Getting my new 406 SBC installed, running, and driving

[The_Bishop]

Why not drill and tap the manifold for a 3/8" (Or #6 AN if you want to be fancy) fitting? You'll get the correct flow without the hose shenanigans.

Also: What's your initial (idle) timing? That will change your idle vacuum.

[IROCZman15]

I had read that people have drilled and tapped the intake manifold. At this point in almost April I have no desire to pull the intake manifold off of a brand spanking new engine and drill and tap it. Not looking for any more “big” projects I understand what you are saying but I’m not trying to open up any can-of-worms type scenarios at this point. Just hoping to drive and enjoy the car and do little projects along the way

Initial timing is 17 deg. The tuner I am using sent me the revised base tune and I hope to load it and test drive the car tonight. I mentioned the vacuum to him and he said it will change as he makes tuning changes

[IROCZman15]

If it helps, I can post the cam specs/cam card again, but I know there is a photo of it on page 1 of this thread.

- as for vac, I checked it again today. I checked it directly at the 3/8" vac port at the back of the sniper and the PCV line was plugged. gauge shows still right around 8.5", mayyyybe 9" of vac. needle bounces a slight bit.. it is a steady rhythmic bounce, not erratic or jumpy , but a steady pulsing bounce.. I have sprayed starting fluid all around the intake, hoses, sniper etc and have noticed ZERO signs/symptoms of any vacuum leaks.



I was doing some thinking last night and as much as I really really hate the idea of extra items/hoses/etc in the engine bay, I might start looking into the catch can OR remote breather setup. mayyybe. I've so far learned that a catch can is different than a remote breather tank and thats different than an evac system and thats different from a vac pump setup. Reason being, mostly, I am slightly uncomfortable with sucking the crankcase vapors back into the intake and "dirtying" the intake/valves up on a brand new engine. Its unsettling, but I know it is common and used by manufacturers globally. Would feel more comfortable in the long run if I kept the intake as clean as possible, especially with everything so new and fresh.
---So, hillariously, just as I have finally seemed to find a PCV/hose setup that appears to work great, I might start thinking about re-vamping my system. !! jeez !

Some research I did shows that 8.5-9" of vacuum is on the lower end of a street setup, but is not drastically too low. My brakes work just fine and PCV valve seems to be doing its job just fine also
---- Today I took out the one breather I have (pass side valve cover) and held a paper towel to the opening at the valve cover and it is being slightly pulled into the valve cover. Used my hand there too and it is sucking my skin in. this is good. this means I have vacuum there. right? right. next, while doing this same process, I took out the PCV valve and plugged its hole/opening with my other hand, which pretty much immediately resulted in NO more suction at the valve cover hole where the breather usually is, and it began emitting a pressurized "smoke" vapor. After a few seconds of this test, I uncapped and reinserted the PCV valve and right away the passenger valve cover opening stopped smoking and began having suction again. good? yes? To me, this is all great and is the way it is supposed to be functioning right? I think it is, but perhaps hearing it from someone more experienced will ease my concern. If this is good, I'll keep it like this while I do research and possibly decide about catch can or breather tanks, maybe


Finalized the TCC lockup. followed the advice above and simply grounded the tan wire to the nearby subframe. took the car for a ride. I can flip my toggle switch (which is my OEM fog-light dashboard switch) and I can lockup the converter in 2nd, in 3rd, and in 4th gear. awesome. a press of the brake pedal also unlocks it as it is supposed to do. I was happy to get this working. It will be nice to lock it and bring the rpm's down when cruising on the highway.

The tuner will be working on my next revised tune tomorrow and hopefully Thursday or Friday I will have it sent to me so I can do some testing/datalogging/etc. I am doing my best to view this logs and Global Config Files (*tunes) on the holley sniper software. some of it makes sense to me and I think it is really cool to see all this data, but most of this stuff is still over my head (for now) .


all in all, the car is doing good. unfortunately with the global pandemic and COVID-19 pandemic, all autocross events, car shows, drag strips, test and tune days are shut down..... so, I am really just slowly getting the car "sorted out" on the street locally and safely.

