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Real World Project Car
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Budget Bullet: Building a
12-second street car
Where do You Start?
Now that you’re at least
reasonably comfortable using
nitrous oxide, you probably want
to build a car to take advantage
of all your new knowledge. The
question is,“Where’s the best
place to start?” The answer, of
course,is at the beginning.
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Exactly where you should begin is impossible to say with any certainty. In lieu of that, we’ll analyze
the process of building a real 12-second street car. One that looks good, sounds good, and is
quick as well as reliable. That way, you can just pick up the story at your particular skill level.
When you’re planning a project like this, you have to know what you’re up against. Ultimately, your
adversary is the power of your engine relative to the weight of your car.
Even though you may already have a car and want to build it into a real 12-second or 11-second
street car, you can’t get around the power to weight requirements, so beginning here is the most
logical. You have to have a specific amount of power for each pound your car weighs to run a
specific e.t.
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The Dual Friction clutch plate uses
thermal resin compounds which
offer more friction at higher
temperatures; the other side uses
a non-asbestos compound that
produces max friction at lower
temperatures.
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If you look at chart 10.1.0 you can see that, as the weight of the vehicle increases, so does the
power needed to maintain the e.t. The obvious conclusion is that lighter is better.
Since we’re talking about street cars, most of us mortals on a budget have to chose from the
street steel that weights in the 3300- to 3500-lbs range. Don’t use the manufacturer's curb weight,
which is almost always, undervalued. You have to use the actual weight of the car as you plan to
run it down the drag strip, meaning with fuel and driver factored in.
The vehicle we chose to build, a 1984 Pontiac Trans Am, weighs in at 3400 lbs. At 3400 lbs, the car
will need 262 hp to break into the 12s and around 340 hp to move into the 11s. Remember these e.
t.’s can only be generated with an optimized combination and a perfect rundown the strip. We need
a reality check, then, to adjust our model closer to the realities of a production platform.
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Patrick Hale, a drag racer/engineer and computer programmer, has marketed a couple of
programs, Quarter and Quarter jr., that have detailed mathematical models of the physics behind
drag racing. These programs let you make changes to your combination on your computer and
show you the results before you start wrenching. These programs are quite accurate, within a few
percent of the actual drag strip performance, or, as a scientist would say, “the empirical data.”
Hale uses a slightly different constant with his equations. Instead of the 5.5 constant used with the
formula developed for pure, fully optimized, racing vehicles, he uses 5.825, a factor that scales
the formula to take into account such things in production cars such as the higher average mass of
the flywheels, driveline, and tires and wheels.
Applying Hale’s constant to our car we find it will take around 306 HP to drive to a 12.99 e.t. at 105
mph. (see chart 10.1.0.1)
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Chart 10.1.0.1
E.T. MPH HP WT
12.99 104.93 270 3000
12.99 104.93 279 3100
12.99 104.93 288 3200
12.99 104.93 297 3300
12.99 104.93 306 3400
12.99 104.93 315 3500
12.99 104.93 324 3600
12.99 104.93 333 3700
12.99 104.93 342 3800
12.99 104.93 351 3900
12.99 104.93 360 4000
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At this point in the process we can’t say exactly how accurate Hale’s constant will be. But since this
is a street car with a torque limitation in the transmission, we’ll have to make up time on the top end
because we’re sacrificing time getting to the 60 foot light. If we altered the suspension to give the
hardest launches, we’d lose the transmission and we’d sacrifice street handling performance, which
is something you really can’t afford to lose in a street-driven car. It becomes a safety issue when
you can’t avoid obstacles when you are driving on the street.
Back to our reality check. The power we need to reach our e.t. targets calculates out to just over
300 HP instead of 262 HP to turn a 12.90 e.t. and 410 HP instead of 339 HP for an 11.95e.t. These
power levels are well within the range of a streetable small block Chevy V-8—naturally aspirated, let
alone one injected with nitrous oxide—and it is fortunate the vehicle weighs what it does.
The Trans Am’s reasonable weight and therefore potentially advantageous power to weight ratio,
isn’t the over riding reason we chose it, however. That’s just a happy coincidence.
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Price-to-performance potential ratio
The fundamental reasons we chose the car is a combination of cost, cosmetics, and performance
potential.
Prices for 3rd generation F-body cars, Camaro/Firebirds, have fallen sharply. Unlike Mustangs of
similar vintage, F bodies are a real bargain. Street Machiners don’t seem to be interested in this
generation car. That just makes them less expensive to enthusiasts that still like the style and
performance potential and are more concerned with performance than being chic.
