#931 dragstrip result: blown turbo

So last saturday I went down to JMFabrications to do some major work on #931. Brent is a very good buddy of mine, he's the guy that makes the JMF intake manifolds, obviously an expert fabricator. So we spend about 16 hours saturday to sunday installing a 60-1 turbo, T3 tube header, fabricating an o2 housing, external mount, dumptube, as well as all new intercooler pipes and modifying the existing fmic core endtanks.

Last night I took the car over to Island dragway to make some passes hoping to hit 11's and maybe 120mph if the planets aligned. This was to be the last day with #931 for me, as Im going to take almost all of the mechanical parts out in order to rebuild a better GVR4 #139. Was really hoping to have the car go out with a bang.

Ended up making one semi decent pass: 12.30 @ 112.5 with a 1.73 60'. The other 4 passes were utter junk (13's @ 108 to 112). The car wouldn't spool up well, horrendously laggy between shifts. Even on a 6000rpm two step launch it would barely make a couple psi of boost. Barely any better than the car ran with a 16g at 23psi even though I was running upwards of 26-28 psi on this 60-1. :banghead:

Here's what I ended up with:


Notice the two cracked off blades. Grabbing the nut you can feel about 1/8" of in/out shaft play, the comp housing is full of oil, and the wheel has ground a big groove into the comp housing. Yeah, that explains the very poor performance. Guess Im going to hunt around for a 50trim t3t4 or something a bit smaller than the 60-1 to replace it.

The turbo and header came of GVR4 #828 that I parted out earlier this year. Sucks as this is about the 5th major thing that came off that car either broken or not what it was supposed to be. Oh well, buyer beware. Glad this turbo ended up failing on me instead of being sold in the partout and having a pissed of customer. :?

Anyway, not what I was hoping for on #931's last day with me. sux.

Dragstrip results: improved ET w/ 16G

Fun night at Island dragway. wednesdays are $15 to run a street car and they serve free bbq food all night. Track was empty, every run I went right up to the line, I think one single run I had to stop and wait for a car or two. Made 6 runs, ate 2 cheeseburgers and a hotdog, salads, and free soda. $15 plus a gallon of racegas. What more can a man ask for?

Started sprinkling rain about 8:35, I just decided to pack it in as the traction would surely be worse. I just about got my headlight back in and pumpgas filled and they called it for the night. awesome.

Only changes from last time are that I set the base timing to 5* (it was about 3* before) and I removed the air filter and pass headlight.

• 12.763 @ 107.41 1.830. 4600rpm = bog. last weeks tune, 21psi no knock. 7:10pm
  
• 12.733 @ 108.98 1.891 4700 Spun w/ wheel hop. no datalog. boost shoulda been ~23
  
• 12.647 @ 109.86 1.877 4700 bog but clean. 23psi.
  
• 12.447 @ 110.29 1.761 5000rpm launch & 23.5 to 24.0 psi.
  
• 12.350 @ 110.69 1.734 same everything, better launch at 5000rpm 7:50pm
  
• 12.396 @ 110.59 1.762 same again, just a bit of spin in first. 8:22pm

So, got this brick into the mid-low 12's with a better launch. Still not great 60' times, but they are solid for the tires and setup I guess. I think it just took me a little while to get used to an electronic vehicle speed activation vs a mechanical clutch switch coming off the launch rpm. The way it is now, the ecu comes off the 5000rpm limiter right away and tends to spin the tires easier, where the clutch switch setup that I used on aem and dsmchip ecu's would stay on the 5000rpm lmit until the clutch was all the way out which seems to be softer on the tires.

still must have a big boost leak or a weirdo boost controller as I couldn't get more than 23psi that would just touch 24.0 on the logger one or twice a run. E3-16g's should be able to do 27-29psi atleast for a midrange spike then fall off a bit. mine never makes it over 24.0 no mater what. I was too pussy to pull off the wastegate hose to really see though!

So, I guess I'm happy with that. May 16th the car is getting a 60-1 turbo, tube header, new ic pipes, so this was the last time out with the little turbo. Hopefully the next wednesday Island is open (may 20th), Ill get into the 11's with the big turbo and no boost leaks.

First time at the track with #931

Wow, that was fun. I really forgot how much I enjoy pedals and shifting. Last time I had a dsm at the track was 2005 in the yellow 1g my shop put together (10.0 @148). It's just as fun in a slow car either way and Im glad to be back into it for a hobby. 

Got in 5 runs, 3 gallons of 116 racegas in the tank (holy shit $11 gallon now) 

• 12.98 @ 107.4 1.881 left at 4650rpm and bogged to 2900. street tune. 19psi creep> 21
• 12.91 @ 108.9 1.940 left at 5250rpm spun/let off, 11.5 AF, +4* timing 21psi solid
• 12.68 @ 110.3 1.892 - 4900rpm spun first let off. 12.0 AF 23psi
• 13.55 @ 108.2 1.859 - 4700rpm spun through first then missed 2nd 12.0 AF 24psi
• 13.02 @ 109.1 1.965 - 4400rpm, bogged. wheel hop on 1-2 shift...let off in second. 
  

Not a clean run all night, but it was super fun no matter what. The DS-Map tuning worked great. The greddy type S boost controller ended up pegged on the high setting to only get 24psi. 

So the car is just about where I thought it would be mph wise, I just can't get it off the line worth a shit. It wasn't like I was hitting the tires too hard with aggressive clutch, I was slipping the clutch more than normal i think. Tires would just break loose once the clutch was all the way out and boost came up in first. On the last run I got tire spin from a hard 1-2 shift and it started to wheel hop in front and had to let off. 

Literally went up in smoke on a 4700 launch, but would bog on 4500. There was like no window of opportunity with these tires. oh well. They are really hard rubber, couple year old regular street tires I got off a parts car. With some decently sticky tires the car should go real low 12's as it sits. 

Didn't get to check the ic coupler I repaired (silicone rtv and duct tape). It likely ripped open on the first pass. 

I have a bunch of things to take care of before going back: 

• Reroute the ic pipes. My lower pipe going into the IC has a 3" to 2" 90* coupler that had a hole. It has to bend more than 90 to make the hole alongside the radiator. Just not a good setup as the coupler is creased. 
  
• Get some different tires of some sort. 
  
• possibly change the boost controller out for a manual since it was maxed out at only 24psi. 
  
• remove more weight. This week I got the front crash support out (~50lb), Id like to ditch the rear one too.