66 Chevelle PT build (ours)

[Yelcamino]

After Dakota Digital really took care of us with technical help and senders during the engine swap, they invited us to sit in front of their booth at Power Tour, Indy. Kind of a big deal for us and great guys to hang out with!



Here's a video of Deb and Sam heading south on I-65 on the way to Chevellabration today. Good times!

Damn Tom, you guys are turning into publicity whores! Cool! Congrats!

[Yelcamino]

Don't show Carol the cost breakdown I did a few pages ago...

No worries there! Any time I tell her how much I think it's going to cost, she triples my estimate and she's usually spot on! lol

[Bad94]

Damn Tom, you guys are turning into publicity whores! Cool! Congrats!

So true.


Have fun this weekend. and next.

[tommycomfort]

Damn Tom, you guys are turning into publicity whores! Cool! Congrats!

Herb, hard to believe those words actually came out of your mouth (or computer)! What were you last year, super cool pro-touring car of the year in Chevy High Performance? But, with that said, I guess we've been stealing more than our fair share of attention.

[tommycomfort]

So true.


Have fun this weekend. and next.

Dan, we have an extra seat in the truck if you need a ride up to Motor State....

[Bad94]

Dan, we have an extra seat in the truck if you need a ride up to Motor State....

Thanks for the offer but, i just looked at the calander and that is going to be the only weekend that i will be home all weekend, for the next few months. So i need to stay home

But thanks again. And have fun.

[Yelcamino]

Herb, hard to believe those words actually came out of your mouth (or computer)! What were you last year, super cool pro-touring car of the year in Chevy High Performance? But, with that said, I guess we've been stealing more than our fair share of attention.

I was just sayin.

[tommycomfort]

Cool video! Was looking at your album. Saw a few pics that scared me! What happened down below?

Sorry Aaron, almost missed your post somehow. I think you must be referring to the oil pan and filter pictures. Apparently coming off of the back straight at Nashville Super Speedway at full go and hitting the road course was a little tough on the crossmember, oil pan and the oil filter. Looks like the skid plate will be going back on soon...

[Yelcamino]

sorry aaron, almost missed your post somehow. I think you must be referring to the oil pan and filter pictures. Apparently coming off of the back straight at nashville super speedway at full go and hitting the road course was a little tough on the crossmember, oil pan and the oil filter. Looks like the skid plate will be going back on soon...

HOLY COW! That's some serious scraping! The passenger side of my front spoiler got scratched up on the bottom a bit during the transition from the bank to the flat but I had no idea you were hitting that much! Good thing it wasn't hitting any harder.

[analyte]

Agreed on the scrape damage, really severe. Good thing your using the Mast pan that tucks up nice behind the crossmember.

[tommycomfort]

Yeah, it was pretty violent hitting that transition, but when I stuck my head down there to look it just looked like the back of the pan and crossmember but I missed the filter. I am going with a shorter filter and skid plate to solve it in the future. Good thing we didn't get many more laps....

[tommycomfort]

Some bad news for the Farrington family Chevelle... Yesterday while running a local SCCA auto-x our hot oil pressure dropped to about 16psi and we developed a knock that sounds pretty low in the engine. Pretty much very similar to what happened to the big block last year at the Midwest Muscle Car Challenge. We'll start digging into it today and tomorrow and see what we find. No matter what we find, it's never a good time to throw money at what was just a huge expense... I'll post updates on what we find and the thrash to get it back on the road quick.

Of course after sending out a text message to a bunch of friends about our engine problems and looking for sympathy, we heard that Todd Gartshore from Baer Brakes had passed unexpectedly. Kind of put in perspective how small our engine problem really is.
Tom

[wiedemab]

Tom,

Sorry to hear about the engine troubles. That really sucks.

I know what you mean about things being put into perspective. I am as guilty as anyone at getting caught up in this hobby. It seems like whenever I get a little too caught up something happens to ground me again. I was really sorry to hear about Todd. I met him a few years back at RTH. My brother-in-law and I had him laughing so hard at our old college stories....... He was a great guy.

[tommycomfort]

Tom,

Sorry to hear about the engine troubles. That really sucks.

I know what you mean about things being put into perspective. I am as guilty as anyone at getting caught up in this hobby. It seems like whenever I get a little too caught up something happens to ground me again. I was really sorry to hear about Todd. I met him a few years back at RTH. My brother-in-law and I had him laughing so hard at our old college stories....... He was a great guy.

Yeah, I probably only talked with him in person a dozen or so times and emailed back and forth a bunch more, but he was just an easy going guy that made everyone feel comfortable. He knew Deb and the kids by name and always asked about them. Tough to say you're going to miss a guy that you only talked to on occasion, but we're going to miss Todd!
Tom

[tommycomfort]

Here's where we are now. Monday morning Sam and I went to the shop and started the engine to try to pin point the sound. No sound! Not a big deal, the same was true with the big block last year. We let it warm up for 20-30 minutes and the oil pressure went down, but not as far as when we were autocrossing it on Sunday. Still no sound even with a stethoscope. I called Mobil 1 to ask about viscosity breakdown and the characteristics of their oil. The clown on the phone was flat out rude and said there was no way I should have been running 5W-30 with the way we drive the car. Lesson learned, I have called a few other "experts" and they agree heavier is better in our case. Mobil 1 said 15W-50, my machinist said 10W-40, and Mast said 15W-40. I also called my engine machinist about the sound and he suggested changing the oil, taking it out and thrashing on it and see if we could find the noise. The thought of risking all kinds of engine catastrophe lead us to pulling the motor. As of last night it is on the stand and ready for disassembly. More to follow of course.

[tommycomfort]

I know threads are useless without pictures, so here's Sam using the stethoscope to try to find the noise.

[Ron S]

The only issue I've seen with the LS engines is occasional lifter pecking, I'm running Mobil 1 / 5-30 also, which I think I also will be upgrading to a heavier weight probably 10-40 because the oil pressure is so high on this engine. I'm so engine paranoid now, I don't know if I will ever really push this car to its limits. In the heat we are running I don't think 15-50 would be a problem, but in the winter I go back to the 5-30. The only reason I'm running the 5-30 is that Mark Steilow said, in GM's test they found it worked best, and that is what he was running.

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Hey Tommie - Are you running a roadrace oil pan and Accusump? Sorry if I missed it, but with the way you drive your car I think it'd be some cheap insurance....

[BayouSS]

I know threads are useless without pictures, so here's Sam using the stethoscope to try to find the noise.

Tommy, I believe the Doctor has found the problem and now let the healing process begin!!

On a serious note I hope its not too bad.

[Bad94]

All those big money parts, and you dont have any fender covers?