We paid around $1000 for this machine. The transmission and rear end were toast, but the body
and interior were in good shape. Plus, we got a Trans Am with good things like 4-wheel disc
brakes, a good suspension design, and good styling elements in addition to the lowest Cd of any
production car of its time, and is still slightly more slippery than most cars today. Read that as free
horsepower on the top end.
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Evaluating the Driveline
As difficult as it is to make horsepower, it does you no good if the driveline won’t deliver the power
to the pavement. The driveline includes the clutch, transmission, the driveshaft (for rear drive), and
the rear end and axles. We’ll go over each of these components separately to show you how we
dealt with them on this project.
The transmissions in the ‘84 Trans Am were weak to begin with, so it was not surprising to find that
the previous owner had slam-shifted its insides into mush. That being the case, we had no choice
but to get a new or at least a used trans. We opted for a used one, from an ‘87 Trans Am that cost
about $600. The ‘87 and newer T-5 five-speeds are stronger than those previously built, and can
take about 300 ft/lbs of torque. That gets us close to being able to put 300 hp through the trans.
This is just a quick guide, and based on the fact that torque equals hp at 5252 rpm. It’s not
technically accurate but it’s easy to remember and it puts you in the ball park.
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The transmission then, is the main limitation of the car, at least as far as e.t.’s are concerned. The
trans can only take around 300 ft-lbs, so we have to limit the engine output to around 300 hp. That
means we’ll have to settle for high 12s at best if we want a car we can still drive somewhat reliably
to and from the track. That’s okay because a legit, high-12 second street machine is quicker than
90 percent of the posers revving their engines at you at the stoplight.
While we were installing the trans, it made sense to upgrade the clutch and the U-joints.
Concerning the U-joints, we simply replaced them with the factory part. At the power levels we’re
dealing with, the stock units should be heavy-duty enough. We did however install an after market
clutch—opting for a Centerforce unit with the firm’s exclusive Dual Friction clutch disc. These clutch
assemblies operate very smoothly, the design of the mechanism make it so.
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Installing A Centerforce Dual Friction clutch and pressure plate
The friction compounds on each side of the clutch plate are optimized for the specific conditions.
The flywheel side tends to see more heat and force than the pressure plate side, so the
compounds are engineered accordingly. The unique design of the pressure plate increases
clamping force at higher rpm, where an engine tends to make power. This is accomplished by using
the centrifugal force acting on a series of tiny weights positioned around the end of the pressure
plate diaphragm spring to increase clamping force. This also provides a side benefit of low pedal
pressure which is extremely important for a street driven vehicle. Unless of course you’re designing
the clutch system as a means to workout and build thigh muscle mass.
Perhaps best of all, installing a Centerforce clutch and pressure plate is a basic remove and
replace operation. It’s essentially a replacement part that gives high performance.
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The next component in the power flow is the rear end. Most enthusiasts assume that the stock 10-
bolt rear end is a weak unit. From what we've found it isn’t exactly weak, it’s just a matter of
application. We talked to a couple of drag racers that used to run the 10-bolts in a stock class and
they said they’d run the rear ends successfully down to low-12 e.t.’s. The spider gears, and posi
units tend to break first on these rear ends. And since the Performance Locker unit doesn't use the
spider gears, we’re optimistic about the performance potential. We’ll probably have problems with
the transmission before we start reaching the edges of the rear end’s performance envelope.
That about covers the modifications and the reasoning behind the choices made regarding the
driveline. The next step is to evaluate the engine to decide if it is capable or not of using nitrous.
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How to Evaluate a Used Engine Before You Inject Nitrous Oxide
The $1200 price-tag included a fairly tired though still running 305 high output small Chevy V-8.
Before you install a nitrous system on a used engine, you need to evaluate the engine’s health.
You can install and use successfully 50 or 60 extra hp from an nitrous system. This is a judgment
call; so learn as much as you can about the engine before you squeeze it.
Though it’s difficult to tell you all the conditions and observations of when to squeeze and when not
to, there are a few common ones you should be aware of. The following assumes that these
symptoms aren’t caused by incorrect parts, failing fuel system, or malfunctioning ignition system.
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Oil Consumption
Of prime concern is oil consumption. Oil in the combustion chambers leads to detonation rather
quickly, though it’s not completely intolerant. Normally, oil gets into the combustion chamber either
through the rings or through the valve guides.
• If it smokes just a little on start up, the most likely cause is oil seeping through the valve guides.
Take this as a warning and don’t hit the engine hard with nitrous. You can get away with it, but the
guides need to be replaced and a rebuild can’t be that far behind.
