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1979 AMX Stocker update

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Topic: 1979 AMX Stocker update
Posted By: Pinballer
Subject: 1979 AMX Stocker update
Date Posted: Jul/10/2016 at 8:42pm
  I started this over in the parts wanted category back when I was hunting for things, but thought I'd move it over here to do future updates. Since last October I've been gradually assembling a car to run in NHRA's T/SA Stock Eliminator class using the 258 six with the 2 bbl and an automatic.  Apparently it will be the only one like it in the country, haven't found anybody else currently running a 79 Spirit/AMX 6 cylinder car anywhere in class racing, although there is a 77 Gremlin in the northeast that runs in R/SA, and a 77 Pacer running the much heavier V/SA class with the same 258 and kicking some butt out in Div 6 in the northwest. They're both way under the index too.
  My car began as a down and out 1982 Spirit GT body that originally had the Iron Duke and a 4 speed, but has since been morphed into a 1979 AMX to meet the proper T class requirements. This class has an index of 14.40 and the car must weigh 3020 lbs with driver. Car is about 3/4 done now, just got the paint finished. Next up is to get underneath it and begin putting all new brake lines and fuel system in place.
  I'd post some pictures of where it's at right now, but haven't got enough posts on here yet to be allowed to do so. Anybody want to "host" me for a couple pictures to get me started? I'll email you the pictures.
  Or you can follow the whole build from the start on the Class Racer site under the sub-category Racer Builds. Posts are under the name "Resurrecting the Rambler".
  Good to be getting back into the old racing game again, 2003 was a long time ago!

  Brian Saunders   Lerna IL.   T/SA  3790



Replies:
Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: Aug/14/2016 at 3:06pm
Brain.....

I just finished reading your build thread on the "Class Racer" forum.....I am really impressed...your Spirit is looking really nice.....

I have watched Jim's V/SA Pacer run many times here at the local track at the spring Div 6 race....really nice guy....

and I tried to keep track of Ed's T/SA back east.....as well as the new owner....

keep us posted on your progress here also please.....




-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: 68 amc
Date Posted: Aug/14/2016 at 6:39pm
I am building a 70 Javelin 360 J/SA. These cars are very fast when you do them right.Little steps ,stay in the rules ,NHRA is on your side.Check out my car on my facebook or CNY AMC car club on facebook group. Good luck ,stay with it DON"T ever give up !Rich Freitag . 

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cny amc,68 JAVELIN 360ci street& strip car 10:90


Posted By: Green AMX
Date Posted: Aug/14/2016 at 6:49pm
I,ve been following you on CLASS RACER glad to see it over here I,ll be watching to see how this goes

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69 AMX 390 4speed go pack
72 Javelin 360 auto(sons)
82 Spirit (wife's 1st car)still not done


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Aug/17/2016 at 1:41am
Hello to all the faithful, and thanks for the support. Wishing you good luck on your Stocker endeavors too. Although building this car has been hard work, it was also a blast creating it from nearly nothing. Taking plenty of heat from the old car friends right now, mostly being accused of losing my mind, but nothing new there. :).

I fully agree on the "little steps" advice, and not bending the rules unnecessarily. These are mostly uncharted waters in the NHRA as far as AMC 6's, so I'm planning on a long slow trip. Don't need a lot of attention...

Unfortunately I'm hitting a lull period right now on car work due to needing to fix up the house's roof again, but I'll be back at it soon.


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Sep/18/2016 at 8:36pm
  The latest news is:  The car is ALIVE!

   Not ready for the track quite yet, but at least it starts, runs, has oil pressure, doesn't leak anything, and it has brakes. As you might expect, there's a few little things that need done now to finish up and make everything safe and able to pass tech. I also know it needs a carb change-out to something not computer controlled like the 1980 one still on the motor is. Right now it's in a state of confusion...
  So, I went out into my "private junkyard jungle" today and got torn up by the mosquitoes, but came out with a non-computer Carter BBD 2 bbl carburetor I can rebuild that will still meet the requirements of NHRA.
   The driveshaft loop went in today and I mounted up some decent used 28 x 9 slicks and some front runners for initial testing purposes. Need to arm the line-loc and the neutral safety switch, make a little adjustment on the shifter cable, and it should be about ready to travel.
  Soon, the l-o-n-g journey will begin as we inch it towards the 14.40 index.


