From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 133
Date: Saturday,
September 14, 2002 8:50 PM
Continuing with the “Cutouts for Rustpuppy” project I finished
welding the slip joints and they are ready to be installed in Rustpuppy’s
exhaust system. I figure the
Sawzall would probably make the two cuts under the car that are needed.. See t&t133-1.jpg,
t&t133-2.jpg and t&t133-3.jpg..
Labor day has come and gone and the cool foggy mornings of the
Oregon coast are back.. I
was sleepy the other morning and took Rustpuppy out for alittle “ride” and that
was enough to wake me completely.. Not much traction in the fog..
It came to me from above that it would be prudent to replace
Rustpuppy’s front bumper.. I
believe a wise decision for safety’s sake and the improvement in directional
stability above 100mph..
I think Rustpuppy looks much better with her bumpers anyway..
The list has been complaining about leaky smallblocks and I
snapped a picture showing the bumper back in place and the spots left from
parking Rustpuppy.
(t&t133-4.jpg)
The big spill is automatic transmission fluid I drained from the cooler
when the snorkel hole was cut..
The orange circles are around the multiple little drips.. This is about six months
worth.
Need to fix the cheap stamped steel ramps so I cannot stupidly
drive off the end of them so easily.. Duhh..
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(slipping
and sliding in the fog)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 134
Date: Saturday,
September 14, 2002 9:42 PM
Started digging into the ramp stop project. Designed to give a more
positive indication of when you are out of luck at the end..
Took out my trusty Sawzall and sliced a chunk of 2 ½” exhaust tubing
the long way. See
t&t134-1.jpg.
Then I squished them in the vise to increase the
effective height.. See
t&t134-2.jpg.
T&t134-3.jpg and
t&t134-4.jpg show the tacking and welding going on..
The when they were finished (t&t134-5.jpg) it was time to
paint..
I found a can of Chrysler blue engine paint and blue
it is.. See
t&t134-6.jpg..
Now I have to get up the gumption to crawl under and do the
cutting of Rustpuppy’s exhaust system to get the cutouts in..
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(blue
ramps is good)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 135
Date: Friday,
September 20, 2002 11:06 PM
Have been working on a contract job and at the same time getting
use to the new medications..
Making me a little nuts but productive.. The weather turned to mostly fog and finished up
with a whole day of rain so there was not much chance of Rustpuppy
racing.. The job cut into
the time and gumption needed for Rustpuppy work so little has been done since
the last report..
Here is a picture I snapped on the way home last week. This is approaching the curve
before Rustpuppy Run starts and you can see the fog bank socking in the hill
were I live.. Half of
Rustpuppy Run was in it as well..
See RpupRunFog1.jpg.
A whole day of soaking gentle rain put an end to the fog and after
it a spell of beautiful warm sunny days started.. Most excellent weather. But..
(another damn but)
The thermal trough generated a low pressure south and east of the coast
and the wind from offshore (NW mostly) has been blowing all day every day about
25 mph with gusts.. No good
for racing at all.. Sigh.. And a little too warm for
serious work as well..
Took Rustpuppy out for a little drive in the country at noon but
just fooled around with an auto shifted 0-60 run on the old road. Good launch with a medium
bog and the surprising time of 4.7 seconds.. Goody seem really eager to run today.. Oh well..
Later that afternoon I decided to take a nap (started at 4pm and
ended at 6pm) and when I awoke refreshed I went out and discovered that the
damn wind had finally stopped.. It was just before sunset and a beautiful time
for some racing..
I piled into Rustpuppy and was lurching down the old road warming
Goody and the transmission up.. Did a manual shifted 0-60 run at the bottom of
the hill and was really happy with the time of 4.56 seconds.. Remember, this is with the
front bumper back on..
One of the local citizens was behind me as I approached highway
101 so I just drove straight across the highway and lurked on the other side
till traffic cleared..
Staged in the best location but Goody was running clean and the
launch broke into wheelspin through about half of first gear.. I knew the time would be
off but pressed on regardless.. The high speed stability of Rustpuppy with
the front bumper back on was way better than the high lift bumper off
configuration.. Very
comfortable to cruise at over 100 if the wind is light.. Goody was pulling well and
the time came up in a jiffy..
The G-Tech was indicating 13.66@107.7 and considering the amount of
wheelspin that was plenty good..
Turned around at the first opportunity and zoomed back for a
northbound run.. Tried
to get the proper location but may have botched it..
Traction broke loose in a serious way and Rustpuppy was dancing
down the highway with the rear tires screaming all through first gear and
considerably into second..
I stayed on it for entertainment value since I knew the run was
blown.. It’s going to leave a mark
too.. Not surprised about the
dismal time of 14.18@104.9
on the G-Tech.. It was just
getting dark and the moisture from the sea was settling on the south end of the
Run.. I should have
done the racing an hour ago..
This was run number 165 since Goody went in..
