This is just a quick hit!
East Coast Auto Electric Part Number 2025 - ULTRAMINI Single Wire Alternator is 6 lbs lighter than a production alternator. Unit is slightly larger than a coffee cup.
Cost is a bit hefty at around $250.
The only downside is that you must charge your battery between rounds especially if you are running electric fan, water pump, etc. as this unit only puts out about 55-60amps.
East Coast is excellent to deal with and their products are excellent. The unit I replaced with the Ultramini ended up on my street car and is approximately 10 years old and still working perfectly.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Spark Plug Cross Reference Guide
Courtesy Of Chris Uratchko of Uratchko Racing Engines and Steve Schlater
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Plug Reading For Power
The following is from a piece posted by Tom Rix on www.V8Buick.com 8/15/2006.
This is an article one of the SS racers shared. It's food for thought and I can attest that "most" people run the car too rich for max power! I use this religiously with good quality race gas in my cars. Also do not store race gas in your gas tank, it only "lasts" a matter of hours when vented. Don't mix brands either!
Plugs are best viewed with 10x power illumintated magnifying glass.
Heat range= Ground Strap: the ground strap indicates the heat range of the sparkplug. If the color of the groundstrap "changes" too close to the ground strap's end (which is above the center of the electrode) then the heat range is "too cold", meaning that the strap is losing heat too quickly to the base ring, and is not able to burn off deposits until near its end.
If the "color" of the strap changes near where it attaches to the base ring (last threaded ring), then it means that the plug range is "too hot" because heat is not transfered/cooled from the strap to the base ring quickly enough!! The strap might begin to act like a "glow plug", eventually causing preignition or detonation.
Proper heat range is when the "color" is at the halfway point on the strap, neither too hot or too cold.
(Color = meaning the evidence of heat/or lack of heat by the appearance of dark vs. lightened color of metal)
Jetting= the air/fuel mixture ratio : Shows up on the base ring (last threaded ring that has ground strap welded to it). You want a full turn of light-soot color on the base ring!! If you want to tune for max power, then you you want 3/4 to 7/8ths of a full turn of light soot color to turn up on the base ring. This is on the ragged edge of too lean but makes max power!
If the base ring has a full-turn of color, but there are "spots" of heavy build-up of "dry-soot" on top of color, then jetting is too rich.
Note: If the base ring has a full turn of color with some spots of heavy dry-soot, then jetting is too rich, REGARDLESS, if porcelin may be "BONE-WHITE", jetting is TOO RICH!!! Do not look at the porcelin to read jetting!!!
Porcelin=preignition/detonation: the porcelin will not accurately reveal jetting/airfuel ratios. To look for the first signs of detonation, search the white porcelin for tiny black specs or shiny specks of aluminum that have fused to the porcelin.
When detonation occurs, part of the air fuel mixture explodes instead of burning, the explosion heard as a "metallic knock". This audible knock is the result of a shock wave, this shock wave travels back and forth across the clearance volume "disrupting" the cooler boundary layer gases that cover the entire area, this disruptionallows more "heat" to be transferred into parts especially piston domes!! TROUBLE! with early signs of detonation, the shock wave will also rattle rings causing the tiny black specs. One step beyond the black specs will be tiny specs of aluminum coming off the piston tops. Then the porcelin cracks and etc.
center electrode = the very thin sharply defined porcelin ditch that encircles the center electrode will also show early signs of preignition, detonation or wrong heat range. look for signs of the ditch being filled with melted porcelin, you need a 10X magnifying glass.
The "ground strap" = heat range
The "plug's base ring" = jetting
The "porcelin" = signs of preignition/detonation
Thanks to Meaux Racing-maxRace Software
Tom Rix
Top Stock Buick 5433
This is an article one of the SS racers shared. It's food for thought and I can attest that "most" people run the car too rich for max power! I use this religiously with good quality race gas in my cars. Also do not store race gas in your gas tank, it only "lasts" a matter of hours when vented. Don't mix brands either!
Plugs are best viewed with 10x power illumintated magnifying glass.
Heat range= Ground Strap: the ground strap indicates the heat range of the sparkplug. If the color of the groundstrap "changes" too close to the ground strap's end (which is above the center of the electrode) then the heat range is "too cold", meaning that the strap is losing heat too quickly to the base ring, and is not able to burn off deposits until near its end.
