Build thread + Racing Updates

[Magnethead]

New car = New Thread.

Dad went by the other day to pick up the windows, headers, and other misc small parts. All the bodywork has been repaired, primered, and block sanded. They sprayed a test panel and it came out good.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Also have made progress on my truck. Brought it home from the fab shop (Kebin Kinsley's House of Nitro) last night.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Dad put the engine in it last weekend and built an alternator mount. Headers are really ehhhhhh but we'll make them work.

But the wiring is NOT going to work. It's all getting ripped out completely, and starting over. Judging by the holes in the midplate, it has had a small block chevy, a big block chevy, and a hemi in it at verious points. It's also had BOTH a lenco and a Liberty based on the cutout of the transmission tunnel, in addition to a powerglide.

I've done as much research as possible, but we can't figure out the history of it at all. We just know it's been in a barn the last several years.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Ripped all the old electrical out this morning. Also found some issues that will need to be remediated.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Tore down the engine the rest of the way this morning. It preserved well, being under a shelf for the last 5-6 years. The only rust was on the inside of the oil pan. Although, at some point the oil pump pickup screen had broken off. Bearings all look good. Plan is to put the old crankshaft from the blower engine in it, new rods and valve springs, reuse the pistons and rest of the valvetain.

 

[DanicaFreak]

your dad gonna have a frakentruck too?

btw Mags - what is your daily now?

 

[Magnethead]

your dad gonna have a frakentruck too?

btw Mags - what is your daily now?

I didn't say it was a truck anywhere But i'm leaving some clues in the background of the first photo....

This engine was in our camaro from 2011 to 2013, in the dragster from 2014 to 2017.

The block/cam/crank/rods all have at least 1,000 passes on them. We don't remember if we ever changed the pistons or not. We put new rod/main bearings in it every other year.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

your dad gonna have a frakentruck too?

btw Mags - what is your daily now?

Daily is a 2011 Ram 1500 (Hemi). Has 194,000 miles on it. Cam failed around 160K so it has MDS delete and some other goodies.

Heading to Rocky Mountain Race Week, the whole combination weighed about 15,600 pounds. Going over Raton pass was...interesting. A very slow crawl in manual 1 and 2.

The dakota is ~4300 pounds
The race support trailer is ~1300 pounds
The flatbed is ~3000 pounds
The ram is ~7000 pounds

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Pulled the transmission out of the dakota over the course of the last week, doing pits and pieces here and there.

Opened it up last night and..... it's immaculate after 2,000 miles of moving about 6,000 pounds of weight.

So now we're not sure what when wrong in Bandimere. Going to take the torque converter to a shop to get cut open and looked at.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Making progress here and there.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

It's funny how much you think you know, but don't. Several things on this new car have been baffling dad and I, so I started reaching out to people smarter than us for answers.

Along the way, I borrowed some AI technology and ended up reading a 1989 issue of Hot Rod Magazine, which then got me a name, which got me a city, which got me another name....and finally by the end of today I had found the original builder of our new toy - all the way up in Menominee, Michigan. The guy is 73 years old and still building cars, but wasn't much to talk on the phone. I did find his son on Facebook and we've been sharing stories since.

We still don't have the full story, but so, so many things are becoming clearer now.

And just purchased LED head and Taillights for it. New wheels should be here within a week or two. We're starting to make headway on the electrical. Everything in the back is done, now to focus on the engine electrical.

 

[Magnethead]

Got the LED taillights installed and sorted out. That was interesting to play with - The tails were wires with Brake as hot and Running as ground. Works fine with a CK style bulb.... Once we got that sorted out, all looks good now.

Also test-fit the LED headlights. they are BRIGHT for only drawing 3.5 amps. Need to play with the retainer bracket a little, not a fan of it.

Front wheels arrived on Thursday, got them mounted and balanced this weekend. Rear wheels shipped today.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Back wheels will be here tomorrow. Picked up tires in Dallas while running around for the day job.

The dash also came out super nice in hydro-dipped carbon.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Got the dash back from HydroDip and got new back wheels on. Working on electrical.

On the opposite spectrum...Got the trans in my truck after 4 weeks, only to find more issues...get to un-bolt it all again and pull the engine out.
Thinking what the borescope shows is carbon deposits flaking loose....but cylinders 3 and 5 have 80% leakdown and only 120 psi of compression. The other 6 cylinders are tight with80 psi compression.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[BobbyFord]

Looks like ring wash if that’s on the thrust side of the piston.