All the talk recently about traction bars reminded me that I never
posted the pictures of Rustpuppy’s traction bar installation in the Test&Tune
series. So I include them
here..
See t&t135-1.jpg, t&t135-2.jpg and t&t135-3.jpg...
More to come..
Rick Draganowski
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
TestTune 136
Date: Wednesday,
October 02, 2002 12:51 PM
The weather and work as well as some health issues have interfered
with the Rustpuppy story for the last couple weeks. It either has been foggy and raining or the wind
from hell has been blowing crossways on Rustpuppy Run..
I only managed one feeble seat time and did a boggy cold 0-60 on
the old road. Time was
mediocre at 4.69 seconds..
As you all know the street BFG Radial T/A’s on Rustpuppy have been
burned off to less than 1/16” and it is time for new tires.. What to do?.
Replacing with new street tires will mess up the little traction
Rustpuppy has till they are well worn.. Sigh..
The Radial T/A’s cost 67 bux each at the TireRack..
But..
On the other hand. If I take the non-streetable M/T ET Streets off
the splendid 15x7 Monte rims that Ray most kindly supplied. Then I could use them fitted with
a set of BFG Drag Radials on Rustpuppy and be back in business with better
traction without the down sides of the slicks.. Hmmm. Sticking point is that the Drag Radials
are 127 bucks each..
Ouch.
Did some research on getting the proper Drag Radial for Rustpuppy
and came up with this.. Comparing the 245/60-14 Radial
T/A to the 235/60-15 Drag Radial.
See TireComparo.gif for the details..
Amazingly the tread width is exactly the same. And the difference in
height is only about 2% so they will not mess with the effective gearing of Ol’
Rustpuppy very much..
The survey results at TireRack for the two tires put the dry
traction of the street tire at 7.9 and the race tire at 9.1 so I can expect
plenty more traction.. And I
have heard nothing but good reports from the folks using them.
The tread design and depth is radically different between the two
types of tire.. See
DragRadial_Radial TA.jpg for the
picture..
You may be able to detect from the tone of this report that I
really want them Drag Radials.. It is just a question of getting on the
phone and getting them ordered I guess..
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(tire
madness)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 137
Date: Monday,
October 14, 2002 7:46 PM
With the press of work compounded by being made homeless over the
weekend not much has been going on with Rustpuppy. I did manage to have a cosmic brain fart while
working on Ray’s manifold and drilled two holes in the wrong place.. Seems like I am sinking in
to a pit of stupidity and degradation..
But this morning despite all of the bad vibes I noticed that the
weather was perfect for racing..
Sunny, dry, and cool with no wind. Hmm.. We have been having serious winds and
crashing surf for about three weeks now and without any rain to wash the
pavement the salt rime is building up on Rustpuppy Run. Especially the south end
which is much closer to the
surf.. See
map. (RustpuppyRun.jpg)
I have enough funding to get the Drag Radials ordered probably
tomorrow.. But I thought that it might be fun to take Rustpuppy out for a Run
about noon.
Rustpuppy was running great and I went lurching down the old road
trying to get Goody warmed up enough to get over the bog.. Traffic was
moderate with bunches of cars followed by long stretches of no traffic.. Cool. I zoomed out to the launch location for a
southbound run..
There was just a little bog at launch with just a hint of
hesitation.. The run went
great with no crosswinds and solid tracking.. Goody was pulling well through the whole rpm range and
the time came up fairly good at 13.53@108.1 on the G-Tech.. The tach indicated that Rustpuppy was up to an honest 105 mph
just after the end of the quarter and it felt plenty fast..
Then turning around at the first chance I dashed over to the
northbound staging area..
Goody was up to operating temp so there was no bog but the lesser
traction at the south end combined with the higher stall on the converter
overloaded the burnt off street Radials and the rear tires spun moderately
through most of first gear..
Just before the 1-2 shift they started hooking up and the run felt
fast.. The time
was off on the ET but with a nice high mph at 13.7@108.2.. Back to back runs with the identical speed
were not possible before the cold air inlet was installed.. Rustpuppy would always lose about 1mph
with each run getting slower and slower as the underhood air heated up..
These quarter mile runs were number 166 and 167 since Goody was
installed.
Rick
Draganowski
(camping
out in his office)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Ray
Buck <rbuck@aros.net>
Cc: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>;
thad bell <uncdad@yucom.be>
Subject: [nova]
Challenges and progress
Date: Saturday,
October 26, 2002 7:12 PM
Still homeless and lurking in my office. The stink from the leaky Dometic refrigerator is
lingering. Playing it safe since I got such an overdose of the stuff...
Yesterday I went out to warm up Rustpuppy and take her for a
little ride. And then I planned on putting her up on the ramps for the initial
exhaust cutout work..
Got in and then the comedy began.. First Rustpuppy would not start. Dead as a doornail.. Then I noticed that I left
the lights on from the last time I took her for a little ride in the cold
fog.. Poop..
I was sitting there thinking about my stupidity and suddenly a
damn little mouse dropped out of the dash and ran between my feet under the
seat. A few seconds
later it ran from under the seat on the passenger’s side and dashed through the
hole left from the old battery cable routing.. Based on the distance, elapsed time, and size of
mouse the scale speed of the miserable rodent worked out to 122mph..
The hole is supposed to have a cork in it but the
last passenger must have kicked it out during his screaming panic attack.. There is something about my
driving style...
Needless to say I did NOT feed the cats yesterday. Or today.. Damn lazy cats..
And then first thing this morning.. I was downloading some needed
upgrades from Microsoft and they
seemed to help the performance of my old Sony laptop..
Then without warning the screen went black. It does not respond to the power
switch. Completely stone
cold dead. Probably is
just a relatively minor power supply problem so Sony can overcharge for some
more parts that I have to wait on the ship from Japan for. Sigh.. And my backups are about a month old or more. Poop..
What was the last Rustpuppy
Test&Tune I sent?
Anyway, feeling good this weekend and the weather is fine. Sunny and cool.. I had put the battery charger on
Rustpuppy last evening so the battery was back to normal. Took Rustpuppy out for an exhilerating
ride on the old road and then came back and got her up on the ramps.. There is a flaw in
the ramp design as they will push forward if they are on gravel. That is what caused the stupid
fall-off-the-back-of-the-ramp episode..
One of them was on a bit of
lawn and it held (left side) and the other one pushed forward about 4
inches.. I will remember
only to use them on the lawn in the future and to weld a stop on them to keep
them from sinking too deep..
See t&tx-1.jpg
I jacked the corner of Rustpuppy up with the bumper jack and
kicked the ramp back where it belongs.. I plan on jacking her up higher and putting four
jackstands under her for safety and some extra room for my fat old body..
Got the holes in the driver’s side manifold for the
Pyroprobes.. No drama
and no excitement. See
picture. (ray38.jpg)
Tomorrow is another day..
More to come..
Rick Draganowski
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 138
Date: Tuesday,
November 05, 2002 8:09 PM
Big storm is coming..
This morning I was out and about and noticed that there was a calm sunny
moment left before the wind and rain gets here.. So I took Rustpuppy down off the ramps (without having done
any work on the exhaust yet) and put the 5 gallons of 92 octane in her
tank.. I had run it
out to almost empty to start with some winter gas..
I let had let Rustpuppy idle on the ramps (on high idle) for about
15 minutes while I took care of some last minute business and she was warmed up
good and eager to go..
Stepped on the gas a little too much when passing my mailbox at about 15
mph and smoked the tires and got a little sideways..
Yahoo! I love
this old car..
Out on Rustpuppy Run I lurked a while for a traffic break and then
staged for a southbound run..
The surf has been nuts for weeks with a lot of wind but no rain so there
are salt deposits all down Rustpuppy Run.. Sigh..
Wheels broke loose and spun through most of first
gear.. Was still
pushing but not like it should be.. In second and third Goody felt stronger
than at any time this summer with the pissy gas.. The time was off from the
first gear wheelspin at a miserable 13.88 but the mph was up there at 108 on
the G-Tech..
Just not enough traction with those worn street
tires.. And I have
been putting off getting the drag radials till this month.. (for financial reasons)
Turned around at the first area and thundered back to the
northbound staging area.. This run
got serious in a hurry..
Rustpuppy was scratching like a cat on linoleum and not pushing
much.. Then the rear end
headed for the other side of the road and before I knew it the rear wheels were
in the middle of the other lane and the front wheels in my lane.. I was getting concerned due
to the 25 foot drop to the riverbed right at the shoulder of the Run. And no guard rail.. I shifted to second early thinking that
would settle things down but it did not help and it was getting to be a
desperate issue..
Finally I let off the gas and aborted the run.. With a little sawing at the wheel and
fishtailing I got Rustpuppy back on course..
Poop.. With the
better gas I have to have better tires or I will wreck poor Rustpuppy with my
antics.. And what is going
to happen with the exhaust cutouts adding just a bit more power?? Heading for disaster..
Despite giving up the race and just cruising through the last half
of the quarter the G-Tech still came up with 14.8@101..
Before anything else is done I got to get those Drag
Radials..
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(scaring
himself silly)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 139
Date: Thursday,
November 14, 2002 6:36 PM
After I dropped off the ET Streets for dismounting the sky opened
and we got about 18” of rain over the last couple weeks.. No good for racing at all..
I picked up the dismounted slicks and wheels just a couple days
into the storm period and have been putting up with the strong rubber smell of
racing tires in my Suburban for many days.. At first I thought that something was wrong with my
faithful old Suburban but finally figured it out..
I have not ordered the Drag Radials yet.. I wanted to make a couple
big payments to my credit card company first.. But it will happen.. Real soon now..