[LTb1ow]

If you have a working PCV system, then you are pulling dirty fumes into the engine.

Running a quality catch can inline will help lower the amount of gunk getting pulled back into the intake stream.

[IROCZman15]

Yup. Exactly.
But for me, it’s a tough decision because I am very much concerned with under hood appearances and Simple, clean, streamlined layout. Finding a place to locate the actual can and routing the hoses neatly is Mostly what’s holding me back. Maybe I can find one with some -8 or - 10 AN fittings and braided hoses. If I didn’t care about appearances I would have already pulled the trigger and had one installed, but experimenting (successfully so far) with the PCV setup was my first plan and it’s nice to know that it does the job, but the “dirty air vapor” remains a concern

[IROCZman15]

minor update:

I have been working with the tuner and we are now onto tune revision 3 of about 6or7 initial tune revisions. the way he does it, is the first several tunes focus on the cold starts, idle, part throttle, low rpm, and hot re-start parameters of the tune. Then, after about tune 3, if he likes what he sees, he starts to work on the higher rpm and WOT areas. We are also discussing the PVC/catch can/breather tank situation and we hope to get the engine vacuum up to about 10 inches.

Had the car out today for a short session and I have almost put 500 miles on the new engine. Engine builder told me I would be fine waiting to do the first oil change at 1,000 miles, but since I have time off from work (and my curiosity is elevated) I just might do the oil/filter change soon, to make sure all looks good inside the oil system. Today I picked up 6 quarts of Valvoline VR1 20-50 and ordered the recommended filter Napa ProSelect 21060 oil filter.




I stopped by Larry's Shop last week and he and Chris gave the car a look over and helped point out some things I should adjust/keep in mind. We discussed catch cans also, as well as tuning, and how difficult it would be for me to retrofit any type of functional "knock sensor" to the engine. He also let me borrow his fender-roller and I used it to slightly bend the rear fender lips on both sides. I did not go too far with the metal reshaping, but it certainly better than before, where I had scuffed the current tires a few times in the past.











I also decided that I had enough of trying to make the oem power steering pump, tank, bracket, and pulley look like it belonged with the all new engine and engine bay. I sold some more autoparts online and used that money to buy a new power steering pump, tank, pulley, and brackets. The old oem pump I tried to cleanup and paint during the winter was "ok" looking, but it looked really out of place on the new engine, and I didn't like how high up it sat with the chunky steel bracket. The new pump sits lower, has a metal tank, aluminum pulley, and does not have 175,580 miles on it like my oem one does. I did run into a snag when I realized that the high pressure fitting in the tanks was different. I tried to source out a proper hose locally, and was almost about to go have a hose made, but I spoke with PolarBear who suggested that I swap the fitting from the old tank onto the new tank. After some hesitation, I did this, and everything worked and connected properly. Took the car for a road test today and the new pump along with the newly rebuilt (February 2020) box, new cooler line, etc feels great. Steering system is just great overall. I took these photos yesterday, however today I went and got a 1" shorter v-belt, so the pump tank sits more vertical compared to how it is leaning over a bit too much for my taste in the below photos.
























might decide to swap out the water pump pulley and the crank pulley to be aluminum next. might just keep them as is for now. will have to measure sizes and see what my options are. I looked around very quickly, and did not find a crank/water pump pulley combination that has v groove (for PS pump) and ribbed style (for alternator), in matching aluminum

[sweetbmxrider]

Preventative maintenance looks good

[TaKid455]

A tip on the Knock sensor, TPI cars had them on the RH side by the engine mount. (ACDELCO 21396 ) While it is a possibility, you would need to know the sensor's specifics and also that your block is similar if not exactly in metallurgy. Also, you would need to cross that info into your ECU. As discussed, if you are going to guess on something that one would rely upon its data, might as well guess w/o it.

