Things I learned about Penny today..

[Steve1968LS2]

Look where Penny went today :)

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/vbgarage.php?do=getimage&id=1304

Johnny was drag testing g/28 so I though I would bring Penny out to the strip.. Well it was a learning experience..

1. Could not get the GV overdrive to come on durring the 40+ mile trip there.. used a half tank of gas which equals about 5mpg on the freeway..

2. In stop and go traffic the temp never gets much about 180.. when at speed though (60+ mph) the temp starts to creep up to over 210.. this without overdrive so the motor is doing 3800rpm and my guess is that the cooling system can't keep up with all the heat being made.. odd..

3. Going to Fontana when it 110 degrees is a bad idea.. standing on blacktop is a worse idea..

4. I will still never put AC the car :)

5. 335 Pilot Sports may look big but they really have zero drag race action traction.. Penny is a bit squirly at anything over half throttle unless you slowly roll into it.

6. Fatman uses the cheapest POS rack on their subframes.. must be the $88 NAPA unit.. very loosy goosy at speed and seems to want to wander a bit.. does make for an exciting ride though..

7. Laptops can get heatstroke too.. comp got so hot is started freaking out which meant I never got any real run data.. besides we were not allowed to make full passes since we didn't have an ambulance (somehow Johnny managed to make full runs though.. shhhhh)

8. heat is hot and wearing a helmet does not help cool you off..

So it was a tiring but hot day.. People on the freeway seemed to like the car and the ones at the gas station repeatedly said "no way that car is street legal".. Got a funny look from a CHP cop as he passed me on the freeway.. maybe it was because of my back skull and crossbones pirate license plate.. :dunno:

While driving home I got the GV Overdrive to come one and the RPMS dropped from 3800 to 2900.. HUGE difference.. I only used a quarter tank coming home..

[trapin]

Wow, that sucks Steve.

Wanna know what I did today? I sat in a cubicle staring at a Unigraphics Workstation in the basement of some old grungy engineering building. :icon_razz

[Nine Ball]

sounds more fun than my day too. I was sitting at my going away lunch (leaving current job) and my fiance' called me to come help her get the orange SS out of the middle of a highway intersection. Battery died, car was stuck at the light in the middle lane.

Had to bust out the tow strap, then run to Sears and get an Optima battery, run back to the gas station we left it at, swap the battery, etc...

My co-workers thought it was humorous that I left my going away lunch early ;)

[Steve1968LS2]

Wow, that sucks Steve.

Wanna know what I did today? I sat in a cubicle staring at a Unigraphics Workstation in the basement of some old grungy engineering building. :crying:

Bet it was cooler where you were :)

It didn't suck that bad... I had a great time cruising her around and I got to fry some tires.. Plus I got to learn more about the car without worring about a ticket.. sucks that the computer got heatstroke though.. it was so hot you couldn't hold it.

When your car looks like this:

https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/vbgarage.php?do=getimage&id=1305

How can you complain??? :D

[trapin]

Just messin with ya Steve. :smoke:

Glad to see ya got the ole girl out to stretch her legs.

[ProdigyCustoms]

So you could not make a full pass, did you get any numbers?

[Steve1968LS2]

So you could not make a full pass, did you get any numbers?

Nope.. just a smile on my face ..

We don't use the tracks equipment.. we use a Stalker radar unit hooked to a laptop.. it senses when you go and interprets all the data.. I works most of the time.

I got one min run in to calibrate the gun then Johnny made 3 runs.. then when I went to make some better runs the computer was cooked...

Without an ambulance there I was not allowed to make full runs anyways so I could of only got 60 ft times.. and with no traction I doubt they would have been good.

I did not like the steering when I get over 100mph..

It is a learning process...

[Nine Ball]

check your U-joints on the steering shaft ends. If they are even the slightest bit loose, the entire steering gets spooky. I used plenty of loc-tite on my allen head u-joint screws. Get someone to wiggle the wheel while you watch the shaft and u-joints. It should be easy to see where the play is.

[Steve68]

I put some tie wraps on some fat !@#$'s driveshaft today at work, you should heard the racket, he stops cuts off one and keeps going, ooppps he forgot about the other one! hahahahahaha

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Sounds like a cool day, Steve. I'd like to see what Penny will do with a set of slicks on her.

[WELTERRACER]

Now thats my kind of day..

I had my harmonic balancer pulley come off at the track once and had to cross thread the bolts back in to make it back home... (car ran 12.90s all day and i drove it to and from the track on streat tires.) Ya it sucked... I also had the transmission govoner shoot out of my 700r4 at half track once... Spend 3 hours looking for the govoner only to find it stuck above torque bar..LOL Drove it home that time too..

[JUSTACOUPE]

Steve when does penny get the engine swap?IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN GO CHECK IT OUT IM IN TUSTIN.
LET ME KNOW.

[69rs]

That sucks for you!:nopity: At least you found out some things that need fixing before you spent time/money going to a track event you wouldn't be comfortable running in!:drive2:

[Protour_Pinto]

Steve1969LS1, What were your impressions of the car overall? Was it as expected,afterall it seemed like it was a well sorted car when you bought it.