Today the sun came back and it finally started drying out.. While doing chores this
morning I decided that it was time to take Rustpuppy out for some exercise.. It is bad for a motor to just sit too
long.. Especially in total
wet 100% humid weather with high winds and rain..
First I checked the oil.. Goody was down about a half quart again..
Sigh.. The leaky front seal
is not going to stop leaking until I replace it.. The leftover half quart from the last time was still
handy so It went in in a jiffy..
Rustpuppy started up just dandy.. And sounding good too.. After warming up for about a minute (are you listening
Aren?) I took off down the old road for just a little fooling around.. The asphalt was still waterlogged
so nothing serious could be done.. But I did try one 0-60 run down at the bottom of
the hill.. Since I
could not do an ordinary launch without just sitting and burning the tires I
just rolled the throttle on slowly..
Traction was good enough for a mild run.. The 1-2 shift busted loose and Rustpuppy wobbled around for just a
half second or so..
Despite the poor conditions the time wasn’t too bad at 4.82
seconds.. It is always
fun to get back into a v8 Nova after driving the 6000 lb Suburban for a few
weeks..
Had to go to town for business reasons (billable time is good but
working with XP is the pits) and when I got home I rassled the dismounted
slicks out of the Suburban and put them in my shop.. I think I will clean and re-paint the splendid
15” Monte wheels the most excellent Ray Buck provided.. Then I better get going and order them
Drag Radials..
They say on the TireRack website that they are a backorder
item.. Nothing
is ever convenient.
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(we
need a couple weeks of sunshine..)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 140
Date: Sunday,
December 08, 2002 6:54 PM
My back is considerably improved today. When I get in to the Suburban it no longer feels like
someone stabbed me in the back.
(seriously) What
happens is the contents of the ruptured disk eventually is partially absorbed
and moves down away from the area where it is pressing the nerves against the
bone.
The trick is being able to prevent the muscle spasms
in your back that is triggered by the nerve pain. If you don’t nip them in the bud the symptoms
get more serious as the added pressure on the nerve starts an inflammatory
response with swelling, increasing the pressure and triggering more muscle
spasms.. Since I
have been living with these miserable ailments 25 years I have trained myself
to block the pain and relax those stupid back muscles to prevent the
spasms.. Downside to this
technique is that keeping the muscles relaxed for a long period of time weakens
them. So when you start using them
you have problems just standing up for any length of time.. But you can sit in a car..
So when I was doing chores this afternoon I started
getting thoughts. The weather was cool (about 53 degrees) and cloudy with high
humidity and lingering dampness from the night fog and condensation.. Not ideal for racing.. But there was no wind.. Hmm.. Maybe a little drive in the country?
I had put some winter premium Texaco gas in
Rustpuppy so she still had about ¾ tank.. (about 90 lbs of gas) And don’t forget the heavy Disco bumper is still
on.
I took my time navigating Rustpuppy across the rough parts of the
old road. It is best not to get
thrown around too much. With
the traction bars Rustpuppy’s rear suspension has limited free motion.
It seemed to take longer than usual for Goody to warm up and when
I tried the 0-60 practice at the bottom of the hill on the old road there was a
really long bog at launch followed by moderate wheelspin.. Another patch of wheelspin
at the 1-2 shift. No
audible squealing of tires due to the high humidity.. The time was way off normal on the G-Tech at 5.13
seconds..
Zoomed up to the intersection of Highway 101 and lurked there a
while till the traffic was clear in both directions.. I noticed that due to the external transmission
oil cooler the stall speed stayed down at about 2750 or so.. This will help on launch
since I expect marginal traction..
Relaxed and concentrated on “Where I was. What I was doing.” to quote Yoda.. (silly since it is just Frank Oz
and a puppet) Southbound run
is the best traction but I was expecting problems from the high humidity.
The launch was less than optimum.. Slight bog followed by way too much
wheelspin. And the second
gear shift spun too long again..
Rustpuppy was tracking excellently well and I stayed on it past the
quarter till the speedometer indicated 120mph.. (an honest 112mph)
I expected a really miserable time due to the rotten launch but it
came up at 13.71@107.3
on the G-Tech and surprised me.
I stopped at the first turnaround and considered my options.. The traction on
the northbound launch area is always worse due to it’s close proximity to the
ocean.. And there seemed to be a
lot of traffic. If the
traction is really crappy there is a small but significant chance of sliding
off the edge of the narrow causeway that is Rustpuppy Run. Positraction and bad traction is
an unpredictable mix. The 15
foot drop to the creekbed level would be bad for Rustpuppy..
So like a good law abiding citizen I motored slowly back
home. Staying well within
the speed limit on 101 of 55..
Sitting and writing this I notice that the only pain registering is
from my arthritic right hip joint..
And that ain’t going to go away.. I seem to have gotten away with this
ill-advised behavior without harm..
So far..