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Oct/02/2016 at 9:46pm
  Car was all dressed up in it's finest and ready to test a little bit at Coles County Dragway on their unlimited runs Friday test night Sept 30---and it rained out, of course. Not really very anxious to enter the regular race on Sat and waste additional entry money when I know absolutely nothing about the car, and would only get a maximum of 3 runs. This delay did however allow me to get the spare carburetor rebuilt over the weekend, so that will get put on after a few runs with the original to see what difference it makes. I have a feeling it will make quite a bit, the original has sat around a long long time and even though it seems to have good full throttle action, the idle and off-idle is terrible, so it's probably half clogged up with crap and the pump is most likely dried out. I also found another spare BBD carb at a friend's place on his garage shelf, and he graciously donated it to the cause.  Shook his head and said he wouldn't know what else to do with the piece of junk, that it didn't fit any "good cars".
  What??? Ouch
   Everything on this ride will probably get changed over the course of next year as I gather more data, and it will be in little incremental steps. One thing at a time...but I'm anxious to get started. More as I find it out, we'll shoot for next Friday if they're still having test nights.

 
 


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: Oct/02/2016 at 11:42pm
Brian...you will get there just keep picking away at it......

-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Nov/14/2016 at 4:33pm
 Little update heading into the winter season...

    Lately I have been searching down the properly numbered engine components to begin the build of a 258 engine to legal 1979 NHRA specs. I located a whole '79 258 engine for cheap in the Quad Cities region up on the IA-IL border that had been reworked a long time ago, even to the point of boring it .060 over, and freshening the head, (with it's correct casting number!) and then it sat unused and forgotten under the guy's bench for about 20 years. The internals probably won't be a whole lot of help unless it's got AMC factory pistons in it, (highly doubtful), but it had the right head on it and the crank and block and rods may service. I'll have to take it apart again and see it all is in order.
   I also found in my own private junkyard out back a properly numbered intake manifold. I wouldn't have expected the 1975 4 door Hornet I got it off of to have had it on there, my initial goal for that car was to eventually part it out, but I had to see if it was a 258 in the car like the serial number said it should be. After letting curiosity get the best of me and prying the terribly rusty hood open, it turned out the engine had been changed at some point long ago and it had a late 70's 232 wearing the correct-for-me 258 2 bbl intake. Bingo! I also had a friend who found one of these intakes for me out in Dayton Ohio and picked it up, so the next time I get out there I'll have two intakes to choose from for the build.
   If I can find one more #3227258 head, I'll have enough parts to build one really good engine, and eventually one spare one as a backup.
 
 
  


Posted By: gremlin1945
Date Posted: Nov/15/2016 at 7:36pm
Brian, you don't have to and shouldn't use "factory piston". There are replacement pistons listed in the guide (Ross for example).you're allowed up to .070 over pistons. Rings are another story. I think you can cross reference rings for .060-.070 from other engine brands.
 Spoke to my friend about what we discussed a while back. No good, the guy who did the work for my engine is retired.  


-------------
former NHRA #1945

former IHRA #1945

T/SA


Posted By: WesternRed
Date Posted: Nov/16/2016 at 8:59pm
I think we need some pictures.


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: Nov/16/2016 at 9:23pm
here you go Red...

http://s928.photobucket.com/user/idrambler/media/BrianAMX2_zps2yh0nmo0.jpg.html" rel="nofollow">

-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: WesternRed
Date Posted: Nov/17/2016 at 12:04am
Good stuff, it's much better to have some imagery to go with the story.