PS - pump looks good. If you can live with the other pulleys, I'd leave them until you do a serp conversion. While it would have bling, you could score a TPI non AC set up cheap. BIllet specialties has nice stuff if you want to burn some $

[IROCZman15]

cool, thanks Larry, yup, as you educated me in person about the knock sensor, I then kinda took that idea of having one, and after learning about what you said, decided I won't be diving into that territory. you had some super well formed factual info about the knock sensor, and I trust your expertise in this field, for sure. I don't feel like guessing on experimenting with any knock sensor combination and then being wrong and having to deal with the unintended consequences of false knock, or it not detecting knock. However, When I sent my last set of GCF tune files to my tuner he informed me that he is not seeing any detonation in the logs. In my reply (which I typed up last night) I asked him what I could/should look for in my datalogs that would be an indication of detonation/knock. When he replies and answers my question, hopefully it will be a way that I can continually look at my datalogs and then be able to observe if I am knocking or about to be.

Yea, I am happy that I did the PS pump. It was unsightly, and my eye was drawn to it every time I opened the hood. I think I will be holding off on any other pulleys for the current year. perhaps winter I will make a conversion. I am happy this setup is working great and the new PS pulley, bracket, tank, pump looks good too. So, this is the configuration I will stick with. I did toy around with the idea of a Gm type 2 pump with smaller tank which you mentioned to me. I decided to stay "true" to the gen 1 SBC engine theme and went with this one, also because I didnt have to redo any fluid lines.



Sent the tuner my "tune 4" datalogs and "learned GCF 4" last night. Some small adjustments to the IAC and the hot restart were made to tune 3 file. The cold start is now getting really good and the engine will usually fire up quickly with out any need to work the throttle at all. He is still adjusting VE and AE in a few parameters on various tables. My hot idle is set for 872 rpm.
- we started the full throttle tuning too. starting with 32-34 deg advance throughout WOT. I am assuming we will be bringing this number up higher somewhere close to the 37-38 range? Pat (engine builder) had me setting the total advance timing at 38 deg when I had the mechanical distributor weights/springs controlling the timing. I am curious now though, with the holley ecu controlling timing, will it still be in the 38 deg range, or will it be completely different timing numbers with ecu timing control? should I get that 38 number out of my head and just have the tuner read the logs and adjust timing according to data, even if it results in WOT timing advance in the 35 deg range?

- he mentioned a cool little useful trick to calculate horsepower from "fuel flow data". It gives you an approximate HP number if you double the fuel flow nmber.... So, on one of my WOT datalogs, my max fuel flow was 266.6 lbs/hr. So if I double that fuel flow number, my horsepower would be 533.2 hp ? (which is very close to the 531 hp shown on the engine dyno sheet!) and this flow number was at 6120 rpm, (also close to dyno sheet, see page 1 of thread) and this happened with 33.9 deg advance ignition timing at that point in the log. Seems cool if it is somewhat accurate. There is also a similar trick to calculate torque numbers using the VE table. This all was new to me, and I want to check it again as time goes on, especially if we bring in more WOT timing and if my fuel flow numbers go upwards.


Just saturday I hit the 500 mile mark with the new engine. I was told I could go to 1,000 miles before the first oil change by Pat, but curiosity got the best of me and I will be doing an oil and filter change tomorrow. I have an oil filter cutter too, so I will open up the filter and examine it.

-- Aside from the very obvious stuff, should I be checking for anything else on, in, around the engine while I am under there, now that it is broken in after 500 miles?. typical bolt check, zip-tie tightening, etc? I might shim the starter since every now and then I hear it "clang" when/if the engine didnt fire off. This was more noticeable weeks ago when the engine was slow to turn over before the cold start and hot start tune was dialed in. Regardless, I might put a shim under the starter and remeasure the flexplate teeth engagement. Other than that, I'm just enjoying driving it.

