I ended up 4th out of 12 in CAM after 3 very active racers in well-prepped cars. All with much more power and tire. That's a win in my book!
Bob's car lookin good on course.
This is my buddy Don who I work with. He's a regular autocrosser too and has put a lot of effort into making this car fast. Until recently, it was legal in STU. The cool thing about racing with Don is we have very different cars and we always manage to finish within a tenth or three of each other. That keeps things interesting!
Bernie I've been waiting for Tom Hamm to post his pics from last event, I even talked to him to say I tried to buy a couple pics last year but got no responce from him. I linked to Christopher Cross through the pics you posted. Here's like 1800+ pics from last event he took. Couple dozen pics of the kid and I, lots of you. Wat is impressive about Susq SCCA is the quality of the cars and drivers there. A lot of them have done hundreds of runs in cars, tons of experience. https://photosbychristophercross.instaproofs.com/gallery/#events/1906393
Don, I've watched him at several other events beating on the car and he always looks fast. I do know who he is now.
I booked Oct 1 for two drivers. I finally today bought what i needed to watch the sixty autox GoPro videos on the tv, in stereo. Sounds like a lot but really isn't much more than an hour of video. Jason said he found me a second already, shutup and drive.
Bernie, Buicks is Sept 24. Would hope I, we, could spend a little car time, rear suspension, that day. I need to take a serious look at what is going on under the back of your car. I listened to the mumblings on the internet, knew you were brewing something for years. Bob
Bob, I'll have to check out Tom's pictures when he puts them up. I want to get a 3' poster for my little guy's bedroom.
I'm not sure if I can make the Buick show, my wife actually signed me up for a car show at the rec center on 273. I might be able to stop by, but you should definitely come by the house and check out the shop and the rear end before you head home. I bet I'm not even out of the way.
Hope you have a good weekend at Pocono. Weather looks very good.
Next Sat at Cecil, 9/24 my friend in his 67 Camaro and I will be running our cars. For me that is just a couple passes to make sure the car hasn't lost much of a step since last year. The Buicks at Cecil thing has changed up a little. At our last local downtown show i spoke to a GN guy and asked if he was going. He said he had been to the last 6 or so and that they had cancelled it this year. I appears the two east coast Buick clubs, GS/GN and the MAGNA had issues and cancelled. But I saw on the MAGNA facebook they will be racing and a do what you want about a car show is up in the air. So next Sat if the weather is still good Greg and I will be at Cecil.
I will PM you and we can swap phone number, I'd still like to stop by your place and talk about the 3 link. Bob
Pocono was awesome! I rolled out around 7:30 Friday evening. Traffic was decent, 476 had a lot of construction but it was late enough that it didn't cause backups. I got to the track around 10:30. They had told me the gate was open 24-hours. My grandfather bequeathed me his Prevost motorhome last year, so we have been using that for the long-distance races at UMI and it was great to have for Pocono. They put us in the Driver/Owner lot, which was a lot nicer than staying in a hotel, other than the 10,000 lanterns raining down on the lot while still smoldering.
They made use of a few of the road course turns and that allowed you to run up on the curbing if you wanted. My car was definitely wanting for more power, but still did respectable. The course was long, with the fast cars in the high 60's for time.
I took an instructor with me on Saturday morning just to see if they had any advice. He was pretty surprised at how well the car handles. He did give me a some good feedback about pushing deeper into the braking zone for the horseshoe, saying I was coasting for a bit.
On the second day, I was gridded next to a group of 7-8 kids who came with an Audi S4 on Riken tires. I introduced them to 200TW tires and offered to take them for rides. The first kid got out all excited and told the rest of them that they had to take a ride in my car, so that's what I did all afternoon and actually ran my best run during one of those. It was cool seeing them excited about the sport.
On what was supposed to be my last run Sunday, I hit a cone and then a red flag came out because someone took out the finish line timing. Sweet, I get a re-run! They flagged me across the track and I picked up a bunch of "OPR" (Other Peoples' Rubber). On my re-run, everything felt good in terms of hitting marks and putting the car where I wanted it, but the time was a good 3 seconds off of my best. Now I have to figure out how to get that crap off. I ended up 3rd both days, behind a fox body with a stroked LS3 and Larry's turbo '66 mustang. The car ran good, the carb tuning seems to be good, I spun the motor way too fast in a few spots but she held together. Looks like I have a leak between the P/S pump and reservoir so I'll have to grab an O-ring.
