*** New Videos ***

Here's a video of me racing my nephews GSXR 750!

Street Car vs Street Bike

This is my '69 Chevelle that I bought when I was 16 (18 years ago) for $450. It is an original 325hp SS396 car but it had a 307 when I bought it. I blew up the 307 in about 3 months after buying the car and my dad got a '69 396 out of an Impala for us to build for the car.

The car was in pretty bad shape when I bought it and I have never been able to afford to restore it. I finally started to tear it down to restore it but have spent all the money on the engine. I pulled the 396 and now have a 454.

With the 396 the car ran a best of 12.73 at 109. The 396 had 8.5:1 compression, self ported oval port heads, a Comp Cams solid roller with .620 lift and 246 @ .050, Weiand X-CELerator intake, 850 Holley built by The Carb Shop, Mallory Comp 9000 distributor and Hooker Comp headers. The car also has 3.73 gears and a TH400 with a Hughs 3000 stall converter.

The 454 has 12:1 compression, Edelbrock Performer RPM rec port heads, Victor Jr intake with everything else being the same as the 396.

I can not legally drive it because it does not have a windshield but I am having the windows installed tomorrow. I've taken it up my street a couple times and it has a ton of power. At 1/4 thottle it breaks the tires loose and they keep spinning even when I shift into 2nd gear at 3000rpms.

Here's the engine.

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I also bought some new front fenders for it.

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I'm taking the Chevelle to LACR Friday to see what it'll run so I'll post new number then.

**Update 7/16/05**

I didn't get a chance to take it to LACR yesterday. I took the car out driving on Thursday night to try to get a few miles on the new motor and it started to get a little warm (it hit 220 as I pulled in to my driveway). Anyways, when I shut the car off it dieseled real bad. I let the car sit for a couple of hours and then when I tried to start it back up it didn't want to run again. I thought it might be because I mixed 5 gallons of VP 109 race fuel with 10 gallons of 91 octane pump gas. So I drained all the gas out today and put 5 gallons of 100 octane 76 race fuel. Problem fixed so I'm going to go to LACR next Friday.

**Update 7/23/05**

Took the car to LACR last night and ran a best of 12.198 at 113.685 on my MT 26x8.5 slicks with alot of wheel spin on launch. The 60ft was only a 1.929. The car needs rear suspension work as well as either a locker or a spool. I used LACR's correction factor which would make it an 11.832 at 117.095 at sea level but I didn't run at sea level so my best time is a 12.198. Not bad but still not as fast as it should be. I also ran a 12.258 at 113.074 on my BFG drag radials which are 255x60r15's. Here are the time slips, I'm car 281.

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I'm going to try and get some tuning done before 8/13 so that I can run it at California Dragway.

**Update 8/13/05**

Ran the car at California Dragway today and ran a best new time of 11.553 at 118.96. On my first run the car stumbled when I opened the secondaries on the carb but ran a 12.319 at 117.94. That run was made on my drag radial but the car drifted all over the place. I then made some adjustments on the carb and decided to run my drag radials again because they go straighter than my slicks do.

The second pass was a wild ride. The car didn't hook at all and the tires spun past the 1/8 mile. That run was a 12.556 at 115.16. I then decided to give my slicks a try.

On the third run I ran my best time of 11.553 at 118.96. The car spun the slicks for just a little but hooked after that.

My brother ran the car on the fourth run and turned a 11.656 at 119.06 which is the best MPH so far.

Here are the time slips from those runs.

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**Update 9/2/05**

As you can see from my guestbook I've been challenged to a race at LACR on December 2nd so I have some things that I need to get done to the car. I just ordered a set of tubular upper and lower rear control arms today as well as C-clip eliminators. Once I have those installed I'll take the car to the track and see if it goes a little straighter. If the car goes striaght I'll install the new 1/2 fuel line for the engine and use the 3/8 line for the nitrous which I don't have hooked up yet. Then I'll need to get a cage installed.

**Update 9/15/05**

I received the C-clip eliminators but the control arms were just shipped today from PA. I haven't had a chance to work on the Chevelle yet because it is in my neighbors garage at the moment. My neighbor bought a '66 Mustang that needed the trans rebuilt and since he doesn't know anything about cars I told him I would teach him if he wanted to learn. So we put his car in my garage and mine in his. So far we have pulled the trans and motor. We had the trans rebuilt, freshened up the motor, I ported the heads and then had a 3 angle valve job done with new matching springs from Edelbrock. We still have to assemble the engine and drop it back in the car. We're trying to get it done brfore next weekend so he can take it to California Dragway and see what she'll run. We should have everything by tomorrow to start it so hopefully we can make it.

**Update 9/21/05**

I received the tubular control arms today and I am almost finished with my neighbors Mustang so it will hopefully be out of my garage by this weekend and I can start working on the Chevelle.

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Here's a couple of pictures of my neighbors Mustang I've been building.

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**Update 10/10/05**

Finished the Mustang and moved the Chevelle back to my garage. I started on the control arms yesterday afternoon but only got the passenger upper arm done. Here are some pics of the old control arms and one of the new ones next to it.

