UNDER THE HOOD: Latest News From Project Big Red
February 9th-17th, 2023: In an effort to move the front wheels in deeper, we extinguished all possibilities. The wheel company did not offer a back spacing that would work with our application, nor were they willing to help us at all! We then searched for who made the best low drag hubs for the 4th gen Camaro. All of our research led us to Aerospace Components. Not only do they make hubs that will fit a stock 4th gen, they were WILLING to make us a custom set that brought the wheel in where we wanted it. All while still making it work with our existing Aerospace Components front brakes. After a ton of precise measurements and numerous back and forth emails with their engineering department, they felt comfortable making this custom piece work for us. I could not be any happier with the finished product and with the exceptional customer service that Aerospace Components demonstrated throughout the entire process. They are truly a class act!
January 21st, 2023: While changing spark plugs on Big Red, I decided to dig down deep inside the engine bay and remove the steering linkage and give it a fresh new paint job. It gets beat up during the year from dropping the header and changing plugs. Boy does she look good again! Check out my home made spark plug socket.
December 28th, 2022: This upgrade was ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL! Clear View Filtration makes amazing remote oil filters that can accommodate all of your oil pressure needs. Read my feature article on the product and the install. Here are some teaser photos of the upgrade. Check out the Feature Article.
April 14th, 2022: It is not a good feeling when you pull into the water box and your line lock doesn't work, then stage your car and your trans brake doesn't work either. When I got home I ripped apart the dash and began troubleshooting the problem. It ended up that the wires in the beautiful leather wrapped steering wheel broke apart. I had to cut the leather back and make the repair. I then repaired the leather and put everything back together.
June 12th, 2021 - February 11 2022: I witnessed a friends car burn to the ground after making a pass. It happened so fast that the safety crew could not stop the fire from consuming the entire car. Thank God he was okay, but I made the decision that my small roll cage mounted handheld fire extinguisher was not enough for me. I purchased a 6 nozzle fire suppression kit and installed it in the old girl. The project took 7 month to complete because a part was back ordered. I was able to fabricate a bracket to get it working immediately. Check out my article titled SAFETY FIRST. I wrote all about this.
April 18th, 2021: After a lot of testing and math fun with a rear end ratio calculator, It was time to change the ratio in our Dana 60. All of my testing and research was confirmed by a 5 minute talk with the legend Mr. Dan Fletcher. He asked a series of questions and based on my answers, and had the same ratio just from the knowledge in his brain. I am happy to say that all of this work paid off.
June 17th, 2020: It was time to make a few upgrades and help keep our Rossler built Turbo 400 a lot cooler. I installed a new DeRale 16 row cooler with a 650cfm fan, and a new aluminum deep slotted trans pan. A ton of fabrication had to happen to make this work. The new cooler was significantly larger than the old one and to top it off, there was no room for it. With the help of some creative brackets and home engineering I was able to fit it. The new trans pan had to be heavily modified to accommodate the overflow tank and temp sensor. I finished the job off with a custom little air scoop that covers and hides the cooler. It was extremely stressful cutting, grinding, and welding on a completely finished car. Thank God I was super careful and had no "oops" happen.
June 15th, 2020: We contacted the super friendly people over at RPM Performance Data Loggers and ordered a new transmission temperature sensor and cable kit to add to our data logger. Randy sent over a set of easy to follow directions on how to wire the cable, program the data logger to read the new sensor, and program the digital dash to read the data logger. I have become a data junkie and love seeing everything displayed on my laptop. Special thanks to Randy at RPM for all of his help and making this upgrade and install extremely easy.
March 5th, 2020: We are proud to introduce our new Big Red T-Shirt and Hat designs. The super talented people over at Konstant Designs did a great job bringing Big Red to life on that shirt. If you are interested in purchasing a T-Shirt, Long Sleeve Shirt, Hoodie, Hat or Beanie shoot us an email at editor@908motormag.com
February 17th, 2020: I finally found the time to install the new springs. We went with a 50lb heavier spring and 2 1/2" longer. We will definitely not get any more coil bind after launching. Hoping to get a little more preload and weight transfer as well.
