Wrong Tranny? & Blowing Smoke Through the Vents (My race with a Corvette) - Long

[Treachery]

I went on a long distance drive with my '93 and a Corvette came up on me on a very open road. Ideal race conditions.

My engine mods are as follows: Vortech SQ trim 8lb boost, TFS Stage II CNC Ported heads, 1:6 Roller Rockers, Stage II Cam, Vortech Intake Manifold, Accufab 65mm TB, MSD Ignition & distributor, MAC H-Pipe (no cats), 30lb Injectors, 190lph fuel pump, T-Rex Fuel Pump (came with Vortech Kit), Custom Chip w/ Custom tune.

Suspension Mods: Lakewood Drag Shocks 50/50 (rear) & 90/30 (front), HPM Megabite Jr. Upper & Lower, Kenny Brown Chassis Stiffening Kit - Subframe Connectors, Strut Tower Brace, G-Load Brace, 3.73 rear end

Transmission: Tremec TKO II - .83 OD 5th gear Transmission

More than enough to take an otherwise stock Corvette with (maybe) an upgraded exhaust?

Well... I struggled to keep up with this Corvette past 100mph. Everything in my Mustang says that i should've handled this Vette without blinking.

What i did notice during the race was that i could've used another gear. With a .83 5th gear & 3.73 rear end, i was already reving the hell out of the engine at 100mph. Also, i smoke was coming out of my vents. It smelled like burning oil.

Resolution(?)- changing to a 3.55 rear end? As for the smoke blowing through my vents- I don't know.

Please assist.

 

[12-psi]

I don't know about the smoke, but I know you should wax a stock vette with your mods. I had a stock sq-trim at stock boost, with 3.73's and full exhaust and I'd run neck to neck with my buddies bolt on 99 vert six speed. We were so close it was driver error and he drove his vette harder then I did my cobra. He had a z06 intake, diff throttle body, cold air intake, (maybe diff maf), and borla exhuast. Those mods really woke his car up.

 

[90mustang306]

I dont think it would be the heater core...

 

[unibager]

As you know, you should be able to wax a vett. The smoke may be due to the dipstick popping out a bit and getting some oil on the headers, or the pcv can pop out quite easily and do the same. Consequently, this can cause a lean condition and must be taken seriously.
As far as your tune or setup goes, all I can think of is that the cars tune may not be right. Is the fuel staying up or going down, is the boost retard up too high, and finally have you dynoed the car?
Mys etup used to be: 306, 8-1 comp, tfs- 1 cam, trick flow heads (out of box), tfs-r intake, motorsports headers and a h-pipe and flowmasters, vortech s-trim (8 lbs). My point, wasted a 03 ZO6 from 60>>>>>>>>>160 mph. Atleast 6 car lengths. Hope this helps.

 

[BADBOYSPACK]

yes go with the 3.55 gears

 

[LEE93COBRA]

As you know, you should be able to wax a vett. The smoke may be due to the dipstick popping out a bit and getting some oil on the headers, or the pcv can pop out quite easily and do the same.
.

I agree. Basically it is 'blow-by' that you are getting when under full boost. Do you have your PCV routed to the inlet side of the supercharger? If not you need to do so.

 

[BADBOYSPACK]

Did you have the cars a/c system on vent or something, there should be nothing coming out of the vents ,unless you had it on

 

[Treachery]

After closer inspection, the smoke was coming up from the center console through the shifter. I took a look underneath and it was moist. I'd guess my oil pan gasket is wasted. No signs of cracks or anything else. I should be receiving the 3.55's tomorrows.

I wonder how different the 3.55's are going to feel like. 3.73's were on about 10 years now.

With 3.73's and my setup, i see that i'm shifting from gear to gear very quickly during a hard run. I'm expecting each gear to last a little longer before shifting, on 3.55. I will lose a little acceleration but gain in high end. Hopefully, the s/c can gain back what's lost.

What if i leave the 3.73's in and choose to have my 3550 TKO-II .83 converted to a .68. Can this be done?

 

[buddha93]

You should easily run at 120mph in 4th gear with a 3.73 rearend. You say you were reving the heck out of it.......what kind of RPM are we talking here? You could have the tranny converted, but it would'nt be cost effective in this case. I think you have something else going on here.........

 

[93 COBRA]

I had a similar problem...

The mounting hangers on my Mac H-pipe were too long and protruded through the trans mount and pushed on the speedo cable causing it to get c0cked slightly and would fling trans fluid on the exhaust at high speed. I had smoke coming out near the center council.