Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

I just am so happy that speedtalk is back. I want to post an update on my build a progress and my plans for the next season.

My motor was a pump gas 540 with AFR 335 heads and a tunnel ram in an 81 malibu

I went 9.72 at around 137 last summer best.

This winter my motor came apart for major changes :
bore 4.560 with mahle pistons and skinny rings
new cam Erson custom 280 / 288 @ .050 .730 / .760 lift 112 LSA in the motor at 108 ICL
new trend heavier wall pushrods
Moroso power pan with side kickout for oil control
mild smoothing of runner entrances in tunnel ram plenum
CR changed to 12.9 planning to use 100 octane AV GAS.

I just got the motor running again 2 days ago but racing season doesn't start until mid may.

Hi Brian,
i have been following your car for last couple of years,shes a bad beast
good luck this year,what are your thoughts 9.50s @ 140mph ??
i would be interested to find out if your compression and cam changes will move peak rpm and shift points compared to previous setup all else being equal,rear gear,converter etc.

Thanks Steve, whats the weather like down under ? This week has been the coldest i've seen in a long time. Its been - 38 C every morning.

According to my friend "old school" who has coached me through this build, I should gain around 80 hp at least from my changes. It should hold the power longer after peak power which should make my car faster. And if i can hook it there should be more torque off the starting line. I'm hoping for low 9's. Maybe will make around 800 - 850 hp. I liked to dream the old motor was making 800 hp but i think in reality it was more like 700.

A couple changes i might have made if i had the money was to go to the next step AFR heads which were the 357 CNC heads and maybe try the newer design Edelbrock #7085 tunnel ram. However its back together now and i already spent way more than i should have. Tubbing the car might also soon become necessary but i really don't want to go there.
Brian

Brian,
we are the other end of temperature over the last couple of months + 35-+40 deg C
plus a lot of humidity,February is a pain.
Our street car bracket series started last weekend it was still 36.4 deg C at 5pm.
thanks for the follow up information,sounds like you have a well thought out plan and cant wait to see the ETs tumble,best of luck

to bring my thread back to life. I drove the car yesterday to town and back. The power is definitely way up from last season. It feels like a dragster now when it does burnouts on the street. I'm thinking since traction was marginal last season, it may be impossible this season. I'm hoping to get to the track sometime soon but don't know when. I will post the results as they happen.
I'm looking forward to a new season of racing. Av-gas has actually came down in price. Got new slicks on 29.5 x 10.5 x 15 ET drags. Also have new front upper control arms from global west "drag race" arms that have +5 more caster built in. I'm afraid this is going to be a season of trying to tune the suspension and not the motor. We shall see.
Brian

Well i can finally give an update on my progress. On friday night with marginal traction i went 9.39 at 141.8 and 9.4 at 142. The av gas is working awesome with 12.9 CR.

Today i did a massive wheelstand, and crunched my headers and a bent moroso solid motor mount on the passenger side. Went 9.8 at 137 on the half aborted wheelstand run.

Time to figure out how to make a g-body not do that.

Brian

What were the cam specs you changed from?

lunati 274 / 283 .704 / .744 110

Hi Brian,
I am sorry to hear about the damage, I hope it is not to bad.
But on a positive note you picked up et and mph so you are making some steam.
On the slide rule your et and mph are extremely close,
I don't know the weight of your car but
3400 pounds shows 760-770 hp.
I like how you are using Avgas defiantly saving a couple dollars there.
A drum of say MS 103 or C16 as an example here in Australia ranges from $240-280 a drum 20 ltrs -5 gallons.
Can't wait to see how the Malibu goes less big wheelstands and can get some good air

Time for wheelie bars.

prairiehotrodder wrote: ↑Sat Jun 08, 2019 10:02 pm Well i can finally give an update on my progress. On friday night with marginal traction i went 9.39 at 141.8 and 9.4 at 142. The av gas is working awesome with 12.9 CR.

Today i did a massive wheelstand, and crunched my headers and a bent moroso solid motor mount on the passenger side. Went 9.8 at 137 on the half aborted wheelstand run.

Time to figure out how to make a g-body not do that.

Brian

That must have been a wild ride! Glad you’re ok.

Are you using a transbrake?

F-BIRD'88 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2019 8:35 am Time for wheelie bars.

yep......

Sounds like a case now of serious chassis correction! Power can be a frustrating thing when it comes time to transfer it to the track. You'll figure it out.

Nice job so far, best of luck on the balance.

yes i'm using a transbrake. The 2 step was set at 3000 rpm. Convertor is an ATI 5200 8 inch.

I think i'm gonna get rid of the solid motor mounts and go to poly so there is a little bit of give. I'm lucky i didn't break the block.
As far as suspension i'm thinking of putting stock shocks back on the front and removing the 90/10 's . Also i could lower the back of the rear lower control arms which i think would move my IC forward ?

Brian