Plan ahead!! he stays busy during "hot rod season". also let me know if I can be of any assistance in getting that done for you (shuttle, pick up or whatever you might need).
Cheers,
Russ
Northstar T is taking shape
- Thread starter Northstar T
- Start date
Plan ahead!! he stays busy during "hot rod season". also let me know if I can be of any assistance in getting that done for you (shuttle, pick up or whatever you might need).
Cheers,
Russ
Ted Brown
Member
Will do, I do know that lead time is a much needed thing with good shops, not like walk-in-hair cuts... I was always 5 years in the hole with building new T Buckets... When I get all my Ducks in a row, I will let you know, Thanks Russ for all your help.
It's been a wile, so I figure I should post an update on this project.
As I mentioned early on, I was using a Holley Commander ECM for this car, not because I like them, but "because I had one", and this was to be a low/mid budget car....... ya right. Well after 6 months of the worst frustration I've ever had with a project car, I finally gave up and purchased a brand new Holley HP system with custom wire harness made for my engine/car combination. I expect I'm one of the first to get one of these HP computers set up for the Northstar, and boy howdie is it ever sweet. the difference between it and the Commander is like between Win 7 and DOS. from the "self tuning" to the 2 gig internal datalogger, it's a whole new ballgame. I drove the car today on a 20 miles loop, which is it's longest trip ever. ran good, NO overheating... I gota tell ya, before this ECM change I was just about to throw a sheet over it's face and grab a shovel, but now I'm happy again (poor, ...... but happy)
Cruisin' ,
Russ
As I mentioned early on, I was using a Holley Commander ECM for this car, not because I like them, but "because I had one", and this was to be a low/mid budget car....... ya right. Well after 6 months of the worst frustration I've ever had with a project car, I finally gave up and purchased a brand new Holley HP system with custom wire harness made for my engine/car combination. I expect I'm one of the first to get one of these HP computers set up for the Northstar, and boy howdie is it ever sweet. the difference between it and the Commander is like between Win 7 and DOS. from the "self tuning" to the 2 gig internal datalogger, it's a whole new ballgame. I drove the car today on a 20 miles loop, which is it's longest trip ever. ran good, NO overheating... I gota tell ya, before this ECM change I was just about to throw a sheet over it's face and grab a shovel, but now I'm happy again (poor, ...... but happy)
Cruisin' ,
Russ
Really nice finish
ha ha. I'll have to work on the video thing. I'm hoping to retire by year end, so not sure if a camera to replace my 10 year old Olympus digi is in the budget however,
Russ
lincolnuT
Well-Known Member
Russ it's only money....................Well thats what I tell the wife...................
Mike
lincolnuT
Well-Known Member
So your T only cost $5,000 to buid just like mine then hu?
:dance:
Russ
Yep............................
Mike
In my quest for the holy grail of T bucketing, I picked up some 13" x 9 1/2 chambered mufflers from Summit (SUM-638222). I had just enough room to tuck a large portion of the oval body under the frame and between the hairpins, and by leaving it gray I figured it would pretty much dissapear next to the white headers and tips.
as soon as I stuck them on the header pipes and test fired the motor I knew this was a major impovement over the glass packs. that tractor sound coming up the road just wasn't cutting it for me.
I needed to use a side inlet in order to tuck as much muffler under the car as possible, but of course that meant I had to accept a center outlet. having one piple coming out from the center made it look really weird, because that left a big gap behind the heat schield in that area. no biggie, as I figured I'd just make up a dummy pipe to make it look more "normal". and as long as I was sticking another pipe in there it may as well function. right? so I made up a short crossover pipe between them assuming this would split the flow and perhaps mellow the tone even more. wrong! what it did was make the low tones very loud and obnoxious. kind of like the stereo boomer next to you at a stoplight. huummmm I said.... so after mulling it over a wile I decided to try packing the "dummy" outer tube with fiberglass. the glass matting is rolled up and fills nearly the length of the outer tip, and is being retained by a disk cut from the same perforated SS that the heat shield was made from, and then welded inside the tip near the outlet. wow, what a difference. for some reason this actually made the system quite a bit more mellow that with only the single outlet. my theory is that the pulses in the main outlet must now be getting dampened on the way out the tip by the chamber off to it's side. in reality I have no idea why it works, just that it does. I'm sure my neighbors are happier now, and my ears don't ring after a 10 mile cruise anymore. sounds more like a street rod now, and we all like that.
back to the 50s in 2 weeks, and my registration is in for the show as well as the cruise. I'll try and post a link later on for the webcam in downtown Grants Pass. might be fun to watch the cruise from your computer if you can't make the drive out. there will be 550 cars in the cruise, as that's the limit allowed and it always fills up early.
happy motoring,
Russ
as soon as I stuck them on the header pipes and test fired the motor I knew this was a major impovement over the glass packs. that tractor sound coming up the road just wasn't cutting it for me.
