I went drag racing!

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6

69dodgedart360

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I went to my local track for some fun and of course, want some advice on what to do to improve this combo. I was only able to get two runs in and the first one I did not have full throttle. My 2nd run was a 13.41 @ 100. I launched at 2000rpm, to a little bit of wheel spin. The car felt good launching but I think when it got close to the 1/8th mile it felt like it was out of steam. I believe I crossed the line around 5700-5800rpm. The combo is a full weight 69 Dart 9.5:1 360
Edelbrock Thunder AVS 650-675cfm
Edelbrock Air Gap, Comp XE274,
stock X Heads, tti headers, msd ignition, 727 torqueflite, turbo action 3200 rpm flash stall, 3.91 gears, mickey Thompson 235/60/15 drag radials.
Thanks!

20200311_201444.jpg
 
Nice! My first run I did about the same time as yours, 13.2. Sadly, that was just for the 1/8 marker, it was 22.1 for the quarter. :(
 
Nice 60 ft, but seems it got a little soft before the 1/8 marker. Your combo should be faster than 81 mph in the 1/8. Off the top, looking at your parts list, I'd slap a 750 double pumper 4779 Holley on it and see if your MPH doesn't go up.
 
The other guy was a slug off the line but pulled like a freight train after 500' .

Might have been spinning his tires
 
I'd be happy with that, but there's room for improvement. I'd look at the carb tuning/cfm's. You might benefit from a slightly bigger carb. Never worry about the other guy, your racing the clock! 65'
 
Not sure, never had it on a scale. It's a full interior car with a fiberglass hood. I'm guessing 3400-3500 with me in it? I weigh 150lbs
 
69dodgedart360 said:
Not sure, never had it on a scale. It's a full interior car with a fiberglass hood. I'm guessing 3400-3500 with me in it? I weigh 150lbs
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I think you are at sea level. I'd guess your car's combo should be about mid 12's (with more cfm's). That's good news, always fun to find more.
 
I would probably look a little closer at timing and distributor curve to see what improvements can be made and then start leaning toward a larger carb. But before that, I would start looking closely at the fuel system. I think you are having a fuel delivery issue causing it to go lean out on the big end. Not saying the aforementioned 750 or 800 cfm carb wouldn't help, but it may be needing more consistent fuel pressure or some jetting and metering rod changes.
 
Thanks for all of the replies, I really appreciate it. When I get home I will pull some plugs see what they look like and take a photo. I think maybe it could have been a fuel issue on the big end because it felt good taking off and then ran out of steam as it got towards the finish line. It could be timing related, but I dont know.
 
I'd say
Work on your driving; improving you're off the line and experiment a bit with shift points.

Then do some tuning on the carb's WOT.
There's 3 things to adjust so do one at a time.
There's no magic number. Make a change and see what happens. If it improves, great. make another change in the same direction. If it no improvement, then try a change in the other direction.
 
69dodgedart360 said:
I went to my local track for some fun and of course, want some advice on what to do to improve this combo. I was only able to get two runs in and the first one I did not have full throttle. My 2nd run was a 13.41 @ 100. I launched at 2000rpm, to a little bit of wheel spin. The car felt good launching but I think when it got close to the 1/8th mile it felt like it was out of steam. I believe I crossed the line around 5700-5800rpm. The combo is a full weight 69 Dart 9.5:1 360
Edelbrock Thunder AVS 650-675cfm
Edelbrock Air Gap, Comp XE274,
stock X Heads, tti headers, msd ignition, 727 torqueflite, turbo action 3200 rpm flash stall, 3.91 gears, mickey Thompson 235/60/15 drag radials.
Thanks!

View attachment 1715485879
Click to expand...
Nice run actually.
 
#1: Spin off the line? With slicks.... odd or less heat in the tire. Depends on the tire and compound, more or less air, how many psi was in the tires?

Did you launch straight?

#2: Distributor timing. Use as much advance as your car likes. Change springs to get it in to the max quicker. Stock X heads like about 34 - 36 degrees of total timing. Get that in as quick as the car likes.

#3: Does the car shift itself or do you do it? If it shift’s itself, give a little slack to the kick down set up so you can shift it.

(For other new guys to the track, install a tach if you don’t have one. This will help keep shift points and finish line crossings consistent. Try different shift points, see what the car likes. More rpm is not always better.)
 
When you're that far ahead of them.. don't let off the gas pedal but tap the break a little and let him get closer you would have won... And probably not broke out..
 
I had about 20psi in the tires. I thought it was an good burnout to get the tires warm but definitely not a huge smoke show. The car launched straight and I think the track was cold since this pass was at 8pm and the outside temp was in the low 60s with a little wind. I pulled the plugs and they all look like this which I think is lean...
 
Yes, it’s a touch lean at speed. What kind of fuel pump do you have and do you know what your fuel pressure is?
 
I have a holley red electric fuel pump with the factory fuel line and fuel tank. I have a fuel pressure regulator set to 6 or 6.5 psi. Unfortunately no video of the run, just the burnout. I will see about getting the burnout uploaded.
 
Try a bit less air in the tires. That should help the 60’. Might get a little weird up in the big end.
69dodgedart360 said:
I had about 20psi in the tires. I thought it was an good burnout to get the tires warm but definitely not a huge smoke show. The car launched straight and I think the track was cold since this pass was at 8pm and the outside temp was in the low 60s with a little wind. I pulled the plugs and they all look like this which I think is lean...
Click to expand...
 
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