this whole post is a copy-paste from TGo so I didn't have to retype it again for njfboa.
Sorry if the formatting is weird.
After getting the converter bolted in, trans back in, driveshaft, y-pipe, new spark plugs, fixing a stripped header bolt into the Dart 215 aluminum cylinder head, and topping off trans fluid, I went out at 11pm last friday night and put 121 miles on the car, making sure to lockup the converter manually probably more than 100 times, under light loads in several gears. The 3800 Yank converter takes a slight bit more throttle input than the 3400 Edge to get it going from a stop, but its not anything drastic or bothersome. Fluid temps stayed normal the whole time during this drive, but ESPECIALLY when I had it locked up. Wow, in OD (4th gear) on t he highway I was taking the unlocked rpms to about 3200 or so and then activating lockup, and it would take 900to1000 rpms out of it! The old edge converter took about 400-500 rpms out of it in OD, but this is double that. It engages with a solid feel and totally feels like I have a 5th gear; incredible. Got home around 12:45 am, well pleased. Put another 11 miles on the converter the next day while fueling up and whatnot, and then for the remainder of the 150 mile break in period I counted my slow and easy drive to Island Dragway as part of it on Sunday morning. This meant that I arrived at the track with no heavy-footed brake-stall testing or knowledge of how things would react under heavy load. Oh well, that's why I was just doing the Test-n-Tune portion of the race day and not the brackets.
After the usual safety-tech inspection I got the care prepped related to tire pressure and suspension settings.
** SIDENOTE; the tech guys confirmed some of the rumors that I had been hearing about most tracks starting to switch their big and medium sized race events over to 8th mile only. Only a few events and some test-n-tune events will remain 1/4 mile. I think a lot of people watched it happen elsewhere, and they said most north eastern tracks are doing this in 2023. Anyways, there was not that many cars and bikes there at the track, so I was hopeful that I would get a good 7or8 runs in, but we all knew that rain was on its way in the early afternoon.
Set front tires to 50psi, rear tires both to 18.4psi, rear shocks D: 2.5 and P: 3, rear air bags D: 7.2psi and P 10.2psi. I went off of the settings that were close to where I have had luck in the past, but I think I am going to soften up the bags, shocks, and tires in the future, just a little bit.
mid-typing photo break.
Pass 1:
Did a 6 second burnout, but I had the rpms too low and not sure if it was sufficient. Staged, and got on the footbrake while throttling up, but it revved past where I intended it to be, and slow pushed through the beams. So, I just launched and took the red light rather than restarting the process. The tires spun (track was glued but had no heat in it whatsoever yet). Pedaled it very quickly and it hooked and pulled the front drivers tire up a few inches! (Unknown about the converter flash on this pass due to the pedaling). Shifted at 6512 (rev limiter) and it dropped to 5138. Shifted from 2-3 at 6181 and it dropped to 5275. Crossed the finish line at 6042, but I was very tender on the throttle for my first pass with the converter, and I never went full WOT (see upper green line on the datalog, that's the TPS sensor. Normally it would be 100% the whole pass). Glad to not have any noises, weird vibrations, shakes, or issues after the whole converter/trans project; got the jitters out of my brain. DA was 1,441 and the temp was 64deg with 72% humidity. my mph was slow, but the sixty foot was better than I had EVER done wit the old converter, and again, this was with tire spin off the line!
