Mad_Ratel said:Doing the Dragon this weekend?
No, maybe someday. I actually haven't even made it down to the PA events like a bunch of my fellow NEHA competitors have. For the most part I'm pretty happy doing 6 or 7 NEHA events each season.
Mad_Ratel said:Doing the Dragon this weekend?
No, maybe someday. I actually haven't even made it down to the PA events like a bunch of my fellow NEHA competitors have. For the most part I'm pretty happy doing 6 or 7 NEHA events each season.
Working on the brakes again today. Got the two pressure gauges installed up front.
The side to side pressure is the same. I did have to swap the gauges side to side to make sure. Strange Engineering could use to step up their quality control since one of the gauges reads about 50lbs higher than the other. On to checking the rears.
Haven't found a single thing wrong with the brakes yet. Starting to think it is more likely operator error. One case where I wish I had in car video. Given nothing wrong with the brakes it was either some variation of the pavement or I was actually starting to turn in when I was still braking hard. I didn't feel like I was doing that but it would account the spin and the other cases of feeling like the car wanted to turn into the corner. Maybe I just have a bad habit when I am pushing the car and braking hard and late. Or maybe there is still something wrong with the brakes but I don't know what else to check at this point.
One nice thing is I found a great calculator for brake setup. Dual Master Cylinder Bias and Torque Calculator
I entered all the numbers and then could compare the brake pressures I am getting vs the theoretical numbers the calculator gives. I'm going to check again tomorrow and try to better figure out the exact difference in readings between the gauges but it looks like my setup was conservative in that I had more front bias than optimal. That isn't too surprising since I did it more or less by feel and the car probably feels good on the conservative setting. Two full turns of the brake bias knob gets me to about what the calculator gives for pressures but I think I will try one turn and see what that feels like.
Anyway here are the numbers. I tried to match the right numbers (theoretical from weight transfer) to the left numbers. The level of braking was just arbitrarily chosen at 1.4G. That is about 600 psi front. A quick check in the car shows I can get about double that if I push hard. So getting that pressure isn't a problem. Which isn't to say I think the car will stop at a sustained 1.4g but It feels like it must do that at least momentarily just by pedal pressure I'm feeling.
Just to document for my own purposes when I have to check this stuff again.
One gauge reads higher than the other. It was originally off by 50 psi but then I dropped it and now it doesn't got back to zero and starts at about 150 psi.
I checked it vs the other gauge, and even swaped sides and checked again. The gauge that doesn't go back to zero is consistently off by about 145 psi. For purposes here I just call it 150. So when comparing pressures I have to make sure to subtract 150 psi from that gauge.
That done I did only adjust out one turn of the adjuster so right now I have 600 psi front and just over 500 psi rear. Previously the rears were about 450.
I'll have to try to not go for max braking my first few runs at Philo and ease into that so I can see how the change feels. If it is too much rear I just need to crank the adjuster one turn. Since that is in the car I can do it even belted in. In practice once it is set I never touch it and I'm probably going to remove the in car adjuster next time I have the car apart. It 's a bit of weight I don't need.
Garage is coming along.
The last race of the season Philo was a good time. We had great weather and the road was fast.
First order of business was to use my hot sticky tires to clean the road.
On Sunday I ran a personal best time.
Here is in car from a different run (not my fastest but still a quick run).
Here is the launch from same run
www.youtube.com/embed/2BVXU8yd6tk
And finally here is the last run of the day where I spin the car in the road just before check 1. Trying to bit too hard to get a few tenths so I could get down to a 1:04. As near as I can tell I decided to stay on the pavement instead of cutting the corner. So I had more turning to do. I also was going faster and the back end of the car in this case was really light because there is a hump in that corner. I had to be on the brakes because of the rapidly approaching hairpin turn at check 1 and that caused the rear end to snap around. By that time all I can do is try to keep it on the road. Sometimes the line between what feels great and what causes the car to spin is very fine.
So the off season has begun. My main plan for the off season is to get moved into the new garage at the new house. If that all goes to plan I will probably be stripping the car down to the bare chassis. I want to paint everything and it is a good time to take a good look at everything. I'd love to get the lift installed in the new garage so make some of this easier but that may not happen right away just for money reasons.
I have a few other ideas.
I'm thinking of changing how the rear shocks are mounted. Right now they are both on adjusters so wedge can be put into the car in the pits. I'm not racing circle track and I don't need to adjust the suspension that way. If I take out the adjusters and weld in new mounts I can probably save a pound or two.
The brake bias adjuster may also go. I never need to adjust the brake bias while I'm in the car so I can simply this.
I'd also really like to add a skid plate under the motor and maybe as far back as the transmission.
The hood has a fancy hinge setup that John Reed made. It seemed like a really good idea at the time but in practice I've found that it just gets in the way when propped open. I think I'm going back to hood pins in the front. Lighter, simpler and the hood just comes off and is always out of the way.
Cold tires too???
glad you got out no worse for the wear!
In reply to jfryjfry :
No colder than usual. We pretty much always start with cold tires for hillclimbs. Years ago we used to allow tire warming (burn outs!) but it delayed the event and places hosting the event didn't really like all the black marks it left.
And in my case I was spinning the rear tires for a long ways off the line so the rears should have had plenty of heat and that was what lost traction.
It was mostly just going to fast into that corner with a different line. The extra speed and the extra turning caused problems when combined. So driver error, the usual problem.
It has been pretty quiet this off season. The new garage is getting closer to complete.
