4 speed at the track - tips?

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danmc77

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Taking my 68 Charger to the track this September with a few guys from Mopar Misfits (Abodyjoe's site). this will be my first time at a track ever - looking for some tips so i don' look like a fool. The car is a 4 speed, so mainly looking for some tips to get the best launch, and get down the track as fast as possible.

Also - forget about the fact that I have zero experience at the track - but ideally, what do you think the car can do in the 1/4? How much HP do you think I'm making?

68 Charger - manual steering, torque thrust II 15" wheels
MT ET Street rear tires - 275/60/15
3.55 suregrip
stock a833 tranny w/ hurst comp shifter
sub frame connectors
XHD rear leafs
440 .060 over around 10.3:1 CR - zero deck hieght
eddy dual roller chain
SpeedPro hypereutectic pistons
Eddy RPM heads shaved to 75cc chambers, race valve job, and cleaned up ports
comp roller rockers
comp hi-tech custom push rods
Huhges springs (1106)
hughes hydro cam - 548/555 lift 237/242 duration 108* lobe separation
performer RPM intake
850 Speed Demon carb
Mallory 6AL and Unilite distributor
stock rods and crank
hi-flow oil pump
windage tray
headers
3" exhaust

that's all I can think of right now.
 
Good luck on your first trip to the strip!

You are going to be overwhelmed with all the stuff that a 4-speed driver has to be thinking about on the starting line. If you are going to be racing your car in the trim that you described...........

- forget about doing a burnout. It does no good for street tires. Drive around the water box and do a quick dry hop or two just to make sure the tire tread is clean.
- Spend your time trials trying to figure out how to best launch the car. If you try to dump the clutch at 3-grand, you will blow the tires off and go nowhere. You will likely need to ease it off the starting line and then hammer it once you are rolling. You will want to get the car rolling with minimal wheel spin. A little tire spin is good, it absorbs the energy from dumping the clutch. Too much and you will look like a funny car!
- Decide the rpm you want to shift at and try to hit the same shift points every time. With the gearing that you have and tire size, you will likely be hitting 4th gear just before the stripe. Don't worry about that, you are not doing anything wrong, that is just what is going to happen with a car set up like yours.
- Get comfortable with your starting line routine. Before you can improve the performance of the driver (very important) and the car, you need to have a solid baseline for comparison. You are not going to become a reincarnation of Ronnie Sox the first time out!
- Do you have a line-loc? If not, don't stage too shallow because you may roll out of the beam if the starting line is not real flat. Make sure that you are ready to go once you've lit the stage light becuase the starter won't wait long to trip the lights once both cars are staged. It may work to your benefit to stage first, it will give you a little more time to get set. Good time to mention a little starting line etiquette. If you are the first car to the starting line, once you've lit the pre-stage light, stop until your opponent has at least lit the pre-stage bulb. Once you have both pre-staged, go ahead and light the stage light.
- Once the tree starts to count down (assuming a sportsman tree), there is .4 or .5 sec between the yellow bulbs. You want to leave on the last yellow light coming on. You might need to modify this somewhat, depending on how deep you stage and how quickly the car reacts to clutch engagement. this is still a good place to start. Remember that red lights during time trials mean nothing so don't give up if you light the red-eye. That just means that you left a little early (your reaction time, good or bad, is shown on the time slip) and you might need to modify your starting line routine a little.

I won't kid you and others on this forum who race will verify this.......much of what I said will take a lot of practice to nail down, so don't feel discouraged if things don't go well on your first trip. Enjoy the experience and have fun!!! L8r.

Jim
 
.............almost forgot, you asked for a guesstimate of et. I think that if things go real well, an et of 15.00 - 15.30 at about 90 - 95 mph would be a good outing. L8r.

Jim
 
do you have any type of torque strap?

we had the motor mounts moving a little more with a sticky tire and it would hit the Z bar and release the clutch when it was at WOT - not good!
 
Her is my dad from last year - stockish 383 4 speed - 3.23's

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9Hbyxux1BQ"]YouTube- 20090427101507[/ame]
 
MT ET Streets can hook, but you have to do a burn out. Drop the pressure to 16 PSIG and run through the water and come to a complete stop. Tach it up to 2000 or so and drop the clutch in second gear. The wheels will spin up really easy since they are wet. Stay on the gas. As the tires start to grab the car will start moving forward. Be ready to throw the clutch and get on the brakes. Try launching at 2000, just dump the clutch on the last yellow and nail it. If it grabs and bogs move the launch RPM up 500 at a time. If it spins try coming down on the gas slower. I think you can go mid 13's easy.
 
gerahead said:
.............almost forgot, you asked for a guesstimate of et. I think that if things go real well, an et of 15.00 - 15.30 at about 90 - 95 mph would be a good outing. L8r.

Jim
Click to expand...

God - I hope I can do better than that!! I have been driving a stick my whole life, and have raced on teh street (not that I recommend that) - but we'll see.

Thanks for the detailed post - all good info!

No line lock.

no torque strap, but already thought of that, and think I might have one by race day.

BTW - this is a track rental, so I'm guessing it should be the best time to take my time and learn - don't think I'll be racing any other cars at all.
 
gerahead said:
.............almost forgot, you asked for a guesstimate of et. I think that if things go real well, an et of 15.00 - 15.30 at about 90 - 95 mph would be a good outing. L8r.

Jim
Click to expand...
what do you think it might do based off the engine/car combo - given an experienced driver?
 
that should be a 12.90 car IMO but low 13's should not be a problem
 
Thanks guys! I seriously hope I don't come home with my tail between my legs with a best 15.00 run. On the other hand, I'm realistic - so hopefully I can get enough runs in to feel comfortable and click of a decent time.
 