I rushed right out in a buying frenzy on the day after
Thanksgiving and ordered the Drag Radials from TireRack.. They are backordered and I
doubt they will show up till January.
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(racing
is good)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 141
Date: Sunday,
January 05, 2003 3:03 PM
The weather has been wet. As wet and stormy as it has been in the last 23
years. We probably have
gotten about 3 feet of rain in the last 6 weeks..As a result of the crappy
weather, storm damage, grinding away at two different contracts, and just being
wet and cold, not much has been happening on the Rustpuppy front..
The spiffy cutouts are still on the workbench in my shop, the BFG
DragRadials are still on backorder at TireRack, and I am getting the itch to
order in some more speed parts from Jeg’s.. If I wasn’t so poor I probably would be spending money
like a nut..
Anyway, here is the report. There was a temporary break in the
weather the day before Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve itself.. This story took
place about 11am on Christmas Eve..
I was depressed because of the miserable weather and other factors
and I decided to take Rustpuppy out for an innocent ride in the country to
exercise Goody and keep away the motor storage syndrome..
It was great fun to blast down the old road in a light responsive
car after wheeling the bulky Suburban around for the last month or so.. I notice that there was
little wind and not much traffic.. Started thinking.. Despite the dampness of the roads perhaps I could get away
with one moderate run.. Hmm..
Turned onto a deserted highway 101 for a southbound run. After getting to the
staging area and getting into the proper mindset for racing I was ready. I knew that too much throttle at launch
would just leave Rustpuppy burning tires and moving little so I planned on a
slow throttle roll on with a moderate launch..
But.
Just as I started the launch a car appeared around the bend in the
highway about ¾ of a mile behind me.. I knew that I could proceed safely as Rustpuppy
would be going over 60mph in just a few seconds and the car would never catch
up..
Unfortunately the added stress of the appearance was enough to set
my tender old nerves on edge.
The coming events will prove this.. The slow roll on launch went great, with only a moderate
loss of traction..
Things were going great for a wet weather race..
But.
Right at the top of first gear, just as the shift light was coming
on, Rustpuppy lost traction bigtime. Since I was going about 45mph things got
serious in a hurry.
Rustpuppy’s rear wheels moved to the left with mind numbing speed
resulting in Rustpuppy being at almost a 45 degree angle to the highway. Remember this is a narrow
causeway with no shoulders and a serious drop to the riverbed below..
As terror gripped me everything seemed to be
happening in slow motion. could
not hear the bellow of Rustpuppy’s exhaust, and I felt like I could only move
in slow motion.. I
made the instant decision to ignore the shiftlight and keep both hands on the
wheel.
I got off the throttle as fast as I could and steered into the
skid and thankfully Rustpuppy pulled out of the sideways slide.. I knew that if I even thought
of using the brakes that it would have been disaster.. I had to use the
whole road (both lanes) to get straightened out so you can see my rule about
never racing with close traffic is a good one.. Anyway things started settling down.
But.
The shift light was still on and Goody was way over
6000 rpm.. I
knew that it was important to shift as soon as possible..
But.
Since my nerves were shot by the combination of traffic behind and
near disaster I botched the shift.. Damn.. This was really overreving poor
Goody.. After
much banging around with the shift lever I finally got her into 3rd
and was at the end of the quarter mile.. The faithful (and stupid) G-Tech reported 15.67@80 despite my
antics.. I wonder what
the innocent civilians in the car following thought of my display of idiocy?
It was a terrifying event and drove home the lesson of not messing
around on wet roads..
I better take this lesson to heart..
Oh, well.. Sun is shining today, and promised tomorrow..
The lawn is so soggy that It is no longer safe to drive on the low
parts. It is worse now than this
picture shows. See
t&t141-1.jpg. I have
been parking the Suburban up next to Yakima Sue and hiking in through the mud..
I am homeless and still lurking in the hallway. See t&t141-2.. Waiting for good weather to do
some work on the Airstream trailer so I can move back in..
More to come..
Rick
Draganowski
(unemployed
Village Idiot)
p.s. Four buts in one
report. That is a new
record.. Duhh..
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 142
Date: Sunday,
January 19, 2003 8:57 PM
Still jumping through hoops and filling out forms on the Suburban
accident on the 9th.
Last Monday I had an appointment at Tim Harding’s shop for an inspection
and estimate on my poor Suburban.
I haven’t been sleeping well and making the 8:00am time was a
bummer.. I had gone to
bed at 11 Sunday night but could not sleep till after 4.. And was up at 6..
Initial inspection results are not good.. Things
seem to be worse than I
thought.. The left
rear axle is bent and the wheel is wobbling.. Tim said that he has seen 10bolt truck axles
crack from bending..
And if you continue driving there is a possibility of the crack
propagating leading to axle failure..
If a rear wheel falls off while you are blasting down the highway it
would be bad..
