From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log day 1
Date: Wednesday, September 29, 1999 7:41 PM
Today was another scorcher 80 degrees here and sunny. (Indian summer with a vengeance, soon it
will be 45 and raining)..
Still with some doubts about the smooth shifting of the TH350
(with a shift kit) in the newly invigorated Rustpuppy I checked the fluid and
found it only about a pint low. Not
enough to make a difference. I expect
the smooth 1-2 shift is because the right rear tire spins and takes up the
thump, and the 2-3 shift is smoother because the extra torque of the motor is
allowing the 2-3 clutch to slip just a little.
The rpm changes quickly, the big thump is just missing..
I replaced the grille on Rustpuppy (finding out too late that you
can get it on upside down. I found out when I tried to put in the two center
hex screws) Oh well it was off and back
on in just a minute. The Junkyard Dawg
don’t even got no grille so I will be in the market for a 75 LN grille next
year, any aftermarket parts available??
Then I invented a new improved coolant recovery tank. The stock job which fits nicely in the right
front fender has a crack and cannot hold coolant so I have been running
Rustpuppy with a bit of air in the radiator for some years now. That causes extra corrosion and a coolant
recovery system is really good for your motor.
Soo. I took an old plastic
gallon jug (laundry detergent came in it) and jammed it down in that perfect
little nook nestled between the right side of the radiator and the frame. On a Disco Nova with the battery in the
trunk it makes a perfect location for a coolant recovery tank. Left the cap off and stuck the overflow hose
down in to within an inch of the bottom it and filled it half full of
water..
Then as the shadows grew longer and the sun started to set it was
time to get out on the road with Rustpuppy and the G-Tech Pro mobile
dragstrip..
I was gonna just get the feel of the extra power on the old
country road and do a 0-60 time. The
first time I tried nothing happened except a lot of noise and smoke from the
right rear tire. I realized that you
must feather foot it off the line with the open 3.08 axle Rustpuppy has (and
the hard compound highway type 215R70-14 tires)
Another few tries came up with a best of 6.4 seconds. Before the best Rustpuppy has ever done was
8 seconds flat.. We are getting
somewhere!
Suppressing my excitement and doing my Yogic breath exercises I
cruised Rustpuppy south a couple more miles to the place on Highway 101 that I
use for the quarter times..
They had recently repaved the spot and enough time had passed to
wash away the oil yet leave the relatively sharp gravel points showing. Looked like a nice fast track..
Then It was several breaths and “Go like hell..” down the
highway. I could see the blinking 0-60
time out of the corner of my eye and it was 6.64 (slower than my best by .24)
but I had feathered it a little too much on the start. (had an old section of pavement to launch
from and had not much bite)
Then the 1-2 shift came up and hit me in the back like a defensive
tackle from the NFL since I was on the biting part of the highway and there was
just a loud short chUUrrp from the much suffering right rear tire.
The amazingly soft 2-3 shift came up quickly as the tranny is set
to shift at full throttle at 4400 rpm.
(higher would be better)
Then the blinking for the quarter started and I got off quick and
coasted back down to about 60. I could
see the G-Tech blinking the results but I forced myself to relax and watch the
road until I could turn off on to the old highway and stop.
The very best that Rustpuppy had done before (when I first got the
G-Tech and before the Goodwrench en Mexico cam rotted out) was 16.4 @ 87..
Today
it was...
15.16
@ 94.2...
Happy,
Happy, Joy, Joy..
Rustpuppy
is runnin good and I haven’t even started tuning yet..
But,
There was just a tiny tad of misfiring just as I passed 90 mph and
I wonder what could be causing it..
Could it be tired old valve springs?
More
to come.. (and Aren, I am working on
the “Comet From Hell” report)
Rick
Draganowski
(lookin
for high 14’s)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log day 2
Date: Thursday, September 30, 1999 5:17 PM
Not a lot today but I ran Rustpuppy’s weight (race ready with
driver is 3900) and quarter MPH (94.2) through the equation which is supposed
to guess your horsepower (wonder how accurate those jibbies are?) and came up with about 300 horsepower. I was impressed since Rustpuppy’s motor is
an old junker and really needs a rebuild.
I cranked the motor specs through Dyno2000 and came up with the attached
chart. Not bad at all.
Some bad news marred my triumph yesterday as I heard from Chuck
Butcher in Baker City (about 500 miles away from here) that the Junkyard Dawg (nestled safely in
the far corner of the junkyard) is gonna have to be moved right away. He has found a place to store it but it’s
gonna cost me 25 bucks a month so the pressure to figger out a reasonable way
to get the motorless Dawg across the
whole diagonal length of the state of Oregon is really on...
And my finances are stretched to the limit already... Oh well... It will all work out...
Kwitcher whinin...
I tested Rustpuppy yesterday evening and she still has the hot
starting problem from the 13 degrees initial advance so I am gonna set the
timing back 3 degrees and see if that will cure it. 35 degrees total now and going back to 32..
I wonder how much the quarter times will change? We will see..
More to come..
BTW Aren I have been working on the “Comet From Hell” story each
day for as long as I can stand to... It
is gonna take several more days..
Rick Draganowski
(15.16 @ 94.2 with a total of 1600 bucks invested, happy, happy
:-)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log day 3
Date: Saturday, October 02, 1999 8:20 PM
Went to town yesterday in Rustpuppy. Beautiful day, sunny and about 70. Kept my foot out of it to avoid unpleasant complications so it
was just a scenic drive and a chance to fill Rustpuppy up with some 92 octane
(had to put in some gasoline from the mower can to get to town). Ran like a clock and started fine at the 7.5
degree static advance..
Today was sunny at first but the temp had dropped and the cold fog
was in by this afternoon. Like a
Werewolf of London picture it was thick and the temp was down to 50.. Real Oregon coast weather..
