96 Beretta Project

[geldartb]

i fail at reading dates. i saw the 4-22 part but didn't look at the year.

you made some good progress on the car. hopefully i can get mine to the track this year. finally got the braided lines on without cutting the existing hard line. PB blaster FTL and Free-all FTW, don't remember how much PB blaster i soaked on there but 15minutes with Free-all and they all broke loose.

we'll have to get together sometime soon. i don't think you have seen the car since that depressing track outing a few years ago.

[3400-95-Modified]

I hope I can keep it that way... LOL, if not, more power is needed then that will justify a 65e swap Gotta counteract the weight addition somehow

[robertisaar]

i love the fact that you've managed to get a 60E into 12s somewhat reliably...

[3400-95-Modified]

Thank you, I've put a lot of work into it and I'm glad other people can appreciate that and like what I've done.

[2.8-350TBI]

Your beretta is so sick, its made me admire berettas since the first time I saw it on this forum

[3400-95-Modified]

Plan A was the stock rebuild, so I went and got the raybestos stuff to do a stronger version... I called that Plan B originally to get into the 12's... That I blew up 5 miles after building it... I f-ed up a clip in one position and cooked the input pack... so I crossed off B and put C when I got it back together for last year... This time I just wrote... 12's Really? on it... LMAO.

We do weird stuff like that on the race car so its rubbed off on me... We'll right ISOP on the rear end cover "Hi Todd" on the lower trailing arm (name of one of the inspectors) and other weird chit to make people who are trying to get info all confused, 4.56 on a 2.73 rear end... stuff like that

[robertisaar]

LOL, what's the writing on the bellhousing?

[3400-95-Modified]

Time to update this thing... Did quite a bit with it last year... Car made it to 3 different runs at the strip... One was in Chicago where I put down a nice 13.016 with the setup, and then I went to Beaver springs for BFest NE and put down 13.3's... everyone seemed to be exactly 3 tenths off... Not sure why, even Brennan was out that much. I then took it to Chevy Fest in October up at Epping and thats where I planted my 12.67 and 12.8 after heating my bottle up and getting it to 950PSI. I've always run it at ambient temp and thats been my reason for not getting the fullest out of the 100 shot.







After that and if you watch the 12.67 run, you can see my LSD wasn't working quite well... SO I decided to pull it all apart and run through it again. Mostly the trans this year and all I did to the motor was HeliCoil the head threads for the headers. MUCH better now.

I went through the trans to inspect the clutches and such and found NO issues with any of that, so I just Tig Welded the 2nd gear drum as recommended in the rebuild guide, Had my cousin do it, and I sent the LSD off to Jeff for a full rebuild and tighten... this is what I got back







And I also attacked the engine bay to seal up the firewall leaks I had, clean the p/s leaks I had, and replace the blower motor and paint the blower box.










Sealed up all the seams with firewall sealer, and then decided on using bedliner as the engine bay coating rather than trying to get everything prepped to accept fresh raspberry paint, I knew I would never be happy with the finish and this looks pretty decent too since my hood underside is black.






Also replaced heater core, replaced tierod ends, and painted inner tierods.

Now the motor got the helicoil's as noted and I had the headers blasted so I could put on a new V-band clamp, and then re-coat them.








All Coated up.




Now everything is back in, and it runs. I just need to finish installing the front suspension/brakes, and then put some of the misc stuff thats not in the engine bay back on and then put the hood back on.

I love having the right tools to install stuff... This year the trans went in SO easy with this setup.









But I also got a nice birthday present...



More to come later this year...

12.3's maybe

[geldartb]

if you want to hit epping one if these friday nights let me know.

[3400-95-Modified]

After a bunch of brake issues last night I was finally able to take it out (with the F-body stuff on the front) and I forgot how much fun that car was. Also if I'm going to regain some acceleration with dropping down on the brake size then holy hell...

I can rebuild a motor and a friken transmission but I can't get a damn brake caliper right... Both locked up on me and wouldn't release... Not sure why. I'm just going to exchange them for rebuilds and go from there. I hope I didn't warp my rotors though. Even after swapping the F-body stuff on my copper washers were about dead so I only got to go for a quick ride with a little drip leak every time I applied the brakes. She's now back on jack stands waiting for calipers or new washers... Which ever I decided to do. BUT after putting 2 more qt's of trans fluid in the transmission it runs good, torque converter definitely feels weird but I knew it would on the road. Its more of a straight line type thing. I'm going to really test it at a strip this year and see what it does, rather than just driving around town and making a decision that I don't like it, that's not a fair assessment.

[torq455]

Great news!! I hope it all works great together and stays together for a long time. Grats bud!

[Weatheralls Auto]

Lookin and Soundin GREAT!

[3400-95-Modified]

Some more updates...

Coated the head studs with some BBQ paint this time. I'm hoping that plus the fact that the car will no be stored inside will prevent the issues I had before.


Also used antiseize on the block threads instead of the moly lube since those are only put in hand tight.


Trasmission valves I replaced.


The wear I had on the 2nd drum teeth.


Installing V-band clamps to get rid of my damn 3-bolt ones




Trans ready to go




Engine in on Thursday evening the 15th.


Next chance I got to work was Saturday... Found out I may need to helicoil a exhaust thread or two... The rear header wouldnt hold one of my bolts but a stud worked in its place, so if it begins to leak I'll need to fix those threads. Also pulled the threads out of the tensioner hole, but that was due to using the wrong/short bolt. A longer one tightened up good, but I may helicoil that soon too.
Trans in and doing PS pump install






And of course... It runs.... AFTER I fucked up the plug wiring... LOL... its been so long I put #2 on #6 and vice versa... I got a loud exhaust backfire when I tried to start it and I was like OH SHIT! what did I do wrong. After a few min of looking at it I realized my idiot newb mistake.


Enjoy.

Still gotta finish exhaust, and then install the N-body brakes and bleed them, and fix my intake. So not complete yet, but I'm glad to have it 90% back together.

Any progress is good progress.

[torq455]

THAT...is one great idea!! i gotta get a welder.

[3400-95-Modified]

Gotta find something to keep me busy till cometic gets the gasket thing straightened out...

My custom trans stand.