Cascade Crew

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 3:02 pm Post subject:

My favorite strut tower brace is still the edelbrock. It's 3 point but has some adjustability. Every car is a little different, and assuming all 3 points will mount level is a little much to ask. Here's an ancient pic of my old one.

QwkTrip · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 6:26 pm Post subject:

It has pivots that cannot resist motion in an important direction. With that design the car helps give the STB strength. You want the STB to give the car strength. I would have a brace custom made to my car before I use a brace like that.

Would you install a roll cage with pivots on every end? Or subframe connectors?

Twilightoptics · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 7:26 pm Post subject:

Not quite the same. I'd build a custom fit stb anyway. The idea is to keep the strut towers in place, not stiffen the car necessarily. I noticed a huge difference in handling/stiffnesswith that on vs off.

QwkTrip · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2016 11:23 pm Post subject:

aaron_sK · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 1:58 pm Post subject:

STB works like a sway bar, Jon. It resists an excessive negative camber change by bracing one tower against the opposite tower. The pivot does not change the operation of it at all.

QwkTrip · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 2:48 pm Post subject:

A sway bar is a spring. It is supposed to allow relative movement.
A STB is a chassis member. It is supposed to be rigid.

A STB with pivots will fix the length between the two ends but does not constrain the moment about the bolt axis. The only thing that keeps the whole unit from tilting is the strength of the strut towers themselves. The added strength is because both strut towers are working together instead of individually.

The Heidts is a fixed end resisting motion in all directions, including any moment that is placed on the ends of the bars. It results in a more rigid front end and more control of the strut towers.

aaron_sK · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:48 pm Post subject:

The top of the strut tower is a moving point. The tower brace connects two moving points to each other. The brace only works because the two points never move in unison on the same axis.

There will be no movement around the axis of the bolt because the brace is only ever loaded in compression or tension (almost always compression in practice).

QwkTrip · Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 10:12 pm Post subject:

That's not the way it works, Aaron. And that's not the way a strut tower moves. Any STB is better than without. No moving pivots is best - PERIOD. Undeniably true. It comes down to the way forces and moments are controlled by the way a beam is connected at its end.

By the way, ignoring the pivots, the triangulation of the Edelbrock is still flimsy shizzle. Doesn't hold a candle to the raw strength of the Heidts tubing, firewall pad, and fully welded seams. The Edelbrock braces are toothpicks by comparison.

Twilightoptics · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 2:46 pm Post subject:

Really feels like you're defensive and trying hard to justify your purchase instead of discussion.

QwkTrip · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 4:04 pm Post subject:

WHAT?!?! You're the one that brought it up ding dong. Smack!

aaron_sK · Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 6:29 pm Post subject:

lmao...

I'm not going to write too many more words about this issue because this:

QwkTrip · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 5:34 am Post subject:

If you like your boxes to have free pivots at the corners then go for it. I like better results than that. I am very happy the Heidts fit my car because now I don't have to go through the hassle of having something custom made. Thumbs up

And by the way, some guys at thirdgen.org, such as SlickTrackGod, do know their stuff. You and I don't have anything to teach him on some subject matters. And likewise, he isn't going to teach me or you on some subject matters either. Building a network of smart people is what smart people do. Why do you think I hang around you guys? Wink

Dewey316 · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 7:08 am Post subject:

QwkTrip · Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2016 10:06 am Post subject:

No, it's your money.

QwkTrip · Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2016 12:18 pm Post subject:

It was an unusually warm day today so I ran the engine a bit and then did a very crude cylinder leak down test. Didn't find TDC, just rotated the crank until pressure went up. The reading was 88 psi at a 100 psi input. Air coming out of oil filler cap and throttle body. I might do it again in proper fashion but I am thinking it might be a good idea to pull the heads this winter and get a valve job. Seems the intake valve does leak.

I also bought a cylinder bridge in anticipation of this. If I am sending the heads to a machine shop then I am going to get the compression and quench sorted too.

QwkTrip · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:25 pm Post subject:

Looking into this further, it appears 12% is nothing to get excited about. The guide I was looking at set off alarms past 10%, but from a practical standpoint it seems not worth worrying about because any horsepower gains would be small.

Also talked to Texas Speed and they said all their heads are leak tested before shipping and that it is normal to develop leak on the intake side from carbon buildup. They weren't surprised with the leak down test results. They also thought my engine was making pretty good power for a LS3 top end.

So, I guess I will leave the heads on and forget about that. Kind of a relief actually because it is a PIA to get the passenger side off. And that $400 that would have gone into head work can be spent on gears if I want to do that.

QwkTrip · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:32 pm Post subject:

I also learned that Texas Speed has a poor man's LS7 by sleeving a 5.3L block and using a 4" stroke. It opens up all the choices of LS7 heads.

Dewey.... does that give you any ideas? Wink

Dewey316 · Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 5:37 pm Post subject:

lol, I don't need any help with crazy ideas, I have plenty of them on my own.

QwkTrip · Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:41 pm Post subject:

Been spending some time learning what turns on an LS engine and getting quotes for a few different ideas. Frankly, the quotes were shocking. Since the time I got my engine it seems the LS platform has gone upscale and gotten quite expensive. Sad to see the hobby go that way.

So I've concluded I'm just keeping what I've got and simply sorting out compression ratio and maybe advancing the cam a few degrees. That's it for the engine. The rest of my attention will go into improving my 60' time because it is cheap and it should give me better results than more horsepower. Not going for a drag suspension, just trying some things to get this tight suspension to hook up better off the line.

Stay tuned....

izcain · Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 6:56 am Post subject:

What mods were you looking into? Just curious...

Getting the 60 down will make the car much more fun on the road also.