Riff Raff
Well-Known Member
Was toying with the idea of parting with my duster for something more "road trippable". Just curious if anyone has made the transition from radical to mundane without regret. Thanks, Jeff
Transition from street/strip, drag car to a driver?
- Thread starter Riff Raff
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No. .... well, not really, LOL, that’s why I have a multi car fleet, but since most of the world doesn’t, besides me telling you to get a second car...
I miss the beast. I have a late ‘70’s driver. Go anywhere, anytime, no worries. Bolt on performance engine parts. But fast it is not. Not even close. So when that urge pops up, ya, it stinks.
I think you could get the best of both worlds with a mild cam and a super charger. You can have all the reliable workings, reasonable gas mileage and power at the pedal on demand.
What do you have now?
I miss the beast. I have a late ‘70’s driver. Go anywhere, anytime, no worries. Bolt on performance engine parts. But fast it is not. Not even close. So when that urge pops up, ya, it stinks.
I think you could get the best of both worlds with a mild cam and a super charger. You can have all the reliable workings, reasonable gas mileage and power at the pedal on demand.
What do you have now?
As in the drivetrain....
WTF?!?! Triple post, Spotty net service...
Big_John
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
I have.
Some of it is me getting older and not feeling the "need for speed" and some of it is that I realized I could have more fun with a car that I don't have to wrench on as much.
Just drove my '65 Formula S Barracuda from Syracuse to Delaware and into Maryland and back Labor Day weekend. Fun with almost flawless performance. 20MPG, stop at any gas station etc. My '70 300 makes the drive to Carlisle along with other places every year.
Let's face it, with our weather, you only get so many weekends and evenings per year. Do what makes it the most fun for you. I hit some cruise nights, a couple shows and then spend the rest of the time just having fun driving the car.
Do what's best for you though... Whatever is fun for you.
Some of it is me getting older and not feeling the "need for speed" and some of it is that I realized I could have more fun with a car that I don't have to wrench on as much.
Just drove my '65 Formula S Barracuda from Syracuse to Delaware and into Maryland and back Labor Day weekend. Fun with almost flawless performance. 20MPG, stop at any gas station etc. My '70 300 makes the drive to Carlisle along with other places every year.
Let's face it, with our weather, you only get so many weekends and evenings per year. Do what makes it the most fun for you. I hit some cruise nights, a couple shows and then spend the rest of the time just having fun driving the car.
Do what's best for you though... Whatever is fun for you.
abodyjoe
Well-Known Member
Define radical.
My dart ran low 12's and had 3:91 gears.
When I blew the 12 second 360 I put a stock 60,000 mile 74 360 with 2.94 gears. Oh man I liked that car more with that stock motor then I ever did with the previous motor.
My dart ran low 12's and had 3:91 gears.
When I blew the 12 second 360 I put a stock 60,000 mile 74 360 with 2.94 gears. Oh man I liked that car more with that stock motor then I ever did with the previous motor.
Yes and no,well maybe.Regrets ? Sure, but for me right now it's having a car that just sits or having a car that you can take out for a ride when you want.The car has been driven about 350 miles since 2006. I am in the process of transforming my 65 Belvedere back to a streetable car. 3.23 from 4.10,single 4 bbl from a cross ram.Stock valve body from full manual. Thicker head gaskets to get the compression down to 9.6 to1.Back the timing down.Stuff like that .Right now it can idle for hours without the worry of overheating or stop and go traffic.I have come to the point that as much as I love going to the track,I'm not getting any younger and it takes me twice as long to get things done. Also the financial end of it too.$50 to sit all day and get maybe 3 passes down the track ? My brain thinks I'm 19 but my body doesn't agree.
I am going through the same thought process right now. My engine is very streetable for the horsepower it makes, but there is no way I would drive it beyond a 2-3 hour radius. I have gone through phases like this before. Keep trying to make it faster until it gets to the point that it is almost a single purpose drag car, and then go back close to stock, only to get the urge to go faster again. Right now I am thinking stock stroke B motor, fuel injected and possibly even A/C (the car had factory A/C). The goal would be to be able to drive it to Carlisle.
