My goal...10's w/PT54 and unported heads

[DonnieShort]

Tonights results:

11.18@119.76 with a 1.626 60'.

........and a blown head gasket

I got a little gready and went too far. Looking back at DS, car did go to 4 degrees knock for a split second. I guess that was enough to pop it. I am now getting ready to pull it apart to see what damage was done. If the engine is allright, I will through another stock gasket on this week and try again next weekend. Unfortunately I will not be able to say "unopened motor" :frown:

It was fun while it lasted! I think I gave it a good try. Good luck to everyone else that is trying for the same goal. I came up .18 seconds too short.

It's going to be a long night, I will post again tomarrow with the results of the tare down.

Boy you got close! You gave a good effort, but ( you know this is coming ) you were warned. Very good go at it though.

 

[KevinB]

Boy you got close! You gave a good effort, but ( you know this is coming ) you were warned. Very good go at it though.

I knew it was coming. I pushed the car to it's limits. Looking back on it,I would have done it again. What fun is it if you don't push it? Yeah I have to tare it apart, but I almost got my goal. Last year my car went the best of 12.4. All I wanted this year was to make it to the 11's. I now can say I met that goal with a little time to spare. I think it was worth it. 10's would have been great, but I am happy with the 11.185!

Now the question is....to port or not to port?

 

[norbs]

Me too keep us posted!


I predict an 11.16@120.8

My prediction was pretty close, pm me your address i will send you smaller mystery gift, for effort.

 

[DonnieShort]

I knew it was coming. I pushed the car to it's limits. Looking back on it,I would have done it again. What fun is it if you don't push it? Yeah I have to tare it apart, but I almost got my goal. Last year my car went the best of 12.4. All I wanted this year was to make it to the 11's. I now can say I met that goal with a little time to spare. I think it was worth it. 10's would have been great, but I am happy with the 11.185!

Now the question is....to port or not to port?

You should be thrilled with that time! That's haulin' serious a$$ for an unopened motor.
Oh, and to answer your question, by all means port the heads. Therein lays your .18 and then some

And Norbs, very nice thing to do!!

 

[JC Turbo]

This suspense has been better than a reality show I really wanted to see you hit the 10's. Now we'll see what TURBOTIMMER and I can do this weekend. Hopefully we're not tearing motors down. By all means keep us in the loop on what you have to do to repair it.

 

[Turbo1dr]

My crystal ball was correct about the headgaskets!

This was a good thread and I could see the peer pressure coming into play. Now, it's time to pour a bunch more money in that thing and be disappointed that the car doesn't give you the time slips you expect after that.

14's down to 12's = hundreds of dollars.
11's to the 10's = thousands.
9's = time to morgage the house!

Good luck with your quest for 10's!

 

[KevinB]

Just got the heads off. Doesn't look good for this motor. Number one has a hole in it. You guys were wrong about the headgasket! It was still good :wink:

I guess this puts me out for the year. I'll be back next year with something a little stronger and better. I'm thinking about trying one of those Weber strokers with a girdle and some decent heads. Now I have to work some major OT this winter to pay for it Now I will never get my body work and paint job done.

Thanks for all the support. Sorry I did not make it. For those in this thread that are also trying for the 10's....keep this thread alive or start a new one and keep me posted! Good luck to you and hope you get better results

 

[Dusty Bradford]

Kevin B

Can you give us a rundown on your fuel system?

I've been hoping you'd bust into the 10's so I'm sorry to hear about the carnage.

Now the reason I am asking about your fuel system. I put a hole through #1 myself with stock pistons and have seen more like it. We're always told the rear cylinders always run lean so those should be the first to detonate which should knock a hole in the rear cylinders first

I have seen 3 motor's myself with stock pistons and holes in #1 cylinder. All cars had good double pumper fuel systems. My next thought is a fuel volume issue since #1 is the last injector to get fuel the way our fuel rail is designed.

I guess it's just something else to think about. I would definately go over your pumps and check the voltage to the entire system before going at it again.

 

[norbs]

As long as you have fuel pressure, it should not matter where the injector is in the rail as long as you have pressure the volume should be constant at the same temperasture. Airflow issues could be the problem. Kevin did you have a powerplate?

