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Well that is it for 2009 it appears. CSCS today is a rain out, at least for me. 70% Chance of Precipitation keeps my car in the garage.

So it's sort of bittersweet in hindsight. Winnings were just over $1000 so that is down a bit.

The car is solidly one of the quickest and most reliable swaps around, and while I failed to accomplish my goal of a believable and repeatable 13 second time slip, it is still all in one piece and has never missed a race, even a single round, and has never left me stranded.

It got SOOO close, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

The plans for next season are looking quite ambitious. Motor is coming out, trans is getting more gearing and the parts orders start this week.

Preliminary goal is 13.50's N/A however that may come too easily LOL!

HEAR THAT YOU 5-SPEEDS?

It appears that Rodney may be moving into my garage for the winter, so that can't hurt, and while I will be in Georgia for a portion of the nasty weather, the car will be ready for the opening of the track in April.



SOOOO! What's everyone else doin'?

What the hell is up your sleeve? Must be at least a cam to run 13.50s.

I dont have hardly anything planned this winter... no place to do it! My dad is working on him dumb Buick and mine will be stored until spring.

Yeah, he's getting a cam from ben at 60*

Unfortunately he is once again building a car that is strictly track, and only straight line... I could have been in that realm if I spent more time on my car concentrating on N/A numbers.

I seriously doubt after this build that he will be driving this thing to events, He already whines enough about the 3.73, I can only imagine if he actually accomplishes 3.94, what that will turn into... But I could be wrong.

As far as mine goes... Its all coming apart, Trans is getting work, possibly the 4t65e upgrades that I can do... getting the 3rd Zpack from Raybestos, if all goes well I may do the 1-2 clutch assy and sprags too so I can run the 1st and 2nd gear clutch packs from a 65e... but we'll see. Maybe a 2200 or higher stall converter.... No where near the 3100+ one I tried at the beginning of this year. As far as the motor goes I'll be doing porting and polishing and getting all that up to snuff... Gasket matching is nice, but it just doesnt accomplish much.

I'm still listening to ideas on the cam. The recommendation from 60* was, in some opinions, a little tame, (224/224, 536/536) although it looks stout enough to me. Others disagree.

Gearing will be 3.94 IF I can find another gear set, and Bill is looking into a looser converter with a lock up function.

The car will be driven wherever it goes! Albany no problem. Depending on where B'Fest ends up, the Quad may be the option, but only in the extreme. (I'm still seriously considering a Columbus Proposal.)

More to come, no secrets or snake oils, but I'd like to hear some other ideas from other projects.

Ben now has Comp Cam rollers, look into them. If I ever get steady work again and restart the 3400 build I'll be getting one for sure.

I'm all over the Comp lobe profile charts. I'm still not totally comfortable with the fact they are regrinds and custom pushrods are required, but there doesn't seem to be alot of other choices.

I wish they would get those damn roller rockers done, but I can't wait forever on a bunch of maybe's.

However I have to complete the gearing/converter issue first, so that I know what I am able to deal with. Is Jeff Ianitello still alive? LOL.

PLANNING is key here. I'm only doing it once so things have to be completely thought out.

Boy I was way off. I read in the wot-tech news that they had the cams. I thought they were premade cams. I need read things a little better. Looks like they are blanks and we can have them make any cam we want. I don't understand why if we have roller cams we need to get custom push rods. I will note that the roller in my 3100 is the first one I've ever had. Looks like I need to learn more about them. I'm also not big on regrinds, a new grind is ok if Comp puts their coating on them.

The longer 'custom" pushrods are recommended (required) because they grind away at the base circle of the lobe to create the lift, thus the lifter sits lower when the valve is closed.

Some people have used the stock pushrods with varied success, however the geometry will be off and it's really not a good idea.

It bothers me on a couple of fronts. The cams are rather expensive for what you are really getting, and the pushrods are just another $200 added on.

When you consider the entire package with valve springs it's almost a $700+ package.

But when there aren't a lot of other sources, I suppose we should be happy there is at least something.

I hear ya Eric, the cost is very high. I remember buying a cam and lifters for a small block Chevy for 150 bucks.
Thanks for the help on the push rods.
I spent alot of time when I got this 95 looking for an aftermarket roller cam and found nothing. I guess you could say I'm happy just to have them out there now. My plan is to also get ported heads and intakes, so my cost is even higher. Well, we wanted to build these cars, so we take what we can get. It's hard on the wallet though. Ah the old days, wish they were still around!

crap now I need a cam and porting to keep up now? Money!

Id rather go boost. Just dont know if I can follow through.

224@.050 duration with EFI should be cake on the street, no problem. My Camaro is 230@.050 with a carb and it's really not that bad. Stop & go with the 6spd can be a pain in the ass, but with an auto it should be very streetable.

Barry, he's scared of the 5spds. That's why he's trying to stay one step ahead! haha

I fear NO 5-SPEED!

Ok except SuperDave and maybe Alex, but they will still have more than me "I think" at least for now.

You guys may have missed the fact that Rodney is moving into my garage for the winter and HE'S CRAZY!! But he did run 12.24 before he blew the hell out of the damn thing!

(He thinks that .536 lift cam is for whimps!)

Here is the other disturbing matter that I don't know the answer to, but hopefully someone here does. (Ok I do, but want to hear what you think.)

It appears these "custom" pushrods are "cam-specific" which would make sense if you think about it, but what a friggen PITA that would be.

But how could they be anything else? This is messed-up geometry, and ghetto but I suppose "beggars-can't-be choosers" engineering at best.

The rocker arm MUST stay at it's installed stock height to make measurements accurate, but all these lobe height combinations would demand a different pushrod for almost all, if not every profile, the way the cams are ground by elimination.

He thinks that .536 lift cam is for whimps!

Ben told me that most people that bought his cams got the ones with like .600 lift. I guess I'm old school, .536 lift was big for a 350. I was shocked to see that high of lift for these little engines.

In the performance section you will see one thing I'm doing. But that's not it.

How about some head work and a valve job? Or mill it for some more CR?