69 Chevelle updates

[Tom.A]

I got my car on the road last year albeit unfinished to get motivation. I only made one event last year at the Hotchkis autocross put on at California Speedway. I had fun but the car has been parked mostly since then. A few months ago I tore it down to fix the a few things knowing that I want to make El Toro (RTTC) in March. My plans were for bigger progress but I recently realized the clock was ticking so the cosmetic things I wanted to do such body gaps and interior won't make the RTTC event any funner and also could prevent me making it.
The big problem was a the tie rods were hitting my oil pan. The second problem was the steering box interfered with the C6 PS pulley so I had to run a smaller pulley.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/2011-12-30_15-37-19_777.jpg
So I raised the motor mounts with spacers to clear the C6 pulley and tie rods. My trans tunnel was enlarged so I had enough room to raise transmission as needed. I need to brush up on Todd and Andrew's driveline angle again to educate myself where I need to be. I drove the car about 15 miles Today and I did not notice any bad vibrations but time will tell.
I also did some other things such as installing a new rear glass window. I bought the cheap and thin lexan rear and hated it. It scratched so easy and rattled like crazy. I also put on a new repop trunk lid. The gaps need work much like my doors, fenders etc.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_4648.jpg
I still need to put the front bumper on. If you look close you can see my Ron Davis radiator got rubbed a little. It is a bummer but no leaks.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_4642.jpg
Some other small things include a Katech tensioner, Mike Norris catch can and a spectre intake. My car has a LS3 however when I bought my harness Speartech used a LS2 MAF. I planned to use a the LS7 blade style which looks so much cleaner but realized I would need to ship ECU out for reflash. I did not want to take a chance so the blade style will be a later time.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_4647-1.jpg
I had Scott Mock make me a new radiator brace out of aluminum. I sprayed it a VHT wrinkle paint which I liked but I did not shake the can enough:rolleyes:
I plan to bead blast and have powder coated later. Scott is a super nice guy to speak with and spun this thing out just like it is a factory piece. It maybe a little early but I believe he has plans to expand his offering to possibly include a sheet metal style dash for Chevelles. I have the Covan dash that I don't care for so I told him to put me on the list. Here is a picture
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_4617.jpg

[Tom.A]

I also changed tires to Nitto NT05 , 295/35/18 and 275/35/18. I really wanted a 40 series in back which is offered bt Falken but at $400 plus a tire I will try these. A few other things I need to install are a Helwig adjustable rear bar. I also have a problem with gas fumes sticking up the garage so I ordered one of John Parsons cans.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_4635.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_4636.jpg

I feel the car is getting more solid each time. The drive Today was nice but still rides a little rough. It is really hard to understand what needs to be tuned as I have no reference point. I almost need some other members to drive it and give me feedback. Don't get me wrong I am not really worried about tuning that much as I just want to have some fun. I will say the new throw out bearing has a better feel than my last one.
I can only make it Friday for RTTC so I hope to see some of you guy's that day. I would love to do both days but my 8 year old is in basketball and I would rather see him play:thumbsup:

[454SSguy]

Looks good. Seems like it's a fun toy, with a few kinks. I'm sure you'll get the bugs worked out. Are you planning on getting track time at the RTTC?

Just throwin this out there? Have you thought of having all of the chrome on the car black anodized? Just a suggestion you might look into. Looks good like it is, but no car on this site is ever "finished". GL with gettin it together by march.:thumbsup:

[coolwelder62]

Lookin good Tom.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Flash68]

Good stuff Tom.. keep pluggin away. :thumbsup:

See ya Friday at El Toro! :cheers:

[waynieZ]

Looks good Tom. It sounds like you straightend a lot of stuff out. Nice progress.

[Matt@BOS]

Tom, I still remember going for a few rides around the autocross with you in Fontana. I know the Chevelle wasn't the fastest car out there that day, but damn was it fun. I think you'll be really happy with the updates. It should perform nicely!

Matt

[Tom.A]

. Are you planning on getting track time at the RTTC?

