Day At The Track Leads To New Repairs

[SYTECH]

I went to the local 1/4 mile track yesterday to do some baseline runs on #36

I made 4 runs

2 on street tires, 91 octane, stock boost

2 on ET Streets, 91 octane, stock boost

Plain and simple, street tires are no good at a drag strip

I drove around the water box and double stagged, put the rpms at 2500,
waited for the 3rd yellow light to flash, dropped the clutch, feathered the gas, and I just sat there spinning my A$$ off.....lol

I backed off the throttle until the tires grabbed, ran it up to 4500 rpms and shifted into 2nd, turbos hit hard and the tires started spinning again, feathered the throttle again until the tires grabbed and ran 2nd up to 4500 rpms and shifted into 3rd

By then the run was wasted due to no traction but it did hit a 14.4 at 105 mph

Note to self: NO STREET TIRES AT THE DRAG STRIP

Once I picked up my time slip (and stopped laughing) I went back into the staging lanes to try it again

This time I was going to do a launch from idle to try and prevent the tires up in smoke trick

Bypassed the water again, double stagged, waited for the 3rd amber light, and slowly let out the clutch to get things rolling

As soon as it felt like it was going OK I jammed on the throttle, tires started to spin, and I was right back into the feather, stab, spin, feather, stab, spin
never ending circle

I had to back completely out of the 2nd gear spinning because of the A$$ end of the car deciding to try and pass the front end

Note to self: CHANGE UNDERWARE and OH YEAH...NO STREET TIRES AT THE DRAG STRIP.....lol

I then went back into the pits (cussing)

Threw some Dry Ice onto the intercoolers, let it cool off for 1/2 hour, and swapped out the street tires for some sticky ET Street Slicks

3rd Run started out great, I got paired up against a Pro-Stock Grand National (A$$hole) and the driver laughingly asked me if I wanted an 8 second head start .....Grrrrrrrr.....I thanked him for his offer, told him he was number 1 in my book (middle finger), made reference to his mothers canine heritage, and pulled up to run

I pulled into the water box, ran the rpms up to 3000, dropped the clutch and tried to get my big a$$ed foot onto the skinny a$$ed brake pedal (real fast) so I could heat up the tires, but the car wanted to go sideways in the water box so burnout was pretty weak...I think I had more smoke coming out of my a$$ then I did from the tires....lol

Mr. Grand National does a John Force Burnout, chokes me with all his smoke and begins jockying into position to stage

I double stagged quickly, put the rpms at 3500

As soon as the 1st amber light flashes I drop the clutch (red lighted my a$$ off) and freaked the Grand National out so bad that he went up in smoke at the line

My slicks hit hard, turbos spooled real fast, i hit almost 5000 rpms in 1st and shifted into 2nd, turbos hit hard again and the pull felt great, I was laughing my ass off (cause the Grand National still had not caught up to me yet) and like a vacumn cleaner on crack, that black son ova B**ch flew by me so fast that i almost crapped my pants again

I hit 5000 rpms in 2nd and went to cram the stick up into 3rd and low and behold I ran it right back into the 1ST GEAR slot......I caught the mistake as soon as my foot was coming off the clutch, but the car slowed momentarily before I pushed the clutch back in

I immediately pulled it into into 4th then back up into 3rd and by then the Grand National was off the track and heading for the pits and my race was history

That run ended at a 14.12 at 95 mph

Note to self: BRING SEVERAL PAIR OF UNDERWARE TO THE TRACK NEXT TIME.......AND LEARN HOW TO SHIFT A DAMN 6 SPEED !!!

4th and final run was a bail out at the launch when I detected the tires not spinning, and the car not moving, (but the clutch was out), and I was surrounded by the smell of BURNT CLUTCH PLATES

I limped back into the pits (cussing some more), let the car cool off, checked for visible damage (found none), decided I had spent my last time at the track (with this car) and went to swap out the slicks for the street tires so I could head home

I jacked up the left side and quickly found out that i was missing a wheel stud & lug nut (broken clean off.....these cars are torque monsters)........that was bad in itself but when i tried to remove the remaining 4 lug nuts, I had another wheel stud that was spinning freely (stripped), which meant that i was going to have to leave my ET STREETs on the car for a 50 mile freeway trip home with only 3 good wheel studs (on one side)

Note to self: IF YOU WANT TO PLAY....YOUR GONNA PAY!

All in all I made it home OK, I had to grind off the stripped wheel stud, I replaced all of the studs & lug nuts, and next week i will be looking to replace my clutch

I love the track, but I learned a costly lesson....This Callaway is not going back onto a drag strip......and.......I MISS MY AUTOMATIC....lol

Later,

Ray

 

[74bigblock]

All I can say is....