The highlight of the event for me was when they took us out for 3 laps on the speedway behind a "pace car" between the morning and afternoon sessions. The pace car was the SCCA event organizer in his S2000, and he didn't hold back very much. We hit about 125 down the back stretch and were pulling some G's in the banking too. I was going as fast as I felt comfortable at least in a car I built that's set up for low-speed corners.
It sure was! And it was unexpected too. I didn't even know that event was going on before last Wednesday, and I was really surprised that I was able to sneak away for the weekend. My mom came up for the weekend to pick up the slack with the plans we already had and my wife was really cool about it. I hope to take the family up next year.
Bummer, just cancelled our Sat autox in Harrisburg. Would say the odds for a dry day in Harrisburg were stacked against us. IAN is passing our way on Sat, could go north on either side of Harrisburg but we're on the East side and figure it's a lot of rain Sat. Those RT660 I just don't trust in the rain, no need to find out.
This afternoon got two 'spection stickuss' on the windshield. Here in PA once a year it's safety and emissions holograms on the windshield. They keep us safe.
The need to rack up street miles on the car this year and the need to talk to the old guy with the ZL1 repop in his gorgeous silver 67 Vette with the Muncie made for a late afternoon drive to the Sonic parking lot, about a 40 mile round trip per the odometer. Back a few years ago before the crash 100-150 cars would show up there on a Thurs night. Tonight about 15. But my goal was to start negotiating a ride in his car. I was standing on first base before I left. 67 BBC Tri-power with Gear Venders was one of just a couple I really thought i need to own. That old guys 67 would fulfill that car for me. Always thought that late 60s ZL1 engine was what I needed in the 86. The repop appears about the time I was shopping for a 427 cu inch engine, 2007-8. Only 400 ish ZL1 crate produced and over 15K in price, wasn't in the cards back then.
Drag raced, well more like made three runs at Cecil last weekend. First was real slow, 2nd much better and after the third time to go home. When you make only a couple passes a year the first is a throwaway, the stupid stuff shows up. Spin through 1st and 2nd cause you thought wrong, miss third, slide it into 5th to get out of the way. Second run was concentrating a little more on the launch, 1.89 sec sixty foot on street tires and an autox setup, granny shift up to 4th, 12.72 @113.1. tapping on the rev limiter. Happy with that pass. Third pass was more silliness, spin 1st, lousy 60', spin 2nd and hit limiter, drive off into the distance and ran a 13.3 @ 112.6.
Have now seen where the 4.11 R&P is to much at the autox and now shows less is better at the drags. The 4.11s were necessary with the 27" tall Hoosiers slicks. The 25.5 tires now need a little less rear gear to make the car happy. Winter's project, 3.73 back in the car.
If I can't find another autox event to run another trip to Cecil may be on the calendar. My friend with a 65 Olds wagon, 600 hp, needs to get back to the 1/4 mile to see if the 9" 3500 stall converter we will be installing, replacing the 8" 3500, fix the cars ills. It never hooks up. If the parts can be in hand and installed maybe the 15th back to Cecil. I'll make 3 or 54 more runs in the 86 at that time. As we know at the drags we are always looking to get quicker, faster each time. The 86 best on just a street tire, no DR of slicks was 12.39 @114.87. Would be sweet to duplicate that now on a 15 year old build. Bob
From looking at results from the 10/1 autox that a I didn't attend it appears they ran and it was dry enough to have an event. BUMMER. It rained all day that Sat here at home, Harrisburg is 75 miles West, lucky them.
