metaruss

Went to an SDAC Chicagoland drag racing event at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, WI on the 26th.  I was hoping to get into the 14s again and hopefully set a new record for myself, but it wasn’t to be.  My best time was a 15.8 at around 92mph.  With the extra traction, the T2/T3 clutch just wouldn’t hold during my launches.  I tried a couple of techniques, but I smoked it BAD every time.  The track was very busy, so we only got about 4 runs in.  It just so happens that the TU ceramic/organic clutch that I got for the Daytona has the wrong shaft size.  The plan now is to put a better, longer-lasting clutch into the Daytona and put this clutch into the CSX.  I think it will be perfect for the job.

On the bright side, JT loaned me a MSD Blaster 2 ignition coil to see if it would clear up the 5000 RPM miss I was having.  It did.  The car pulls to the redline awesome now.  In fact, I hit the rev limiter a few times because I am so used to having the missfire cue me to shift.  Going to try to gap the plugs up to stock to see if the fire stays lit.

That setup was way too loud.  There was a deafening drone throughout the band.  The only quiet spot was between 2000 and 2500 RPM.  I went ahead and replaced the test pipe in the cat’s position with the Dynomax Ultra Flo (p/n 17296).  That cut the drone by about 50% overall while driving and it idles pretty quiet now.  It’s louder than I’d like, but I can live with it.  It’s now very quiet in that 2000-2500 range.  I’m betting installing the cat instead of the Ultra Flo will make it even quieter.

I also replaced the hatch struts, finally.  NAPA sells the “StrongArm” brand of struts that makes the correct one for P-bodies with a spoiler.

Well, the strut is still on there.  Turns out that the strut rod nut was loose and was somehow pushing the center part of the strut mount up.  Once it was tightened, everything moved back to where it should be.  The strut is shot though and the other front strut isn’t fairing much better.  I am going to try to warranty them.  I did fix the passenger side window and both have stayed fixed for now.  The car developed an annoying missfire/breakup above 3000rpm above 15psi of boost.  I fiddled with a few things and finally replaced the plugs with some new AutoLite 63s, as the AutoLite 64s that were in there had about 35k on them and were really worn.  That seemed to help, but it is still not as strong as it was before.

The 7-year-old exhaust, an original “Jessie Buhr” aluminized 2.5″ system with a Dynomax Super Turbo muffler, has been falling apart for about a year now.  I’ve been patching it as it broke but had ordered a full 3″ stainless system from FWD Performance in the meantime.  Finally the twice-patched muffler simply disintegrated last week, so I decided to install the new system this weekend.

Man, what a chore.  It is by no means a drop-in kit.  Quite a bit of cutting and welding was required, especially in the area around the axle.  My goal was to make a stock-looking exhaust at the tail pipes, so I picked up a Dynomax Super Turbo muffer that has a 3″ inlet and a pair of 2.5″ outlets (p/n 17674).  A pair of stainless 2.25″ 45-degree bends from ATP Turbo serve as the tail pipes (using a couple of 2.5″-2.25″ bushings).  I was quickly reminded that the early 2.25″ swing valve housing on the turbo will not accept the 3″ downpipe donut, so I dug an old 2.5″ downpipe out of the spiderwebs in the corner and happened to have a 2.5″ ID – 3″ OD adapter.  I spent all day Saturday cutting and fitting while trying to clear the spring, fuel tank, and axle.  You can see my beautiful welding technique.  The setup currently has no cat and man is it loud.  I might as well have no muffler at all.  I’m going to have to add a straight-through muffer in the cat’s position to quiet it down (I have a Dymomax Ultra Flo p/n 17296 sitting here).

I also added an additional mount on the brake line bracket, which should keep the exhaust from swaying back and forth and hitting the fuel tank and spring.  It’s a tight fit back there.

So a while back I picked-up a Relentless Performance “Triple-Core” intercooler (three stock cores welded together in parallel).  The photo on the left shows (from the top down) the Spearco “1080” that is sold by a few of the vendors, the RP Triple-Core, and the early Dodge Conquest intercooler that I used in my Shadow for several years.  I finally got it and all the plumbing fitted.  It just fits behind the early Daytona fascia after some trimming to the plastic structure.  I wanted the plumbing to fit without having to move the radiator or the battery.  The intercooler pipes are all 2.25″ T304 stainless steel (one U-bend, one U/J-bend, and a 45 degree bend).  The silicone couplers are from Silicone Intakes, which is by far the cheapest I have found.  I chose 2.25″ pipes because the intercooler and airbox had 2.25″ connections and that was the largest that would squeeze between the battery and the radiator.  The only change I had to make was I switched to a P-body coolant overflow tank to give me the gap next to the radiator fill neck.