Dana 36

Picked up a Dana 36 differential last night for Keira and I have to admit I'm a little excited to get this thing installed. Now the 36 isn't the super tough 44 model that I wanted and its actually the same one already in the car but this one comes with a 3.07 gear compared to my 2.5x currently installed. This is the exact gear I wanted for my intake setup and should provide me a good acceleration boost, lets just hope it lasts once my build is complete. I didn't pay much for the diff and it came with a pair of wheel bearings that makes this a super deal, plus I meet Norm, cool elderly man with some awesome old school ford hot-rods. Now lets hope the snow melts and the garage warms up so I can get some work done!

Dana 36 with 3.07 gear

Saw this Mclaren MP4-12C on my travels in Manhattan. Snow covered and rusting brakes.

Aluminum Heads

Picked up a set of Edlebrock heads a few weeks ago for a good price. Now this is a huge boost for the car. Replacing the iron heads currently will net 40lbs of weight savings off the front of the car, which is huge for me at this point as weight savings on the front of the car have become slim-pickings. Regarding airflow the iron heads are poor in comparison to the corvette aluminum heads which were introduced in late 86, mine being an 85. Now with these being an improvement over the vette aluminum heads I can expect a significant performance improvement (Refer to the link for flow comparisions http://www.purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/techinfo/heads1.html#GM%20L98%20Vette). Once I add roller rockers to the combination even more gains can be expected.

Ported SuperRam intake, Edlebrock base and Edlebrock RPM heads!

Now I just need time to do all this work.

New Year, New Plans

After a few less then eventful years tuning its time to get back into things, well hopefully. Work's taken over my life causing me to spend plenty of time away from home, and with the girlfriend and I looking at homes my schedule isn't looking anymore free.

First plan of action was consolidating my projects which meant Megan(silvia) had to go. Sold the car to two brothers in burlington so hopefully they fix her up and enjoy.

Minutes before she was officially sold

Second was I decided that the G35 wasn't the car I wanted and have now placed it up on the sales block.

Ready for Sale

 All that's left now is Keira(c4 vette). Nothing has changed since 2012 but I've already begun work. I've cleaned up the casting edges on the Edlebrock lower manifold, preparing it for installation. Just need to purchase an adjustable fuel regulator then I may begin tare down. I'm contemplating picking up some aluminum L98 heads and roller rockers to complement the build. But we'll see if I can find them for the right price.

Ports cleaned on the Edlebrock lower manifold

Keira (C4) AC Removal

Removed the AC and saved 32lbs. Going to get a short belt and see how things run now without using the ac, belt tensioner, EGR pulley and water pump in reverse. Definitely made the engine bay cleaner looking.

G35 Carbonetic diff and Nismo cover

 Installed the Carbonetic diff with Nismo cover last week, install was simple minus the seized drive shaft to the open diff. Before installing the diff I had Brian at BC Enterprise reassemble the unit and make sure everything was torqued correctly because the previous owner had mentioned it was really noisy. Brian mentioned that the fluid was filthy and that for some strange reason that it appears the house had stretched allowing torque specs to drift. Everything is buttoned up and working great. Slight gear whine because of the used bearings but nothing excessive. Sill have to do a celebratory burnout!

The Build and the Goals for 2013

Keira - Corvette
I have idiotically become attached to this car as its not the most attractive, reliable, or practical of cars but like a bastard child that has all the potential in the world, I will strive to prove the world wrong and that Keira is a fully capable performance machine, and that I'm a fully capable builder.

-Current 1/4 mile time is approx 13.5 and I would love to take a second off that. With the purchase of the G35 I no longer feel the need to keep the AC system. So step one is AC removal and AC delete pulley. I'd expect gains to be minimal but some reduced weight of 30lbs on the front half of the car is a plus. I'll baseline the car at this point but I'd expect a 13.5 quarter still. 
-Next mod will be an a later model ecu upgrade and possibly a chip for it but I'd personally like to have a completely stock chip. I would like to see a small improvement from the new ecu adapting better to the mods for an improvement of 13.48 in the quarter.
-Next mod I'd like to perform is removal of the cats, mufflers and a straight exhaust coming out of the center of the car with conical exhaust tips and possibly with resonators. I'd like to see an improvement in the quarter to 13.46 as the piping right now is very restrictive with the "S" shaped bends for both exhaust outlets
-After the exhaust is done I'll build an aluminum axle back double diffuser to complement the new exhaust. I'm hoping this helps reduce drag and drop the times to 13.45
-Once the exhaust is all done next is installing the SuperRam intake with edelbrock manifold with possibly larger injectors and a tune to support the mods. I expect big things from this mod and want to see 4 tenths off my time. This should keep my low end reasonable yet give me the horsepower I'm lacking to really make this car pull. My concern is the restrictive heads as the iron '85 L98 heads suck and at this point will 100% become the bottle next in this setup. Quarter mile times should be 13s flat.
-Following the intake install I'd expect the Dana 36 diff to be on the verge of exploding and the big gears will no longer be the best with the change to the SuperRam so a Dana 44 would be in the works and likely would come with a smaller gear ratio that would greatly improve acceleration. At this point I expect to be running 12.8's or better at the very least. If I get aluminum heads I want to see 12.0 to 12.5 and then I'll be done power wise and the following year the car will get very much time attack oriented.



