Crash Dummy

It was alot of fun as HRP is a first class drag strip, but not what I thought the '71 454 would run in the 1/4 mile. The tach was not working, so I was shifting the Muncie M-22 4 speed purely off of sound. I don't know what the rear end gearing is, but out of pure instinct I ended up shifting to 4th when the engine really didn't sound like it was winding up yet. Then again... a racing helmet muffles alot of sound. Anyway.... here are the numbers. No other vettes were out there when we left at 7PM.

Run #1: Dumped the clutch with little RPM's
60'..... 2.620
330.... 6.724
1/8..... 10.135
1/8 MPH... 72.00
1000... 13.140
1/4..... 15.653
MPH.... 89.20

Run #2: More RPM's off the line & shifted earlier in each gear
60'..... 2.348
330.... 6.524
1/8..... 10.049
1/8 MPH... 70.52
1000... 13.101
1/4..... 15.633
MPH.... 89.74

Run #3: Guessing left the line at about 3500 RPM's
60'..... 2.330
330.... 6.436
1/8..... 9.880
1/8 MPH... 71.33
1000... 12.860
1/4..... 15.360
MPH.... 90.71

Don't even ask reaction times. I love this vette, but it is officially retired from drag racing.

Jughead

Glad you posted the results. I've been sitting here taping my foot since 4pm. :lolg: Without a tach it's tough to tell what the engine is doing. I was never good at racing either. Almost dead reaction time. :lol:

You and MNJack would be a good BB race! :jester

vincevette

It sure is fun going down the track. How long did it take for you to get the smile off your face? Anyway it looks like you short shifted and didn't get in your power band. You shound be will in to the low 14's or high 13's with the big block but that my questsamtion. :cool: Vince

LiveandLetDrive

hmm, I would guess the tach issue had alot to do with that. How many HP/TQ is your engine supposed to have stock, is it stock? Sorry to hear you were disappointed with your car. I hope you can try again when the tach is working and have some fun, your car loves it, I promise :D

Best of luck,
Chris


[Modified by RUXperienced, 8:48 PM 8/24/2003]

Crash Dummy

The engine is the stock 454/365HP version and ran without a flaw. A live tach would have definitely helped. I very well may have been short shifting as again I was going off of sound and how well the car seemed to be pulling. Then again... if I was short shifting I would have never made it well past the 1000ft mark before hitting 4th. I don't know what the gearing is on this vette and am not really sure what gear ratios where put back in this tranny when it was rebuilt about 3000 miles ago. It seemed like it took forever to build RPM's through each gear. I've drag raced a 9 second SuperGas doorslammer with a powerglide, but the only times I have been to the strip with a vette it has been with a 4 speed.

By the way.... a guy walked by and told me his wife was going coming in a minute to see if I would trade this vette for the car he trailered in. Seems she loves vettes and doesn't really care about 1/4 mile drag racing. We(the wife) talked for a few minutes and everytime I went up for another pass there were alot of people looking over and taking pics. It was not disappointing. Again... this is a vette that I will keep. But, it does put some inspiration to finish the '74.

jyounane

bgrice,

For what it's worth, my best times were 14.5 at around 97mph. I have an 427/390 L36 with M21 and 3.08 rear. I launch "gently" with a little wheel chirp at 3000rpm, and shift up at 4500. That's on street tires with no burnout.

I'm sure better times are possible with better/aggressive driving but I'd hate to break something!

Best regards,
Joe

GrandSportC3

Looks like you had fun!! :thumbs: :thumbs:

Crash Dummy

Joe,

I'm sure there could be alot of improvements, but I haven't had a vette on the streets in almost 9 months and one way or another one of them was going to the strip today. It just started raining when I left the house by the way. Didn't look like a good plan at all. Having never owned a big block vette I can see the disadvantages of maybe taking on a LT-1 of the same year just due to the weight factor. And the vette has been home now going on 3 hours and the engine compartment is still hot. I usually cover them up at night, but I'll let it sit and dissapate the heat before doing it. It never got over 200 degrees even at the track, so that's good news. There was a video made of one of the launches. I'll post it if it is sent to me.

jyounane

bgrice,

These big blocks take a long time to cool down, under any conditions. I had no temp problems at the dragstrip, however under circuit racing conditions at 100degF the water temp crept up to over 210, however the brake fluid and power steering fluid both boiled before the coolant had a chance to get any hotter, so didn't boil.

The C3 doesn't want to stop or turn at the best of times, so things got very interesting at the circuit. :D

tshort

Hey Barry, glad to see you had a good time out there. I can't wait to get the '69 on the track. I'm searching all over ebay for some nice race wheels with slicks. What's the status on the '74?

Stewart's74

Screw the time slips. Look at it this way,
You had fun without a breakdown
You have a classic Vette with a rat under the hood :reddevil
Nothing else matters.