Got a little bit of progress done, but in the coming weeks I hope to get more accomplished. During January I decided to finally get some proper lighting in the garage, and I am glad I tackled that because the garage is now a much better place to work with proper lighting. (Added 10 4foot LED lights)
- Holley RetroBright Headlights (done)
- Check Balancer and pulleys
- Cut 1/4 coil off of rear coil springs (next)
- Buy spare 10 pound nitrous tank (done)
- Vaccum pump (electric) (not going to do)
- new side window weatherstripping (spring 2023)
- Buy spare U-joints and spare rubber trans mount (done)
- Poly grease everything
also now on the list:
- possibly buy new rear drag shocks
- look into a proper rear sway bar for drag racing
- new oval air filter (done)
Decided to buy a second 10 pound tank for nitrous to keep here as a spare because between september and january it was impossible to find anyone who had a supply of nitrous in stock. Finally, just a week ago, Bruce's speed shop got their supply in, so I immediately bought another bottle and then brought both bottles to his shop. Due to the whole supply difficulties, he increased his price from $7/pound to $10/pound. Oh well, At least I'm supplied for a little while. The new bottle came with a built in PSI gauge, which definitely would have been helpful to have during the September/October days at the dragstrip when I had uncertainty about the actual nitrous system pressure. Glad to have it now though, as I will see how all 3 nitrous pressure gauges read in relation to eachother.
Bought some parts to keep here for spares, like a rubber transmission mount, a 1350 U-joint, U-joint straps, and installed a new Air-filter too.
Next, I am going to tackle the rear-end ride-height issue that bothered me ever since I installed the Air-Ride air-lift bags last year. Even with the bags at the lowest (5psi) the rear end fender eight sits up about 1/2 higher than without them in. This was something I immediately noticed when I put them in, and back then when I was troubleshooting it, I think it still has something to do with the red 'puck" that goes between the bag and the spring perch. So,t he only thing I can do, is take out my coil springs and take another little part of the coil off to drop the ride height. I don't run the rubber isolators anymore, I have been doing the heater hose method on my current springs which I cut back in 2008 and then again back in 2015 to get the ride height dialed in back then. Currently the drivers side rear fender sits at 28 3/8" and the passenger rear sits at 28 1/2". I'm looking to take these numbers down about 5/8" via the coil-cut process. Also will trim the bump-stops accordingly.
No big deal,
but,
I figured while I am in there, maybe I should get a more drag-race oriented rear shock for the car. For spring and fall drag racing, I run the 90/10 Lakewoods up front, but with my Koni yellow rear shocks, and they are usually adjusted to the 3/5 settings while at the dragstrip. (For autocross I take out the front Lakewoods and put in the front koni yellow struts.) The rear shocks on these cars are a 5 minute swap per-side, so I wouldn't mind buying a set of drag-based rear shocks ONLY if I stand a chance of seeing a significant improvement in the launch/60 foot at the track. I don't want to waste money if the koni's are well suited enough. I am not looking for anything high dollar (Afco, viking, etc), but more like the Lakewood 50/50 shocks.
link:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/l...maro/year/1984
And While on the topic of a faster launch, I am wondering if it's time I get away from relying on the oem 1987 iroc-z rear sway bar, and maybe get something of an upgrade. I Take the the front sway bar completely off the car for drag racing and leave the oem rear on on. For autocross, I put the oem iroc one back on, and of course the rear one is already in place. Was thinking of a rear drag sway bar, and then perhaps a separate upgraded front/rear swaybar for autocross action. I do wish the UMI drag-bar was cheaper, because $450 is a lot of money and I might not need to be doing this yet. Maybe see how the shocks do and then decide about sway-bar later on.
drag bar -
https://www.umiperformance.com/home/...drag-sway-bar/
bigger street/autoX bar:
https://www.umiperformance.com/home/...-22mm-tubular/