Just throwin this out there? Have you thought of having all of the chrome on the car black anodized? Just a suggestion you might look into. Looks good like it is, but no car on this site is ever "finished". GL with gettin it together by march.:thumbsup:

Thanks and yes, I am signed up for Friday for the event. I am green so I will make you guys look good.

[Tom.A]

Lookin good Tom.:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Thanks.
Good stuff Tom.. keep pluggin away. :thumbsup:


See ya Friday at El Toro! :cheers:

Looking forward to seeing your high rpm beast at El Toro:thumbsup:

Looks good Tom. It sounds like you straightend a lot of stuff out. Nice progress.
Thanks Wayne.

Tom, I still remember going for a few rides around the autocross with you in Fontana. I know the Chevelle wasn't the fastest car out there that day, but damn was it fun. I think you'll be really happy with the updates. It should perform nicely!

Matt

Hi Matt, Hoepfully you jump in a my car again and show me the line. I recall I shaved 1 or 2 seconds after your pointers. I assume you are going to El toro so hopefully we will talk soon.

[tones2SS]

Keep up the good fight Tom.

[Mike Norris]

Looks good Tom. I will be out there for RTTC a little early and tuning on Thursday before the event. If you need some tuning just let me know and I will see what I can so.

Mike Norris

[Tom.A]

I thought I would post my thoughts about RTTC 3 from a newbies view and also my mistakes that other new guy's can learn from. This was only the second time I had the car at an event. First one was just a an auto cross. I only made for Friday's event but what a great event. I know it has been said over and over but Bill, Finch and Yancy among many others put on a great event:thumbsup:. I elected to drive my car early Friday morning in place of taking it on a trailer. It is only 60 miles or so one way. My first mission was to get there,having never driving the car that far. Car ran great getting there even after sitting in snarled 91 FWY traffic. I packed a bunch of stuff like floor jack, tools, air tank etc and did not have a chance to use it. In fact I never adjusted/checked the tire pressures all day. The first event in my group was the auto cross. I was told later by one of the cone chaser that I was the first to spin out that day but I did not touch a cone. I should also admit this was on a semi faster final parade lap :lol: More on why I spun out so easy in a minute. The car seemed wicked hard to handle with the rear end just snapping around at a blink of an eye. I never had time to put the rear sway bar on it so I just assumed that was it. I just tried to hang on my best and moved on to the other events. The drag/stop whatever was a blast. I had to race Dale's Sunbeam tiger (~2500lb car) but we were close both times likely because he could not get any traction. His car was the one picked for OUSCI spirit award and it is beautiful car:hail: I then moved onto the Road course with my very erratic handling car. I spun out a bunch and in fact I lost track of how many times. A few times I got a little lost with the small cones. I am not sure if I got one clean lap but I had a blast. I had two 3/4 lap sessions and while waiting in line for the last session it occurred to me that I had opened the brake prop. valve all the way open in full pressure to the rear. This was the week prior and I forgot about it. I asked a couple guy's in line with me and they suggested two full turns. It seemed better but likely needs more. I had a another problem on this last session that took my attention away. The car started popping coming off the long sweeping turn by the start. As I came of the turn in second gear I would mash the pedal and nothing but popping until I got going straight. I also had the same problems in other turns also. At the time I was perplexed and parked the car. I noticed Mike Norris working on a car with his laptop. He was nice enough to take a peak. Thanks Mike:thumbsup: He found nothing but when I told him when and what it was doing he asked how much fuel do you have. I had a 1/4 tank so he concluded that during the turn the car would lean out due to lack of fuel. I was too tired to leave and go get more fuel but I am convinced that was my problem. Looks like my Rick's tank may need a Vaporworx retrofit. After that I packed it up and sat through Friday night traffic. I lost all my worries about getting home since I drove it so rough all day and it had not broke yet. My hat is off to you guy's that competed both days as they were driven hard. Coming up later this month is the Socal Challenge at AMP so I need to be sure and have plenty of fuel. I also hope to get a better alignment and install rear sway bar. One regret was that fact that I could not be there both days. Others were I did not get to watch other members nor talk with them like I wanted to. I really wanted to see a few cars up close like Gandalfs 69 but failed to do so. In addition to those mentioned I would like to thank all the volunteer's. They worked hard from tech to the events. I saw the famous Greg Weld doing both tech and running the auto cross. Thanks, and sorry I did not get a chance to introduce myself formerly.
I had a video camera and planned to use but again I think the jitters made me loose focus. I will get it next time:thumbsup: Here is the only picture of my car I took.
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/DSCN3582.jpg