If the "color" of the strap changes near where it attaches to the base ring (last threaded ring), then it means that the plug range is "too hot" because heat is not transfered/cooled from the strap to the base ring quickly enough!! The strap might begin to act like a "glow plug", eventually causing preignition or detonation.
Proper heat range is when the "color" is at the halfway point on the strap, neither too hot or too cold.
(Color = meaning the evidence of heat/or lack of heat by the appearance of dark vs. lightened color of metal)
Jetting= the air/fuel mixture ratio : Shows up on the base ring (last threaded ring that has ground strap welded to it). You want a full turn of light-soot color on the base ring!! If you want to tune for max power, then you you want 3/4 to 7/8ths of a full turn of light soot color to turn up on the base ring. This is on the ragged edge of too lean but makes max power!
If the base ring has a full-turn of color, but there are "spots" of heavy build-up of "dry-soot" on top of color, then jetting is too rich.
Note: If the base ring has a full turn of color with some spots of heavy dry-soot, then jetting is too rich, REGARDLESS, if porcelin may be "BONE-WHITE", jetting is TOO RICH!!! Do not look at the porcelin to read jetting!!!
Porcelin=preignition/detonation: the porcelin will not accurately reveal jetting/airfuel ratios. To look for the first signs of detonation, search the white porcelin for tiny black specs or shiny specks of aluminum that have fused to the porcelin.
When detonation occurs, part of the air fuel mixture explodes instead of burning, the explosion heard as a "metallic knock". This audible knock is the result of a shock wave, this shock wave travels back and forth across the clearance volume "disrupting" the cooler boundary layer gases that cover the entire area, this disruptionallows more "heat" to be transferred into parts especially piston domes!! TROUBLE! with early signs of detonation, the shock wave will also rattle rings causing the tiny black specs. One step beyond the black specs will be tiny specs of aluminum coming off the piston tops. Then the porcelin cracks and etc.
center electrode = the very thin sharply defined porcelin ditch that encircles the center electrode will also show early signs of preignition, detonation or wrong heat range. look for signs of the ditch being filled with melted porcelin, you need a 10X magnifying glass.
The "ground strap" = heat range
The "plug's base ring" = jetting
The "porcelin" = signs of preignition/detonation
Thanks to Meaux Racing-maxRace Software
Tom Rix
Top Stock Buick 5433
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A Simple Idea To Help You Win More Drag Races
Most drag racers will agree that races are won and lost at the starting line. In reality "most drag races are won and lost due to inconsistency at the starting line". Here is a simple idea that will improve your consistency at the line:
Tune your car for the reaction time!
In order to due this requires a philosophy shift in launching your drag car:
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHANGE YOUR NATURAL TENDANCIES. ACCEPT THESE NATURAL TENDANCIES AS GIVEN AND MANIPULATE THE PHYSICAL WORLD AROUND YOU TO WORK WITH YOUR NATURAL TENDANCIES.
Here is a simple example:
Go to this website http://getyourwebsitehere.com/jswb/rttest01.html and follow the instructions for the reaction time tester. When you test your reaction time make sure you are relaxed and just press the button when you see the green light. After about 1 or 2 times through the simulation you will notice that your reaction times are pretty consistent.
So if we consistently react to the green light in this example or the light(s) on a drag racing x-mas tree then the idea is to accept our "natural reaction time tendency" and make changes to the car to make it either react quicker or slower.
Applying this basic philosophy with a little practice will take you from “trying to cut a good light” to “tuning your car to cut a good light”! You will be amazed at how accurately you can predict your reaction time!
In the old days before LED lights were prevalent on the drag racing Christmas trees it was actually possible to judge the bottom bulb on a tree based on it just turning on, full bright or just going out. The problem is that the driver was constantly adjusting their reaction time consistency would be all over the map. With the advent of the LED tree it is no longer possible to judge the bulbs on the tree – the bulb is either on or off!
Here is the recommended process for tuning your car for reaction time:
1) Pick-up a cheap lined notebook and make three columns on the page – Front Tire Pressure, Launch RPM and reaction time.
