Howdy, I figured I'd post a couple vids of my Firehawk in action. I'm relatively new to track driving as this is only my second year doing road course stuff. I'm not a total newbie though as I've done some drag racing and autox in the past. Does Gran Turismo count as seat time? just kidding...

Pocono North/South course (typical TNiA layout) - 1:45.56 best so far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Ch8dw3EfM

NJMP Thunderbolt - 1:36.75 best so far, although I feel I could definitely shave more time off at an event with less traffic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RwJho47DjM


NJMP Lightning - 1:16.56 best so far, hanging with a SS 1LE and a C7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCJhFHY5ztU
and 1:18.44 from last month https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQhoC0jkFtE

I'm working on getting a tow rig so I can make it to farther tracks next year. Summit Point, Glen, Pitt, etc.

Specs:
95 Firehawk
Stock SLP Bilsteins
UMI/BMR springs f/r
Hellwig 35mm front sway
Founders LCAs, Founders panhard, UMI torque arm
GW front upper A-arms
Kenny Brown subframe connectors
CTSV1 brakes and no ABS
Headers, a glasspack, and 1.7 roller rockers are the only power mods
18x10.5 C5z wheels with 315 Falken RT615k+ tires

This post has been edited by Catmaigne: Sep 22 2022, 04:32 PM

It looks like you're having lots of and just a couple of comments from my LT1 experience. They have great torque down low but I think you would be better suited to run some of the tighter 4th gear sections in 3rd gear instead. The motor is happy around 4,000 to 5,000 rpm. With my stock LT1 with headers, intake, exhaust and tune I actually went faster running 295's or even 275's in lieu of the 315's. This was on a larger track, Sebring, but I dropped around two seconds. The car didn't have enough horsepower for the rolling resistance of the 315's. They rock for autocross though. Just my thoughts.

Yeah, there are a couple sections where I should definitely keep it in a lower gear. I've been trying to keep the motor farther off the limiter because the oil pressure starts to spike at 5-5.5k for some reason. It started after putting on my oil cooler setup about a year ago and I've since swapped the pump and pan without any luck.

Also, I was thinking of downsizing to a slightly narrower tire (285 or 295) for next year and going with a better compound. Car can feel very loose at transitions and a 315 on a 10.5" wheel certainly isn't helping. Most of that is probably from my shocks though.

Is your oil cooler thermostatically controlled, i.e., oil flows through the cooler only when it had reached a certain temperature? If not, That could be the source of your oil pressure spiking as the cooler is a restriction until all the oil reaches 220-230F temperature range. The only other thing that I think could cause this problem is a stuck closed oil pump by-pass valve. (Not sure if that's possible. I've only experienced by-pass valves that got stuck open.)

Hope this helps. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

Yeah, the sandwich plate is a thermostatic version. The current setup looks like this:

-Derale plate cooler
-Derale thermostatic sandwich plate (uses a thermostatic metal strip to block off a bypass hole)
-Stock oil filter adapter with bypass valve plugged
-Duramax oil filter with internal bypass valve (WIX 57202XP)

I thought the problem was an obstruction in the oil pump bypass valve, so I swapped in a Melling 10554 pump while installing a Kevko RR pan. It didn't resolve my problem though. Maybe I need a different filter or higher quality sandwich plate? Could also be RF interference? Not sure.

I used a similar setup on my "72 Corvette race car (ex-GT1). I too blocked off the by-pass on my oil filter adapter to ensure all the oil went through the filter before going to the rest of the engine. My oil pump was the stock Chevy Z-28 performance model. The only real difference between our setups is I used an external oil temp sensor. The Setrab remote oil thermostat remained closed forcing the oil to by-pass the oil cooler until the oil had reach a temperature of 180F. Then the oil was routed through the oil cooler.

I'll have to look up the Derale setup because I'm not familiar with it's operation. I'm partial to Mobil 1 oil filters, but your Duramax should work fine with your setup.

What oil weights are you using , and how much oil does your setup hold? I used six quarts of Red Line 10W-30 for a while then switched to 15W-50 after I installed an oil temperature gauge. With the 15W50 oil, I would peg the oil pressure gauge immediately after start up. When the oil pressure got down to 45 psi at idle, I knew it was okay to drive/race the Vette.

Is there some way that you can determine is your thermostatic switch is working properly?

I blocked the filter bypass on the engine block adapter because my thinking was that it would allow oil to bypass the whole sandwich plate, cooler, and filter.

Weight is 5w30 and the system holds about 7.5qts total. The thermostat should close around 180F, but I don't have temp probes to verify that. Oil pressure seems pretty normal, like 60ish bypass and 25psi hot idle.

I have a couple current theories...

1. Sandwich plate thermostatic strip stays shut against the bypass hole until high RPM where it starts to bounce. The increase in oil pressure at the gauge is from the reduction of pump head loss?
2. Oil filter bypass valve bouncing causing the same phenomenon as above.
3. Crankshaft thrust bearing is worn and the pressure changes as the crank moves forward/backward. I was driving it yesterday and did notice the pressure would drop a few psi on throttle and rise off throttle, but only at a very specific spot around 1600rpm at very light load. Maybe this is crankwalk?
4. PCV system gets overloaded and crankcase pressure boosts oil pressure past a certain point.

I'm starting to think I should just ignore it until it grenades. I was ultimately planning on dropping the 370-380whp H/C stock shortblock motor from my Roadmaster into this car, but know the 10 bolt will explode lol.

This post has been edited by Catmaigne: Sep 22 2022, 06:27 PM

Also, I ran at NJMP Lightning again yesterday. Cut 2 seconds and was hanging with a 1LE SS and C7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCJhFHY5ztU

I made a few changes to the car over the past year. I swapped from...

315 RT615k+ tires to 285 Hankook RS4
SLP Bilsteins shocks to Ridetech SA/Koni yellows
~310whp to ~350whp (installed my Roadmaster's very mild LE1 motor)
No aero to DIY lexan spoiler

I still short shift the motor for longevity, but I am piecing together a 4-bolt 355 with a larger cam and LE2s that'll take the revs no problem. My new times look like this:

NJMP Thunderbolt - 1:33.44
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnDm2QGkm-w

NJMP Lightning - 1:16.15, but 15s are very doable, I need more time than a TNIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOSblCQSErg

I also drove many hours north and ran Palmer for the first time.
Palmer CCW - 1:54.30 which was without spoiler, too much camber and too thick rear sway (it was a mess)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsbB78XYmSE

This post has been edited by Catmaigne: Oct 22 2023, 04:11 AM

I drove 5hr west to Pitt Race for a 2 day HPDE over the weekend. The weather was horrible, but I did manage to get 1 okay session where it was mostly dry. This was my first time here and the best was a 2:03.39. I know I'm leaving a ton on the table in the braking zones, but I really need a full dry day to figure them out as I have no ABS. The curbs were also super slick so I was avoiding them altogether.

Got into a tussle with an e90 M3. He had RE71RS tires, Fortune 510 coilovers, catless exhaust, brakes, etc. and it was also his first time at Pitt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSnqkEDEKEY