Its always next week and then something comes up. Need to get it done by Mid-Ohio.
I cannot say enough about how impressed I am with this setup. I've had to completely change my driving technique because the car is so much more nimble and planted. The harder I push it, it just keeps going. Last month, I was 5 seconds slower and the tires were squealing through every turn; today I only got the tires to squeal once at almost twice the speed as before. 
, everything.
)
. I think it was Eric who diagnosed my car with "Anger Management issues". 
By the time I got home, I realized the vacuum system was never hooked up and smelling exhaust in the cabin I found one of the O2 sensor plugs had fallen out. The vacuum lines were easy enough to fix and the install shop made quick work of finding and installing a new plug. 
O.K. I just scared the crap outta myself.As most of the MMs know the car has been down for most of the year getting headers and a new exhaust system installed. I just changed my pulley this week and got 500 miles on the exhaust so it was time for some acceleration runs. I changed the meth injection yesterday to 100% alcohol and thought I heated the tires sufficiently for my runs today. Boy was I wrong! 30, 40, 60 roll - the tires wouldn't bite. And that was rolling into 75% throttle! Tires breaking loose at 60 means too much torque. Traction control not fixing it made for a slippery 60-100 run. Stomping WOT from a standstill is going to be a nightmare.
The back story. I finished the suspension last winter with Z06 rear spring and sway bar (the ZR1 rear bar was too much). The lip splitter and rear diffuser are both stalled waiting on my fabricator to get his business in order (He still has 3 cars ahead of me with $30K+ of work each). The car went into the shop in April to install a set of D3 headers I found on eBay. BUT...the left side leaked at the head and we couldn't get D3 gaskets for it. So we decided to hand-build a set with larger 1 7/8" primaries. Somewhere along the way, I installed a few new toys on the CarPC, replaced the meth pump with one rated for pure alcohol, and installed a Corvette 1/4" Thick Aluminum Ceramic Coated Tunnel Plate with Thermal-ABS.
Meanwhile, I went to Bloomington Gold to try and negotiate with Billy Boat for a discount on an XLR Fusion axle-back muffler system. Before I could, Mike Boat hands me a flyer of their show specials and the gears in my brain went haywire. Here was a 3" diameter X crossover midpipe and matching Z06 3" Fusion axle-back for $400 less than just the XLR axle-back. My headers hadn't been started yet, so there was plenty of time to make those with a 3" collector - easy. So my discussion with Mike was about Z06 vs XLR plumbing and mounting locations. He said he'd put them on the XLR fixture and make them work. He also said they'd fixture a brand new set at their facility and ship both free to the shop that would install them. GAME ON!
The install shop (who shall remain nameless) guaranteed me a price and schedule. They missed both. I actually got the manager to sign a contract, but when I picked up the car, the headers hadn't been ceramic coated and the printed bill was $600 more than the contract. I handed a copy of the contract to the manager and the agreed amount in cash and said "Have a nice day." He tried to explain why I should pay more and I told him tontake it up with my lawyer. I did tip the welder who made my headers, but I was standing there over them two days after the promised delivery date as they tightened down the last few nut and bolts. So I wasn't happy. PJ and I had just enough time to eat, pack, and get on the road to Artomobilia.
Needless to say, there were issues. I already knew it would be 1000-2000 miles before the exhaust tone would normalize and I needed to play nice for the first 500 miles for the initial break-in. I still revved it a few times at Artomobilia
Still, it was loud (those that know me know I like loud, so if I say its too loud - ITS LOUD.) After putting the car on a lift and doing some troubleshooting and comparing the BB Fusion bi-modal system with OEM, I came to the conclusion that the BB is spring loaded to the open position and the springs are so strong it never really closed (quiet mode) completely. I then proceeded to create a brace that I could manually insert between the spring valves to completely close the pass through ports. PJ had peace at last. Maybe with time the springs will stretch enough to close normally. So until then, my exhaust has three modes: full open, partial bi-modal, and full closed.
The trip to Effingham for Corvette FunFest was much better. Manually closing the center exhausts made for a drone-free trip. Mike Boat was there and we talked about the fit and finish of the install and we both realized (at about the same time) that my tips are round and I ordered ovals. We had a good laugh and agreed to work something out later. He noted the sound of the exhaust was louder than he expected when revved, but idle was just like his XLR specific system.
What's next? I have an appointment Oct 6th with a new tuner, James Short, out in Kentucky. He's a few hours closer than Wait4Me and comes highly recommended. We'll see. I'll be running his tune at the Texas Mile come 24-26 October. Probably a couple 1/4 mile runs. Then Thanksgiving in Louisiana.
O.K. I just scared the crap outta myself.As most of the MMs know the car has been down for most of the year getting headers and a new exhaust system installed. I just changed my pulley this week and got 500 miles on the exhaust so it was time for some acceleration runs. I changed the meth injection yesterday to 100% alcohol and thought I heated the tires sufficiently for my runs today. Boy was I wrong! 30, 40, 60 roll - the tires wouldn't bite. And that was rolling into 75% throttle! Tires breaking loose at 60 means too much torque. Traction control not fixing it made for a slippery 60-100 run. Stomping WOT from a standstill is going to be a nightmare.
The back story. I finished the suspension last winter with Z06 rear spring and sway bar (the ZR1 rear bar was too much). The lip splitter and rear diffuser are both stalled waiting on my fabricator to get his business in order (He still has 3 cars ahead of me with $30K+ of work each). The car went into the shop in April to install a set of D3 headers I found on eBay. BUT...the left side leaked at the head and we couldn't get D3 gaskets for it. So we decided to hand-build a set with larger 1 7/8" primaries. Somewhere along the way, I installed a few new toys on the CarPC, replaced the meth pump with one rated for pure alcohol, and installed a Corvette 1/4" Thick Aluminum Ceramic Coated Tunnel Plate with Thermal-ABS.
Meanwhile, I went to Bloomington Gold to try and negotiate with Billy Boat for a discount on an XLR Fusion axle-back muffler system. Before I could, Mike Boat hands me a flyer of their show specials and the gears in my brain went haywire. Here was a 3" diameter X crossover midpipe and matching Z06 3" Fusion axle-back for $400 less than just the XLR axle-back. My headers hadn't been started yet, so there was plenty of time to make those with a 3" collector - easy. So my discussion with Mike was about Z06 vs XLR plumbing and mounting locations. He said he'd put them on the XLR fixture and make them work. He also said they'd fixture a brand new set at their facility and ship both free to the shop that would install them. GAME ON!
The install shop (who shall remain nameless) guaranteed me a price and schedule. They missed both. I actually got the manager to sign a contract, but when I picked up the car, the headers hadn't been ceramic coated and the printed bill was $600 more than the contract. I handed a copy of the contract to the manager and the agreed amount in cash and said "Have a nice day." He tried to explain why I should pay more and I told him tontake it up with my lawyer. I did tip the welder who made my headers, but I was standing there over them two days after the promised delivery date as they tightened down the last few nut and bolts. So I wasn't happy. PJ and I had just enough time to eat, pack, and get on the road to Artomobilia.
Needless to say, there were issues. I already knew it would be 1000-2000 miles before the exhaust tone would normalize and I needed to play nice for the first 500 miles for the initial break-in. I still revved it a few times at Artomobilia
Still, it was loud (those that know me know I like loud, so if I say its too loud - ITS LOUD.) After putting the car on a lift and doing some troubleshooting and comparing the BB Fusion bi-modal system with OEM, I came to the conclusion that the BB is spring loaded to the open position and the springs are so strong it never really closed (quiet mode) completely. I then proceeded to create a brace that I could manually insert between the spring valves to completely close the pass through ports. PJ had peace at last. Maybe with time the springs will stretch enough to close normally. So until then, my exhaust has three modes: full open, partial bi-modal, and full closed.
The trip to Effingham for Corvette FunFest was much better. Manually closing the center exhausts made for a drone-free trip. Mike Boat was there and we talked about the fit and finish of the install and we both realized (at about the same time) that my tips are round and I ordered ovals. We had a good laugh and agreed to work something out later. He noted the sound of the exhaust was louder than he expected when revved, but idle was just like his XLR specific system.
What's next? I have an appointment Oct 6th with a new tuner, James Short, out in Kentucky. He's a few hours closer than Wait4Me and comes highly recommended. We'll see. I'll be running his tune at the Texas Mile come 24-26 October. Probably a couple 1/4 mile runs. Then Thanksgiving in Louisiana.
Drive safe and have fun!