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Nov/19/2016 at 9:43pm
    Thanks for the reply Ed, it's looking like I'll end up getting the Ross pistons NHRA likes before this is all over. I'm just beginning the tear down to see what kind of pieces are inside this latest 258 I brought home. Internally there's probably not much any good for NHRA inside there, but I mainly needed the correct numbered head it had hanging on it to install on the engine that's already sitting in the race car.  I now have found everything as far as properly numbered parts I need to make the car NHRA legal.
   Most of what's inside this latest donor engine will get re-assembled into a pepped-up 258 street engine for a 70 Hornet or the 67 Rambler American wagon I have, so there's no waste.

 The best recent AMX stocker news I've got to offer up is an old racer buddy who used to run mid '70's Buick 350 stockers a few years back finally caught wind of what I'm up to with this AMC car, and he's agreed to guide me a little on things when it comes to head work, either out of pity or intrigue, we're not sure which yet. I'm glad to have him on board though because his cars used to fly--he once qualified #1 at Indy with a '74 Apollo--so he must know something.


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Nov/19/2016 at 10:01pm
  Hello Red--you can get all the imagery you can stand on this car over at ClassRacer.com   Scroll down for the category called Racer Builds, and then tap on  "Resurrecting the Rambler".
    That will have pictures and text of the entire build up to present day. Some of it is horrifying!Big smile


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Dec/11/2016 at 4:12pm
 Not a real big update, but thought I'd keep some blood flowing on here a lilttle.
 
  After the farmers finished harvesting the beans and corn surrounding me in late Nov, it gave me the chance to drive around out back though their fields and pull an extremely rusty 1980 Concord 4 door with it's 258 and automatic out of the middle of the pack of cars and winch it out with it's stuck brakes, 4 flat tires and rusted up ignition key switch that made turning it impossible, onto the trailer and I lugged it to town to a friend's auto shop for a part out. The shortblock out of it will eventually get redone for racing use, and the incorrect numbered head, carb, and intake off of it will eventually go onto another 258 short block I got recently for use in one of those other old AMC project cars I have. The transmission goes up onto the shelf in case it's ever needed.  I drove the car home about 20 years ago, so I know it's a good core.
  The 'spare parts for the race car' quest is pretty much done now. Time to start assembling something that runs good. This will take money. Cry

  If anybody needs anything off this Concord, like trim, emission stuff or factory AC pieces, email me and I'll save them for you for cheap. The interior is totally rotted, varmint infested, sun cooked, and horrible, and the sheet metal is all history, so not much good left other than miscellaneous pieces.
  bsaunders@consolidated.net

 


Posted By: Class Guy
Date Posted: Dec/11/2016 at 5:28pm
Are the front floorboards any good?


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Dec/12/2016 at 7:12pm
 Highly doubt it, the roof was rusted open all around the windshield and it's been getting rained in for a lot of years. But I'll look...


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Dec/14/2016 at 6:24pm
 Floor is history.


Posted By: Class Guy
Date Posted: Dec/15/2016 at 6:50am
Oh, well....


Posted By: gremlin1945
Date Posted: Dec/17/2016 at 1:08am
Originally posted by Class Guy Class Guy wrote:

Oh, well....

 Dwight, you still working on anything for a 290 combo?


-------------
former NHRA #1945

former IHRA #1945

T/SA


Posted By: Class Guy
Date Posted: Dec/17/2016 at 7:04am
No. But it's a long story.


Posted By: scott
Date Posted: Dec/17/2016 at 8:05am
Link to build thread on classracer.com :   http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=60666" rel="nofollow - http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=60666


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Apr/24/2017 at 10:05pm
All right! Finally, some passes down the Coles County Dragway 1/8th mile in mid April's test and tune to get some data.
  Was it slow? You bet!
  Did I learn a few things? Yep.
  Am I satisfied with it's performance? Yes, and no. How's that for vague?

 Here's what we got for now with this 258 2 bbl car at NHRA legal weight, (danged heavy!!), factory manifolds, and essentially a stone stock set-up.

