Thread: For Don Shilady

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Originally Posted by Don Shillady

Each "test" is mainly motivated by "what test can justify a 63 mile jaunt up to Bowling Green and back and the satisfaction that I am driving a machine that I constructed mostly by myself" with help from others here and there over a ten year period.

Good for you, I'm proud of you! Test away!!

I drive mine as much as I can, seem to always find a reason, and it's always FUN!

Just remember that if you keep going on that same distance trip, taking an hour or so---your wife is going to think your running out for a QUICKIE--------------

Jerry that's a good one! Actually my wife is really a great gal and I owe her a LOT but she did buy me a cell phone and when I go on an "unauthorized run" I usually get a call saying "Where are you?".

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Well we are past the Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere so the days will start to get longer but here we will have to get past March here before I can take the side curtains off and put on the wind wings. I am writing now to ask 36 Sedan for details of his drive train: engine, transmission, rear gear ratio and rear tires just to see what gives him 13 mpg while having fun. Just to give him company my car has been on the hook twice in the last year. First when I reved the engine uphill on an ramp in third gear and the heater hose blew off leaving me stuck on a major Interstate. That was cured by a longer barbed tube fitting. The second time was more mysterious when the top part of the coil cracked due to a faulty (my mistake) mount. That was fixed with a new coil and a better mount. The cracked coil was a mystery because the engine would run and then it wouldn't, then it would etc. until the crack was noticed.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

1965 Corvette 327ci (built to 350hp specs), 2 - 4 Barrel Edelbrock 500 CFM Carbs (1 - w/Electric Choke), Pertronix ignition, Ceramic Coated Sanderson Headers, Dual Flowmasters through 2 3/4" Aluminized Pipes. Beefed up TH350 coupled to 8" Ford Rear with 3.24 Gears, American Racing Torque Thrust II Wheels 17x7, Cooper 235/17R.

Size 20 foot (lol)

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36 Sedan,
Your engine looks great! I would have guessed the large wheels, 3.24 rear ratio and 327 ci would favor more than 13 mpg but those carbs must be thirsty! I guess my 355 ci with a single Edelbrock 600 cfm 3.55 rear, Pertronix kit in a 327 dizzy and 235R15 tires get the most of the 0.7 OD gear so I should not complain. The advantage of a sedan is that it has real windows!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

While the carbs may contribute to the milage, I would bet my BIG FOOT has more to do with it. Lol!

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Well we are due more snow here (Richmond) on 3/6/2014 while three inches is still on the ground here. My roadster is safely in the Garage with AMSOIL in the engine replete with antirust additives. I have had a problem with my '92 Ranger truck that won't start. At first I was afraid the 6 F mornings had frozen it up since all I get is a "click" almost all of the time. However, I now think it is a bad starter since I replaced the battery and after two "clicks" the engine did roar into action. When I shut it off it has not done anything but "click" again so I think the starter is bad now that I have had the engine (Vulcan V6) run. Anyway this message is to ask you experts about the longevity of my 8" Ford rear universal joint with the present "quick shift" low to second JOLT. Under vigorous acceleration the quick shift blends well into the acceleration BUT under more normal conditions the low-to-second shift is a pronounced jerk that surely puts strain on the universal joints of the drive line. I am considering removing the quick shift kit to improve the life of the universal joints. Any comments from you experts on the hardiness of the 8" Ford universal joints?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

So Far there is only about 1200 miles on the driveline (SBC 350, 700R4, 8" Ford rear (3.55 ratio)) and while the low-to-second jerk is fun for screeching the tires a but if I start out slow as in turning out of the driveway the sudden JERK shift is unwelcome and I do wonder if the open drive universals will survive long.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I seriously doubt that you are affecting the life of your universal joints with the shift kit. They are simple to check, just get access to the drive shaft and with the transmission in "Park" attempt to rotate the drive shaft with a firm hand grip, watching for any play between the u-joint cup and the forged "X" member which signifies that the roller bearings have failed, or the cup has become severely deformed. I'd drive it and not worry about things like universal joints. Just my $0.02.

times 2, I doubt your hurting anything. Your tranny shop ( I remember it was recently rebuilt?) may be able to adjust the throttle valve setting and lessen the impact of the 1/2 shift.

Just looking back at page 8 of this thread it seems like all that snow this winter was just a bad dream! Even so it is not quite time to remove the side curtains, but maybe soon?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Well the warm weather came finally and I was enjoying local trips in late June but then a mysterious problem with the car emerged with the tach flickering and the engine missing so I just got it back to my home garage and then it would not start thereafter. After trying many things like battery recharge and installing a new Pertronix Ignitor I gave up and had it towed to my local expert, Bruce Orlandi at Performance Transmssion. Bruce spent a day on the problem and even he was stumped. Finally after replacing the 2005 battery, resetting the timing and checking the Ignitor he found the wire to the starter Bendix was a partial short and was dragging down the battery and robbing current from the distributor. Now I have a new battery, new plugs, a new high torque starter and a rebuilt Pertronix distributor! I am now amazed that the car starts just by turning the key without touching the gas! Unfortunately I missed a July 4th event I wanted to take the car to and have not been to a local Friday night "Chic Fillet Meet" yet this year but now I hope to make it to a few local runs in August. Bruce runs a 702 cubic inch funny car occasionally and has one of the cleanest shops I have ever seen. He is at the north end of the Hanover Air Park less than a mile from my home so I am glad to have a very good local mechanic.

Best Wishes,
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist.teen rodder

I had to interrupt for lunch but I have a question for a transmission expert. I am tired of the big jerk when the 700 R4 with a shift kit goes from low to second on a non-slip surface. On concrete or smooth blacktop I just get a chirp but on gravel-in-tar back roads like the one in front of my house the rough surface allows little tire slip unless I go all the way to smoke. My transmission shop expert says I "may" be able to change the trans servo if what is in there is a Corvette servo to a more docile passenger car servo. My wife's 2008 Impala V6 performs well for a heavy car and shifts smoothly at essentially the same rpm points as my SBC roadster but it is so smooth that you can hardly feel the change. Changing a servo is a lot cheaper than pulling the whole transmission. I did not know the Vette servo was so different. Comments? I will let this group know if the servo change is the answer but maybe one of you can tell me the difference between the Vette servo and the passenger car servo?

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

I am NOT a Bow Tie "guy" at all Mr. Shillady but perhaps this may help. The servo is the mechanism that clamps down on the bands in the tranny and causes a gear change by stopping the planetary gear set from spinning. The big 3 use the same basic trannies to do a variety of work, The Ford AOD for example is used in Police Cars / Pickups / Mustangs and the tranny internals change as the application change, things like valve body springs, Govenor springs and weights and of course the servo's (both diameter / thickness and springs) all affect the trans operation. If you want a softer shift, then it may be possible to alter the current setup, but it'll depend what is in there now! So you "may" change the servo and achieve nothing, without changing the proper component in the valve body.

Hope it helps.. even a little!