When Tim took the axle cover off to inspect the
differential I finally got a chance to see the locking differential in
there. What a
disappointment. It is not a
Detroit Locker but is the much weaker Gov-Lock gizmo.. A wimpy fragile setup that
has the reputation of self-destructing if abused..
See report after end of this letter.
The combination of the wimpy axle and my suspicions that when the
700R4 transmission was rebuilt it was not brought up to the later spec means
that I better be careful. It
could be a first generation wimpy weakling 700R4.. Sigh..
This means that I have to be extra careful to be gentle with the
Suburban and not give in to my natural behavior.. No more burnouts.
That does give me an idea. I have a later model Q-Jet from the late 70’s
early 80’s that would serve in the Suburban if I rebuilt it.. It probably has leaner jets
and rods than the race-oriented Q-Jet in there now.. And it has the electric choke which is not as wasteful of
fuel as the divorced choke rig on the race carb. Doing this would free up another proven performance Q-Jet
for Rustpuppy.. It is always
good to have a spare..
Rustpuppy is pressed into service as my daily driver.. I am just glad that the
weather has been dry and sunny..
Rustpuppy does not have an effective defogger for the windshield.. And due to the water that
leaks in through the rust holes the interior is always soggy and the windows
fogged up during cool rainy weather.
Using Rustpuppy to get me to town for business gave me the
opportunity of giving my friend Eric Ragsdale a long promised ride. (owner of West America
Technologies) His
office is on the Rogue North Bank Road so we used it for the demonstration.. With Eric and me
aboard there was a full load of fat for Rustpuppy. That combined with a full tank of 92 octane winter gas
would help traction..
They had used some high tech asphalt on the North Bank Road to aid
traction in the curvy parts..
It made a great place to
launch Rustpuppy.. I
did a terrific 0-80 run eastbound while Eric was yelling incoherently.. Then a U turn and
another one coming back..
Eric was impressed and it was great fun to show Rustpuppy off when she
is running so good.. I
just wish that the pavement on Rustpuppy Run was the same material as the North
Bank Road. Oh, well.. The new tires will help.
Then last Thursday I had some business at the County
Courthouse. After taking
care of it I was leaving the building through the north entrance where
Rustpuppy was parked.. I was having some trouble going down
the stairs to get to the exit.
Not a handicap friendly old building.. A nice lady held the door open for me. As I past through the door I glanced
at her and said thank you.
The next instant my right foot encountered the small 5 inch high down
step that was about 40 inches from the door.. Down I tumbled to the concrete walk. What a revolting
development..
I was not seriously hurt, my knees were bruised and my hands
abraded and I think I pulled a pectoral muscle. I still haven’t recovered from the accident the
previous week and get clobbered again.. What a life..
I went back into the building and wrote up an accident report for
Jerry Herbage, the county’s attorney.. I am beginning to feel like I am under a black
cloud.. I have an
appointment with Dr. Williams tomorrow afternoon so I will tell him
everything.. I may
have damaged my inner ear when my head hit the window and have been a little
dizzy and having problems balancing since the accident.. But I think it is gettin
better..
I have been thinking for some time of upgrading the intake
manifold on Rustpuppy from a common Performer to a Victor Jr. I am sure that it would make an
improvement in the 3500-6000 rpm band.. So last week when I was doing research on manifold
height issues and prices my butter slipped off my noodles and I ordered one
from Speedway. What a
little kid I am sometimes..
I plan on staying with the Q-Jet at least initially. Edelbrock sells a
purpose-designed adaptor specifically for this. Not the same as a square bore to spread bore
adaptor as it has the Q-Jet moved back to help with fuel distribution.
Based on Rustpuppy’s performance I believe that some manifold heat
would be needed. And
since the Victor Jr is an air gap manifold it has zero manifold heat. For several days now I have been mentally
designing various modifications that would provide manifold heat controlled by
a knob on the dash like an airplane..
As soon as it arrives I will decide which scheme I will use.. The pictures I have of the Victor
Jr. leave a lot to the imagination..
Researching the dimensions published on the manifolds and the
adaptor I have established that using the Victor Jr would result in the air
cleaner being a hair less than 1.5 inches higher than now.. I am pretty sure that it would
still fit under the hood sheet metal but I will have to cut out the x-bracing
above the air cleaner.
Now for something entirely different. Resisting the lure of the Dark Side of the Force
and not particularly interested in the Carter/Edelbrock/Weber line the thought
of a Predator carb came to mind. One of the mechanics over at Brett’s shop
had one on his truck and it worked just fine.. I did some research on Predators and really
would like to have one to fool with.
But when I found out the price that idea flew out
the window.. It would
cost close to 500 bucks to get one set up.. Damn..
Then word came from the list that someone, somewhere is selling one for
200 bux. Get thee behind me,
Satan!
Since the Q-Jet is only 3.25 inches high and the Predator is 5.5
inches high and needs a 2 inch spacer to be happy on a Victor Jr I have a
feeling that it would not fit under Rustpuppy’s hood..
