Messages

16

IHADAV8 Playground / Re: 1987 Buick Grand National - The Perfect X275 Drag Car?! - Dave Fiscus

« on: December 15 2022, 10:13:05 PM »

The question is: competitive or not?

It's got to weigh nothing. But, can a Stage motor make and sustain the power needed to win the class reliably and consistently?

Obviously you don't know Dave Fiscus's Racing.    Dave has been there an done it for years ! This is not his first rodeo 

Obviously. Obviously I asked an honest question and was looking for some technical insight into how it would be achieved.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: 1987 Buick Grand National - The Perfect X275 Drag Car?! - Dave Fiscus

« on: December 11 2022, 01:52:28 PM »

The question is: competitive or not?

It's got to weigh nothing. But, can a Stage motor make and sustain the power needed to win the class reliably and consistently?

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: Motorhead Mike!

« on: November 22 2022, 10:54:37 PM »

We bought a tri-fuel generator this summer for some redundancy. Between natural gas and gasoline we should have plenty of fuel for a while (especially with six cars worth of fuel on hand). I guess I can always rob a propane tank out of the TBSS too.  Lots of standing water on the property between November and April... long term storage (dugout) TBD.

We've been eating organic and whole foods as much as possible for years. Natasha really got into gardening after our girls started wiping their own butts so that has meant far fewer chemicals in our diets. We are baking more breads and such as well... helps that our girls are now capable of operating things in the kitchen. The more they contribute the more time I have for other things... like working on my cars... I mean... fortifying our homestead.

I picked the girls up a pellet gun in the Spring and taught them the principles of marksmanship. I'll probably set them out to eradicate the prairie dogs and magpies next year. So long as they clean up the corpses. And they've fired some small gauge shotguns at some clay pigeons at their Uncle's place. Hopefully they graduate to deer in a few years.

In summary: cities suuuuuuuck.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: Motorhead Mike!

« on: November 21 2022, 11:20:49 PM »

Steve,

Thanks for all the insight. Our research has also shown that hair goats/sheep are the way to go too. The meat and milk benefit is there, as are their characteristic s as you pointed out. The funny part is how to get them to get produce milk (breeding), and then keeping them producing milk (by perpetually milking them). Penning them for safety (we have foxes and coyotes roaming the yard) and grazing, and keeping them warm in the winter, are serious issues.  Under the current situation I am working from home so I can definitely care for them on the daily.

Our garden over produced last year, not a bad problem to have... we just weren't prepared to redistribute or store it (although Natasha did make ketchup and froze it). Metric tonne of potatoes made for lots of French fries.

We were looking into a well when we moved in, its on the backburner for now. We do have two sloughs on the property and they hold water for a good part of the Spring and Summer.  I took my firearms license course this past Summer, but have been stuck in limbo waiting for it to come back so that I can start hunting. Never wanted/needed a personal firearm before moving here. My Brother-in-Law is an avid hunter and just bagged a deer last week. We just finished eating the pork/venison. So jealous.

The advantage of moving to Montana of the North is there is a huge emphasis on community and self-reliance. In short, everyone here does something of value, and whatever they don't do they know someone who does.

20

IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: November 02 2022, 12:13:16 AM »

I struggled through 45 minutes of it - I just can't do it. I don't dislike Derek, but the video is paced way too slowly for me.

Yep, it's an acquired taste for sure. His long form videos got me through long days at home between 2020 and 2021... so I am pretty conditioned now.

21

IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: November 02 2022, 12:09:54 AM »

Well after watching the GTO episode I kept thinking where have I heard that kind of gooderer talk & he sounds just like Our Canadian Hero Mr. Red Green   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJt2dnRQXmM&ab_channel=RedGreenTV

Well he's from the Minnesota area so it's not hard to believe there's some similarities in mannerisms and delivery.

22

IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 31 2022, 02:32:52 PM »

Hey Mike, good to see you're doing well out there. I'm up in Uxbridge now & really can't compare it to Toronto.
I just watched this guys MT tv show with a Mustang & you post this up so thanks for the link I now have many viewing hours ahead of me! 

The further you move from cities the more perspective you gain. Unfortunately, we couldn't handle Ontario's direction any longer.  Hope Uxbridge has been warm and welcoming.  VGG's early episodes (with really low production quality) are the best, IMO. Derek is a pretty genuine guy, his wife (Jessica) is special too.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 31 2022, 01:23:53 PM »

Believe he stated it is a manual tranny

The other car Steve - his turbo ls monte

It's okay. I can't keep them all straight either.

I'll look into the PTC as well.  I know FTI will make whatever stall speed you desire.  I have a billet FTI triple disc behind the 80E (3800 stall) in the wagon and it drives great with its HCI combo.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 31 2022, 12:04:04 PM »

  SK, Watcha doing there?