Looks awesome!
wvumtnbkr said:Looks awesome!
Thanks, looking forward to getting into it. But not sure of the exact timeframe. The house and garage are close to done. In the garage I have to put down a epoxy floor and paint the walls white. Looks like I will be leaving some of the shelving I had where I am now. So I will also have to figure out some new shelving. I'm going to at least look at some wall mounted stuff. I purposely didn't put a lot of windows in the place to have more wall space to work with.
Is that a bathroom in the left of the picture? That is the only thing keeping my garage from being perfect for me.
Size???? 24'x30'??? Looking good .......spring is right around the corner 
Question about the front brakes you are running...
What type of calipers are those and do they have a large selection of pads? I am thinking about a brake upgrade for my rx7. 1 of the stipulations is that I want to continue to run 15" wheels.
Do they sell different rotors or hats with different offsets and bolt patterns for those type brakes?
Thanks!
Rob R.
In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Rotor hats come in all sorts of offsets and bolt patterns. Rotors come in all sorts of diameters, thicknesses, and widths.
Spend some time at Wilwood's site - they've got all their drawings available for everything they sell. If you're willing to do some math and some measuring you can assemble your own big brake kit for far less than what most people sell them for.
wvumtnbkr said:Is that a bathroom in the left of the picture? That is the only thing keeping my garage from being perfect for me.
Yes that is a bathroom! Rough plumbing is done in it but it will have to wait a bit for the finish.
759NRNG said:Size???? 24'x30'??? Looking good .......spring is right around the corner
32' x 32'. Much more space that I've ever had but of course it will be too small. Garages are always too small.
It also has external stairs to storage on the second floor. Internal stairs used up too much floor space.
Mezzanine said:In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Rotor hats come in all sorts of offsets and bolt patterns. Rotors come in all sorts of diameters, thicknesses, and widths.
Spend some time at Wilwood's site - they've got all their drawings available for everything they sell. If you're willing to do some math and some measuring you can assemble your own big brake kit for far less than what most people sell them for.
I'm with Mezzanine. Wilwood has LOTS of options for calipers, rotors and pads.
My calipers are Wilwood Superlite II. I'm not even sure Wilwood makes that exact model anymore but I'm sure they make something will drop in as a replacement.
I have earlier posts about pads and rotors up front Page 8 back in 2014 and more detail about the pads on Page 27.
It seems like everyone in the hillclimb community is building a house/garage this season (except me)!
In reply to drivendaily :
If you think finishing a car is tough try a house. I'm not even building it and it's still a long project. Getting closer. Was there tonight and the garage now has a working heat pump unit! So heat for now and cooling in the summer. I've never had it so good.
KevinGale said:In reply to drivendaily :
If you think finishing a car is tough try a house.
I couldn't agree more.... A year and a half of building and im "almost" there, and that doesn't count the site prep and subdivision/ survery work before that.
KG, have you mentioned engine specs elsewhere here.....borexstroke ...crank dia.....rod length???? Reason I ask, C392 has stated he thinks you're pullin 400lb/ft @2000rpm, that sounds very interesting to me.......possible build for my '91 chev 1/2 ton... Oh Happy belated New Year/Merry christmas!!!!!
In reply to 759NRNG :
I think I have posted most of this in the past.
Block: Dart SHP block 4.165" bore, 3.5" stoke, 381.5 cubic inches.
Rotating assembly: Scat 4340 crankshaft, Mahle flat top pistons, Scat 6" H-Beam rods
Head: Edelbrock E-Tec 200: 11.43 : 1 compression ratio
Cam is a mild (for a race engine) solid roller. Cam card below.
Headers are custom but small tube 1 5/8" x 36" with a Cone Engineering Meg's merge collector
I've never had it on a dyno but decent engine simulator software (which was used to pick components) says it makes nearly 400 ft lbs at 2000 rpm. Peak torque is about 520 ft/lbs at 4500 rpm which is one reason why I've had transmission trouble in the past. Peak hp is about 500 hp at 5500. I rev it to 7000 rpm but by then hp is down to about 430.
So the engine has a very wide power band. It will happily pull in any gear from 2000 to 7000. And that was exactly what I wanted and what I asked for. My friend John Reed designed the motor using simulator software. He is available for hire.
I probably did give up some peak power to get a wider power band but to me that was well worth it. Speeds vary all over the chart hillclimbing and I don't want to shift 26 times in less than three miles. But that is just me. Some people have no problem shifting constantly. I did more than succeed in reducing shifting since I often don't shift at all once I've left the line. At Washington I ran 7 miles of the hill without having to shift out of high gear. LOL.
The heads on my combo are probably the weakest link. The engine would probably like a set of CNC heads like Air Flow Research makes. On the other hand trying to drop in one new part like this rarely works. The engine needs to be viewed as a total package. New heads would probably need a new intake and then a new cam, maybe new headers, the effects just cascade.
My wish is to build a new engine using an aluminum block which will save 90 lbs or so. That engine will have CNC heads and maybe more displacement but it's not clear. I've talked to John about this and he isn't crazy about turning a stroked engine the kind of RPM's I want. We will figure something out but I have to have money first and that won't happen until the kids are out of college in a couple years.
This has been on my mind for a few years now;
http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/350%20chevy%20engine.html
only because i was looking for a semi torque monster (low RPM) for the PU.....the concept/theory intrigues me. And it was executed with less than optimal cyl heads.............
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