[LTb1ow]

You should walk up to max timing based on what plugs say not what the tuner, or engine builder claim.

As far as knock sensors go, I came close to seeing if I could get twin dry sensors installed since my harness has the plug. But decided that it may prove to be more diffucult that worth. The HP forum has a good write up
https://forums.holley.com/showthread...ors-Holley-EFI

[IROCZman15]

Matt, ah, cool thanks for that link. in recent months I have been browsing a lot on the Holley tech support forums but I have not come across that page. Some complicated stuff there that I will really have to dig through, but in the end, my gut is telling me I may not have luck with knock sensor(s) on this setup. I have seen a TON of posts by that super-tech guy Danny Cabral and he sure knows his stuff. He seems to answer everyones questions accurately every time.
-- good point about reading the plugs. that is wise indeed. It will be difficult to do this while street tuning (since all tracks are closed), but maybe I can find a way to do a full throttle rip and then shut it down to check plug markings in a safe spot.


Did the oil change today. 512 miles on the new engine. Oil came out dark and there was only a very small amount of metal "sludge" on the magnetic drain plug. I wiped this onto a clean paper towel:






I cut open the filter and found no metal, but on the inside of some of the pleats I found some trace amounts crusty crumbly black buildup. what would that be?












installed a 1/32" spacer shim between the ministarter and the dart SHP block. unplugged the ignition coil and cranked the engine over a few times. no grinding or clanging noise at the flexplate. that should be it for that then.



haven't had much time recently to browse around for catch-can options. Talkign with Larry, a small fat one might fit on the firewall behind the brake booster, and above the C100 wiring bulkhead, but aside from that area, there really isn't a space under the hood that I am thrilled about bolting a catch can to, let alone running hoses to/from. Does it have to be at the same height as a valve cover, or can it be mounted low and out of the way since it is a sealed system? anyone have any other interesting ideas on where to mount one under my hood which is arranged this way:

(keep in mind that underhood appearances are important to me)

[wretched73]

Your engine bay is wayyy too nice for a catch can.

Why not run lines from the valve covers to the exhaust? Let the exhaust pull some vacuum. Or was this already discussed?

[TaKid455]

Can should be higher. Vapor travels up. The downward path could cause an air pocket. Might be stretching it there.

Monitor the black crud. Keep on trucking. First couple oil changes will have 'stuff'. You have minimal 'stuff'. Good.

Knocks - Need to read through that post more for greater details. However, the 90 deg brass fitting is something GM did in 1980 with the 301 turbo cars. While it did work, it was a very crude/ basic system. Att his point, I'm not sold on retrofitting knocks for a variety of metallurgy & engineering fundamentals reasons above most people's understandings. As I dig more into them, I might change my thinking. As of now, it's still a best guess output.

[BonzoHansen]

a black catch can would not be terrible. Looks race car

[sweetbmxrider]

Maybe tuck it high and left of the msd box, won’t look out of place. Or maybe behind either pair of headlights if high enough...

[wretched73]

Originally Posted by TaKid455

Knocks - Need to read through that post more for greater details. However, the 90 deg brass fitting is something GM did in 1980 with the 301 turbo cars. While it did work, it was a very crude/ basic system. Att his point, I'm not sold on retrofitting knocks for a variety of metallurgy & engineering fundamentals reasons above most people's understandings. As I dig more into them, I might change my thinking. As of now, it's still a best guess output.

OK, I'll bite. Care to elaborate? Are you referring to the metallurgy of the metal that his SBC is made of vs a late model engine?

[TaKid455]

Prewording - by no means am I proclaiming to be an expert in this field or advising fully what's required or involved. Instead, I am relaying information I have been informed, researched, & studied (to some degree). The topic is open for discussion for those who also have input in this area.

