RE: [DML] DMC Engine Upgrade

["Gus Schlachter" <gus@xxxx>]

Bill,

I say I didn't know my car was running yet! Boy, this must be a great
mailing list for me to be able to get status updates here first. The last
time I talked to Stephen it was before the weekend, and the car wasn't
driveable yet. (I've been watching on the webcam...there's a RED one in
there right now...)

I was privileged to be the recipient of the prototype USADMC engine. My
original engine's water pump failed, and since I was planning on getting one
of the new engines anyway I opted not to fix it and just wait. But the ship
date on the engine was slipping and Cleveland was approaching and I was
getting nervous. While talking it over with Stephen, I decided that I was
not going to have my once-in-a-lifetime snapshot with JZD taken in front of
a rental Geo Metro! I told him that since the schedule was very tight, I'd
rather he sell me a water pump and let me fix it, and then worry about the
new engine after the show. That's when he offered to let me be the guinea
pig on the new engine, being the great guy that he is. I've been mum on the
subject because he asked me to keep it low-key until the engine was tested,
but I guess the cat's out of the bag if he's giving out test drives.

And that's not all I'm having done to the car, either. I'm getting the
lowering springs, the new shocks that Chris Parnham mentioned next week, and
a new set of Yokos. Anybody need an old set of springs? Tires? Shocks?
An engine, perhaps?

So yes, I am fully prepared to give out frequent test drives on the new
setup in Cleveland. It's just as well, since I then won't have to suffer
through that awful break-in period. :-)

Gus Schlachter
Austin, TX
VIN# 4695 (Hey Bill, our VINs are only 35 apart!)




> -----Original Message-----
> From: William H. Swilley [mailto:billswilley@xxxx]
> Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2000 6:01 PM
> Subject: [DML] DMC Engine Upgrade
>
>
> Stopped into DMC yesterday to pick up my car, and Stephen invited me to go
> with him for a drive in Gus Schlachter's car, which has just received the
> first new engine. Stephen was particularly interested in my impressions,
> since we did a one-off engine on mine a few years back (Port and polished
> heads, slight milling, higher lift cam, a couple of other minor hot rod
> tricks). In Gus's car, the engine was installed with the stock exhaust
> system as the header system has not arrived as yet, but the initial drive
> was very encouraging. It seemed to be a little faster overall than mine,
> but with a much smoother power band. Mine is a little "peaky", coming on
> strong at about 3500 rpm or so, but pulling strong past 6000 (I've
actually
> seen 7000 a couple of times in first and second gears). Gus's begins
> pulling strongly at about 2500 and continues up to 5500 (as far as I dared
> to push it), where Stephen says the dyno says things begin to fall off
> rapidly.
>
> I'm anxious to get another look at the setup once Stephen gets the headers
> on and fine tunes the timing and idle. I'm hoping to follow it up to
> Cleveland and "road test" it. What say you, Gus?
>
> Bill Swilley
> Houston
> VIN: 04730
> TX Lic: 81 DMC