Thanks for the update!
Thanks for the update!
In For Repairs – Season End
As I had hoped I finished ninth with the Lake Superior Club. It was a fight. Not just because the competition is tight in this little SCCA club but because Mistress was giving me trouble.
Four days before Kinross I had driven Mistress into work because, well, because I can. The truck is nice but the car is fun.
On the way I noted a recurring click/clunk coming from the front end when turning the wheels. You could feel it in the steering wheel. If stationary you could see the car jump just a little. Something is binding big time.
In the driveway I crawled around trying to see under the car with a flashlight while my wife turned the wheels back and forth. I was looking for a suspension bind or something.
It was the steering rack. After about 180k miles and nearly 1000 autocross runs it was disintegrating from the inside out. This car was not going back on the road until that thing was replaced.
No time to order something. After some internet searching I found a rebuilt unit (only one in the entire city) at a local auto parts store for $200. Thinking this might not be money well spent I picked it up.
I got everything done in two evenings. Flushed and realigned I took it for a test drive and loaded it on the rental trailer the next morning.
After a foggy start we had a great weekend. Well, almost great.
I think I grabbed the wrong power steering fluid. Ford has about four or five types depending on the era of the car. Mistress’s era uses Mercon V ATF in the power steering. I had something that said “Ford” on the label but I am sure it was wrong. After three morning runs out of six the pump was whining. It was blistering hot and the fluid was turning black. I missed the last three runs.
At lunch I bought some new fluid at the single local auto parts/hardware store (Kinross, MI is not big enough to have both). I flushed out the fluid twice on the tarmac and spent the rest of the day spraying down the pump, cooler and rack after each run. It got me through the day but it was a serious distraction.
That evening I bought some Royal Purple full synthetic Mercon V and flushed everything out with it Sunday morning. It got me through the day with only a little whining and spraying.
Sunday festivities were cut short by lightning and torrential rain. We all packed up early, had our year end trophy presentation under a rain fly, and headed home with soggy feet.
Mistress went straight into the garage without even being washed and has not been on the road since. She has some issues.
On Sunday morning the driver side muffler became un-hooked again sending the tail pipe clattering straight out of the side of the car in a hard right corner. It was a good run. I just kept going.
I did not realize what had happened (I thought the tail pipe had simply come off) until we could not get it on the trailer in the thunderstorm. Very, very wet.
Although I would like to put a supercharger on Mistress this year – It may have to wait. Many things to fix starting with the exhaust pictured above.
And that is with OEM brakes and Hawk HPS pads. Who says you need “Big Brakes”? I bent my car stopping with OEM brakes!
There is also a long list of “improvements” I would like to do including that Pro-Charger and more tires. I may not get to some of these things.I have a lot of work to do. Start with cleaning the garage.
I don’t think that braking would bend those ears. The strut has a floppy bushing/bearing on top so it would just deflect.
Unless i’m wrong.... wouldn’t be the last time
In reply to jfryjfry :
Hi - Thanks for the input. You may be right. However, since it pivots on the bottom on the ball joint it would be hard for movement at the top to torque the brackets on the strut. Also, if you look up from the bottom, the brackets are bent in exactly the same way. It appears to be a linear than rotary force. Also, the top of the strut in mounted in MM caster/camber plates which have little, if any, compliance.
I posted this on the CAM Nation page where people are running similar set ups and found a couple of other people who had experienced this also. One was an Camaro running on Konies. She posted photos and the damage was identical. Judgment from the group was over exuberant braking. I can live with that. Not that they are all experts either.
Regardless of the dynamics involved it is interesting to see an example of how much force is involved. That is a hell of a lot of force up through the tires to bend those brackets.
Fix is reinforced struts. MM has the same Bilsteins reinforced with much thicker brackets. That is probably the way I will go. With stiffer springs also.
Research and Planning - PCV Issues
October and the first part of November have been consumed with family matters and work. Big project at work finishing up and we had to take two trips back to Michigan for a funeral and grand kid visit. We also went to Arizona to visit son and family out there. Finally my wife just had a knee replaced and requires some care from me. Busy with life.