The first thing I noticed when I checked Rustpuppy for starting
was that the choke was not working correctly.
No fast idle and dies without some gas..
Oh well, the modification
to the choke pushrod was just a guess.
I messed around with the choke in the fog for a while and was able to
torture the linkage to get the correct length (see picture, it was straight to
start with, the little screw was just there to prop it up so you could see the
bend properly).
That out of the way I got back on the road to see if the choke was
allowing the secondaries to open when the motor warmed up a little. It almost seemed not to be as Rustpuppy
seemed to be on Prozac or sumptin. The
roar and tire spinning insanity was much reduced (and sorely missed)..
Back at the tree (shade tree in front of my shop where all the
Rustpuppy work takes place) I found that the secondaries were indeed opening
and the choke was fully off.. Hmmmm...
I cranked the distributor over (in the advance direction) about
the amount I retarded it to get Rustpuppy to start nice when hot. Then back on the road in the dense fog (only
about 50 feet visibility so no racing allowed)
But, the big roar and
insane tire spinning was back with a vengeance as Rustpuppy loves the right
timing combined with 50 degrees with 100% humidity air. More power!
So back at the tree I checked where the static timing was after
the tweak.. It was right back at 13
degrees to put the total advance back up to 35 degrees. Cutting it back to 29.5
degrees total advance took all of the Moxie out of ol’ Rustpuppy so I gotta
figger another way of beating the hot start problem..
I crawled around by the starter to see what could be done to
provide a thermal barrier between the headers and the starter and it is really
snug in there. A header tube runs
almost the whole length of the starter about ¼” away and another one is almost
touching the solenoid.. It must be
gettin hotter that the hubs of hell in there.
Hmmm, forced air ventilation through the hole left by the absent
heater.. Stick cement siding and
aluminum sheet sandwich between the headers and the starter... Modified windshield washer to spray cold
water on the starter..
Ideas,
ideas....
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(I
could just sit and wait for Rustpuppy to cool off every time I stop the motor
:-)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log day 4
Date: Monday, October 04, 1999 5:37 PM
I noticed last night that the dome light got really dim when I was
messing about with the hot start problem.
I had been getting the alt light on dimly for about 6 months and
theorized that the battery was going a little low so I put it on the charger
last night.
Since a flat battery is only one way to get the low voltage at
startup I went through and checked the connections on my homemade trunk
installation. Aha! the hot cable was a
little loose and could easily have caused the problem.
I fixed that and piled into Rustpuppy for another hot soak road
test. I notice that the choke was not
going fully off within the first half mile as normal and stayed on enough to
block the secondaries of the Q-Jet for about a mile and a half. When the choke finally kicked off the
roaring spinning madness returned. :-)
So back under the shade tree I switched off, waited a few minutes
and tried to start hot. The starter
was a little slower than when the motor was cold but spun the motor fine and it
took off running without any problems.
The extra resistance of the loose battery terminal was fouling me
up. Happy solution but time will
tell....
But the choke was still not right. The pushrod length is critical on the Q-Jet and I was now about
1/8” too short instead of ¼” too long..
So I pulled it off and tormented the poor linkage some more to get the
rod effective length about 3/16” longer.
Gonna have to keep testing until I can get it exactly right. This is an important adjustment and can
cause a lot of the Q-Jet problems impatient rodders have..
Today made the arrangements via phone and fax to get a new home in
Baker City (450 miles away) for
“Junkyard Dawg” and even though it is gonna cost me 25 bucks a month I am
relieved..
There is always something.
As the list knows I was lazy about keeping the header bolts tight on
Rustpuppy and they loosened up enough to have one fall out and be lost. I have the Nitro Seal steel and carbon
composite gaskets and I thought that letting the bolts go loose did not damage
the gasket. I was wrong and I am gettin
at least one and possibly two header leak ticks. The cylinders that were not firing well (or at all) with the flat
cam must be pounding the header gaskets with their powerful and noisy breath..
So for best results I gotta go in an pull the headers again and
put in new gaskets to quiet them down..
Oh well, I really like workin on Rustpuppy...
I
gotta go now and look for the rod cap for Trinidad Zepeda..
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(startin
hot, for now)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log day 4 addendum
Date: Monday, October 04, 1999 7:29 PM
After finding the rod cap for Trinidad I went back to Rustpuppy
for a couple of things. I found that
the socket which the left rear taillight/brakelight/turn signal bulb plugs into
had rotted away to the point of no return.
I spliced in a new socket I had bought at NAPA in a few minutes. I noticed the official Echlin part has the
small print “Made in China” on it.
Hmmm...
In any case it is really important to have turn signals and
brakelights working right on your old Nova as even when the other drivers know
what you are doing they are a
risk. And making a left turn without
signals is a dance with death in serious traffic..
Darkness had fallen and the evening was cool and windless and
there seemed to be no traffic at all on Hwy 101 so I made a snap decision to
take Rustpuppy for another trip to the G-Tech Mobile Dragstrip..
I got down to the new paving with the good bite and Rustpuppy
seemed to be running strong and eager.
I staged right in the middle of the road (no traffic remember) and
got one of the best starts ever.
Running fast after dark on the narrowest part of the causeway is a
little challenging and my old nerves were fraying fast but the blinking quarter
signal came up quickly and I coasted back down to a sane speed and waited again
until I was pulled off the narrow highway and stopped before reading the
G-Tech.
Hot
dog!
15.04
@ 97.3
Rustpuppy
loves the cool humid coast air and always ran best in the evening..
Rick
Draganowski
(lookin
for 14’s.. :-)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 5
Date: Saturday, October 09, 1999 7:04 PM
A mixed bag of Nova wrenching.
Due to the press of life’s business I had little time to mess about with
Rustpuppy till today.