2) If you are running a bracket class with a staggered tree, strategically place a piece of tape on your windshield such that only the bottom bulb of your side of the tree is visible when you are staring at the tree. If you are running a pro-tree class and there are no blinders, position the tape so that only your side of the tree is visible. (Note: as of 2008 NHRA does not allow this practice)
3) Set your front tire pressure to the medium value recommended by the manufacturer and make sure to record the actual tire pressure just before going up to the line.
4) Perform your burnout and stage the car such that the bottom bulb on the tree just flickers on. (This means your car is as far back as possible in the staging beams with both sets of bulbs being lit)
5) Bring your car up on rpm in preparation for the launch. It is imperative to know the exact rpm at which the car launches. This can be accomplished via a two step, a replay tachometer, throttle-stop or any other creative method you can think up.
6) Now using the tape on the windshield, align you line of sight such that the only thing you can see is the third yellow bulb or the three yellow bulbs if using a pro-tree.
7) When you see the first flash of yellow let off the foot brake or transbrake button! From this point on this is all you are ever going to do at the tree - no more judging bulbs – when you see the yellow light you go!
8) Once you complete the run record the reaction time, the front tire pressure and the launch rpm and compare your reaction time number to a perfect light which is typically .500 seconds for a staggered tree and .400 seconds for a pro-tree.
9) Let’s assume your reaction time is .540 on a staggered tree. On the next run increase your front tire pressure by 5lbs. This will decrease your rollout distance and improve your reaction time.
10) Follow steps 1) – 8) again. If you still find your reaction time too slow, you can add more air pressure to the front tires {within manufacturers limits} or increase the launch rpm by 50-100 rpm increments until you reach the desired reaction time.
11) The same is true only in reverse if you are too close to red or red lighting consistently. Decrease front tire pressure and decrease launch rpm until the desired reaction time is reached.
12) NOTE: Reaction time in the .510 - .520 or .410-.420 on pro tree range will win you a lot of drag races. It is recommended that you tune for reaction times in this range. Also note: once night falls you will be seeing the lights sooner so you will have to adjust your tire pressure and launch rpm to compensate for the changes.
13) After you play with this a few times you will be surprised at how well you get to know your car and how well you can actually tune your car for reaction time.
14) Some higher powered cars will not be affected as much by tire pressure and launch rpm changes. Many of these cars usually have adjustable shocks or preload adjusters on the upper front control arms. Utilize suspension adjustments to slow or speed up the reaction time of the car.
Here are some additional tips and information critical to success at the drag strip:
1) Getting the Hook: A car that will not hook consistently has no chance of winning consistently. All discussions regarding reaction time tuning rely on a consistently hooking drag car. If you car does not hook refocus 100% of all of your energy and resources in resolving the suspension and chassis issues preventing this from happening. Your car needs to be able to hook at the worst of tracks under all circumstances before reaction time tuning can even be attempted.
2) Reading the track: After the track prep and before the racing starts, go down to the finish line and find out where the best groove is located. Avoid a line with bare concrete patches and missing rubber if possible. If not possible try to find a line with the most consistent rubber contact area.
3) Reading your body: Your body at a drag race is a calorie burning machine thanks to repeated blows of adrenaline coursing through your veins. Keeping your blood sugar consistent is as important as your car set-up. Take a personal inventory – are you feeling level, hyper or sluggish? Eating consistently throughout the day is very important in maintaining consistency at the tree. Each time you pull up to the tree your body needs to be consistent – neither hyper nor sluggish.
If you are feeling a little sluggish eat a small piece of candy or candy bar – this will speed your system up a little to get you to level. If you are hyper eat a hot dog or half a hamburger to slow things down a little. You will be surprised at how critical controlling your energy level is to winning races.
4) You must relax: You absolutely need to find a way to relax at the line whether during time trials or eliminations. Just as controlling your blood sugar is important controlling huge blows of adrenaline created by mental stress or excitement are equally important. The idea is not to react slower or faster to the tree - just consistently!
The difference between pro and amateur athletes is the pros are always cool under pressure. Some say they are more relaxed on the field or the court than on the street. You will need to learn some relaxation techniques to become an iceman at the tree. There are a million+ techniques for helping you to relax checkout the web and find one that works for you!
