Race Day - 65 Gran Sport

Discussion in ''Da Nailhead' started by Bigpig455, Sep 29, 2013.

  1. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    So I made it up to Lebanon Valley last Friday for the track rental day -

    The Good -
    • Made 13 runs
    • Drove it home - nothing broke
    • Raced all day with my buddies
    • No rain
    • Suspension and front end work worked! 60 fts better than ever and consistent - was able to do low 2.1x all day long, walked away from everything until the flagpole: My buddy's 70 RAIII TA, his brother-in law's 07 Challenger RT 5.7, every 5.0 the track could throw at me....and even a CTS-V coupe who didnt catch me until the 660!
    • Tranny was snapping off shifts like it meant it..
    The Bad -
    • The air.. should have been good, highs in the upper 50's, 30+ inches pressure but 75% + humidity. Everyone was 2-3 10ths off....it was thicker than the numbers show.
    • Converter - my original converter wasn't ready, so I took it on the one in the car - the stall speeds are low and stacked on each other..
    • Could only get into the 14's three times (and each time my buddy was driving) Best time of 14.91@91.78 - I ran 15.0s at 90 mph all day, every time
    • Car had no top end - (OK, I was testing a new distributor curve from Tom and that might need to be dialed in) I was a 10th and 1-2 mph behind my norm at the 660 and it just got worse from there...
    • This engine is geting tired - mucho blow-by out the breather...

    Best Moment -

    Ran my buddy's nephew in the Challenger R/T, and he was pretty sure he had it in the bag. But he blew the light, and couldnt hook, and I took him 15.0 @ 91.4 to his 14.8 @ 100.3 - you should seen the mirror fill up with Challenger about 3/4 track! He blamed it on the traction control, so we did it all over again - even lights this time, but he was skating with the TX off - my buddy brad was at the wheel, and .3 up at the 60 and .5 up at the 660 - He wins 14.98 @ 90.5 to 15.0 @ 99 - he said when that car went sailing by him (just beyond the stripe) my car moved over a whole lane!

    I admit once those guys got the launch down, they were hitting just shy of 13's at 101 and wiping the floor with me, but the damage was already done. Go little nailhead go!

    So if the air was good and I could carry over the 60fts, I figure I would have been running right at 14.7-14.8 range again...maybe dipping into the 14.6's . I might try again in October, if I get my old converter back in...and get some advice on the dizzy from Tom.

    Hope I can get some of you to join me next time!
     

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  2. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Forgot the picture of the CTS-V Coupe - he was skating too, and and one point he pointed it right at the grandstands but drove through it.... THAT must have been a pucker moment!
     

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  3. SpecialWagon65

    SpecialWagon65 Ted Nagel

    Looking great Rhett! :TU:
     
  4. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Thanks Ted - I've come to the understanding of how hard it truly is to keep going faster. Especially if you're trying to stay stock and not just throw money and parts at it.
     
  5. 66larkgs

    66larkgs paul 66gs turbo nailhead

    looking good Rhett.. I would love to head up their and run with you one weekend if we could plan it out. I was having gas tank venting issue and a noise that sounded like detonation. Finally found it today and it was a motor mount bolt that worked its way loose and i was hearing the lock washer rattling. I was looking forward to going to New England today but that didn't work out.
    Are you thinking of a rebuild? i have a some stuff kicking around
     
  6. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Glad your issues turned out to be minor Paul - love to have you come up, I'll let you know if I go up in October.

    Appreciate the offer on the parts, I might take you up on it. I have a complete 66 MT 401 out of a Wildcat to build, and I'll pull my matching numbers block out and pickle it while it's still in one piece (hopefully!). The plan is to have Tom start on the 66 engine the beginning of the year. I dont know what I'll need yet, if anything
     
  7. 66BulldogGS

    66BulldogGS Platinum Level Contributor

    Glad to hear you had a good day at the track man. Making those boys with their high dollar toys start second guessing their purchases and/or their driving skills.
     
  8. doc

    doc Well-Known Member

    seems to me that all those cars are in classes above you..... unless you are doing the run/stomp the brakes thing.....