I needed to use a side inlet in order to tuck as much muffler under the car as possible, but of course that meant I had to accept a center outlet. having one piple coming out from the center made it look really weird, because that left a big gap behind the heat schield in that area. no biggie, as I figured I'd just make up a dummy pipe to make it look more "normal". and as long as I was sticking another pipe in there it may as well function. right? so I made up a short crossover pipe between them assuming this would split the flow and perhaps mellow the tone even more. wrong! what it did was make the low tones very loud and obnoxious. kind of like the stereo boomer next to you at a stoplight. huummmm I said.... so after mulling it over a wile I decided to try packing the "dummy" outer tube with fiberglass. the glass matting is rolled up and fills nearly the length of the outer tip, and is being retained by a disk cut from the same perforated SS that the heat shield was made from, and then welded inside the tip near the outlet. wow, what a difference. for some reason this actually made the system quite a bit more mellow that with only the single outlet. my theory is that the pulses in the main outlet must now be getting dampened on the way out the tip by the chamber off to it's side. in reality I have no idea why it works, just that it does. I'm sure my neighbors are happier now, and my ears don't ring after a 10 mile cruise anymore. sounds more like a street rod now, and we all like that.
back to the 50s in 2 weeks, and my registration is in for the show as well as the cruise. I'll try and post a link later on for the webcam in downtown Grants Pass. might be fun to watch the cruise from your computer if you can't make the drive out. there will be 550 cars in the cruise, as that's the limit allowed and it always fills up early.
happy motoring,
Russ
I have two OT cars that I built 5-7 years ago, just sitting in my garage. The Northstar T already has more miles on it than one of them, and is catching the other one fast. I love wearing the T-bucket grin, so ya... I drive it. it only had 1/2 tank of gas this morning, so at 7:00 am I had to drive down to the station to fill er up. I'm still baking the VHT on the exhaust, so I'll need to drive it again later today to take care of that also. :hooray:
Russ
Geeze. my last post here was July of 2010?? that must be a mistake, because if that were true I'd feel a lot older now……. oh wait… maybe it has been that long .
anyway, I'm making my "periodic" visit to see what's new in bucketville. My Northstar T has become a part of the family now, and we're still enjoying it as often as we can find the time and a break in the weather. in fact I needed to shuffle the toys today, so I drove it 2 miles up the road and back. not raining at the time, but the road was wet which provided some nice rooster tails off the tires . about the only changes I've made to the car, since completion, has been to build a straight stack setup for the injection with some stainless domed screens in the top. I had built the original curved intake with paper air filters as a reluctant concession, but I couldn't stand it anymore and just had to have the straight stacks. real air filters are overrated anyway. I've also made some major improvements on the ECM tune-up that have really woke it up and it's running really well now.
I sold my business and retired a couple years ago, and continue to play with building cars. since the T I've purchased an under-loved 64 Vette that had fallen off a service lift onto it's side, and a 62 Vette that was just under-loved in general. both of those cars are done now. I sold the 64 a couple months ago, but plan to keep the 62 for "further testing" before finally selling it . my latest acquisition is a 59 Chev Bel Air that will be getting an LS1, 6 speed, and other needed love. I'll see about putting a couple pics in the "other rides" forum to keep this site clean .
I need to stop by more often, as I see some nice rides in the works here.
Cheerio,
Russ
.anyway, I'm making my "periodic" visit to see what's new in bucketville. My Northstar T has become a part of the family now, and we're still enjoying it as often as we can find the time and a break in the weather. in fact I needed to shuffle the toys today, so I drove it 2 miles up the road and back. not raining at the time, but the road was wet which provided some nice rooster tails off the tires
. about the only changes I've made to the car, since completion, has been to build a straight stack setup for the injection with some stainless domed screens in the top. I had built the original curved intake with paper air filters as a reluctant concession, but I couldn't stand it anymore and just had to have the straight stacks. real air filters are overrated anyway. I've also made some major improvements on the ECM tune-up that have really woke it up and it's running really well now.
I sold my business and retired a couple years ago, and continue to play with building cars. since the T I've purchased an under-loved 64 Vette that had fallen off a service lift onto it's side, and a 62 Vette that was just under-loved in general. both of those cars are done now. I sold the 64 a couple months ago, but plan to keep the 62 for "further testing" before finally selling it
. my latest acquisition is a 59 Chev Bel Air that will be getting an LS1, 6 speed, and other needed love. I'll see about putting a couple pics in the "other rides" forum to keep this site clean .I need to stop by more often, as I see some nice rides in the works here.
Cheerio,
Russ
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Hey Jim. long time no see.
I just put a few pics and brief descriptions on the Refuge site in the "lounge" section.
Thanks,
Russ
TriodeLuvr
Member
I'd sure like to see more photos of that bucket! The earlier photos you posted are all gone now (dead links). About the Vettes, those are my two favorite years. I had a very fast '64 convertible big block for quite a few years. Would love to have a '62, but missed my chance back when they were cheap.
Jack
Jack
I'd sure like to see more photos of that bucket! The earlier photos you posted are all gone now (dead links). About the Vettes, those are my two favorite years. I had a very fast '64 convertible big block for quite a few years. Would love to have a '62, but missed my chance back when they were cheap.
Jack
Ha ha. ya… the first really nice 62 that I wanted to buy, but couldn't afford, was $600.00 . that was ~ 45 years ago. so buy NOW wile there're still cheep
.=====
had I realized how many dead links there were on this old thread I would have started a new thread to begin with. 20/20 hindsight. in fact: Mike, if you want to lock this thread down I can start a new one if you'd prefer.
Here's a couple summer pics of the Northstar T in a local park near our house.
with the new version intake:
the wife and I at the city park "Back to the 50s" show. (the car makes us feel like kids again)
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