Dragzine’s Project Grandma undergoes surgery to relocate her shocks to a “new original” location and gets a heart monitor (a Racepak V300 SD Module and Digital Dash). But plans are a little shaky on what we are doing for the engine combination…
Project Grandma: Relocating the Shocks, Racepak Data Logger and More
by
Lauren Hargrove
on
August 2, 2011
The foundation for any performance engine build is the block, and our LSX-based race motor being built by Virginia Speed is no exception. Before any of the sexy hardware from Trick Flow, ProCharger, Holley, Lunati, JE, GRP, and a host of other partners in the build can be added, we first need a solid framework.
LS Is More – Creating A Purpose-Built Race Motor With Virginia Speed
by
Paul Huizenga
on
January 24, 2011
To give ourselves a reality check, we’ve taken on a new project that will bring us closer to how ‘real’ racers live – we’re taking Dragzine’s Project Grandma Malibu and with the help of world-class LS engine builder Virginia Speed, we’re prepping the car to compete in the PSCA’s Limited Street category for 2011.
Project Grandma started out as a plain-Jane, refrigerator white, underpowered, smog-strangled ’78 Malibu that was in desperate need of attention. After we got our hands on her, she was fitted out with a 25.5 roll cage and an asphalt-tattooing Edelbrock/Musi 555 cubic inch engine.
Project Grandma got serious in this episode where we removed the stock V6 engine from the ’78 Malibu and got everything prepped for our big block engine.
Santa Claus comes to SoCal with a Big Inch Beast of a gift for Grandma. Our Edelbrock/Pat Musi five-fifty-five crate engine arrived today from Musi’s New Jersey assembly plant.
Since Edelbrock and Pat Musi have joined forces to build this 555ci crate, which makes 675+ hp on pump gas and is just itching for a dose of Edelbrock Nitrous, we decided to work together with these two industry legends on this multi-part project.
We decided to have a little fun with granny before the build begins, so we pulled the fluids out of her, started her up and took bets on how long she would last. Check it out…!!
Our old grandma was a little weak in the in the hip, so it was decided to replace the body bushings. Something that would stand up to the abuse that this car is going to be receiving. Something like Energy Suspension’s Hyperflex Bushings
In part one of this three article series, we looked at our bad ass Edelbrock/Musi five-fifty-five big block crate engine destined for our project car that we lovingly call “Grandma.”
Today marked the first day toward the chassis fabrication of Project Grandma. We all have been longing to see our old gal come together, but there were a few things holding us back. Today, we ripped out the rear end, and now we are fully ready for our Chassis Engineering chrome moly roll cage, mini-tubs and chassis goodies.
Today we have an update on Project Grandma as Mike Ryan gets our ’78 Malibu ready for our Chassis Engineering Mini-tubs, and then the 25.5 Roll Cage. We’re starting with a Chassis Engineering chrome moly cage kit and then adding the bars necessary for the SFI 25.5 spec.
The next stage of the Mini-tub process on Project Grandma focuses on the frame rails. With the larger 295/65 M/T Drag Radial tires we would need to create more room in the wheel wells between the frame rail and quarter panel, so we did a little cutting and welding.
We left off last year with Grandma’s frame notching for tire clearance. The problem was that by notching and rewelding the frame rails narrower – we didn’t leave enough room for the 295/65 M/T ET Drag Radials to fit up into the wheel well. Thankfully our friends at Yellow Bullet were there to help us figure it out.
You’ve been following along with our quest to slam our Malibu with stock suspension and mini-tubs on a big Mickey Thompson ET Drag Radial 295/65 tire. Some people said “it can’t be done” and others gave us advice. As you’ll see, the ride height came out PERFECT. Thanks to everyone who gave us input. Here’s how we did it.
Mike Ryan has been plugging away on our 1978 Malibu, Project Grandma, with the goal of getting the Chassis Engineering mini tubs built this week. First though, we’ve got the TRZ front suspension, QA1 Shocks, and Aerospace brakes bolted up. Check out our daily progress.
This week, we finished up 90% of the mini-tubs which were supplied by Chassis Engineering. In our ’78 Malibu, we’ve already done segments on the narrowing of the frame rails, cutting out the stock wheel tubs, and boxing the frame rails back in. Now it was time to make sure we can fit the tire and wheel combination with our mini-tubs.
We give Grandma a performance racing suspension from TRZ Motorsports along with a premium shock package from QA1. To cap off our upgrade, we treat Grandma to a new set of brakes from Aerospace Brakes that won’t lead to a quack-up when we try to stop.
We have a lot in store for Project Grandma this week. With the mini tubs all in, our fabricator Mike Ryan got ready to start on the Chassis Engineering roll cage. However, first we would need to build the frame rails to comply with the 25.5 spec that would make the car legal to 7.50 e.t.’s.
We get rolling on the roll cage for Grandma with a 10-point chromoly setup from Chassis Engineering for our Malibu.
In the final segment of our Edelbrock/Musi crate engine build series, we’re putting the Edelbrock/Musi 555 crate motor on the engine dyno and spray it down with nitrous to see if the power we expected is actually there.
Warp-Stopping Ahead! – Installing Aerospace Components’ Front Brakes
by
Paul Huizenga
on
March 12, 2010
Drag racing is all about going as fast as you can, but what some people seem to forget is that at the end of the track you need to be able to stop the car. With that in mind, we set out to put as much attention into Grandma’s “whoa” as we did in her “go.”
Mike Ryan uses some clever tricks to ensure complete and safe welds as we weld the roll cage tubing to the frame of the Project Grandma Malibu.
We last left off with Mike bending the necessary bars for the funny car cage portion of our build. Since then he has finished the funny car cage required for the 25.5 SFI spec, and has moved on to the door “X” bars.
In order to fit the new tubes and supports in place for welding in our new cross-member on Project Grandma, the drive train needed to be mocked up, and we’ve just been dying to get the Edelbrock/Musi big block crate motor into the engine bay along with the TCI Pro-X Glide. Plus, we figured we’d show off a little bit of our new Lemon’s race headers.
We’ve been working with Currie Enterprises on a few different projects, and it just so happened that Project Grandma’s need for a new rear end intersected perfectly with a top-secret project at Currie.
We are on the home stretch with Project Grandma. This last week Mike Ryan has been working on some of the smaller details of the build, before taking on the major tasks like mounting the Currie F9 rear end and putting the fenders back on. Check out how far we’ve come this week below!
Day 15: Currie F9 Mounting, QA1 Coil Overs, Billet Specialties Wheels, Radiator Mount
by
Tom Bobolts
on
March 12, 2010
Project Grandma gets fitted with a new suspension, utilizing a Currie F9 rear end and QA1 coil over shocks. Also, we mount up a set of Billet Specialties wheels and a Fluidyne radiator
Last week we finished welding in the necessary mounts for our QA1 shocks, what we missed telling you about, was the TRZ Suspension we are using in the rear of the car.
Project Grandma started out as a plain-Jane, refrigerator white, underpowered, smog-strangled ’78 Malibu that was in desperate need of attention. After we got our hands on her, she was fitted out with a 25.5 roll cage and an asphalt-tattooing Edelbrock/Musi 555 cubic inch engine.
We are nearing the end of Project Grandma, a project we so dearly love. In preparation for the arrival from Bob Lapp from Spagetti Menders, we spent some time getting all of the electronics mounted in the car – goodies like the Auto Meter tach and gauges, plus a FAST Dual Wide Band Air/Fuel Sensor. Here’s a quick update.
Last week, Mike Ryan added some support to the soft underbelly of our 1978 Chevy Malibu we love to call – GRANDMA – with our frame rails required for the 25.5 cage. It’s time to move on the roll cage structure, so we laid out our Chassis Engineering 10-point roll cage and started to get busy
Most racing sanctioning bodies require that you run some type of exhaust on your car, and it was no different for Project Grandma. We showed you in an earlier update the beautiful set of hand made Lemons Header’s that we had made for the car, but that only makes up half of the exhaust system needed. Flowmaster Mufflers got the call for old Granny, and then we got everything coated using a Techline coating by Olympic Coatings. See how everything turned out by reading more.
After more than a year of construction, Project Grandma was finally ready for her shakedown runs! We’ve been dying to share the whole story with you and now here is the scoop. With the car strapped down on the trailer, we made the trip up to Fontana, CA for the 2009 LA Invasion Car Show and Drag Racing. The quarter mile track at the California Speedway would be the place to put down a few gentle shakedown runs.
With the mini tubs all in, our fabricator Mike Ryan got ready to start on the Chassis Engineering roll cage. However, first we would need to build the frame rails to comply with the 25.5 spec that would make the car legal to 7.50 e.t.’s.
Our old grandma was a little weak in the in the hip so to speak. With thirty-year-old body bushings holding the old Malibu up it was an understatement to say she needed some hip replacement. It was decided to replace the body bushings, but with what was the question. We had seen first hand the stock bushings couldn’t stand up to the elements on the road so they would be destroyed in a month at the track. No we needed something better. Something that would stand up to the abuse that this car is going to be receiving. Something like Energy Suspension’s Hyperflex Bushings.
This symphony of mechanical synchronization is the result of headers built to perform in the upper echelons of the racing world. But the use of large racing headers can produce problems all of their own, especially on stock chassis and engine vehicles. Potential problems range from fitment to ground clearance issues, and they may even make the simplest tasks such as changing spark plugs a major problem. Check out how these Lemon’s Headers help make all of these none existent for Project Grandma.
This haul-ass crate engine is going into our Project Grandma build car. On the first two parts of the Edelbrock 555ci crate engine build, we featured the build up of the short block and the long block. For our third and final installment, the big block hits the engine dyno, equipped with some Edelbrock laughing gas. Come look inside to see how much our 555 made on and off the nitrous.
Our project car that we lovingly call “Grandma” had a suspension that walked like a duck, and made noises that sounded like a duck. Not wanting to be “fowl” on the strip, we gave Grandma some help with a performance racing suspension from TRZ Motorsports and kicked in a premium shock package from QA1. To cap off our upgrade, we treated Grandma to a new set of brakes from Aerospace Brakes that wouldn’t lead to a quack-up when we tried to stop. Now that we’ve started our project build with components worthy of a 1,050 hp nitrous-breathing beast, Grandma is certainly not a sitting duck, but read the story and let us know what you think.
In part one of this three article series, we assembled the short block of our Edelbrock/Musi 555 big block crate engine that is destined for our project car that we lovingly call “Grandma”. In this part two of three, we will look at completing the long block as we get it ready for the final part, throwing it on the dyno with a little nitrous. Check out the long block build.
What’s bigger than a breadbox and has more power than steaming locomotive? Answer: The not so mild mannered Edelbrock/Pat Musi five-fifty-five (555 cubic inch) crate engine. This is part one of three of our 555 engine build. The base of the project is a Dart block with a JE/Scat rotating assembly. By part three we will be on the engine dyno with a healthy shot of nitrous. Come check out and see how it all goes together.
When it comes to trying to run low 8′s, you can have all the horsepower in the world, but your rear end and transmission need to be bulletproof. So when it came time to select a transmission for Project Grandma – our infamous ’78 Malibu – we made a call to the transmission experts over at TCI. They recommended one of their Pro-X Powerglide transmissions, and you’re about to learn more than you ever dreamed about what it takes to make a serious ‘Glide.
Wiring is usually the last thing an enthusiast thinks about when building a new race car. And – it usually shows. Bundles of unlabeled wires, shorts, difficulty starting, and electrical gremlins usually show up when the car debuts, or soon after. Even if not, the wiring being an afterthought usually comes back to bite the racer at the worst possible time… race day. One man, Bob Lapp, made a vow a long time ago to fix this disaster once and for all by designing, building and selling turn-key, cutting-edge, simple wiring systems for race cars. His company is named – most appropriately – Spaghetti Menders.
Selecting a bulletproof rear end for your car may seem easy, but there are a lot of different builders, and hundreds of options from wild to mild. A name that has always been at the top of the list is Currie, and they have released a new fully fabricated 9-inch housing – the F9 – for hardcore drag racing applications. We got a first hand look at the F9 as they build one for our Project Grandma.
Today marked the first day toward the chassis fabrication of Project Grandma. We all have been longing to see our old gal come together, but there were a few things holding us back. Now the stars have aligned granting us permission move forward. This will be the first of many Project Updates that we will be doing to bring all of you daily work as the build progresses. Now, before we dive right into the first day, a quick recap on where we are so far.
Safety should always be on your mind when you a build any type of race car. For our Project Grandma, the little old 1000+ hp lady from Pasadena who we expect to run 8s on the quarter mile, we needed to add a nice set of restraints and a parachute to make sure our driver – and our car – make it back to the pits in one piece. To we sourced famous safety-supplier Simpson to supply some of the safety gear for our car.
Holiday’s are over, and it is time to get back in the saddle. We left off last year with Grandma’s frame notching for tire clearance. As Maxwell Smart was prone to say: “Missed it by that much”.. and it was time to do it again. Here’s our second shot.
Every day Project Grandma gets a little closer. This week, we finished up 90% of the mini-tubs which were supplied by Chassis Engineering. In our ’78 Malibu, we’ve already done segments on the narrowing of the frame rails, cutting out the stock wheel tubs, and boxing the frame rails back in. Now it was time to make sure we can fit the tire and wheel combination with our mini-tubs.
Progress. Slow and steady progress has been the theme since our last update. Mike Ryan has been plugging away on our 1978 Malibu, Project Grandma, with the goal of getting the Chassis Engineering mini tubs built this week. First though, there were a few loose ends to tie up before we could put Grandma in the tub – errr, I mean the tubs in Grandma.
