Nascar Truck project

[UserX]

Is it a road course or oval chasis? Aren't they setup specifically to turn left? How will that work for what you're going for? Looks like a fun project.

[jayjohnson600]

Originally it was built for oval track.

I need to change out some upper and lower a-arms, even out the tires(different from side to side).
That's the biggest differences to get the truck tracking straight. Grape helped me out on that info.

[Sleeper]

Nice man.

[jayjohnson600]

I found a set of the coils with the heat sinks so I bolts those on.
Ordered a piece of 4.0inch aluminum tubing to complete the cold air intake.

Started locating the seat, but found other things that needed work before the seat was to be located. I had raise the steering column, and that required some clearancing on a bracket. Also noted that the shifter is still a bit too far forward.
I can make another relocation bracket, but I will try to get a GTO shifter relocation setup to work. Looking to buy a GTO rear shifter lever. I already have a B&M relocation shifter.
This will move the stick about 3 inches back.

Need a catch can, plug wires, fuel system.

[joes01bullitt]

subscribed

[jayjohnson600]

The Craigslist motor is back from the welder. The race shop is located near Benbrook. PM me if anyone needs the shop info.





When I first looked at this motor, on hand cranking, it generated 30+psi for all 8 cylinders.
Now that the starter boss is back together, I'll get a starter on it and get some real compression numbers by end of this weekend.

[jayjohnson600]

Backup motor is 95% dressed. A few things left to do, but looking to test fire this weekend:


I drained the oil and it had water in it, but no color like coolant. There was water in the pan, but not under the valve covers. So the motor wasn't running water all through it. This is typical of a hydro-locked motor, with supporting evidence of the busted starter boss(now fixed). I decided to use a longer starter bolt(from Fastenal) and go all the way through the boss, then put a nut on the other side. I expect it to hold.
Initially, the water in the oil was mildly alarming, but the compression that I saw before I bought it was reassuring and the clean rocker area was verification.

The motor showed oil pressure at 30psi on the starter, and here's the compression numbers(after a good amount of circulating the oil with the starter) :
1) 145
2) 70
3) 80
4) 55
5) 110
6) 50
7) 165
8) 125

I'm not too concerned with the low cyls at this point, as the motor had been sitting a while. The starter-based oil pressure isn't enough to pump up the squashed lifters. I could loosen the rockers and try again, but the motor is close to test firing. If I have to pull the heads, I'll go with heads and cam for the motor. Stuff I have on my garage shelves. Having lots of parts in the garage is just like the hotrod home shopping network

Now I can spend more time on the Nascar truck.
Shifter relocation is finally done, but there's too much play in it. It doesn't move to the sides enough for the other gears. I ordered some 0.010 shims to tighten up the coupling. It moves the stick back about 3 inches. I can make another relocation if I need it back any further:


Finished up the cold-air intake, but I'll need to remove the 102mm maf. The Accel Gen7 doesn't use a MAF.


I put on the edelbrock fuel rails, but found out the rails are not threaded properly. By hand, the fitting will only go in about 1 thread before resistance. I ran a 3/8npt tap through it and it's better, but still not very good. As the tap pushes through, the first couple of threads are getting eaten up.
I can get the rails to work but edelbrock really messed up this product. It's completely not a bolt on.


I'm going with -10 from the fuel cell to -8 on the rails. 3/8npt has a bore that is basically 1/2 for flow, same as -8. The EFI regulator is a dual -6, I need to order that soon.

I have a lot of fuel system parts and power steering parts ordered for the truck. I'll have to get the PS lines converted to AN for the steering box.
Still on the fence for the truck's fuel cell. I could get a real NASCAR fuel cell and it will drop in but they run mechanical fuel pump, or I could go with a square cell with sump.

At some point my free image hosting will end. Anyone have some free hosting space that I can use for thread image storage?

[KBScobravert]

I found the same thing with my Edelbrock rails. Was a little pissed. Mine went in further than a few threads but not enough to make me get a warm fuzzy over. Not sure why I didn't tap it further at the time like you did....I even have the tap in the tool box.

[racrguy]

At some point my free image hosting will end. Anyone have some free hosting space that I can use for thread image storage?

Photobucket or imgur.

[jayjohnson600]

I put a Painless harness on the test motor, bought a pair of O2 sensors, welded up some exhaust pipe and angled O2 bungs. I fired it up on a "brake cleaner" fuel system. WooHoo, so far so good! Fires up and runs, now I need to get a fuel system on it. I was able to score a sumped 98 F-body metal gas tank for $50 on Craigslist, deal!. I found a walbro inline pump in the garage, just need to get some fitting together and put it all to the motor. Likely test everything this weekend, fuel system, and get the lifters pumped up to test the compression. I need to see if the injectors are still good, they've been sitting for years in storage. I have a 4L60e to put behind the motor, just need to find a converter. This drivetrain will likely go into my 66 Nova.


The Nascar truck is now getting an Accel Gen7 DFI harness. It's huge, and I don't know how I'm going to hide the basketball of wiring that I have set behind the motor. The Gen7 harness is about 3x the size of the Painless harness. I picked up a 3bar Map sensor, but it will only run NA. I wanted the 3bar to have parts in the motors that can be used on the other setups that I have on other cars. It's always good to have parts to interchange among setups.





I've put a fan shroud from an 99 f-body on the radiator, the fit works. Power steering pump is now mounted along with the f-body inline PS cooler. Now I need to get the end's reworked to 6an to connect to the power steering box, and install a PS pulley. Since this PS pump is for LS1 f-body, I don't know how it will feel on the Nascar steering box. Need to hook it up, get a new serpentine belt, and see how it turns out.



I was able to score a "Texas-Speed" 3inch stainless y-pipe for f-body(brand new), another CraigsList deal.
It's got nice thick tubing and great looking mandrel bends with enough adjustability to run with lots of different long tube headers.
It's not a perfect fit on the truck but I think it can work. I'm not committed to running it, but it would be nice to have the exhaust to run out to the rear of the truck. That will keep the virgin underbody clean. After I get this thing all together, I'll work on panning out the under body for added aerodynamics helping out the top speed goals, etc.



I've discovered that the truck has a tube that runs from near the rear end, and opens to the motor compartment. There is also a hole from the truck bed near the fuel call location. There is a well in the bed for a Nascar fuel cell, 18gallons. I don't need that much fuel for my purpose. So, I was thinking that I could drop in a 5gallon cell and leave plenty of room for a pump and filters, then route the line through the hole that's already there, then through the tube that runs through the cabin, and opens to the motor compartment. This will keep the fuel line inside the rails and provide a lot of protection.

For the shifter, I've swapped out the f-body rear lever for a GTO rear lever, and I've mounted the B&M relocated shifter. There's too much slop in the mechanism and it won't get into 1, 2, 5, 6, and reverse. I've ordered some .005 shims to tighten up the shifter. I hope this is all it takes to get the shifter in final state. The shifter has been the longest running component needing attention on several fronts for the whole project. This shifter has been like real estate. Location, location, location.

Taking almost all of the weekend was finally getting the Turbo Camaro out to Ennis Saturday evening.
It's looks okay at 10ft, but it needs some detailing with cutting to get off white spots. It got some good launches, thanks to CJ, James, and Rodney with essential help at the line and in the pits, all while supporting CJ's car inbetween rounds of X275.

[War Machine]

Cool!

[shumpertdavid]

nice progress and update.