2009
- WINTER
It's been three months that the car hasn't moved. Lack of time, motivation and the low temperature (3°C colder) that reigns in my garage didn't help to complete the work in good conditions. Roads well salted only encouraged me not to finish more... Anyway, the limited slip differential is in place, the disc brake master cylinder and booster too. It remains to bleed the brakes again because i couldn't mount my braided hose due to the impossibility to unscrew the flexible line from rigid. So new a front brake rigid line will take place alongside the braided hose front calipers overhauled.
Windows seal inside and outside began to fall apart for a while now. The door sills well faded with time and have been replaced with repro.
I removed the chrome headlight surrounds by sanding (blasting) it, primer-coated satin black paint.
New ignition distributor SUMMIT with 55000Volts Mallory coil (just the coil without the red cover).
- SPRING
After mature reflection and experiment with lubrication system placement, finalization of the installation of the oil cooling system. Removing the stock oil filter bracket (at the engine) to use a plate to direct drilling 1/2 NPT connected to remote oil filter.
A pair of spring for the carburetor a bit firmer than I had.
POWER: This is one of the first word that comes to the mouth of those who love U.S. cars. But having a small stock 350ci "from bad years", when someone ask me "how much horsepower do you have?" or "it makes 300hp!" the breaking balls question, i have to say "only 175hp theoretical". There are so many mythomane in this community that I take pleasure in contradicting all those idiots who think they have 500hp in their pile of scrap metal. Anyway to silence all the bad language, i went to a dynamometer.
This is a brake bench type latest generation brand CARTEC. Well I must say that I expected not the result i got, because knowing that I am supposed to have 175hp and the transmission lost a good sixty horses (at least that's what it says ), i thought turning around 100-110hp to the rear wheels... See for yourself!
Unfortunately these excellent figures leave me a little bitter taste. In fact, my exhaust manifold hasn't well tolerated the treatment and decided to give up the ghost by cracks between the cylinder 5 and 7. Now I have a nice exhaust leak. Here i have a good reason to replace the complet exhaust system.
Well after a failed attempt to repair the manifold without removing it, i finally found the real problem. That's an gasket exhaust leak. A small amount of sealing CATERPILLAR compound and no more noise and no leakage!
- SUMMER
LURCY-LEVIS VII, 4 and 5 July
This year is probably the last time i participated in this drag racing "event". Not that it no longer pleases me, quite the opposite but because of the higher and higher registration price. 75€ in 2008 and 90€ for two days this year and about 8-10 runs when all this good, it really starts to run the expensive, not including travel expenses round trip (gas + toll)
Performance issue, it's not really great. 2 years ago, iwas doing a pretty 16.33sec without locking this year, 16.34 .... the best! all the following have proved more and more slow!?
My times : 16.343 - 16.395 - 16.472 - 16.558 - 16.490 - 16.764 - 16.421.
Despite positraction, rear wheels spin things that not happen on the road. I learned that asphalt track is different from road asphalt. A track is made for slick tires only. As a result of the burn makes the roads tires slippery. Briefly, to pass burn water area penalizes us significantly. Too bad. i need slicks!
Leaf spring repair. sand blasting, hamerite painting, remanufacturing dividers with galvanized sheet metal, replacing the screws, and complete kit Heavy Duty (Twin thicker and a larger diameter screw) of silent block Prothane polyurethane. New shorter U bolt were ordered.
Long time after replacing the crankshaft pulley, now the water pump who is wearing a beautiful aluminum polished pulley. Again, it's beautiful and it runs smoothly and for once not need to hold any adaptation it's a true plug and play!
Strengthen the chassis is not a luxury in our Flex-body. Having for a long time aluminum silent block with a really useful, I finally added Y-brace from pro-touring f-body.com.
In spite of my hood very close to the air filter, i still decided to put a K&N X-stream filter. It passes, and surprisingly it seems that the engine is quieter in the cockpit.
In order to have a better visibility, i install a third brake LED light that i have completely stripped / modified to better integrated into the inside of the cockpit without disturbing either the rear visibility. The wiring might seem simple but the fact that our tailight are used to both stop/night/flashing had to take the signal directly to the brake pedal.
CLASTRES 5 and 6 September
Barely income Lurcy Lévis, promises good news in the form of another type of sporting event: a RWYB. After a short hesitation, i decide to register, especially since the registration made earlier, you pay only 50€.
24 is the magic number that I take from this race because it is the number of runs I did on the weekend! and yet I have not done all! A downside, however, the timing system was unavailable due to failure to subcontractor responsible for providing the organization. Too bad for many of us ...
On Saturday, my best time, given by my G-tech was 16.31sec. Sunday morning i finally managed to do very little spin with the cool temperature, i realized a 16.25 @ 140kmh. Few minutes later, a friend propose me to try slicks. Unable to refuse such an offer and after 5 minutes of installation I am returned to the assault of the clock, only justice in this case. And then as unbelievable as it sounds, doing a burn was difficult. Without any spin, the result 16.077sec @ 139.3kmh. This time was carried out three times, show a great regularity in the grip (normal), the gear motor and health ...... and incidentally the G-tech. Otherwise, a small memory recall of 5 years ago, I turned in 16.943 seconds - and the engine has not been opened!
- AUTUMN
I finally worked my rear anti-roll bar by putting a kit silent block polyurethane. Only problem, my bar is 9/16 "and kits available for this size are rare. Another problem is the bushings that connect bar / tie rods are not suitable at all. So I installed that 4 of 6 parts make up the kit.
Replacing the large expansion tank of the radiator water through a SUMMIT canister 1.5qt capacity.
Following runs late summer of Clastres (see above), a small story appeared in the magazine Rod & Kustom Magazine issue 13 of November / December. And surprise, my pontiac is in photos! (2 photos page 45 !!!). It's always fun!
New car audio for this season. The previous worked well but there were some aspects impractical in its handling. This time, it's an all-in-one, with no remote screen in the glove box. 1 DIN format, 7"motorized touchscreen retractable (DVD/MP3/MP4/AVI/USB/SD) ... It is a EONON E1015.
Synthesis of new parts:
- brake line
- sill plates
- distributor
- 55kV coil
- water pump pulley
- Xstream air filter
- Y-brace
- rear silent block
- leaf spring silent block
- car audio
- expansion tankTotal miles traveled for 2009: 5310km.
Total miles traveled since 2003: 34075km.
other years:
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