 Pass 1--   Running into direct extreme gusting headwinds of 25-35 mph all day long, first run is at 65 degrees and partly sunny. Car is somewhat cold off the trailer, so we'll call this a shakedown pass. Left it in Drive and let it do it's own thing to get the juices flowing a little, noticed it shifted real early into 2nd. Big time hesitation off the line, and she slimes her way through at 11.65 @ 58mph . OK, we check things for leaks and anything else out of whack back in the pits, nothing found, and we prepare for round 2.
   11.65@ 58 mph .  60' was an eye-popping 2.59, couldn't get the line lock to work, so cleaned the tires off and went on up to the line.

  Pass 2--  Winds remain, we're up to 70 degrees outside now. This time I shifted the car manually from the 1-2 at 4500 rpm. Remember, this is a bone stock engine with 100K on it, so there's no high revving fancy piece here. The third gear shift wasn't forthcoming when I thought it should be, so I let off just a hair to make sure it would come in. It did.
  11.55 @ 58 mph.  60' = 2.48  Track still pretty green and not a great burnout.

  Pass 3--   Time to lean on this car now and see if it can stand it. 75 degrees out, and I let the car get clear up to 180 degrees before the run. I decided to make shifts at 4000 thinking the fall-back into the next gear would keep it more in the stock power band. Wrong move...the transmission revved on up to about 4500 anyway before a shift happened. Learned something here, so I guess we bring the shift point back up a couple hundred rpm again. I could tell the car hooked a lot better on this run, I was trying to get into the stock converter a little more at the line. There's still a hesitation going on.
   11.34 @ 60.24 .  60' = 2.46   Yeah, it was better. Wondering how much this constant wind is holding me back now!

  Pass 4--  Leaving the operating temp at 180 as last run was, 75 degrees out still. Shifting at 4200 to see what happens. Again, noticed it revs to about 4500 before the shift actually happens, so we're going back there on the next run. But the time slip was good, best of the day.
    11.24 @ 61.48   60' back to 2.46. Pretty stable. Guess the car likes the engine hot.  Pulled a plug after the run, they look a little too dark. We'll have to get to that later.

  Pass 5--  Pulled off the air cleaner with it's factory fresh-air ducting to the firewall to see if things would improve or not. Shifting at 4500 again, car at 180 degrees. Run felt pretty positive, but time slip doesn't bear it out. Slowed down some in both areas. Can't get a real good burnout going, the line lock decided not to work today, so we're foot braking it.
    11.36 @ 60.40 .  60'= 2.50.

   Pass 6---  put air cleaner and fresh air ducting back in place. Shifting at 4500 with car at 180 still. Wind continues to howl. Outside temp dropping just a bit to 72. 
     11.28 @ 60.48   60'=2.50.  I'd have to say the air cleaner and ducting gets to stay attached from here on, it obviously helps.

 Crunching the data: if we assume a 60' time of 2.46 as the new norm, the math on the final 4 runs works out pretty good. If the 60' is good, the ET is better in an appropriate amount and if it's off, it affects the ET accordingly.
  In 2016, on the one and only time run I got in the final fall session in October, it 60 footed at 2.42 on a well seasoned track and ran an 11.49 in Drive, so that was it's best 60' that I have records of to work with. In the ancient days, with the engine and trans in a fully street stock 80 Spirit I used to run back in the early 2000's, it's 60' time was in the 2.60 area with the crummy stock gears, so right now the 4.56's are apparently worth about 1.5 tenths off the line, even with the much taller tires compared to the golden days of 14" stock wheels and street tires.

  The baseline is established now, I'd have to say. Car does show a tendency to be pretty stable on the ET's if the 60' time is averaged out on those last 4 runs. She's bracket race ready at this point I'd say, but a LONG ways from the index of 9.04 that I need to run for my class. I'll gradually add in some Stocker pieces over the course of the year and do some tuning and keep posting as to what the improvements are. First order of business is to fix the line lock, and then play with the timing some.
 