 

[Magnethead]

Looks like ring wash if that’s on the thrust side of the piston.

that's on the sides I believe. Could kinda see the thrust side, and not the top side at all. We'll have a better idea once the head is off. We could pull the driver side head in the truck, but if we find something, I want to be able to pull the passenger head - even though all 4 on that side have 180 psi of compression. The passenger head can't come off in the truck, at least any kind of easily.

Got the front drive accessories and radiator off tonight and headers unbolted from the heads. All the electrical is unplugged.

Need to unbolt the collectors, pull the headers out the top, slide the transmission back (somehow) to get it off the dowels and supported on a sling, drain the oil, unhook the oil cooler, pull the distributor cap, and then should be ready for the pluck.

 

[Magnethead]

Today has been a data whirlwind.

Got home, pulled headers, oil filter, oil cooler off. Borescoped intake valves. 100% oil fudge cake going on in the intake runners.

Started a conversation about Holley on Mopar, and got told 4 different ways not to run a dual-sync distributor. Apparently the crank signal is trash on them.
Three of them went to a MSD style flying magnet.
One went a way I actually like better - Welding an LS 58x reluctor wheel to the back of the Mopar crank pulley. That way none of the front drive has to be spaced out, and it works hunky-dory with parts store available LS sensors.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VojdnfFjtHMDt8EK9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/gC1c262qu15veS747

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Dh68Wug4VvnthrKFA

 

[BobbyFord]

Where’s the oil coming from?

 

[BobbyFord]

Oil injection from the hair dryer?

 

[Magnethead]

Where’s the oil coming from?

Guessing valve seals more than likely.

 

[BobbyFord]

Guessing valve seals more than likely.

I had that on a gray market BMW once. I rebuilt the engine but my boss sent the head out to his machinist instead of the guy I always used. The engine used a lot oil after the rebuild. The head was fresh with new viton seals. The guides were out of spec. We sent the head to my engine guy and the oil consumption was over.
The boss thought it was my ring job and said he pay my again if it was the head but I’d have to eat the labor if it was the bore. He lied and we both learned a lesson.

 

[Magnethead]

Got the engine out of the dakota and both heads off. Intakes 3 and 5 definitely failed the water test, and the runners are visibly burned where the flame front was breaking past the valve seat.

Pulled the springs off and the guides (or lack thereof) are very loose. Valves are floppy at full lift and that's likely contributing to the valve seals leaking.

Talked to 2 different machine shops and already made my mind up on which i'm using. Quote is roughly $1,000 for 16 manganese-bronze guides, 16 valve seals, 16 valve jobs (14 cleanup and 2 fix), and 2 intake valves.

Also making good progress on wiring up the new toy.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Whizzer]

The boss thought it was my ring job and said he pay my again if it was the head but I’d have to eat the labor if it was the bore. He lied and we both learned a lesson.

I had a boss like that when I first entered the serious working world. More than once he made promises and failed to keep them and all but one time did it involve anything except money.
Eventually got to the point where I embarrassed him in front of other people and proving he was screwing me over. His response was to fire me.
It took three months to find another job and it turned out to be the best job I ever had,

 

[BobbyFord]

I had a boss like that when I first entered the serious working world. More than once he made promises and failed to keep them and all but one time did it involve anything except money.
Eventually got to the point where I embarrassed him in front of other people and proving he was screwing me over. His response was to fire me.
It took three months to find another job and it turned out to be the best job I ever had,

The same thing happened to me. I called him out for the money at one of the morning meetings, he fired me on the spot. I went to work for another independent but was making less money. I called Mike back and after a lengthy discussion he hired me back. We started using my machinist for all of our engine work.
Shortly after that I got the job offer from the city.
It all worked out.

 

[Magnethead]

Still waiting on my cylinder heads. So far no major issues found other than Eric can't believe it didn't tear up more parts running the way it was.

We've spent some time working on the new toy. Updating a 23 year old chassis is not for the faint of heart. There's definitely been some struggles along the way.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4V96BT8d6yYvj8xE7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yKwUkgUKpx9kXb3x8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sp8YP3RftctRdywWA

 

[Magnethead]

Went to a new year's nitro party and there was an orange lambo there. It's exactly the look we're going for.

The seat didn't have a headrest originally. Dad made one with some aluminum & integrated it to the seat, which is tailor made to the chassis.