"Are you referring to the metallurgy of the metal that his SBC is made of vs a late model engine"
In part, yes. There are other areas also.

There is the metallurgy component(s) (Casting porosity, material composition (i.e. amount of X compound) , thickness, density, ect)

From there, there is the bore spacing. Siamese or individual cylinders.

Frequencies, Vibrations and Harmonics. Every object has them. Based on the above, you need to find the values/ properties of those naturally occuring. A good bit of Differential Equations. While it has been a little since I studied this area,

Next step is to find locations and find what values are of all components at those points. This sets a baseline for the sensor output.

Once that is known, you get into the dynamic component. This is where one looks to determine at what vibration level 'knock' truly occurs. Also, the various frequencies & vibrations different combinations. This is why it is necessary to adjust knock sensitivity on some modified engines.


I looked into this topic a few years back for personal Pontiac 24x conversion project. Including sitting down with an GM / Dephi engineer and going over the idea. Based on info received and some research, I paused and decided not to dig deeper to the finer details as for the intended project mainly based on what all it would take to find out what 'knock' valves would be. Yes, one could figure it out. But I would want to have imperial data throughout and not make assumptions.

Using the guess & check method
We could put a given sensor in a block. At what point would we base 'knock' values. One could evaluate a handful of factory designed applications and record data. Then take sensors for respected blocks and insert into other known blocks and record data. Then compare. Perhaps at this point, one could take tested sensors and place into experimental block and see how that data compares.

It would be an interesting experiment I'd be up dig into

[wretched73]

I think what is being missed is knock sensors are not precision instruments. They should be used as a safety net only.

The logic you're using is missing all of the deviations that occur between two identical factory motors. No two engines will ever be exactly the same yet the OEM uses the same sensor and tune.

[IROCZman15]

cool, feel free to continue the knock sensor conversation if you guys feel like it. it is interesting to learn, so type away at will.


-still on the fence about catch can, decision to be made one day later on. I did think about those style evac tubes that plumb into the exhaust and use scavenging exhaust pulses to pull crankcase vapors away. I had read somewhere that for a street car that sees several thousand miles a year, it would not be a wise decision. I know drag racer guys have luck with them, but unsure about street car aspect of it. good to think about though! thanks




Forgot to post this the other day, but the tuner I am using (Mad Science Motorsports) did a short feature on his facebook, nothing crazy, but pretty cool:

https://www.facebook.com/MadScienceMotorsportsAZ/

also here is his instagram (which I cant view without a huge pop-up blocking the whole screen since I dont have instagram)
https://www.instagram.com/mad_science_motorsports/

[LTb1ow]

Why not place a vent tank mirror'd of the current tank pax side?

Make it chrome and have lines run from the front of the VC to it.

[IROCZman15]

So, I actually thought of that with my one neighbor who is a hot-rodder. he said, buy a smiliar tank and apparently you can put steel wool or something in there to collect oil vapor and have it drip down to the bottom of the tank, but also there are no baffles in the tank? . The only thing stopping me from doing that is I am not sure if I want that whole drivers side front-corner area to be used for a possibly secondary fuel tank unit. Even with the 340 pump and wiring upgrade, some people have suggested it might be better off to have a secondary fuel tank/pump just for the nitrous system.

I've seen some nice units from various companies, and space would be very tight there. Of course I could always then re-locate the catch can at this point again, but it is an option. right now, that whole are is open and empty. good observation, and thanks for the suggestion.. it is a good one indeed. I would try to be as creative as possible routing the hoses, because I liek how there are very minimal hoses/wires/items coming off the front and sides of the engine. it is the center focal point, and more hoses around/across it would be a bit"unsightly" to me, but when the nitrous system gets installed, I will have to accept its required plumbing and components.

so yea, but perhaps instead of running the hose to/from the front of the valve cover on the drivers side, i run it from the rear of the valve cover, around/over/under the brake booster, and along the side of the inner fender where I have the plastic wire loom covering the elctric wires. then it would be somewhat "symmetrical" to the pass side. the tank I have on the pass side does look nice, fit well, and has many configurations for ports/hoses/plugs. so its a possibility. BUT, would a run of hose that long be problematic? it would be about 5-6 feet from valve cover to catch can, and then 5 or 6 feet back to the engine and into the sniper. too long? it would be about the same level/height to avoid dips and pockets.