Tomorrow, Sat, 10/22, our three cars will be back at Cecil County. Greg in his 69 Camaro just wants to make a few more 1/4 mile passes to see if he can pick up another 1/10, 11.7s. A little old 327 SBC, " I think I can, I think I can" said The Little Red Engine, a child's book for those who have old kids. Joe in the 65 Olds Wagon pulled his trans and swapped in his old 9" 3500 stall converter to see it the car still had the same slipping problem. The trans never seemed to hook or then nail an up shift. Changing converter car had the same problem. Before condemning the TH 400 clutches or bands possible glazed he readjusted the shifter to insure it detented in each gear and the car seems to be better. Tomorrow a few passes down the track will be a trial to see if it was just a shifter misalignment of a trans that needs to come apart, again. That car when it's right should run mid-high 10s Bill and I will be making the trip this time in my car. My other 9 year old grandson would like to go along but he needs to play/pitch his last little league game on Sat. I spent about a 1/2 hr today prepping the car. 32 psi all around, remove the centercaps from the wheels, put the helmet behind the driver's seat and actually change the sec metering rod a little richer. A look at the A/F gauge as the car goes through the traps will tell if that was the right move. Couple weeks ago I saw a lean trap A/F. Looking to make three clean runs on the car and try to get a 12.5 or better out of the old turd. Car susp is setup in my street setup, just like it was when I went to the grocery store earlier this week in the car. The trick to a fast time is a good 60' on this car. Best was a 1.89 the other week, equal or better hoping this time out. Being the cold temps are now here this is the last week for the Falken Rt660 tires to be on the car. I need to preserve what rubber is left on them for hoping another Summer of autox and driving next year. Being a Summer only tire they don't like temps below 40 degrees. I drive my car whenever possible in the Winter, just to keep it exercised, no wet weather of course. The old BFG Comp 255's going on, last year for them too.
On 10/29 is an autox event in Harrisburg, a previous engagement ruled out even thinking about making it. I did see Bernie is registered and it is a full near 120 car field, hope they have a good weather day. That is the last event of the season for Susq,
This season met my event expectation from early in the year. Two autox with 32 runs and two trips to the 1/4 with 6 runs. More than likely my last times for 1/4 mile passes are this year. Maple Grove has gone 1/8 mile for the most part for us little guys, pointless to do 1/8s in my car. Intent for next year is see if we can make 3, or more autox events next season. Sure would be nice if they were closer to home. For my son and I to run one event it's near 300 bucks for the day. Lots of nickel and dime expenses add up quickly. We'll see, that's 6 months away. Bob
Made the trip yesterday to Cecil County to support my friends and make a couple passes on my car. For the end of Oct the weather was perfect, low 70s by noon. The 65 Olds wagon still has the same problem, the TH400 will be pulled soon and disassembled to inspect the bands and clutches for glazed. Trans was done locally not a year ago and worked ok on the old 455. Best was a 11.8 @112 even after the converter swap and shifter adjustment.
Greg's 327 Camaro ran a hair faster, 11.70 but he managed a 1.61 60',a best for that car.
Me, near the same numbers as the other week, tenth slower. For me the cool run of the day was against a 69 AMX, automatic with slicks. At 60' he had a 1/2 sec lead on me, I almost ran him down at the traps. he ran a 12.864 @106,2 to my 12.867 @112.14. A 10 sec car and the right lane wall delayed racing a 1/2 hour and a full left lane oil down was another 3/4 to clean up. Gotta love drag racing. One of the reason I don't do that often is for a full days at the track, three passes, the car was called upon to do it's best for less than 39 seconds. When we goes to the autox the car gets called upon to do it's best 800 seconds more or less, we hope.
Couple notables: Guys with those 5.0 stick shift Shelby's need to learn to drive. Over 60-70 nostalgia "stockers" ran again for money, basically a bracket event. Way cool to see all those neat car. A 67 Hemi GTX running on a "cheater" street tire, not a DR ran a 12.7 @108, a 67 Hemi Belvedere with DR ran a 11.7 @112. A black 2020 Supra pulls into the tech/staging lanes, SST lettering on the doors. I asked why and where and he had just recently bought the car from another autoxer who runs Harrisburg. He will be running it at the Oct 30 event next Sat. He had already done some hp mods and was at the track to get a feel for the car. I've watched those new Supra close hand and can see how well they run the slaloms. I didn't think they they were that potent at the drags but that car can get. I watched it leave the line from an 8' advantage point, it leaves very well, and it ran a 12.4 @119. Sweet! I did a little more reading on that Toyota, it's a lot Bemmer in Toyota sheetmetal and chassis setup. Japanese engineers fixed and tuned the German guys parts. Interesting how these companies swap info today. Also found out 20% of Suburu is owned by Toyota.