Tune your car for the reaction time!
In order to due this requires a philosophy shift in launching your drag car:
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHANGE YOUR NATURAL TENDANCIES. ACCEPT THESE NATURAL TENDANCIES AS GIVEN AND MANIPULATE THE PHYSICAL WORLD AROUND YOU TO WORK WITH YOUR NATURAL TENDANCIES.
Here is a simple example:
Go to this website http://getyourwebsitehere.com/jswb/rttest01.html and follow the instructions for the reaction time tester. When you test your reaction time make sure you are relaxed and just press the button when you see the green light. After about 1 or 2 times through the simulation you will notice that your reaction times are pretty consistent.
So if we consistently react to the green light in this example or the light(s) on a drag racing x-mas tree then the idea is to accept our "natural reaction time tendency" and make changes to the car to make it either react quicker or slower.
Applying this basic philosophy with a little practice will take you from “trying to cut a good light” to “tuning your car to cut a good light”! You will be amazed at how accurately you can predict your reaction time!
In the old days before LED lights were prevalent on the drag racing Christmas trees it was actually possible to judge the bottom bulb on a tree based on it just turning on, full bright or just going out. The problem is that the driver was constantly adjusting their reaction time consistency would be all over the map. With the advent of the LED tree it is no longer possible to judge the bulbs on the tree – the bulb is either on or off!
Here is the recommended process for tuning your car for reaction time:
1) Pick-up a cheap lined notebook and make three columns on the page – Front Tire Pressure, Launch RPM and reaction time.
2) If you are running a bracket class with a staggered tree, strategically place a piece of tape on your windshield such that only the bottom bulb of your side of the tree is visible when you are staring at the tree. If you are running a pro-tree class and there are no blinders, position the tape so that only your side of the tree is visible. (Note: as of 2008 NHRA does not allow this practice)
3) Set your front tire pressure to the medium value recommended by the manufacturer and make sure to record the actual tire pressure just before going up to the line.
4) Perform your burnout and stage the car such that the bottom bulb on the tree just flickers on. (This means your car is as far back as possible in the staging beams with both sets of bulbs being lit)
5) Bring your car up on rpm in preparation for the launch. It is imperative to know the exact rpm at which the car launches. This can be accomplished via a two step, a replay tachometer, throttle-stop or any other creative method you can think up.
6) Now using the tape on the windshield, align you line of sight such that the only thing you can see is the third yellow bulb or the three yellow bulbs if using a pro-tree.
7) When you see the first flash of yellow let off the foot brake or transbrake button! From this point on this is all you are ever going to do at the tree - no more judging bulbs – when you see the yellow light you go!
8) Once you complete the run record the reaction time, the front tire pressure and the launch rpm and compare your reaction time number to a perfect light which is typically .500 seconds for a staggered tree and .400 seconds for a pro-tree.
9) Let’s assume your reaction time is .540 on a staggered tree. On the next run increase your front tire pressure by 5lbs. This will decrease your rollout distance and improve your reaction time.
10) Follow steps 1) – 8) again. If you still find your reaction time too slow, you can add more air pressure to the front tires {within manufacturers limits} or increase the launch rpm by 50-100 rpm increments until you reach the desired reaction time.
11) The same is true only in reverse if you are too close to red or red lighting consistently. Decrease front tire pressure and decrease launch rpm until the desired reaction time is reached.
12) NOTE: Reaction time in the .510 - .520 or .410-.420 on pro tree range will win you a lot of drag races. It is recommended that you tune for reaction times in this range. Also note: once night falls you will be seeing the lights sooner so you will have to adjust your tire pressure and launch rpm to compensate for the changes.
13) After you play with this a few times you will be surprised at how well you get to know your car and how well you can actually tune your car for reaction time.
14) Some higher powered cars will not be affected as much by tire pressure and launch rpm changes. Many of these cars usually have adjustable shocks or preload adjusters on the upper front control arms. Utilize suspension adjustments to slow or speed up the reaction time of the car.
Here are some additional tips and information critical to success at the drag strip:
1) Getting the Hook: A car that will not hook consistently has no chance of winning consistently. All discussions regarding reaction time tuning rely on a consistently hooking drag car. If you car does not hook refocus 100% of all of your energy and resources in resolving the suspension and chassis issues preventing this from happening. Your car needs to be able to hook at the worst of tracks under all circumstances before reaction time tuning can even be attempted.
