dbreese

Finally got around to installing the 4.30 gears and Moser spool. Of course it has been raining here off and on for the the last 4 days so no dry roads. I did drive it from the shop to my house and took it very easy. It was all good. It did take a three point turn to get it in my garage though. Gears are super quiet ( Motive's). Just need a slight break in period then it is off to the track for some T&T. The air down here is changing so I'm going to work on shock adjustments and getting the 60' down. Hoping for a new best on the 60' foot and maybe 1/8 mile. Shooting for 6.90's in the 1/8 and that elusive 10.90 something in the quarter. ET's will depend on the DA and ambient temps. Gonna play around with them for a while but I still have my eaton tru-trac with the 3.73 to put back in when I'm done goofing. David

A set of 4.30 gears being installed on a spool. Hope to see some 6.90 somethings in the 1/8. Cool air is gone for the year down south. Gonna try a 10.90 something in the fall. David

I have 3.73's with 28" tires, th350, and at 70 mph my autometer tach reads right at 3400. Could be a inefficient/ incorrect converter. Like Sam stated the factory tach could be well off. Hook up a temporary tach to confirm the rpm. David

Looks like a good set up to me. If you can keep your static compression around 10.5 you should be good on pump premium (93 non-ethanol if you can get it). Dial in a conservative initial/advance and total curve on the timing and sneak up to what the car likes. If you plan on pulling the engine and when things are done, if you have a engine dyno service in your area this can be a invaluable tuning device in getting the most out of your engine combo. Since you are keeping the factory exhaust manifolds I would get in touch with someone who is knowledgeable in extrude honing. All the muscle car guys who run the FAST (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) racing class do this and it is worth some hp. It will be a torque monster for sure. If you are just going to cruise I would say 3.31 would be a good gear but 3.73 would be way fun. With the cam specs .520 in 240 dur @ .050 on the intake side and I think about the same the ex side I would look into a custom converter. Talk to any good converter company and they will talk you through it. If you have a engine dyno sheet that is a great help to them when building the converter. I did this with mine and they got it the first time around. I know I'm a s/b guy but it looks like ya have got a good plan and a trip-power setup on a Monte would look awesome. I'm sure the B/B gurus will chime. David

Hey Al, Hope all is well. Gonna try and get the 4.30's installed but I have lots of stuff going on right now. David

Freakshow converters have a good reputation among the drag racing crowd as well as the weekend warriors and rodders. They also have good tech support. That being said I have had very good luck with Coan converters. I ran their Pro Street converter, as Scott mentioned above, behind a mild 385 with a th350 and 3.73 gears. It was a great converter for the price and worked well that combo. I have always worked with Craig at Coan and he has always come through. When I stepped up to a new mill I went with a custom Coan Max performance 10". I was able to provide them with all the info they needed along with a engine dyno sheet. They got it right where it needed to be based on what the car was going to be used for. Flash stalls at 4900 rpm but feels totally stock on the street and down the highway. I run a B&M stacked plate trans cooler. Never an issue with trans heat. The converter can be re-stalled to fit any engine drivetrain setup and is totally rebuildable. Pricey, but Craig said it would be the last converter I would ever need. I have had it in the car for 5 years and it rocks. I don't think you could go wrong with either company. David

Hey Brandon, IMHO if you are going to be auto crossing poly would not deflect like rubber would. So my vote would be for poly, coil over shocks and oversized front and rear swaybars. UMI is a great source for suspension parts for our A-body's and Ramy and the rest of the crew are very knowledgeable and can set you with what you need. Their parts are designed and built in-house. USA FTW!! David

I was going to suggest torque tech http://www.torquetechexh.com but I see that they are closing their business after 27 years. They were great people to deal with and their system fit awesome and the quality was excellent Made in the USA. I have their 3" x-pipe system with Pypes 14" Race Pros. Loud but not obnoxious at cruise. At WOT it's wicked loud. All their a-body stuff is gone. Sad

Thanks Paul, I have a set of 4.30's I'm gonna throw in just to mess around. Should help with the 60'. The engine at the top end is still pulling hard through the traps with the 3.73's. With the 4.30's it should put me around 7200 in out the back. Looking for that elusive 10.9 something. Oh dare to dream! David

Ryan, There was a member on this site some years back that did the RnP conversion but for the life of me I can't recall his name/ screen name. Some other member may recall his name. Looked really nice. You may want to check out the Team Chevelle site on either the suspension, performance or pro touring section . Quite a few people have done the conversion and I'm sure could give you some guidance. Sorry I couldn't help ya. I would like to do the same to my Monte one day and shave some weight off of the front. David