In the middle of all the cold, he also got the quarter and back windows all taken care of with all new MarGuard Lexan. A little more tricky because the windows are flush with the body, including a recessed bevel.

your dad gonna have a frankentruck too?

It's a 2000 S-10 Pro Stock Truck.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Magnethead]

Been a minute since I updated this thread, so let me get ya'll caught up.

We've taken the S-10 out a few times. Got down to 3 cars in our first real race attempt, but the GRID ignition is not a fan of what we're trying to do. Very inconsistent. It also runs hot - PST's were intended to be towed to the lanes, make a pass, be towed back. Driving up isn't terrible. Making the pass isn't terrible. It's coming back on the return road that it builds heat fast. No real good solution there, just an inherit design that the underhood is aerodynamically sealed; Even with a big radiator fan, there's nowhere for the heat to go. Once the hood is off, it cools down fast.

Dakota has come out a couple times too. First trip out and it was dog slow. Found out the water injection is dumping way too much water. Unhooked it but no real change. Also had a huge oil leak.

Took some time to smear a bunch of permatex gray along the back of the intake manifold, replace the O-ring on the distributor shaft (FelPro 6464) along with the gasket (comes with the o-ring), and replace the trans cooler.

Went back on on Saturday, was still stuck in the 8.10's and 8.20's, about 12.40-50's in the 1/4.

Made a pulley change after going out second round of the race, tried and failed a couple experiments, then got a 12.15 out of it. Still way slow. RT's were good in race trim - .036 red, .035 green, .019 red.

0.00 sec
4.00 - 9.67 AFR @ 3071 RPM around 44 kpa on OBD2
3.70 - 9.11 AFR @ 3041 RPM around 44 kpa on OBD2

1.00 sec
4.00 - 11.59 AFR @ 3652 RPM
3.70 - 11.86 AFR @ 3918 RPM

2.00 sec
4.00 - 11.22 AFR @ 4414 RPM
3.70 - 11.27 AFR @ 4780 RPM

3.00 sec
4.00 - 10.73 AFR @ 4684 RPM
3.70 - 11.10 AFR @ 4260 RPM

4.00 sec
4.00 - 11.43 AFR @ 4192 RPM
3.70 - 11.39 AFR @ 4461 RPM

5.00 sec
4.00 - 11.25 AFR @ 4402 RPM
3.70 - 11.23 AFR @ 4676 RPM

6.00 sec
4.00 - 10.76 AFR @ 4606 RPM
3.70 - 10.98 AFR @ 4871 RPM

7.00 sec
4.00 - 10.68 AFR @ 4775 RPM
3.70 - 10.76 AFR @ 5016 RPM

8.00 sec
4.00 - 10.77 AFR @ 4932 RPM
3.70 - 10.43 AFR @ 5154 RPM

9.00 sec
4.00 - 10.59 AFR @ 5082 RPM
3.70 - 10.26 AFR @ 5298 RPM

10.00 sec
4.00 - 10.48 AFR @ 5235 RPM
3.70 - 10.11 AFR @ 5520 RPM

11.00 sec
4.00 - 10.33 AFR @ 5472 RPM
3.70 - 10.09 AFR @ 5740 RPM

12.00 sec
4.00 - 10.10 AFR @ 5666 RPM around 77 KPA on OBD2
3.70 - 10.15 AFR @ 5925 RPM around 83 KPA on OBD2

13.00 sec
4.00 - 10.13 AFR @ 5879 RPM
3.70 - 9.81 AFR @ 6112 RPM

Fuel Sync is confirmed 8-10°
Compression check passes good
1- 175
2- 180
3- 180
4- 165
5- 180
6- 170
7- 160
8- 165

Dad looked at the plugs, there's no heat or discoloration in the threads and soot on the bases. Also very little timing mark. He's thinking it needs more timing , less fuel, or both.

Dakota 2024

25 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

https://photos.app.goo.gl/avjaFVSNZgF2HyvM7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fRaQbvN9XzURVdZb9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ttnc3ZouYj5MtsLUA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FpsGwddve9jHLUGv8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DtmH2sygUCs81cS5A

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iHLi6BchYgLoz5QHA

https://photos.app.goo.gl/D4eZtHimyopUYHy49

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QqMQ4uRMt1VXShgi8

 

[Magnethead]

So after that outing, I went ahead and did a full inspection on the engine since it's slower than it should be. The borescope showed that several cylinders have oil ingress, but only enough to show puddling, not enough to cake the top of the pistons, at least yet. I also ran a compression check, all are 150-170.

