Blue Angel [COTW 5/30/11]

[vroomapunk]

Originally Posted by slakjak1215

I know this is an old thread but, why not replace the trunk and hood with CF or Fiberglass? Also you might be able to run airbags for suspension. Rear seat delete too maybe? Not sure though.

Hood is Aluminum, no real weight savings with carbon fiber, and you might gain weight with fiberglass, all while losing structural rigidity and higher factory quality.

Trunk may be a diff story, but it would still be cost effective to do a million other things before this.

[camaro500]

I own the 21lb battery and it is perfect! I only drive a couple thousand miles a year and I have had no problems starting it up this season

[Doc]

Originally Posted by Nathan Moreno

Bump for the new guys.... this is one of the best thread on this site. I miss Doc, hope all is well with him.....

Hey Nathan! Thanks for the bump and compliment! Doing well; been off the site for awhile while dealing with a move to a different state, job transfer, selling old house buying a new one, etc. Do you plan on ever getting your OCD crazy car finished lol?

Just as a small update; I changed out the 15 lb battery for the 21 lb, and replaced the inadequate Pfadt end links on the rear sway bar with Spohn heavy duty end links which completely solved the noise problem I was having back there. Other than that Blue Angel has been great; runs great and still gets looks and compliments even though it's now 6 years old!

[Pro Stock John]

Great thread, I've had it bookmarked for a couple years.

[H.Adams]

Hi Doc,
i saw that you put the fluidampr harmonic balancer... i have the slp underdrive pulley, but i really dont like it...voltage problems and the car doesnt cool when idle...so i was thinking in going for a change...what do you have to say about the Fluidampr??

Thanks,
Your car is an inspiration for me =)
Henrique Adams

[Doc]

Originally Posted by H.Adams

Hi Doc,
i saw that you put the fluidampr harmonic balancer... i have the slp underdrive pulley, but i really dont like it...voltage problems and the car doesnt cool when idle...so i was thinking in going for a change...what do you have to say about the Fluidampr??

Thanks,
Your car is an inspiration for me =)
Henrique Adams

Hi Henrique and thank you for the compliment!

I like it; so far so good. The thing is with something like the Fluidampr, the only way you can tell if it's doing its job is if nothing happens lol. It's actually not a balancer; it's a damper which is different. The only way to balance the crankshaft is to have it blueprinted at a machine shop.

The purpose of a damper is to basically do what shock absorbers do; control and "dampen" oscillations. The factory damper/pulley is designed to do the job with the factory designed power output and performance. If you increase all that (as I have) then you should increase the performance of the other systems as well.

The crankshaft and bearings take quite a beating under normal use; when you increase the power it gets brutal. The crankshaft is literally twisting, deforming and flexing under the tremendous amount of stress being put on it. The factory damper/pulley is designed to dampen things generally within a narrow rpm range to prevent damage to the crankshaft, but that's with the factory designed power output. Once you increase the power you change all the dynamics and frequencies of what's going on in/with the crankshaft. The Fluidampr is designed in such a way that it works across the entire rpm band to absorb and smooth out all those distortions as much as possible. It probably allows a very small increased amount of power to make it through because it allows the crank to run smoother, but the real benefit is preservation of your engine internals. By reducing the wear and tear and stress on your crankshaft and bearings it should go a long way towards improving the life and reliability of your engine. That's why I bought one and had it installed.

So the way you can tell if it's working is if nothing happens lol. That makes it difficult sometimes for people to see the value in something but the more you have modified your engine, the more you could use the benefit of "nothing (bad) happening". I have a CAI, ported throttle body, cam and LT headers so when I floor it over and over again at an HPDE event on the track, the engine internals are taking a beating. If the Fluidampr allows me to do that without anything "happening", then that's exactly why I bought it. It's more for safety and reliability than power.

[STONE SS]

Nice to see you on here Doc! Always loved your build and your attention to detail.

[10 2SS/RS 6M]

That was well said.
I'm going to need one when I install a cam with some more goodies.
I always liked the Fluidampr's. money well spent, not much power increase, it's the harmonics as spoken above that keeps the crank safe. Think about what it looks like at 9000 RPM in slow motion!

[Mgizzle]

Hey Doc, you never answered my question on the holly covers and if you can screw in the 1LE air to oil seperator to it? That seperator is a must for the track but it doesnt look like it works with any valve covers but the stock.

Finally, what engine and trans mounts do you recommend, I really need to save mass on front now and not sure what to do without going headers and stuff.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by Mgizzle

Hey Doc, you never answered my question on the holly covers and if you can screw in the 1LE air to oil seperator to it? That seperator is a must for the track but it doesnt look like it works with any valve covers but the stock.

Finally, what engine and trans mounts do you recommend, I really need to save mass on front now and not sure what to do without going headers and stuff.

I don't know the answer on the Holly covers. I'd suggest contacting them; they might have or be able to come up with a solution for you.

I have the Pfadt engine mounts which are a tad on the stiff side (I don't think they're even available anymore) but I believe there are now more options in that area. Try contacting Justice Pete or Ted Jannetty; if anybody would know what's currently out there (and worth buying) it would be one of those guys, and they're forum sponsors.

One thing I discovered though; the stiffer mounts DO transfer more vibration into the passenger compartment in the form of things rattling in the dash and elsewhere that weren't before. The 1-piece carbon fiber driveshaft worked wonders in smoothing most of that out. Adding a cam made it slightly worse, but only when you're sitting still idling. Once the car is in motion there's no vibration or rattling. I'd go with a slightly less stiff mount than a full or close to full race mount if you intend to drive the car on the street.

[Doc]

Originally Posted by STONE SS

Nice to see you on here Doc! Always loved your build and your attention to detail.

Thank you! I appreciate the appreciation hehe.

[H.Adams]

Doc,
Does you finished moding the Blue Angel...i miss reading cool stuff here xD
in my car i'm getting where i want to be powerwise(now i'm getting 415whp aiming 450-480whp...preying that the E100 conversion on my car will make some good power) and then i will start the weight reduction process, i'm even thinking in buying some weight scales to leave in my garage and use to optimize the weight distribution in all 4 corners...
And i´m sure that your build will be a manual to my car destination xD
Let us know how Blue Angel are...
Thanks,
Henrique Adams

[Doc]

Originally Posted by H.Adams

Doc,
Does you finished moding the Blue Angel...i miss reading cool stuff here xD
in my car i'm getting where i want to be powerwise(now i'm getting 415whp aiming 450-480whp...preying that the E100 conversion on my car will make some good power) and then i will start the weight reduction process, i'm even thinking in buying some weight scales to leave in my garage and use to optimize the weight distribution in all 4 corners...
And i´m sure that your build will be a manual to my car destination xD
Let us know how Blue Angel are...
Thanks,
Henrique Adams

Yeah I've finished modding. The car runs and handles beautifully and to be honest, the way it is right now it's really overkill for street use. There are some nice mountain roads nearby I can take it to once in awhile but I don't push it particularly hard there; it's not safe nor wise to do that on public roads. There aren't any road course tracks near where I live now so I'm not going to track days anymore. It's still a blast to drive and still puts a smile on my face though so I'm very happy with it the way it is.

Enjoy your project build; getting there is half the enjoyment of modding. Let us know how it goes!

[TRAK1LE]

Hey Doc, how did those RPF1s fit on install? Any rubbing? I have a 1LE and have been considering these wheels for track.