As an event announcer, who has raced on multiple occasions while mic’d up and talking, I can also tell you that there have been a few times when someone had a bad idea like this that I jumped at and later on wondered if it was smart. I’m sure DW had a few moments like that during this lap. Check it out.

Video Description:

Team BOC’s Jason Bright gave NASCAR legend Darrell Waltrip his first taste of a V8 Supercar, taking him for some hot laps around Mount Panorama in Bathurst, Australia. The four-time NASCAR Champion was clearly thrilled with his high-speed passenger ride.

The post WatchingDarrell Waltrip Lose His Mind While Riding Shotgun Around Mount Panomara In Bathurst Australia Is Awesome! appeared first on BangShift.com.

Video Description:

The clutch I installed in my 65 Chevy Impala, Project Evil Orchid, went bad on day 1 of Rocky Mountain Race Week, RMRW 1.0, last year. I need to find out what happened. What did I do wrong? The BluePrint Engines Power Adder small block 400 has been running great, as well as the American Powertrain T-56 Magnum six speed. The clutch is a RXT Twin Disc from McLeod was working perfect, until I did something to make it not perfect. McLeod has been great trying to help me diagnose the problem. But, it’s necessary to pull the transmission to find the problem, and get to it fixed.

I am so confident in McLeod’s products, I ordered another RXT from them, and will send back the old one to be inspected and rebuilt.

The post Clutch Tech: RebelDryver Scott Is Replacing The Clutch On His 515 HP 1965 Impala SS with a T-56 6 speed AGAIN! appeared first on BangShift.com.

The video is not slated so we have no idea what year it was made in, but it looks all the world like the late 1970s or early 1980s to us. The Corvette itself is a chrome bumper car so that gives you an indication of its age. Clearly the idea was not to add airbags to the C3 platform but to test their efficacy for later inclusion into cars like the C4 and up.

If there is one interesting element that seems to fail the dummies in this crash it is the seats and the seat belts. Watch how the “driver” slides completely out of the seat and kind of just tomahawks around the passenger compartment. With no side bolstering to hold the driver in place and only a three point belt, the side impact sends him for a pretty good ride after he rebounds off of the air bag.

This is cool stuff and proof that automotive safety has been as much an evolution as performance has, even in cars like the mighty Corvette.

Press play below to see this interesting old video from Chevrolet showing crash tests –

The post Crash Test Video: Watch This C3 Corvette Equipped With Air Bags Get Demolished appeared first on BangShift.com.

These systems provide an aggressive yet functional muscle car stance. A first for Ridetech, both coilover and air systems now feature a rubber isolated spherical bearing design that minimizes NVH noises commonly associated with performance oriented suspension systems.

This additional compliance strikes a happy medium for those who want all the performance benefits of an adjustable suspension without sacrificing ride quality or comfort. As such, they are equally at home applying Gen III Hemi power to the pavement at the drag strip, autocross, track day, or a spirited drive carving corners on canyon roads.

Both coilover and air systems are sporting a fresh new look, featuring black and gray anodized finishes that pair nicely with the rest of the hardware. Fine-tuning of suspension responsiveness is accomplished via the 24-position rebound adjustable HQ series coilovers with Fox Factory valving and internals.

While these two systems are the first to release for these applications, Ridetech’s triple-adjustable TQ-series coilovers for dedicated track builds are coming soon. Stay tuned!

The post Featured Products: Ridetech Late Model Mopar Coilovers & Air Suspension Now Available! appeared first on BangShift.com.

From background information like the fact the truck was originally pitched as having used the Grand National proven 3.8L V6, to the point that two different companies were basically pitted against each other to create the prototypes which the company would eventually approve. Hell, we didn’t know that by government standards this thing is not even calld a GMC?!

Great history, story telling, and knowledge dropped here. Check this out!

Press play below to see this awesome video that tells the Syclone story!

The post Great Video: Here’s The Inside Story On How The Legendary GMC Syclone Came To Exist And Fly! appeared first on BangShift.com.

The neater parts of this video are when we get to go and see how the rings become a finished product (circa 1974, we’re guessing things have advanced slightly in 45 years). There’s loads of testing and R&D work being done in this video and we understand that it’s the same way for large piston ring manufacturers today as well. The basic ideology is largely the same but the methods, accuracy, and specs have all changed over the decades.

The last section of the video is a throwback to an era of engine work that really does not exist anymore. There’s a basic “how-to” that concentrates on how to perform a ring-job on an engine. How many times do we hear of cars getting a set of rings and sent back out on the road, anymore. Sure racing engines get them and perhaps if you buy an old truck or something and want to get it roadworthy but re-ringing the engine in the modern service life of a car is kind of a lost action anymore.

This is a fun watch.

Press play below to see this fascinating 1974 video from Perfect Circle Piston Rings –

The post Old School Cool Video: This 1974 Film From Perfect Circle Piston Rings Showcases Indy, Manufacturing, Lloyd Ruby appeared first on BangShift.com.

Video Description:

DO ROLLER ROCKERS ADD POWER? FULL DYNO RESULTS ON LS ROLLER ROCKER UPGRADES. HOW MUCH POWER DO THEY ADD TO AN LS MOTOR? ARE ROLLER ROCKERS A GOOD UPGRADE? HOW DO ALUMINUM ROCKERS COMPARE TO A CAM SWAP? HOW MUCH POWER IS A CAM WORTH? CHECKOUT THIS VIDEO WHERE I RAN THREE DIFFERENT MOTORS, THE FIRST WITH A SIMPLE BTR TRUCK NORRIS CAM SWAP ON A 5.3L. TEST NUMBER 2 INVOLVED COMPARING A STOCK LM7 CAM TO AN LS7 CAM, THEN SHOWING THE RESULTS OF 1.8 ROCKERS ON THE LS7 CAM. THE FINAL TEST WAS TO DYNO TEST 1.85 ROCKERS VERSUS THE STOCK ROCKERS ON A 5.7L LS1, THEN COMPARE THE ROCKER GAINS TO A CAM SWAP (WITH STOCK ROCKERS).