Dude.

 

[Ken]

LEARN HOW TO SHIFT A DAMN 6 SPEED

Sounds like my first expereince with my new tranny, only I was going from third to fourth when I instead put it back in second at about six grand. Luckily hurt nothing but my ego.

Breaking wheel studs is one of the reasons for installing aftermarket longer studs. It's mandated by the rules at some point.
Sounds like you had fun though, and ain't that what it's all about?

 

[Vettefan87]

Yeah I think that fun will wear off when he is doing that clutch though. :L

 

[*89x2*]

I went to the local 1/4 mile track yesterday to do some baseline runs on #36


...I got paired up against a Pro-Stock Grand National (A$$hole) and the driver laughingly asked me if I wanted an 8 second head start .....Grrrrrrrr.....I thanked him for his offer, told him he was number 1 in my book (middle finger), made reference to his mothers canine heritage, and pulled up to run

Too funny - Great story

...4th and final run was a bail out at the launch when I detected the tires not spinning, and the car not moving, (but the clutch was out), and I was surrounded by the smell of BURNT CLUTCH PLATES

Have you decided what brand clutch you are going to buy??

McLeod has been gaining a strong reputation

...I jacked up the left side and quickly found out that i was missing a wheel stud & lug nut (broken clean off.....these cars are torque monsters)........

:eek Ohh my :eek

 

[callaway4fun]

Call Bill Proudt at Callaway cars 1 860 434 9002 They have a Single Mass Flywheel and Clutch It holds these monsters . It will spool up QUICKER....

 

[SurfnSun]

Yea if I had to replace mine it will be a McLeod street twin.

 

[*89x2*]

Yea if I had to replace mine it will be a McLeod street twin.

I have heard that the holding power is awesome on that clutch :eek

Callaway Corvettes do have their own specific part number for the Centerforce clutch and the single mass setup from (avail. from Callaway Cars) will certainly allow the car to "rev" faster w/ less rotating mass

I would like to - and have to drive a car with each however, before making any direct comparo.

Anyone experience both??? :cool

 

[BlackNBlue95]

Crazy, breaking wheel studs... damm.. that sounds like you have more to deal with then the concern of the clutch holding up to the power.
-=Rick

 

[SYTECH]

I love my Callaway

Don't get me wrong Guys

I may put my cars to the test as far as performance goes, but I am not out there to intentially destroy anything

If it looks like a Duck, smells like a duck, and flys like a duck, then the damn thing had better quack like a duck and taste good on my dinner plate

I used to catch alot of crap from all the Grand National folks when I used my GNX as a daily driver

The car was a blast to drive, it was very rare (like the Callaway), most people had read stories, seen pictures, but had never seen a real GNX in person (much less see one at the track or driving thru McDonalds....lol

I have some major clients in Los Angeles (Compton, Watts, Inglewood) and I would drive thru (stop for lunch) there all the time with the GNX and never once had a problem. Unless you consider the time I was sitting in the car (eating lunch) with a Popeyes chicken leg stuck out of a my piehole, when two cars pulled up and 5 people got out and spent the next hour looking at the car, asking me questions, snapping pictures with their camera phones, all while i'm envisioning getting jacked, having the car stolen, and them sending my skinny butt running down the street naked during the middle of the day....lol

The Callaway is a great engineered vehicle, with the potential for so much more

When I buy a used performance vehicle, I never know the state of readiness or truthfully how someone took care of it previously

A great exterior / interior / and low miles does not mean that it was maintained mechanically worth a crap. I bought a 92 Typhoon with 17,000 miles on it and thought i had found a real steal, until I later found out that one of the previous owners was the person that developed the Ultimate Performance chips for Syclones & Typhoons and that my shiny red Typhoon had been his test mule for most of the development

Callaway #36 is no different than any other 15 year old vehicle with only 11,000 miles on it.

I would rather have a higher mileage daily driver than I would a garage queen (hardly ever driven) with low miles.