Yeah, dave's dad can row that car. You don't need a torque strap so long as his Dad brings the trailer with the chain...lol.

It's a group that specializes in enjoying themselves, but be prepared for two things:
Lots of help if/when you need it, and lots of harmless Jersey ball busting as a result of needing anything...lol
 
It should MPH in the 105+ range. ET would be dependent on launch first and then how good you get through the gears.

If my 340 Dart with nothing close to your set up can run 13.30 at 102-103, your car should run better than that.

If something happens while on track, slow up and get stopped out of the groove as quickly and safely as possible.

Go have fun.
 
moper said:
Yeah, dave's dad can row that car. You don't need a torque strap so long as his Dad brings the trailer with the chain...lol.

It's a group that specializes in enjoying themselves, but be prepared for two things:
Lots of help if/when you need it, and lots of harmless Jersey ball busting as a result of needing anything...lol
Click to expand...
I'm fully prepared for the ball-busting!:-D No doubt in my mind these guys are going to be annoyed with the amount of questions I'm going to have when we start racing:bootysha:
 
crackedback said:
It should MPH in the 105+ range. ET would be dependent on launch first and then how good you get through the gears.

If my 340 Dart with nothing close to your set up can run 13.30 at 102-103, your car should run better than that.

If something happens while on track, slow up and get stopped out of the groove as quickly and safely as possible.

Go have fun.
Click to expand...
note taken - my first objective is to not crash the car!
 
Anybody have a good suggestion as far as initial timing and jetting setup with my combo? I can't recall off the top of my head how it's jetted now, but I did drop them several numbers from how I got it - it was a new carb off a 572" Chevy crate motor - way too much jetting for my build. I'd like to re-time and possibly re-jet before I even get there - then adjust some more while I'm there.
 
moper said:
Yeah, dave's dad can row that car. You don't need a torque strap so long as his Dad brings the trailer with the chain...lol.

It's a group that specializes in enjoying themselves, but be prepared for two things:
Lots of help if/when you need it, and lots of harmless Jersey ball busting as a result of needing anything...lol
Click to expand...

you gotta get you behind down here again!
 
bring the timing light -

you;d be surprised, but timing has alot to do with how your car leaves the line with a stick!

we had to take some out of the challenger to get rid of a hesitation
 
is Moper from the area? If so, that would be great - you can be part of my pit crew, lol!
 
DJVCUDA said:
bring the timing light -

you;d be surprised, but timing has alot to do with how your car leaves the line with a stick!

we had to take some out of the challenger to get rid of a hesitation
Click to expand...
Will do - bringing that and my jet set as well as my tools.
 
If you can't adjust the curve in the distributor, just total time it and run it. Try 36* total at whatever point it's done advancing.

Jet it for max mph. If it blubbers up top, blows blackish smoke, go down. If it's surging like struggling for fuel, go up two steps. Those guys at the track, Walt, Joe, Dirty, DJV will know what's up.

You have ET street radials, correct? If so, they will want a burnout and aren't technically a street tire, like old BFG Radial TA's. They are a radial slick with grooves.
 
Good luck to you. Be safe and have fun. My first time at the track was with a 4 speed too. I was a little scared but it was not all that bad. I had a lot of fun. The track guys will tell you where to go and what to do.

I remember trying to stag up. Inching forwered not wanting to blow through both beems and look stupid. Then the tree started to flash and I was in a little over whelmed trying to watch it and bring my RPM up. Got ready with the cluch. NOW! hit it. I eased off the clutch and in to the gas. A little tire spin but not bad. I was so fixed on the lanch and not peeling out that I almost forgot to shift and that 1st to 2nd shift comes quick. Real quick. So I shifted as fast as I could in to the next gear and then heled on to the wheel. A quick shift in to 3rd then 4th. I blew through the trapes yelling yeeehhaaaa!!! LOL What a rush. I was thinking I had to of ran a low 15 or so when the guy handed my my time card and it said........17.42 What a kick in the junk that was. LOL But I keep working on it and buy the end of the night I had the time worked down.
 
Don't sweart the results to much on your first time out, just go and HAVE FUN!!!!
 
I just noticed it's going to be at Atco in South Jersey. You have to go through the water there, they don't give you a choice the way the lanes are set up. That shouldn't be a problem though. Looks like good weather too!
 
Burntorange70 said:
Good luck to you. Be safe and have fun. My first time at the track was with a 4 speed too. I was a little scared but it was not all that bad. I had a lot of fun. The track guys will tell you where to go and what to do.

I remember trying to stag up. Inching forwered not wanting to blow through both beems and look stupid. Then the tree started to flash and I was in a little over whelmed trying to watch it and bring my RPM up. Got ready with the cluch. NOW! hit it. I eased off the clutch and in to the gas. A little tire spin but not bad. I was so fixed on the lanch and not peeling out that I almost forgot to shift and that 1st to 2nd shift comes quick. Real quick. So I shifted as fast as I could in to the next gear and then heled on to the wheel. A quick shift in to 3rd then 4th. I blew through the trapes yelling yeeehhaaaa!!! LOL What a rush. I was thinking I had to of ran a low 15 or so when the guy handed my my time card and it said........17.42 What a kick in the junk that was. LOL But I keep working on it and buy the end of the night I had the time worked down.
Click to expand...
lol - funny stuff. To be honest with you - I most nervous about the burn out and staging than I am about actually getting down the track.

was the 17.42 you best time, lol?
 
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