Chris was out at the Lucas Oil Divisional at Pacific Raceways from August 15 – 17 racing the Chevelle in Pro Bracket. During this weekend the water vapor was unusually high here in the Pacific Northwest with water grains in the 80’s so it was expected that the car would be running off the pace as water molecules displace oxygen molecules in the air. Less oxygen equals less power.
The Chevelle ran consistent numbers on Friday and Saturday and all was looking well for the opening round on Sunday. However as has become the norm of late, the car unexpectedly slowed in the first round and wouldn’t run the number, only running a 10.653 on a 10.58 which it easily SHOULD have ran from the data on Friday and Saturday. The car left well but Chris stated when it shifted into 2nd it was like towing an anchor until high.
The past couple of years for whatever reason, this has become the norm rather than the exception. Both Chris and I are VERY frustrated and we have been unable to find any problems in the engine short of tearing it down, so we are at the point where we must look at the transmission being the problem once again.
We once had a car that was extremely predictable that now only leaves us scratching our heads. Cylinder leakdown is good, there isn’t an ignition or fuel delivery problem and we’ve just changed the valve springs which were showing a loss in pressure but clearly we’re missing something. – Roger
