaking AWESOME!! :eek:
Congtrats :cheers:
Congtrats :cheers:
12-08-2003, 08:41 AM
#14
Race Director
Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (QuickVet)
long, long story.....
and worth EVERY minute it took to read!!!!!
CONGRATS!!!
:thumbs: :chevy :thumbs: :chevy :thumbs: :chevy :thumbs:
and worth EVERY minute it took to read!!!!!
CONGRATS!!!
:thumbs: :chevy :thumbs: :chevy :thumbs: :chevy :thumbs:
12-08-2003, 09:44 AM
#18
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Nov 2001
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CI 7-8 Veteran
Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (427Hotrod)
:hurray: :party: Woohoo, we're proud of you man!!! Good to show the C5 boys that old muscle can still spank some butt. I wish I could have made it down there. After the wedding, I should have more time for this kind of stuff.
Congrats. :cheers:
Congrats. :cheers:
12-08-2003, 10:25 AM
#20
Le Mans Master
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Re: I WON!! Fastest Street Vette in TX Race! (427Hotrod)
CONGRATS HOTROD :thumbs: :thumbs: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: AWESOME outting, wish I could have been there. I don't look much in the "outer" regions (mostly southeast). NEXT YEAR ??? CONGRATS again, show the C5 guys what a "REAL" corvette can do (E.F. NUTTON) :lolg: :lolg: