How to prepare my car for the dragstrip?

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Bill Crowell

Bill Crowell

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I think my son and I are ready to prepare my '62 Valiant V8 for the drags, but we're newbs at drag racing. I have learned one thing, however: feather the throttle off the line. You can't steer when you're popping a wheelie.

Am I going to have to install a roll cage? Modify the gas filler? Anything else?

I guess I want to run in Sportsman class??

As you can see, I really don't know my *** from a hole in the ground about drag racing, and I was hoping some of you guys would take pity on me and hold me by the hand.

(Gee, I don't want much, do I?)

OK, so the car really isn't running that great right now. I think it's fouling plugs. At least it runs better when I put in new plugs. It seems to bog down a little bit off the line. And I gotta adjust the 727's linkage to make it shift at a higher RPM. It's got a 360 with 10.5:1 C.R., ported "J" heads, Edelbrock performer intake and an older ThermoQuad with the big secondaries. It's probably running too phat. I guess I'm going to have to learn about re-jetting TQs.

What do you guys do when you need to take your car out for a test run? Where do you go to do it?

retroguybilly
 
Here is a good start, I copied this from my local racetrack.

http://www.mhdra.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=851&PN=1


Another good tip is to buy yourself an NHRA rulebook. Look for a website for your local track as well. You will find most tracks have a fun night for newbies to learn about racing. We have a Friday night fun night. Some of our racers even put on a class for beginners, we even walk you through the starting line so you get familiar with everything.

You will find drag racers easy to approach and very willing to help, remember they were once beginners too.
 
thats a good primer for first time at the strip, but i would add that you should make sure every nut and bolt is tightened, then go through and check everything again. the last thing you want to do on your first run is break something or oil down the track. you will need to install a catch-can for coolant if you haven't already. no need for a roll cage unless you are in the 11's, i think but if i remember correct, anything faster than 13's requires a helmet. I would do some back-road testing first to make sure you are more-or-less in a proper state of tune. take everything out of the car that you can, every hundred pounds you remove from the car is worth a tenth of a second.
most importantly, have fun with it! its a blast making passes, you won't want to stop!
-Tim
 
if it will carry the wheels it would be a good guess it will need a cage but i dontthink your package is that fast. on street tires 20 lbs of air in back may help it launch. try leaving on the last yellow also,if you wait for green youre too late. battery must be bolted down securely. no more than 12 inches rubber fuel line i believe and most tracks require long pants. ask me how i know. good luck and have fun.
 
I discovered that the Sacramento Raceway, about 35 miles from me, has a "Test and Tune' series at its dragstrip during the summer. It's $50 a pop, though, so I'm going to do quite a bit of back road tuning before going there.

daredevil wrote: "if it will carry the wheels it would be a good guess it will need a cage but i dont think your package is that fast."

What do you mean by "carry the wheels"?

I'm tellin' ya, this 360 is a real screamer when it's running right. It was built by an excellent engine builder, was blueprinted and balanced and has forged rods and pistons. The car will pop one hell of a wheelie when it has a new set of plugs. And Demon Sizzler very kindly advised me how to re-jet my T.Q.; now I just have to do it. I just think that any car that can pop a wheelie should do fairly well in the quarter if it is tuned right.
 
You've never been drag racing and you want to go race a car that can pull both front tires when it launches?

No.

Please, for your safety and the safety of others, find you a slower car to learn in. Work your way up to that.
 
echo 340 darts comment...first time racer with a car that carries the front end.....that could spell trouble....be careful....
 
I second the long pants (make sure they're jeans). I think if you ran less then 14 seconds you require a helmet. Make sure your battery is secured tightly, you have an overflow bottle (mines a mountain dew 20oz.), take your trim rings off if you have them, and I know there's something else but I can't think of it off the top of my head....
 
If you are a first time drag racer, take your daily driver to the strip... Mini van, pickup truck, 4 door sedan etc.. Take your Valiant racing after you've learned the ropes and are familiar with the rules and procedures. Always safer to learn the process in a slower vehicle. (I agree with 340 Dart and others here as mentioned above in this thread.) Jmo.
 
sacramento raceway has wednesday night grudge races...

probably alot cheaper then the tnt...take your street car there and make a few passes to get familiar with the place..
 
70aarcuda said:
sacramento raceway has wednesday night grudge races...

probably alot cheaper then the tnt...take your street car there and make a few passes to get familiar with the place..
Click to expand...
Grudge night? AWESOME. I used to race a REAL B/FX GTO at Old Dominion in Manassas VA on grudge night fridays. That was the fastest car I've ever been in including several Hemi cars...I would burn through a dozen cars only to get beat by some V8 Vega contraption. Argh! Great time!
 
daredevil said:
if it will carry the wheels it would be a good guess it will need a cage but i dontthink your package is that fast. on street tires 20 lbs of air in back may help it launch. try leaving on the last yellow also,if you wait for green youre too late. battery must be bolted down securely. no more than 12 inches rubber fuel line i believe and most tracks require long pants. ask me how i know. good luck and have fun.
Click to expand...


I am going to be taking my 69 cuda to the track in may. I was wondering about the fuel line but could not find anything on how long it could be. I see here that it not to be any longer than twelve inches. Is that a NHRA rule I can't find that in the rule book. Thanks Tom. (Not trying to hijack this post but this is something I was looking for)
 
lets see never been to track .has car that carys the wheels .ahhhh!!!! mabe you better take two pairs of pants.you are probly going to need them.i cant whate to read about this. it aut to be fun wish i could be thare. have fun.think before you do somthing your not comfortutble with. all and take shop rages thire good at cleaning up mess's.
 
I know it is good advice that I should get started drag racing with a slower car, so yeah, I'd better do the first few runs with my old Mercedes 420SEL.

But this is just to let you know that I've already discovered how you can't steer when you're popping a wheelie, and I've already experienced that involuntary anal sphincter release you're referring to. I'll spare you all the gory details. Suffice it to say, I've learned my lesson: feather the throttle off the line!

Thanks for all the help and advice.
 
If your car is yanking the front end up off the ground, you may want to have the front end alignment done with that in mind so that it will steer better with the weight off the front end.
 
Bill Crowell: Here's a trick some guys use if they carry the wheels off the starting line. They wrap a piece of tape at 12 o'clock on the steering wheel. This tells them the wheels are straight when the car comes back down after launch. Just a tip.
 
if it will carry the wheels like that i,d guess it has to be at least a low 11 second car whick means the boot if you dont have a cage.Who here pulls the wheels that runs 11s or slower. and if they come up and car doesnt run strait i.d suggest a spool and aligning the rear with the car.ps sorry for doubting your package.seemed mild for big wheelies without low gears and big slicks.
 
fishman said:
I am going to be taking my 69 cuda to the track in may. I was wondering about the fuel line but could not find anything on how long it could be. I see here that it not to be any longer than twelve inches. Is that a NHRA rule I can't find that in the rule book. Thanks Tom. (Not trying to hijack this post but this is something I was looking for)
Click to expand...


I can see that you guys are worring about a setup that wont pull the front end anyway I will start my own post. Thanks Tom
 
OK weres he at how did he do hello any body there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ok im going to bed broke car up good nights sleep to work on tomarro.il check in the AM.
 
The rear tires are only P225-60R15s on 15" x 8" rims, but the early-early A-body ('60-'62) was really light, mainly because it was narrower than the later models, and it had a shorter wheelbase, so it is just prone to lift the front end. For some reason it hooks up and lifts the front end rather than burning rubber. I guess that's good, right?

Right now I have a Dana Power-Lock positraction in the 8-3/4" rear end, and it does weird things when you lift the front wheels. I'm actually wondering if an open diff would have been better.
 
Sorry you just lost me.I think youre pulling my chain.Wheelies on 225s aint happening unless youre jumping thru a ditch. Come back when youre for real.Been trying to pull the wheels for 30 years and i might do it this time on slicks wwith 600 horse so im not buying what youre selling. sorry.
 
There is no way a mildly built 360 with 225 tires is pulling the front wheels off the ground. His steering problems are probably the engine torquing over and the exhaust/steering contacting each other.
 
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