 

[Dusty Bradford]

I agree Norbs. If the fuel pressure doesn't fall then there should be enough volume and each cylinder should get equal amounts of fuel.

Just makes you wonder though. Why does an engine with stock pistons always seem to take out #1 when pushed to it's limit's? I have seen 3 with my own eye's now Kevin has the exact thing happen.

Can the ignition system somehow put more stress on #1. It shouldn't be a coolant circulation issue since the water returns to the front of the intake.

Just thinking out loud.........

2 with stock plenums without power plate

1 with Hemco plenum

KevinB plenum???

 

[KevinB]

Dusty, here are the details on my fuel system:
New Walbro pump, hot wired of course.
65# injectors
...and yes, I do have the RJC plate.

It is my fault why this happened. The car was going lean all night. Instead of just stopping or not pushing it as hard...I kept going. I think I have a voltage issue. This happened w/o a voltage booster. I do have a Caspers booster, but the car does not seem to like it at all. Going down the track, the car runs like sh** with it on. I started the night with it on. It went 11.5 with my 02's safely in the 800's. I took it off and cranked the fuel pressure up, the 02's were constantly in the mid 700's, no matter what fuel pressure I used. I gotta get that volt booster to work!


My new plan: I am going to hunt down a good stock piston. That piston will be installed back into the engine with the engine still in the car. The cylinder bore still looks good. I hope to be back at it in 2 weeks!

 

[Turbo1dr]

Sorry to hear it was piston instead of the headgasket. Usually the gasket goes first. Post a picture of the piston if you can.

 

[KevinB]

Piston found!! I am going to go pick it up today. Thanks to Lonnie Diers!

 

[DonnieShort]

Dusty, here are the details on my fuel system:
New Walbro pump, hot wired of course.
65# injectors
...and yes, I do have the RJC plate.

It is my fault why this happened. The car was going lean all night. Instead of just stopping or not pushing it as hard...I kept going. I think I have a voltage issue. This happened w/o a voltage booster. I do have a Caspers booster, but the car does not seem to like it at all. Going down the track, the car runs like sh** with it on. I started the night with it on. It went 11.5 with my 02's safely in the 800's. I took it off and cranked the fuel pressure up, the 02's were constantly in the mid 700's, no matter what fuel pressure I used. I gotta get that volt booster to work!


My new plan: I am going to hunt down a good stock piston. That piston will be installed back into the engine with the engine still in the car. The cylinder bore still looks good. I hope to be back at it in 2 weeks!

I noticed that you're in Cincinnati, I'm in Central Ky. Our weather is usually close to the same. I was planning on going to the track last night but it was really cold here last night. I'm sure the cold weather played a pretty big role in what happened to your car. Cold weather will cause a tune to lean out pretty quick. So it's probably not as much your fault as you might think. I know when it turns cold here I have to richen everything up quite a bit for just regular driving. Forecast low here last night was 28º prime weather for causing an engine to lean out if you're into it pretty hard. In the next couple of months pay attention to the Tech area, there will be a rash of blown headgaskets due to leaning out from the cold weather. It happens every year. Good Luck on the rebuild!!

 

[Dusty Bradford]

Good luck Kevin. It must already be on your side because when I took out #1 it also knocked a thumb sized hole in the cylinder wall.

 

[KevinB]

Good luck Kevin. It must already be on your side because when I took out #1 it also knocked a thumb sized hole in the cylinder wall.

Well, I looked at it again this morning. It did damage the wall :frown: Looks like I will pull it out tomarrow and start with a rebuild.

 

[Dusty Bradford]

I was able to save the stock block by having it sleeved. The shop left a step on the bottom of the wall for the sleeve to sit on and it worked well for 3 years of racing after that with no issues.

Hopefully your's won't be as bad.

 

[norbs]

The piston is melted ?

 

[DCVING 6]

It went 11.5 with my 02's safely in the 800's. I took it off and cranked the fuel pressure up, the 02's were constantly in the mid 700's, no matter what fuel pressure I used.

no wideband?

 

[KevinB]

Norbs, the piston is melted. I will try to get some pics of it. DCVING, no wideband. The stock o2 is what I have neen using. When the new motor is in, a wideband will be used!
Dusty, It looks like a .03 may take care of it. If not, what does a sleeve run? I found a 109 engine in the local yard for $300.