What I learned at the Nationals running TAI (Sorry long post)

[imjoesnuffy]

1. Contrary to popular belief, my motor loves RPMs.
2. My motor with 5 years and about 30,000 miles on it, is no where close to being worn out.
3. Shifting from 2nd to 3rd myself picked up 3 tenths in the 1/4 mile.
4. Shifting from 1st to 2nd myself I picked up another 2 tenths in the 1/4 mile.
5. Running any heads up class is A LOT more fun than just test and tune.

Friday I finally made it to BG. Due to a family emergency I didn't have time to prepare my car AT ALL. I did manage to get the oil changed, that was it. Didn't even change the spark plugs, they have been in there at least 6 months.

All passes were on 93 octane and Alcohol injection via AlkyControl. Single 4 yr old Walbro pump hotwired, 60 # injectors and riding on 275/60-15 MT ET Streets at 20 psi. All launches were at 14-16 psi @ 4200 rpm.

First pass off the trailer netted a 7.017@101.44 in the 1/8 and 10.907, trapped 150 mph??? (Traps were messed up in the left lane) This was at 28 psi. Right where it has been for past year or so.

2nd pass after a two hour cool down. I decided to shift the 2/3 myself, after checking the powerlogger it was shifting at 5300 rpm on its own. I shifted at 6000 and it netted a 6.74@102.23 in the 1/8 and 10.62 (again at 147). With my personal best 60 foot at 1.55:smile:

3rd pass same thing with similar results 6.80@102.64 in the 1/8 and a 10.65 @126. I was very pleased with how my car was running.

Saturday morning rolls around for TAI qualifying. We met at the gas station and put in 10 gallons of 93 octane pumpgas.
I decided to bump the boost up to 31 psi, uncorked the exhaust at the dump, set timing to 26 in 1/2 and leave it at 21 in 3/4. Using the turbotweak chip I set the desired AF ratio to 10.8 in 1/2 and 10.5 in 3/4. What the heck, I'll try the 1-2 and the 2-3 shift.

1st pass at 10:46AM, TAI qualifying: I shifted the 1-2 myself at 6200 and the 2-3 at 6000. Netting a 6.65@105.83 1/8 and a 10.40@132 I was dumbfounded, I thought there might be a problem with the lights again. If you would have bet me $1000 my car would have ran a 10.40 prior to this weekend, I would be broke, because I would have taken that bet many times over. This made me the #2 qualifier, I was in shock.

1st round of TAI eliminations at 11:45: I had been paired up against Randy Quiggins. I watched him run 10.31 on Friday, but he broke the rear end in his car the day prior. He wrenched on it that night and got it back in that morning. He was also fighting a spark issue under boost. I even said out loud, well I am going home the first round. I thought I was done for. I shook his hand and then we lined up.

I ran 6.65@105.91 1/8 and a 10.40 @ 129 and beat Randy. I even said out loud in my car, Holy Sh*t I just beat Randy Quiggins!!! I think it was the closest race in TAI this year, my 10.40 to his 10.51 I was still in disbelief. I thought I would be a field filler at best, but not even close to being competitive.

2nd round of TAI elimination around 12:45 I was paired against Anthony Palmn. I knew he had a high 11, low 12 car. I honestly just pedalled it to stay in front of him. We both ran low 12s. I explained what I did afterwards and he understood I was saving the car. Great young man and I think he is hooked on this Turbo Buick thing.

TAI Finals 2:24PM I was lined up against the #1 qualifier JD Jack Delarenzo. I knew I had to tree him if I was gonna have a chance. I swung at the tree and swung a little too early by 0.05 seconds. I redlighted automatically giving up the win. I ran another 6.65@105 and 10.42@128.

If you have stayed with me this far I have some people to thank. Kip Asplund for building me this 231 CI motor 5 and half years ago. Unbelievable it is still running this strong with 40 psi oil pressure hot at idle. Lee Thompson for building a transmission a few years back that can hold the power this car was putting down, and a true gentleman. Eric Marshall from TurboTweak makes his chips dummy proof, just read and follow the instructions. He does all the hard work of tuning in the chip, it really is that easy. Don Julio for making an amazing Alcohol injection system. It is still on the settings he shipped it at, I haven't touched a thing.

Car weighs 3515 with me in it running 132, calculators estimate 635 HP to the tire. Car was consistent with three different 6.65s and two 10.40s and a 10.42. Simply unbelievable. Hope you enjoyed the read as much as I enjoyed recalling it. Easily the most fun I have had at a Buick event and I didn't tear anything up. Any questions just ask. Looking forward to racing TAI again.

