The Official Hot Rod Thread - Part 4: Burnouts for Distance

[churchmouse]

Yeah, I see people who do work on cars and I shake my head. I guess I'm too lazy. I want to do it once and complete. I'm not swapping an engine and leaving the engine bay a mess. If I touch an area, it gets the full treatment.

Years of working on "Real" race cars will put you in this mind set.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Anyone notice anything different with the new packaging?


Any wagers on if it's still made in the USA?

 

[femurphy77]

Anyone notice anything different with the new packaging?
View attachment 139384

Any wagers on if it's still made in the USA?

Suckers bet.

 

[bobzilla]

GMDAT at work here.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Suckers bet.

I would have lost that bet also.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Here's another treat GM has blessed us with.

Plastic sway bar end links. On top of that they're $140 in town.
Steel replacements $40

 

[churchmouse]

Here's another treat GM has blessed us with.
View attachment 139438
Plastic sway bar end links. On top of that they're $140 in town.
Steel replacements $40

For gods sake.

 

[Jaybird1980]

For gods sake.

I know, it's ridiculous. People wonder why you can't support local businesses. As much as I want to customers aren't going to pay those prices, at least not around here

 

[churchmouse]

I try

I know, it's ridiculous. People wonder why you can't support local businesses. As much as I want to customers aren't going to pay those prices, at least not around here

and support the locals but even they are getting lazy. If not in stock they dont want to mess with finding/ordering the parts for my "Old School" projects.

 

[femurphy77]

I would have lost that bet also.
View attachment 139437

WTF? Who the hell makes stuff in the USA? Everybody knows the good stuff comes from the CCP!!!

 

[bobzilla]

WTF? Who the hell makes stuff in the USA? Everybody knows the good stuff comes from the CCP!!!

I mean sone of our ac delco filters have Cyrillic writing on them so....

 

[churchmouse]

I was getting rings and bearing sets from Israel at 1 point. They were so well tolerance'd it showed what an idiot the crank grinder was.....Go figure.

 

[Jaybird1980]

I mean sone of our ac delco filters have Cyrillic writing on them so....

I know, I can't figure out if it's to sell over there or if it's just a shift towards them being made somewhere in Asia

 

[ws6guy]

Here's another treat GM has blessed us with.
View attachment 139438
Plastic sway bar end links. On top of that they're $140 in town.
Steel replacements $40

The end links on my 13 silverado had a rubber sleeve around the steel shaft. At 6-7 years old one of them rusted enough the link broke off. Not sure why they would ever put rubber on the end link...maybe noise dampening? Anyway they were replaced with Moog replacements sans rubber sleeve.

 

[Jaybird1980]

The end links on my 13 silverado had a rubber sleeve around the steel shaft. At 6-7 years old one of them rusted enough the link broke off. Not sure why they would ever put rubber on the end link...maybe noise dampening? Anyway they were replaced with Moog replacements sans rubber sleeve.

I have no clue why they do some of the stuff they do, but at least it had a steel shaft. Was it in danger of rubbing on anything to make noise?

 

[churchmouse]

I should get the summit racing order to motif they are on point. If so Jegs is done.

 

[ws6guy]

I have no clue why they do some of the stuff they do, but at least it had a steel shaft. Was it in danger of rubbing on anything to make noise?

The inside bushing may have been molded into the rubber sleeve, I don't remember. Nothing around them to contact. Best I can tell it was designed to trap dirt and moisture to cause premature failure

 

[gregkl]

CM, are there reputable machine shops in Indy that can be trusted to do good machine work on a Chevy? I'm not sure if there are any at all down here and if there was, I doubt I'd trust them.

I'm weighing whether to go with a crate engine or rebuild whatever comes with my future truck.

I'll be looking at a mild engine, something like a 383 pushing around 400HP.

 

[jeffsqartan]

Ooooooo buddy do I have an update for y'all.
Got the transmission further apart last night and found what "popped" on that lap the other day.

Here's a picture of 1st gear, which is what 2nd gear is supposed to look like:

And here's what 2nd gear actually looks like:

I've been looking at some other bearings and parts and so far nothing looks terrible, but 1st gear's roller bearing sounds atrocious. Doesn't look bad, just sounds bad.
The counter shaft and also feels a little stiff, so I'm wondering if those bearings are toast.

Now Saturday was where the real fun was. I was headed out to Atterbury for a nice little range day. The passenger front, and I thought, the driver rear calipers started locking up. I stopped at a parking lot, tapped both with my sledge hammer, and carried on.
That did not, I repeat, DID NOT, fix the issue. I ended up turning around and driving back.
I'm still amazed that the brakes didn't catch fire. That thing was ROASTING. The lug nut cover was hot. The lug nuts were hot. I poured 2 gallons of water on it over the course of 5 minutes and it was still too hot to touch.
Finally got it all apart and popped the pistons out of the caliper. They looked a little scratched, but no major rust line or anything that indicated a hang-up to me. I did use a wire wheel to smooth things out as best as I could.

Lubed it back up, wire wheeled the rails (they weren't too bad, either) and re-lubed the pins. The pins were moving fairly freely, but the grease inside was definitely old and nasty. Lubed up the rails and reinstalled.

So far so good. I think I'm gonna end up doing all of them like that over the next week or so as I have time.

And of course, after a long and frustrating day, burnouts are the answer.

 

[Jaybird1980]

Ooooooo buddy do I have an update for y'all.
Got the transmission further apart last night and found what "popped" on that lap the other day.

Here's a picture of 1st gear, which is what 2nd gear is supposed to look like:

And here's what 2nd gear actually looks like:

I've been looking at some other bearings and parts and so far nothing looks terrible, but 1st gear's roller bearing sounds atrocious. Doesn't look bad, just sounds bad.
The counter shaft and also feels a little stiff, so I'm wondering if those bearings are toast.

Now Saturday was where the real fun was. I was headed out to Atterbury for a nice little range day. The passenger front, and I thought, the driver rear calipers started locking up. I stopped at a parking lot, tapped both with my sledge hammer, and carried on.
That did not, I repeat, DID NOT, fix the issue. I ended up turning around and driving back.
I'm still amazed that the brakes didn't catch fire. That thing was ROASTING. The lug nut cover was hot. The lug nuts were hot. I poured 2 gallons of water on it over the course of 5 minutes and it was still too hot to touch.
Finally got it all apart and popped the pistons out of the caliper. They looked a little scratched, but no major rust line or anything that indicated a hang-up to me. I did use a wire wheel to smooth things out as best as I could.

Lubed it back up, wire wheeled the rails (they weren't too bad, either) and re-lubed the pins. The pins were moving fairly freely, but the grease inside was definitely old and nasty. Lubed up the rails and reinstalled.

So far so good. I think I'm gonna end up doing all of them like that over the next week or so as I have time.

And of course, after a long and frustrating day, burnouts are the answer.

Good call taking the trans apart. It needs some attention.

On the brakes make sure the square cut seal is good and clean and can't roll up on its edge. It will pinch the piston and it'll stick. Also make sure all the ports inside are open and not corroding closed. I don't use grease on the seal or piston, I only use fresh brake fluid. Some people lightly grease it with a thin silicone base. The seal and dust boot do the majority of the work and is where binding on the piston can occur.