2) Reading the track: After the track prep and before the racing starts, go down to the finish line and find out where the best groove is located. Avoid a line with bare concrete patches and missing rubber if possible. If not possible try to find a line with the most consistent rubber contact area.
3) Reading your body: Your body at a drag race is a calorie burning machine thanks to repeated blows of adrenaline coursing through your veins. Keeping your blood sugar consistent is as important as your car set-up. Take a personal inventory – are you feeling level, hyper or sluggish? Eating consistently throughout the day is very important in maintaining consistency at the tree. Each time you pull up to the tree your body needs to be consistent – neither hyper nor sluggish.
If you are feeling a little sluggish eat a small piece of candy or candy bar – this will speed your system up a little to get you to level. If you are hyper eat a hot dog or half a hamburger to slow things down a little. You will be surprised at how critical controlling your energy level is to winning races.
4) You must relax: You absolutely need to find a way to relax at the line whether during time trials or eliminations. Just as controlling your blood sugar is important controlling huge blows of adrenaline created by mental stress or excitement are equally important. The idea is not to react slower or faster to the tree - just consistently!
The difference between pro and amateur athletes is the pros are always cool under pressure. Some say they are more relaxed on the field or the court than on the street. You will need to learn some relaxation techniques to become an iceman at the tree. There are a million+ techniques for helping you to relax checkout the web and find one that works for you!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Lose 18 Lbs - 1970 Stage1 GS Diet Recipe #2
Another key area to lose some front-end weight over stock without major modifications is to replace the front drum brake set-up with front drag racing disk brake set-up. My car originally came with factory aluminum front drum brakes. Although the weight difference over after market disks (18 Lbs) is not great the ability to hold the car in the lights and getting it stopped is well worth the dollar spent. Actually I considered the disks cheap insurance.
I decided to go with a Wilwood set-up although any of the other manufacturer's parts would probably work just fine. Here is the parts list and some additional info not included in the disk brake conversion instructions:
1) Contact AutoFab Race Cars, 7443 Washington Blvd., Elkridge, MD 21075, Phone:410-796-8777, Fax 410-796-2006 and order the following part numbers:
140-2285-B - HD Front Kit 62-72 Camero/Chevelle - $651.99
160-7097/8 vented and cross drilled rotor upgrade - $90.00
260-8555 High Volume Tandem M/C Line - $189.99
260-8419 Prop Valve Know adjust Included with 260-8555
Wilwood Brake Fluid - $14.98 (this is for two bottles)
2) Contact Muscle Cars Only and order 1 pair of P/N KT69275 these are brand new spindles that require "0" modifications with the Wilwood Kit. Delivered the spindles cost - $143.50
(You may be tempted to use your stock drum brakes spindles but I do not recommend it as they will need to be modified by a competent machinist to work with the Wilwood kit plus they are already 35+ years old. My recommendations is to start with brand new units that allow you to bolt everything up right out of the box)
3) The last tidbit of information is that you will need to learn how to safety wire bolts. This was not disclosed when I bought the Wilwood kit. The lightweight Wilwood spindles are machined from aluminum utilizing aluminum threads to attach the rotors. Wilwood does not recommend using locktite on any bolts and specifies safety wiring.
4) You can order a killer safety wire kit from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co., 225 Airport Circle, Corona,CA 92878-4000, Ph:877-477-7823. P/N 12-16650 Model 200 Safety Wire Kit. Kit comes with large and small safety wire pliers plus three different roles of safety wire included. Price was $91.71 for the kit including freight. Seems pricey but I have used this kit for other components on my drag car plus other toys.
The total bill for the disk brake conversion with everything discussed here plus freight = $1212.17 and everything is brand new.
Total unsprung weight savings over stock spindles, front aluminum drums, backing plates, etc = 18lbs
From a performance standpoint the car no longer pushes out of the lights when footbraked against the converter. On the big end when mashing on brake pedal you do not feel that knot in your stomach wondering if your car is going to stop especially at speeds of 120mph and greater. There is no noticeable fade and the car stops perfectly straight.