 


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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: gremlin1945
Date Posted: Apr/24/2017 at 11:34pm
Nice to see you out with the car. A few things.Of course these apply when you put the worked motor in. That motor doesn't want to see a lot of heat. I used to do my burnouts at 120 deg. and stage at about 130 deg  You're going to have to shift it at at least 5,000 1st to second and 5,500 second to third.I had 4.44 gears and ran a 26" tall hoosier tires. I used to clear the traps at around 5,700 to 5,800. Hate to say it but the only way to get the weight down is to take off all the AMX gee gaws and run it as a regular spirit. You'll pick up a bit of mph mainly because the AMX fairings cause more drag. And welcome to the world of having a slow stocker and dealing with head winds, tail winds and side winds.Wink

-------------
former NHRA #1945

former IHRA #1945

T/SA


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Apr/25/2017 at 1:36am
Hi Ed,
No doubt it will be a whole new world of variables when it actually gets "Stock-ified". We're dealing with a 100 HP worn down smog motor with a stock torque converter for now, so I expect the car to be very slow for quite a while, but I'm a patient man. I also would expect stock rods and rod bolts to grenade in a hurry at repeated 5500 rpm runs, which is where the harmonics of a stock 258 crank go bad, so we're not going there. The graphs of what I now run say there's no power gains to be had up above 4500.
Yet.

Now I gotta argue with you a little. As far as the car's weight is concerned, it is currently at what NHRA tells me it has to be to run T with a driver in the seat-- 3020, and it actually weighs just a touch more. If I were to remove the plastic AMX flares and spoilers, which might weigh 15 lbs max, change out the grille and nothing else about it because I couldn't anyway, and call this thing a '79 Spirit, it would automatically change the natural class of the car into an R car. It would then have to weigh 2870 with me installed in the seat, so yeah, I'd be putting the car back on a diet, and probably me too to make weight. That's a -150 lb change which seems like a real good thing in drag racing. Most people would kill to get 150 lbs out of their race car! But--the index would now quicken from 14.40 in the 1/4 all the way down to 13.95, and the scenery of what's running in R class changes a LOT. Is 150 less lbs and a slight amount of lesser wind drag worth 4 1/2 tenths? I say no. My desktop dyno programs say no, not even close. Can I get enough air through a 300 cfm carb and 270 inches to run against 305 Nova's and other heavyweight small V8 4 bbl cars that are in R? Nope. The only hope I'd ever have of a class win is if nobody else showed up.

Right now, T looks pretty attractive to me as a beginner with limited funds. Might even try U sometime if the situation warrants it, that 14.85 index looks good! The only real scourge of that class is the 302 Mustangs and Mavericks with 2 bbls, and they're fast getting things evened up from the AHFS. There's some hope for the occasional AMC to sneak around in there and surprise people, like a certain '77 Pacer I know of.

Hang in there with me Ed, I'll get there. I do appreciate your concern and experience.

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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: Apr/25/2017 at 12:21pm
Good Show Brian....you will get there....

-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: gremlin1945
Date Posted: Apr/25/2017 at 4:46pm
Brian, you still coming to Pa next month? I have a lot more things to run past you about the car.



-------------
former NHRA #1945

former IHRA #1945

T/SA


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Apr/25/2017 at 6:30pm
  Yes I am still coming out there, it will be on May 6th. Looking forward to a visit with you that evening. You'll have to PM me your address.
 I'll have some news for you too when I see you.


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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: May/13/2017 at 11:12pm
   May 12th:  Happy to report we've cracked the 10's baby!  The index is only about 2 seconds away now. (laugh)

   Got the weather to cooperate and went to a Friday evening test session with the car over at the local 8th mile track  Perfect conditions were certainly a plus! Sunny, 70 degrees, and a slight tailwind. The temp gradually went down to 64 by the end of my runs over a three hour period.
  
