'We're stoked! And at the same time, we're still driving a 14-secondwhite '91 Firebird. Though you voted on CarCraft.com that a guy coulddrive it without looking like a Nancy, and a girl could drive it andprobably look hot, we'll still feel geeky until we can produce a12-second timeslip.
So were on it. Using basic cooling and tuning steps, and opening up theintake and exhaust, we drove the 'Bird to a corrected 14.19 at 95.94mph. Considering that the '88 Firebird that we built in 2001 ran 14.40on nitrous, we'd say we're ahead of the game.
But there's more. When we bought this thing about two months ago, wewere hoping for easy speed for low dough. But the car barfed everycritical TPI-specific part that controls idle and driveability then gothot in traffic and stalled (see it on CarCraft.com). So we're behind alittle in money spent but way ahead in speed. Our plan is to prove thatyou can go 13s in one of these cars without cracking the seal on theengine or opening up a bottle. Then later we will spray our way into the12s.
Fuel System: Critical Stuff
What we didn't mention in the first story is that we solved a lot ofproblems by replacing the injectors and fuel pump. These parts areactually a lot more affordable from MSD and Holley now that the car isnearly 15 years old. The MSD injectors are 22 lb/hr and are listed asfactory replacements. The Holley in-tank fuel pump will flow up to 255lph at up to 110 psi fuel pressure. Good if you are going to spray itlike we are. Just look at it like adding a new carb and electric fuelpump on an old musclecar.
First Run: 15.00 @ 91.23
We could call this a baseline, but really the car wouldn't always startor run when we got it, so the baseline would have us burning to theground at the top end of the racetrack after a 20-second run. Instead,by the first run we'd already performed a basic tune-up, replaced mostof the fuel system and computer, and modified the cooling system with acooler thermostat and electric-fan switch. You can expect a healthy carto run 15s at high altitude or mid 14s at sea level. On street radialswe ran an observed 15.00 at 91.23 mph, or 14.519 at 94.30 using thestandard NHRA correction for Los Angeles County Raceway.
Intake: Easy Power
There's an ugly restriction in the intake tract on '89-and-later SpeedDensity cars and it's worse for earlier MAF-tube sufferers. The firstreal performance piece we added was a cold-air induction system from SLPPerformance Parts. It eliminates the stock air box and allows cold airto be picked up from the factory hole in the firewall. Installation isstraightforward and the kit includes parts to relocate the charcoalcanister to the driver side of the engine compartment by the battery.
If you're gonna be slow, you might as well be consistent. This car isconsistent. It ran 14.60s all night.
This is Holley's new forced-induction pump that flows 210 lph (about 50gallons) at 80 psi. Pulling the tank is easier than it sounds.
The SLP cold-air setup comes complete with a K&N filter and all theparts. Easy half-hour installation, but you do have to move the carboncanister to the opposite side of the car.
The runners on the bottom are from SLP. Stare. They are big andbitchin'.
We added a JET fan switch that turns the fans on at 195 and off when thecar cools to 185, and the Hypertech Power Stat that opens at 160degrees.