181 replies to this topic

[WhiteA9XS]

your up to date mick , where next ?

[micklx]

Not quite up to date, still got my dyno run and a Sprint at the Island on Oct 20 to go.
Hopefully over christmas I'll get some time to work on the car, I want to modify the front sway bar mounts so it mounts to the strut leg (like VP on) instead of the lower control arm, I might try and find a new sway bar as well. Even Rodomo's bloody Franger Banger or whatever he calls it has a bigger bar than mine.

[rodomo]

"Franger Banger"?
Pissed myself

[micklx]

Sorry , I read elsewhere its called Thunderbolt Grease Slapper.

Well at Calder the misfire returned so before the PIARC Sprint I decided to get it onto a dyno and try and track it down, as well as set the carby up properly and maybe unleash a few more ponies.
So the day before Phillip Island I towed the car down to Hallam Performance which is not far from where I work.
This is the first time I've had a car on a dyno since the late 80's so I'm no expert on the subject but I thought their service and price was reasonable. After about 1.5 hours we ended up with 237 RWKW which is fairly meaningless without knowing what it had with the old engine but it sounds good. The peak figure was at about 6300 from memory (dyno sheet was misplaced in the move). They charged me $150 which I thought was ok, they had 2 blokes on it most of the time.

Also I changed the brake fluid in an effort to get my brakes working properly again. So the next day it was back down to the 2nd best Racetrack in the country.....

[Heath]

$150 sounds like a pretty good deal, esp if you were happy with the service etc. And 237rwkw is a pretty potent figure, interested in seeing what she does at Heathcote now

[micklx]

So after getting my dyno tuning done, it was back down to P.I. the following day, Oct 20 I think it was.
The misfire returned so obviously it wasn't the carby causing it as that had been sorted out on the dyno. At lower revs it would misfire and then at about 4000 everything would start working and off it went. I was pulling 7000 in 4th down the straight compared to 6200 with the old top end so that was good.
After a couple of laps the brakes started to go spongy again, some dickhead in a Porsche was in front of me going into Honda, he slowed down way too much, I kept pushing on the brakes, in the end my pedal was on the floor and I was still catching him so I had to take to the grass to avoid him, all this happened in about 3 seconds so it was rather exciting !!! I could have driven my Nissan Patrol tow car around the corner faster than he was going, still he may have been a beginner so I shouldn't whinge.
This was on the saturday when you get 15 minute sessions but no lap timing. So I managed to get 7 or 8 laps in and from memory I did 4 sessions for the day.
Between sessions I was sitting in the car pumping the brake pedal, it went to the floor a couple of times then sort of came good, so this was a bit of a concern but I figured just allow a bit more braking time and don't get too close to any other cars and she'll be right......
In the next session a mate timed a few laps and I did a few 1.57 laps which was a 3 second improvement over my previous best. I was braking earlier than usual so I reckon there is a bit more left in it yet.
Before the last session I was fiddling with the wiring to the dissy, when I accelerated out of the pits the first time the misfire was gone, I couldn't believe it, I expected it to return at any time but it ran perfectly for the whole session , pity there was nobody timing me as it must have been faster.
There was a couple of Saloon cars in my group, one is a VT Commodore that runs in the national championship and the other was an AU that does the Vic championship. A couple of times the VT passed me and I tried to stay with him, the first time this happened I tried too hard and got sideways through Siberia but the next time I followed him and watched how his car behaved through the corners. It looked like it was set up to oversteer more than my car, the corners I understeer at, he just drove away from me through them, and obviously under brakes he was gaining heaps on me.
Anyway it was a good day and the car came home in one piece, just needs the brakes fixed. I haven't touched it since then but its about time I extracted the digit and did some work on the brakes.
My goal for this year is to get under 1.54 which is the best time the car did with the previous owner in full Commodore Cup spec.

[Racehatch]

It looked like it was set up to oversteer more than my car, the corners I understeer at, he just drove away from me through them, and obviously under brakes he was gaining heaps on me.