Yesterday was the last hurrah for racing this year. Now time to put the Falken to bed so one more year can be run on them. Bob
Sad to hear you won't make the last event Bob. I am planning to meet an engine builder from Bethleham at the race to sell him the blower motor I bought 10+ years ago. I was hoping to keep up with inflation with it but had to settle for getting the same money out of it that I paid for it. That will help fund the fun budget for the L77 swap. My tires will be coming off after this event as well and stored in the basement.
I wasn't sure how that Oct 30 event was run, Susq didn't answer my email inquiry and I also knew I was expected elsewhere that day. Enjoy the day. That black Supra ran that weekend we were there. Now sold to this new owner, who is not a new guy, previously ran a CAM T car, a 4th gen F. Nice guy, as most autox people are.
Wheel/tires came off today, get cleaned and stored.
That L77 swap will keep you busy. The trick is to keep the swap time down to a minimum, and minimum expense. Good luck.
Brent my car is slow. 50 years ago, 1970, I had a 62 Nova with a brand new DZ 302 shortblock , good heads and a Crane roller, close ratio Muncie and 4.88 12 bolt. Decided to make it a D/MP drag car capable. Installed a Weiand Tunnel Ram with two 4160 Holleys, S&W built me an alum dog box scoop and 9"x 28" M&H slicks stuffed under the rear. The car went an 12.14 @ 114. Found out very quickly the engine struggled to pull those 28" tires with a 4.88. Only trapping 6600 rpm and was waiting for the 4th gear shift. Bought a set of 5.38 so ti would trap 7400 but never got back to the track to try them, Uncle Sam got in the way.
So for the 86 the goal was always to be faster than the old Nova.
Couple notable time slips. Over 100 runs on different build stages of the car through 30 years of owning it. Stock 305, TES with an ATR exhaust system, Bob tuned CCC, T56, 81/2" 3.73 posi. street tires were BFG KDW. Maple Grove 14.89 @93.4 on a 2.35 60'. Not bad. A set of drag radial would knock 4 or 5 tenths off the 60', car should have run a low 14 on the old stock 305.
Soon after installing the 427 made a trip to the Grove. On a set of 255/50x16 KDW street tires, a Fri night ran a 12.39 @114.8 on a 1.97 60'. Lots of 12.4 and 12.5s on street tires back then.
Found i needed to chase that 12.14 Nova time slip. Tried M/T DR but could never get a good hook with them. Bought a used set of Hoosier QTP, a bias slick, 11.50 x 27, changed the R&P to 4.11 and made numerous runs in the 12 teens with a best of 12.12 @114.68 on a 1.74 60'. BINGO. So that was the best time it's run. I know if I would not baby the T56, as in granny shift it every time, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, or install a 6 spd auto trans the car should run 11.6. The car just isn't fast, just very quick, and a handful with street tires.
A couple years ago when I got tired of that ON-OFF ceramix clutch a McLeod street twin with organic discs was installed. McLeod says NO SLICKS or you could fry the organic clutch. The Hoosier slicks got throw in the scrap tire pile and I behave and will not chase that 11 sec number.
One thing most drag racer would hope to achieve is getting kicked off the track because you ran to fast. When you achieve that 11.48 ET and don't have a roll bar they should tell you to park the car, you need to have a bar. It's one of those bragging rights, "they kicked me off the track because i was to fast." It was a viable goal at one time, not anymore. Bob
Brent thanks for posting that video. That track is Maple Grove and April of 2016, long time ago. Earlier that same year at Cecil County was a 12.12. I knew if that engine could have been shifted via an auto trans the car would run mid 11s. You just can't beat on an old T56 and drive it home.
