First Trip to the Drag Strip Need Suggestions

[86_GN]

I got the GN (86) out of the garage last week finally and took it to the drag strip with some of my co-workers. My results are below and although not what I had hoped for it was just great to have the car run down the track without fear of hurting it. The guys I went with want to go back in about a month and I really would rather not loose to them again so I need some advice. First I will give some history so that may give some insight on my comments above.

I bought the car in high school and not long after lost a head gasket. I had the car fixed and modified by a friend of the family who owned his own garage. After this the car ran okay but was plagued by issues (had to replace turbo, fuel pump went out…etc) and thus the car visited a few different shops. During this time I tried to upgrade while replacing. After this I never could quite get it running correctly even with the help of a local “turbo specialist” that had opened. I could not afford to keep trying as I was now in college so I garaged the car for the most part where it has remained after college. Jump ahead to about a month ago. With constant encouragement/harassment from my coworkers who had recently took there cars to the strip and the want to have my car running write I decided it was time to figure it out. When the car was garaged it seemed like it still had fuel issues. So through process of elimination I determined the issue to be before the fuel rail. I dropped the tank and found that the hose clamp holding the fuel line to the sending unit was loose. I put the car back together and this corrected my fueling issues. So I did some “spring cleaning” and went to the track. Unfortunately I had laptop issues and could not log data during the run. I logged some data yesterday and would appreciate it if some of you could take a look at it and let me know what you think but I am not sure how to attach as it is not a proper file type.

Drag Results:
Pass 1
60’: 2.54
1/8th: 9.5 @ 79.6
¼: 14.4 @ 102

Pass 2
60’: 2.36
1/8th: 9.3 @ 79.3
¼: 14.2 @ 100

Pass 3
60’: 2.4
1/8th: 9.4 @ 79.1
¼: 14.4 @ 99

With my limited understanding I believe that my 60’ times were pretty terrible. I had to launch the car from idle as anything more would cause a lot of tire spin. I believe this is my biggest opportunity area. I was running 15-16 psi of boost on 245 60 15 Comp TAs on 93 octane and I had my alky system on at 12 lbs which after yesterdays run I believe is slowing the car down when it first kicks on.

There is so much to tell and I am probably forgetting stuff so ask questions. Sorry about the novel I tried to keep it short. Below are the main mods to the car.

9” K&N
Solid MAF
TE-44
SMC Alcohol Injection
2.5 “ Dual exhaust with gutted Cat
Walbro 340 hot wired
Blue Top Injectors
Adjustable FPR (Set at 50 psi, will be turned down some)
160 thermostat
Reds 93 chip
Cam with oversized valves (unfortunately I don’t know it was installed when fixing head gasket. If I recall correctly it was a performance cam from Wolverine made for the GN)

In ending my Co-workers cars are a Mustang running 13.7’s and a Duster running 13.4’s although I am sure they will be a little faster next time.

[BoostedThrills]

is there fresh fuel in the tank or is it the old stuff from when it was in storage?

I would try turning the alky off if you are running stock boost levels and lower


you might want to get a new chip burned for your combination


how much air pressure was in those rear tires




just throwing out suggestions--keep in mind I've never taken my car to a track yet

[86_GN]

I drained as much of the fuel out as I could when I dropped the tank, filled it up and ran a tank of fuel system cleaner through it before going. I was thinking about turning the alky off and trying to tune and dropping the boost down to about 13 psi. I initially had 35 psi of air (the suggested max) I tried dropping the air pressure to around 22 psi and it did not seem to help.

[ES]

1) You need drag radials
2) Sounds like your downing the car out with alky & not enough boost.

[turbomonte2]

Eyup, turn off alky, it will only likely hurt you at 15# 'ish boost. You should have a chip with higher timing for benefits of alky. Your 1/4 mi speed should give you an ET in low 13's, but your lousy 60 ft times are hurting you by 0.7 sec or more in 1/4.

How old (years) are your tires? They could be harder than a ho's heart! Even new BFG Radial TA's are too hard to launch/grip.

