Call to ARMS!
All you South Sound Guys!!!!! Those Seattle and parts beyond guys seem way more active. Sound off!!!! Where are ya at and whatcha got?


Gents,

I'm George, Retired Army, work at Fort Lewis as a contractor. Blue 70 Elky with cowl ind hood, blk vinyl top and SS stripes is my daily cruiser. With gas at $3.50, I plan to put a 454 into the Elky about the time fall hits. Will also upgrade from 2.56 to 3.42 before then...hopefully in a few weeks. Nuts? You bet!

I had lunch with "gotago" Mark today at Fort Lewis. Hell of a nice guy! We'll need to have lunch again before I get buried with all the Warrior Forge ROTC Camp stuff. Am hoping "Chevy_Rat" Bruce can join us next time.

I do believe Mark liked my Elky. Mark got a short ride in my vehicle. He was upset to hear of Bruce wanting to sell his 70 SS collectable but most pleased that he's gonna build/buy another car as a driver/street-strip terror.


Budget engine:
Chris "mr 4 speed" back east reports initial dragstrip testing on a low-buck 454. Similiar to my future engine for my 70 Elky but way less compression. Test engine is an 8.0:1 454 (Hyper-E Flattops and 781s) with 3310/Perf RPM/3.07s/11" TC and the 228/238 cam. With tired drag radials, the 70 Chevelle back east ran 1.821 60', 13.37 at 98.4 mph,with 72/79 jetting and 5200 rpm shifts. Low rpm shifts, engine was laying down due to lean secondary jetting. Jetting will be bumped to 72/82 or 72/84 next outing. They hope for 12.9 at 102 or 103. Awesome for a few bolt-ons to a low compression engine. Cheap to build too!

Chris has another engine with the same 228/238 cam. His other test car, an 80 Malibu has 2.25" pipes and a Performer intake, stock flattops and 063 heads like my ride, runs those numbers now, hopes for better runs soon. Bump up the CR another point and other features like my larger exhaust and RPM A-G intake ..and it'll make even more grunt for my ride.... Mostly street with some strip potential...this is after all my daily driver, right Mark?

Smokey Point / Arlington show up North 20 May....let's get so SoSound rides up there....


George

George,
I'm over here in Aberdeen. Been kind of quiet because my car is not ready yet. Did major drivetrain mods since spinning driver side axle tube in the housing in August 06 at Bremerton. New Richmond 5 speed, Denny's nitrous ready driveshaft, Richmond 3.55 gears, and Edelbrock upper adjustable CAs with anti hop bars. It takes me a long time to do something like this as I own a logging company, so O dark thirty to late at night is SOP for me. But the car should be ready to take out for a test next weekend. At the last minute I decided to reupholster the seats. Spent 6 years in the Army myself in the field of FA target acquisition using the AN/MPQ-4 in the beginning, then transitioning to the TPQ-36, and 37. Sometimes I wish I'd have stayed in, ETSed from Ft. Lewis in '82.
I will definately be at Bremerton for the Chevy Drags first weekend in June. So...not really south sound but it looks like I'm closest to you and Mark in Yelm. Bought my car in Yelm 10 years ago as a matter of fact. I'll PM you when I'm ready to go and see what's up.

Mike,

Do you trailer your car to the strip or drive it? I'd like to go to more events like test and tunes but the strips are too far to go driving. I'd like to run at Shelton on 6 July at their TnT just to get the T shirt.

Mark,
Yes I do trailer my car when racing and I'd be more than happy to help you if something was to happen. I'll be at Shelton, was there last year. We can stay in contact and meet up there. You should really think about the Chevy Drags and Show at Bremerton. It is really a blast and who knows, you could win the trophy for best Chevelle!:cool:

Mike,

Thanks for checking in. Nice 67 ya got there! I'm kinda blessed living in Lakewood.....w/o traffic, I can be at Pacific Raceways in 30 minutes. Bremerton only takes a few minutes longer.

"gotago" will attest to the fact that my Elky is a cruiser. I pulled up to the Lakewood library today, got a thumbs-up from some dude. As he walked-up, he was asking what engine....responded with "350" and rcvd a groan. I did get a smile when I added there was a 454 in the works! Plan is to build a low-buck 454 with some nutz to take on pal Ben N of Seattle and his big-buck 454HO crate engine in his 68 SS Elky. I hope to get the rest of the parts I need 20 May and the Smokey Point show. 3.42 Gears installed then too.....