If I had bought the Callaway as a display vehicle, then I would never take it to the track and put it to the test as I have with #36........But.......I buy my vehicles to drive and i want to find the faults at a controlled location (track) before it jumps up and bites me in the a$$ out on the street

Repair costs are very much an issue with my hobby vehicles. I cringe everytime I have to squeeze a nickle from my a$$ to pay for repair parts (especially self induced repair parts (clutch, wheel studs, etc) but once again, I went into this relationship with the understanding that I was not buying a Geo Metro, and that certain repairs would be forth coming

I will replace the clutch, and I will find other weak points during my marraige to #36, and hopefully the fun factor will greatly outweigh the repair factor

But if not, there is a pretty little blue Geo Metro convertible sitting on a lot down the street calling my name.....lol

Later everyone

Ray

 

[*89x2*]

Ray, Sounds like you are gearing up for some serious fun with a B2K - Enjoy the car, few would dare to put the car through its paces as you are suggesting but I think eveyone wants to know what the final results will be - What you find out during your testing and experiences will benefit EVERYONE here - please keep us informed, as I am certain it will be fun!

 

[Vettelt193]

Don't get me wrong Guys

I may put my cars to the test as far as performance goes, but I am not out there to intentially destroy anything

If it looks like a Duck, smells like a duck, and flys like a duck, then the damn thing had better quack like a duck and taste good on my dinner plate

I used to catch alot of crap from all the Grand National folks when I used my GNX as a daily driver

The car was a blast to drive, it was very rare (like the Callaway), most people had read stories, seen pictures, but had never seen a real GNX in person (much less see one at the track or driving thru McDonalds....lol

I have some major clients in Los Angeles (Compton, Watts, Inglewood) and I would drive thru (stop for lunch) there all the time with the GNX and never once had a problem. Unless you consider the time I was sitting in the car (eating lunch) with a Popeyes chicken leg stuck out of a my piehole, when two cars pulled up and 5 people got out and spent the next hour looking at the car, asking me questions, snapping pictures with their camera phones, all while i'm envisioning getting jacked, having the car stolen, and them sending my skinny butt running down the street naked during the middle of the day....lol

The Callaway is a great engineered vehicle, with the potential for so much more

When I buy a used performance vehicle, I never know the state of readiness or truthfully how someone took care of it previously

A great exterior / interior / and low miles does not mean that it was maintained mechanically worth a crap. I bought a 92 Typhoon with 17,000 miles on it and thought i had found a real steal, until I later found out that one of the previous owners was the person that developed the Ultimate Performance chips for Syclones & Typhoons and that my shiny red Typhoon had been his test mule for most of the development

Callaway #36 is no different than any other 15 year old vehicle with only 11,000 miles on it.

I would rather have a higher mileage daily driver than I would a garage queen (hardly ever driven) with low miles.

If I had bought the Callaway as a display vehicle, then I would never take it to the track and put it to the test as I have with #36........But.......I buy my vehicles to drive and i want to find the faults at a controlled location (track) before it jumps up and bites me in the a$$ out on the street

Repair costs are very much an issue with my hobby vehicles. I cringe everytime I have to squeeze a nickle from my a$$ to pay for repair parts (especially self induced repair parts (clutch, wheel studs, etc) but once again, I went into this relationship with the understanding that I was not buying a Geo Metro, and that certain repairs would be forth coming

I will replace the clutch, and I will find other weak points during my marraige to #36, and hopefully the fun factor will greatly outweigh the repair factor

But if not, there is a pretty little blue Geo Metro convertible sitting on a lot down the street calling my name.....lol

Later everyone

Ray

have you gotten pointers from callaway drivers on the manual tranny?

from my experience, stabbing the throttle is a big mistake, as it just leads to spinning the tires. I usually roll into the throttle. dumping the clutch off the line is just as bad if not worse.

I don't have experience with the callaway though, so hopefully someone that drives a callaway can give you some pointers... it takes many runs to figure out a stick, it is probably better to drive a bit slower and gradually speed up. regardless, good luck!

 

[8388]

Yes, you never want to dump the clutch. You basically want to simulate the actions of an automatic tranny. You want to keep it in the boost the whole time. Shifting and clutch action is an art in these cars,you can't shift them the same way you do a non turbo vette. If the car is stock,you basically want to stay between 2400 and 4500 rpms during the entire pass, your shifting has to be quick and smooth. Peronally, unless the car was an auto, I'd keep it off the 1/8th or 1/4 mike track. The one mile race like the one they have here in Texas is better suited for these cars.

 

[SYTECH]

I Agree

The 6 speed is by far a different beast than the Automatic

And i do agree that the Callaways strong points are higher speeds, handling, and performance from a roll, not so much from a dead stop

I always used to laugh at the Vipers, some Vettes, and the manual shifting Mustangs at how differently some launched their cars at the track

I always wondered why they left so slowly

NOW I KNOW !

