Jay M

I posted this in another thread:
I used the LACR altitude correction figures and came up with 12.6 @ 113.8 mph

I am trying to decide what to do about traction. I think the ideal would be ofset trailing arms and BIG FAT street tires. Or take to cheaper way out and just put drag radials for the strip.

The advantage of bigger street tires is that I will always have good traction, and it may improve the handling.

Any thoughts?

~Jay

WillRace4Food

Drag radials will be a big improvement over those street tires. A better solution would be a set of 15" drag radials or et streets. Skinnies will make a BIG difference also if you want to make the investment.

norvalwilhelm

Sounds like you had a really good day. I found ET streets really hook well and can be driven on the street, well a little anyway.
Nice times :thumbs: :thumbs:

burners

You still pulled some good times so that is very impressive. I think that slicks would put you really close to 11's. Personally I would go with offset trailing arms and bigger tires in the back. There is no doubt that a taller sidewall would help you at the track but they aren't much fun on the street. So I would have a set of tires for the strip. Hey, you could buy a used set of slicks from someone that is a little more hardcore about it. Those people usually don't run them to the end of their life.

hudman

Jay-

Can you describe for me your launch technique so I can learn from it?

Perhaps others could chime in as well.

Thanks

bence13_33

I like the Mickey Thompson ET Streets I run them everywhere I go. Basically they are a street legal racing slick. I had a feeling that you would be in the mid-high 12s. It's those 17" rims that are giving you problems, low profile tires do not hook well. The best I ever ran on street tires was 12.4 @ 116MPH on 215/70/15 BF Goodrich Radial TAs. My best ever run was a 12.1 @ 118MPH with the Mickey Thompson ET Streets. The ET Streets bite hard and you only need to warm them up a little in the burnout box and they are ready to go. What are your 60' times like? I know with the street tires I used to have problems with the tires coming loose on the 1st-2nd shift. Whenever it happens you need to peddle it, get out of it and then get back in it. I would also recommend that if you ever get out of the "groove" to get out of the throttle altogether. I've seen cars go into the gaurd rails because some people just don't know when to get out of it.

Someone asked about launching technique. I would usually stage my car shallow, tach it to about 2500RPMs or so and launch it on the last yellow. I would slip the clutch a little bit while giving it gas, I was only cutting 1.8-1.9 60' times to save my rear end and tranny. I could have easily been pulling 1.6s or better with the slicks, but the harder you launch it the harder it is on all the drivetrain. It sure feels great to feel the car bite coming off the line and set you back in your seat. Congrats on your times, your MPH is decent, if you ditch that Torker II intake your MPH would pick up significantly (ask me how I know).

Jay M

Thanks for the replies!

My launch technique isn't very sophisticated... I just leave the line off idle and try not to spin the tires. Then second gear I try even harder not to spin the tires! Bassically When I launch I back off as soon as the tires start to spin, then when I hit second gear I back off 'til the tires stop spinning. Third and forth are fine. I was at about 6500rpms at the finish line in third gear! It seems a little bit much for a hydrolic roller. There were some runs where I would needed to back off completely to stop the tires from spinning.

I love the torque, but it is a pain to control!

Bence,
I agree about not being affraid to slow down when you are out of control. I saw one car drift across the line into the other lane. It must have scared the crap out of the other guy. There was also an 11 second C5 that got real close to rail.

I just figure if the tires are spinning it isn't gonna be a good run anyway.

You say the Torker II is bad. Are there any other options that fit under the hood? I kind of want a fuel injection kit. I might be able to squeeze the edelbrock kit under the hood. The throttle body is only 2" vs my holly carb which is 3 1/2 inches. The edelbrock kit overall would be an inch taller than the holly/torker II. I think the manifold that comes with the edelbrock multi-point kit would be much better.

What are your thoughts? Is the Torker II or the hydrolic rollers limiting my speed?

While I want to be much quicker, I was warned by the guy at the track who has the 10.70ET '70 vette that I'd be surpprised at how many things break when you get down to the 11's His advice was to leave my car alone and just enjoy it. The guy with the 700hp C5 said the same.

I guess I'm just hard headed! I'm not content until I can beat all the street legal rice, and supercharged Cobras.

thanks,

~Jay


[Modified by Jay M, 11:43 PM 4/22/2004]

Jughead

:lolg: :lolg: He probably didn't have a wing! :lol:

bence13_33

Jay:
The guy you talked to is correct, once you start launching your car hard and getting into the 11s you are going to start breaking parts. One of the guys that runs at my track ran his 'Vette and I watched him launch and he broke a spindle. Some parts you may want to consider switching to if you decide to go with sticky tires would be: Spicer solid u-joints and stronger spindles and side yokes. The Torker II isn't that great of an intake in my opinion, but it is probably your best option when hood clearance is an issue. I just ditched my hood all together and switched to an L88 hood and a Holley Strip Dominator intake. I'd have to dig up my time slips but I picked up like 4MPH by switching to the Strip Dominator over the Torker II (I have the timeslips to prove it). The hydraulic roller shouldn't be limiting you any, hydraulic rollers make nice power. Personally I prefer either solid flat tappets or solid rollers but a hydraulic roller will make power. What are the specs on the cam? Are your heads R-Port or O-Port?

Solid LT1

Some Mickey Thompson E/T Street slicks will take about 1/2 second off that 60 ft time with stock suspension. DO NOT ever let your trailing arms bottom out!! You will kick out a 1/2 shaft the instant they hit hard on the bump stops the first time! Jsck the car up on it's spring bolts or get shorter ones, don't worry about the weight transfer, the slicks will make up for the loss of weight, do a short burn out to clean them and get to the line and concentrate on not red lighting! The M/T ET streets are the best!, I have a set of 275/50/15 Drag T/As with 4-6 passes on them on rally wheels for $400 if you are looking for some street tires that can be driven to the track, they are about a 1/4 sec slower than the M/T tires. Email me if you are interested, I live in Nor Cal so the shipping won't be too bad.

Jay M

I don't know the cam specs, it was custom designed by the engine builder. He has the specs written down somewhere, but he couldn't find them when I came to pick them up :rolleyes: I might swing by his shop this afternoon and see if he found them yet. He designed it based on the flow characteristics of the Merlin Oval port heads.

I plan on having Guldstrand completely work over the suspention- new springs, bushings, and shocks. While he has it apart I'll see how much some heavy duty hardware will add to the cost. A quick search on Tom's differential and Van Steel's web sights lead me to believe that it will be EXPENSIVE$$$$$

If I use drag radials, what do I need to build up to handel to power I am making? (see my dyno graph in signiture)

What size drag radials would be wide enough?

~Jay

Solid LT1

I would not use Tom's yokes or spindles. Use International Axel parts! They are THE BEST! in the spindle and side yoke market. You should change to 1/2" wheel studs too, the Ford disc brake studs for the late 60's cars are a little longer but, will still fit under a Rally wheel cap. 7/16" wheels studs are on the edge when racing at the drags or autocross races, change them!