[87gninpa]

First off, get rid of Red's chip, its killing you. Get an alky chip from Eric at Turbotweak and the car will run like never before, guranteed. With the turbo you are running, you should be able to safely run 24 lbs of boost with race gas an alky no problem. A TE44 should get you well into the 11's with proper boost, fuel, and tune. Also, your fuel pressure should be nowhere near 50, should be around 43 with line off at idle with those injectors. Also, check your O2 sensor, because after running that rich, its probably shot, as well as the plugs. Put some R43TS's in gapped at a tight .035. Lastly, get some drag radails or at least run about 15psi in those street tires at the track and launch at about 5-6 psi off of the e-brake. With drag radials/slicks, launching at 8-9 psi should be no problem. Follow these few steps and I can almost gurantee with a proper launch you will be in the high to mid 11s at about 115 mph. Where are you located? Wouldnt mind looking at it if you're not too far

[Zap's Master and Superior]

With your IDENTICAL combo I ran 12.17 @ 113mph. IDENTICAL. BFG Comp TA street tires and my 60' was 1.86 so you can get better there. I had mildly ported heads but stock size valves so I wouldn't think that I outflowed you there. TE-44, blue tops, 204 cam, Red Armstrong 93chip, and SMC non progressive alky system is what I had so you should be solidly in the 12s. Now maybe my suspension was a little better as I did have billet lower control arms, vari-rate coilsprings, and bilstein shocks. Get your 60' under 2.0 and get your tune better because you are at least 10mph down on the top end. Your car has a lot left in it. My car had quite a bit more in it as well so its not like I was setting records with that combo. You have what it takes to get some 11s but I would suggest that you get some Drag Radials to help out.

I just realized something that I did have that is restricting you. I had a dutweiller neck on my IC but you should still be doing at least 12.7s.

[NOCOOLER]

Do you have a scan tool?

[Zap's Master and Superior]

Originally Posted by NOCOOLER

Do you have a scan tool?

He stated laptop issues would let him log his run.

[gbsean]

Get rid of the chip...until you do that ANYTHING else you do is a moot point

[SHADOWII]

w/the recommendations of all of the above, TT chip for the alchy and some M/T'S drag radials. I had the T/A'S on my car when it set for a while, when I went I went out to tune a new combo, one of the tires started throwing tread What a bumpy ride home!

[ULYCYC]

He's having tuning issues and not equipment. I've also touched the 11's with near his setup. I'm sure it all works but needs to be in the correct order. If you plan on running Alky then you need a chip to match and tune. If you want to keep your Red's chip then max would be 15-16 on pump gas and you should get it to mid 13's. Add 100 U/L racegas and up the boost to 20-21 and you should break into the high 12's. No more then this with that chip. If you want quicker ET's from this point you will need a race chip with higher timing for more octane. Or as said get a custom Alky chip

[Zap's Master and Superior]

I ran 12.37@111mph not 12.17@113. Sorry I got confused with other timeslips.

It was done on a REDS 93 chip though. No reason you can't run some 12.7s or better with your set up.

Originally Posted by gbsean

Get rid of the chip...until you do that ANYTHING else you do is a moot point

Once its tuned in and runnnig to its potential then you will reap benefits of changing to better stuff but putting a TurboTweak chip in a poorly tuned car ain't gonna fix it. Don't forget that Red Armstrong had GNs running some impressive numbers long before TurboTweak chips were available. Saying that its a moot point until he gets rid of the chip is not true.

[gbsean]

Originally Posted by Zap's Master and Superior

I ran 12.37@111mph not 12.17@113. Sorry I got confused with other timeslips.

It was done on a REDS 93 chip though. No reason you can't run some 12.7s or better with your set up.



Once its tuned in and runnnig to its potential then you will reap benefits of changing to better stuff but putting a TurboTweak chip in a poorly tuned car ain't gonna fix it. Don't forget that Red Armstrong had GNs running some impressive numbers long before TurboTweak chips were available. Saying that its a moot point until he gets rid of the chip is not true.

Reds chips were not designd to run w/alky...get an alky chip or turn the alky off
just by changing the chip nothing else went from a 13.5 to a 12.7 onl 15 psi IMO reds chips are junk

[84BuickGNYorkPA]

Well cogratulations on taking it to the track! I still remember well, the excitment of that 1st pass going down the track! I am no pro like alot of the other members here. First if you don't have a audible knock alarm or a knock gage let the boost where it's at. Second turn off the alky, you don't need it untill you get knock and at 15-16 lbs you are safe. A rule of thumb is for each pound of boost you will gain approx. 10 hp on a stock motor with little modifications, so it's to bad that you have wheel spin at the starting line. You are going to need tires, to get in the 12's, your mph is low at the finish line, should be closer to 107 mph. I suspect that turning the alky off will help your mph (your mph at the finish line is a direct indication of your hp level). But if you get tires and a scanmaster, you could start to turn the boost up and blow away all of your co-workers! I know that most guys run the Micky Thompson's Drag Radial, just be careful if you get caught in the rain, in fact, just pull over if possible. If you go with the Nitto Drag Radial like I did you get a in between tire, ok to drive in the rain but less traction at the track. My purchases in this order would be, tires, scanmaster, audible knock alarm and a turbo tweak chip. Also be sure to drop the tranny pan and replace the fluid and filter, it will help keep the high cost of a tranny repair at bay.
I hope this helps,
Chuck