July 13th-14th, 2019: We had a great time at the Menards Chevy Show. Big Red won Best Pro Street and Top 10 Raceway Award.
June 16th, 2019: The new Billet Specialties Wheels look AMAZING! Check out the Parts Counter column for our feature on them. I can't believe how much of a difference they make in changing the look of the car.
June 16th, 2019: After a lot of research we finally found the ONLY rear brake kit that will fit with the new Billet Specialties wheels we ordered. Thank God it is made by Strange which is known for their super high quality racing parts. This new kit was so easy to install and very well designed. Big Red should be able to stop a lot better now. Some of those shut down areas are way too short for no parachute,
June 15th, 2019: Big Red officially left the body shop for the last time today. We fitted the hood and fixed a few gap issues. It is hard to believe that she went from rags to riches. It was a long journey and a lot of hard work. I lost all of my fingerprints from sanding so much. Here is what she looked like when she left the shop.
April 20th, 2019: Well Big Red is finally painted, wet sanded, buffed, and polished. Matt at Convenience Collision did an amazing job showing why is the premier painter in the area. If all goes well I am bringing her back home today to start re-assembly. I will share more pics with you when she is back in my shop. Here are a few for now.
October 7th, 2018: I got the official word from Matt at Convenience Collision to start taking Big Red apart. We are bringing the parts in stages so she gets to stay in my shop for as long as possible and free up room in Matt's shop. Here are some pics of the process. More to follow.
July 29th, 2018: We loaded up Big Red and attended the Mt. Lake Car Show and she won Best Race Car. This is a REALLY cool show and is well run. It doesn't get any better than a day with my wife and daughter, and Big Red lakeside with hundreds of cool cars and fellow gearheads.
July 20th-22nd, 2018: After a little abuse at the Menards Show and our favorite racing spot here in NJ, we found out that the CryO2 tube on the passenger side settled in was hitting the alternator fan. After looking at the situation for an hour or so and trying every possible way to make a bracket, I decided to make it as simple as possible. I made a cardboard template and transferred it to the aluminum and did my thing bending and drilling. After a quick polish, I mounted one end to the engine bay and the other to the clamp that holds the filter to the tube. It was simple and clean and most importantly INVISIBLE to the front of the car.
July 13th-15th, 2018: We packed up the truck and hauler and took Big Red to the Menards Chevy Show at Maplegrove Raceway in Reading, PA. The old girl was well received and won Best In Class. Our hats go off to Brian and his crew for running an excellent event as always and for Maplegrove Raceway for hosting this prestigious event. I had a great time with my family and my little brother even joined us on this trip. It was great to see so many old friends and enjoy 3 days of gearhead utopia. Special thanks to all of our sponsors for believing in us and making this happen. We are grateful for your support and will continue to spread the word wherever we go.
April 20th-May 15th, 2018: I bit the bullet and completely redesigned the cooling system on Big Red. After a hard day at the track or an even longer cruise, she has the tendency to get a little warm. After a lot of research, I found out that AFCO makes a double pass radiator 80101NDP that is the same dimensions as my old one. The double pass technology should be the missing element I am looking for. The only problem with this plan is that the upper inlet is on the opposite side, and the new radiator has a filler cap and overflow port on it. I was really not looking forward to anymore fab work on a finished and tweaked car, but I have no choice. Thankfully Jegs makes a universal intake port that can be flipped for either left or right side application. It comes already set-up for my temp sensor and ports for the lines that cool the back side of my Brodix heads. The next obstacle was that the old radiator did not have a filler cap. So I essentially made the new radiator filling port useless by capping off the overflow port and putting a 25-27psi cap on it. Since steam rises, I will use the port on the intake as my filling port and cap it with a 19-21psi cap. (raising the pressure of the system considerably raises the boiling point) AFCO radiators are pressure tested to 30psi and after speaking with them, they assured me that many of their racers successfully run 25-28psi. I had to modify the top support and make room to accommodate the filling port. Since I had the top support off, I stopped by my buddy Matt's shop and had him buff it to a brand new lustre. I was able to fit everything in that tight little space and keep everything looking as tweaked and professional as it used to. It passed the driveway temp and pressure check, but I ran out of time and good weather to do some pavement pounding and see she how she really works. On a positive note, it was really hard trying to get to operating temperature while idling in my driveway. This was NEVER the case with the old radiator and my 572 CI beast.