To put it politely Ontario "progressed" way too far for our comfort. Their pandemic response severely impacted our kids, particularly the move to online learning and the fearful return to classes.  Saskatchewan keep kids in school throughout, and we couldn't risk doing any more damage to the girls' future so we packed up and left. We decided to go on 7 Aug 2021, and were in place just 9 weeks later. That was everything from getting the house on the market, selling it, packing everything up (including a loaded transport for the cars), buying the new place (sight unseen), and unloading. It was quiet the production, but the girls missed very little of the school year and love it here. There is a lot more to unpack.

But, in so many words, it boils down to: Faith (shared community values), Family (our only family that didn't become estranged due to COVID were here waiting), and Freedom (Ontari-nope is out of control, SK is a no-nonsense province (a slightly more Northern version of Montana)).

I am currently working remotely back to Ottawa, but looking to get out of the Army. Even running in a municipal election as a councilor at the moment. Who knows where this will take us...?

25

IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 31 2022, 11:53:09 AM »

Sounds like the kitty is a decent 60' away from a 10 second pass.
How is the Monte coming? Is it running 9s yet?

At sea level it "could" have run an 11.0 @ 131mph. But, converting timeslips is kinda lame, IMO. So we're going to go for legit 10.9s at elevation in the thin air I am now battling in Saskatchewan.

The Monte is slow rolling toward a goal (race car vs. street car). Finally got the car back together and running in 2021, and looking a bit better this past summer until I blew it up with a boost spike after a WG spring change. Long story short ring gap was too tight - I wish it was knock.  So I nuked a perfectly good 5.3L that was destined for Natasha's Camaro. D'oh.

Autopsy is here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci5rm0eOgy_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I have a "built", and ring gap confirmed, 4.8L ready to drop in. I am currently converter shopping (leaning FTI 200-4R 4000rpm triple disc) to make the most of it and managing RPM drop to prevent another rapid onset rod bending cylinder pressure issue. Going with a huge 25x12x4.5 FMIC to control IATs over the previous non-intercooled version and a whole new hot side with a slightly upgraded turbo in this next iteration.

The build thread stops here a few months ago: https://gbodyforum.com/threads/copo-monte-carlo-ss-turbosaurus-build-swinging-dick-racings-c-ck-got-bent-she-bounced-a-little-too-high-hard-came-down-awkwardly.61336/ I am likely going to pick it up again on LS1Tech.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 31 2022, 11:22:56 AM »

Nothing wrong with some tongue in the cheek!  Personalities are what  make the car hobby interesting

I agree, modern autotrannies are almost cvts these days and it takes some real driving to do as well as you are doing with the Kitty.  It is definitely laying down some power. More power to you!

The ZF A8 is a special transmission. I'd love to adapt it to another platform - just need a standalone controller for it (maybe Holley can do it?).

I am definitely pushing a rope up a hill with the M6, and damn do the other HC owners love to remind me of it. Trading off that "second" in ET quickly fades the other 99.999% of the time I am driving the car.  The manual transmission is an experience in any car, behind 700+hp it is a pucker-factor inducing rollercoaster.  It the difference between driving and piloting a car in this day and age with all the nannies.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 29 2022, 10:12:20 PM »

What does the hello kitty run? If you don't mind me asking.

11.4 @ 127mph w/1.7 60'. It is a manual trans car (which tend to lose a second over the auto cars) with a 30 shot of nitrous, meth injection, and a lot of custom lightweight parts.

More details:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci_c9M5j0lB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Full build is here:
https://gbodyforum.com/threads/2019-challenger-widebooty-hellkitty-shes-giving-me-the-meatsweats.75077/

My goal is to run consistent 10.9s on the stock tune.

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IHADAV8 Playground / Re: VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 29 2022, 09:53:50 PM »

Just had to leave a knife behind to mark your place! Nice to see you have not lost your touch

Thing is I was on a total trip down nostalgia street watching this.  Everything from the sound of the starter (which is the right sound), to the cold idle settle down, to the nightmare fight with the PowerBastard, and all the trouble shooting... had me tripping balls back to half a lifetime ago.  While it is hard to stomach some of the challenges with the age of these cars and their now very rare parts there is no justification to pull the turbo V6 for anything else. Especially not a LS - that time has passed. The dig was definitely tongue in cheek.

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IHADAV8 Playground / VGG: '86 GN Revival

« on: October 29 2022, 12:21:08 AM »

I can just taste the agony...

Spoiler alert: it needs a LS-swap.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ipc5gcRsU-w

Enjoy!

30

General Buick Tech / Re: Shift RPM?

« on: August 03 2018, 02:40:15 PM »

the truth is neither harsh, or soft...it simply is what it is!

I suppose the same goes for character flaws.