JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Figured I'd finally start one of these so people would know what the hell I'm actually talking about and so people might recognize the car and know I have no idea what I'm doing.

Here's a pic from when I first got the car home last summer:
https://i.imgur.com/FREkpN8.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Picking up the engine and a drum of fuel from Mark Lewis and PAR Racing Engines!
https://i.imgur.com/R05JoLM.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Rebuilding old parts and installing some new!
https://i.imgur.com/iDert07.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/tVYzNbI.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Getting things routed, wired, and plumbed! Headers going on, dinged and dented.
https://i.imgur.com/LJHHzQu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/u0do4fh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/0Qe054n.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

What’s up dp! The first post did not allow the picture to come up but I saw your dad‘s car on the poster on the wall

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Float sank in Q-jet, fixing that and installing new needle+seat.
https://i.imgur.com/GhwFuPh.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KafRYo2.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

New used tires thanks to Brad Plourd! Wheels were a deal from Keizer Wheels!
https://i.imgur.com/2iJAeox.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Another parts order with air cleaner, driveshaft from PST, and roll bar padding!
https://i.imgur.com/EpYSMlv.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/PBQQxbM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/OgowJeW.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Kaboom goes the transmission and both rear wheel cylinders on the first test drive :/
https://i.imgur.com/LDfoRcc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dlCW0iC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/GNQHrHA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p7wROg8.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

They're 15s but they clean!
https://i.imgur.com/RndFaPo.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

First Shakedown! Turned out to be a complete turd, but I wasn't going to give up yet!
https://i.imgur.com/tCKRbaE.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/w9xbHWb.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

New intake curtesy of Tim Stickles. Thanks again man! Put it together Friday night before I went to test again this past Saturday!
https://i.imgur.com/5qa3j10.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KTvM21g.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/QnfMSxn.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Second time testing and set a new PB! 12.61 off the 13.00 index with the new intake, 15 mph tail wind, 1000 ft DA, and adjusted shift points. Thanks Jeff Miles and Darlington Dragway for the 1/4 mile testing!
https://i.imgur.com/OQiY4CE.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

haha yeah, he's pretty proud of that old Camaro! I tease him all the time about how I wouldn't have it if it was mine. It's pretty rough but it means the world to him. People who don't know drag racing don't believe me when I tell them how much better he is than me. To do what he's done, with the car and equipment he has is unreal.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Self adjusting brakes??

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

It's what I had lol. Is that bad?

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

OK, I have a lot of advice for you…haha…..throw the self adjusters in the garbage, You need to invest in NEW brake spring kits for the rear….AND it won’t BRAKE ( pun intended) the bank…With your hood clearance you can run a much TALLER K and N air filter…Proud of you man, you are making progress !!! More TIPs to come……..

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

You know, it’s sooo nice to see a youngster with some fire in his BELLY actually put his $$ where his mouth is AS opposed to the GEEZERS on this site that flat WEAR out Billy Nees and YAC week in and week out KNOWING damn well that most of them are just DREAMING….Build it AND they will come ….:):)

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I did not know until he put this thread up who this young man was, let me just say this boy has talent. He has already won a national event in super gas , and comes from an excellent racing family with a father, who is also a champion. I am sure he will find success in this class also.
good luck my friend.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I'll get a rebuild kit on the way! how do I delete the self-adjusters and still make everything else work?

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I agree with MJ on the air cleaner element. You probably have the hood clearance to use a 4 inch especially with a dropped base such as the Speedway Motors # 91011062-2 . A lot of racers use this one without any element as it has shown ET improvement in many cases. And it's only $23. Remember that most elements are restrictive and will require a jetting adjustment for optimum performance. As a side note, I'm a wagon guy and love yours. Wishing you the best.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Thanks man! Glad you like it! I have been running the car w/out the air cleaner, just leave it on for warming it up and driving around the pits, then I take it off to race/test. I'll look into getting one of those air cleaner bases ASAP!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Is a spacer needed for that air cleaner on a quadrajet?

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

There are still some brake hardware kits around with the manual adjusters, for the 9 1/2" x 2 GM brakes. You'll probably have to find an old parts store where the counterman even knows what you're talking about...or maybe dig around on Ebay.
I could tell you the dime rocket way I'd do it, but don't like telling someone what to do with their brakes. ;-)

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

No it isn't. With no air cleaner gasket the top of it is flush with the choke housing which is legal. I would run a thin gasket as I don't want metal to metal contact. Gaskets range from .044 to .130. I don't think NHRA would mind if it's .044 above. I do think they may say something if you used a .250 or more spacer that's available. With that being said, I did see a National event winning car whose base wasn't even close to the choke housing. It looked like a mini velocity stack. Really surprised NHRA allowed it. Wasn't a Q-Jet carb though.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Glad to see another "kid" like me learning his ways in Stock Eliminator. You definitely picked a good combo to learn with. Tidbit of info on distributors. I ran into the issue of not wanting to buy an expensive new distributor, but didn't want to buy a cheapo chinesium distributor either. Some late 80s/early 90s EFI GM products have small cap, divorced coil HEI distributors that have a 2 wire magnetic pickup that works with MSD boxes, and have locked out timing from the factory.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