February 1st, 2018: It's been a while since we updated all of you about Big Red. I bought her a car cover for Christmas and she has been resting nicely in the shop under her new blanket. And yes, I start her up at least once a month to keep my heart beating and the carb clean.
I am proud to announce that RPM Magazine did an 11 page feature story on her with 21 pictures taken by the famous Rick Belden. She was featured in the January 2018 issue and even has a cover photo! Special thanks to everyone at RPM for believing in my car and making a lifelong dream come true.
September 2nd-19th, 2017: After hearing a disturbing sound coming from the rear at high speeds, I decided it was time to take her out and see what was going on. Just to play it safe, a complete rebuild was in order. I installed new Timken bearings and races. A new Strange Diff and a bigger set of Strange 5:13 gears. The only thing I re-used was the Moser axles as those and the end bearings were just installed over the winter. Since I had the rear out of the car, I figured I might as well give it and the rest of the rear suspension a fresh coat of paint. The Dana 60 might be old school, but this one has the best of modern parts in it. Finding the time to work on your own car is ALWAYS a challenge. There was a lot of late nights in this baby. On another note, I now own every tool you could possibly need to rebuild a Dana 60. We are back to green flag racing!
August 19th, 2017: We took Big Red and our 908 Hauler to the Cops n Rodders Car Show to benefit Children with cancer. We had a great day meeting so many awesome people. Big Red had quite the crowd during a few scheduled start up sessions. She won another award.
July 30th, 2017: We entered Big Red in the Mt. Lake Car show and won 1st place in the Race Car Class. There were some really nice cars on site and a few awesome race car entries. As always I enjoyed talking with everyone about the project and telling them about all of our sponsors and the benefits of their products. I highly recommend this show to everyone. Good people, amazing lakeside scenery, and well run. Fun for the whole family.
July 13th-16th, 2017: I decided that since Big Red is only a virgin once, I was going to enter her into the Menards Chevy Show at Maple Grove Raceway. She was well received and made quite a splash for her debut showing. We thank all of our new friends for helping us that weekend and showing us the ropes. Special thanks to all of our sponsors for making this happen. We are grateful for your support and will continue to spread the word wherever we go.
July 6th, 2017: Special thanks to Mike at E-Town Raceway Park for opening up his beautiful facility for our photo shoot of Big Red. The weather was horrible and it rained 99% of the time we were there. We shot most of the pics under their iconic tower because there was NO way my baby was getting wet yet. The rain stopped just long enough for my brother and I to set up on the track and get the picture I was hoping for. We will be attending some car shows and then its time to test all of the new parts for our amazing sponsors. Here is a preview of the photo shoot for our upcoming feature.
June 25th - July 1st, 2017: The LAST pieces of the puzzle were put into place. I finally found the the elusive hood strut brackets from Brocks Camaro in Columbia, South Carolina. Check out his e-bay store if you have a Camaro or Firebird. I had to modify the brackets to fit my fiberglass hood. After a bending, cutting, and grinding, I sanded and painted them to look new. Thanks to VFN Fiberglass for sending me the lower pressure hood struts so we don't crack the hood trying to close it. It is so good to see the hood open without using a prop bar.