But my autocross life has not been idle. In spite of the activities above the exhaust is fixed and Mistress is road worthy again on the street tires. Regretfully it has snowed so everything is covered in salt. I can’t really drive it unless we get some warm weather and a good rain. Might be spring…
I have determined that I will likely continue with this hobby long after retirement if possible. It keeps me thinking. It keeps me sharp. It keeps me researching on cold dark Wisconsin nights.
I have been doing a lot of research on crankcase ventilation (also, a little testing before the snow came). After studying the symptoms on the car I reasoned that I may have less “vacuum” than I thought.
A short test drive with a vacuum gauge proved this true. At idle in neutral the engine is developing 12.5 to 13 inches of mercury. Idling in drive is 10 to 10.5 inches of mercury. This is very low. It should be in the upper teens at minimum.
From reading the interblag it is obvious a lot of people on forums have some difficulty with “vacuum”.
A quick summary if you will pardon me: The air you are breathing is a fluid similar, in some respects, to water. Just like water the deeper you go in the pond the higher the pressure due to the weight of water above. We are very deep in the air pond (many miles) and the pressure of the air above us comes to about 14.7 pounds per square inch (PSI). Most pressure measurements are measured UP from that point. There is no limit as to how high pressure can go (other than the mechanics of the equipment holding the pressure inside).
Vacuum is normally measured DOWN from that 14.7 PSI point (some people put a “-“ sign on it to help indicate this). And it does have a limit. If you take all the air away you have nothing, no weight of air above, zero.
Note – If desired vacuum CAN BE measured as pressure UP from zero (PSIa – (the a is for Absolute)). This is usually for labs, instruments, and heavy calculations.
For the rest of us it is often measured in Inches of Mercury (In-Hg). If In-Hg is used we are measuring the difference DOWN from the normal atmospheric pressure. Absolute zero/nothing/no air (0 PSIa) is 30 In-Hg. You can’t have more vacuum than 30 In-Hg.
On most cars the low pressure (vacuum) is created by the pistons pulling in air behind the nearly closed throttle plate. A normal production engine typically has 18 to 20 In-Hg of vacuum sitting at idle in drive. That would come to about 60% of full vacuum (18/30=0.6). My engine is running at about 35% vacuum (10.5/30=0.35). I have lost 25% of my vacuum. The reasons why are related to the intake/exhaust valve overlap due to the racing cam shaft combined with the advanced timing and mechanics of the stroker engine. That would be a dissertation for another time.
But wait, it gets better! 25% loss of vacuum would not be too big an issue cruising around town. It is not ideal but tolerable. However, a quick test drive indicated that vacuum goes to almost zero and the crankcase goes to positive pressure above 80% throttle. Not good. See the article I wrote on Page 3, 6/10/17 for more information on PCV systems.
Analysis of the engine on many autocross runs indicates that I typically spend roughly 20% to 25% of the time above 80% throttle (remember I am running on some very large upper Midwest courses). If this were a 600 HP car that might be 10% which would help mitigate the problems that arise. Many of the PCV set ups shown on the webbernet are only tolerable because they are on more powerful cars that spend less time at/near WOT.
The front seal leak, quickly darkening oil, burning oil smell, oil in the intake, intermittent smoke from the exhaust when on course are all symptoms of an overwhelmed PCV system due to low vacuum.
My PCV set up has been a standard “closed” system where metered air behind the mass air sensor/before the throttle plate is "sucked" through the crank case, through the PCV valve, through a catch can, and into the intake manifold between the throttle plate and the pistons. One part I should have included was another catch can on the intake side of that set up. That would have minimized the “oil in intake” problem but not the others.
What to do? This problem is neither new nor unique. Hours spent on the goobernet have pointed to many answers that fall into just a few accepted categories. Many of the answers deal with only part of the problem (“open systems”). Some call it good the way it is (with the additional catch can). Many answers go over the top with solutions that would be expensive and/or create other issues (“high vacuum systems”). Most are, at best, incomplete because they are not applicable to me/the way I use this car/this engine.