The post LS ROLLER ROCKERS VS CAM SWAP-WHICH ONE ADDS MORE POWER? HOW MUCH HP ARE 1.85 ROLLER ROCKERS WORTH? appeared first on BangShift.com.

The points are handed out before the field is split into classes, so overall field size and talent depth are both important factors. That can often make early season stops and those in geographically remote locations like Portland or Sebring offer more potential for big points, than the sold-out events with stacked fields that will come later in the year. With a second stop at Thunderhill now in the books, the points battle is beginning to take shape across all the classes in the series. Even though these cars could be separated by thousands of miles and may not face off in the regular season, many tight battles are already emerging.

Duke Langley’s ’02 Corvette has been dominant in the Nine Lives Racing Lucky 7 Outlaw Class, but he always seems to be waging a battle with his car, to keep it on track. Langely lost the battle at Thunderhill and couldn’t even make the start, which now puts Danny Weller’s Camaro and Jamie Elliott’s Corvette in a tie for first place in the class with 399 out of 400 points at the first two events. Langley can still get around them, but it will probably take at least one perfect weekend for him to do it and the longer he waits and the more points they gather, the tougher that task will get.

In the Speedtech GTV Class, Ryan Breezee’s first place finish at Thunderhill only placed him third overall in the season-long points chase, while the Camaros of Chris Smith and Larry Woo hold onto the top two spots from their runs at Sebring. Breezee is only signed up for one more event this season at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca and it will take a 490-point run there for him to pass Smitty for the lead in points…if Smitty does no better than 472 points in his remaining three events.

Breezee won the GTV Class at Laguna Seca in 2023, but a sold-out field with lots of competitive cars limits points opportunities and Breezee was able to win the class there with 462 points. He may win again at Laguna Seca this season, but if he wants to get around Smitty to win the class championship, he’ll probably need to find his way to Portland.

A transfer case failure caused defending No-Limit Engineering GTT Class champion, Stephen Dorrick, to stumble badly out of the gates at Sebring. He still managed to win the class, but only posted 405 points, which now leaves him fourth after three trucks passed him at Thunderhill. David Carroll’s 41-point lead is not insurmountable, but if Carroll or Dustin Reed do well at Portland, Dorrick may need all three of his remaining events to catch either one of them.

In the After Dark Speed GTS Class, Bob Sobey’s Nissan GT-R posted a 13-point win over Jordan Priestley’s Model 3 at Thunderhill. The two are scheduled to square off again at Laguna Seca and if Sobey posts another win, it would make it hard for Priestley or anyone else to catch him. Priestley will have at least one more shot to do it at Road America and a run at Portland could make things very interesting. If Priestley were to move into the lead after Portland, that would force Sobey to travel from Arizona to the Virginias to try to reel him back in at one of the last stops of the season.

The tightest races can be found in the Lingenfelter GTL Class and the Viking Performance GT Class, where the point differential between first and second is two and one point, respectively. Both of those classes also look to be at least four-horse races. Ryan Mathews’ Corvette holds a two-point lead over Lane Farka’s Porsche GT3, but Mike Rovere and CB Ramey haven’t run any events yet this season. In the GT Class, Matt Ramirez’s Mustang holds a one-point lead over defending class champion, Dave Schotz, who is one point ahead of Austin Barnes’ Mustang, while Jonathan Blevins will wait until the final two events to try and take back the GT class title.

Compelling battles can be found at every stop in this series, so if one of these events comes to a track near you, don’t miss out on your chance to see these incredible machines in person. Learn how you can drive among them at www.DriveOPTIMA.com 

The post Ultimate Street Cars at Thunderhill: Round Two of the Ultimate Street Car heads to Northern California appeared first on BangShift.com.

In the video below, Project Farm is going to put several OE oils through their paces, including oil analysis, so check it out and see how they stack up against Mobil 1. What do you think? OE Oil or aftermarket?

Video Description:

Motor Oils: Mopar, Motorcraft, ACDelco, Honda, Toyota, and Mobil 1. Motor oils compared for lubricity or film strength, evaporative loss, and cold oil flow before and after heat exposure.

The post How Bad Is OEM Oil? Or Good? Honda vs Toyota vs AC Delco vs Motorcraft vs Mobil 1 appeared first on BangShift.com.

In the video below from Backyard Hot Rods you’ll see one method for putting these together. You can find lots of videos online with folks doing them, because ultimately they are super simple. If you have an impact driver and some screws, you can put these together. Ultimately you don’t even have to have a saw as you can have your 2×4’s cut at Home Depot or Lowes.

Check out this super simple design. You can also make additional small stacks to fit onto these to lift the car even higher, but keep in mind that anything over 12 inches is a little sketchy when it comes to jacking up the car in one lift. So lift it up and put all four tires on your 12 inch tall cribs and then lift again to place another 6 inches under each corner.

Video Description:

I have two projects that I need the car up in the air while the load of the car being on the wheels and tires. Making a set of wheel cribs is my best option to solve the problem. I go through step by step to show you how I made them, what tools to use and exactly how much wood. Plus I go into detail on why I built them the way I did.

The post DIY Wheel Cribs: How To Get Your Car In The Air, Without A Lift Or Big Money By Building Your Own Wheel Cribs At Home appeared first on BangShift.com.