Rustpuppy still has a slight miss, most pronounced at idle and
very small throttle openings and smoothing out at higher rpm. I guessed that the settings for the idle
mixture were off due to the change in cams.
The stock cam was still mostly ok the last time I fiddled with the
needle valves. So after warming
Rustpuppy up to operating temp (190) I first closed the needle valves and
counted the exact turns to find my starting point. Both valves were open exactly 2 turns. I then set them to 1 ½ turns each and started the motor. The idle
was definitely worse. (for safety’s
sake I turn off the motor to adjust the carb since the rear part of the fan
blades are not shielded (custom fan shroud) and I do not want my forearms
minced) Setting the needles back to 2
turns improved the idle. Then I tried 2
½ turns and the idle degraded so the 2 turns were optimum all the time..
More on missing, when I did the 94mph quarter (first one) I noticed
a miss above about 4000 rpm which I assumed to be just weak valve springs. But (another one) when I did the 97mph
quarter (best yet) I cannot remember any high speed miss. Hmmmm...
Any ideas anyone?
The
idle non-adjustment happened last Thursday..
Now
for today, Saturday...
I must confess to the list that I had put off changing the master
cylinder on Rustpuppy (bought the replacement last winter) because of the
possibility that I would be concentrating on the “Junkyard Dawg” and Rustpuppy
would be languishing and eventually salvaged for parts.. But the Flat Cam Project invigorated
Rustpuppy to the point of making me feel very strange about having a brake
defect that is not corrected. (slow
application, pedal to floor, fast application, brakes good)
A few days ago I had run another quart of water (and a few snorts
of Marvel Mystery Oil) into the vacuum line I piped into the passenger
compartment and noticed that Rustpuppy seemed even more peppy than usual. After a little run on the country road I
considered taking Rustpuppy out on 101 for a try at the 14’s and 100mph..
Either it was my guilty conscience or something more but that
evening as I drove down toward the highway I swear I could hear the beating of
the wings of the Angel of Death and I turned around and returned home. I could “run” Rustpuppy no more until the
master cylinder was replaced..
Today was the day on the master cylinder replacement project. I debated pulling off the hood and left hood
hinge assembly since there is so little room to work for an ol’ cripple. But I decided that I could manage if I just
took my time.
There are three nuts on the 4 studs of a manual brake 76
Nova. The top two are for the master
cylinder and the bottom drivers side one is for the bracket which holds the
proportioning valve. They are not handy
but with the aid of a 3/8 drive universal joint and box wrench I got the nuts
off (dropped 2 out of three and only found one, damn, one must be wedged in the
frame mount or something) The two
fittings were pre-WD-40’d and loosened so they were ready for the tubing
wrench.
I then went to the bench (cardboard box with piece of plywood on
front porch of shop) to ready the new (Raybestos rebuild) master cylinder. I had the bench bleed kit from the Help!
section at Car Quest and three cans of DOT 3 brake fluid so I was set. After mounting my portable vise to the
plywood with two clamps I had the new master cylinder clamped in by one of the
mounting ears and ready to bleed.
The bench bleed kit comes with plastic fittings and a cheap bit of
hose and a clip. The fittings go in the
two ports, cut the hose into one shorter and one longer piece, push onto the
fittings and secure with the clip on the center divider of the master cylinder. Fill the master cylinder to about ¼ inch of the top making sure the
ends of the hoses are immersed. Then
using a big Phillips screwdriver slowly pump the cylinder until the bubbles
stop. Then unclip the hoses one at a
time and plug the ends with the tiny plastic plugs in the kit. Replace the cover on the master cylinder and
it is ready to go in.
I then pulled the fittings off the old master cylinder and it came
out easily. Putting the new master
cylinder seemed to be impossible until I realized that the bracket went on over
the cylinder lug and not under. Because
of the hood and the hinge it is really difficult to see in there. Feeling a little like an idiot I pressed on.
I had to pull out the plastic bleed fittings to get the master
cylinder into correct position so brake fluid was slowly dribbling out of the
open ports. The rear fitting went on
easily and was snugged up in a trice but I could not get the threads started on
the front one and was becoming more and more frustrated. The short piece of steel tubing connecting
the front master cylinder port to the proportioning valve must be holding the
fitting at a slight angle. But because
of the hood and hinge I could not see what was happening. Finally in frustration I cried out to the
Creator..
The fitting went on instantly.
Prehaps just a coincidence but I think of it as a small miracle..
With the fittings tightened and checked again and the two master
cylinder nuts tightened (a lot, GM had them torqued a bunch) and the missing
nut nowhere to be found (and left off out of spite) it was time to sit in
Rustpuppy hit the brakes and see how much air was in the lines.. At first I pumped the pedal very lightly and
released and paused to let whatever air was in the short lines rise up into the
cylinder and be purged. After about 20 or
30 delicate applications of the brake I hit it hard to see how spongy it was.
It was not spongy at all and felt good. I pushed hard and could hear the rear brake shoes creaking (rust
everywhere) but the brakes feel good.
The going to the floor on light application is no longer happening and a
road test showed the brakes to be performing excellently well.. I have the premium brake pads and shoes on
Rustpuppy and the rotors and drums have been expertly detailed (by me).
Even though my fingers and right thumb are sore from struggling
with the stubborn front fitting I felt like the day was a complete
sucess.. (the whole job took about 2 ½
hours, including about 15 minutes of lookin for than damn nut)
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(smelling
vaguely of brake fluid)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 6
Date: Monday, October 11, 1999 8:12 PM
Mysteries and possible solutions today. I had found the 400 starter to get the measurements for a heat
shield yesterday (and Ray Bucked it and hurt my ankle just a little when it
bounced). Fortune smiled and it landed
on the side which does not break off..
That project is pending. I had
cut out some aluminum flashing, two
layers folded to provide a place for several layers of heavy aluminized
building paper. I have yet to figger a
good way of mounting it but it will have rubber molding (cut windshield wiper
hose) to prevent shorting to hot wires..
