BlackbirdWS6's Blown 1997 Firebird TA WS6 Convertible 6spd

[Blackbirdws6]

Front bumper is ready for pickup

[ar0ck]

I hope to give this car a run for its money in the looks department in a few more months.Looks gorgeous Brian, its come a long way!

[Blackbirdws6]

I've made a few tweaks to the car recently and had the car retuned at RPM in DE to see the results. I had them do a baseline but unfortunately the information wasn't usable since the car was "spinning its ass off on the dyno". Perhaps it was strapped down loosely but they were confident they had enough tricks to make it hook up when they did the final tune.

While I was surprised peak RWHP nudged only slightly on the top end, midrange power and torque saw a very significant jump. Peak torque is up almost 50 from the previous trip to the dyno. While I would have liked to see those peak numbers rise for internet fame, I think the gains will make a significant difference on the track with a car as heavy as this. The A/F is much improved over the last tune as well which is nice.

RPM believes the LT1 intake may be the restriction. They don't think its the heads since they flow comparable to a good set of ported LS1 units. They even pulled the air filter off the inlet to the head unit to see what would happen and it lost power. Go figure. I will probably ask Lloyd Elliot his thoughts since he would have a better handle on the power capability of my top end.

Since boost is beyond the capabilities of the MAF, the car was tuned in SD. Throttle response is much improved and overall driveability is just better in general. I think the MAF tune could have used some tweaking but the car drove fine, now it just drives more like a "normal" car. Acceleration is quick and smooth and the transition to PE is pretty seamless. I got stuck in some stop and go traffic on the NJ Tpk coming home with it yesterday from DE and I could putter away from 1k rpms in gear without any fuss. So far, I'm a fan of SD tuning.

New Numbers

SAE - 697.55 RWHP / 651.27 RWTQ
Uncorrected - 710.34 RWHP / 661.82 RWTQ

Tweaks from original setup:
- FMIC
- Dual meth nozzle setup
- Smaller supercharger pulley
- Revised supercharger inlet

[transmaro93]

looks good brian... bumper was spider cracked?deff gonna give car a big face lift cause aging bumpers are these cars real downfall... congrats on the better numbers too man

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by transmaro93

looks good brian... bumper was spider cracked?deff gonna give car a big face lift cause aging bumpers are these cars real downfall... congrats on the better numbers too man

Bumper was generally beat up from stone chips which drove me nuts. When the front bumper support was ditched, I developed some cracks which made it even worse. Looks great now. Thanks!

[sweetbmxrider]

Was there tuning between pulls?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

Was there tuning between pulls?

Yes. Last couple were just to confirm it was doing its thing. Notice the run numbers. Fran messed with the part throttle and drive ability for about the entire day Thursday and it shows. Starting to think the cam may be the hold back up top. Not going to mess with it though since it drives so nice.

[sweetbmxrider]

Sooo nice!

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

Sooo nice!

Maybe you can give me your impression from behind the wheel.

[LTb1ow]

You gots the baby cam too?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

You gots the baby cam too?

Yup. Pretty mild.

[Featherburner]

Congrats! So, Fran did the tune?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by Featherburner

Congrats! So, Fran did the tune?

Thanks! Yes, Fran did the tune.

[KirkEvil]

You make more power than me at an rpm below my stall speed. sweet jesus

[greenformula92]

looks good man.

[ThoR294]

still haven't seen the car... I fail

Can't wait to tear my car apart like this

[Blackbirdws6]

Come to the rental on November 4th. Hopefully it won't come apart on its own.

[Blackbirdws6]

Figure I would update this for folks not viewing the bounce house. To summarize, since this car was first run on the dyno, it's burned oil like crazy. I've been adding oil all along the way and aside from that, the engine has taken a beating with almost 20lbs of boost. I don't drive this car easy and it's been to three rentals and a street night or two. After the last Racewars, I bought a leak down tester and with help from Sweetbmxrider, determined that I'm seeing some significant leakage past the rings.

Deciding to put my pride aside and tired of filling the engine with oil, I decided to have the engine rebuilt by Ellwein Racing Engines. I've know about Karl Ellwein for a while and loved viewing his meticulous rebuilds posted on his site. Some Pals and I removed the engine and drove it down to Maryland. Karl wasted no time tearing everything down. At first glance, it appeared maybe fuel wash was the culprit. Everything else looked really good.

Time passed and when the block made it to the machine shop, it was determined that my cylinders were not only under bored but also slightly oval. I guess the rings couldn't seat too well..... Suffice to say, I'm not too pleased with the shop who previously machined my block.

I decided to upgrade a few things while doing the rebuild. These include:

- Slightly more aggressive cam from LE
- NSA Comp Ultra Pro rockers and ARP 7/16 studs
- ARP main cap studs
- UMI Road Race K-Member, upper and lower tubular A arms
- LT4 Valve Covers
- Mighty Mouse Catch Can

Build Page: http://www.ellweinengines.com/ERE48/ERE48.htm

Pic Link: http://s176.photobucket.com/user/bmd.../The%20Rebuild




Sister anticipating her brothers meltdown














Just a little off








So much more room for activities


Progress from this past weekend.

Made some good progress today. Matt stopped over to plumb the multitude of items that require vacuum/boost reference. Overall I'm rather pleased with how this will all turn out. We could had tried to hide things a bit but I preferred accessibility. You will see the new fittings on the intake and the block mounted by the drivers strut tower. Thanks Pal!

I replaced all of the coil bracket bolts with stainless hardware. The bottom ones for the coil standoffs got some loctite and the tops nothing. Sometimes the standoff bolts would loosen so in this configuration, they shouldn't.





The fuel rails needed some cherry so they got a little love. Top pic is a half and half shot. Bottom is the full deal.




Next, the freshly powdercoated accessory bracket was installed and so was the water pump. Plug wires were also installed. I will need to remake these since the LT4 covers are significantly shorter than the Cantons.






Mounted the F1A and steering pump back in along with a few other items I've been meaning to mess with. It's getting crowded quick but the pile of parts is shrinking. I need to order some fittings tomorrow and need to figure out where to put the catch can.

[Paul Huryk]

What is the power/speed goal for the refresh?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by Paul Huryk

What is the power/speed goal for the refresh?

Honestly, I wanted to do this just to make it run healthier than it did. I was dumping a quart in every 125ish miles which is just ridiculous. I did not set any particular goals but Ellwein believes it should pick up a considerable amount of power based on the previous poor ring seal and piston to cylinder wall clearances. The new cam should pick up some power up top. I'm more conservative so we will see where it ends up.

[LTb1ow]

800/800

[Paul Huryk]

Originally Posted by Blackbirdws6

Honestly, I wanted to do this just to make it run healthier than it did. I was dumping a quart in every 125ish miles which is just ridiculous. I did not set any particular goals but Ellwein believes it should pick up a considerable amount of power based on the previous poor ring seal and piston to cylinder wall clearances. The new cam should pick up some power up top. I'm more conservative so we will see where it ends up.

125 miles per quart is a lot.

More boost too?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

800/800

That would be cool but I dunno. We will see.

Originally Posted by Paul Huryk

125 miles per quart is a lot.

More boost too?

Yes it is way too much. I had what is best referred to as range anxiety. The car was originally pullied for 15lbs and now runs about 19. I have a little more left to go but I want to see what it does with no other changes but the fresh rebuild and new cam.

[WildBillyT]

804/721

[V]

im in for 740/801 .
edit: or even 801/740 which i think i meant to begin with.