I think the key to getting around this place fast is getting the car setup to be hooked up under power. I was having the same problem with my car, way to under steery when under power and I agree, the well setup cars appear to be balanced oversteer on exit, with much higher corner speeds. My thing was great on initial turn in, but poor on exit - so I'll adjust the setup maybe to sacrifce a little of that initial bite for some better exit speed.

At least with the commodore you have a better starting point as the suspension geometry is already pretty good.

[rodomo]

My goal for this year is to get under 1.54 which is the best time the car did with the previous owner in full Commodore Cup spec.

Your only 4 seconds off it.
You'll nail it this year!

[micklx]

Went to the Gippsland car club Hill climb yesterday. The car ran well, but I couldn't get it to grip. I've probably got 50 or so more HP than last time I ran there, everytime I stood on the throttle it would wheelspin and go sideways, I was having trouble getting off the line and bad understeer going into corners. The car is set up for higher speed corners and was a pig to drive. I went slower than last time I was there. Roll on Phillip Island !

[Heath]

But be honest, you couldn't wipe the smile off your face I'm sure

The sideways action compensates for the slow times lol

[rodomo]

Yeah, bugger about that extra horse power, huh?
You'll get good practice at launching at the drag day.

At the last Sandown meet, I kept up with a turbo CA18 1600 Datto from the grid (standing) start. Well that was until I hit, er missed, 3rd. I only use 3rd and top around Sandown so I'll have to practice my 2nd to 3rd shifts.

Edited by rodomo, 02 March 2008 - 11:30 PM.

[MRLXSS]

The car ran well, but I couldn't get it to grip. I've probably got 50 or so more HP than last time I ran there, everytime I stood on the throttle it would wheelspin and go sideways, I was having trouble getting off the line and bad understeer going into corners.

Sounds like you have built yourself a drag car mick! Bring on Heathcote!!

[micklx]

Hopefully the startline at Heathcote has a bit more grip - At least it will be flat and not uphill.

[MRLXSS]

Yeah, the start lines are grippy as! I remember last time i was dumping the clutch at 3grand and it was actually gripping to much! (Or i didnt have enough power?)

[micklx]

Mmmm, was I putting it on for the camera or was I just trying too hard ? Maybe this is the cause of the understeer, the front tyres weren't turning !!

[mr5000]

bloody fantatic thread i love it always wanted to race my torana on the track but figured that id be better off goin a vh so one the torana is built into a tough street/dragcar i might invest in a 308 commodore dammit

[micklx]

[MRLXSS]

Awesome pics!!!!

[rodomo]

Mick, if it ever happens that we're on a circuit together, remind me to keep out of your way.

[Heath]

I'm still trying to figure out if they are Morwell or somewhere I haven't been before... Second pic is ace lol

[micklx]

MRLXSS - Obviously I didn't take the photos, there was a photographer there, He came around before it started handing out brochures, he said each time we went out, he'd take 3 or 4 photos, the cost to buy a cd with all our photos was 22.50 which I think is a bargain, obviously those 2 are the best photos,

Rodomo - better not line up next to me at Calder then ! In the 2nd shot, i knew the photographer was there, so I stood on the loud pedal and got a bit of sideways action happening, I'm happy with the result.

Heath - Yeah its Morwell, 2nd last meeting on the old track. Last weekend.

[micklx]

Well the colors are similar, but I got more sideways !!!

[micklx]

Well the old girl ran a 13.4 at Heathcote, not bad for my first ever attempt. My first run for the day was 13.7 so I didn't improve much.

I have finally uploaded some incar footage from Calder last year (took me half the day to do it !). You can really see the difference between the video quality. My video camera is about 14 years old and is about the size of a 202 engine block, Karls camera is only a year or two old, its much smaller and the picture and sound quality is so much better. Oh well, another part of the ongoing saga of my low budget effort.

http://au.youtube.co...h?v=Tl7aM9TDsDM

http://au.youtube.co...h?v=TUDd3Dvs9os

[rodomo]

Top stuff!
Holden dominance and the Ford driver cracking under pressure.
I reckon Karl needs to tighten up the loose thingo on the bonnet though