[Matt@BOS]

Nice write up. I was just about to go and try to find your thread and dig it up to ask how the weekend went. I was running around frantically on Friday afternoon and didn't get a chance to stop and chat like I would have liked to. If you have the time you should try and make it down for a day during during the Good Guys show in Del Mar. It is the weekend after the SoCal Challenge, but it is a nice venue and is a good place to hang out and have some fun killing a few cones.

Matt

[Tom.A]

Hi Matt,

I wish I could make Del Mar but my son's basketball season just got over and now I am coaching him in little league baseball so I am out. Maybe next time.

[Spiffav8]

Tom-

First off thanks for the lap around the autocross track. It wasn't the fastest, but it was a super fun! It was great to meet you see the car first hand and hang out for a few. I look forward to more and hopefully soon. Don't feel bad one bit about spinning out. There where plenty of guys that did the same thing. :lol: I REALLY like your car and look forward to seeing it improved. Hey it takes time to sort everything out.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6828784732_a81d16a0a9_b.jpg

[Tom.A]

Tom-

First off thanks for the lap around the autocross track. It wasn't the fastest, but it was a super fun! It was great to meet you see the car first hand and hang out for a few. I look forward to more and hopefully soon. Don't feel bad one bit about spinning out. There where plenty of guys that did the same thing. :lol: I REALLY like your car and look forward to seeing it improved. Hey it takes time to sort everything out.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7053/6828784732_a81d16a0a9_b.jpg

Curtis, Also nice to meet you and thanks for the picture. Next time I think my car will work much better with less rear brake.

[andrewb70]

Hey Tom,

It is good to see you out and about enjoying your car.

Did you experience any vibrations on the highway? I know that you did a bunch of work to make sure that the driveline angles would work out well, do you think all that work paid off?

Andrew

[Tom.A]

Hey Tom,

It is good to see you out and about enjoying your car.

Did you experience any vibrations on the highway? I know that you did a bunch of work to make sure that the drive line angles would work out well, do you think all that work paid off?

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Thanks. So far it seems good at 70-80 MPH. One thing I did notice is the TKO seems to make a slight noise on decel that I don't remember before. It still did not seem as loud as some muncie 4 speeds I have had in the past. Not sure if that is a drive line angle problem or the fact that the drive line seems a ~1/2" shorter as a result of raising the engine. For now I just plan to put more miles as I only have about 800 miles. Right now I feel like I could jump in the car and drive cross country and actually make it. Now I can return to doing cosmetic and tuning upgrades. Nice to see you over here:thumbsup: and again thanks for all the tips and help in the past.

[andrewb70]

.....Nice to see you over here:thumbsup: and again thanks for all the tips and help in the past.

Once in a while, I like to see how the other half lives...:D

Glad I could be of help. Our cars are practically identical aside from the sheetmetal.

Andrew

[The WidowMaker]

just getting around to the forums again and came across your for sale thread. im glad you didnt get rid of it. the thoughts crossed my mind as well, but im back and motivated again. i wish i could have gotten out to see you guys run...... hopefully el toro is still there next year.

[Tom.A]

just getting around to the forums again and came across your for sale thread. im glad you didnt get rid of it. the thoughts crossed my mind as well, but im back and motivated again. i wish i could have gotten out to see you guys run...... hopefully el toro is still there next year.

