First Time Drag Racing!

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clinteg

clinteg

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Repost from my build thread but wanted to post here since it was my first time racing and I had a damn good time at it! Only threw my alternator belt and nothing broke. I'll take that any race day over the alternative! First run was 12.06 with a laughable 2.3+ 60 ft. Second run was 10.99 with a 1.7X 60 ft. If I spun it would run mid to low 11s. If it halfway hooked it ran 10.90s. Ended the day with a best run of 10.89 with 60ft in the 1.6's. Still have lots of suspension and carb tuning to do but overall I was extremely excited for my first 1320 day in the pump gas stroker.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSejJEr67MA&list=UU-GzoYKbSrF_XhzeLWfzn-g&feature=player_detailpage"]First Race Day in the Dart - YouTube[/ame]
 
Sounds good. Looks like the car goes straight. 10.89 your first time out is outstanding!

What was the best MPH?

What RPM are you shifting at?
 
Dam looks like plenty of fun to me. Good job!
 
rmchrgr said:
Sounds good. Looks like the car goes straight. 10.89 your first time out is outstanding!

What was the best MPH?

What RPM are you shifting at?
Click to expand...

Yes it goes straight as an arrow! I didn't have to adjust link bars or anything although I tried to take preload out of the springs because rear just doesn't seem to want to give much. Mph was just under 124 IIRC. Shifting at 7200.
 
Looks great.....Looks to me like you are spinning the tires out past the 60 foot timer.If you could get it to hook it would really go like hell.
 
nice ! I see alot more win lights in your future.
 
Job well done as one might say. With all the work you have done to that car it really hauls butt. I only wish that someday my car will run as good as yours. Keep on enjoying it.
 
Car ran as good as it looked!
Nice job!
I was stuck in vendor row/swap meet but saw you run a few times.
Nice videos
Todd
 
Thank you for some of the best video I've seen. When she hooked, that was good stuff. And the car sounded great.

If you had as much fun driving as I had watching, it was a good day for both of us. :thumbrig:
 
Sounds healthy, very nice first outing! What cam do you have in it? Just curious because it would probably go a little quicker with lower shift points. Strokers don't need anywhere near the RPM as standard stroke small blocks do to make the same power. For example, I can shift my 410 anywhere between 6200 and 6500 and it will run the same number. If I shift at 6000 it looses 0.01-0.02.

The launch vid looks like you need to get the front end looser to get better weight transfer. When you get some more suspension travel that thing should knock a few more tenths off the ET. With the MPH, you should be able to get 10.7's no problem. Good luck.
 
that was a great video you put together. saaaaaaaaweeet sounding motor. front end works great but the rear suspension sucks. your pulling the hotrod out on just the rear tires. it doesn't use the body to plant the tires , it just goes down in the rear. when this happens it acturally pulls the tires up. get 3-4 inches a rear body lift in it. use that remote mirro to see when the tires are smoking.
 
Yup Yup Yup,

That was awesome dude and damn that car leaves straight.

From watching the vid:

*Definitely gotta haze those tires more*

**Lower your shift RPM**

***Sleep in your bed,not on the tree***

Awesome 1st time out and thanks for making my morning, coffee and a fast Mopar.
 
Thanks all for the kind words! This was all test n tune. I was not competing or anything. The original intent of the car was to be a quick street car that I can take to the track and beat up on at test and tune and open drag nights. Wasn't intending to be a bracket car or anything but maybe something to think about. Now on to some Q&A.

flyfish said:
Sounds healthy, very nice first outing! What cam do you have in it? Just curious because it would probably go a little quicker with lower shift points. Strokers don't need anywhere near the RPM as standard stroke small blocks do to make the same power. For example, I can shift my 410 anywhere between 6200 and 6500 and it will run the same number. If I shift at 6000 it looses 0.01-0.02.

The launch vid looks like you need to get the front end looser to get better weight transfer. When you get some more suspension travel that thing should knock a few more tenths off the ET. With the MPH, you should be able to get 10.7's no problem. Good luck.
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The cam is a Comp roller. .645" lift, 266/272 dur @ .050. You may be right on the shift point. When I get it on the dyno in the spring I'll probably be better able to tell where to go on that.

I honestly don't see how I can get the front end any looser than it is. Running /6 torsion bars with 90/10 Comp Eng shocks. I'm open ears if you have a suggestion on that. In one of the runs at about the 1:20 mark, you can see that the car pulled the front wheels just a bit and right when they lifted, the car lost traction and spun. Well I could see it on the big screen TV in 1080P anyhow. Not sure if it can bee seen with the reduced video. But it seems to me that if the front wheels are off the ground, I should have had enough weight transfer to get good traction but that didn't happen for whatever reason. It has been suggested to me to get double adjustable shocks for starters.

bOb shingler said:
that was a great video you put together. saaaaaaaaweeet sounding motor. front end works great but the rear suspension sucks. your pulling the hotrod out on just the rear tires. it doesn't use the body to plant the tires , it just goes down in the rear. when this happens it acturally pulls the tires up. get 3-4 inches a rear body lift in it. use that remote mirro to see when the tires are smoking.
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Pardon my ignorance but not understanding "pulling the hotrod out on just the rear tires" and "pulling the tires up and get 3-4 inches rear body lift". Please explain what that means. Just FYI, it isn't a leaf spring car. It has a triangulated 4 link so it shouldn't lift whatsoever in the rear. It's supposed to squat but it's not doing this very well. The shocks/springs I have in the rear are these: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/cmb-15-0058/overview/.
 
That is an awesome car you have . Man if my 416 runs half as good I will be so
Happy . But enjoy your ride an have fun with it .great job with your car
 
wow great looking and nice running car you have there. if you don't mind me asking what was your 1/8 mile ET and speed. great time on your first time out it will only get faster from here on out.mopar65
 
wow, just read the whole story about you and your car.....you did an awesome job, you are a very ambitious guy! And now you have a very cool car, enjoy it!

Michael
 
mopar65 said:
wow great looking and nice running car you have there. if you don't mind me asking what was your 1/8 mile ET and speed. great time on your first time out it will only get faster from here on out.mopar65
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I remember reading one run at 6.93 @ 100 mph. I definitely plan on shaving at least another couple tenths off the 1/4 in the spring after some suspension tuning and dyno tuning.

360duster said:
wow, just read the whole story about you and your car.....you did an awesome job, you are a very ambitious guy! And now you have a very cool car, enjoy it!

Michael
Click to expand...

I think it drained ALL of my ambitions ha! It did take a lot of time from everything else I used to enjoy like brewing beer, golf, shooting guns, and sadly I noticed I didn't hang out with friends and family (or my wife for that matter) near as much either. Now that it's going to be a little easier road from here on out, I'll at least get to enjoy the car more than being frustrated with it. I just brewed 2 batches of beer a couple weeks ago which I hadn't done in over a year, golf season is out but I can still go shooting. I'm also going to restore a little 50cc Honda mini bike that's been in my family for many years. Took it apart 2 years ago and it's still in boxes. I've had to put that off too because of the car.

But one thing that I'm happy about having the car going now is being able to enjoy it with other people. Most friends/family haven't ever had to opportunity to ride in a muscle car and that was one thing I never had the pleasure of experiencing either until more recent years. A lot of guys wouldn't ever get their car out, take you for a ride, or even start them for that matter. You could only look. That always drove me nuts! I've already promised a bunch of rides between family, friends, and neighbors. One neighbor asked that I please take his teenage son for a ride because his son thinks that his basically stock Honda Civic is "quick" and that his son really has no idea what real horsepower is. Maybe I can convert the kid to the life of American muscle and leave the fart cans behind.
 
Awesome car! I haven't read your whole build but have read some of it. My car has been somewhat the same way of finding issues the more you dig..... Your videos have me excited about getting mine going.
 
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