67 Riviera 430 Build

So today I tried to swap springs. Does anyone have parts of their B&M kit laying around that I could buy?

Swapped to one light spring and one stock spring from a local trans shop and then 1-2 was over 5500 so I didn’t bother with 2-3. I am now taking that light spring and putting it with a heavier than stock spring and will test that tomorrow.

The weights are pretty good, I’m thinking it’s just springs now.

 

Another thing to do. Install rubber isolators for exhaust

 

Well I had thought I ironed out the Governor. It’s gonna take more work to get it where I need it. 1-2 might be too high, or my trans was just too hot?

Anyways, take a look. So close. Wish the DA wasn’t 2000 in the early hours of racing.

 

Wow John, very consistent times too....little better 60ft and you are 13's all day, consistently!!

 

Missed it by this much... Looks like as soon as you get a 1.99 60' it will be in the 13's. You never mentioned if you are trying to use the high stall position off the line. Hopefully not. The odds of getting good traction with street tires will be minimal at best in that mode and will just add complexity to getting out of the hole. Better to just control traction with your foot. Other than being able to say you did it on street tires there will be no consistency on how the trans is acting. Holding back a bit to go to full throttle can effect where it shifts at WOT once you get there.

Larry mentioned this and I'll restate. Weights will determine the shift point mostly. Springs can tune it BUT the important thing to remember is the lighter springs will tend to spread out the difference in RPM between the 1-2 shift and the 2-3 shift. The heavier springs will make the two shifts closer together. Therefore if you want to keep the auto shifts close together you need light weights and heavy springs. It takes a lot of playing around to get the shifts together. That is a good reason to get the 1-2 shift right and then manual 2-3 by yourself at the correct rpm. Also manual first or second is actually better for the trans because it boosts the pressure in the trans(especially a stock one) for a little better shift and more holding power. The good part is the T400 doesn't apply a band to shift and on a manual up-shift it actually releases a band so there is no extra wear by doing it. That is why it is a superior trans compared to some Brand x units which apply a band to shift and they do wear.

I've weighed my inner weights and measured my springs over the years after many, many governors came my way. Low 11/high 10 gram weights are about right for 5500 rpm shifts depending on springs. Only take off a tenth or two of a gram at a time. I don't know what you are referring to by "nose weight 3.55 gm". Follow diagram "C". Leave the center tab at stock length. If you grind on that you will change how high or how far the inner piston in the governor will move and that can cause some changes, good or bad. From what I can tell weights or spring pressure is additive. Therefore two medium springs are the same as one light and one heavy spring(of course depending on their tension). One heavy and one lighter weight are the same as two of equal weight that add up to those two. Your yellow springs are good mid tension springs. If you want to try to keep the shifts closer together try one yellow and the heavier spring you have with your lighter weights. See what it shifts like and what the 1-2/2-3 shift rpm is. Then carefully grind off a tenth gram or so. Maybe only 1 weight at a time. Don't get carried away or you can easily overshoot. IMO 5500 is what you are looking for with that cam. You can test it out on the street but you have to do it consistently. In your case drive along at 2000-2500 rpm in low stall, manual 1st gear or any rpm where it doesn't spin the tires as soon as you punch it. Spinning tires will just complicate things. As soon as the car gets moving shift the lever up to second and let it shift automatically to 2nd when it wants. The important point is to be consistent with your testing.

From what I can see you've found out a couple of things about your setup that is covered up on the street. You know this one, because it is obvious to you now, and that is just because a car can do 100 foot burnouts on the street doesn't make it a particularly quick car at the track. I've said it before when people comment about how much their car spins its tires down the block, it is when the traction is good that you really find out how much power it has and how long it really takes to start accelerating. 350 powered cars really fall into that bracket. That leads me to this and how you commented about the engine needing to get up to about 4000 rpm for the cam to come on. That's a symptom of over-camming the combo. In your case even more noticeable because of the weight and would probably do better with a smaller cam especially with a mild engine setup or more gear. Of course once you get good tires and can let loose the high stall things should get better on that front. IIRC you just used a standard timing chain and installed it dot/dot. Something to ponder for next year is to get a +/-4* timing setup and install it at +4. That would perk up the bottom end if you are now at 0* advanced. Even better would be to degree the cam. The last thing that you notice is that while if feels pretty good on the street at an rpm noticeably above 5500, on the strip I'm sure it is noticeable that it is not pulling like you thought. 1-2 is a bit more forgiving because of the extra gearing of 1st gear but it really starts to be noticeable in 2nd above 5500 rpm when you are sitting in the car going up the strip thinking about it. If it feels like it is tailing off even slightly make sure you are not shifting above that point. You could even note that most factory governor WOT shift points are higher for 1-2 than 2-3 for that very reason. Lastly you're really finding out how tough it is to get your car to run as fast as it can be. Talk is cheap but you're walking the walk.

The preceding paragraph was just informational/commentary. You're close and your setup in particular is doing just great and with just some luck you'll get that 13. Good tires and the high stall will really take you in, and as you noticed, a great air day will really make the car fly. I live for cold air days at the track. I'm thinking in the Fall you can change it to "Tuning for 13.499".

 

Seems like 18 psi is now the lowest I’ve seen. That was after going down the highway at 65-75 for 45 minutes in 86* weather. I might dive into the pump this week and toss in a thinner shim.

Should I?

 

Ok I suppose I will leave it, but I’m running out of things to fix that I need to.

I will test again this week, but I’m seeing close to 95-100psi pressure at 5,500 rpm for the 1-2 shift and have watched the 2-3 stay in a similar range.

I suppose I need to find a car show.

 

X2....you're at the good part of classic car ownership now. Just enjoy driving the car and piddle around with little things here and there when they come up, or find things that are fine but could be better and improve on them in your spare time.....You're way ahead of most guys. ENJOY!

 

Alright, I'll go find replacement windshield wipers, been hoping to do that for some time.

 

Have you also been to the point when you start cursing at the wrenches themselves?

 

In my opinion 95-100 pds. oil pressure @5500RPM's doesn't appear correct. Is this a mechanical or electric gauge. I may be wrong about the actual pressure but I don't think even race only engines get that kind of pressure. I may be wrong which can be factual.

 

I watched the gauge climb from about 70 at 3500 to about 90 at 5500. Good point, it couldn’t have been 100 or close to that high since it would have pegged the gauge, and I never saw that.

Big difference in wiper color due to aging. New ones are installed.

 

If I remember correctly, its a modified 71 timing cover. It has worked well so far, the 60 psi spring is in there.