Pics of my 331 Trickflow build....

Did I retorque them just now? No, not yet. Last time they did this they were all torqued where they needed to be. I doubt it'll help any, but I'm sure I'll check it again when I have time to tear into it YET AGAIN.

Swarzkopf said:

Paul...long time no see. Very cool build, think it'll scream once it's finished sorting out....hope you get your issues sorted out ASAP.

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Heck yeah... gone but not forgotten.

Haven't heard back from him. I was told he's in the middle of moving his shop a couple of miles (across the state line into OK). Guess the taxes are 10% cheaper there.

Update... still working on the transmission issue. The oil leak isn't as bad as we thought. Must have been build up over the past 3 weeks that looked terrible. After we cleaned it up, it's just losing a tiny bit per hard run. I think I'll make it a little while before I have to rip it all down again. I'm still in "hopes" that it could be the lower intake that didn't seal. We are positive it's not the valve covers and are pretty sure it's the heads again. But not like it was the first go round.

Back to the transmission. We put a gauge on the direct port and went for some late night drives. Wow was that a lot of fun. The only safe place around here is the "closed course" which just so happens to be the testing facility for rookie cops as they were thick. It's tough to test a upper rpm 3rd gear pull. This new engine will get up and run.

Here's the good news. We think we have it figured out. The bad news is the transmission has to come out, and I may need a new case. If you will remember WAY back in the day when this project started we debated on needing a new case. Guess we are back to that. It appears from testing that the main shaft will move (due to play) when the engine is under major torque. It only effects 3rd gear as that gear is furthest back in the transmission.

We rigged up a throttle stop for testing. At 75% throttle, the car will hold in third all the way to 6,400 where I let out of it due to traffic on our "closed course". While climbing the fluid pressure in third will slowly leak off. If we hit it at true WOT it would instantly lose pressure on the gauge.

Bottom line is this. Our local Car Club Challenge is this w/e. The way it stands I may be going to the track with a throttle stop. IF my buddy can't get the car on the lift before then and have time to tear it apart, and rebuild it all in a new case. Ugh. How embarrassing that will be to run mid to high 13s all night long at the track. But I'm sure I'll be able to come back and run faster before the season is out.

Actually it's quite the opposite. He's given me a ton of stuff. My old valve body had been tweaked by 3 different builders over the years. Now I have a fresh one, with a brand new shift kit installed. The list goes on and on.... but it's also one of the reasons it's taking so long. I tend to not complain as I try not to bite the hand that's feeding me. He'll also be the one fixing my rear end when I grenade it.

A lot of research has been going on. He's now talking about getting ahold of a cheap 4R70W for a winter build.

I'm still sweating the cometics as well.

No one is going to believe this... because we don't believe it either. The transmission never missed a beat while at the track Saturday night. It held in third every single run. Then on the way home Sunday, it did the same old thing again. The only difference is I ran each run at the track manual shifting. Very weird, as I've done that before and it kicked out of gear just the same.

Anyway, on to the GOOD STUFF....

It was 101 degrees when we got to the track. The car had a very short time to sit after the 1.5 hour drive to the track in the heat. I ran to get in line when they opened the lanes. I was the second person to run in the spectator side lane. And it helped great as there was new VHT on the track. My old Nitto Drag Radials were most likely still warm from the long drive. First run, I was running against a friend with an LS1 that I would barely beat each time before when on the bottle. He just put a hotter cam in the car and a new tune.

First run of the evening. I was planning for the car to kick out in third, so I ran second as far as I dared. 6,800rpms

Here's my timeslip:

.2098 - Reaction
1.8228 - 60ft
5.2632 - 330ft
8.1469 - 1/8 ET
84.70 - 1/8 MPH
10.6612 - 1000 ET
97.47 - 1000 MPH
12.7747 - 1/4 ET
106.66 - 1/4 MPH

My buddy ran a 12.86 @ 107.53 - it was a close race and he later ran a 12.65.



I never could get my near stock suspension to hook that good again. I ran a bunch of 13.0 - 13.1s hot lapping. I ran a 12.97 with a 2.006 60ft later that evening as well.

The car's tune is still rich as hell. 11.2 - 11.6 most of the time. I made it in the 16 fastest street car shoot out. First round was against an 11.99 AWD Talon. Since my car was rich, and the tranny seemed to be holding. I took a chance on the 75 shot.

.3873 - Reaction
1.9758 - 60ft
5.2978 - 330ft
8.0441 - 1/8 ET
89.25 - 1/8 MPH
10.4372 - 1000 ET
102.37 - 1000 MPH
12.4501 - 1/4 ET
111.97 - 1/4 MPH

The A/F ratio stayed in the 11.9 - 12.1 area.

So let me have it... how much more does this baby have in it? I'm sure the HEAT was a big concern. I think it cooled down to a nice 98 degrees when the sun went down. And it was humid.

On the to do list. Weld on sub-frame connectors. Mount ET Streets. Buy Control Arms. Buy 10 way adj. struts.

Oh, and yeah... the car is still leaking a bit of oil. Not enough to keep me from racing apparently.

MysteryMachine said:

What was your best time with your old engine?

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It's in my signature.

MysteryMachine said:

all your newer post don't have it smart guy. I didn't feel like looking through a bunch of pages to find it

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Does on my screen.

14.08 @ 95.89
12.79 @ 107.14 - 125 shot of Zex

MysteryMachine said:

ok so now your all motor where you used to be with a 125 shot. I know thats "better" but is it good? or should you have a lot better times then that now with the new motor

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That was my GOAL once it was tuned. Sure it may have been a fairly low goal. But I don't like to set things out of range. I have little to no suspension mods. Just the springs which didn't help much and the rear shocks, also no big improvements. I know for a fact my old combo would not have run the 12.79 in the 100 degree temps of the night. The old number was the best of the year, late in the fall... almost winter.

With the new combo obviously needing tuned some more. I'm really happy.

And yeah RC.... definitely keep everyone up to date. It's a crazy deal. I can't wait to solve it.

My cousin also took a bunch of video that evening. I'm hoping he can upload it soon.

Thanks... I plan to let her rip before the season is out. It would be nice if it would cool down a bit more though.

BTW - added a picture to the timeslip post.

mackey said:

With the 3/8" spacer it will clear the stock hood.

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I know a stock hood will fit. Now I also know a 96 Cobra hood will clear as well.