It should have been a gorgeous, although chilly cold in the morning day for the Susq autox event on Sat. I'm happy for them. No overheating of tires I bet.
Sat my 9 year old grandson and I went to maybe the last car show of the year. 300 cars, mostly muscle and no tuner stuff. No sure why but at this show and the Cecil nostalgia stockers drag race the old Mopars are really showing up, wow, more than 1st Gen Camaro. Cool. Being almost Halloween lots of candy handouts at the show. A guy with a red 64 Plymouth Fire Chief''s car handed out toy fireman's helmets. The kids used them to collect candy, he loaded up.
After the runs at Cecil last weekend I changed the tires to the old Summer's, washed the windows outside to remove the rest of the white run numbers from Cecil and removed the two colored sticky dots from the windshield. At your safety inspection at the autox they put a 1" round sticky dot on the windshield to show you are good to go. I leave them on until the end of the season. When you go to your second event of the season the safety check guys know they have seen the car before. Next year the goal is three or more stickers.
I just couldn't find the ambition to wash the car before yesterday's show, took it drag strip dirty from the last weekend. Luckily got it parked over in a corner of the parking lot, virtually out of sight but next to the all original blue, gorgeous 69 Camaro SS L78, 375 hp, 396 with the alum heads. For sale at only 70 grand for anyone interested.
Being only a couple weeks, 8, till the first of the year will start working on the "list". Need to pull the rear and swap the 3.73 back in. Need to strip the paint off the truck lid and shoot some new lacquer on it. A friend said i was lazy, 20 years have had a 10" round bullseye on the truck lid that was a quickie fix to a 1" rust spot. Lacquer, yes you heard correctly. This is piece work. As mentioned in another post searching for a cure for more rear grip. And in still another post going to recover the original front seats while adding bolstering custom fitted to me. Just hoping not to get much fatter over the next year. A harness bar and better belting will follow the seat R&R.
Greg and his 69 Camaro was at the show with me, he is thinking about running his car again next weekend. I may tag along just as pit crew. Not one of them cheap tightwads, but. Couple years ago was paying 15 or 20 buck for a test and tune. It was 50 bucks for my car and 10 bucks for my passenger, and only got three passes. The old Comp 2 tires are on the car now, their good 60' times expired several years ago, not much good at the track now. Bob
The weather did turn out very nice, even if it was in the 40's for the first heat, which I was in. I met a guy there to sell my old SBC blower motor parts to, so that freed up some play money for the LS swap. I forgot the crank at home like a bonehead, so now I have to ship it to him to finish that deal up.
The morning was very cold and it took 2 runs before I started seeing tire pressures go up from heat in the tires. I ended up 4th out of 9 CAM-T entrants, and I am pretty happy with that. Ken , Chuck, and Larry are hard to beat. Mike would have beaten me too with his '80 Camaro, but he ran in the Pro class instead. Jason Winstel is also getting his setup figured out and has come a long way. He rode with me for my last run, during which I edged him out for a spot in the Top Dog shootout. My 4th run was red flagged about halfway through from a car ahead hitting the finish lights. This time I stayed on the racing line and rolled back to the starting line. I had a bit of an advantage with warmer tires as a result. After I finished and we saw the timing lights, Jason and I were both very excited. Very much a class act.
In the afternoon, they took the 8 fastest cars from each of the 3 heats and put them in the "Top Dog" bracket. The next 8 went into the "Underdog" bracket. Everyone else that wanted to stay was put in the "Lucky Dog" bracket. When they announced who qualified for each bracket, Don and I were both surprised to hear our names announced. Last year, Don won the Lucky Dog bracket, so he was the "fastest of the slow". We figured this year, the worst we could do is "slowest of the fast" . After the first round, it went from 24 to 16, and we were surprised to again hear our names on that list! From 16 it got cut to 12, and unfortunately that's where our luck and/or skill ran out. I'm still super proud of how well we did, turning consistently competitive, clean times and going as far as we did for the last event of the season.
