Any small tips to help ET?

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DadGum_Teen

DadGum_Teen

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So far the fastest I've got in the 1/4 is a 14.2. It's a daily driver, with a mild 360 and a 3.23, so nothing crazy. I have done some tuning to the carb now, but just in case, I'd like to know any little tips/ideas I could use to help me atleast drop into the 13's.

All I can think of is bringing a gas can, and running down the track almost empty, taking out the back seat and spare tire, etc, and inflating front tire pressure to max. Any other tricks I could use? I am running street tires. Suregrip and caltrac traction bars are helping a little with traction though.

And does anyone know a secret to launching with a stock torque converter?

My dad also said the best time in his demon while in highschool was when he let it spin as much as it wanted. But I don't wan't to look like an idiot while trying that and possibly getting a slow ET. Has anyone else had any luck with trying this?

I just want to come prepared, and try to make the most out of what I have.
 
I don't know….

If I track a street car I always run it exactly as it is on the street. Normal air pressure, crap in the trunk, all interior in…… I figure…. It is what it is so I will run it like it is.

I bet a converter change alone would get you in the 13s if yours is stock as mentioned. If you have wheel spin get a set of steel wheels and slap some slicks or drag radials on them (another option).

What are your MPH and 60' times? (MPH and 60' times tell us more than an ET)
 
I'd suggest maximizing your suspension first. You can't go either quick or fast if you can't get the power to the ground. All you're doing by spinning your tires is killing ET.
Looser front shocks for better weight transfer. Adjustable pinion snubber - don't forget to reinforce the floor where the snubber will come in contact.
 
60ft- 2.33
330ft- 6.14
1/8th- 9.24@80mph
1000'- 11.93
1/4- 14.22@98mph

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, I was at school and am very forgetful, didn't want to forget to put up a thread.

And the Caltrac people on the phone said we would be better off without the pinion snubber with their setup. I have thought about the front shocks, maybe a 90/10, but I don't have a lot of spare money, and I heard a rumor that they can wear out pretty fast on the roads. Anybody know about this?
 
Put a GOOD 3000-3500 stall converter in it. It has enough HP to run 13.7-13.8 and you're losing that time in the 60's, 2.33 is horrible. Probably pick up a few MPH too.

Your car should be in the 1.90-2.00 range. A set of cal tracks/shocks and good tires should get it done. Take those 3 tenths and it will be a good .5 total at the end of the track pick up .
 
crackedback said:
Put a GOOD 3000-3500 stall converter in it. It has enough HP to run 13.7-13.8 and you're losing that time in the 60's, 2.33 is horrible. Probably pick up a few MPH too.

Your car should be in the 1.90-2.00 range. A set of cal tracks/shocks and good tires should get it done. Take those 3 tenths and it will be a good .5 total at the end of the track pick up .
Click to expand...

Great advise. Drag shocks for the front.Adjustable of course. And I agree,that 60 ft is bad. More radical gearing would help things alot,but Id say 3:55 wold be the most I'd want with your mild motor.
 
Dgteen, the last thing I'd worry about is looking like a fool at the track. Since everyone has been a newbie at one time and looked silly doing something, it wouldn't be like the first time a rookie driver did something wrong.

Beileve me, no one cares. I really mean that. They'll just watch screw up after screw up run there cars and not care what there doing. Most people just sigh and say Ha-Rumph! Wheres the real deal allready....and other groans..LOL

They don't give a crap about you until you start performing. And when you do, a few will even keep track of your progress in there heads. DOn't be surprised if some stranger comes up to after some nice improvments and sez something positive.

Now get over that feeling and get your hide out there and enjoy it!
 
What brand, & size tires are on the car? Even street tires can bennifit from less air. And Dad may have something there with just hammering the car outta the hole. Spin isn't so much a bad thing, it's a whle lotta spin that's bad.

Do you have a tach. in the car? What's the trap RPM?

Things you can do that are low buck tricks in lowering ET and increaseing speed are;

Run a spacer under the carb
Block the heat crossover in the intake
Open air cleaner
(Re-jet carb after these tricks.)

On a stock converter car, power brake the car at the line. Press the brake pedal to the floor hard, press the gas pedal and load up the drivetrain with energy just shy of tire spin/breaking loose. You'll get the feel for it and find a good spot to load it up at. More of this is not allways the best, but some can be very good.

Loosing weight is good and less gas helps the wieght issue along with the spare tire removed. Leave the rear seat, it's not that weighty and it's just a pain to get out and it in afterwards.

On the distributor, you can twist it up some. Run a higher octane and then return it easy enuff. Mark where it is now and remark it later when you find best ET with it advanced.
 
Get the higher-stall converter and you are sure to be in the 13's. You can tell by your ungodly slow 60' ft E.T.s that the car is not launching worth a damn. get the better converter, stall that baby up, and hang on. For comparison, my slant six Dart runs 2.6 second 60' (17 second quarter)...Their should be a bigger gap between a slant six and a 360 IMO.
 
Auto or 4 speed ?

If its an auto,are you shifting through the gears manually ?

I have an auto,three on the tree. Starting in first and manually shifting through the gears allows me to shift in the cars upper RPM'S.
Of course a tach is a must.

Shaving weight will help as well.
 
I totally agree. 2.33 60' is very soft off the line...you could pick up probably more than .500 second if you could get the car to 60' in the 1.8/1.9xs. by loading up the driveline and tweaking the timing up some more.

