26'x40' shop build

[bigbadjim]

Would it be fair to say you like cuttin things up. Nice shop to do it all in. Please carry on.

I do. ha ha... there is nothing like chop, cut, rebuild..... recycle and re use.

By the way.....I absolutely love your shop. I've checked out your thread quite a few times. The old barn and its aged wood is awesome, the patina and rust in the metal....Love it. Sure looks like your in a remote relaxing and peaceful area. The antiques and old items just make the place. Oh, and nice cars! My friend has a 52 buick with a straight eight (340cu?) I think.

 

[Rigpig]

You don't need a heater much in Victoria do you? my heating friend says that heater is overkill for my 1200sq/ft shop and is rated for 2500sq/ft. I'm good with that, bigger is better! My front shop has a 45000btu and according to his chart it should have a 32000. But it runs and runs and it never gets to a comfortable temp in there.

On a better note, I got that furnace for $400, its a year old and was salvaged from the local 911 center when it was being torn down.

Right place, at the right time.

No don't need anything substantial really, just a nice "Mr.Heater" (40ish BTU)or something similar to take the edge off. The shop isn't insulated yet and probably won't be til the spring.
I work primarily in northern Alberta and can handle -35C a lot easier than the dampness here at home! LOL
Cheers!

 

[bigbadjim]

No don't need anything substantial really, just a nice "Mr.Heater" (40ish BTU)or something similar to take the edge off. The shop isn't insulated yet and probably won't be til the spring.
I work primarily in northern Alberta and can handle -35C a lot easier than the dampness here at home! LOL
Cheers!

I checked out your build, pretty nice. I like the I-beam idea for lifting. Your upper office/loft is exactly what I wanted to do but the town would not allow that roof pitch. Bylaws bylaws...

 

[justin1795]

my 1983 mustang drag car was my high school car that I've owned now for 18 years, 393 stroked 351windsor, c4 auto, transbrake, manual valvebody, 4500 stall, 8.8" rearend with 4.30 gears, last time I had it at the track my best was a 10.5 @ 128mph.

my 87 is pretty identical to yours. 408 c4 5000 stall with 3.73 ran 10.49 128mph

 

[bigbadjim]

my 87 is pretty identical to yours. 408 c4 5000 stall with 3.73 ran 10.49 128mph

Do you have anything special done to your C4 like a better clutch pack & bands or any internal changes?

Mine has a manual valve body from Redneck racing with transbrake. As of right now my trannys injured and needs clutch packs changed out. 3rd gear slips like a ******.

Could be from spraying the juice to it. Car hauls a$$ with the 100 shot of Nos!

 

[Rigpig]

I checked out your build, pretty nice. I like the I-beam idea for lifting. Your upper office/loft is exactly what I wanted to do but the town would not allow that roof pitch. Bylaws bylaws...

Yeah I decided to have the truss supplier change the pitch at the last minute, after thinking about it for some time. The price was almost three times more than original but well worth it and glad I changed it for the space. I ended up about 6-ish feet over my allowable height limit, but my property grade is all over the place and my inspector is a really good guy and passed it. That I-beam was such a great idea too, I use it all the time. If you can still get one into your shop, I highly recommend it!
Cheers!

 

[justin1795]

its one of the cheaper preformance automatics. the guy who had it before me added the transbrake when it was rebuilt. i ourchased a nitrous kit and even filled the bottle. i installed it and even had the cam made with intentions for nitrous but i got cold feet and took the solonoids back off.

 

[bigbadjim]

its one of the cheaper preformance automatics. the guy who had it before me added the transbrake when it was rebuilt. i ourchased a nitrous kit and even filled the bottle. i installed it and even had the cam made with intentions for nitrous but i got cold feet and took the solonoids back off.

What size of juice shot? I had my motor set up for nitrous also. Very sceptic and kinda worried at first.
Then I met a seasoned veteran at the track that has run nitrous for years. He runs 400shot on his 429cu and runs low 9's.... YIKES!
He explained to me all about his experiences with nitrous and that the worst thing is for the fuel to shut down and you have a straight nitrous injection into your engine and then BOOM!
He explained to me that one of the most important parts of a nitrous system is a simple $10 fuel pressure switch. He gave me a 5 psi he had in his trailer and helped me wire it which was so simple. its a simple little switch that goes in the fuel line or fuel rail, and has two terminals on it. You wire it inline with a single wire that goes to the NOS solenoid. If the fuel pressure drops your nitrous simply shuts off automatically.
Another thing he explained was timing, 2 degrees advance for every 50shot and 2 degrees retard for safety. This is what to start with and tune from there.

He told me about numerous track members that have seen his combo go into the 9's and then they want to copy it.

He talked about one guy specifically that threw a 250 big shot plate on a V8 duster that was not internally built for nitrous, he advanced the motor 6 degrees (the more timing the better he thought) he made two deadly fast runs down the track (popping and shooting flames out his carb and exhaust) after his second pass he was towed to the pits. He blew his head gaskets and melted 3 pistons up. I guess the rings expanded, pushed outwards and upwards popping the tops of the pistons and pushing into the water jacket, he split 1 cylinder and finished off his block.

Ha ha.....I loved hearing that story.

He helped me that day installing that switch and by building my confidence. I ran 8 nitrous passes that day with no issues whatsoever! It was great! I have run 40-50 passes with the juice to date. I'm hooked!!!!!

 

[bigbadjim]

The gas guys came and finally fired the 150000btu furnace, nice and toasty inside even with no insulation. It was -8C out today and within 25minutes it was +20degrees inside. Works dam good!

They ran 1" black pipe instead of track pipe due to the total distance which was 120 feet to the furnace from the gas meter. I'm glad anyways, its way safer having thick pipe instead of that thin track pipe. If you accidentally hit it with something or hit with a screw a guy should be ok.

The guys installed a manifold on the wall with another fitting in case I wanted to add a water heater, radiant heater or whatever.

 

[bigbadjim]

I managed to get some more welding done on the work bench, I welded some flat bar to mount it to the wall and welded a back splash on it and set the tops in place for mock up. The tops still need to be shortened down a bit too.

I widened the center section where the chop saw sits to 20".This way I can turn the saw to cut 45 degree angles and still have the bench to support the full length. I tried out the bench to cut a few angle pieces and lengths to size, it seems to work good.

 

[justin1795]

the kit i got starts at 150. i even bought the fuel pressure saftey switch but still got cold feet. i didnt make it to the track once last year with moving. our track is switching to ihra and im hoping i get the bug this year.