I fire the car up, and it's loud inside. To be expected with no soundproofing. The exhaust was supposed to be dual 2", but I had to settle with a single 2 3/4. Muffling is almost handled by a 3-chamber Flowmaster and a 2' glasspack. Loud. Drive the car down to fellow "Dimer" Kelvin's - maybe a 10mi trip (from Ron's), probably less. No dash means no speedo, tach, etc. so I keep it easy to Kelvin's. Did I mention expired tags as of the 1st? And no electrics. A tad illegal. Didn't realize this 'till I was in Eugene - a 2hr trip. Screw it, I DO have proof of insurance (required in OR), it ain't dark yet, and I want to show my 510 friends my project that many said would never run.
I get to Kelvin's. He hops in and away we go. About a half mile from his place I FINALLY get to open it up. WEEEEEEEEEEE!! Shift. More WE (not wee wee, except maybe Kelvin). Hey, this thing runs pretty good! Up comes a 15MPH corner - remember those suspension settings? 20MPH is pretty good for us. Lookie! Another straight! Managed to get a little into third. Up some hills in 4th, then 5th - isn't torque wonderful? We stop to weigh the car - I must interject here I have a bet with Ron (who finished the car and did 85% of the work) that my car would be under 2500lbs, he said over 2500. I have Kelvin with me too, a "judge". The envelope please? 2400lbs even! Add dash, heater, carpet and it's maybe 2500, but I win the large sum wagered (a full dollar!). There's an answer for this swap. My goal was 2450lbs, and I'd say I'm close enough. Even at the rated 222hp, that makes 11.4lb/hp with me IN the car, if I have 240hp, then I hit my goal of 10lb/hp without driver - Corvette C5 territory!! Too bad my friends V-8 Z-cars are still out of reach . . .Weight distribution is not TOO bad, either - 1340F / 1060R. About 55.8% / 44.2%. Better than the awesome-handling SHO I had, so there's hope.
Back in the car, not too much thrashing, but a few more good 2nd and 3rd gear pulls. Kelvin seems to think the car pulls pretty good. I comment I don't like the sounds when it gets to THIS point (as I run the car past 3500RPM or so) and HE LIKES IT LIKE THAT. Damn - I'm a weenie then, although the more I drive it the more I like it.
Back to Kelvin's, it's starting to get dark, so another 510 guy (Cary) gets ripped off with only a short (like 3mi) ride We DID do a rolling start from 5MPH and went through second and part of 3rd. Limited traction was evident from this run - it didn't really spin one tire much harder than the other, it just kinda squirmed and accelerated, and second pulled about as hard as first. I think Cary liked it.
The car drives amazingly well for all the untested suspension theory we have into this thing. Steering is quick and accurate, yet not darty - SO much better than the stock stuff it's amazing. Shifting action and feel is good, although the shifter would be more comfortable a few inches farther forward, but it's not bad where it is. Brakes need some R & D, although there's almost certainly air in the lines yet. Clutch effort and feel is excellent. I'll call this part perfect. Handling balance is HORRIBLE (as expected), TONS of trucklike understeer, but there's a lot to be finessed yet (like the alignment settings, adjusting the rear bar, etc). The alignment should also help straight-line traction, as well. Power is definitely there, but not overwhelming from the driver's seat. Top-end power makes the bottom feel weak by comparison, although going up the hills in 5th confirm the available low-end torque (this was probably 35-40mph uphill in 5th - under 2000rpm) Going by feel, I'll say I'm a little shy of my hoped-for 245hp by 10-15hp. Hopefully I'm wrong - the 'strip will bear this out (over 105mph at the 'strip will mean 240+hp). Also going by feel, Mike Spreadbury's turbo 510 will wax mine no problem. Again, hopefully I'm wrong and the cars are close. One interesting note - there's supposed to be a rev limiter at 7200, but I never got to it, and neither did Ron when he drove it. The car gets LOUD at revs, and it DOES pull hard up top, so I really need to get a tach and see what's going on. If peak HP is up there, then this car is almost certainly making 240+hp.
Overall I'm pretty pleased. It's a little loud (we'll see what installing the rest of the interior does), and Ill handling, but it makes good-to-great power. The alignment this weekend will tell us a lot on what we need to do. The ride height is also off - the rear sits to low relative to the front. The rear bar has some adjustment left in it, and I can get slightly softer springs for the front. It looks like I won't be running a front anti-sway bar (none on there now). As expected, handing is the main issue, but weight bias isn't nearly as bad as expected, and I have a few tricks up my sleeve to work on it. Lots of work left, but how many DOHC V-6 510's are running around? Mine makes two that I know of, the other is across the country. Yes, I am happy.
You know the feeling you get the first time you measure everything to build something (a deck, or cabinets, for example), you cut everything out, and it actually FITS together? That's how I feel. The weight is almost nuts on with my estimate. The axle ratio is perfect - first is a useful gear, yet not weak. Power is there, with more available with relatively minor mods. Steering feel and feedback? Excellent. And just so everyone knows, I'm expecting high-13's at close to 105mph in the 1/4mi. Anything under 14.4 at over 101mph puts me in the ballpark. Anything less brings disappointment. And modifications. Also shooting for all-highway mileage of 28mpg or better. All these will be answered soon, very soon.
The car has had surprisingly few bugs (ok ONE - and a vacuum leak at that) and I will drive it the 100mi to my home tomorrow!! Can't wait!!