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Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
11/17/20 6:11 p.m.

Made really good progress, checked out all the electrical and I'm ready to fire it up this coming weekend.  What's left?

  • Fill and prime oil system
  • Fill trans fluid
  • Bleed clutch system
  • Pump out old gas and put fresh in
  • Wire the MSD to the Sniper (1 wire)
  • Wire the MSD to the distributor (2 wires)
  • Realign the shifter linkage
  • install the exhaust system
  • Add coolant 
  • Ground the Garmin Catalyst
  • Check it for system leaks

Should be ready to fire it up by the weekend.

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
11/26/20 5:52 a.m.

I've had a few "oops" moments I've had to address. 

  • Replaced the feeder line for the PS system as it was to close to the belt system, so I swapped that out.
  • I was unsure what gears were in the winters quickchange housing, so I drained and dropped the cover.  I now know what I need to do if I need to swap gears at the track, so that was a WIN!
  • I fixed an issue with a leaking fuel line back at the fuel cell and drained out the 2 year old "purple" race gas.
  • I apparently hadn't tightended the bolts on the oil pan and found those all finger tight after putting 5 quarts of break-in oil and additive in the engine.  Fortunately there were only a few drips.
  • I also had to re-route some of the wiring/plumbing plugs/whatnot for the various systems to reduce tension all around.

The list is getting smaller!!

  • I need to wire in the tach signal to the Sniper EFI (One wire)
  • Verify TDC
  • Prime oil pump
  • Program the Sniper to the configuration in the engine
  • Ground one wire for my data logger
  • Bleed the clutch
  • Mount seat

I hope to have a video of it running by the end of weekend!

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
11/29/20 4:37 a.m.

SUCCESS!!!  She runs and I made my self imposed deadline to have this thing up and running!  Now I need to make another list! Hahaha... The goal is to have this car on a dyno at some point in December/Early January in The Richmond to DC corridor.  I'm hoping for decent numbers on the 350CHEVY.  It's got a roller cam and vortec heads.  The headers are 1 3/4 primaries and the system is unrestricted out the passenger door.  I can't stress enough how easy it is to setup that Holley sniper.  Car started on the very first try, once everything was plugged in.

 

https://youtu.be/jwgKThU-OXQ

jh36
jh36 Reader
11/29/20 8:13 a.m.

In reply to Mikelly :

Congratulations Mike!  You are zooming along!  Great to see your progress. 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
12/6/20 5:34 a.m.

Finally resolved an issue with the Sniper EFI harness the previous owner had mangled.  The replacement harness was about $100 and took about 45 minutes to fix.  I also made a new shift linkage rod for one of the segments on the trans.  I have a handfull of things left to resolve before I break in the cam and attempt to drive the car around my property. 

 

On the "good news" front, I got the car on my scales and found it is indeed NOT 2800# empty, but closer to 2600 even.  In the pic below it has 100#s of ballast, 5 gallons fuel and driver/radio/gear as she would be driven. 

This is hugely encouraging.  If I can balance the car without that 100# of ballast, it'll make for a very fast proposition for SuperTouring 2/1 in 2022.  For now, I'll be shooting for Super Touring 3 and getting used to the car.  The classes are weight to power based and I already take a points hit for it being a tube chassis non-production car and the non-OEM slicks.  So the motor, being a high torque, low HP V8, is targeted to make around 265-270 WHP, which will put the car, in current weight, nearly perfect to be competitive.

jh36
jh36 Reader
12/6/20 7:13 a.m.

In reply to Mikelly :

That is fantastic, and ST3 in NASA MidAtlantic is the hot slot to be in. It's such a good, competitive group. I am working to catch up with you as far as prep goes .....I'm guessing there is no practical way for me to get into "3" though. 
You're looking good!  

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
12/6/20 4:54 p.m.

Because I can't let well enough alone, I went to the shop this afternoon, Unbolted the plate that sits under the passenger center and put the car up in the air.  The plate can't be removed without pulling the exhaust, so I took a lift jack and placed it on my scale pad, and weighed that plate.  The scale jack was 35# and the steel plate turned out to weigh 73#.  My "fuzzy" math puts that with the other plate that weighs in at 37# at 110 pounds!!  So they had 110# of ballast in this car.  With that removed and the fuel tank empty, we're talking a whole new ballgame.  This car weighs "approximately" 2560# without fuel or driver.  BeBe's nickname might need to change.  Although she's long and wide, she's not so heavy.  And that's a GREAT thing!

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
12/26/20 7:18 p.m.

So even with the cold and miserable weather in and around the Wilderness National Battlefield, and the loss of power for 48 hours, to include loss of my master switch on the house electrical panel, I managed to get some work done on the stock car.

 

I managed to wire in a new coolant gauge/warninglight/backlight, wired in the power for the Garmin Catalyst, and wired in a pressure switch for the canton accusump.  Lastly, I managed to swap the master kill switch and installed a four-pole unit to handle the single wire alternator.

 

Finally, over the holiday we had some 10 year olds come to visit and well, Christmas at the Kelly ranch is not complete without someone, preferable a child or two, getting in a racecar!  Our granddaughter's friends enjoyed it!   

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/6/21 2:15 p.m.

I am down to a handful of things left on the stock car before it is ready to go to the Dyno. I had to order a new aluminum tubing kit for the fire extinguisher system because NASA requires at least one in the engine bay and one in the cockpit and the system only had one. I also resolved fitment issues with the airbox and the engine.  


While I was at it I started to remove the graphics that were on the car when I bought it.


 

tomorrow I will install the seat seat back brace and harnesses and brake the engine in.

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/7/21 6:00 p.m.