[IROCZman15]

Figured I would do a short update (sorry no pics, nothing really visually has changed)

My goal of putting 1,000 miles on the new engine by the end of May was completed! Just crossed over the 1,000 mile mark this past weekend. The car is incredibly enjoyable. I love the new engine's power and love driving it. It idles perfect and the exhaust sounds great (I should post a video of it.. next time) I have done 5 series of revisions of the base tune with the EFI tuner (Mad Science Motorsports) and last week I had a 4 hour phone conversation with him where i took his "intro to holley sniper" online class. I learned a hell of a lot! Fuel injection tuning is so cool, and I have barely even scratched the surface of it. I am starting to make my own changes, (dialing down fuel for better cold start, and after-start enrichment, noticing learn values, applying them to the VE base table) but any major changes I plan on running by my tuner prior to loading them to the ECU.

if anyone was bored and wanted to look at some of my datalogs along with the GCF tune file, let me know, I can email them over.. since I don't think i can post those types of files here on this board. on the holley forum you can, but not here right?

since race tracks have been closed, minimal real world WOT thottle tuning has been done..., but I have done some WOT datalogging on the highway in 1,2,3 gears. In fact I did some today and will look at the data later on. I did a rip with the air filter on, and one with the air filter off. Also, I have joined the Holley EFI tech board and have been reading a ton. I may start making some changes to fueling and timing at higher RPM's in order to pull in more power, and then save the different tunes for an upcoming Test and tune day at Island Dragway. Thats really the only way I can think of since WOT testing on the highways can be hit or miss (hills, traffic, police, tires, etc).

I have yet to install a catch can or breather tank. It is on the list of things to do, but I don't have any burning urge to dig into this just now. However, I fixed my "bouncing" spedometer problem by using a shorter cable. I would get bouncing between 0-35 mph and figured it was the 80" cable.. since when I did the engine bay cleanup, I had too long of a cable and had to "snake" it under the dashboard, causing it to get caught up inside the cable housing. so a 61" cable was just perfect, so that was nice easy fix. speedometer is dead on as per GPS apps.

My tachmoter with the OEM 4,500 RPM yellowline and 5,000 RPM redline bothered me. especially now that I will be shifting gears between 6,000-6,200 RPM with this new engine combination. Visually, that just bothered me. I also did some RPM testing with the holley sniper rev limiter and learned that my oem tach is significantly off. at 3,000 rpm on the holley it was reading 3,200 rpm on the dashboard. at 5,000 on the sniper, it was reading around 5,300 on the dashboard gauge. So I was told about this guy on THirdgen.org who recalibrates tachometers (Cajun tach shop) and he also informed me that a V6 thirdgen tach has a 6,000 rpm redline from the factory. So he is sending me a V6 tach that has been re-calibrated and will be dead on accurate...
...so not only was I consciously shifting way early during my shakedown passes back in March, but I was even shifting lower than what I thought because my oem gauge was reading higher than the engine was revving. that certainly makes me hopeful that I can pull some much faster ET and Speed numbers next session. That, along with some tune adjustments, and the Micket Thompson ET Street SS tires, mayyyybe there is a chance I can crack into the high 11 second zone. That would be great.

bonus: the new V6 tach comes with a 80 psi oil pressure gauge, where my current tach has a 60psi oil pressure gauge. I knwo my engine has at least 70-80 psi oil pressure based on the dyno printout (see previous pages for numbers). Do you think i will have to get a different oil pressure sensor to work with this new 80 psi gauge, or will my current (oem) oil pressure gauge work fine? does the new gauge simply just provide a larger range of psi or is it calibrated/wired different?