$100 AC delete
$450 ECU upgrade (spent $100 on the ecu, tuning gear totaled $250 so far)
$400 New exhaust
$250 Diffuser
$600 SuperRam
$1000 Danna 44

-Tuning Stuff

G35
Well I'm very content with the car as a daily and the only things being done is the high flow cats which should give it a better sound and get the LSD diff rebuilt and installed. Once thats done I'll see what It can do at the track and I'll be pleased with anything near 14.5 in the quarter. I may lap the car if I can find time if the corvette isn't on the road. I need to finish my lap timer and ignition lock for both the G35 and corvette so I can start recording times at the track. I may also plasti dip the wheels and the front grill just to give it a bit of a different look.

$500 Berks high flow cats
$---- Rebuild LSD
$---- Plasti dip wheels and grill

New Whip, Winter Mode

Picked up the new ride recently, so here's a quick pic of it in winter mode.

New Best 1/4 mile

Installed some new parts on Keira so it was time to see the difference. I installed a TPI air foil which I didn't expect anything from and March under drive pulleys which made the engine feel a lot more responsive with better mid range.

I didn't improve as much as expected but consider my run had an average 60' and not the best trap speed with shitty gas, a 13.602 is a definite sign of improvement.

 

This car has some serious rubber!

And I started mocking up flares on Megan

Megan Makes a Quick Appearance

Hand to pull Megan out of the garage, so she got a good cleaning. Good I miss driving her! Maybe later this year if my life would just settle down I can find some time to get her road worthy.

New Best Time

Supposedly the L98 c4 is plagued with false knocks so at some point GM produced a replacement Knock Module that was less sensitive. Through some cross referencing online I found a new knock module for $30 from rockauto. Install took 30 seconds and then I decided to perform a very scientific test known as "seat-of-the-pants." In all honesty I thought it made the car worse. However my car consistently managed 100mph trap speeds at the track with shitty launches. Temps were slightly cooler then my other runs but its safe to say it didn't hurt the performance of the car.

My first launch being my only good one and best to date resulted in a new best time 13.675. Woot!

 

This car is awesome!!!! The aero body looked extremely well designed, nicely tight and compact too. Center lock wheels FTW. However I don't understand why this guy just sat in the pits tightening the odd bolts here and there and not even attempting to drive the car.

These guys just spent the evening hiding but there was plenty of nice cars on the track to provide apple action.

New 1/4 Mile Time

Set a new best 1/4 mile time this past Friday and new best mph. 13.8s and on a separate run a top speed of 101mph . New mods were light weight battery (-27lbs) and Z51 front lip.

FYI car in the left lane was a Jeep SRT8... damn!

At the end of this week I'm going to order a number of parts that most people probably wouldn't consider a performance mod. Hopefully we get some good results!

Z51 Front Lip Install

The Z51 Front Lip finally arrived the other day to my delight. The difference between the Z51 and base model is the Z51 is about an inch longer. The one received doesn't look like an OEM piece but certainly looks to be a better replacement. Consisting of thicker plastic, better defined holes and exceptional fit-n-finish.
Install is a minor pain in the ass with removal of the vacuum reservoir required. I painted the piece directing air to the rad as well.

Before

 

Comparison

After

How she sits now.

Light Weight Battery Mod

The current battery in Keira was out of the Silvia (Megan) so one day it would have to go back in. Considering I do plan on driving both these cars it doesn't make sense swapping the battery back and forth. Perfect excuse for a performance oriented mod.

I started out comparing light weight battery manufacturers specifically between Braille and Odyssey, the bigger brand being Braille. With Braille they offered more exotic designs with carbon fiber cases and larger product ranges, however far more expensive and difficult to source. Odyssey offered an excellent alternative simpler in design, price, and with a slight compromise on Cold Cranking Amps which didn't really apply so it was a perfect choice. I picked up a PC545 off Ebay for about $150.

The battery weighed in at 11.5 pounds compared to my Optima Redtop that weighed in at 40lbs. After install a total weight savings of  27lbs.

 The install didn't require much modification. I removed the insulation and fasteners on the stock battery ring terminals and used the bolts included with the battery with a washer to fasten it to the battery. I then bent an aluminum bracket into a top hat shape which was bolted down on the wheel side and then used the original battery bolt and retainer to clamp down on the other side. The mount is extremely solid and when I try moving it I'm really just shaking the entire car.

Ferrari's at Cayuga

Headed to TMP, Cayuga last week to get some more drag times with Kira.I didn't do to well as I never managed to hook up at the launch but did have some respectable trap speeds.

So I gave up for the day and decided to watch the cars on the circuit. 

Wow.... there was some terrific action going on and some awesome cars!

  

The Miata in the pic above was just barely hanging on with the Ferrari which is still very impressive.

 

This Evo was quickly in the 430's rear view just past this corner

This Fridays weather isn't looking to promising but mods on order are Z51 lower front lip, and light weight battery probably arriving by next friday.

1. I'm expecting to save 25 pounds on the battery by switching to an odyssey light weight battery from the current optima redtop. I'll probably leave my emergency tool bag at home to save an additional 25 pounds. total -50lbs

2. I Don't expect much difference from the front lip if any. I'll probably increase the tire pressures considering I had no issues with traction.

3. Finally I'll see if removing the license plate has any effect as well. (popular myth)

These are relatively cheap easy mods that I want to get out of the way. Slowly I'll work my way up to more expensive mods including my super ram intake that I have collecting dust in the basement.


Dreams... If my car did this everything from the drive shaft back would explode :(