Oldiron440
Well-Known Member
The was i look at it there are plenty of old guys saying there usesta's, they where so fast etc. etc. etc. that the world doesn't need one more. I'm redoing my Plymouth, now the 440 will run on e-85 and I did drop the cam down a bit so its done by 6500 instead of 7200 rpm. I plan on driving it to town ten miles away for parts, groceries and for whatever comes up. I will not mind being a old fart driving a low ten second car on the street, rattling windows and setting off car alarms.
Leave it the way it is and drive it like you stole it. .
Riff Raff
Well-Known Member
Well I have a 72 duster mild 500"pump gas stroker, tunnel ram w/660's or a team g and Quick fuel 1050, 3500 stall 727, 4:30 geared 8 3/4. I'm all about the nostalgia speed parts thing so I've tried to get all the right pieces and parts over the years to get the car looking like a period correct 70's piece. Car ran 11:80's with zero tune on it. I know I could change all kinds of stuff to make it much more cruise friendly but it's not what this car is about. In the grand scheme of things I know my car isn't "radical" but it's far from stock. Some of you guys definitely get where I'm going with this.
j par
Well-hung Member
I to have struggled between strip and street with my car. I built it into a 90% strep 10% Street and like with stated already, really not the kind of use that I wanted. I'm the racer part of the forum I started a thread called massive reconfiguration. I'm since last summer cut the roll cage out, put a softer cam in, rebuilt my front suspension, took the four tens out and put in 354's, sold the Slicks and skinnies and seling the street tires and went with crossover drag radials on the back and some regular street tires up front. It now has a headliner door panels windows that roll up and down with a handle carpet qnd regular seats.
Now I can do 65/70 on the freeway for an hour each way to go to a car show or go to the track and be within one second of when I had the car on full kill. Actually working on both more comfort I'm getting the car hopefully close to back to where it was as far as Time Slips...
Now I can do 65/70 on the freeway for an hour each way to go to a car show or go to the track and be within one second of when I had the car on full kill. Actually working on both more comfort I'm getting the car hopefully close to back to where it was as far as Time Slips...
Riff Raff
Well-Known Member
Guess we haven't met John but I'm in Syracuse also. Short summers, age, etc all are making me rethink all this stuff
I fully understand. I left the 4.30 gears/rough idle cams/3200 stall converters years ago. It was only more fun at the track - 4x a year. My cars are much more enjoyable and pleasant now, although not as quick, are still fun to take out of town and horse around.
do like Darter6 and just de-tune it a little. nothing wrong with redoing the car as your needs change. that's part of the reason i prefer a car that handles more than raw HP. you can have a lot of fun under 60mph if you know where to drive
j par
Well-hung Member
I still prefer the kind of horsepower that makes grown men grab for dash and door handle! LOL over handling...
BigBlockMopar
BigBlockMember
I rather have both...
AbodyTim
Well-Known Member
Guess I'm lucky. I'm building the Valiant as a cruiser with a/c (maybe a 340 cam for a little more rumble) so I don't have to worry about breaking something. If I get the urge to go faster, I can borrow my son's '71 Charger w/ one of Mike McCandless's old 383 race engines in it.
j par
Well-hung Member
Some may say, dang , is that all this things got. lol
I prefer giving passengers serious whiplash. The passenger seat in the 67 fastback leaned back a bit compared to the drivers.
j par
Well-hung Member
In this day and age, your big block is baby sized and anemic, devoid of today’s modern electronics and double overdrives. Ive gotten the same line of crap. I say line them up and when I beat them I ask them, “Is that all that’s got?”
A lot is what there used to or what they “THINK” is fast. People will ask if my car is fast and I say,
“What’s fast? Seriously, what is fast?”
No matter what they say I say, nope, not that fast. Yup, just looks fast.
With 500 cubes at your disposal, getting rid of the 3500 stall convertor and 4.30 gears, in exchange for an 1800 stall and 3.23 gear would be a start if your not running a wild cam.
careful, you'll be givin' people the vapors
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