Take care,
John

 

[TurboJoe3.8]

Congratulations, that is awesome! Great story, I enjoyed reading it.

What was your previous best of to this point?


What is your combo?

 

[696]

Dang John, sounds like you did have a good time. Kip, Collin and Davey all helped me out as well. The PT-51 is still running strong!!

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Best to this point was a 10.86 @ 127 last year at the Nationals. Picked up almost a half second with just suspension work over the year and changing the shift points.

Combo:
231 Hot Air 20 Bolt Block Casting #140 with a CAT Girdle, STD/STD Turbo crank, Home ported irons, forged Speed Pro pistons, 206/206 Comp HR cam and lifters, 5 yr old valvesprings, 70 P-trim turbo, Art Carr 19930 N Stall torque convertor, 30 spline eaton posi with moser axles, stock ported intake, stock TB, stock plenum and powerstroke front mount intercooler, LS1 MAF and translator plus, powerlogger and scanmaster for tuning.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Dang John, sounds like you did have a good time. Kip, Collin and Davey all helped me out as well. The PT-51 is still running strong!!

I really did, it was one extreme of emotions to the other for me last week. My brother was statflighted to Kosair Hospital with a broken neck, multiple jaw and facial fractures, intercranial bleeding and his girlfriend was killed at the scene of a car wreck on Monday. He is incredibly lucky to be alive. He made it through his first surgery and when he was moved out of ICU I knew he would spend most of the day sleeping, so I decided to go to the Nats. Anything to take my mind off of that tragedy. He is home now with my Dad, in a neck brace and in pain but still above ground. He has to wait for his neck to heal before they can finish the facial reconstruction. Like I said, very lucky to be alive.

Crank that PT-51 up, I know it will do at least 11.09 @ 123:biggrin:

 

[Slow91z]

Sorry to hear about your brother and his girl...That's gonna be a rough road.

Glad to hear you had a great time though, I wish I had been able to see some of the other rounds, not just the final.

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Sorry to hear about your brother and his girl...That's gonna be a rough road.

Glad to hear you had a great time though, I wish I had been able to see some of the other rounds, not just the final.

Thanks Collin. Was good seeing you at the Nats. Plenty of time to wrench on cars over the winter.

 

[Pronto]

Ugg, that's rough for your brother. Hope everything works out.
You got some nice numbers there for a relatively simple build. Congrats on it.

 

[jdsgnx]

John so sorry to hear about your Family, Will keep you and your family in our prayers.

Your car sounds like it's come a long way, been fighting suspesion issues for a while too.

Hope you can make it to T/B.com Nat's in May!!!!

JD

 

[bad V6]

John, congradulations on the performance at BG. I am sorry to hear about the tough times that your family is going through, you and your family will be in our prayers.

Pat

 

[imjoesnuffy]

Thanks for the well wishes. He is young (15) and will recover. It's tough on him being that young, losing most of his teeth and not looking the same. He knows they will have to re-break some of the bones in his face when his neck heals. Cant do the surgery turning his head side to side with a broken neck.

I really feel for the other family. The driver was the older sister of the girl who was killed. They were out cruising after HS let out doing something stupid like teenagers will do, and luck was not on their side. We have all done things and got away with it by pure luck when we were younger. She tried to take her own life the following morning. Pretty bad deal all the way around.

 

[charlief1]

This is a shame about your brother John. I will keep both of them in my prayers.

Glad to see you home and making the car work better though. Now if only I can get mine going and have a little fun like you did.

 

[Kip]

John, you did an outstanding job at BG this year. I am proud of you. A few times I noticed you were wondering around like you had a lot on your mind and I just figured it was the racing, now I know the rest of the story. That is alot to deal with for everyone involved.

Take care, Kip

 

[Speed_Dreamin']

We met at the gas station and put in 10 gallons of 93 octane pumpgas.
I decided to bump the boost up to 31 psi, uncorked the exhaust at the dump, set timing to 26 in 1/2 and leave it at 21 in 3/4.

I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to what boost and timing guys are running on 93 and alky, but this amazes me. I thought for sure I would read later in your post that you hurt the motor. Very impressive.

 

[Blazer406]

Great read.... and congrats!

 

[696]

Any new updates on your brother???

 

[imjoesnuffy]

He started back to school this week. He is making a couple visits a week to the doctors to follow up on his face, jaw and neck. Still waiting on his neck to heal in a rigid neck brace before they finish his facial surgery and put in dental implants to replace all of the missing/broken teeth.

 

[Blazer406]

Dang.... I didn't read the part about your brother...... I read your initial post... then scrolled down to the bottom and replied. May God be with him and both families. Goodspeed to his healing and future surgeries.