We have had a week of sunny weather with just a little morning
clouds so the roads are mostly dry.
It is much cooler today (only about 50) and we are getting night fog.
Hmm.. I
got the idea to take Rustpuppy out for a Run this afternoon.. The practice 0-60 on the old road
started with a big bog.
Before committing to a Rustpuppy Run I decided to do some experimenting
with some more 0-60 times.. The first southbound 0-60 on
Rustpuppy Run was a disappointment as the tires just blew away and spun 2/3 of
the way through first gear.
Damn. Time was a wimpy 5.2
seconds. Southbound is the
best traction so I didn’t expect much on the northbound 0-60 test.. I was correct. Tires spun through all of
first gear for the time of 5.36 seconds. Between the 50 degree weather and the good winter gas
Goody is pulling so strong the tires are just not up to it. There was no point in even trying a
quarter mile run..
Motored home to write this..
More to come.
Rick Draganowski
(need to order the Q-Jet adaptor, another 30 bux. Its going to go over 200 bucks
for this upgrade)
Gov-lock(G/L)
Used by General
Motors in 73 & newer trucks that came with an optionL locking/limited slip
differential. It was used in 7.5”, 7.625”, 8.5”, 8.6”, 8.875” 12 bolt truck,
9.5”, 10.5”, and now in the new 11.5” differentials. The smaller designs are
fairly weak and the 8.5” and 12 bolt truck designs are especially weak. The
9.5” and 10.5” 14T units are fairly strong and will hold up well to towing and
moderate abuse. The Gov-Lock is designed to act as an open differential during
normal driving with no force being applied to clutches. This fact that no force
is applied to the clutches keeps the clutches from chattering during normal every
day driving. When either wheel slips and spins approximately 100 rpm faster
than the other a governor assembly senses the difference in speed and activates
a ramp system. The ramp system causes the clutches to engage and transfer power
to the wheel with traction. One other feature of the Gov-Lock is that it will
not engage at vehicle speed above 30 mph. This no lock-up feature keeps the
vehicle more stable at higher speeds where both wheels spinning could cause an
inexperienced driver to spin out or slide off of the road. This is a great
design in theory and works as designed in a stock vehicle that is not abused.
The problem is that most of us modify our trucks and many of us abuse them.
When this unit is asked to deliver under extreme conditions it tends to
self-destruct. The force generated by the ramp system that is used to lock-up
the clutches works well, except that same force has to be contained by the case
and the case is not always up to the job. (factory)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 143
Date: Monday,
February 17, 2003 3:00 AM
It has been a miserable time since my Suburban went into the shop
after the accident last month.
Rustpuppy has performed as best she could as a daily driver but when the
sunny weather left so did the fun.
The cold rain and wind are bad enough, but without a proper heater or
defroster it gets downright nasty. In spite of the weather Rustpuppy ran splendidly
well as a daily driver and was docile and well mannered in the mud. You must let her warm up before driving
so you can get the idle down to a controllable level.
See Rustpuppy parked in front of the mud bog I drive through to
get to my parking spot. Cold
damp foggy drizzly day..
See t&t143-1a.jpg
But the sun sent forth some pale watery sunshine from time to time
and I used the moments to try to dry Rustpuppy out inside. Note the several inch
deep marks of mud bogging on Rustpuppy’s tires. t&t143-2a.jpg.
The mild concussion I had in the accident healed up and the
symptoms went away and I have been pretty good on my diet so I am fit and
getting fitter. And lightening the load on Rustpuppy will help the times.
Remember in my last report I mentioned that the butter slipped off
my noodles while browsing at the Speedway website and I somehow ordered the
Victor Jr manifold for Goody.
It came and it is a beauty.
See t&t143-3.jpg.
I am struggling with the concept of flanging up some kind of carb
heat system for the Vic Jr but think that I will wait to see how well it
performs as shipped before making any modifications. Naturally the Edelbrock racing Q-Jet adaptor is
not quite available yet (it is a new product) and I am aggravating with Jeg’s
about delivery schedule. It is not the cheapo die cast zinc part
that is traditional but a spiffy well finished aluminum casting. See the differences
in t&t143-4a.jpg.
The good new racing adapter is
on the right..
Finally after three weeks plus of depending on
Rustpuppy I got the Suburban back.
The frame was not bent and everything checked out after replacing the
axle and wheel bearing.. It was a
painful financial hit though. The
bill was $548 and I had to scratch up the $500 deductible on collision.
Bah.. But it is
wonderful having the Suburban back with cruise control, tape deck, air
conditioner and super powerful heater and defroster. It is like being
a rich guy..
See t&t143-5a.jpg for the beautiful old Suburban back home.
And the sun came out. But it went away quickly and has
been raining for days..
The custom cutouts made for Rustpuppy are still sitting on the
bench waiting for better weather.
see t&t143-6a.jpg.
Hoping for some good things in the future with them
and the Vic Jr helping with the horsepower..