I rummaged around in my father and grandfather's shop and found the one pictured in another post on this thread. The cap was busted, it needed a cast gear, and it was not locked out. I ordered a gear from Jegs, a cap from holly, and locked it out myself. It's been working like brand new since I bolted it on. That's a great tidbit though, I'll keep that in mind if I ever need another. Thank you!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

As discussed in other threads, my first race out with the car did not go as planned. Unfortunately, somewhere between testing at Darlington and Q1 in Orlando, I lost third gear and reverse. I have not had a chance to get the transmission out and torn apart to diagnose, but it appears to be burnt slam up. That said, I still had 1st and 2nd, so I limped it up there for first round anyway! You never know what can happen!

Take-aways from the my first event as a Stocker! -->

1.) I really enjoyed being at the track and in competition again, I didn't realize how much I'd missed it since the last time I made a hit in Rockingham last year.

2.) Seeing all the fine folks of NHRA D2 class racing was such a treat, I got to meet lots of people while I was down there and can't wait to meet so many more! I spent Thursday cooped up in my trailer working remotely, so I couldn't get out and talk to folks like I'd hoped to. Friday was spent in abject disbelief and disappointment, so I wasn't exactly batting 1000. Looking to touch base with many more people at the babies next week.

3.) Going through weigh-in and fuel-check was a great experience as well. Despite being broke, I still went through the entire process and learned what to expect moving forward.

4.) I am extremely proud I made it to this race. many, many, many late nights and hours of research, planning, and practice the last few months to get the car, myself, and my equipment ready in time. I made it! Unfortunately broke on the first pass, not of my own doing as far as I can tell.

I'll be back later this week with another update as soon as I get the old transmission out and diagnosed. Thanks to CR faithful's, I feel like I already have a pretty solid prognosis, but we'll see for sure here shortly.
https://i.imgur.com/eF6hNUG.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HHKjHZX.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/MefOBav.jpg

The current color of my transmission fluid:
https://i.imgur.com/8jPT4hL.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Hope you have a better outing at the Baby Gators

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Keep up the good work kid! No one conquers the world in one day!

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

The Dodge 440 4barrel did not like the K&N top it was faster with a Ford base and stock Dodge top.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Got the old (a whopping 9 passes on it) transmission out last night and there is a lot of debris and clutch material in the pan. I plan to take it to Billy Ray Varner, a local guy who has set up several transmissions for my dad in the past, who can hopefully pull it apart further and help me diagnose it. I want to watch him do it so I can learn more about how they are assembled so in the future I can do more by myself. It appears the filter did a great job of keeping all the crap out of the converter, you can see the color and quality of the fluid coming out of it in the image below. Going to let it drain really well today and flush it with new fluid a few times, but it appears to have dodged all of the damage.
https://i.imgur.com/ho9xvng.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/i2XgTy2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/XJrvpXM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fvDz1Lh.jpg
There are a few pieces of debris in the fluid that you can see in this image, but that is leftover from when the pan came off and made a mess. The fluid coming from the converter was absolutely spotless.
https://i.imgur.com/H3CeRNM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/H3356SZ.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

If you run a cooler don’t forget to flush it, or at least blow air through the lines

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Yes sir I did, put some brake clean through it and blew it out thoroughly, then poured some fresh fluid in it and pushed that through as well.

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Posted in another thread, reposting here for continuity,

Boys and girls, we are back! Just reinstalled a brand new transmission curtesy of Scot Lamar last night with the help from my dad and some mountain dew. After flushing the converter once more in a fashion described by Mark's ghost writer, we threw everything back together and got it running again. I hopped in it and took it off jackstands to drive it around the block. Seems to have all 3 forward gears now! I'll get my broken trans torn apart soon and diagnosed. Would like to avoid a similar mishap in the future. If the weather holds out, I'll try to test on Sunday and make sure all is well!

https://i.imgur.com/r3MGj7a.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1nu9S5x.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'm back under (barely).

Managed three .2+ under runs in the 1/8th mile that backs up the runs I made with my other transmission. A little inconsistent, but that could be the track or the small adjustments I made or crummy shifting. Who knows. Looking forward to the qualifying hits and class at the bby gators this week to really put the car and myself to the test to see if we really have a hot rod!
https://i.imgur.com/TRLaPQh.jpg

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

keep up the good work dawson. ill be rooting you on and hopefully catch ya at a d2 event soon, once i get one of my stockers going. from one young gun to another, keep at it.

KG
the slowest EF/S car in the country

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

Hope the car does better at the Baby Gators and no trans troubles

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

What track are you testing at?

Re: JP1738's Stocker and S/G car
 

You guys need to keep up, he’s on the Q Sheet in Gainesville with a .377 under, laddered with Harrington if they ever get the track dry. Going to be a lot of bench racing over the next 8-9 days down there.