squirrel's 55 chevy

[squirrel]

Looks like your "fan shroud" got a second shot at life. What was it in it's first life?lol

Realty signs from my wife's grandfather. Probably from the 70s.

[cantvalve16]

Good stuff. That's hot rodding right there.

[CTX-SLPR]

Don't go too thick on the radiator paint, it'll really cut down on the heat transfer and decrease the air flow.

[Deaf Bob]

How did you do at the drags?

[TC]

How did you do at the drags?

12's......... I don't think he's happy.......

[squirrel]

12s....yeah, oh well.

The radiator paint really isn't a big deal. Think about it...most of the heat transfer takes place inside on the fins, where you can't really get much paint. It cools better now, stays 180-190 when the car is moving, although it does heat up when it's sitting still. I haven't been in big city traffic with it yet, though. I need to check the fan clutch, something makes me think it might be getting tired after 15 years. I might also switch to a 2" wide drive belt, which will give more room for the fan. There is very little clearance between the fan and the blower belt and pulleys.

[CDMBill]

To put some context on the drag times, Jim runs it as he brung it other than taking a couple of tool boxes out of the closet he calls a trunk. We had 6200 DA at the beginning of the evening 6000 by the last pass I made at 10:29 PM. 12.07 corrects to 11.33.

[squirrel]

Thanks Bill!

Oh...did I mention that I had a fun drive home? I went thru Sonoita, the old boat handles ok on the turns if I slow down to 55. The 3.70 gears are nice on relatively short drives, around 65 mph at 3000 rpm with the 275/60 drag radials.

[squirrel]

Oh yeah....video.

[mlcraven]

I'll take that over NHRA plastic cars on cable any day!

[squirrel]

Discovered a little problem when I was changing ball joints yesterday...lots of wear on my new front tires. I had intended to get it aligned right after I installed the taller springs, but the shop was busy, which put it off for a week or two, then they found the ball joints were worn, which put it off for another couple weeks...meanwhile I was driving around and never even eyeballed the alignment. Mucho toe in, scrubbed off lots of tread. Oh well. They were cheap tires.

Got the 33 tooth upper pulley to replace the 35 tooth. It has a 36 tooth lower, so it was 3% over. Now it's 9% over. But boost only went up a little bit, from about 6.5 psi to about 7 psi here in air starved Sierra Vista at 4500 ft elevation.

I have a 38 tooth lower pulley on order, but I guess they had to scrounge some beer cans to melt down to make it, so it's taking a long time to get here.

[Huskinhano]

Great clip, thanks for posting it. Your car really sounds nice!

[Deaf Bob]

Good luck at the HAMB drags... Hope it accomplishes what you desire...

[Beagle]

what does that do to boost when you lose 3500-4000 feet? IIRC, that is a purpose built under 8:1 blower motor, but does that get it close to needing water/meth or race gas?

/edit - oh yeah, good luck!

[squirrel]

Thanks!

It's been a while since I had the boost gage on it. I seem to recall that driving at lower elevations adds a bit, but I dont remember how much. I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

I have put a lot of miles on the car running 87 octane, and I've never heard a ping from the engine. I guess I must be doing something right, 100k miles on the same pistons....