Yesterday, I pulled the Falkens off and stored them in the basement. The Tracstar wheels went back on. My Holley 302-3 oil pan also came in for the L77. The windage tray isn't in yet. I'm planning to call TSP here this afternoon and see what they have to say about cam selection. I want something with a flat torque curve rather than just a high horsepower number. I also need to call Bill Boudreau about getting my black-tag ZF repaired and adapted to the LS. I love the sound of that trans with the straight-ish cut gears. I still need to figure out the fuel pump and sender, power steering pump, throttle and throttle module (or maybe go cable), new radiator, and I'm sure a host of other bits. I also need to add a vacuum reservoir and maybe see if I can swing rear discs this winter too.
Good to see you guys had a good play day. Next year I'll need to put that event on the calendar. Last year we were running with Jason in T, might have been our last event of 21 and he had a fuel leak. Luckily I had a tool that could help him get the car home. This past Winter he swapped in the LS and T56, a nice clean install he did. He brought his sons with him as co drivers this year, cool, That one thing you find in autox, hillclimb, people are awesome, go out of their way to help. Drag racing not so much. When I would do to the drags and change to slicks I would cable/lock my wheels to a post.
At the car show was an old guy with a pretty white C6 ZO6, with that dry sumped hunk of 7K rpm fun. I really tried to figure out how to buy an LS7 crate engine back in 07, just a really expensive, extensive swap back then, and now. Bernie may remember John Bs swap into his 88 back then. I do have a small soft spot for some of that LS power.
Bill Boudreau: He's probably a gallon of gas from Lance's house. I knew you had a ZF but really didn't know much about it. I spent some time getting an education on it. Are you aware of Rockland Standard Gear. http://www.rsgear.com/ for parts or rebuild. I did see that Boudreau can make the adapter plate, ZF to LS, but I would expect. Rockland or Liberty to have a source. https://libertysgears.com/ My T56 i bought new from Liberty and have bought other trans parts from them.
I think like my old Aftermarket T56 these old 6 spds, LT1, LS, ZF, Richmond, Lenco you just need to be a little more particular about beating on them. My T56 is rated at like 385-400 , the weakest of all the old T56 and can't hold a candle to the new 600 and more torque rated one. Last time I talked to Hanlon he said don't destroy the input shaft, there ain't any available anymore, an oddball shaft. Another reason i don't beat on the old T56. Bob
Thanks for the tip on RSG Bob. I have bought from them before for my daily (T-case tailshaft) but didn't know they dealt in ZF parts. Their website claims they are the only North American distributor. Quicktime also makes a scatter shield that adapts a ZF to an LS, and I imagine it's about the same price as that adapter, or less. Plus you get SFI rated protection.
I looked at the ZF Quicktime shield, OUCH that stuff has got ridiculously priced. I bought my first scattershield when I had the Nova back in 1970, Lakewood was for my Nova, maybe 150 bucks way back then. I installed a Lakewood on my current engine, one for 3rd Gen F with mechanical linkage, a 15015. I thought it was expensive at the time, 320. Now discontinued. Holley now owns Lakewood, Quicktime and near 900 for a scattershield for your trans, OUCH. If you have ever seen an explosion inside a bellhousing you can justify the need to contain it. I like having feet and toes.
Does the ZF limit clutches you can use with it. I would think with it not so normal trans to bell bolt pattern that the input shaft is unique in length. And it would be necessary for the Quicktime to incorporate the hydraulic slave and fork.
One thing i found interesting when reading about a ZF, can you actually bang gears at WOT and not destroy the internals? Bob
Yeah the QT price is bananas. I talked with Bill Boudreau last night and he said I'll need a hydraulic TOB for the QT bellhousing, unless I misunderstood him. He said the stock bellhousing and his adapter is good to about 700 fwhp. I won't be anywhere near there, but I do like the idea of containing all of that spinning mass. He also said the QT bellhousing has to be machined to work with the ZF (or at least my black tag ZF), which is interesting considered it is marketed to work with a "late model" ZF... The black tag is the earlier one, but they could have been more specific. I haven't had a chance to inspect the front of my black tag to see if there is anything that looks like it would interfere. His adapter plate is $1050 and he sells machined QT bellhousings for $1050 as well. I think I'll get the QT and machine it myself.
