drag tips and tricks?

65notch

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Jun 18, 2005

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661 Cali

Jun 28, 2006

#1

• Jun 28, 2006

• #1

im going to the track tonite, ive never ran my car on the 1/4 so this should be interesting. I was curious of any mods that can be done to make her a lil quicker. anybody have anything? a while back i read a post about removing the front swaybar? thanks guys!

 

FORCED2DV8

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Jun 6, 2005

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Grand Rapids MI

Jun 28, 2006

#2

• Jun 28, 2006

• #2

They remove the sway bar to allow the front to rise quicker and give you more weight transfer, sometimes it helps. Remove all weight from vehicle, jack and spare ect. make sure you have good air pressure in the front tires, lower in the back (which needs fine tuning to get the right traction) then let her rip, It takes practice and finding out what the car likes best, every car is a little different.. Have fun

 

dodgestang

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Dec 15, 2003

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Cecil County, MD

Jun 28, 2006

#3

• Jun 28, 2006

• #3

personally, if its the first time...just run it the way you always drive it and have fun.

 

MustangMatt1966

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Mar 11, 2004

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Orlando Fl.

Jun 28, 2006

#4

• Jun 28, 2006

• #4

Yeah, i have to agree with dodgestang, you are not gonna go out and blast off the best run possible..it never happends like that, you have to run, and run and run to finally get the car dialed in....start with how you normally drive it, and then change a few things, drive it, change some more..its a process..but the main key, is to have fun, because it is one heck of an adrenaline rush

 

65notch

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Jun 18, 2005

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661 Cali

Jun 28, 2006

#5

• Jun 28, 2006

• #5

thanks guys....im also in phoenix az. it will probably be around 100 degrees tonite when im running...any ideas of what to do to keep her cooler? ice packs maybe? i plan on driving out there. letting her sit for a while and cool down then run....

 

Pbum5

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Oct 27, 2004

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Minneapolis, MN

Jun 28, 2006

#6

• Jun 28, 2006

• #6

using a spayer with water like the ones with a pump that you might use for a garden on the radiator helps cool a little between runs

 

67Dylan

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May 11, 2006

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Phoenix, AZ

Jun 28, 2006

#7

• Jun 28, 2006

• #7

Which track are you heading to? Since it's a Wed night don't expect too much track prep at either track. Like what has already been told to you; drive it like you're on the street. Keep the launch RPM low, hammer thru the gears, and have fun! You can bring a couple of bags of ice to throw on the intake to cool it down, but since we have soooo much heat here I wouldn't bother. Just raise the hood so the heat has somewhere to go, reduce weight, practice, practice, practice. Change one thing at a time, changing multiple parameters can show an improvement, but how do you know which one was responsible for the improvement? They could have an inverse relationship that may take some time to figure out. IMO it's the easiest way to tune a car.

BTW, is that your car in your avitar? Nice lookin' beast! I'm hoping to have my done sometime next year. Good luck!

 

Vinyl66

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Mar 21, 2004

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Jun 28, 2006

#8

• Jun 28, 2006

• #8

Have fun!

For your first time out don't be upset if it doesn't run what you think it will run. It takes lots of practice.

Pump up the front tires to max pressure.
Run with a 1/2 tank of gas or less.
Take the spare tire and jack and any other easily removable weight out of the car.
Removing the sway bar does free up the front end for weight transfer and gets some weight off the front end. I wouldn't worry about it for your first time to the strip though.

If you are running with radial street tires then drive around the water box and spin the tires just a little to get any dirt or rocks off the tread and pull to the start line.
Pull into the pre-staged beam and then "inch" it into the stage beam so you will be staging as shallow as possible.
Launch as hard as the tires will allow you to. If you spin too much you are losing time. A little spin is fine because you know you are on the edge of traction.

Concentrate on how much throttle your tires can tolerate on the launch and your shift points. Change shift points up or down in 200rpm increments and look for the best mph. I wouldn't make any changes to the car between rounds unless something is wrong. This will let you get an idea of how to launch and where to shift without throwing in any other variables.

Let us know how it goes.

And: Have fun!

 

washMO66

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Oct 30, 2001

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Washington, MO

Jun 28, 2006

#9

• Jun 28, 2006

• #9

Drive it like it's stolen........ just try not to blow anything up or break anything.

Have fun, the first time is the best.

 

65notch

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Jun 18, 2005

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661 Cali

Jun 28, 2006

#10

• Jun 28, 2006

• #10

67Dylan said:

Which track are you heading to? Since it's a Wed night don't expect too much track prep at either track.

Click to expand...

im going to Speedworld. ive heard the dont do any track prep tonite which is ok since i guess last weeks turnout was like 15 cars, which IMO is sweet.
thanks for the comment also.

