89 Cutlass Ciera Race Car Build

[jlattyak]

Went to the Junkyard this weekend as we are going to try and do the U-Van Brake upgrade. That is talked about in this thread http://www.a-body.net/forums/showthr...+Brake+upgrade

There was a '94 Trans Sport that had the steering knuckles we needed, we were able to do a test fit on one of the A-bodys in the yard, and all of the mounting points seem to line up. Though it looks like we will need to get u-van ball joints as the post that the knuckle sits on is smaller on the a-body.

We did have to run out and try and find a 9mm hex socket so we could remove the u-van calipers from the knuckle, it is not a common size as most kits skip from 8mm to 10mm. We did eventually find a store that had one.

As an additional bonus it was half price weekend so we saved some $$$

We will try and take pictures and document as best we can the process of putting the u-van brake parts on our car.

[lemons bob]

The tie rod studs don't really transfer to decimals, but the a-body number is really close to 15mm and the uvan is really close to 16mm so it may be a 1mm difference, which isn't much but as we learned with the 9mm hex caliber that it does make a difference.

[86euro]

Yeah, IIRC I had to swap the tie rods too because the stockers fit loose in the knuckle. And those caliper bolts take a common 3/8 hex like a lot of other GM cars. At least, they were supposed to before someone wallered them out.

[lemons bob]

been a while since anyone updated this.

Anyway the brakes upgrade is done. And with a few weeks left until the race we are finishing up all the little things left

This weekend we did the alignment. Probably not as exact as some of the hightech machines but we have it as good as you can get with a tape measure to set the alignment to 0.

Of course while putting the tires back on after finishing up I snapped a lug stud. Pretty annoying because these were all new because we replaced the hubs, which were original from the factory. So had to run off to purchase a replacement stud take the tire off and replace it. Luckily that didn't take all that long, but still annoying.

After that since sometime after the last race we snapped the hood release cable, we added hood pins, which totally give us racing cred.


There have been a number of teams who have destroyed their windshields after switching to hood pins, normally because they forget to put them in, so I left most of the stock latching system as is. I just cut off the latch that would keep it closed, leaving the safety latch which should keep the hood down until the car pulls into the pits. Also left the spring so it should keep the hood tight to the pins so it doesn't bounce around and get annoying. Even left the post thing so it should try and keep the hood sort of aligned.

So we are mostly ready for the race on July 26th, but still have to put add the driving lights, and some little things like an oil change and stuff like that.

[Old Gold]

Awesome! Keep up the good work Team Racing 4 Nickles! Can't wait to hear about the upcoming race. Explode this thread with photos and stories!

You guys did the proper alignment for race teams on a budget, seriously! A tape measure (and a piece of string to go around all of the tires and act as a guide if you wanna get fancy, kinda hard to explain) is how our Mexican 1000 crew has aligned our dirt wagon for the last two years after strut changes. The tape measure and some cuss-mumbling gets it awfully close, and the car was stable at 90mph, so good enough!

I'm digging the hood pins! Can you guys get some bumperstickers with your hand-drawn Godzilla logo that say "Because Race Car"?

[lemons bob]

I'm sure I could make up something although probably retheming after this race.

It actually didn't take that long to do oddly enough. I guess we got lucky especially since we started from scratch since we put on new tie rod ends.

Also at this race I get to meet the new owner of the Century that will be racing out of Texas, so hopefully after he gets the car he will start up a thread too. The century is a 96 so a bit newer but still an a-body.

I also hope that the other Ciera will be at the race. I want to say it was like an 86 with an iron duke.

Anyway hopefully Sunday I will be updating this thread with pictures of auxiliary lights, cause lights are cool.

[Burdizzo]

I hope that Century goes to a good home. We learned a lot wrenching on that car. I think we had a lot more we could have done with it too. It was pretty peppy with that 3.1 and all the weight stripped off of it.

[lemons bob]

I hope that Century goes to a good home. We learned a lot wrenching on that car. I think we had a lot more we could have done with it too. It was pretty peppy with that 3.1 and all the weight stripped off of it.

I'll meet Toni next week since he is racing a truely horrible Jag next weekend.

These a-body's really are great starter LeMons cars, and I do think if anyone who really knows what they are doing ever races one that they have a lot of potential.

[jlattyak]

Hella lights installed, hopefully this will give us enough light to see the track between about 9p and Midnight.

image by j.lattyak, on Flickr

image by j.lattyak, on Flickr

May still see if there is an easy way to have the OEM High and Low beams on at the same time, I would think we could energize both relays from the same feed.

[Burdizzo]

I hope you get some pictures of it when Tony races it.

[Burdizzo]

I saw pictures of you guys wheeling around this weekend. Looking good. How did the lights work?

[lemons bob]

I saw pictures of you guys wheeling around this weekend. Looking good. How did the lights work?

Lights worked great. Could see everything while not annoying all the other cars, which was a pretty rare combination out there. Sounds like there will be some lights rules modifications for the next night race.

The brake upgrade was actually amazing. We could out brake about any car on the track and we were one of the few teams that didn't have to change brakes.

[TeamRadicus]

I'll meet Toni next week since he is racing a truely horrible Jag next weekend.

lol ... nothing like a 2,300 mile roadtrip to race six (6!) miles :-) But it was a pleasure meeting you and your team BoB, and I'm getting anxious to start flipping through the service manuals and learn some things.

These a-body's really are great starter LeMons cars, and I do think if anyone who really knows what they are doing ever races one that they have a lot of potential.

I definitely don't fall into any category that includes "knowing things", but there is a lot of potential to learn!

Hopefully I can get the transmission sorted out, race Houston without the car 'sploding, and then map out a 2015 schedule which includes some Ciera vs Century action :-)

TTFN
Toni

[lemons bob]

Thats how it goes sometimes, last year I'm not sure I even recorded a lap at road america and spent 3 days trying to fix a simca that was broke by some other arive and drives the previous race. This little simca engine is rather tough but you shouldn't be floating the valves for half a long straight lap after lap.

These are good cars to learn on, its technology is advanced enough to be reliable but still simple enough that you can normally figure out what is wrong by logically thinking about what is doing things you want it to and what isn't.

I really wouldn't mess with suspension or any of that for the first race. It may understeer but its pretty easy to control. Once we got decent tires when the car does something we don't want you normally just have to stop pushing whatever pedal you are pushing. If its understeering horribly take the foot of the gas, if its oversteering let your foot off the brakes, and it tends to correct itself, it even corrects itself when your in oil, or it has for us twice so far.

Get it reliable and you should get many more than 6 miles.

After your sorted we need to get a celebrity and a 6000 so we can have an a-body cup.

[Burdizzo]

Agree with Bob. I wanted to do all those things, but first things first. Get it reliable on the track before all those other mods. That means getting the transmission fixed and keeping it cool.

We were almost to that point at the last race. We got 61 laps before the slushbox melted.

The tires that are on it now won't set any skidpad records, but they should last you a long time. They're hard as rocks.