And I am not afraid to experiment a little. I am working on a variation of a solution from an arrangement presented on a Corvette forum in 2006. It has been done before. It is often not implemented well and therefore does not have a good reputation. It is somewhat on the fringe of available solutions. It involves an electric powered, highly filtered, “closed” PVC system. It would also work when the car is boosted. I will endeavor to implement it better than most.
To twist a phrase from the “I Robot” movie: Responses are NOT limited. But you still have to ask the right questions. Many questions. More on this as it comes together.
very nice build so far, ive always wondered about the 4.2 kits for my 1st gen Vulcan Probe, seeing as the 3.0L was offered in the Taurus and that car also had the Essex 3.8, I bet if that 3.0 kicked the bucket I could make it work
I have an SLP loudmouth catback for SNs that I could part with cheap. It's from my no go CAM challenge project and I'd love to see it on a GRM car. It'd be way lighter too.
In reply to jdogg :
Thanks. It is fun having a smaller displacement engine and figuring out how to get more from it. It certainly is the road less traveled.
In reply to AnthonyGS :
Thanks but a normal catback would not work on Mistress. I cannot put pipes over the axle because of the custom upper control arm towers. I am running with Spintech side exhaust units which have been trouble free other than G forces pulling them off the hangers once in a while. And with the long tubes people tell me they sound great on course.
I don't know if the SLP exhaust would be lighter than the Spintechs (certainly lighter than stock). But I had to add 75# ballast to meet my weight class for CAM-C.
I suggest you post them on the GRM parts forum. Someone will pick them up!
We put vacuum pumps on the crank case of drag motors. Not sure they are up to any kind of continuous duty though.
A positive pressure in the crank case would first be due to improper venting, and barring a problem there ring seal is the next candidate. Since is is pushing out oil, I'm thinking the latter.
Any chance it's detonating?
What about spark timing control? Too much advance or not enough? KnocK sensor?
Leak down test?
If you have to work on the top end and you have oil leaks below I'd pull the motor and maybe have a look at everything? Sealing up the bottom in the car is no fun.
In reply to bentwrench :
Thanks for your comments. I am planning to do a leak down test and hoping against problems with the rings. I am also looking for an expensive method/test for measuring blowby. I don't want to pull the engine again of course but we will see where it leads. That might happen (dammit).
You are right the belt driven vacuum pumps used by drag racers would solve the ventilation issues. Especially if I boost this motor sometime in the future. I seem to see mixed reviews on the interblag on durability. Durability means different things to different people in different motorsports. I would probably set the system up for flow through the crankcase rather than high vacuum.That way I would not have to worry about changing seals and pulling dirt in through seals/gaps.
And that is the key to what I am looking for - Flow through the crankcase. The normal intake vacuum methods are proving inadequate due to the modifications to the engine. A small electric positive displacement pump that can move the blowby and pull in fresh air would be about right. It has to handle acidic oil mist, fuel, and water vapor. Probably 10 SCFM would do (blow by test would confirm that assumption).
People sometimes use smog pumps for this. This seems to work but the common denominator seems to be durability. Those pumps are made for air and apparently don't last. We need a simple pump system in between the full on drag race vacuum pump and the normal intake manifold vacuum system. I am amazed someone has not developed and marketed this. If they have, I have not found it.
There is a variable adjustable PCV valve from mewagner.com that might minimize this problem. I am still considering it. I am skeptical it would be fully effective given the length of time the engine spends near WOT on a run. I am thinking I may call them to discuss it.
I'd be looking for a ring in upside down or detonation issues. Check what the piston wear marks can tell you, like a rod that is not square, or if the head of the piston is contacting the wall (it should never touch)
A disconnected knock sensor could confuse the ECU or the normal noise from flogging it might trigger anti-knock strategy. Re-mount Knock sensor to intake manifold?
Too much spark timing for your CR. Cross firing or some other ignition disruption.
Not enough squish for combustion chamber turbulence.
Fuel pressure falling off under load (filter or pump) Hot fuel line from exhaust mods/failures? Bubbles in the fuel, I dislike stock fuel tanks for high G loading, you don't want the weight of a full tank and I don't care for sitting on that much fuel and obviously air bubbles in the fuel are not good at WFO. I prefer a Swirl Pot or a small fuel cell with vertical orientation and foam to minimize slosh. Jaz Fuel Cell or surge tank
Do you have WideBand O2 system?
In reply to bentwrench :
Good input, thankyou.
No knock sensor on this car. Never had one. I have never heard it knocking (for what that is worth). If I pull the engine I will look for the things you suggest. Boy I hope i did not put a ring in upside down or something dumb like that. First the leak down test...
Compression ratio is 9.5:1 with dished pistons in preparation for the future Procharger. Timing is programmed from VMP in Florida. I can adjust it if needed. Without a knock sensor how would if that is needed?
I have not monitored fuel pressure. I will look into that. Fuel line is in stock location running up the passenger side. It may get near the exhaust near the long tube headers. I will look into that.
Still have the stock tank. I will keep the fuel cells you suggest in mind. Now you have given me new stuff to research...
It will be a few weeks yet before I have enough time to do some more testing.
Thanks!
Can you run superchargers in CAM or will that put you in C-Prepared?
Unlimited engine mods in CAM. Anything goes (and I mean anything except NOx ). The cars have to be American made, front engine, rear drive. They have to have a "finished" interior and two seats in front. Suspension mods unlimited as long as wheel base is relatively unchanged. Brakes, drive train unlimited. There are three sub classes: Contemporary, Traditional, & Sport (Corvettes). Aero is very limited.
The limiting/equalizing factors are that tires are unlimited as long as they are 200 tread wear and minimum weights. CAM-C where I run has a minimum weight of 3300#. I had to add 75# of lead shot around the battery where the passenger rear seat used to be.
If you show up with a 1000 HP Camero you might not fair any better than someone with half that power because you can't hook it up in a parking lot. That does not stop people from trying.
I was at the CAM Nationals in Peru, IN last summer. One of my observations was that these cars are very entertaining and visceral to watch on course. They move, they slide, they wag tails, they roar, they whine. CAM cars are not the fastest things out there. But they are a riot to drive and watch.
My mistake, I was under the impression no superchargers in CAM. Keep up the posting I've been following your build for a long time.
In reply to Mustang50 :
Thanks. Many new posts to come. It is a form of madness...
Unicorns & Horses
Following up on my comments on the SCCA CAM class. The CAM forums and CAM FaceBlag pages have slogans such as: “Big Engines, Fat Tires, Few Rules”. It’s true. It is a wild wild west sort of class.
In March of 2017 (Page 2 of this Build Log) I wrote an article titled “What SCCA Solo Class Do You Run a SN95 V6 Mustang?” G-Street? – nope. STX? –Hell no. The answer was none of them. It is not really a competitive car out of the box or even after spending a lot of time and money. But it has potential. You just have to dig pretty deep to find it. I switched to CAM-C because the lack of rules allowed me to use a much bigger shovel.
But oh the hole you have to dig… CAM Challenge was an eye opener for me. And it was a blast. My wife could not go so I loaded up Mistress, stopped at Discount Tire, took some photos with my sponsor and headed out on the seven hour drive to Peru. The 2012 F-150 makes it a nice trip but towing through some of the construction zones was rather tense.
Not long after sunrise Friday morning for the Test and Tune I unloaded a few feet from a 40+ foot car hauler/camper fifth wheel towed by a big F350. Next to it was something similar, and another one. The cars that poured out of these things were brilliant, beautiful, finely tuned, full-on race cars custom built for this purpose. It makes the heart beat faster just looking at them. Faster still watching them perform.
By days end the paddock was full of similar units. Well, not all similar; there were quite a few guys like me out there also. Truly street operating CAM cars that had driven in under their own power from hundreds of miles away. Others towed in on rented or rusty old trailers by beat up old Fords, Chevies and Rams.
Friday evening, before heading back to the hotel I noted my fancy neighbors were sitting out under an awning talking about the day having a few cold ones. I grabbed a chair and joined them (free beer!). We had a good time and I listened intently to the conversations around me.
They are from all over and most had traveled across several states to do this. When they are not working, this is what they do. Track Days, 1 Lap, Autocross. All of them designing and building their own cars. All hands on “Built It, Not Bought It” people. Some of these guys had turned the hobby into an offshoot of another business or started a business directly from it. Some brought their wives. Some of the wives are faster drivers than their husbands.
When I say “When they are not working” I mean it figuratively. Every one of these guys had to interrupt the festivities to take a call from the office or the shop while I was sitting there. A couple had to stop talking and pound out an email response. People like this earn it. They never really stop working. That is why they are so successful. I did not get any calls from work all weekend. I am quite happy with my life the way it is, thank you.
At the Test & Tune I made a few runs in the morning and then decided to make some changes to the car. After all that is what this day is for isn’t it. I felt I had a little under steer so I decided to loosen the front sway bar one notch and tighten the rear one notch. Holy crap. Way too loose. I loosened the rear sway back one notch to where it had been. Still a little loose. I wanted that front sway bar a little looser than before to help keep the inside front tire a little better planted. Also, Peru is high grip but also fairly rough. So I lowered the Pan Hard bar (it had been all the way up). Fairly well balanced. Just a little tail happy perhaps. Done for the day.
Saturday morning we had tech, weighing, drivers meeting, etc. Well organized of course. Mistress weighed in at 3330 pounds with 1/4 tank of gas. Perfect. The event was divided into three heats in the morning. Three in the afternoon so you got two out of the six heats “off” to work on something, lunch or just watch. As I said earlier, CAM cars are very entertaining to watch (and hear - Is that a supercharged LS6 in that little truck?). I could sit there all day. Perfect.
Grid was both entertaining and educational: 50 CAM-C cars grumbling, fuming, whining. Waiting their turn like rodeo bulls in the pen. Every one of them a nasty piece of work.
Most tires at 10 to 11 inch wide with some wider. Many boosted. I would estimate average HP about 450 to 500. Many much more. Poor Mistress on 9” wheels and mid 200 HP range was a bit out classed. Nevertheless, we were not last. We beat out a couple of novices in Chevrolet corporate Camaros.
So what did I learn?
I like National events. They are everything you see at a local event on steroids.
I had not been to a T&T in a long time and was able to do some suspension tuning and learned some things there (T&Ts are great).
Cam is very competitive. The spread between the top ten CAM-C cars was only 0.891 seconds.
My car is actually very well prepared.
I need fatter tires, more power, and more skill.
I always knew I would never be competitive on a big stage with this car and my driving skills. This simply helped define how big the stage is. It is pretty big.
When CAM was introduced people fretted that someone would show up with a “Unicorn” car and blow everyone else off the course. However, CAM class has become a serious technology driver. The cars are limited by those pesky 200 tread wear tires and weight restrictions so the builders have to come up with ever more innovative ways to get these big sleds to go faster.
Many cars become highly modified, purpose built machines with very sophisticated designs. I would submit there is more innovation, experimentation, and technology devoted to going faster in the CAM classes than any other SCCA autocross class except, perhaps, A-Mod.
Part of the unicorn prediction has come to fruition. Except that there are herds of unicorn cars out there. All of them are unicorns. Well, most of them. I think Mistress is still a horse. Give me time. I’m still digging.
I got off course a bit on my last run (spun out actually). A little OPR (Other Peoples Rubber) came home with me.
Love this build, and I also love the documentation of your experience auto crossing and driving. Ive learned quite a bit about autocross just by reading your thread. It helps that we both share the 'road less traveled' approach to car racing. I for one have no interest in tried and true platforms where the optimal build has already been mapped.
This is the best thread on this site. Hope you have a great holiday season and you get some good parts or tools from Santa!
Thanks Number1Gaza and Mustang50 -
Ballast, Balance, and Boondoggle
1 - Ballast
I mentioned in the last entry that Mistress weighed in at 3330# at the Peru CAM Challenge with 1/4 tank of gas and it was “perfect”. Perfect, because they impound the cars after each heat. They make sure there are no challenges and inspect/weigh the top cars. Not that I would expect to do good enough to be in that top bunch. But I do like play by the rules. The problem is that I don’t have scales and I expected my car would be below the minimum weight of 3300#. I have written about that before.
Last spring I stopped at a truck scale in town. This is a new one and they claimed it was just calibrated. Mistress weighed in at 3240# (+/-10#) with just under 1/4 tank of gas, spare tire removed, etc. I bought three 25# bags of lead shot at the local sporting goods store.
2 - Balance
But where to put it? I thought about this for quite a while. The car is fairly well balanced with the engine and drive train offset to the passenger side by 2” to counteract the driver (Probably a lighter driver than me so the expectation is that the weight should go on the passenger side). There are some guys on line that rent corner scales but the shipping cost is significant. I don’t need accurate readings. I need consistent readings. There is a big difference. If the scale is off by 100# it is fine as long as it is always off by 100# at every corner.
Back during the engine rebuild I complained about the valve spring tester I bought having a scale of 1000#. That device is actually just a small piston with hydraulic oil in it attached to a gauge. The piston has an area of exactly 1 square inch. Put 200# on it and you get 200 pounds per square inch (PSI) on the gauge. In instrument labs they have similar devices called “Dead Weight Testers”. They are used to calibrate gauges with known weights on the piston. A little math indicated no wheel on the car should be over 1000#. Nothing to lose…
I can’t balance a tire on the little spring tester. But I can put the spring tester on the top of my alignment stand frame while using the other alignment stand to support the other side of the car. I used some shims (two steel plates and a hockey puck) to keep everything level as the scale is moved from one side to the other so the orientation of the car is consistent. The opposite end was sitting on tires shimmed up to keep everything level.
Up and on the Level
Front Stand swapped with Gauge
Rear Gauge Mount
Rear Gauge Set Up
This was tedious at best. My wife had to come out to work the jack and take gauge readings while I sat in the car. The instrument has a lot of hysteresis which basically means it is harder to get consistent readings. You have to “slide in” to the readings by partially unloading the jack slowly onto the scale for each reading. After a few times you get consistent readings. Then take it apart, move to another wheel, set up, and take another reading.
But we got the readings:
RAW Readings (with driver- no ballast)
Weight %
L R L R Total
Front 925 825 30.08% 26.83% 56.91%
Rear 665 660 21.63% 21.46% 43.09%
Calculated readings based on ratios of the weights with driver readings times the 2240# truck scale weight:
Calculated Weight w/ Driver
L R .
Front 760 677
Rear 546 542
Actual readings from the gauge totaled up to about 550# more than the truck scale weight. And the test was without tires which would have added, perhaps, 200# more. This is not a good method to weigh your car. Again, as long as the error is consistent at each wheel…
With the three bags of shot I reasoned they should all go on the passenger side to the rear but not all on the far side. All three bags went into the bay with the battery but two near the drive shaft hump and one out in the body panel behind the door. I used some sheet plastic dividers from my wife’s studio to act as liners to make sure the bags do not get punctured. The bags conform to the shape and appear to stay put quite well.
Bags...
With this set up the front/rear ratio should be roughly 55%/45% and side to side should be within a couple of percent.
I did not want to put them in the trunk. Yes that would improve the front/back bias. However, this car is an angle winder and the less mass it has near the ends the better. Think spinning figure skater.
When the car weighed in at 3330# I figured the truck scale may have read a little low. And I had a few pounds more gas in it at the time. Getting corner weights from the scale at the event was not useful because those scales were not set up/leveled, etc. They just want total weight. And they did not want me in the car. And they are busy.
So that is how I figured out where to put my extra ballast. Someday I will buy scales and then we will see how well this exercise really worked. Before that I would want to replace the rear control arms with adjustable spring mount units so I could also weight jack the car (“But First Syndrome”). The rear lower control arms are the only OEM suspension components left on the car.
3 – Boondoggle
The 2020 SCCA CAM Challenge rules were posted just before Thanksgiving (They still print out to just one page). They moved 2002 and earlier Fifth Gen Camaros and 2004 and earlier SN-95 Mustangs to CAM-T (the split was the year 2000 and later with no exceptions).
This was not unexpected. These particular cars don’t really belong with the “contemporary” cars. They are older designs dressed up to be current style in those years. My “New Edge” SN-95 is basically a 20 year old dressed up FOX body that dates to the early eighties. Granted it has some serious improvements over the original FOX (It is stiffer, bigger brakes, more room in the wheel wells, etc). But it is still the same 20+ year old design. A 2005 model is far superior in many ways. Similar for the Camaro.
The engineering at the core of these cars is now 40 years old. They are not “contemporary”. They are not classics either.... 'tis a quandary. The issues noted above were part of the reasons given for the change. In addition, SCCA needed needed to get more participation in CAM-T and these cars are good candidates for the move.
Last year when they raised CAM-C from 3250# minimum to 3300# many of us with these “out of sync” niche cars cried foul. I wrote a bit of a flamer to my friend Raleigh Boreen asking him what the hell was going on. I regret doing that and apologized later. I had forgotten he drives a Camaro in this same niche. Raleigh calmly explained the logic behind the weight change and yes, there is method to that particular madness (the entire CAM class is methodical madness anyway - and we embrace the madness). He noted to me that they will be reviewing this to try and fix the issue. He was true to his word.
So minimum weight for CAM-T is 3000#. Everything I have written about above turned out to be for one national event (sigh). Overall I am quite happy with the change. But now I have a new problem: Removing the 75# ballast will be easy. Removing another 240 pounds? That would be pretty hard. Thinking…
I saw on the CAM Nation FB page a guy putting a late model GM G-body on an entire Corvette C6 chassis. Same wheelbase. Appears to be legal. CAM is a really cool class. Yes it is.
I have decided the initials actually stand for: Classic American Madness.
KentF said:Those pumps are made for air and apparently don't last. We need a simple pump system in between the full on drag race vacuum pump and the normal intake manifold vacuum system. I am amazed someone has not developed and marketed this. If they have, I have not found it.
Dry sump is the answer you're looking for.
KentF said:So minimum weight for CAM-T is 3000#. Everything I have written about above turned out to be for one national event (sigh). Overall I am quite happy with the change. But now I have a new problem: Removing the 75# ballast will be easy. Removing another 240 pounds? That would be pretty hard. Thinking…
It won't be has hard as you think. I'm currently sitting at 3057lbs with a torque arm, 4 point roll bar, full tank of gas, CAM legal interior, and ZERO cutting. I expect to be very close to the minimum next season.
*edit; that weight was before the latest trip up on the jackstands. I've found another 24lbs since then. I weigh things as I take them off.
Thanks Patientzero.
If I pull the OEM seats out of Mistress and put in Race Seats that might get me halfway there. They don't have very good side support and are getting fairly worn looking anyway. They make lighter hoods than the composite OEM hood also. In the mean time, I have other things that require attention (as written below).
I have considered a dry sump. However, it is fairly expensive and the high vacuum can create other issues. Remember, this car is also street driven in summer ('cuz it is fun!). That said, I can imagine that the oil flying around in 1.2 g turns and nose dive breaking is not very good either. I would have to retrofit the oil pan or have one made. No one makes a dry sump pan for this engine. Thanks for the suggestion. It got me thinking more about this...
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