    ---------- Post added at 05:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:58 AM ----------

    I wanna see that puppy run in C/SA class, where it belongs, heads up , first one there wins... kind of racing.... or better yet, C Modified production C/MP .....:Brow::Brow: real drag racing.....:pray::laugh::laugh:
     
  9. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Yeah Doc, you're right. All those cars were much faster than mine on it's best day. I beat quite a few, just cause they couldnt launch but they all ran MUCH higher MPH. I'm with you though, dont like brackets, sandbagging, etc...love the idea of class racing, although these days that car is probably like M/SA, not C/SA. One thing that caught me by surprise - the car was hooking so well I was redlighting alot at -.004-.005. Gonna take a few more passes until I get a different rhythm down....my best light was .050, and was able to bring most lights in starting with a zero.

    Johnny - yeah, over the years I've treed and 60ft'd alot of better, faster cars. Didnt always win, but have psyched guys into breaking traction or missing shifts and taking it. Some guys are pretty surprised and will come see me in the pits and check out the car, other guys arent as good a sport about it. I'm just fortunate not to have MY ego tied to it all...I'm also fortunate that I didnt spend tens of thousands of dollars only to be put on the trailer by a little tired Skylark.
     
  10. gs66

    gs66 Silver Level contributor

    Thanks for sharing. Good to read nailhead adventures!
     
  11. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Thanks Jim -

    I'm not setting the world on fire, but it's astounding how many really fast cars you can beat if you watch the tree and hook.

    For instance, here's another picture I came across - a lumpy 69 SBC Camaro, probably 600 lbs lighter, trailered with big gears and drag radials.

    I barely treed him .072 to his .087, but it must have freaked him out when I put a fender on him off the line. So for whatever reason he leans on it and spins, and he winds up with a 2.47 60 ft to my 2.17..I get a door on him and thats when he takes it all back..13.2 at 109 (!) to my 15.0 at 90.5. But for that brief second, I was ahead, and not by a little...!

    That guy should have made short work of me....So yeah, thats alot of fun.
     

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    Last edited: Oct 1, 2013
  12. Gary Bohannon

    Gary Bohannon Well-Known Member

    Back in 1975, I had a 65 GS 401 with a/c, p/s, and real nice car, but 95,000 plus miles. 100% stock appearing.
    It ran high 15's, then made a few changes for 14.60's.
    * Removed heat riser and pluged the holes.
    * Curved the distributor with spring/weight kit.
    * Added non-air pulleys from a junk yard Buick. Smaller on crank and larger on waterpump.
    * Put one size bigger jet in all 4 holes of the AFB. (just guessin')
    * Installed a 69 Pontiac GTO rear end 3.55 posi.
    * Found some old recapped tires with soft cheater rubber.
    * Installed 2.25" exhaust pipes and glasspack mufflers.
    * Cut a big wide hole (hidden) in the rear of the aircleaner for more air.
    * Installed a TH400, but saved my small 300 switch pitch converter. (1800 & 3000 Stall)
    Ran stock class (Alton, IL) heads up, beat all comers. Drove home with windows up, AC on, trophy in back window for all to see!

    When traction is bad, turn switch pitch on exactly when you hit throttle. Two seconds later, turn switch pitch off.
    When traction is good, turn on switch pitch before you hit the throttle. Turn off two seconds after launch.
    Wish I had put Moog 6204 front springs in it before my ex-wife totaled it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2013
  13. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    All great tips, and I've done a more than a few of them...

    I'm running 3.23's instead of 3.55's. Went with a 2.5 inch exhaust from manifolds back, rejetted/re-rodded the AFB (running a Q-Jet right now) and sat my air cleaner up on a ring of 1/2 inch vacuum hose for more air. Put new springs in the front (I think on your recommendation), they work great.

    Still running the ST300, but have the ST-400 on the floor of the garage for soemday when I get to it.

    All that said, you ran right about where I thought the car would end up...have run a best of 14.76, hoped to hit 14.5 this season but had some set backs. With the gears and TH400, our cars sound pretty evenly matched.

    I have one more session this season. I'm putting my old converter back in next week, and then there's a track rental day at LVD onFriday October 11th again - best 70.00 you'll ever spend. Any care to join me?
     
  14. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    Does anyone know the best E.T. and MPH that Pops ran in the Reynolds 65 Sedan?

    Car is running good Rhett. How much was the Doc Mod worth?

    Oh yeah, not all Pure Stockers are hanging out 6-7 threads below this;-)
     
  15. Gary Bohannon

    Gary Bohannon Well-Known Member

    Pop Kennedy ran 13.40's at 104 with a (granny gear in the rear) in STOCK class, "blueprinted engine", and stock (no options) chassis weight.
    I think he got it down to 12.60's at 108, but I don't know the details of the chassis weight or engine build.
    They claimed that a TH400 gained a full tenth over the 2 speed TH300. They used a 300 torque converter in the TH400 tranny.
     