    The only change I made to the car from last time was to retard the timing a couple degrees, on advice from my mechanic buddy. He thought I might have the car advanced a little too much to be doing it any good. OK, we'll turn it down a couple notches and test that way, it can't hurt. Whether the car's times responded some to that, or to the complete lack of a 30 mph headwind from last time's session is hard to say, but it did turn out real well for me. I could immediately tell the car pulled a little harder.
    The first run of the day on every car I've ever owned and raced is generally a throw-away just to get things livened up. This one is the same. If you recall, the previous session into that big headwind turned out a best of an 11.24.  This time the car went an 11.05 on that first off the trailer pass. Over 3 more runs, we worked that down to a best so far of 10.97.  Yay!  It's knocked off almost 5 tenths from where I began the year and I've spent nothing.
    The 60 foots, although real slow, are still pretty consistent, and the next three runs were like a wind-up clock. 10.985, 10.980, and 10.972 . MPH's were just as consistent: 63.37, 63.36, and 63.36 .  All told, this thing is just itching to go to the bracket wars as-is.  It might be slow, but it's deadly consistent! The driver unfortunately still needs some work, my lights with this slower leaving car than what I'm used to in the past are pitiful. It will take me a while to find the sweet spot again.

   The first major change to it I'm planning now is a torque converter I now have and possibly I'll put a lower geared 998 transmission in at the same time, just because it's convenient to do both at once. My apprehension is I know nothing about the trans, other than "it was rebuilt a long time ago" and never got put in anything.  I guess if it doesn't pan out, we'll freshen up the transmission that's currently in the car and put it back in to keep going. Such is the life of the drag racer...work, work,work--and no promise of a pay-off.

 


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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: May/14/2017 at 10:40am
both the tranny and higher stall TC will help....good show.....

-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: May/28/2017 at 9:25pm
    Did some more testing on the 1/8th mile Saturday night, well, actually it was in conjunction with a Box/No Box style race. My car is still running very stable on the ET's, they're extremely predictable even if they are pitifully slow, so I went ahead and entered the race. I lost second round by .007 seconds with an 11.081 on an 11.07 dial, I had a .541 light (or an .041 if you like that better)  and he tree-d me by .020 and ran right on his dial, so just like the old days, it's a typical night of racing at Coles County Dragway. You either chop the tree down, or go home.
 Soldiering on...


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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: May/28/2017 at 10:07pm
Hang in there....you will get better.....I had a big re eye Friday....2 step not armed....pushed through... .yuck..




-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: May/29/2017 at 6:04am
Only way I get the big red one is to leave ON the second yellow!

Man, this is one slow leaver. Some of it is because of a nagging hesitation at the hit of the throttle. A good light for me happens when I leave just as the wires start to glow on bulb 3.

Soon to change though...the initial testing phase with all stock stuff has pretty well ended as of now. Gotta get dirty.

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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: May/29/2017 at 10:41am
glad to here some upgrades are coming.....my 2 step is fixed Oldies races this weekend...

-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Aug/11/2017 at 6:22pm
I'm getting behind on my news updates...finally got the car to a quarter mile track in July and with the factory 1980 258 auto drive train still in place, I eventually netted a 17.20 as my best time on a somewhat hot day.  The index for my chosen class is 14.40 , so there's quite a bit of updating that needs done to get in the game for real. This ended the data gathering for the car in it's truly "stock" form, (other than gears), so we're marching on to the next stage now.

  After that session, the whole drive train has been taken back out of it and it has now been fitted with the stocker grind cam, a correct and freshened head, the intake with the right numbers NHRA wants to see, some headers and collector, a low-geared fresh trans and a decent converter, and various other little race goodies like an electric water pump that hopefully will not only lower the ET's a bunch, but make life easier for me at the track. When I get it all assembled and tested, I'll be back with another report.
  It's probably a good thing I tore the car down when I did, the factory 904 trans had lots of sparkly stuff swimming around in it when I drained it, so I guess I got about all I could out of the original piece with it's 110,000 + miles on it. A rebuilt 998 trans is going back in.


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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: Aug/11/2017 at 7:01pm
Brain...
Great to see you are moving forward......looking forward to see the results of all the new parts.....


-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: matty 401
Date Posted: Aug/28/2017 at 8:39am
i do not remember seeing  what are you running for rear gears ? 