You may remember that last year I “Rushed out now in a buying
frenzy!” the day after Thanksgiving (to do my part for the economy, you see)
and ordered the long desired BFGoodrich Comp Drag Radials. Rustpuppy really needs these
since she now severely limited by the street tires..
After a mere 11 weeks of patient waiting when I went out to the
barn on Valentine’s day they were there! See t&t143-7a.jpg.
The next day (Saturday) I rassled them into the
Suburban along with the great Monte Carlo wheels donated by the inestimable Ray
Buck. See
t&t143-9.jpg and t&t143-8a.jpg.
I dropped them off at the Union
76 station in town to have them mounted and balanced..
I wish it would stop raining for a week so I can try them nifty
tires out.. The instant I typed
the previous line it started raining like hell. Just to taunt me.. And it is cold.. Low 40’s upper 30’s.. And damp..
Rick Draganowski
(and you notice I never even mentioned the Predator)
From: Rick
Draganowski <dragan@harborside.com>
To: Nova
List <nova@engr.smu.edu>
Subject: Rustpuppy
Test&Tune 144
Date: Tuesday,
February 25, 2003 2:06 AM
Finally the weather broke on Sunday morning. Despite more rain predicted it
was low overcast with no rain at all. Went about the task of putting the Drag Radials
on Rustpuppy.
They had been lurking in the back of the Suburban and then bathing
in the cold rain on the drive in front of Rustpuppy. The only accomplishment I had (in this
venue) last week was to churn up
the mud at the top of the yard. See t&t144-1.jpg
Really looking forward to spring.
Next we see Rustpuppy posing behind her new racing
tires.
(t&t144-2.jpg)
It felt good
to be out doing even minor physical labor so I had the right rear wheel off in
just a matter of minutes.
I used the large cross wrench instead of rigging up the wussy impact
wrench. The lug
nuts were still at the 80-90 lbs feet of torque with no loosening despite abuse.
In t&t144-3.jpg and t&t144-4.jpg you can see a comparison
between the old street tire and the new racing tire. Despite looking narrower the effective tread width both
tires are the same.
The 10mm missing off the section
width and the lack of a defined tread edge on the racing tires make them look
narrower than they are. It
makes for a subtle appearance as you will see later.
The first thing I did was to verify the pressure in
the tires. You cannot
trust anyone.. The first one
had 50psi in it.. Not too
cool. I released
enough air to bring it down to 28psi. Checking the second one gave the unsuprising
result of 45psi.
Sigh.. Got that
one back to 28psi also.
I used my spiffy new floor jack to do the lifting (they were
cheap, so I bought two) and you can see how innocent looking the new tires will
be in t&t144-5.jpg.
In t&t144-6.jpg you can see
Rustpuppy’s new look.
The Moons are no more (15” wheels in rear, 14” in front) so
Rustpuppy will have a gnarly look..
I like it..
Contrast this with t&t144-2.jpg. above.
When I went to check the rear brakes despite all of the struggles
and the modifications I made to the drums to loosen the fit of the center hole
both drums were stuck fast from the quick forming rust. What a place.
Another project to attend to.
Due to much less backspacing on the Monte wheels Rustpuppy now has
a wide track look from the rear.
And the tires look so innocent.
See t&t144-7.jpg
Just the little bit of work doing this tired me out. But felt great. I hate being cooped up indoors while the
endless cold winter rain continues on and on and on..
I decided to take Rustpuppy for her first trip with the new
tires. From what Craig told
me I am going to like the Drag Radials. The roads were still soaked and I haven’t checked
Rustpuppy’s fluids so I planned on just cruising down to the south end of
Rustpuppy Run and then back home with no foolishness. Also I had had bad experiences with brand new tires due to
the mold release soaps still being on them from the factory.
The handling down the twisty back road to get to the highway was
just fine. As good as if not
better than the street tires and totally different from the squishy wrinklewall
ET Streets..
I am happy so far..
Out on the highway I kept it down to a relaxed 60 mph and did some
tests of the highway speed stability. Most excellent.. I must confess that after I turned around for
the return trip I put my foot down for a moment or two and Rustpuppy was above
100mph before you know it.
Some twitches of the steering wheel at 100mph indicated that the
tracking and steering response of the Drag Radials was most excellent and may
even be better than the old Radial T/A tires.
Craig, once again, was right.. No comparison to the mushy wobbly ET
Streets. What a relief. Rustpuppy had
outgrown the street tires we will see soon what the results will be.
Remember, no racing I said to myself and calmed it down to 60 again and returned home, happy as can
be. When I got home I
checked the oil first and found it to be down about a quart. It is good that I didn’t push it
too much.
Worked like a dog today. It was so cool. Just the little bit of physical labor yesterday overwhelmed the insomnia I had been suffering from the last rainy cold month or so. I went to sleep like a baby at 1am and was up bright eyed and bushy tailed at