  16. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    I knew you'd show up eventually!

    Thanks for the encouragement and while it does run great, it was 2/10ths and 2mph off the normal pace last week. I'm blaming the weather but Tom (the other Tom) seems to think I've got too much idle vacuum for my cam to be doing everything it's supposed to be doing...it's got just shy of 80k on it without ever being opened up, and I've put on about 400-500 runs after 20 years of car show duty...it's tired.

    Looking back, I felt the Doc Mod was good for 2/10ths, but I was making alot of changes at once (with the Doc Mod I also changed jetting, and was playing with airbag pressure) so your results may vary. Seeing as every aftermarket manifold in the world (and even Greg Gessler) does the same thing, it's got to flow better.

    When (if!) I ever make it out to Michigan, though, I'll be running the AFB with a box stock 4 holer....although looking over the rules there is no specifc rule about intake modification, although they talk about porting heads, etc...either way, I'm trying to stick to the intent. I'm assuming if they specifically prohibit "gasket matching", they'd probably pee all over the Doc Mod. I know that they probably wouldnt scrutinize the bottom feeders to that extent (I've heard of someone who was supposed to be running an ST300 that was running a TH400, and he was much farther in the hunt than I'll ever be) but still....I'll be tuning the AFB combo all next season with the expectation of going.

    In the meantime, how's your car coming? (Tom recently picked up his own 65 Gran Sport) Can you put some pictures up here? You got everything you need?
     
  17. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    here's mine...

    40k mile original.
    This is the "young man buys his first car, drives it 2 years, get drafted for Vietnam, and never returned home" Car sat in his parents barn for nearly 25 years.
    Car has spent much of it's life sitting for extended periods of time, and needs a thorough mechanical once over before it's used for something as simple as going to get ice cream.

    I'm really kind of torn about what to do with it. I want to do a max effort NHRA'd nailhead for PSMCDR, but if I do that,the car is going to have the A.C. and power steering, as well as the radio removed. And they all work.

    If it was a high mileage, non matching numbers turd, I would have no reservations, but.............
     

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  18. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Wow! That's beautiful.

    The choice is clear - that car can't be torn apart. I'll buy it off you before I'd let you. There are too many better candidates for what you describe. How many bays you have in that garage, maybe you can do a pair? Get rid of that GTX!

    Even with the weight, a carefully built motor ought to get it to the 13/14 mark or better with the right gear and tire. Like Gary said, driving home with the A/C on and the trophy on the package shelf! All the Pop Kennedy documentation is still out there, and most of it will work on your car without changing it forever....I personally think I got the most out of suspension tuning. Top ends being what they are, the 60ft's seem to have to carry the ET's on these, or at least thats true for my car. It doesnt come on mid track like my 455's.

    Sad story, cool find. Can't wait to see it in person.
     
  19. gsgtx

    gsgtx Silver Level contributor

    yes get rid of that GTX and sell it to me. :grin:
     
  20. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    Pics are nicer than it is, don't be fooled.
    Car sat for several years in Texas under a car cover, and I have some rust issues under the vinyl top, and at the base of the windshield to deal with. Paint and top were done in late 80's when it was removed from barn to correct bird poop damage, and the paint is showing it's age in spots, again from sitting under a car cover. Interior also has issues that were caused from the time under a car cover.
    PEOPLE- Don't put a car cover on a car that is going to sit outside. If you don't have indoor storage, at least find a car port, and if you can't afford a garage or car port, you can't afford to restore the car. Sell it to someone who will,and can restore it.
    A car cover is a death sentence, your accelerating the decay. A car cover is like a sauna that traps and holds moisture and creates a tropical environment. The car is better off sitting uncovered or in another owners garage:Smarty:

    o.k., rant over.

    Rhett, the car is pretty nice for what I want to do. If it was an over restored beauty, I wouldn't even think about what I want to do with it.
    I'm not going to change anything that couldn't be undone, all parts will be packaged and boxed.
    I might even heater delete the car if I can find the heater control block off plate for the dash. Will need a radio delete panel as well.
    When I remove the vinyl top to do repair, it will just be painted white.
    Here is a pic of what I want it to look like...
     

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    Last edited: Oct 6, 2013

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