However, I did find 2 small pieces of brass in the oil filter and finally found the source of an oil leak - a failed O-Ring fitting on the oil cooler. Replaced the Fragola fitting with an XRP fitting (replaced both on the cooler to be safe), put a new filter on, and had Ryan lean out the tune a bit.

Took it out to Texas Motorplex for Texas Truck Jam. Since it ran slower than it should last outing, I put my fastest blower pulley on it. I also added a blocking solenoid to the water-methanol system.

Between various factors, the boost went up a little more than I expected. I also confirmed that I need to race with a hot transmission so that the fluid is thinner and converter stall is higher - I unplugged the fuse for the transmission cooler fan. Now that I have such a large cooler, it actually over-cools the transmission on the drive back on the return road, and then going up to the staging lanes.

I also learned that the truck, while still not as fast as it should be, is still plenty fast in the right conditions. I also found the "wrong" conditions that I'll need to hit the 12.00 index at Rocky Mountain Race Week.

After that test session, I cut open the oil filter again, and it was completely clean. I still want to drain the oil, run it through a couple paint filters, and put it back in , just to see what trash is in the pan.

I've also added a couple holes in the hood since that outing. I know that taking the hood off will reduce the water temp from 230 to 210 degrees, when ambient is at 100 degrees. I'm hoping that adding a giant vent behind the radiator will extract that heat, so I don't have to take off the hood anymore.

On the time slips, I'm 4941.

Orange is 4.00 pulley (60,240 brpm, 167 kpa)
Black is 3.70 pulley (66,150 brpm, 177 kpa)
Blue/Red are 3.55 pulley (70,400 brpm, 183 kpa)

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Whizzer]

So interesting what you do to try to be at the top of the game. I had no idea what attention to detail is involved in this type of racing. Love the Dakota.

 

[Magnethead]

So interesting what you do to try to be at the top of the game. I had no idea what attention to detail is involved in this type of racing. Love the Dakota.

It's harder when you are pushing the ragged edge of what you should be doing with a given platform. The stock engine block is known to have "cap walk" around 650-700 HP, so I have a girdle that locks all the main caps together so they all walk the same/share the load, and I also have the block "half filled" to make the whole bottom end stronger. The offset of that is that it reduces coolant capacity, so I use an oil cooler to help cool down the bottom end a bit.

But up front, I only have so much room. At a certain point of thickness, radiating units become effectively a brick wall. Having a 4" thick Air-to-Air intercooler, a 1" thick A/C condenser, and a 3" thick radiator is 7" thick total. There would be almost zero air flow. As such, the intercooler and A/C condenser are on bottom - they'll never be used in conjunction, so no worries about one heat-soaking the other. In accordance, the radiator goes on top. End result, radiator is 28" wide and 13" tall. That's a little more than half the size of the factory radiator, BUT the factory radiator had two 3/4" rows and the racing radiator has two 1.25" rows, so I have a little more radiating surface area than factory BUT i'm making significantly more power as well.

Add it all together, with the usual Texas outside ambient of 100 degrees, with the hood on I cruise at 225-230 degrees and with hood removed I cruise at 205-210 degrees. This is also why I stayed iron-headed rather than aluminum heads, the iron all thermal expands the same; Aluminum heads expand differently and cause Head Gasket issues.

You should see what the FAST cars do. Down in Florida they have Sick Week. Last year they did Orlando Speed World, Bradenton Motorsports Park, Gainesville Raceway, South Georgia Motorsports Park, back to Orlando Speed World.

SICK WEEK 2025 DATE ANNOUNCEMENT
The world's quickest street cars will converge on Florida and Georgia for the Super Bowl of Drag-and-Drive from Monday, January 27 to Saturday, February 1, 2025. Voted Best Motorsports Race by USA Today for 2024 and Drag Illustrated Event of the Year 2023, Sick Week is the ultimate street car battleground.
And Sick Week is just the start - get ready for some very cool announcements coming that will get your street car year started in the Sickest way possible! We will also have the full track list out very shortly.

Here's the results from the last few years of the Rocky Mountain Race Week series of events for the class I run, 12.00 index. I run in the "2.0" group, which is the more southern of the 2 events.

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl

New item by Steve McDermott

photos.app.goo.gl