Mezmorized
08-07-2009, 02:50 AM
The S10 got put on hold the past few weeks cuz my bud called me and told me he was buying his old Malibu back and asked if I would go partners with him and use my engine.
It's a 1981 Malibu with a th350 and a 7.5" rear with 3.73 gears.
Anyway, we thrashed for 2 weeks to get the car ready for the big local race that happened just last weekend. He would run on the Saturday, and I would run on the Sunday.
We had a little trouble with the car not keeping a good charge (not running an alternator), but I think it's the cooling fan that is drawing too much.
Anyway, he ran a best ET on the 1/8th of 7.36 @ 90 mph with a 1.54 60'.
We went a few rounds on Saturday and won $75.00 for our efforts.
My turn came on Sunday. The day started off with rain... then, more rain etc...
Eventually it stopped and they managed to dry the track and get things going.
"SEMI PRO!!! YOU GET ONE TIME TRIAL ONLY!!!" blared over the P.A. system.
I get my t.t. in... 7.55 @ 89 mph (I'm larger than he is ;) )
First round... back in the water, get the tires wet, start the burnout... 1st, 6500 rpm, 2nd, 6500 rpm, 3rd, 6500 rpm... then the rpm's started dropping cuz the tires were starting to bite. When I was just letting go of the line lock button... BANG!!! and the rev limiter kicked in at 6500 rpm! and the racing harness got tight!!! :eek:
I knew what had happened, or kinda... It was either the rear end or the drive shaft.
Yup... Drive shaft! in 2 pieces and pretty much resembling a pretzel. And I also saw why the harness got tight on me. There is now a hole in the floor the size of a grapefruit where the right lap belt bolted to the drive shaft tunnel. It ripped a hole and pulled the piece of floor that the belt was bolted to down about 4 inches.
We managed to push the car and nothing seems to be binding so I think the diff is ok. Still have no clue of the tranny is still good though. My bud is looking for a stock drive shaft in the mean time to be able to move the car around at the moment.
But what I'm wondering is this: There was no vibration, and I was still doing a burnout. So why did it break there? Drive shafts normally break under load (when launching).
I'm one that believes that drive line breakage often has and underlying reason. Once we get a drive shaft back in it we will see if the tranny is bound up at all.
Anyway, the plan for now is to get a larger diameter drive shaft made for it (good thing I work for a shop that makes them ;) ) and I'll be giving him a 12 bolt housing that we can mock up in there along with a 4.88 gear. Oh! and fix the floor ;)
It's a 1981 Malibu with a th350 and a 7.5" rear with 3.73 gears.
Anyway, we thrashed for 2 weeks to get the car ready for the big local race that happened just last weekend. He would run on the Saturday, and I would run on the Sunday.
We had a little trouble with the car not keeping a good charge (not running an alternator), but I think it's the cooling fan that is drawing too much.
Anyway, he ran a best ET on the 1/8th of 7.36 @ 90 mph with a 1.54 60'.
We went a few rounds on Saturday and won $75.00 for our efforts.
My turn came on Sunday. The day started off with rain... then, more rain etc...
Eventually it stopped and they managed to dry the track and get things going.
"SEMI PRO!!! YOU GET ONE TIME TRIAL ONLY!!!" blared over the P.A. system.
I get my t.t. in... 7.55 @ 89 mph (I'm larger than he is ;) )
First round... back in the water, get the tires wet, start the burnout... 1st, 6500 rpm, 2nd, 6500 rpm, 3rd, 6500 rpm... then the rpm's started dropping cuz the tires were starting to bite. When I was just letting go of the line lock button... BANG!!! and the rev limiter kicked in at 6500 rpm! and the racing harness got tight!!! :eek:
I knew what had happened, or kinda... It was either the rear end or the drive shaft.
Yup... Drive shaft! in 2 pieces and pretty much resembling a pretzel. And I also saw why the harness got tight on me. There is now a hole in the floor the size of a grapefruit where the right lap belt bolted to the drive shaft tunnel. It ripped a hole and pulled the piece of floor that the belt was bolted to down about 4 inches.
We managed to push the car and nothing seems to be binding so I think the diff is ok. Still have no clue of the tranny is still good though. My bud is looking for a stock drive shaft in the mean time to be able to move the car around at the moment.
But what I'm wondering is this: There was no vibration, and I was still doing a burnout. So why did it break there? Drive shafts normally break under load (when launching).
I'm one that believes that drive line breakage often has and underlying reason. Once we get a drive shaft back in it we will see if the tranny is bound up at all.
Anyway, the plan for now is to get a larger diameter drive shaft made for it (good thing I work for a shop that makes them ;) ) and I'll be giving him a 12 bolt housing that we can mock up in there along with a 4.88 gear. Oh! and fix the floor ;)