This was our first time out this year and first hits on our new 350 engine in our ’57, and Paul’s first hits in his newly purchased ’85 Mustang.
This evening the weather cleared, personal records fell, and we had a GREAT time at the strip. The crew at Pacific Raceways did another great job prepping the track this evening!
We put three hits on the ’57 and here are the results:
1) 10.548 @ 126.60 MPH. After we raised the launch RPM.
2) Records fell, 10.490 @ 128.05 MPH on our best pass of the evening and new records for the old buggy!
3) Slowed to a 10.664 @ 126.27 MPH when I missed my shift points and we dead hooked the car. I really love the new Strange double-adjustable front shocks! They tamed the beast on the shifts.
Paul’s Mustang ran well tonight recording a 12.104 @ 110.67 hitting the high-side chip near the finish line on his first hit. On his best pass he ran a stout 12.061 @ 111.87 MPH. One problem is the transmission is venting fluid near and after the finish line which requires our attention.
At some point we will need to gear both the ’57 and Mustang up a cog. The ’57 was turning 8500 in the lights and Paul’s 347 was about 6200. I like to get the trap RPM in the ’57 down a few hundred RPM and the same with Paul’s Mustang.
Next up is Chris’ Chevelle on May 9th for the opening race at Pacific Raceways. We’re looking forward to seeing how the Chevelle performs on its initial outing after going through the engine and transmission this winter. It has been a BUSY off season for the entire team!
Here’s some video from tonight. – Roger
Here’s a video comparison between our old Koni single-adjustable front shocks and the new Strange double-adjustable front shocks for 2015. No other chassis adjustment changes except for the 5.83 rear gears with the 331 and the current 5.67 gears with our larger 350:
Jim Doyle picture – May 6th 2015
I really had a great time this Wednesday night and was delighted with the performance of the new 350. It gives you great satisfaction when you have a game plan and it all works out as expected.
Now to pull the headers, check the valve springs and retorque the heads before taking the ’57 back out. Plus we’re going to slightly stiffen the front shock extension from our base setting this evening in an attempt to slow the pitch of the car slightly to get a bit more tire spin on the initial hit on the starting line.
Again my thanks to Chris, Paul and Pam for all their hard work and support during the off season. Putting together two engines, setting up the rear gears in the ’57 and getting the cars back together during our short winter took a combined effort and real dedication. And I’m very pleased with the initial performance of Paul’s Mustang. I see 11.80 potential with a gear change and a higher stall converter in the future!
Chris tested my valve springs this afternoon after the high rpm trap runs. They are holding up great!
Now to pull the rockers & headers and re-torque the heads, something we have done for many years which has worked well preserving head gasket seal. I highly recommend re-torquing the heads after the first weekend out with a new engine!