Hi Tim, I hope El Toro sticks around also. If you are not working next Thursday they are having this event http://www.socalchallenge.com/ at to go kart track. I have never been but took the day off. Hopefully you can make it out.

[Nick.V70]

Looking awesome man! Car has a great stance:thumbsup:

[Tom.A]

Looking awesome man! Car has a great stance:thumbsup:

Thanks Nick

[Tom.A]

I took the car to the No Limit Socal Challenge at Adams go kart track and had a good time. Practice was in the morning and the shootout was in the afternoon. I was first out because they put two cars on the track and whoever wins move on to the next round. I was paired against Mary Pozzi so it was over for me before it even started:yes:
It was great track time for $50.00 and hope to make the one in September also. I asked David Pozzi to take my car out for one of the sessions in the morning and he was nice to accept. It is great to have somebody like him jump in a give me some direction with what little time he had. James shot the picture with David driving the car that I thought looked cool. I plan to take David's advice and try to improve both on my skills and the car's ability. Thanks again Mr. Pozzi :thumbsup:
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/DSC_0812.jpg

Forgot to mention but the dreaded fuel slosh problem happened again with a 3/4 full tank. I am thinking a Vaporworx tank might be worth the money as this tank I have hates long sweeping corners

[Ron in SoCal]

^ That is a great action shot of your car Tom!

[waynieZ]

Tom glad to see your getting to enjoy your car.

[Tom.A]

Wow. This thread is old. I have not done much to the car..yes it is still primer LOL. Nice not to worry about wax or scratches though. I have not been available to attend many events the last two years or so but I still lurk here frequently. Family, new house etc and company have consumed my time. All good though as I feel blessed! I have had some intermittent issues with my car. For example I would get codes showing throttle issues (DBW). So I changed throttle bodies and even switched silver blade for gold blade. I changed drive by wire pedal. Clear code and it would drive fine till I hit half pedal. John at Speartech even sent me another ECU. When I swapped that out the car would die while letting off pedal while driving under load :hairpullout: Anyway he said you need to get the thing on a dyno. So I called a few local places including one that that is highly rated in Corvette world and never got call back. I then called CBM Motorsports in Rancho Cucamonga Ca. I did not know much about them but they actually answered the phone when I called. I talked to Bruce and set a date to bring it in. So we loaded it up and headed out

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/39da4c33-7ecb-4d89-a9d4-fc355f3ba3bf_zpsnpxkoogw.jpg

Since I was buying dyno time I figured I would have them change the cam.
I went with one their grinds 227/237 , 613/622 with 114 Lobe centers.
Bruce gave a price and time table (actually finished earlier than planned). No surprise or hassles. CBM Motorsports is not a one man show. I think their must have a been dozen or guys working that I saw. He said that he has a bunch of money in LS parts on the shelves and after going to the shop I would agree. I just picked the car up today and drove it home about 35 miles. No issues so far which was not the case prior. The car drove awesome all the way home. It can be so much more fun driving than just looking at a box of parts in the garage with a car that don't run. Time will tell if my gremlins will return. If they do I am prepared to carb the car. In fact I kind of miss the old school way of a big block with a big thump.

Now as far as numbers the car put down: Well I think the dyno must be very generous as the car has stock LS3 with new cam/springs through a tremec tko and ford 9". It made 517 HP / 497 TQ at the wheels on their Mustang dyno. They seem high from what I have seen posted but I am not going to cry about it.
In any case the car sounds and runs so much better. Below is dyno sheet.
Also note is was warm today.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x82/passperf/IMG_2246_zpshqb9zw2z.jpg

[Tom.A]

Here is youtube video. It is not a monster but a welcomed change from the little cam it had.

dyKRGLTo6b8

[Ron in SoCal]

Zombie Thread!! :lol:

Welcome back Tom. Glad you had a good experience at CBM :cheers:

[waynieZ]

Looking good Tom!

[Flash68]

Nice Tom! Whatever the happy factor on the dyno, it's gotta be nice just having it run well and being able to enjoy it.

Glad to see you post again. :cheers: