I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad bit sad that my 16G days are coming to an end with #PoisonIvy. I never intended on using the 16G for as long as I have. The plan when I built the car was to get her going and running smooth on the 16G that was previously on #VirginMary and then switch to a Holset. I built #PoisonIvy at the end of 2015 and a 16G has been on the car ever since. The 16G is finally coming off and an HY35 will be going on. I was fortunately able to give the 16G a proper goodbye and run it at Skyview Drags one last time. At least on this car.
Words By: SPOOLIGAN | Images By: SPOOLIGAN, Dayton Cote, Lauren Cerio
When I last ran #PoisonIvy at the 1/8 mile track last year, my PB ET was 7.8 with a high 1.6 60ft. My goal heading into Friday’s Test and Tune was to be quicker than 7.8 and snag a 1.5 60ft. I felt like the car launched well enough now to be able to get a 1.5 60ft and surely it would run better than a 7.8.
It was very hot Friday as it has been pretty much every day since. So, I didn’t feel the need to get to the track too early because I had no intentions on running the car until the temperatures dropped a little bit. Test and Tune is 5PM-10PM.
I waited till about 8PM to make my first pass. The temperature was probably down to around the mid to high 70’s by then. The plan was to make one pass then, and more after the sun went down around 9PM. I checked my oil one last time, threw my helmet on, and made my way down to the staging lanes.
They paired me up with an old Camaro or maybe a Firebird. I was in the right lane and the Camaro was in the left. I crept up to the line to get staged and once the light went green, I stayed there for a few seconds to make sure I had plenty of time to prepare myself for the launch. I’m at the track to get the absolute best timeslip as possible, not to race V8 track cars during test and tune.
I hit launch control and let out the clutch. The car launched hard as it always does, I had a good 1st-2nd shift, stayed in it all the way to redline and had a solid 2nd-3rd shift. Once I came across the line, I realized that Camaro was now right in front of me even though he left on the light, several seconds before me.
I slowed down, looped around to get my timeslip and returned to my pit area. I was happy with the pass. I ran a 7.7 @ 89MPH with a low 1.6 60ft. Which actually was much better than the Camaro in the left lane. I immediately went over my log and seen I was getting quite a bit of knock. I bumped the timing down to eliminate knock for the next run, flashed my ECU, and closed the laptop.
My next run was against my buddy Dayton with his stock NA S2000. I was again in the right lane. Once the light turned green, I waited once more and left the line at my own pace. The car hooked hard to the right. When I went to shift into 2nd gear, it wasn’t there. I stumbled around for a few seconds and it finally went in. I finished the pass at WOT to at least get some good data for the next run.
When I shifted into second, the shifter went where it was supposed to go. At first, i thought i dropped the transmission. But eventually, I got it to go into 2nd and 3rd. I chalked it up as a miss shift thinking the unexpected hard hook to the right may have thrown me off and caused a driver error when I went to shift. The logs looked much better and I did not get any knock.
The next pass, the car went straight but again would not go into second gear. Once i grabbed my time slip, i did another quick pull before heading into the pits. It again would not go into second gear when launching/doing a pull. I pulled into the pits and looked the car over. I didn’t see anything wrong initially. I tried to make some adjustments at the shifter to hopefully make a difference. Before taking it back onto the track, I went up to the top area of the pits where drivers make test hits before going on the track. Same thing, it wouldn’t go into 2nd gear when launching.
I then popped the hood to inspect the shift cables. Visually, they looked fine. I manually tried putting it in 2nd gear at the transmission and realized that the one cable itself had some issues. The lock ring on the cable was no longer in place so the cable wasn’t actually moving forward as it should. By then, it was 10PM and racing was done. My buddies and myself made a temporary fix to use a hose clamp in place of the locking ring to get the car home.
I had every intention of babying the car home so I didn’t make matters worse for myself, but of course we all had to play around a little on the highway as we all headed home. By the time I got home, the boot on the cable had tore from the hose clamp. But, I made it home. That night, I bought two used sets of shift cables off of Billy Pridgen and they should be here very soon.
My 2 bolt 38mm Tial wastegate and dump tube that I bought off of Jordan Moreno came in the mail today though. It looks brand new, just as promised. So other than the turbo itself, which Justin Whitesell is working on, I need oil lines for the turbo and a SD kit. I could use an intake pipe to put on the HY35 when the time comes but the car will run fine without it, so I will purchase an intake pipe last. We have about 6 weeks left before The Shootout but everything is going according to plan thus far and shouldn’t have any issues getting #PoisonIvy ready for The Shootout with the HY35.
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