PT tires are NOT drag tires! Just like wrinklewall slicks will not get you around an autocross course. You need a smaller wheel with a tire with more sidewall. Just about all the drag radials are a good all a round tire.

As far as being hot today, I had a pick up in Adlanto today. Just imagine where you were but strapped to a 200 degree motorcycle!

Its nice to see a high dollar car get a bit of abuse!!

[Steve Chryssos]

I think you should take the whole car apart--bolt by bolt. :hammer:

[Nine Ball]

don't get him started Steevo. If you say that, he will not only take each bolt off the car, but he will polish them to a high luster and have any scuffed sheetmetal repainted too!

[Steve1968LS2]

Steve when does penny get the engine swap?IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN GO CHECK IT OUT IM IN TUSTIN.
LET ME KNOW.

I will let you know.. the old engine will be coming out soon since I am sure the buyer wants to start stuffing it in his 55 Chevy :)

The engine going in will be a couple of months.. got to do the dyno testing and cam/heads swap before install. Also have to determine what I want to do with the subframe.

[Steve1968LS2]

Steve1969LS1, What were your impressions of the car overall? Was it as expected,afterall it seemed like it was a well sorted car when you bought it.

PT tires are NOT drag tires! Just like wrinklewall slicks will not get you around an autocross course. You need a smaller wheel with a tire with more sidewall. Just about all the drag radials are a good all a round tire.

As far as being hot today, I had a pick up in Adlanto today. Just imagine where you were but strapped to a 200 degree motorcycle!

Its nice to see a high dollar car get a bit of abuse!!

Car is great for what it is.. well thoughtout and well done (except the crummy rack & pinion)..

The only thing wrong with the car is that it is basicly a pro-street car disguised as a pro-trouing car. The paint and body is beautiful and that was the most important thing to me.

And yea, these are not drag tires. I tried to find some slicks but I could get hooked up with any quick enough. Also, the Dominator needs some tuning but it is hard to get motivated to tune it when it is coming out very soon. ;) --- I don't want to beat on the motor either since that would not be fair to the guy buying it but that big block sure loves the upper RPM range..

[Steve1968LS2]

I think you should take the whole car apart--bolt by bolt. :hammer:

:hmm:

Am I the kind of guy to do that??? :slap:

[302xram]

Hey Steve...thanks for not thrashing my new motor and trans. LOL :cool:

[Steve1968LS2]

Hey Steve...thanks for not thrashing my new motor and trans. LOL :cool:

lol.. I thought you would appreciate that :)

I got the GV overdrive working on the way home and damn.. does that thing really make a difference..

Want to come over next week and help pull it out?

Oh one more thing I learned.. it is impossible to not have a very firm shift from first to second.. and pretty difficult not to chirp the tires doing it..

[302xram]

Sure, I’ll give you a hand. I’ll give you a call.
Al.

[Scott Parkhurst]

Good luck with it. I'll begin testing my project cars soon and I expect to have similar teething issues. I thought you bought the car pretty much 'done'...do you feel it was misrepresented now that you've had some seat time? Should the price have been adjusted?

What kind of times was Johnny turning? I heard he got a new 383 in there. Since I put a 383 of my own design in the wagon, I'm curious to compare results...

..naturally, I intend fully to challenge him to a 383 vs. 383 duel down the road...station wagon vs. f-body...LOL...!!

My wagon will be ready soon. It sounds like the g/28 already is...

SP~

[Steve1968LS2]

Good luck with it. I'll begin testing my project cars soon and I expect to have similar teething issues. I thought you bought the car pretty much 'done'...do you feel it was misrepresented now that you've had some seat time? Should the price have been adjusted?

What kind of times was Johnny turning? I heard he got a new 383 in there. Since I put a 383 of my own design in the wagon, I'm curious to compare results...

..naturally, I intend fully to challenge him to a 383 vs. 383 duel down the road...station wagon vs. f-body...LOL...!!

My wagon will be ready soon. It sounds like the g/28 already is...

SP~

I bought the car for ONE big reason.. pristine body and great paint.. I didn't want to deal with body rot again and I am happy as a clam.. I also knew I could sell some of the parts and drop the overall cost of the car..

Price should have been a little lower given a few things I found but still.. it would be hard to duplicate the car for what I paid.. Penny turned out to be more pro-street than I thought but I know how to fix that :) -- I think it will make for a good story.

Hey, you should know I am not allowed to 'spill the beans' about how the car did.. nobody would buy our book.. lol.. I will say g/28 did not break and that is always a plus. Does your 383 have to be smog legal?

Yea, wagon vs fbody would be a fun shoot out..

Penny has spent her time on the casting couch and now Im gonna make her a star ;)

[Scott Parkhurst]

No - I bought an "elder" car to forever avoid such issues. It DOES run fine on 87-octane though...that was the goal since gas is so pricey now.

I know what you mean about body/paint too. It is, by far, the worst part of any project.

Most of my cars have been ugly. They've all been fast.


Have fun with Penny!

SP~