Rkreigh

Hey brothers of the beast, spring is here and time to get your Z on

BG is coming soon, and if you are headed down, time to make sure the Z is ready to perform

the old LSV will soon be ready to time the cams, and Demps would like to show how that is done for those that are interested

also a good time to dyno tune, or just "tell the truth" and see what the old gal is putting down and blow some carbon out of the LT5 without going to jail

I'm also going to take "baby bets" and see where the 390 ends up. Previous numbers are between 508 - 516 at around 434 torq

the mods will be increased and better balanced porting (now even at 36)

slight bump in compression with MLS gaskets. Tune by Demps (no secondaries)

spring is here! so bust a move. Thinking of early - mid april.

Let me know if you all would be interested in a dyno / cam time day !!

Scrrem

I'm up for that Ron. I'm getting ready to pull my 380 out to triage the head gasket so I could use a refresher course on cam timing.
Rich

ccmano

It would be great if you would record the valve timing session and post it on YouTube. It’s a process that’s much easier to understand if you see it being done rather than reading about it.
H

wdo-mkr

Will there be cold beer? I am in.

wfot

I am interested, let me know when n where
John

Rkreigh

when has the brotherhood of the beast lacked? This will be a "day long" session and yes the you toobers won't be disappointed

we have some shots of the zr1s doing the "documentary" of the LT5 at the track with some cool in car videos of the LSV and some of demps new rides drifting and just getting plain foolish !!

nothing like it. I think old michelins that are hard as a rock are good for these types of video shoots and they really came out great.

We'll cook out and eat as well. Rich, if you could ride me down that would be great. The coolest car I have right now is a plastidip mottled mazda protege. I'm having Z withdrawl symptoms

(foot twitch, air shifting, making dumb engine noises). *** it's going on a year now!!!

secondchance

I'll be there. Dempsey owes me one pull. I'll pay for the second pull.

Rkreigh

thanks! Who else would like to do some dyno pulls? that dyno needs to be tortured a bit to help pay for it!

wfot

I am in NJ, where would the dyno be held? East coast or IN?

John

zrc3john

I'm in..Dempsey did the Dragon heart package w cams a few years back...Mid to late April is good for me....

zrc3john

Evolution motorsports I would imagine....About 250 miles from you..Fredricksburgh VA..

wfot

I can do that, I would like the chance to dyno mine. I have the tuning software and know what my Butt dnyo tells me but I would be interested in actual numbers and air/fuel ratios.
J

Rkreigh

thanks for the responses. I'm tracking the MLS HG, short block and heads are ready. I'll see when they are do in and see when we can get this moving!!

Rkreigh

sorry for the delay looks like more like late aprill but we're waiting for the HG

Let me know how many folks would like to dyno their cars, and if you are interested in data logging or tuning work

we'll do some videos, so please keep the beer farts below 94db

95ZR1

Hey Ron!

Looks like your head gasket did the same thing that
my head gasket did: Gasket metal ring "rusted"
allowing coolant to enter and eventually hydro lock.
Marc Haibeck said this won't happen with new style
head gaskets. Good excuse to add HP when it's apart.
Good luck!

Ted

Rkreigh

another factor is the many heat cycles this engine went through

the lsv didn't like hot days with ac on in traffic and many times temps would hit 230+

I'd creep up on 235, turn ac off and temps would slowly come back down

also I had an upper rad samco fail and the car saw 240 "burping it" getting it full of coolant

this tends to swell all the parts through expansion and crush the HG to where it "weeps" coolant which eventually leads to failure

I'm thinking this hg failed over about a year of driving as the last few months I would notice coolant loss got worse.


we for sure look for ways to improve the LT5

head porting was conservative and opened up from 34 to 36.

without the secondaries we can go a bit bigger and take advantage of that mod a bit better

went with some very nice calico coated bearings (thanks Phil!!)

and low mile used timing chains

a few valve guides needed attention. And of course the Dragon will look the part with a nice blood red engine and trim parts

I'm thinking of a Spec 3+ clutch, as the stocker is a bit over stressed running at the drags (like to hear more opinions there, this is a relatively new product)

and the last "perf mod" I have is some new front CCW skinnies and 16 drag radials to see what the old gal can really do with some bigger lungs

I'll likely pull a few simple tricks to the suspension and clean everything up. If $ allows, trying to do mod red interior. I have to either swap seats or recover mine as the drivers seat is worn

I have some mod red door panels but looking for nicer ones, mine got scuffed up (hanger rash grrr.....)

looking for ways to lighten the car up a bit as time allows. the front rad cradle is built like a bridge and I'm going to fab up some alum tubes to replace it.

get rid of rear spare, and I've ground my rotors down by a few lbs *(due for replacement before I can road race, bear iron is pretty tough!!)

looking for some nice 13.5 rotors to upgrade as I'll likely keep the Baer ALCON brakes due to the Lingenfelter logo ground in (hmmm.... powder coating!!)

This will all take time and like fine wine it will be ready when ready and not before.

zrc3john

Sounds like a pretty interesting build you have going on there....If we can schedule that dyno day at Dempseys,would be. great to see the car...

Providing of course if it ever stops Freakin raining on the east coast....Weather this spring has been horrible.....

Cheers..

Rkreigh

I expect the parts to arrive and hopefully may will sprout more than flowers.

I'll keep you all posted and hope to get the beast ready to roar

Marc has the HG in stock and they are shipping out. I think they will be worth the wait.

On the LS side, the LS9 HG for the c6 ZR-1 are the hot ticket and work really well with boost or high cyl pressure from high compression

these hg will raise my CR up just a bit and I may have to pull a bit of timing.

the lt5 is very detonation resistant and loves compression!!

time to start making some baby HP bets.

My prior torq numbers were a bit off at 430 or 435 at the wheels and I hope to see that rachet up a bit

no doubt the motor will pull stronger up top as the heads were max ported and grew quite a bit

old LSV would peak 7200 and pull between 508 and 516 max at the tire for mny years

I'm thinking we'll see around 544 at the tire and 440 torq which would please me to no end

the beast will be dripping dragon blood color and although the LPE John L, Graham B. and Dave M sigs have long since faded, the original guts of the LSV have held up nicely!!

now just to figure out a clutch

I've seen the Spec 3 + which is a single disk sprung hub full faced composite clutch that looks very streetable and able to hold way more torq than I will currently make

Any feedback ? I think this clutch is fairly new and features a high quality pressure plate with more clamping force without breaking a leg

DDSLT5

Ron - are you not running a 160F stat? If not, why not? My 415 routinely operates at 168F, no matter what the temps are outside. It makes HUGE power at this temp. You`re likely thinking - BUT WHAT ABOUT THE GM ENGINEERS??????

The only reason for running the engine hot, as GM does, was for easier emissions. A really stupid and weak way to get an engine to pass, IMO. I simply looked at my superbike, my M5, R8, GT3, cayenne turbo S and observed their running temps. ALL run around 170F. Good enough for me!

Rkreigh

yes I use a 160 thermostat and the car cruises very cool at 174

the problem comes on those 95 deg days creeping in traffic with the AC on.

the stock fans aren't quite strong enough to keep her cool

upgrading to some spal fans this go around to increase the flow.