I'm going from an 11 second automatic Grand National to the Callaway. I have been racing almost every week for the past 3 years straight so I thought that I had the track experience down pretty good. I know when to back off and I know when to bail out of a run and live to race another day

With an automatic I could brake boost at the line, get the turbo spooling to about 10 psi, release the brake on the 3rd amber light, stab the throttle and away you go

1.55 -1.65 second 60 foot times were pretty much the norm

With the Callaway, you can't preload the engine the same way, and that equates out to a slower short time that seriously affects your 1/8 - 1/4 mile trap speed and time

If you put sticky tires on the car and try to launch it you better have enough rpms to get the car in motion quickly or else you'll stall the hell out of it.

My plans with #36 were not to use it to race at the track on a regular basis, but only to gauge the baseline times to see how close to reported normal the car could actually run

Thats why my initial runs were on street tires, stock boost, and 91 octane gas

I don't run slicks on the street, so I wanted to see how the car would react with the same equipment that it uses everyday

At the races on Friday, we all got to watch a gentleman with a late model Viper GTS (coupe) boil his tires (street tires) from the dig, get squirrely / lose control just past the 60 ft mark, recover, stab the throttle again (even thou the race was over) lose control again about the 1/8 mile mark, and spin the car out and slam it into the concrete wall

I run my car at the track to help me understand the nature of the Callaway beast and to prepare me for any little quirks the car may exhibit under max performance

I'll play the spinning game under controlled circumstances, and I'll push the car harder than I will out on the streets, in hopes that I will get a lesson in the physical limitations of the car "If" and "When" I chose to release the beast

In time, i will probably look back on my experiences with the 6 speed and remember how much fun it really was, but if someone was to offer me an AeroBody Automatic Callaway for my 15,000 mile 6 speed Callaway.........I would seriously consider it....lol

Later

Ray

 

[*89x2*]

Ray, sounds like you may be back in the market again - you could always convert your car to an automatic, as 1989-005 was. That car is now a upper 10 second car and was featured in the BFGoodrich drag radial ad...

It is a California car now and was the prototype for the AeroBody :cool

There are some threads about the car here

In the meantime, this automatic is for sale w/ AeroBody:

1988 [size=+4]Corvette Callaway [/size][size=+3]Roadster[/size]

Corvette Callaway Roadster. Aero Body, Dark Red Metallic with tan interior and top. New Dymags, tires, and I have an extra set of Dymags to match the car. The car also has the rare automatic transmission conversion to the turbo 400. This was a factory converstion. 375 horse power, with 560 lbs of torque. Adult driven, well maintained, everything works, power steering, power brakes, air conditioning, power windows, power seats, AM/FM. Number 94, never raced, 12,000 miles. Excellent condition.
Price - $ 36,500


[size=+1]Tell-A-Friend
[/size][size=-1]Notify a friend about this vehicle for sale




Click Here for automatic referral form.[/size]

[size=+1]Call [/size][size=+2](612) 554-0500


[/size][size=+1]Minnetrista, Minnesota USA[/size]
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[90Callaway]

I love my Callaway... That's why I have a '69 Camaro drag car that's built for the 1/4 mile.

The Centerforce in the Callaway is starting to spin under peak torque conditions. I'm seriously thinking about making the switch to a single mass flywheel. Not sure what I want to do for a pressure plate and disk yet.

 

[AdvancedAutoCC]

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt...

I love my Callaway... That's why I have a '69 Camaro drag car that's built for the 1/4 mile.

Welcome to "the crucible" for street cars, the drag strip. This is the place where ANY weak links are found (and you will find them!). I too, have a purpose built drag car (70 Chevelle), having learned the harsh lesson of the "street/strip car". For me, the most fun night IS "grudge night" or test and tune night, to watch.

Glad to hear you only got the clutch and didn't frag the transmission.

 

[TurboLuigi]

Robert,

Welcome to the Callaway Forum! Greetings from a fellow South Floridian...

You guys are right about the track. I must be getting wiser (no age jokes ) as I just enjoy the ride and appreciate all the special things that are part of these great cars.

-Luigi
:cool

 

[UB2 SLOW]

When I run drag radials I run 12.0@121. When I run street tires I run 12.2@118. I would rather run the street tires due to the fact that’s what I run with most of the time. I know what you mean about the difference in auto and manual. I love my auto at the drag strip.

 

[*89x2*]

Ray, I was at the track the other day and read about these:


QTP Elec. exhaust cutouts - 3" or 3.5" exhaust dump valves :eek

Weren't yo looking for something like this?? Hope this helps
- Chris
http://www.motorsporttech.com/fbody_exhaust01.asp