On another front I have been going around and around with a
phantom electrical problem with Rustpuppy.
Sometimes the voltage reads normal 12.5 to about 14 and sometimes it is
crap 10 to 12 on the custom dash voltmeter.
I had planned to swap out the alternator with a known good spare (I
never throw nuthin away) but today I did somemore investigation. Putting a DVM on the stud terminal of the
alternator with the lights on and the motor running showed the voltage as
normal. Hmmm.. The same meter showed the voltage at about 2
volts lower in the passenger compartment.
Hmmm.. I strongly suspect the
connector in the main harness is corroding up or mebbe the fusible link from
the starter to the harness connector is messed up. I will look into this more tomorrow.. Considering the corrosion problems with everything it is most
probably the seven c’s. (Coastal Curry
County Cheap Car Connector Corrosion) Time will tell..
Anyone got a wiring diagram for a 76 Coupe?
Now for something completely different. I have noticed severe cornering wear especially on the left front
tire outer tread. There is some
corresponding wear on the other side but it looks like most of the insane
cornering was done in right turns.. I
have been puzzling over this for a couple of months and Sunday when I was
testing the new master cylinder the answer may have come to me.
When I turn Rustpuppy right I brace my left knee against the door
and comfortably hold my body against the g-forces. But on a left turn the right leg is spoken for (on the throttle
too much) and the arms are busy with the steering and there is nothing on the
flat ol’ beige bench seat to prevent painfull stress to present itself to my
ol’ cripple lower back. So like a
trained animal I have been avoiding high G left turns without even knowing why
and the results are obvious on the tires..
I need some kind of attachment for the seat back to provide a place to
brace my right shoulder against. Has
any of the list members ever seen or heard of such a critter?
In the meantime I gotta rotate the tires left to right pronto as
tiny ends of the steel belt are presenting themselves on the hardest hit left
front tire.. (I really gotta get new
tires soon..)
More
to come...
Rick
Draganowski
(still
havin fun...)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 7
Date: Thursday, October 14, 1999 8:49 PM
Electrical and charging issues were the project the last couple of
days. I had aborted an attempt to make
what would have been the perfect run (lookin for 14.7@98)
on 101 a few days ago because of perceived charging problems (it was night) so
I fiddled with the system and came to the (erroneous) conclusion that the
alternator was going ditzy. I dragged
out the old alternator which came on the 250 six that Rustpuppy was born with
and cleaned it up and gave it a quick rattle can rebuild yesterday.
But, before switching alternators I decided to do some intelligent
troubleshooting. (Don’t want to be one
of what Ray Buck calls “parts changers” mechanics.)
I ran some fine wires from the main power stud on the alternator
and a good motor ground into the passenger compartment so I could monitor the
actual alternator output with a good digital voltmeter.
It was great! About 13.5
to 14.5 volts dropping to about 12.5 volts at idle.. Hmm. The voltages measured
in the dash wiring were too low. (10 to 12.5) Especially with any load.. Hmmm..
Because the problems had been coming and going I have suspected
corrosion problems in the wiring harness was causing the problem (remember the
seven C’s)
Today I loosened the bolt securing the main dashboard wiring
connector (which backs the connector out) and then tightened it again. Effectively reseating the connector (I did
not want to pull it all the way because I had been too lazy to pull off the
battery cable for safety)
Amazing! Shazam! The
voltages in the dash wiring and on the aftermarket voltmeter were back up to
almost what I read at the alternator!
Naturally I decided to take Rustpuppy out for a run..
But the elements were against me.
Instead of perfect conditions we have a cold front coming in with rising
humidity and a very faint dew forming.
The perfect traction needed to launch Rustpuppy with the one legged
differential and the bitsy tires was not there. I could not control the right rear wheel spin so the best I could
do was one run (the first one) of 15.16 @96.
and the two others were even crappier... Oh well...
But, the elusive 14’s are garanteed since I have promised myself
not to try again until I move the 215R70-14’s from the back to the front
discarding the front cornered off tires.
The rear will be gettin two of Junkyard Dawg’s future 7 inch Rallye
wheels shod with either 235R60-14 or 245R60-14 tires..
(I hope the Dawg won’t mind..)
That should improve things at least a few tenths... We will see..
I retorqued the carb mounting bolts as promised (and they were
loose). The cardboard heat Isolation
gasket GM uses compresses and must be retorqued..
Remember to use a really short grip on the wrench when tightening
the carb bolts on an aluminum manifold.
About 2 ½” and then snug with one hand..
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(still
stuck with the best of 15.04@97.3 on Rustpuppy)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 8
Date: Friday, October 22, 1999 7:08 PM
This was going to be a short and lighthearted report but events
have intervened. I have been sick with
a damn kidney infection so not much Nova work was done. I was laying around and able to give Aren a
bad time on the reply to address issue.
Anyway this is the report.
The weather has turned here and it has been cold and foggy for
days. Since I wanted to be able to
drive the newly invigorated Rustpuppy the lack of a defroster became a serious
issue. It was a major stumbling block
to getting the v8 Nova rush I seem to require on a daily basis..
I had bought a couple of electric heater/defrosters from the J.C.
Whitney folk and needed to get the best one going. I could find no reliable high current source (the heater pulls 15
to 20 amps) so I wound up running a heavy (about 10 or 12 gauge) wire from the
connector which used to drive the heater, air conditioner fan motor). It was
unswitched and unfused so I threw in an in line fuse holder with a 25
amp fuse.
The actual defroster is mounted on the dash with double sticky
trim installation tape and the finished job looks bad but works pretty good.
