HOKAY! Time for an update.
In the past couple weeks, I've done a bit.
Got rid of the craptastic tires, and put on a set of Yokohama S.Drives in 205-55. They look great and good lord do they grip. I mean holy hell, these are awesome tires.
I've been driving it basically every day.
The old clutch was done-I couldn't accelerate in 4th or 5th without smoking the clutch entirely, so it had to come out. I got in touch with JohnV, and here's what we worked out:
Flat 8.5" flywheel, drilled to accept a Kennedy Stage III pressure plate
Aluminum standoffs since the Stg 3 pressure plate is designed for a stepped flywheel
Some random NOVA brand 9" disc I found locally-full face organic, sprung hub.
And it is
awesome. Nice, heavy pedal, no slip AT ALL.
Installed a WootBar(tm) which, in conjunction with the new tires, has totally transformed the handling of the car. It goes where you point it now.
And, tonight, it made it's first visit (as well as my first) to the dragstrip.
In the 1/8th mile, I turned in a best time of 9.7, whereas Derrick drove it to an
extremely respectable 9.3. Once we get the launches down pat, I don't see any reason why I couldn't crack into 8s in the 1/8th. First chance I get, I'm going out to Rockingham or Zmax to run it in the 1/4.
Still battling a bit of a detonation issue which only rears it's head when ambient temps drop below 70 or so. I'm going to replace the BPR7ES plugs that are in there with a set of 6ES and see if that helps. Also going to re-check the base timing.
Oh, and here are a couple pictures of the new clutch setup.