Aberdeen, eh? Nice!
I wonder what all the Kent, Auburn, Sumner, Puyallup, Tacoma, University Place and Lakewood gearheads are up to.....probably at the track rather than in the planning stages like me. I'm positive there are a ton of gearheads out in Parkland, Spanaway, Roy, McKenna, and Graham! What's up?

Whoa, June 2, coming up quick. I'll try and make that one, gotta ask my bud for the trailer. Never been to Bremerton, is there a pre-registeration fee or do you just pay at the gate? Can you race or is it just for brackets? I've never bracket raced before, just TnT. George, you in for this one?

Mark,

In theory, yes, I'm in.
I'm told I'm a free man by 5pm even with ROTC Camp. With some prior coordination, I could possibly bust loose early.....no real days off at Camp ya know.
Hmmmm, things I'd wanna do/have done before then.
1. Get the 3.42 gears, have them installed and "broke in" with 2 weeks of driving. I'm really not concerned that my 350 with a stock torque converter and street radials will do any damage
2. Need a new rt frt wheelwell...mine "gone" under the battery, makes the whole btty hold-down suspect.
3. Btty hold-down assy needs relook.
4. Need a coolant catch can. FRYNTYR uses a gear oil tube!
5. Could possibly need/be required to switch to open lug nuts with several exposed threads protruding.
Then I'm sure I'd need a helmet.

Supposing the Elky got all the stuff together.....might be low 16 or high 15 territory. I figure the 350 is good for 300 horses at least..going from 2.56 to 3.42 will really wake it up.

Sat evening, replaced the rt collector gasket. That cured 95% of the leaking ext noises. Spectre thick collector gaskets. I also adjusted the belt tension. Grabbed Junior (16) and off on a cruise of greater Tacoma. Sun was setting, temps in the high 50s, no rain, yet the streets were deserted. One 80-ish Vette with a nice exhaust passed in an intersection, not a single other performance car seen up Orchard, across 6th, down to Stadium HS area, old downtown Tacoma, then N along Rustin Way then south down Pearl. Not even one of those new pesky Mustangs! So the highlight of the evening was me hitting the drivethrough for a shake for Junior and one for me! So, where are all the cool rides? Do $3.50 prices for premium scare people?

I love to drive the '70 around, mostly stock running gear sure makes for a nice cruiser. My wife could kill me though with the money spent on gas, it is crazy, but not stopping me yet. I'm going to miss most of the may-june car cruises due to my boat racing schedule (Any of you guys want to go to Seafair let me know and I can get a few crew pit passes for free entry and all the perks). I should be back from louisiana just before the all chevy drags at Bremerton though.

35 gets the driver and car in for the day. 10 addmission for spectators. Friday afternoons are tnt, gates open at 3pm. Saturday gates open at 8am and they start calling for the cars between 9-10. Yes, you pay at the gate, pull in and go through tech, or find a pit space and return for tech.
Usually for the Chevy Drags you will get 3 time runs before having to dial for eliminations. Hey George, I've seen 18 second cars take home the money in sportsman more than once.:yes: It's all about consistency!
Remember that for Chevy day there is a car show. So if any of you didn't want to race, just pay 10 and park for the show and watch the racing. If you really want to be busy...show and race!

Mike, thanks for the info!! I'll try and make the TnT and show. Sounds like quite a deal. Maybe I'll try the brackets in Shelton if they have a class for my car.

loader1,

Yes, I COULD take the Elky out to the drags after the repairs I mentioned earlier in the thread. I'm reasonably confident the 2.56 gear will keep me in the low 17 sec range....a mid 16 would be optimistic. She could MPH pretty well as she does pull strongly on the freeway (with a tail wind). My fairly high compression ratio approaches 10:1, the heads have 60cc chambers and 2.02/1.60 valves.

George

There you go George, you're in!:thumbsup: Just remember that in bracket racing the key is consistency. With an automatic it's a little easier. There, that settles it see you at Bremerton June 2nd.
Took my car around town a few blocks finally. Everything feels good. Wanted to go somewhere that I could run through the gears briskly:D but there is no back on the driver seat and no passenger seat at all. Didn't really want to test the strength of that Grant wheel. I should have seats back in by Friday. The only thing after that is to figure out the mounting of the driveline safety loop after installing the 5 speed, which I pretty much have figured out.
So anyway I be ready to go soon. Just figured that it has been 8 months since really driving the car. And hey..... I can really drive some where without the 4.56s'.
Hey Mike Parker, look forward to seeing you soon!

Thanks Mike! I really can't wait to check out the 5 speed.