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72 matador 401 the beast
79 concord 2 door
72 matador 304 grasshopper
68 Rogue 406
93 Cherokee 4.0 5 speed



Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Aug/29/2017 at 2:26pm
Chrysler 8 3/4 with 4.56's.  28.5 tall tire.

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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: idrambler
Date Posted: Aug/29/2017 at 2:53pm
Cool...that should work good....TC stall??

-------------
Jim....AMCRC
Treasure Valley AMC Club, Pres
69 AMX 401/727
74 GremlinX 401/727race only
73 Matador 2dr HT 360/727


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Aug/29/2017 at 8:01pm
What I had around here to put in wasn't the ideal one, it's supposedly about a 2700 stall, but the car still has carb/fuel troubles I'm fooling with and I can't test that stall out very well. On the Desktop Dyno, things seem to ET best with about a 3200-3400 converter. That fancy race piece won't be happening until Santa Clause comes to visit or Powerball pays off! Just don't have that extra thousand to spend on a -GOOD- stocker converter right now, and when I do buy one, I want it to last.

Here's my latest update:
Went to a test session after installing all the new pieces, and only got one run in before troubles set in. Had a dead miss after that run back in the pits and later found a pushrod had escaped it's rocker arm. Easy enough to fix...
The good news was the car STILL ran almost one full second better on the 8th from what it had before. YAY!
I had installed a fuel pressure gauge during the rebuild of everything and found out the line pressure even with the stock engine mounted pump I'm still using for now was way high, like 9 lbs at idle. New regulator on order.

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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Oct/11/2017 at 2:28am
The latest:
As happens in racing, sometimes an unknown condition part you install just doesn't hold up as hoped. It would appear my "gift" rebuilt low-geared 998 transmission (long story but interesting) is done for. It lasted 7 runs. However, the only money I had invested in it was for 5 qts of fluid and the gas to get it home, so it's not like I have to lick my wounds on it much. I'd like to think my freshened up "Stocker-fied" Wicked Six 258 motor now has so much horsepower the tranny couldn't handle it any more, but I don't think I can get that lie past this crowd.

I was testing a couple weeks ago locally and suddenly experienced a very lazy 2-3 shift on two successive runs. Loaded up and went home right then hoping it was needing an adjustment on the bands or internal pressure was low maybe. Nope. Dropping the trans pan reveals pieces of friction material clogging the filter, so I think my unknown transmission has now become a racing commodity commonly known to most of us in this arena as "junk."

With so little time left in the racing season, and nothing else around my place readily available to install to get going again, I think it would be best to regroup for a while and get this low-geared trans re-done during the down time of winter, and probably do a spare one too for good measure. The rest of the car is acting pretty good right now, so the list of improvements needed over the winter isn't a real long one. Thought about building a motor test stand too, might come in handy.
Oh, don't worry, we'll be back...not quitting.

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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: Class Guy
Date Posted: Oct/11/2017 at 1:42pm
If you feel up to the challenge, Torqueflites are one of the simpler auto transmissions to work on.  I rebuilt a 727 several years ago with an eBay (Turbo Action) rebuild kit and manual after fifty years of working on stick transmissions only.  I took my time, asked questions and the result is a transmission that has 30K miles on it in a mildly hopped up 360 Hornet.  There's a satisfaction in being able to work on your own stuff.

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Addicted to acceleration.
Owner and Admin for
www.classracerinfo.com


Posted By: Pinballer
Date Posted: Oct/12/2017 at 11:48pm
Believe me, transmission school will definitely be in session here this coming winter. Lucky for me, my 80 year old step dad was an automotive instructor at a local college, and he's agreed to guide me through my first rebuild. After that, I'm being graded he says! Wow...the pressure on me never stops. Smile


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NHRA T/SA '79 AMX


Posted By: Class Guy
Date Posted: Oct/13/2017 at 6:41am
It's not pressure, it's an opportunity to learn.  You'll do great with it.

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Addicted to acceleration.
Owner and Admin for
www.classracerinfo.com



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