The other subject is traction versus throttle position. I have been messing around with the tire
spin problem (right rear lights up too damn quick). I gotta 3.08 open rear end with pretty hard 215R70-14 highway
tires. I found that if I do a bit of a
burn out (1 sec or so) and then stage while the tire is still hot it helps but
it is tricky to not put a little too much throttle..
On looking into the throttle position versus the beginning of
wheel spin I found that the wheel starts spinning before the throttle is open
enough to start opening the secondary barrels of the Q-Jet at all!
Now I have the crazy idea of fabricating up a traction bar for
just the right side. I am thinking that
when the springs wind up the downforce on the right rear tire would give me a
better launch. What do you all think
of this one?
Now for something entirely different. I had been thinkin I was fighting a miss problem at idle and low
rpm since Rustpuppy has been running with the Performer 400 cam. Today I think I realize that the idle is
fine and I am just being sensitive to the moderate lope from the bigger
cam. I am so used to the tractor like
400 rpm the 350 motor had with the stock Mexican Target Master cam that I was
being fooled. What an idiot I am sometimes.. The giveaway is that as soon as some
throttle and load is applied the seeming miss goes away..
Now for the bad news. When
I was out running Rustpuppy in the fog today I noticed the water temp started
going up higher than I have seen it before.
Usually Rustpuppy runs about 180 on a cool day. As I drove the temp kept going up to 190,
200, and then to 210 before I got home.
There was no smell or sounds of boiling but the temp was high. I went in to write this letter and let
Rustpuppy cool down and then I went back out to check the water before this
paragraph started.
Damn, the radiator was about half empty and there is a big wet
spot on the front right of the core..
It took almost a gallon to fill up.
The radiator is toast. It is
already losing it’s fins from the salt corrosion so it is not unexpected.
Fortunately I had purchased a almost new 2 core radiator from one
of the list members many months ago.
The new Modine job did not go in after the Flat Cam Project because the
drain valve got clobbered in shipping and was bent over with the solder seam
broken open. It needs fixin before it
can be used.. I think I will just pull
it all the way off and solder a flat piece (mebby a penny?) over the hole. I never use the drain and always drain the
radiator by pullin the bottom hose anyway.
Anyway my Nova fun is over until I get the new radiator
fixed.. I am not gonna put an egg or
even Barr’s Stop Leak in Rustpuppy now that she is running good. She deserves a new radiator..
More
to come...
Rick
Draganowski
(it
is always something..)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 9
Date: Saturday, October 23, 1999 7:04 PM
The last report brought up the issue of the newly leaking radiator
on Rustpuppy. The leaking radiator
(came with Rustpuppy back in 76) is beyond hope as the fins are corroding away
and only the paint is holding it together..
Today I messed about with repairing the new (to me) radiator that
was damaged in shipment from New York.
You know, it looks suspicious but a good Nova list member said that it
was legit. The radiator had been
removed by cutting both hoses and snipping off the tranny cooling lines with
snips or a bolt cutter.. Hmmm.. Hot radiator?
In any case I straightened out the drain fitting and cleaned it up
with a wire brush to get the brass showing all around. A few minutes work with a propane torch and
some rosin core solder seems to have fixed it right up. Time and pressure will tell.. Tomorrow I will pop it into Rustpuppy and
look for leaks.. The lower hose fitting
was bent a little and I hope the solder is not cracked there. If it is it is not a big deal, just have to pull the radiator again and
solder it up..
I rolled around on the ground lookin at Rustpuppy’s rear spring
(just the right one) and measuring it for the spring clamps. Rustpuppy’s springs have gray plastic (I
think) pads on the rear of the spring with a projection which goes through the
lower leaf. I wonder exactly how and
where to put the clamps..
Anyone? Bueller?
I cheated and filled up the leaking radiator to take Rustpuppy out
for a short spin. I left the pressure
cap loose to ease the leak to just a drip..
It was spraying throught the grille onto the front bumper with the cap
on at operating temp.. No problem (just
drove a couple miles) and I got my Nova seat time in for today. I really love that rusty ol’ car...
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 10
Date: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 6:34 PM
I got the newly repaired radiator in late Sunday because my day
was used up due to two very important “Honey do”’s and did not even have time
to do more than round up the aluminum stock for the spring clamps and print out
the drawing.
On the radiator, it went in slick as a fish’s private parts and
appears not to be leaking at the solder job I did. But, the coolant recovery kludge which worked perfectly with the
old radiator before it blew it’s mind may not be working. I took Rustpuppy for a little run on Sunday
night late. On Monday it was cold and
raining so my seat time was limited since my home made defroster system was
overwhelmed by the adverse weather. The
radiator was a little low after cooling so I topped it off to do further
testing the next day, today.
My ISP was tanked completely on Monday (their uplink severed) from
8:30 am till after bedtime so I could not get in on the Nova list cravings
which I seem to have aquired. They also
were whining because when the uplink came back on line the backup of E-mails
crashed their E-mail server so they were forced to upgrade.. Hmm..
Today I logged on right after noon and had 166 messages
waitin.. Great!
The weather cleared this afternoon and I got some serious Nova
seat time. (going fast again) The sun
was just setting and I was practicing staging on the good asphalt strip I have
found on Hwy 101. (no G-Tech as I
haven’t rigged a socket for the power yet)
I am getting a little worried about the soft 2-3 shift Rustpuppy’s
TH350 has. I ran up to 5000 rpm in
second and when I manually upshifted at full throttle the shift was
uncomfortability long (almost as bad as stock).. I wonder if I have something starting to mess up in my otherwise
perfect tranny?
It feels a little odd to shift from second to third at 85 mph but
I like it.. Rustpuppy’s 350 motor
sounded sweet and did not miss a beat and was still pulling strong at
5000rpm. It was a treat..
On the radiator test, the temp stays exactly at 175 degrees or
lower no matter what I do. The old corroded
2-core would heat up to about 190-200 when I was being abusive to ol’
Rustpuppy. Happy happy, joy joy...