Aside from that, I have gotten a bit used to the car once again after this 1,00 miles. It does feel a bit more "unsettled" in the nose though. I was VERY used to how the car handled and turned and cornered hard due to the various autocross events I've done, and just from owning the car for 20 years. But now, it feels noticeably lighter up front. Almost to the point of having some understeer. I know I move the battery to the back and changed a small amount of weight distribution, but the overall weight of the car was within 30 pounds of what it was prior to this whole engine project. I have the Koni yellows up front and they are cranked up to 2/3 of max. I'm not complaining, but just mentioning that because it was a noticeable change that I am getting used to.


Even with no car shows happening, or autoX, or drag racing, or cruise nights, I am glad I was able to hit 1,00 miles. Got a lot of compliments on the car too and basically I am just really enjoying the seat time. Learning the holley sniper system is the next long term project. hope to hit 11's. after that, I will probably explore getting my nitrous system hooked up. then, will certainly need to get that roll bar installed too.

thats about it for now.

[IROCZman15]

I took the car over to Island Dragway this past Saturday for Test and Tune. My goal was to perhaps crack into the 11 second zone. I now have Mickey Thompson ET Street SS drag radials on the rear iroc wheels, and was going to revv out the engine more in each gear. I am no experienced drag racer, and the car is not a competition drag car, but seeing an 11 second time slip (naturally aspirated) would be killer. I got "close" but I am not quite there yet.













I took very un-exciting in car videos (mostly for my own use to hear the engine and shift points), and I data-logged each pass. Prior to heading to the track, my tuner and I have really nailed down the low rpm and mid-range rpm stuff. Driveability and low end pulls are just awesome. We only had a chance to do two tune revisions with WOT data. Also, those two WOT data sessions were on the street with hills, traffic, and only included 1st gear and 2nd gear pulls to 6,000 rpm. I was really hoping for a more dialed-in tune revision for WOT fueling before the track day, but we didn't have time to get that done. However, now, after the 11 1/4mile passes of data, we can certainly use that data to dial in the fuel table up top. I am still learning EFI tuning basics, so I am hesitant to do any adjustments myself.

The weather was good, but a bit hot. Only about 30 cars came to the Test and Tune day, and a majority of them had packed up and left by 1pm. I got 11 passes in that day, I was going to stop at 8, but I changed my mind once I started getting into the low 12.2 zone and decided to make a few more laps. I tried using the Torque-converter lockup switch on a few runs, and saw no gain, in fact on one run it slowed me down. I have read of others locking the converter at higher rpms, because it will pull the rpms down and you can avoid shifting into the next gear if you are about to cross the finish. One run I locked the converter at the top of 2nd gear, and this caused the rpms to drop too low when it shifted into 3rd. So, no more doing that.

I was hopeful that my new re-calibrated tachometer from Cajun Tach supply would have arrived on Friday, but it was actually delivered Saturday while I was at Island dragway. So, While racing, I had to do my best to guess what RPm I was shifting at since my oem tach is significantly off. I set the rev limiter on the sniper efi to 6,600 rpm and hit the limiter a bunch of times....the tach was showing right at 7,000 rpm when the limiter activated. I'l be installing the new tack (and 80 psi oil pressure gauge) soon. Should I adjust my 6,600 rev limiter? I might think about adding a small shift light since I don't want to watch the tach needle while going down the strip. However, cosmetically, i DO NOT WANT a huge in-your-face shift light. something simple and subdued is more my style.


anyways, time slips are here:





- I hot lapped it the last 3 passes! if you look at the time on the last 3 slips, 3 passes in 9 minutes!