 

1

19stang66

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Apr 16, 2003

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Jun 28, 2006

#11

• Jun 28, 2006

• #11

check out this thread. It has great link in it for noobs like you and me! A beginner's guide to drag racing

This is the link to the actual site -->http://www.vortexbuicks-etc.com/beginner.htm

 

Dark Knight

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Feb 1, 2000

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Chandler, Az.

Jun 28, 2006

#12

• Jun 28, 2006

• #12

Stick or auto? Those packs of blue ice work good and dont leave water on the engine to drip onto the track and under the tires. Gonna be hot out, but you might watch the weather... suck to go if a dust storm comes through.

 

67Dylan

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May 11, 2006

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Phoenix, AZ

Jun 29, 2006

#13

• Jun 29, 2006

• #13

Dark Knight said:

Stick or auto? Those packs of blue ice work good and dont leave water on the engine to drip onto the track and under the tires. Gonna be hot out, but you might watch the weather... suck to go if a dust storm comes through.

Click to expand...

What's up Gary! I still drool everytime I see your car. Nice progress man, hope to see you at an event and BS w/ya!

 

65notch

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Jun 18, 2005

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661 Cali

Jun 29, 2006

#14

• Jun 29, 2006

• #14

well....that was so sweet! my best time was a 14.796 @96.643mph. which IMO isnt to bad for a first timer. i had so much wheel spin i had to start off in 2nd gear.. and i still had wheel spin pretty bad.

to answer the question Dark Knight asked....its a 5spd manual.

my engine is a 289 .030 over. other than that the bottom end and heads are stock(rebuilt but stock specs) RPM intake, 600 cfm carb. msd. performer cam. 3.55 gears with detriot tru trac.

 

ga289stocker

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May 23, 2006

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Sugar Hill, Ga

Jun 29, 2006

#15

• Jun 29, 2006

• #15

65notch said:

well....that was so sweet! my best time was a 14.796 @96.643mph. which IMO isnt to bad for a first timer. i had so much wheel spin i had to start off in 2nd gear.. and i still had wheel spin pretty bad.

to answer the question Dark Knight asked....its a 5spd manual.

my engine is a 289 .030 over. other than that the bottom end and heads are stock(rebuilt but stock specs) RPM intake, 600 cfm carb. msd. performer cam. 3.55 gears with detriot tru trac.

Click to expand...

Wow man love your car, We have almost the exact same engine build.
Here is my site w/ time slips and video, my best 14.56 @96.97, yours for sure has more in it. With some more seat time you will for sure get faster. I wish i would have seen your post sooner, I was going to say to make sure if you have a dizzy w/ vacuum advance to disconnect it and plug it. This one thing alone on my car has shown a solid 3-4 tenth difference. What was your 60 ft times? I only have a open diff but same 3.55 gearing. Have a 3.80 trak-loc
on the work bench ready to go in.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/835961

 

Dark Knight

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Feb 1, 2000

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Chandler, Az.

Jun 29, 2006

#16

• Jun 29, 2006

• #16

67Dylan said:

What's up Gary! I still drool everytime I see your car. Nice progress man, hope to see you at an event and BS w/ya!

Click to expand...

Nada.. getting more cash together to get the heidts kit in... How's yours comming along?

Back on topic.. what was your 60ft? Might need some drag radials, huh?

 

Vinyl66

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Mar 21, 2004

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Jun 29, 2006

#17

• Jun 29, 2006

• #17

That is a pretty respectable time and mph for your bolt on mods and stock heads. Especially for your first time out. With that mph you still have some et left in it. Sounds like it is time for some drag radials for sure.

The 60 foot time is big indication of how well you will run. Were yours at least in the 2.2x range?

 

65notch

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Jun 18, 2005

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661 Cali

Jun 29, 2006

#18

• Jun 29, 2006

• #18

60ft time was 2.498

i dont have vacuum advace on my dist.

 

BullittStangV8

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Oct 5, 2002

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NJ

Jun 29, 2006

#19

• Jun 29, 2006

• #19

Dont start in second gear. Its almost always slower. Learn to get traction in first gear, and then speed shift or grany shift 2nd if you have to. Starting in second isn't faster, it just happened to work better for you this time. Get some better tires under her, some caltracs or some other traction device, and see how the times change. You can always go for adjustable shocks, change the rear springs, v6 springs for the front, ect.

 

Dark Knight

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Feb 1, 2000

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Chandler, Az.

Jun 29, 2006

#20

• Jun 29, 2006

• #20

Ouch... get that 60ft down in the 2.0 range...
Practice... it takes awhile to find out how a car likes to be launched...
You didnt drive through the water box did you? Big smokey burnouts dont help with normal street tires either. Ride the clutch out of the hole helps too..