But if the solder joint is a little cracked where the lower
radiator hose fitting is attached (bent up in shipping) I gotta pull the
radiator again and do some more soldering..
The way to tell is that a tiny leak will suck air when the radiator
cools down so the coolant recovery system will not work and you wind up with
air in the system.. (bad thing as it
promotes corrosion)
Time and testing will tell....
On the “Tires for Rustpuppy” project. I finally remembered that the figger the local tire man quoted me
for the 245/60R-14 Goodrich Radial T/A’s was 86 bucks, not 68 bucks each. And he don’t even wear a mask.. (must be losing my short term memory)
Gonna keep looking for an honest local tire man.. (could be a long search)
The only tires the Tirerack has listed for that size is the
Goodrich, Dunlop, and Goodyear Eagles.
I like the Eagles but they are really expensive so that narrows it down. Anybody had any experience with the Dunlop
jobs?? I know the Goodriches is good..
Thinkin about lookin for some used (previously owned) tires.. Hmmm...
More
to come...
Rick
Draganowski
(seat
time is good)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 11
Date: Thursday, October 28, 1999 7:23 PM
Great day today! We been
having typical Oregon coast fall weather the last few days (3 inches of rain
with 50 mph winds) and today it cleared up so I took Rustpuppy to town to get
gas and get in some seat time in the sun..
I was runnin a little low (just above E on the gauge) and figgered
I would get a lot of gas. I estimate
that there was at least one or two gallons left. But.. (another one!) the
charge slip read 16.48 gallons. I do
not think the 76 Nova had a tank that would hold almost 18 gallons. I suspect that my local friendly Texaco dealer
may be ripping everyone off. Oh
well.. And the 92 octane cost $1.749
too.. ($1.75)
Anyway the repaired radiator is NOT LEAKING!! And that makes me happy..
Rustpuppy is running beautifully (if you ignore the idle lope) and
feeling really strong. The hot start
problem is not showing up at all even with the 13 degrees of initial advance
and the pinging at low rpm going up the mountain is no more. Limiting the 22 degree vacuum advance can to
12 degrees really made the difference.
I could probably go back to regular gas but not quite yet..
I still gotta mess around enough to get into the 14’s..
On the traction front. One
of the NovaListers suggested that I had a weight distribution problem in
Rustpuppy. I don’t think so. In reverse the left rear wheel spins first
and in first the right spins first so I expect it is just a torque distribution
problem.. I have not made the spring
clamps yet. (something always comes up,
chores, work, eating ,sleeping, goofing off.. something..)
Also with the moist old asphalt on our old road (Oregon 9 covered
wagon tracks) the wheels spin really easy and I notice that one time everything
was balanced and both rear wheels spun for about 30 feet..
With some bigger tires and the spring clamp and I am sure that
14.7 @ 98 is possible on the good new bitey part of ol Hwy 101.
I am setting up a customer’s computer system in the lab the next
few days and will borrow it to transcribe the video snaps of Rustpuppy so they
may be available as soon as early next week..
Another weird thingie.
With the new radiator the temp runs right at 170 on the highway, before
with the sorry old finless (mangy looking) one she ran 190. Anyway what is weird is that at exactly
2600rpm Rustpuppy used to go exactly 60mph.
Today at 2600 Rustpuppy was going 62mph... Hmmm could the 20 less degrees of heat in the transmission fluid
change the slippage that much??
I gotta get the socket for the G-Tech Pro to plug into installed
asap.. That and the first spring clamp
are on the front of the front burner..
More
to come...
Rick
Draganowski
(attention
to details is good)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Vortec Madness!
Date: Saturday, October 30, 1999 7:33 PM
I was messing about with Dyno2000 today and the following
interesting issue became obvious.. By
taking Rustpuppy and pulling the stock heads off and swapping on a set of cheap
Vortecs good things happen..
Thoughts start flooding my ol’ head....
Let me see, heads, valve
covers, rockers, manifold, mebbe 600
bucks if I do it on the cheap...
Hmmm...
I could modify the heads to use the screw in studs and guide
plates myself.. Hmmm.. Already got roller rockers.. Hmmm..
Is
there an adaptor to use ordinary valve covers on vortec heads??
I
need a new manifold for the 400 anyway..
Hmm..
Pardon
the mild brainstorm...
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(I
could always use the heads and stuff on the 400.. hmmm..)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Tires for Rustpuppy
Date: Saturday, October 30, 1999 9:12 PM
I called and ordered the new tires for Rustpuppy on Friday. I am gettin two B.F.Goodrich Radial T/A
245R60-14’s for the rear wheels. I got
some 7 inch wide Disco Rallye wheels (slated for Junkyard Dawg someday, thank
you so much Rob Roberson) so I will take a couple to town next week when the
tires come. (everything has to be
shipped in here at the end of the world)
Rustpuppy has 215R70-14’s on standard 6 inch rims now. (The front two are shot from excessive
cornering wear). I’ll be putting the best
two 215’s on the front and the big meats on the back.. (14’s here I come!)
On the price..
Ouch!! 90 bucks each.. But wait,
you may say. Tirerack has them
for 60 bucks each you say. Hmmm. Take the 60 bucks, add 15 bucks each for
shipping from Vegas (really are at the end of the world here) and then 10 bucks
for mounting and valve stems and then 5 bucks for balancing and Voila! 90 flippin bucks.. Oh well.. I really gotta
have tires (little steel wires showin on the left front) and the common cheap
tires are 55 bucks sooo... What’s 35
bucks each more for the best (according to good sources)? Flush 180 bucks..
The best thing is the size of the big meats.. Rustpuppy’s speedometer is dead accurate up
to about 70mph (above that the spider nest stops it) and the big tires will not
change that.. Hoo haa!
