Re: Dyno tune, bearings, light, tracks....

I don't recall if i posted here, but my last track event was cut somewhat short by the passing of a left front wheel bearing. Wow it was bad!
I did make it home on my own, but was nervous.

I elected to drop the car at a young engineer-turned-speed-shop who offered to first do a gratis dyno pull with all the engine management stuff connected, on the theory that my car was probably not ideally tuned with a factory map and a very un-factory motor. The closed feedback loop (o2 sensors) had it darn close, but he was right. Wandering and sometimes leaner than ideal (heat), other times richer (waste fuel, emissions).

So i had a custom tune done, which resulted in better drive ability and a rise from 238 --> 249 HP at the rear wheels (about 280 at the crank, working backwards).

i also had him do the 4 wheel bearings, which only had 233,000 miles on them :-) Unfortunately, this turned into a series of fiascos that I wont go into, but in the end i have nice new wheel bearings, and at the same time swapped my driveshafts for backup units so I can re-grease/boot the originals.

Finally, i put in the replacement headlights i bought from Steve. Wow, they look *new*. go Steve! Considering how the old one's looked this is a facelift for the old girl.

Bottom line - car pulling very well, and very smoothly. It should, pretty much everything is new!

So tonight (afternoon) i head to Thunderbolt, NJMP for two days on track.

As an investment in a used car, this has become silly. As a track car that is built to (i hope) last, its actually a decent deal. And I really like the way it drives now, and have a chassis with essentially no electronic nannies, and that old-school mechanical feel.

next job, oil pressure and temperature in the console. Gauges ordered, one sensor installed, one to go.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Great news, Grant. Glad to hear the car is running well and getting sorted out for track duty.
Given the bump in HP and figuring it's a bit lighter than it was new, it should be quick enough to be very entertaining at the track.

If this is blue car, I had all four bearing changed staggered within 20K fronts to rears...... don't remember the mileage, but say around 100K miles.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

long story, but they were a) trashed and b) nightmares to get out. Frozen and broken everything.

But in the end all seems well.

The aftermarket driveshafts I took a chance on at the same time ...... not so much. Bottom line: Avoid chinese steel.

G

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com