I decided to go with a Wilwood set-up although any of the other manufacturer's parts would probably work just fine. Here is the parts list and some additional info not included in the disk brake conversion instructions:
1) Contact AutoFab Race Cars, 7443 Washington Blvd., Elkridge, MD 21075, Phone:410-796-8777, Fax 410-796-2006 and order the following part numbers:
140-2285-B - HD Front Kit 62-72 Camero/Chevelle - $651.99
160-7097/8 vented and cross drilled rotor upgrade - $90.00
260-8555 High Volume Tandem M/C Line - $189.99
260-8419 Prop Valve Know adjust Included with 260-8555
Wilwood Brake Fluid - $14.98 (this is for two bottles)
2) Contact Muscle Cars Only and order 1 pair of P/N KT69275 these are brand new spindles that require "0" modifications with the Wilwood Kit. Delivered the spindles cost - $143.50
(You may be tempted to use your stock drum brakes spindles but I do not recommend it as they will need to be modified by a competent machinist to work with the Wilwood kit plus they are already 35+ years old. My recommendations is to start with brand new units that allow you to bolt everything up right out of the box)
3) The last tidbit of information is that you will need to learn how to safety wire bolts. This was not disclosed when I bought the Wilwood kit. The lightweight Wilwood spindles are machined from aluminum utilizing aluminum threads to attach the rotors. Wilwood does not recommend using locktite on any bolts and specifies safety wiring.
4) You can order a killer safety wire kit from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Co., 225 Airport Circle, Corona,CA 92878-4000, Ph:877-477-7823. P/N 12-16650 Model 200 Safety Wire Kit. Kit comes with large and small safety wire pliers plus three different roles of safety wire included. Price was $91.71 for the kit including freight. Seems pricey but I have used this kit for other components on my drag car plus other toys.
The total bill for the disk brake conversion with everything discussed here plus freight = $1212.17 and everything is brand new.
Total unsprung weight savings over stock spindles, front aluminum drums, backing plates, etc = 18lbs
From a performance standpoint the car no longer pushes out of the lights when footbraked against the converter. On the big end when mashing on brake pedal you do not feel that knot in your stomach wondering if your car is going to stop especially at speeds of 120mph and greater. There is no noticeable fade and the car stops perfectly straight.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Lose 34 Lbs - 1970 Stage1 GS Diet Recipe #1
In the pursuit reducing the front-end weight of my 1970 D/SA Stage1 GS I started with cooling system. The stock set-up made use of a factory four row radiator with internal tranmission cooler - although the tranmission cooler was blocked off.
In stock eliminator aluminum radiators are not legal in the earlier muscle cars so a little creativity is in order to reduce the front end weight.
Here are the steps that would make Jenny Craig herself proud:
1) Weigh your car prior to making any modfications - I recommend also recording the weights at all four corners if possible.
2) Drain the entire cooling system.
3) Call "Cool Craft Components", 4423 District Boulevard, Vernon, CA, 90058 and order PN 005330 68-71 GM,&BUICK X-FLO 283/8" - 11/2 SD1 1/2 SPXP12.
4) Make sure that when you order this unit you make sure and tell them to build without the internal transmission cooler. (You could also find a 2-row stock style from a 4-spd 350 car but they are hard, usually worn out and not built with todays technology)
5) Install the new radiator and refill the cooling system with fresh juice.
6) Scale the car again.
7) My car was 34 lbs lighter due to the new radiator being lighter weight and the reduced coolant volume in the cooling system.
8) At the race track I did not notice any cooling probelms whatsoever and speculate the larger more efficient design is probably as good as the ancient stock radiator.
9) Note: I do run a Mezziere electric water pump and electric fan in the car.
In stock eliminator aluminum radiators are not legal in the earlier muscle cars so a little creativity is in order to reduce the front end weight.
Here are the steps that would make Jenny Craig herself proud:
1) Weigh your car prior to making any modfications - I recommend also recording the weights at all four corners if possible.
2) Drain the entire cooling system.
3) Call "Cool Craft Components", 4423 District Boulevard, Vernon, CA, 90058 and order PN 005330 68-71 GM,&BUICK X-FLO 283/8" - 11/2 SD1 1/2 SPXP12.