Looking at his website this morning, I am really confused... http://zfdoc.com/projects.htm This shows an adapter plate between a T56 LS bellhousing and the ZF transmission with an internal hydraulic TOB. The QT bellhousing appears to have the provisions for a clutch fork. I guess I misunderstood him.
So it appears the two options are: ZF doc adapter, longer ZR1 input shaft (I need an input shaft either way, my pilot snout is broken), LS T56 bellhousing, release bearing, clutch, and flywheel. Probably close to $2k. or QT bellhousing maybe with some machine work, LS flywheel, standard ZF input shaft. Re-use my fork, clutch, and TOB. I would only need another fork and TOB to make a second functional trans for another car with my blue tag. Probably closer to $1200, with SFI protection, but limited clutch choices. I am leaning towards this option.
This is the clutch I currently have in the car: https://www.carolinaclutch.com/product/c4-zr1-corvette-stage-2-performance-clutch-kit Their "search by vehicle" doesn't find it, but if you search C4 Corvette Clutch in the keyword field it comes up. Rated at 425 RWHP, hopefully it's enough clutch for my setup. There is a dual-friction option that's good to 475 RWHP and a stage 3 good to 525 RWHP. I don't do much drag racing, so I think I'll be fine. The stage 2 feels very nice on the street.
Looks like mating a ZF to an LS can get expensive. Most people just think it's just a matter of an adapter but we know there is a lot more involved. My T56 uses an adapter plate to mate it to an old school bellhousing for Muncie/T10 for gen 1 SBC. It's a 1/2" steel plate about 12" x 10", very heavy. I went to S&W and asked about water jetting an alum to replace it. Because it was a "one off " I'd need to sell the car to pay for the plate. Didn't happen. When i installed the 427" and Lakewood the block saver plate moved the trans rearward about .130". Two complications were produced. First it moved the input shaft out of the pilot bushing 1/8", had to install an extended pilot to get better contact depth. The plate also reduced the driveshaft endply by an 1/8" which I fixed by moving the rear axle rearward 1/8".
My brother-in-law built 39 Plymouth street rod with an old 354 Hemi and BDS blower tied to a 727 Torqueflite. He spend a few thousand bucks on adapters and trans pumps being destroyed before the trans and engine were happily married.
Yesterday at a car show was a T-bucket with an old Caddy 331, a homemade adapter plate to mate a Chevy bellhousing and Muncie to the back of that 1950s-60s engine.
So there are lots of times things just don't bolt together. gotta be a little creative at times.. Bob
I have never tried cutting aluminum before, but my table should be able to do it if you ever wanted to try. You'd have to do some drilling afterwards for the holes.
Regarding ZF to LS, I know it can be done, just trying to find the simplest way to do it. I spent Thursday through Sunday building clutch pedals and doing Cub Scout stuff, so I never called Rockland. I did manage to get an email out to Brian Tooley Racing, asking about input on a cam upgrade and mods to help the LS live a long healthy life in my car. So far, I'm tracking that I'll need an AFM delete kit (valley cover, lifters, trays, PCV), a 3-bolt timing chain, springs, retainers, valve seals, pushrods, camshaft, and oil pump. I have a Holley pan and trap door baffle kit for it. I also talked to Texas Speed and they recommended the Stage 2 N/A cam (229/244 .629"/615” 112 LSA, 109 ICL). The L77 is an LS2 bottom end (6.0L) and LS3 heads. That cam seems kind of large to me, but we'll see what BTR thinks.
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![[Linked Image]](http://www.montecarloss.com/photopost/data/500/medium/BobMonte2.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://www.montecarloss.com/photopost/data/500/medium/DonCharger.jpg)
![[Linked Image from protouringproducts.com]](https://protouringproducts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/2C152FC7-2658-48BC-A53C-857021B6DF2F.jpeg)
. After the first round, it went from 24 to 16, and we were surprised to again hear our names on that list! From 16 it got cut to 12, and unfortunately that's where our luck and/or skill ran out. I'm still super proud of how well we did, turning consistently competitive, clean times and going as far as we did for the last event of the season.
I guess I misunderstood him.