• If the engine smokes under load, you’ve got oil pushing past the rings and this will definitely cause
detonation. Do not use nitrous on such an engine. It’s time to rebuild or buy a remanufactured
engine. See the Bonded Motors Product Listing in the reference section.
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What’s it take to run 12s? 11s?
The following chart displays the horsepower required to achieve a 12.90 e.t. and an 11.90 e.t. for
several vehicle weights. These are the barriers you have to crack and it’s not as easy as you think.
The formula (shown), developed by Chrysler’s drag racing program in the early ‘70s, assumes an
optimized car and an optimized run down the strip. In other words, the shift points, gearing, engine
combination, and driveline components were properly chosen and matched and the car had perfect
amount of tire slip at the start.
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Horsepower to Weight chart:
E.T. MPH HP WT
12.92 100 231 3000
12.92 100 239 3100
12.92 100 247 3200
12.92 100 255 3300
12.92 100 262 3400
12.92 100 270 3500
12.92 100 278 3600
12.92 100 286 3700
12.92 100 293 3800
12.92 100 301 3900
12.92 100 309 4000
E.T. MPH HP WT
11.95 109 299 3000
11.95 109 309 3100
11.95 109 319 3200
11.95 109 329 3300
11.95 109 339 3400
11.95 109 349 3500
11.95 109 359 3600
11.95 109 369 3700
11.95 109 379 3800
11.95 109 389 3900
11.95 109 399 4000
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E.T. MPH HP WT.
12.06 114.82 350 3000
12.18 113.58 350 3100
12.30 112.38 350 3200
12.42 111.23 350 3300
12.53 110.13 350 3400
12.64 109.07 350 3500
12.75 108.05 350 3600
12.85 107.07 350 3700
12.96 106.12 350 3800
13.06 105.21 350 3900
13.16 104.32 350 4000
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Previous | Next
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This has been a sample page from
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How To Install and Use Nitrous Oxide
Injection Systems For Maximum Horsepower
by Joe Pettitt
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Includes information on nitrous basics and advance
nitrous theory. Written with the assistance of Nitrous
Oxide Systems
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Nitrous oxide injection is one of the potentially easiest, least
expensive, and fastest ways to substantially increase engine
horsepower. This new title, authored with the assistance of one of
the industry's largest manufacturer of nitrous equipment, provides
the latest technical information available regarding the proper
installation and use of this high performance, yet potentially
damaging equipment.
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Click below to view sample
pages from each chapter.
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"How to Install and Use Nitrous Oxide is filled with information
on nitrous, including the basics of advanced nitrous theory.
Photos, charts, and graphs accompany the text and illustrate
key points. Hands-on sections of the book cover how to plumb
a nitrous system and how to set up an engine to handle nitrous.
There's information on ignition timing, compression, wiring,
solenoids, octane, and fuel delivery." -- SPORT TRUCK, April
1999
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Chap. 1 - Introduction to Nitrous
Chap. 2 - How Nitrous Works
Chap. 3 - The Nitrous System
Chap. 4 - Installation Tech
Chap. 5 - Operating and Tuning
Chap. 6 - Basic Engine
Chap. 7 - Advanced Tuning
Chap. 8 - Nitrous Fuel Injection
Chap. 9 - Dyno Sessions
Chap. 10 - Real World Project
Chap. 11 - Chemical Reference
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8-3/8 X 10-7/8
128 pages
300 b/w photos
Item: SA50
Price: $18.95
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Click here to buy now!
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This is a great book that anyone using, or considering using a
nitrous oxide system will love!
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Other items you might be interested in
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Turbochargers
How to select and install the correct turbo for big or small
horsepower gains. Discusses turbocharger design, sizing,
matching, controls, carburetion, exhaust, ignition,
intercooling, marine and high altitude applications. The most
comprehensive book available. Turbo suppliers and kit
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Price:
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Sport Compact Turbos & Blowers
While most owners of sport compacts can afford the simple bolt-ons
available, some owners want to take their modifications a step further.
There is intense competition to be the fastest, and quite often the only
way to win is to go to the next level – by installing a supercharger /
blower or turbocharger on your engine. This book is an enthusiast’s
guide to understanding and using turbochargers and superchargers
on sport compact cars.
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Price:
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How to Rebuild and Modify Carter/Edelbrock Carburetors
Author David Emanuel outlines carburetor types, gives a thorough look
at carb selection and carb function, and offers detailed information on
modifications, tuning, and rebuilding Carter/Edelbrock carburetors.
Also features the history of Carter as well as the history of the AFB
and the AVS since the purchase by Edelbrock. Contains more than
300 color photos, illustrations, and diagrams.
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Price:
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