videos:
1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryAffM0lLJc 12.56
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2-eVJPUDs0 12.33
3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUPiK_8jxbk&t=1s 12.55
4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6cz3LK4aCc 12.33
5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNqHD9zuNKs 12.66
6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pirMZqVFBfA 12.35
7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHnE43p2_XI&t=3s 12.21
8 no video 12.26
9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0KxB35IkmQ 12.20 *best of the day
10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5E8RUVCp98 12.41
11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25j4KzzUK2Q 12.50
in the lanes next to turbo camaro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEg4Ud8tpUQ


and I know I can't post tune files or datalogs to this forum, but I can screenshot them or take photos of them. If anyone has the knowledge and wants to chime-in let me know your thoughts.



Quick observations:
-Off the bat, from my limited EFI knowledge, I am pretty certain I need more fuel at higher rpms. The CL comp limits we set were for -20% to 20% and learn % was -5 to 5%. So the CL COMP (yellow line) looks like it was adding fuel to the base table up to its limit (of 20%) and then it couldn't add anymore (because we pre-programmed not to) so it just held it at 20% fuel added and robbed me from horsepower. right???

-3rd gear (a 1:1 ration in a 700r4 right?) is not exciting. I am through 1st and 2nd gear and shift into 3rd by the 1/8th mile. I am trapping 92 ish mph in the 8th mile, but only picking up 18-19 mph to the finish? finishing consistently between 110-112 mph. Less than ideal. It has a 3.55 gear ratio and I know that is unfriendly, but remember this is a pure street driven car. Also a 3,400 edge racing converter. anything I can do to make the top end of the track more aggressive?

-I gotta figure out if my exhaust is a restriction. my MAP goes down during all of my runs, and I was running with No air filter and the sniper efi feeding into the edelbrock victor jr intake which should be great for high rpms, so it shouldn't be an intake restriction ? my 1 3/4" mid length dyno dons headers shouldn't be it, the dyno dons y pipe? hooker 3" cat back.. but I have a 3" exhaust cutout that I keep open and its mounted along the main pipe before the exhaust bends up over the axle. thoughts?

-the MT ET streets are great. I didnt feel tire spin off hte launch at all. during passes 8,9, and 10 I was getting 1.73 second 60foot times. I am not revving up the engine much on the starting line. maybe to 1500-1700 rpm before the car wants to creep forward. probably could be better. I did remove the front sway bar, too. without installing a trans brake, anything I can do to get a harder launch?














Overall, another good day getting used to the car. I street drove it there, and street drove it home. It rained around 3pm right after I made my 11th pass so I decided that was my sign to pack up and head home. Picked up two orders of chicken wings at marleys in Hackettstown (mango habanero and Kamakazi) and drove home. Unloaded the tools, swapped the wheels, and washed the car while chatting to neighbors. The next day I participated in the Cops-N-Rodders fundraiser cruise/parade event that started in Roxbury and Ended in Hackettstown at Piggys BBQ. The car drove great the whole trip, even is heavy stop-and-go traffic and it only got up to about 193 on the temp gauge. Again, street car duties are important. I saw Larry at the cruise too, and Chris was there for part of it. Took some video, but I there was no aggressive driving on my behalf, so the videos are just cruising.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DrfA9c0p1E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1MxiLS2G3s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJsRzuchssw

[LTb1ow]

How much does the car weigh?

[IROCZman15]

3,440 pounds without me in it, but with a completely full tank of fuel




I didn't think of it during the time at the track on saturday, but I forgot to check the DA density altitude. Luckily I used the TRC "That Racing Channel" phone app during two of the passes, and saved the info, and it logged the DA on it. it was hot and humid saturday so the DA was 2792 ft at 12:30pm and 2920 ft at 1:40pm that day. I put that number into the DA calculator/adjuster and learned that my 12.202 pass would be an 11.775 pass, at 116 mph. so thats promising, but I won't truly be happy until I have a few paper slips with and 11 second pass on them.