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**Update 10/12/05**

I finished installing the new control arms yesterday. The bolt in both lower control arms were rusted to the metal insert in the bushing so the bolts wouldn't come out. I soaked both sides with WD40 and was able to hammer out both bolts on the pass side and the rear on the drivers side. For the front bolt I had to cut the control arm off and the cut the bolt out. Here's some more pics.

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I started installing the 1/2in. fuel line while I had the tank out so that I can hook up the nitrous again. I'm going to use the original 3/8in. line and a Holley red pump for the nitrous and the new 1/2in. with a Holley black pump for the engine. Currently I'm using the black pump on the 3/8in line for the engine but I was afraid to run the nitrous with the 3/8 line.

**Update 10/13/05**

After playing around with the fuel line I'm going to hold off on installing the 1/2in. line until I can figure out how to install it the way I want. What I'm trying to do is install the 1/2in. line where the 1/4in. return line currently is. I drilled out the hole and fit the 1/2in. line through but the 1/2in line is aluminum and I can't solder it to the steel plate. I tried to find some steel 1/2in. line but no one has it. So I bought a new sending unit and I'm going to re-install the tank today. I also went a picked up a set of Competition Engineering rear shocks and some new spring isolators to install in the rear. Once I finish that I'll start the installation of the C-clip eliminators and the new long wheel studs. I also picked up a new battery box for the trunk that is NHRA certified so I won't have an issue with that.

**Update 10/13/05 Evening**

I finished installing the new shocks, re-installing the tank and re-installing the 3/8in fuel system. I took the car for a test drive to see how much of a difference the control arms made. What a difference! Before when I would get on it the car would lift the drivers side and the rear would shift that way. Now the car lifts both sides equally. Tomorrow I'll pull the rearend apart and start the installation of the C-clip eliminators. Then I'll take it to LACR and see what she'll do.

**Update 10/15/05**

Started the installation of the C-clip eliminators last night. I took the cover off and removed the axles. I have the drivers side backing plate off and cut the axle tube off to 1/4in. I also cut the ends off the axles. I still need to do the pass side and then have the eliminators pressed on the axles.

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**Update 10/18/05**

I finished the pass side and my brother took the axles in to work with him to press on the eliminators. I also bought new axle brake lines, drums, shoes, wheel cylinders and a hardware kit so that the brakes are all new. I'l try to take some pics while I'm working on it tonight.

**Update 10/25/05**

My brother pressed the eliminators on and I started to install the long wheel studs but with the eliminators on their too hard to install without a press. I'm going to have them pressed on tomorrow and then finish assembling the rearend tomorrow night. I also installed a driveshaft loop so that I can run my slicks without getting hassled.

**Update 10/27/05**

Well, I have everything completed and I'm ready to take it to LACR. I tried to upload some more pictures but Sounddomain keeps giving me an error when I try. I'll post them later. I'll also post the time slips from the runs I make tomorrow night. California Dragway is also running on Saturday so I may take the car there to run it as well.

Here's some random picture my wife and I took.

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**Update 10/28/05**

Went to LACR tonight and have new best times for that track. My first run was an 11.800 at 114.445. The next pass was 11.830 at 113.947. The third run was 11.821 at 115.841. On all three of these runs I rolled into the throttle instead of just mashing it off the line. On the fouth run I mashed it off the line and ran 11.678 at 115.599 with a 1.718 60ft. My last run was an 11.653 at 115.664 with a 1.704 60ft. I'll post the time slips as well as video that my grandfather took of the runs.

Here's the time slips.

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**Update 11/3/05**

I'm taking the car to LACR again tomorrow night. I've been working on it the last couple days because when I went last Friday they told me to replace the battery box because mine was held down with J hooks and it can't be. They also told me to get new seat belt because they can only be 2 years old and mine were 11. I also had to rewire the shut off switch because it wasn't shut off the car. I'll post more pictures and the time slips later.

**Upadate 12/3/05**

Well Al and I were supposed to race last night but he doesn't have his engine built yet. I went up to LACR to run anyways but they were closed due to rain earlier. I also went to California Dragway today and ran a new best time of 11.189 @ 119.92 with a 1.621 60ft. The car hooked great out of the hole but it ran out of fuel at 5500rpms in second so I short shifted second (I shift at 6300-6500). When I got back to the pits I checked the fuel pressure and it only had 3psi. I adjusted it back up to 6.5psi and waited for my next run. On my second pass I didn't get the car warm enough in the staging lanes which caused it to lean misfire out of the hole. The temp needs to be at around 160 but I only ot it up to 135 when I was staging. It still managed to run an 11.238 @ 121.03 with a 1.727 60ft. After that run they kicked me off the track because I don't have all the required safety equipment to run under 11.50.

Here's the time slips.

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**Update 01/26/06**

Well I took the Chevelle down to Powertrain Dynamics today to have it dyno tuned. As it turned out Steve didn't make any adjustments. The tune seems to be about perfect. Here's the dyno sheet.

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