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LT1 Formula Project Nitrous Dyno Test - Heart Attack, Part 3Antivenom Helps US Hit The Dyno And Track With Our Golen 383 And Nitrous Outlet-Equipped LT1 Formula From the January, 2011 issue of GM High-Tech Performance By Scott Parker Photography by Justin Cesler, Scott Parker
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Those of you who have been following our LT1 Formula project may have been wondering: when are they finally going to get their act together and run 11s? We’ve been thinking the same thing, and at times it has been a difficult and frustrating journey. It seems like a simple and attainable goal, but I can assure you that having an 11-second daily driver that’s equipped with an LT1 can sometimes get complicated. Especially when said car is located thousands of miles away for many months. But in the end, we managed to create a good balance of fun and civility thanks to the ample torque from the Golen 383 and Nitrous Outlet kit when we need it, slick Circle D converter, healthy yet tame idle from our custom Comp cam, and even some decent highway mileage thanks to the Motive 3.42 gears and TCI 4L60E. Follow along as we go through the last steps to hit our project goals, thanks to Greg Lovell at AntiVenom. In case you are wondering, though we may have met our goals, we do still intend to make a few more tweaks in the hopes of running 11s on motor. But with the heat and humidity of central Florida in August to September, it will be an uphill battle. As many racers know down here, the beauty of nitrous is that it is "atmosphere in a bottle." Perhaps this is why some of the fastest all-motor cars (or times) are usually in the more northern states. That being said; I would like to thank LT1 pioneers and diehards like Joe Overton, Rick Intrau, Larry Hamilton, and Tony Shepherd for inspiring this build in the first place. And most importantly I would like to thank all of the shops, technicians and companies that helped put this car together: TT Performance and Tune Time Performance in New Jersey as well as Stage 1 Auto and Junior Perez, Nitrous Outlet, Golen Engine Service, Dart, BMR Fabrication, TCI, Summit Racing, Classic Restoration, Gillen Custom Design, EFI Connection, Racetronix, Comp Cams, RaceKrafters, Greg at AntiVenom, and anyone else that may have helped out along the way including my coworkers at SIM.  Though at the time it made...  Though at the time it made sense, we neglected to put subframe connectors on our LT1 Formula during our initial BMR Fabrication suspension install (years ago). And at this point it seemed very silly, but (more importantly) just a bad idea to make any nitrous track hits without them. With over 100,000 miles on the odometer, this '94 Firebird was no spring chicken. The chassis could use all the support it could get, so we called BMR for a set of tubular connectors (SFC004, $139.95 a pair).  Greg Lovell from AntiVenom...  Greg Lovell from AntiVenom was nice enough to come to our shop to weld them in and get us track-ready. The first step was, of course, grinding off some of the powdercoat where he intends to weld.  We were lucky enough to have...  We were lucky enough to have a 4-post lift attached to our above ground DynoJet, which is ideal for installing subframe connectors.  Greg took the front bolt out...  Greg took the front bolt out of the rear lower control arm, so that it could be threaded through the subframe connector.  He then used a simple floor...  He then used a simple floor jack to hold the connector in place while welding, though a screw jack also works. Be extra careful on the driver side where the plastic fuel lines run dangerously close to where you will be welding.  We were excited to be the...  We were excited to be the first to use our brand-new Lincoln Electric 216 Power MIG welder in the shop. And also that this should be the last time this car gets welded on. Just small, simple stuff from here on out!  Once finished Greg painted...  Once finished Greg painted over the welds to prevent rusting with a rattle can we had lying around the shop. From this shot it is pretty clear why they call them "subframe connectors." By tying the uni-body together the Formula will allow the shocks to absorb the brunt of various potholes, instead of creating rattles, and hopefully transfer energy better to the drive wheels. Don’t mind the rust¬–the New Jersey winter was hard on the under-body, but I’ll be fixing those patches while it’s in the shop.  After draining out our Comp...  After draining out our Comp Cams break-in oil, we replaced it with Royal Purple’s 20W50. Golen Engine Service recommended something in the range of 15W50 given the clearances and usage of our 383, and this was the closest thing from our favorite racing oil supplier.  Though Zinc is great for your...  Though Zinc is great for your valvetrain it will clog your cats, thankfully Royal Purple’s High Performance (or street) line is compatible with all factory equipment and won’t cause such issues. If we intended to turn our Formula into more of a racecar, we’d be certain to change over to the XPR racing line.  After purging the nitrous...  After purging the nitrous system it appeared the bottle was getting a bit low, so I detached the bottle and headed up the highway for a refill. Thankfully the Nitrous Outlet kit requires zero tools for removal of the bottle, while still sealing perfectly. This makes bottle swaps, and overall nitrous usage, easy and headache free.  We started out very conservatively...  We started out very conservatively with the jetting recommendations from Nitrous Outlet (supplied in the kit) for 50hp (.35 and .24). Some tweaking of the window switch was required with the new EFI Connection setup, but the wiring was just as easy as before. A few calls to Nitro Dave proved invaluable in troubleshooting.  After verifying that the nitrous...  After verifying that the nitrous was in fact spraying, Greg made a 50hp pull with just a few degrees removed from the spark advance using our HP Tuners software to make changes and datalog. We have lift-off! Giddy with excitement we put the 150hp pills back in and hit it again¬–following Nitro Dave and general nitrous tuning wisdom in removing 6-degrees (2-degrees for every 50hp).  When our DynoJet 224xLC read...  When our DynoJet 224xLC read 471 hp and 516 lb-ft both Greg and myself had a smile from ear to ear. Though the wideband O2 indicated that we were definitely on the rich side, when we went to a smaller fuel jet (.35) it proved too lean. Rich is safe, and safe is where you want to be on a nitrous car, so we left it at that.  When the track finally dried...  When the track finally dried out, after weeks straight of rain, we changed out the rear wheels and tires, to our trusty Hoosier drag radials from Summit Racing mounted on SLP 16-inch ZR1s, filled up the tank with our favorite 93-octane swill and took off. When we arrived, the Hoosiers were aired down to 18psi as the car cooled off. After a couple all-motor passes (with the nitrous tune), I began to have faith again in the Formula.  On the first pass I launched...  On the first pass I launched a touch soft, but when the nitrous activated at 3500rpm it carried the LT1 to the sixty in 1.63-seconds on its way to an 11.47 at 119mph. This definitely evoked a smile, yet also caused some concern as it felt lazy at the top end. Greg cleared out the PCM and I made another pass when the car cooled off. This time leaving harder, the Formula made its best sixty ever at 1.59 and then its best e.t.-11.24 at 121. It still felt lazy at the top end, and we plan to play with the tune a bit more as 10.9 or 11.0 feels eminent. With the n/a tune back in, I made another pass or two, but couldn't regain the form I once had with the 355 in its 12.17 pass. This inspired some additional chassis and suspension upgrades in the hopes of running a high 11 on motor. The good news, though, as I knew on the very first nitrous pass, is that we have already met and exceeded our project goals. So it's all gravy from here.
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Golen 396 LT1 Engine Build - It's Alive!
Upon bringing his creation to life, Dr. Henry Frankenstein exclaimed, "Now I know what it feels like to be God!" Chad Golen was hoping to accomplish the same task with his '94 Camaro....
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