Lower your rear tire pressure from a street pressure of around 34-37 psi, to 25-27 psi.

Then load up the driveline by shifting to (1) Low, and footbraking like someone above said to the point of near tire slippage....then hold it right there and focus on the last yellow light....when you see it FLOOR it against the brake for a microsecond and let off the brake....you want about 1-2' of grippy studder as you really pour it on....if it blows away the tires you can nearly scrap the ET run.

Practice makes perfect....

You want to be able to get the front up and the weight transfered and the tires gripping as fast as possible.

98mph is a bit soft...but I understand the 3.23's...and thats why I say to tweak the distributor for some more topend hp...to get you to break into the 100-105 range.

All in all your combo is about maxed out without a poweradder or more cam and convertor.

Good Luck. 8)
 
I have Sumitomo Gt's on the rear, 255mm. I can't remember the RPM through traps, although I do have a tach. All I remember is barely being in third. And yes, I am shifting manually, about at 5700rpm. I still haven't found the sweet spot yet, I will have to wait until I am consistent. And static compression is 9.3:1, and if I remember right, the dynamic is somewhere around 7.4:1 (maybe). What the most advance I could probably run? -Just so I don't accidentally put too much and ping like crazy? I'll have to grab my paper that tells me the timing later, I'm about to do a SkillsUSA practice run. Wish me luck :toothy10: But I think I had maybe 38 degrees of advance at 3k, does that sound right? Stock distributor, weights and springs.
And for blocking the heat to the intake, I have an Eddy RPM airgap, would it benefit doing a little fabrication? I have thought about building some sheet metal plates that go over the headers, and maybe bolt it to the valve covers.
 
Buy some dyno time and come prepared to tune it while its there then u have a baseline to work from of things like max hp and torque points then u can tailor your gearing, converter etc around the engine
 
No head heat blockage plate required with a Air-Gap intake.

A heat sheild for headers is really not needed or worth it, though, wraping the header helps if it is a race car. A daily driver would see a bennifit to a wrap, but the constant heatr and heating cycles will kill a headers this tube wall fast when it's a daily driver.

(Been there done that)
 
Yes, they are all secure, I don't believe I have any vacuum leaks.

And here is a small chart of the mechanical advance curve.

600rpm(idle)- 14 degrees
1000rpm- 20 degrees
1500rpm- 25 degrees
2000rpm- 29 degrees
2500rpm- 37 degrees
3000rpm- 37 degrees

Does this look alright?

And I plan on dyno tuning it later on, but I already know I am buying higher ratio rocker arms later on to take advantage of the ported J's, so I'm not planning on dyno'ing it until its ready.
 
Your timing looks good, i wouldn't change anything major, if anything, change to a better converter, but nothing crazy, 25-2800 stall (but then you'll need good tires), your 98 MPH is good for 13s, i ran 13.5s @ 98-99 in my camaro, your 60ft. is killing you, you need to be around 2.0s or 1.9s if possible, don't be affraid to spin the tires (some), your dad is right, something has to give to propell the car, you already know the converter isn't doing squat, what you want to do is play with air pressure & tire spin, you'll never get it to "launch" decent with 3.23s & a stock stall, but you can help it with practice.
 
There is really great advice already on here, like everyone is already saying if you can't afford a new stall converter yet then you are really going to need to spin a bit out of the hole to get into a better RPM off the start to make up for a low stall. It needs to be a controlled amount of spin but enough to keep the revs up a bit and get the car moving.

For another comparison my nearly stock 318 did:
2.253 60ft
15.273 @ 89.34 MPH
It had really crappy tires so I couldnt brake stall, and 2.94 gears, but it did have one of the MP Torque Converters in it(not sure about the stall)
 
I have had a small amount of luck short shifting cars with both auto and manual trans. Not sure what RPM your shifting at. However changing it up or down 500 to 1000 RPM may net you some quicker ET's without doing anything to the car.
 
Dartboy is right, A good amount of contribution was put into this thread :)
Thanks for the info guys, I'll be sure and try out some tips
 
DadGum_Teen said:
600rpm(idle)- 14 degrees
1000rpm- 20 degrees
1500rpm- 25 degrees
2000rpm- 29 degrees
2500rpm- 37 degrees
3000rpm- 37 degrees

Does this look alright?
Click to expand...

Yea it does. It goes alittle further than I'd like. It's quick, good for the street no doubt.
An old street trick we did was to use as much intial as possible. Of course this made starting the car hard and nearly impossible when hot. Then limit the total to 52*, vacuum advance hose hooked up. I'd try to limit the max amount. If the vacuum advance pod on the outside can be adjusted, give it a shot.

What distributor do you have? Stock, right?
 
No one mentioned this, check to make sure when your foot is to the floor , you are getting wide open throttle. I have seen a lot of cars where no body has checked this.
 
68dodge said:
No one mentioned this, check to make sure when your foot is to the floor , you are getting wide open throttle. I have seen a lot of cars where no body has checked this.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this always helps, good idea, i forget to check mine most of the time lol.
 
yeah, i have made sure im getting full throttle, always a forgetful thing... ill go ahead and get some more initial timing, i just wasnt for sure how close i was to ping. kind of hard to tell when you have a decent header leak (fixing once i have an extra 30 bucks laying around)
 
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