See post in "Virtual Dragstrip." Car ran a best of 9.52@72.77mph after playing with the exhaust and downjetting a bit. I'm pumped!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Just got the V back from Competition cages (competitioncages.com) in Hillsborough, NC. Chris Schimmel worked his magic to finish up the front half of the cage including driver side NASCAR door bars and mounting the steering column to the dash crossbar. The dash is out for good. The cage should stiffen the car and provide peace of mind. Car weight should still be under 2600.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

It's gonna get lighter too...

lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Okay buddy, twist the knife why don't ya?

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Well, our road course weekend was a blast, but was cut a bit short...

The fun:

James Longhurst accompanied me to VIR-North Course early Sat morning - very windy and 38 F - burr.

Had a right turn carb cutout in the 1st 2 sessions on Sat because the Hly 500 was mounted transverse to the motor and the float was dropping. This was the first time I've run the advanced group and was getting passed mostly. I did go by a few cars though... The lack of power on right turns really messed things up since this course has mostly right handers! Fastest lap was 1:58 on this 2.24 mi course (68.5 mph average).

Since last season, we installed 3.55 rear gears and a Clifford intake, which really brought the useable power band up. The motor was spinning 5500-6000 no problem and I admit I was pushing this old junkyard shortblock too hard.

James and I rotated the carb to float-bowl-forward position at lunch and then the 3rd session was sweet. The car really came on hard and I was passing many more cars. I did not get a clean lap timed since I was behind people too much. My guess is 1:53-1:55 would have been about right. Top speed was about 115MPH on the front straight (5700 RPM in 3rd w/auto, 3.55s and 25.4" tires).

James had fun running the car around the track during "parade laps" at lunch. Many thanks to him for coming along and havin' some fun.

Now for the destruction:

I was revving this sucker pretty hard, and about 5 min before session end, I smelled a little oil - coming out of the breather maybe?? The rational part of my brain said "you should pull in and take a look." The dominant LOU part of my brain said "what the heck, just finish the session!"

Well, about 1 lap later I was 2/3 down the main straight and was only pulling 5000 when I should have been at 5500 at that point on the track. About 1 sec later I heard a POP, followed by a huge cloud of smoke coming out of the hood, into the passenger compartment, filling the rearview mirror and windshield. I was doing about 100, and had enough time to hit the brakes before the rear tires got oiled down and things got squirrely heading into turn 1 (hard right). After a little counter steering and braking, I managed to complete about 1/3 of the turn before leaving the track at 30mph and sliding to a halt 50 fit off track, smoke billowing. The motor was still running, so I shut it off!

They yellow flagged the track, but about 6 cars proceeded to slide off through my oil slick. The track dudes came and pulled me back to the pits and had the track cleaned up in about 30 min. We pushed the V onto the trailer and headed for Chapel Hill.

Hey, this $50 shortblock lasted almost 3 years of abuse, including 10-12 drag races, 5+ road course weekends (most with 2 drivers)! Best dratg times were 9.50 @74mph in the 1/8th and 14.96 @91 in the 1/4. Now I have an excuse to build my good motor for the car - been sitting on a stand for 2 years just waiting... Should add 50+HP and be stronger, so that'll be nice.

Will post pics of the autopsy and new motor later. There is a 1"X2" hole in the block just above the driver side pan rail at #2 cyl and you can see the crank journal all by its lonesome. Also some block cracks and holes in the oil pan.

Fun stuff...

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

WOW!....what a blast!


Did that do in your tires?

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

The tires look fine to me. Just got a little oil on the contact area, which got soaked up by dirt and such. I can't see any difference between the fronts and rears. It didn't empty the pan on track, just some spray from the holes in the block/pan above oil level.

Yep, what a ball!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Lou, sorry to hear about the destruction. Tom Drake said he would sell the Simca motor cheap with the turbo/EFI setup too. I know you gots the 'pooter skillz to tune that bad boy too.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Hey Folks,

I have a few pics on flickr.com of my cars, including Version 2.0 of Project V, to be unleashed this Spring.

http://flickr.com/photos/16910097@N06/

Check 'em out. Details of the V buildup/refit coming soon...

Many thanks to Menko for making it effortless for me to post pics.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

You live in VA, and you were at Willow Springs???????????


long drive.............

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

LOU?....has pix?....on the inner net?.....yer kidding

Nice to see the V with paint Lou....red cars are faster.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Yep, long drive. My writeup on that drive to Willow will be posted on this site in the current SSRN issue.

Thanks, Sandy, I think... The car is Plymouth Prowler Orange (pearl metallic).

More to come,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Hey Lou, the back wheels look like a 9" wide Mustang wheel similar to what GTMachine runs. How did you swing that in the back? Move the springs, mini-tubs, narrowed the wheel?

My best estimates show a 245 on an 8" wheel are about as wide as I can get under my Valiant without smacking something. Am I all wet?

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'15 Chrysler 200S V6
'74 Duster 360, factory 4 speed car

I can put 245s on the Valaint.....

The Mustang wheels will fit with 1"spacers

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....