New Build same motor

[bigdaddy198]

Terrible its running slower and slower every pass. Every round yesterday it was running slower went up to a 103 but my plugs were dark and almost wet. Ran a 7.01-7.07-7.09-7.12 yesterday then today it ran even worse. It ran a 7.22/ then a 7.25 and a 7.27 I got knocked out then we could not test because of the threat of bad weather. I just pulled all three of my fuel filters and found some small stuff but nothing that could do this. Also we are racing in the morning and no test hits. The only thing we done different was when we put my Dominator back on ee used a blue e85 gasket thats got the 4 holes for the butterflies but my intake is a open type 4500 could that be causeing these problems I need help bad. Thsnks Brother!!!

[bigdaddy198]

Oh I forgot to tell you this too. I tested my fuel when I got it. It showed 90% but the bottom was all bubbles and cloudy when it cleard it showed 85% I tested it here at the track and its showing 90 percent even after the bubbles are gone. Should I add anything to it 87 octane or what. Thanks Guys

[triplenickel]

What jets were in it yesterday? What's the weather like?

[triplenickel]

I would say that you're probably lean for 90%. Yes, you can add 87 to bring it down.

[triplenickel]

For 5 gals of e90, remove 1 quart of e90 & add 1 quart of gas. That should get you close. Shake the jug around good to make sure it's mix.

[bigdaddy198]

Ok Triplenickel I cant get any fuel until morning cause I am stuck at the track. Now I did pull the fuel out of my Magna fuel pro star pump and it tested 85% but the fuel cell itself after I drained it showed 90% but I put some in there that tested 85%. Its just not idleing right but I am not done working on it yet. Its only got 103's in it squared and its really not showing lean yet on the plugs. Timing is at 32* locked in.

[triplenickel]

That's seems odd the way the fuel is testing. Do you have a jug that tests 85? Is the motor running clean during the run or is it kind of blubbering?

[bigdaddy198]

When it had the stuff that tested e90 in it it was blubbering and hard to keep a temp into. We have probably 500/600 cars here so theres a big lag in between rounds. I took my carb off last night and put a new base gasket on it. The one that got put on last week was not set up for a 4500 open mount it was a 4500 with the 4 round holes in it and we are thinking it was saggin under a run hard condition. But it was jetted at 101's then 102's now its at 104's and its running real steady good idle now I put a jug in it that tested good for 85% only one of my jugs tested out of specs. I dont know if my drum allows it to seperate when its in my garage or if I need to pump it thru the jug to help mix it back up. But we are going to run after a bit of rain this morning. Also another thing that was working against me is I have dual optima battery's and a small 50 amp denso alternator but its not running long enough to keep the voltage up over 12.5 so I started charging it in between rounds. I hope this old girl has a better day today than yesterday. Thanks I will keep you posted and yes it was hot and Muggy all day yesterday here too so that did not help.

[s10gramps]

Hey John, I think a lot of what you are talking about is due to the weather, I ran today at Milan too and it was muggy as H*ll and then it went up to 86 degrees as the day went on. I had taken 2 degrees of timing out of my motor to see what it would do and it didn't like it at all, my baseline was last races dial in of 11.77. With the 2 degrees out it went 11.93 so I put the timing back in and then went 11.81, 11.83, 11.78, 11.86 (let off at the MPH trap) then the sun came out and it went to 11.90, 11.93, and 11.91. The thing is everybody there was having the same thing with their times getting slower as the heat increased along with it being muggy, so sometimes you just have to expect that. I'm now getting into my 85% fuel too and I do believe I'm running lean now as I'm picking up temp after the 1/4 mile that I wasn't last time out, about 15 degrees and I also lost almost 2 MPH, some of that is from the weather but not all of it. I'm going to go up 1 jet size and see how it reacts next time out. I guess what I'm trying to say is that sometimes it's not the car or the tune that is responsible for the times increasing, we all seem to want to think there's a mechanical reason for it but if you stand back and really take a look at the big picture sometimes it's the atmospheric conditions that play a big part in it.

[butterbean]

I think you got a bad batch of fuel and if its up around 90% then you would need more jet in it and more timing, you said that you set timing at 34* it may want 38-40*, I know its a day late but hope you got it figured out

[bigdaddy198]

Well I put it at 104's made 2 rounds won both rounds but on the 2nd round a rod broke and went thru the pan. It was a freak deal the motor still turns freely the plugs look great was not lean yet and it was on a pass. As soon as the oil pressure dropped my fuel cut off still has oil in the pan but filled the car with smoke when it happened. I have to drop the Oil Pan to see what happened to number 5 cyl piston is at top but does not move when I hit my bumpstart button under the hood to bump it around. I dont know what happened but it was a loud bang the block does not show any outside damage was on a pass was at about 129 mph when it blew.

[triplenickel]

Sorry to hear that John. Really sucks!
What kinda et's was it running up until then? Did you get the fuel situation stabilized?

[butterbean]

sounds just like my Buick Blue's all over again, could not keep it together for more than 100 or so passes, I loved my Buick, but it would not stay together, I hope the damage is not to bad my friend, keep us posted

[bigdaddy198]

Well guys I had a good friend I had talked to alot on FB about this car and as soon as it blew he wanted it. Well knowing it was a rod & crank and probably a major redo I gave him a great deal on the whole car just as it was. He has a few DX blocks and another 455 and a 496 and wanted the car bad so I sold it. Then I started looking for my next car I really wanted to build a Dragster with a 385 SBC sb2 motor. Well I must have been in the right place at the right time. I bought a car that was sponsored buy alot of heavy hitters out of Wisconsin and was a weekend project for troubled teens. It was finished in 2009 and was nearly a 2 year build. Had a NVR 400 4 bolt main block with a 350 steel crank and yes its all brand new 377 CI sportin 530hp at 6300 rpms TH400 from hipster with brake and 5500 stall, all strange engineering ford 9" with 31 spline axles full spool and 4.10 pro gears. Its all wrapped up in a totally redone 1976 Chevy Nova. Its on google under 76 Nova Project it was built thru a mentoring project for troubled teens and was finished in 2009. The car then went to great lakes dragway and the 6 top Kids involved made passes in it best of 10.70. It was then taken to Sema in 2009 and world of wheels at milwaukee in2009 taking awards at both shows. I plan on putting all the names of the kids who built it back on the trunk and keeping the Mentoring group aware of how well it does. Its a 13.5/1 motor and you guys know I am going to put her on E. Its fast as all get out we are going to test n tune in the morning the car is awesome and looks like I just paid 75k to have it built I could not be happier. I will keep you guys posted. Thanks with your help and I plan on stepping this one up as I have ran several 377's in the past and they are really good motors if done right this is a full roller motor too very well done.

[triplenickel]

Sounds pretty cool John. What type of fuel & induction systems does it have? Post up some pics in readers rides!