Ricknmels 67 ragtop GS clone in process....

Discussion in 'Members Rides' started by ricknmel67, Feb 19, 2006.

  1. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Well.... still waiting for my tranny. Sounds like I should get it in time to install it by this weekend! Although I now have a new problem.....
    I tried to install my $200 SFI <s>flexplate</s> <i>boatanchor?</i> tonight and I think it might be a bad part. :mad:

    Details in this thread.
    I'll try to get ahold of TA Perf tomorrow and see whats up.
    Assuming I'm not having a dumbass attack, and it's actually a bad part.... I hope they can get me a new one by this weekend.
    I hate to lose another weekend now that the car is "done". :(

    btw... Harvey, your car is looking great! I replied last week in the thread you linked to. :TU:
     
  2. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Wow.. been awhile since I've updated here...

    The SFI flexplate was warped from TA, and the replacement they sent me was machined incorrectly and wouldn't fit over my crank. I was sick of having the car SIT, so I threw it back together with the old stock flexplate.
    The ticking sound is gone! I've been driving it to work to get some miles on it and get to know the car...

    Anyways.... I took her to the track yesterday!
    7 of us drove our classics to Norwalk (NRP) from Tiffin.....
    It was a pretty cool convoy to be in. :Brow:
    My 67 Ragtop
    66 LeMans
    69 Roadrunner
    70 Chevelle
    71 Ventura
    65 GTO
    67 Camaro

    My car has been running like crap ever since I put the QJ on it. I just can't get it tuned. I borrowed another QJ from my friend with the 71 Ventura (Pontiac 455 QJ) and it ran alot better than the other QJ I have, but still nowhere near as good as my old Holley.

    1st time trial went as follows.... :Dou:
    I couldn't even get it to do a burnout in the waterbox. Every time I tried to open the secondaries it would just puke. SO I figued this would be an interesting "launch".
    I staged up, the tree dropped, I hammered it... and puke, cough, belch, VROOM... terrible launch, but it finally got going after feathering the throttle a little.
    I don't want to beat up the car too bad yet, so I figured I'd short shift it at 4500 RPM.
    1-2 went good
    Then...... IT happened.
    I banged 3rd gear and hit neutral somehow (I figured I must have been flustered from the terrible experience in the waterbox)
    Whamo! buried the tach for about a half second. :eek2:
    Totally freaked out, I just coasted the rest of the way in neutral.
    Ran a 14.51 @ 88 MPH
    I was happy with that. I'm thinking that with some tuning, (and all 3 gears) :Dou: I should be able to see high 13's which has secretly been my goal. (I've been telling everyone 14's for weeks) :laugh:

    Anyways, back in the pits my Roadrunner buddy makes a few tweaks on my QJ to get rid of the bog. Who knew a die-hard Mopar guy would know anything about a QJ?
    A few romps in the back of the pits tells me that the bog is gone.... but it felt like I wasn't getting "all of it" at the big end.

    Then the announcement.... "no more time trials". Gotta love Norwalk. It's about the only place I've ever been where you can spend 6-10 hours during time trials and only get one in. :boring:

    They call our class for eliminations a few hours later so I had to choose a dial. I dialed 14.40 thinking that his QJ adjustments should pick me up a little.
    Waterbox was no problem this time. It's running great, the air is cool...
    I'm up against a little import dialing 17's
    I stage up and launch..... screech.... spun just a little as I lauched.
    I'm probably 3 feet from catching the import with maybe 600 feet to go when I go to hit 3rd gear...
    VROOM!!... buried the tach in neutral again. :rant: WTF!!!!!!! I have a B&M "hammer shifter" in it, and have never had a problem ripping it up and down the country roads. :Do No:
    Anyways...
    My forward momentum brought our front bumpers just about even, and as I started to fall behind I decided to do something stupid in the final seconds I had left.... I crammed it back into 3rd and floored it again. I started to gain on the import again and made it back to about the front fender as we passed through the traps.
    My first loss in the ragtop. :laugh:
    It ran a 14.64 @ 83 MPH that time

    So at this point... I really don't know what this car is going to do. Hopefully I can get her into the 13's.
    Since I never made a full pass, I don't really know what to expect.
    The QJ adjustments picked up .3 on my 60' which is significant, but my 1/8th mile ET's where about the same and my 1/8th mile MPH was 2 MPH slower after the adjustments.
    The 1/4 mile MPH can't mean anything since I never used 3rd gear.
    1st run was 88 MPH, 2nd was 83 MPH
    Strange stuff.... but good times.
    I was very worried about my engine after the neutral bombs but everything seems okay.
    I ordered a new shifter today and a new carb.. a HOLLEY!
    Parts should be here tomorrow, and hopefully I can get her straightened out this weekend.

    WOW... longest post ever. Sorry for the long post... But if you've been following this thread at all... you know I tend to ramble. :laugh:
     
  3. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    broken sprag race?

    Rick, I'm no transmission expert by any means, but if your "neutral bombs" are not caused by the shifter, you may have a broken sprag race?
    I've seen TH-400's do what your describing, and I'm pretty sure the stock sprag was the culprit :Do No:
    Hope it's just the shifter, especially since you just got it back together.

    Later,
    Tom
     
  4. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that there could be something wrong with my tranny... that's brand new..... that I just put in..... that has less than 100 miles on it... :pp

    But seriously... my shifter came today and I'll put it in tonight. Hopefully that'll do it.
    But if it doesn't... I guess I'll know what to look at next. :Dou:

    :laugh:
     
  5. Hector

    Hector '79 Buick Limited

    Rick,I really admire your determination on this project.You'll get it.What shifter are you going with now?
     