Timeslip:
Datalog screenshot:
GoPro camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Fdm2NVG3I
Dashcam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDseA3LsBTg
Pass 2:
After a very brief look at the datalog, I jumped back in the lanes because there was talk of rain coming inbound. I kept the shocks and air bags the same, but lowered the rear tire pressure to 17.4 psi. Did another 6 second burnout, but had the rpms higher this time and got some heat into the tires. Footbraked the car to 18811 rpms and think I can go more in the future, but 1800 was my number last time or else it would push through the beams. Launched and according to the datalog, it looks like the converter flashed to 4773 rpms?! Datalog shows it went rich (9.6 afr) at tip in, so I will have to sort that out. It definitely lifted the front up on this pass, and that felt good. I short shifted it though, at 6267 which dropped to 5227 and then shifted the 2-3 at 6319 which dropped to 5365 in 3rd gear. Crossed the finish line at 6-63 rpms. It felt fast, despite the rich dip at the launch and the short shifting, and only being at a max of 91% throttle instead of 100% wot the whole pass, it went my fastest 1/4 mile e.t ever, of 11.67. Mph was slow, but I think I have an idea why. Most importantly,. the launch felt great, and the timeslip showed that It went 1.491 in the sixty foot, which is by far my fastest N/A sixty, and real close to my best ever nitrous launch sixty (which was 1.44). Dave Meyers at Yank had told me back in august, that my days of bring in the 1.6x second sixty foot zone were over and assured me I would be in the low 1.5x to high 1.4x sixty, and he was dead on, even on my first outing. WOW! Got a nice photo of it too. DA was 1412 and 64deg with 74% humidity.
Untitled by
David Martin, on Flickr
Timeslip:
GoPro camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKu5XHdB1QI
Dashcam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O0e56IC5v4
Pass 3:
Decided that I was going to try an easy progressive nitrous pass, so I turned on the bottle. Small rain sprinkle came in and I had the bottle heater off. They dried the track quick and called us to the line, and I had no heat in the bottle so nitrous pressure was only 825 psi, very not-optimal. I had the 150 hp nitrous jets in there but had the shot ramped in from 50% of 150 hp over a 1.2 second sweep. So basically it was a 75 shot at the hit and then it would ramp to the 150 hp in 1.2 seconds. Did another 6 second burnout. Footbraked on the line to 1691 and launched. Car hooked and with the nitrous hitting, it looks like it flashed the converter to 5130 rpms. I short shifted 1-2 at 6297 which dropped rpms to 5717 in second gear (woah, only a 600 rpm drop! nice) Took second gear to a short shifting 6208 rpms and this dropped it to 5574 rpms in 3rd. I had set my high-side rpm limit on the nitrous to turn the nitrous off at 6300 so at the top end of the track it hit that nitrous rev limiter a few hundred feet away from the line, so I got off the nitrous button and finished all motor at 6263 rpms. Timeslip was pretty good, again, testing only today. DA was 1560 at 66 def and 74% humidity.
Timeslip:
Datalog screenshot:
GoPro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JD7Erz96S8
Dashcam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtjQLzYHd5s
Was super motivated to get another pass in, and I had changed the nitrous settings to be a fixed all-in 150hp shot which would come on at 3,200 rpms in 1st gear. I heated up the bottle to 975 psi in the lanes, and just as they were running the motorcycles it began to rain with no chance of it stopping anytime soon. So, just when i had my confidence boosted up, the track closed for the day. Packed up the car in the rain and chatted with a few of my buddies before hitting the road. Drove the car home in the rain with zero issues. Overall a good first test outing, but I know I would have benefitted from a few more test passes. I am elated about some of the numbers I am seeing, especially the less severe rpm drop in between changing gears, which is something Dave Meyers said his converter would resolve! I had left the whole 4" mufflex exhaust system off the car when installing the converter/trans and I am definitely going to put that back on (later today probably) and do an oil change. I want to check spark plugs too, and a few other things, but I am super excited to get back out to the dragstrip for some more passes. Was planning on going tomorrow, but this rain from hurricane Ian is now here in NJ and it might wash out the whole weekend. Nonetheless, I am going to prep and pack the car to go race tomorrow anyways.
***Oh, and the photos I took of the photographers online photos, I DID buy two color printouts from him, but they will take 2 weeks to be delivered, so I didn't really steal these from his website, since I paid for prints.. I just don't have them yet.
So, some more track time, and a nice 150 fixed nitrous shot launch looks promising for getting both wheels up high in the air and a nice photo! And some real quick sixty foots I hope are also in store!
I'd say at least 60% of my race events these past few years end up with me driving home in the rain. Ha, but ugh!