Went to the track yesterday. Nice cool day low humidity and the track was prepped well. Car was 3 hundredths slower out the back and down on et because of the 15 mph headwind. Made a total of three passes. Nothing broke and no bent sheet metal. A good day. The engine has been in the car for 5 years and still runs the number it ran when first new. Kudos to my builder Randy Cassels Cassels Automotive and Machine, Cairo, GA. David

GPS Speedo! That is very slick. David

Hey Drew, You can disconnect the feed line to the fuel pump and the outlet line from the tank and blow air to clear the line of residual fuel. Shoot some brake clean down the hard line and blow it out with air clearing out any remaining residue. It would also be a good time to replace any rubber lines in the fuel system if needed. Not sure how much fuel is in the tank but you can get a hand pump and run the hose down the filler neck and pump the old fuel out. It should get most of it out. If it is non ethanol and isn't to bad run it in the lawnmower. Add some fresh fuel to the tank and some lucas fuel or sea foam cleaner additive hook up the lines add a new fuel filter at the carb and fire her up. After running for a bit check the filter and if it looks clean you should be good to go. If ya really feel energetic you can always drop the tank after you drain it and take it to a radiator shop and have them boil it out, but I think you will be fine. David

That looks great Jared. If I had a spare middle trunk trim that would work. As you well know those things aren't cheap. You don't have a ragged spare one laying around. LOL Hope you are doing well Sir. David

Sam, Did you also wire your hot wire from the alt to the cutoff switch and if you where running a ignition box how did you wire it? My 6al is wired directly to the battery. Thx David

Thanks for the reply Sam. The bumper mount was the first thing I was thinking about but then I remembered a buddy of mine had the push-off rod in his rustang drag week car and had it exiting through the taillight housing and lens. I just don't see that position being viable because of the taillight extension and the fact the there is no room in the housing because of the led board being in the way. I may have to bite the bullet and drill a 1/2 hole below the trunk lid near the trunk lock support for the rod to run through. How does that sound? The cool thing about the push-rod is that it can be unthreaded from the lever mechanism which makes it like an antitheft device. David

Going to relocate the battery to the trunk. Will use a enclosed battery box with vent. For those that have made this conversion where did you locate the cutoff switch( needs to be NHRA legal mounted at the rear of vehicle on the outside and accessible to track personnel. Was thinking go using the flaming river switch with a push off rod. Pictures or ideas would be appreciated, Just want a clean install. TIA David

It is always great when you get the new mill in and take it for a shakedown run. Makes all the waiting and hard work worth the effort. Any chance you have a spare distributor around you could drop in to confirm your findings? You could start pulling the belts and running the engine briefly. No squeal then it is one of the drive accessories. Then process of elimination. You say the engine is running well but you might want to check for a small vacuum leak. Sounds like Anyway great job. That engine has to be a hoot!!! David

They look great. Will make the cars stance right and give you awesome handling performance. David

Cool!! You will really like them. David

Track update; Went to the track last Saturday. Air density was ok around 1600 feet. Humidity was high (70 %) and ambient air temp was around 64 degrees. First pass was 11.90 at 113 mph fuel pressure was 6 psi at the top end. The car felt lazy and the sixty foot was 1.72. Got back to the pits checked everything over things. Saw nothing wrong, pulled a few plugs and they looked good. Waited for the car to cool down and made a second pass. Another 1.72 60', 7.54 at the 1/8 and 11.75 at 99mph (on the brakes not realizing I was in the traps). Well I was aggravated and knew the car should be running better than it was. It was just lazy all the way down the track. I called it a day and hung out with some friends that were running their cars. Today I pulled out the timing light cranked the car up and let it warm up. I shot the light to it and started laughing. I thought I had set the timing at 35 degrees BTDC(locked out) well it was at 25 degrees. When I original set the timing, after replacing the cap and rotor, I had an old set of contacts in my eyes and my vision was not the best. New contacts I see much better now. So if ya want to slow your car down pull 10 degrees out. Dang I'm stupid!! David

I have a set of Viking double adjustable's on the rear along with the factory coil springs. Very good quality shock and easy to set up. I dial them in for street driving and when at the track change the compression and rebound. Car has consistent 1.58 60' times and as far as street/ highway driving when dialed down the ride is factory like. Best bang for the buck IMHO and they are made in the USA. Give Remy at UMI a call as they are a distributor for Viking and hey can give you some great advice on what setup would work best for your specific needs. David

That is going to be a nice combo Sam. It is fun to make power!!! David

If using oem steel valve covers make sure the flanges are are flat and the bolt holes are not pulled inward. I have the felpro blue rubber with the steel reinforcement. It also has metal inserts where the bolts go through so you can't over torque them. David

No Sir. I haven't had the transmission out since 2011 IIRC and I was running a different distributor then. It was definetly loose screws that held the rotor on that caused the issue. Shame on me for not checking. Never had it happen before BTW I really like your SS. Not many real ones left. David