Seriously running low on the punch list.  I'm down to fine-tuning the shifter and breaking in the motor.  Tomorrow... 

 

TODAY I mounted the seat, the harnesses and the fire system:

 

 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/9/21 6:46 a.m.

So she's "running".  Not shifting yet, but that'll be resolved shortly. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/KellyRacingEducation/videos/762905330992969/

 

What's left "now" is the funky steering wheel position (Changing the shaft hanger to an adjustable will fix this), the seat-back brace (making one this weekend) and resolving hydraulic fluid leaking from the hydraulic release bearing.  I also need to charge and fill the accusump, resolve an issue with the tach and oil temp sensors and get the car to a dyno.

 

 

mikeatrpi
mikeatrpi HalfDork
1/9/21 7:43 a.m.

Great project Mike!  I think i remember your name from some zcar sites.  

759NRNG (Forum Partidario)
759NRNG (Forum Partidario) UltraDork
1/9/21 11:41 a.m.

Sounds awesome!!!!!!!! ......what rear gear ratio you running? Is that a catalog long block? Two thumbs up on the SBC.....c'mon good weather!!!!

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/16/21 6:55 a.m.
759NRNG (Forum Partidario) said:

Sounds awesome!!!!!!!! ......what rear gear ratio you running? Is that a catalog long block? Two thumbs up on the SBC.....c'mon good weather!!!!

She's got a Winters quickchange and I'm running a 4:11 R&P and combo of 22 small gear up top and 27 big gear on the bottom.  I suspect I'll be tweaking that over time.  

 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/16/21 6:57 a.m.

In reply to mikeatrpi :

 

Yea you probably remember me for Sasha Grey and the build thread on HybridZ.  I spent 14 years of my life on that car.  Single biggest regret of my life was not cutting the cord on that thing sooner and going racing.  

 

 

 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/16/21 6:58 a.m.

So I've adjusted the steering column a little bit and I'm playing around with a couple of setup specific items this weekend.  I'll hopefully get to drive her around the ring road on my property this week and then get her ready to dyno.

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
1/24/21 6:04 a.m.

Latest update... Interesting Issues from a couple weeks ago with a lug on the back of the master cut-off being close enough for arc, but far enough away I could put a .50 feeler gauge under it.   I was concerned it might have back-fed into the MSD and the alternator, killing both.  Fortunately it didn't.  So we're back on track!  Here's where we stand now:

1. I mounted the Kirkey 70 Series seat in place and got it properly positioned, which presents an issue with that master switch.  When belted in, I can't reach it, so I've ordered some stand-offs and I'll make a panel and bolt it to the cage.

2. Bolt the seatback to the existing cage mount points

3. Resolve a clutch fluid leak that I'm hoping was in the line I had on hand.  If not, the trans will have to come out and new bearing installed/clutch pedal stop adjusted.

4. Top off the trans fluid after cycling the fluid pump. 

5. change the oil, filter, and prime the accusump, then connect the line T to the oil system at the remote filter base.

6. I need to bolt down all the original ballast.

7. Bolt in the battery cover.

8. Dyno day is scheduled for Feb. 16th. 

After that it's just a matter of cleaning her up, making her pretty, fixing some issues with the fiberglass panels (one has a small hole in it behind the drivers door) and get it ready to wrap.  Thinking of keeping the red, and then wrapping the horizontal surfaces blue, kinda like this, minus the iRacing logos:

 

 

Then the thought is get some of the white carbon vinyl and trace/cut out 4 and 5 inch stars and randomly place them on the car for a patriotic vibe!  Open to suggestions and thoughts!

 

 

 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
2/16/21 7:34 p.m.

She survived the dyno today!  4 hours and  lots of improvement!!  The goal has always been to target a class and be as competitive as the rules allow.  Super Touring 3 seemed like the sweet spot for a motor that didn't have sexy stuff like aluminum heads or a proper roadrace cam - and that's exactly where this little $2000 motor fell - 257HP and 367 torque.  The guys at ESP were surprised it made that power, but my calculations put it right where I thought it should be with the Vortec heads and Comp Cams XR252.  On a dynojet, those numbers will probably be closer to 267HP, which with the 2950# target weight puts me within tweaking scales/adding a few pounds more of ballast (in the form of fuel) to get to 11.2:1 ratio for NASA rules!  Of equal importance, the motor/trans/chassis survived 4 hours worth of running on the dyno and she runs 1000 times better.

So next up will be corner balancing and then finishing up graphics and buttoning up a few loose ends.  She'll be at VIR in March!

https://youtu.be/lGd0EexfnC0

ctk339
ctk339 Reader
2/26/21 7:04 a.m.

Where did you put the nozzles for your fire system?

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
2/28/21 5:17 p.m.

In reply to ctk339 :

I have two in the trunk, two in the engine bay (either side of the valve cover) and one in the cockpit pointing twoards the dash/gauges.  

jh36
jh36 HalfDork
3/2/21 8:39 p.m.

Looking great Mike...congrats on the progress!

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
3/4/21 2:37 p.m.

Coming along. I ran out of vinyl and stars so I'm at a standstill.  

 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
3/4/21 2:40 p.m.

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
3/16/21 5:51 p.m.

Well We're down to the wire.  Car will be loaded up between tomorrow and Thursday morning for a trip down to VIR.  I'm tired, and burned out, and hoping she survives the test and tune on Friday.  If she does, and passes all the tech requirements, I'll race it on Saturday and see how it goes.  More to report. In the mean time, here's a few more pics with updated graphics!  

 

Mikelly
Mikelly New Reader
3/16/21 5:52 p.m.

And while I was at it, I added some vinyl to my new helmet.  

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