  6. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Thanks Hector
    I went with a B&M QuickSilver. I like the "simplistic" look of the handle. It's not too "race looking" :laugh:
    I got it installed tonight, but still have to make a new "filler plate" to make it look somewhat decent sticking out of my console.

    I haven't taken the car out yet to test it though. I also put on a new flex fan and a new Holley Street Avenger carb tonight. Been a busy night.... 1:35AM now, and I have to get up early tomorrow. What was I thinking!? :Dou:

    :laugh:
    :beer
     
  7. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Well... good news and bad news.....
    The shifter took care of my "neutral bomb" problem...
    But my "tick tick tick" is coming back. I've heard it a couple times now. :mad:

    This time, I'm going to drive it till something breaks. Then I'll assume that whatever broke must have been the tick tick sound. Hopefully it don't break at Salem! :Dou:

    Oh well.. I'm not going to let the tick bug me. It's summer, the top goes down.... and it's time to enjoy this thing. :laugh:

    I only have a few more things I want to do to it :
    1 - Put an aluminum intake back on it. It ran so much cooler with a aluminum intake.
    2 - Install a stereo and CD changer in it. I've have both laying around collecting dust.
    3- "Detail" the trunk. I want to carpet it like Adam did with his. That looked nice.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. 70lark

    70lark Well-Known Member

    Looks great Rick, you whipped it into shape in good time :beer
     
  9. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Thanks Andy

    I made back to the track last night with the Holley carb and my new shifter.

    Best run was a 14.16 @ 96MPH.
    I guess having 3rd gear is kind of important! :laugh:

    It is still very sluggish off the line. I can actually feel it start pulling at around 3500RPM and I'm shifting at 5000 (1-2) and 4500 (2-3).
    If I can get it to start pulling sooner, I should be able to see a 13.xx!
    I plan to monkey with it until I get my 13.xx and then I'll consider it "done".
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2006
  10. Hector

    Hector '79 Buick Limited

    Rick,you have done a great job with that car,if you haven't recurved the distributor yet, now is the time.Nice job :beer .
     
  11. 65specialconver

    65specialconver kennedy-bell MIA

    glad to see you havent givin up yet.man,its time you got some stuff that works.now stop breaking stuff & get it into the 13xx's :TU: if you havent allredy,get a spare distributor & send the keeper to osborne to curve for you :TU:
     
  12. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Good suggestion guys.
    Timing is my next conquest. I've monkey'd with it on & off for the last month or so, but haven't really dug into it full force.

    Last time I was under the hood, I noticed a couple of my plug wires are cracked too. I bet the wires are 5-10 years old. I got them with a batch of used parts from a barn in Kentucky about 3 years ago. They looked like crap then too.... but it's all I had laying around when it was time to fire this car up for the first time.
    Sometimes I'm such a tight-wad. :Dou:
    :laugh:
     
  13. Eric Schmelzer

    Eric Schmelzer Well-Known Member


    If the wires are arcing to a ground source that might be your "tick". Put some wires on her and see what happens.
     
  14. geno

    geno Founders Club Member

    67gs 400

    i went threw the same thing some day we should trade pictures this is my finished car geno :beer
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2007
  15. MartinNr5

    MartinNr5 Stubborn Swede

    Wow Rick, I just read through this entire thread (I *love* restoration threads!) and I really admire your enthusiasm and the way you just kept pushing forward even when things went sour.

    It's been a great inspiration for when I tackle my own (much smaller) restoration of my car.

    I hope you fix the tick problem w/o breaking any parts. :TU:
     
  16. skyphix

    skyphix Well-Known Member

    Old thread, but, any new news, Rick?
     
  17. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    Hi Eric
    No real "noteable" news.....
    I took the ragtop to the BPG Nats in Salem last weekend for 2 days.
    Before the event, I put an adjustable vacuum advance canister and a recurve spring/weight kit in the distributor.
    I also messed with my new Holley's vacuum secondary spring, squirter, and power valve.
    (All trying to get to the elusive 13.9x ET...)

    My 1st 3 runs at Salem we approx : 14.50 - 14.70 - 14.90 (in that order)
    Whoa... something is going terribly wrong....
    I messed with the timng some more at the track and eventually got it down to a 14.2x by the last race. (letting off 3 MPH and still breaking out)

    I definately don't have something right in the tune.
    Besides being VERY inconsistant, I NEVER once heated up my tires or lost traction on the starting line in 2 days of racing. It has absolutely NO launch. It really kicks in around 3500 RPM. I'm starting to think the cam isn't in right or something. (Best 60' was 2.0x)
    I've never had a car that could run in the low 14's, without heating up the tires. I actually drive around the water box and right to the starting line, and have no traction problems.
    It's kinda good that I don't have to worry about traction... but pretty bad because I think it has something to do with the inconsistancy.

    Since this thread is chock-full-o-pix.... I'll post a pic of my last race at Salem. I lost to this bueatiful 67 special running 12.0's :TU:
    It was a double breakout, with me breaking out more.
     

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  18. ricknmel67

    ricknmel67 Well-Known Member

    One more from the event for good measure.... This one shows off my twisted front bumper. :Dou: :laugh:
     

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  19. skyphix

    skyphix Well-Known Member

    The car looks awesome Rick :TU:

    I am switching to this body style so I wanted to see more more!

    Thanks for the update :grin:
     
  20. msc66

    msc66 still no vacuum

    Rick,

    Also remember that Quaker is a "slower" track. It used to trip me out when I'd go back and forth between there and Kestone in Pgh. My times were always off at Quaker. Then I think I saw Renee Moore mention it here when discussing the first BPG nats. I think she said it was a tenth off.

    You may be faster than you think. :TU:
     

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