4) Make sure that when you order this unit you make sure and tell them to build without the internal transmission cooler. (You could also find a 2-row stock style from a 4-spd 350 car but they are hard, usually worn out and not built with todays technology)
5) Install the new radiator and refill the cooling system with fresh juice.
6) Scale the car again.
7) My car was 34 lbs lighter due to the new radiator being lighter weight and the reduced coolant volume in the cooling system.
8) At the race track I did not notice any cooling probelms whatsoever and speculate the larger more efficient design is probably as good as the ancient stock radiator.
9) Note: I do run a Mezziere electric water pump and electric fan in the car.
455 Buick Rear Main Seal
I found this to be an interesting post from David Powell on the http://www.v8buick.com/ website. I have had exactly the same issue with Ford seal on three of my engines and will soon be going back to the Cadillac version.
Dave Writes:
Remove and inspect the neoprene seal. If the fit isn't correct, they burn up immediately. Once burned, they wouldn't leak too bad at idle, but go out and mash the gas and oil would be coming out of the torque converter inspection cover drain hole when I got back. All it took was for the oil to be forced up against the back of the crankcase during acceleration.I kept burning up those Ford seals that are supposedly a drop in, no matter how well I polished the crank, and no matter what I did to prelube the seal. The Ford seal just hasn't fit well at all in the last two big blocks I assembled. So I went back to the file fit Cadillac 472-500 seal like I always used to use, and have no leaking whatsoever, not even a film of oil. This is on three engines that I have in use currently. And I'm doing a short block with one right now. Won't even waste time trying the Ford seal anymore. For me, the Ford seal was riding the crank with way too much pressure and they came out with the seal lip burnt to a crisp.The Cadillac seal comes a tiny bit big, which allows you to fit it to your block's exact dimensions. That groove was made for a rope seal, so I don't believe that accuracy was a big concern. I leave .010" protrude on all four corners. This loads it hard into the block so that it will not spin, yet leaves just the right amount of pressure on the crank. There is no drop in rear main seal for the Buick 400-455 in my opinion.
David Powell76 LeSabre 2dr 455 13.17@10276 LeSabre 4dr ht 455 14.50@9376 LeSabre 4dr ht 350 -for sale67 Riviera 430 13.96@97 -for sale83 Regal 455 incomplete85 WH1 T-Regal70 Skylark 350 daily ride96 9C1 Caprice69 Camaro 327 4spd78 Monza 32778 K5 Blazer 38377 GM 3/4 Ton 45489 Cutlass (new salt car)etc
Dave Writes:
Remove and inspect the neoprene seal. If the fit isn't correct, they burn up immediately. Once burned, they wouldn't leak too bad at idle, but go out and mash the gas and oil would be coming out of the torque converter inspection cover drain hole when I got back. All it took was for the oil to be forced up against the back of the crankcase during acceleration.I kept burning up those Ford seals that are supposedly a drop in, no matter how well I polished the crank, and no matter what I did to prelube the seal. The Ford seal just hasn't fit well at all in the last two big blocks I assembled. So I went back to the file fit Cadillac 472-500 seal like I always used to use, and have no leaking whatsoever, not even a film of oil. This is on three engines that I have in use currently. And I'm doing a short block with one right now. Won't even waste time trying the Ford seal anymore. For me, the Ford seal was riding the crank with way too much pressure and they came out with the seal lip burnt to a crisp.The Cadillac seal comes a tiny bit big, which allows you to fit it to your block's exact dimensions. That groove was made for a rope seal, so I don't believe that accuracy was a big concern. I leave .010" protrude on all four corners. This loads it hard into the block so that it will not spin, yet leaves just the right amount of pressure on the crank. There is no drop in rear main seal for the Buick 400-455 in my opinion.
David Powell76 LeSabre 2dr 455 13.17@10276 LeSabre 4dr ht 455 14.50@9376 LeSabre 4dr ht 350 -for sale67 Riviera 430 13.96@97 -for sale83 Regal 455 incomplete85 WH1 T-Regal70 Skylark 350 daily ride96 9C1 Caprice69 Camaro 327 4spd78 Monza 32778 K5 Blazer 38377 GM 3/4 Ton 45489 Cutlass (new salt car)etc
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