See
the great engineering info (love that data) I bagged from the B.F. Goodrich web
site.
More
to come...
Rick
Draganowski
(big
tires is good)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Cc: ‘Aren Cambre’ <acambre@mail.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 12
Date: Sunday, October 31, 1999 9:43 PM
Wheels and tires were the big project today. Started with the left rear and jacked ol
Rustpuppy up with my little floor jack by the shock mount. The moon and the five lug nuts were off in
a trice.
Wham! The forces of darkness
rose up and I found the wheel was frozen to the hub (by rust) and
immovable. A little pounding with a 4
foot 4x4 got me nowhere. I am damn
glad I didn’t have a flat in the rain and find out on the highway. But I had an idea. I put three of the lugnuts on and left them loose a little less
than 1/8 inch. Then I let Rustpuppy
down and took her for a little ride.
Almost right away I could hear the wheel rattling around and it was
free! I snugged the three lugnuts up
and returned home..
Aren made inquiries about the rolling radius of the old ER78-14 tires and I promised to
look into it. I found that my spare is
a cracked old FR78-14 Michelin X tire.
Anyway I mounted it on the left rear to take the radius
measurement.
Then I addressed the left front (the booger with the steel belts
showin on the outside sidewall). It was
froze to the hub too. Damnation! this
salt spray rust is the pits.. Same
procedure on the front to get it freed up..
I put the not bad lookin left rear on the left front and that is as far
as I am goin on the tire swapping since the right rear has a sloooowww leak and
I am retiring it when the new tires show up next week.. It is the one catching hell since the cam
swap and the tirespinning circus started.
It was a lot more grovelling around on the ground and jacking
Rustpuppy up and down than I expected but it was fun anyway..
Anyway I got everything organized to take the measurements for
Aren. When I had the FR78-14 out I
measured to overall diameter to be 26 inches exactly.. (the tread is about an inch narrower than
the 215R70-14) The rolling radius (on
the car with the weight on it) of the FR78-14 is exactly 12 inches. The 215R70-14 is exactly 11.5 inches. (this is measured on the rear axle out on a
smooth bit of road)
No for something a little different. I am uncomfortable goin fast with both steel belts showin on my
left rear tire so only G-force measurements at low speeds will be done until I
get the new tires on Rustpuppy.
I did some G-force testing today.
I was on the old road (best part) and it has been dry and sunny so my
traction is almost as good as it can get on the test stretch. Staging in the middle of the road the best I
was able to pull was 0.75G of acceleration.
That was with a perfect launch with just a tiny bit of wheelspin but not
full throttle.
What do you G-Tech Pro owners with good traction pull?? (need to know this bad)
I checked out the runout on the two 14x7 Rallye wheels I am puttin
the Goodrich’s on and they are perfect.
(thanks again Rob Roberson) The
third one is perfect too and the cosmetically challenged one only has about 1/8
inch of runout at the big garf.. It
looks much worse than it is.. (make a
good spare)
The wheels is in the Suburban to take the trip to town and I am
really looking forward to seein them big meats..
Rick Draganowski
(not gonna show the white letters, Rustpuppy is not a billboard)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: ‘[Nova List]’ <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 13
Date: Sunday, November 07, 1999 9:11 PM
Rustpuppy’s got two new tires!
The B.F.Goodrich Radial T/A 245/60-14’s showed up last Thursday. I went to town in the Suburban Friday and
took along a couple of disco Rallye (7” jobs, thanks Rob Roberson) to get the
tires mounted on. They were
beauties.. Big. Wide. Impressive. But..
No more whitewalls for poor Rustpuppy. The whitewalls along with the light blue paint made Rustpuppy
almost invisible to the noble law enforcement.
The delicate, innocent look that made my driving habits less noticable
is being lost. Replaced by a
purposeful, almost arrogant appearance which may cause quite bit of magnetic
attraction to the above mentioned public servants.
Oh well. Now Rustpuppy
looks a little silly with the whitewalls on the front and fat blackwalls on the
back. Silly and almost a public
hazard.. (sorta like someone changed
wheels for racin or sumptin)
Now for some technical stuff.
The stock 6” wheel with the 215/70-14 (the poor right rear which is
pretty baldheaded from spinning) weighs 37 lbs.. The 7 inch disco Rallye with the Goodrich tire weighs 49 lbs..
The clearance on the tight side (drivers side) between the sidewall
and the inner rear fender lip with the 215 tires was 1 ½ inches. Now with the 7 inch rims and the 245 tires
it is 5/8” (the passengers side with the big tires is 1 1/16”)
I haven’t tested the fit in the front yet but I will before I
order the two for the front. (not too
soon as this is gettin expensive, $180 bucks Friday for the two tires)
The first road test of the new meats was a big
disappointment. Oh, No! I could only get about 0.65G out of the
fancy-schmancy new “performance” tires.
How could this be??? The skinny
tires did a best of 0.75G with 0.65G being normal..
Then I realized that I had been running 20 lbs in the old tires to
get some traction and I’ll bet the tire guy put in lotsa air as he is used to
putting tires on for pickup trucks. He
did, the Goodriches had about 38 lbs of air in them and on the light end of
Rustpuppy were hard as rocks..
Soo, even though it was gettin late and there was a storm coming,
I let the pressure down to 18lbs. Then
I went out for one more test before the roads get wet.. The first time I tried on the best piece of
old pavement (where I got 0.75G with the old tires) I unexpectedly hooked up with a 0.79G hit. It pushed me back in the seat and when I put
the brakes on the inertial reel in the shoulder belt caught and I felt like I
was being clamped between the belt and the seat and couldn’t breath. Exciting moment..
I did some calculations based on the footprint sizes of the tires
and found that I need to reduce the pressure in the Goodriches to 15.5psi to
get the same effect as 20lbs in the old skinny tires..
Any problems with running that low on the rear (light) end of a
Disco Nova??
As soon as the rain stops and the roads dry I will be taking
Rustpuppy out for a run on the good asphalt part of Hwy 101 and see what she
can do now.. Then I will put on one
spring clamp and see what that does..
Seriously lookin for 14.8 @ 98... Muscley car stuff..
What fun..
Saturday before I swapped the tires and wheels I washed Rustpuppy
and took a bunch of video to convert to snapshots. I promised the pictures and they will be made..
More
to come..
(big
tires is good)
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: NovaList <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 14
Date: Sunday, November 14, 1999 11:40 PM
Lotsa time went by but not much Nova work happened since the last
log but pretty important news occurred today.
I posted to the list about tire pressure in the big meats (245/60-14)
that Rustpuppy is wearin in the back now and was cautioned that running below
20psi could be a problem. Also the great
advice to check the quality of the Rustpuppy tracks to see if the outside edge
of the black streak was darker than the middle. I did and it was.. So I
cranked the tire pressure up to 25psi and that should be just right..
I have been less than happy with the traction I was getting with
the new tires. It seemed like I had
even less than with the old skinny jobs.
(215/70-14) A few days ago I
went out for a run (15.43@97.4) and had way too
much wheelspin in first gear and then again in second gear. I assumed that the road was still too damp
(we have had about 5 inches of rain the last two weeks) and had never had time
to dry off properly. But there was another
factor at work. I think that when you
buy brand new tires they are coated with something and still have traces of the
mold release used when they were made.
I think that the outer skin of rubber may even be contaminated
chemically with the mold release so good traction is impossible until this
layer is gone.
Today I had an urgent trip to town (35 miles total) and took Rustpuppy. The sun had been shining and the humidity
has been down so the roads are back up to standard. On the way back (and real
near this end) I decided to pull over and set up the G-Tech Pro.. (sombody stop me...) It was dark, clear, no wind, and no
traffic.. Perfect!
I didn’t know it but the traction inhibiting factors were
gone. Nuff miles and really dry roads..
I was amazed by the first run..
It was uncanny.. No wheelspin at
all!! The tail just went down and the
nose up and I went.. I could tell that
the motor was pulled down by the low stall speed torque converter (out of the old
truck) so the g-forces of the start did not feel as wild as with the .79g
launch with some wheelspin. But the
time told the tale.
It looks like now there is traction the converter needs a higher
stall speed.. Poor old Rustpuppy is
doomed to be a 15 second rod.. The time
was 15.04@96.8... The low stall with the good traction is limiting Rustpuppy to
about .7g or a tad more on the launch and that loses about .15 or .2 seconds on
the e.t...
Sooo now if I put in the higher stall converter stored under the
workbench I may get the tractions problems back.. Hmmm.. This can go on
forever..
For now I am tickled pink with the new tires and not a bit
concerned that I am not getting Rustpuppy into the 14’s (maybe not ever, but what if...)
More to come...
Rick Draganowski
From: Rick Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: NovaList <nova@seas.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy Log report 15
Date: Thursday, November 18, 1999 7:36 PM
Well we finally had a dry enough day to take Rustpuppy out for a
run. The road was perfect, there was no
wind, and Rustpuppy had no traction problems.
She made her best run yet. But I
am not quite rejoicing yet.. The launch was perfect, just a deep CHURP!
and then it felt like being shot from a slingshot. The rear slid a couple inches to the left because both rear
wheels slipped for a moment. Second
gear seemed to come up way too soon as the motor was just beginning to pull
hard. (1-2 shift is at a lame 4200rpm)
Then it was go like hell tracking straight and happy. The time was 15.02@97.7 . Poor Rustpuppy is doomed to be a 15 second
rod.. There seems to be a vast chasm
between 15.02 and 14.99... Sigh...
Horsepower is the limit now.
I am diverting the effort on the spring clamps (not really needed now)
to doing something about 3 things that I think would help..
1) Do the super-tuning on the timing and carb
that I have been puttin off because of the traction problems.
2) Do something about the TH350 shift
points. I think that they are 4200 1-2
and 4400 2-3.. I need about 5400 to get
the best out of the Edelbrock Performer 400 cam.. But I would be happy with 5000.. Here is the idea I got.
The shift points at full throttle are determined by the little flyball governor
gadget. Ol’ Draganowski is thinkin of
pulling out that little item and grinding on the weights to reduce the mass
which will raise the shift points as the governer would have to spin faster to
trigger the shift.. What do you all
think.. (no fancy kits required)
3) I gotta get the high stall converter (lurkin
under the workbench) installed to get back into traction problems. But I got no money and the weather is foul
for a motor R/R. I don’t think I am
flexible enough to try the pull the tranny without pullin the motor
trick.. I would have to take it to a “Real”
mechanic and then pay the shop rate..
What would the flat rate be for R/R a TH350 with no complications???
On another note. The
header ticks seem to be healing up. I
am keeping the bolts tight and I think the Nitro Seal steel and graphite gasket
is deforming and sealing better. So..
Since it is not broke I ain’t gonna fix it and am leaving the headers on.. The sparkplugs are brand new as I twisted
myself into a knot changing them during the troubleshooting phase of the Flat
Cam Project.. So I am leaving sleeping
puppies lie.
I drained the plain spring water out of Rustpuppy and threw in 1
whole gallon of anti-freeze. I wonder
what that mix would be. What is the
water capacity of a 350 Nova with the factory 2-core radiator and no heater.. Hmmm..
Class? Bueller? Windle? I was
worried about the corrosion problems with the Edelbrock manifold from the “Water
from Hell” highly corrosive stuff we got here.
(sorta like running salt water in your radiator..)
I am gonna view “Rebuilding Your Automatic Transmission” video
again to brush up on the governor R/R..
More
to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(Rustpuppy
is at 15.02@97.7!)