How to prepare my car for the dragstrip?

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Gee, I wish you could have been there the time I wound up in the walnut orchard as the result of popping a wheelie, so you could have explained to the California Hwy. Patrol officer that it couldn't POSSIBLY have happened!

Daredevil and Commando, you're comparing apples and oranges. Your cars are a LOT heavier, and have a much longer wheelbase, than a '62 early-early A-body car does. How old are you guys? You don't seem to be familiar with the early-early A-body. Maybe you just don't go back far enough to remember them.
 
51 and have had 4 darts 64 thru 72 and still not believing it. when you post`a 10 or 11 second timeslip maybe
 
A factory stripper '62 Dart weighs in around 3444 pounds, and has a wheelbase of 116 inches. That is pretty light for a midsize car (it is not an A-body), and the wheelbase is pretty short compared to the '61 models, and it grew again in '63 to 119. Although it is a pretty light car, and would be similar to yanking the wheels in an early GTO...a pretty difficult task with a big block; hard to picture with a small block.
 
Got any videos, or can you take one, so we can see what you are talking about?
 
well from what iv read it dosnt sond like he went to trak.but let me tell you what happins with a 3400lb. car with the weels (im told4ft.in the air)wen the yok twist of the rear.it will cost you one oil pan pickup tube one front weel a shock mabe a lower A arm . not to menchen a drive shift and new ring and pinion. i hope thats all...got tired and had to stop. i gess ill drik my ice tea and see if any one else had any fun.eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!
 
My Barracuda weighs 3050lbs. with a 360 it went 12.80 @108mph. It has 295/50/15 tires and it doesn't even come close to pulling the front wheels off the ground.
 
What Daredevil and Commando 66 said! I have, however, seen old six cylinder tow trucks pull the wheels when they were way overloaded. My old Ford tractor will pull 'em when the three point hitch is loaded to the max and lifted. Got a filled waterbed in that early "A" trunk???
 
I was at a show that had a bunch of old Superstock and Prostock guys hanging out. Ronnie Sox, Arlen Vanke, My hero: Arnie the farmer Beeswick, ect...and I saw a REAL Superstock AMX pull the front wheels off the ground with a little dual quad 390 4-speed. He did it just before he pulled it on the trailer, right in the middle of town. The funny thing is he stalled it the first time he tried. Got it right the second go around. Very cool. Who am I to say that it can't be done? Whatever... just be safe if you are fooling around with your son, that is some precious cargo.
Frank Hawley and Mark Smith wrote a book called: Drag Racing. how to get started.
Pretty good read, check it out.
 
i reread my posts here and would like to offer an apology. This may have been hard to believe but who am i too say it cant happen. I hope your son didnt see us doubting you. Next time I have something of this nature to say i,ll be a little more sensitive and do it in a pm or something.Dont want to chase anyone in the mopar family away. Hope you,ll accept my apology.
 
way off subject my old 360 use to bog off the line with the thormo i had
i went with a holley street avenger and changed to the yellow spring now no hesitstion just my 2 cents

nate
 
Outsider said:
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!
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Hey outsider Are the "stone gaurds" do they look the same as the 65GT but dont connect to wheel well trim if so ive a set My 65 is all one piece these are about a foot long shaped the same but dont go over wheel well lmk Bert
 
65DrtGT said:
Are the "stone gaurds" do they look the same as the 65GT but dont connect to wheel well trim if so ive a set My 65 is all one piece these are about a foot long shaped the same but dont go over wheel well lmk Bert
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i think i posted this twice sorry
 
bignasty123 said:
way off subject my old 360 use to bog off the line with the thormo i had
i went with a holley street avenger and changed to the yellow spring now no hesitstion just my 2 cents

nate
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I'm with ya on this one, fellas. The TQ is a very good carb for the small primaries and the overlarge secondaries, which makes it very good for the street. But they are tempermental and need to be babied to work at their peak. So many things to keep an eye on, including the fact that the body is made of a Phenolic material that is prone to warping over time, making it impossible to keep it working at its peak. I'd do a carb switch if it were mine, even though I have been at odds with the holley carbs for years, I would still recommend one in this case. If you're bogging off the line, I would suspect the TQ, although this may be the reason you get a good launch without tire spin. Like the poster said, these cars are very light, and with a good launch, I can see it lifting the tires!!! Good luck joining the 1320 ranks, and I would suggest that your first few passes don't have to be all out record holders. Just work into it slow, and get a feel for what the car can do, then gradually increase your launches commensurate with your confidence level. And most importantly, have fun!!! Geof
 
Guys, wheelies are fun. The main thing is that the car goes straight! That 727 takes away a lot of evils and I'll bet the wheelies only last a few feet...still in first gear. A spool would be a very good investment for safety. Any place with a "test & tune" is a good place to get practice and get over starting line jitters. You have to feel secure in the car you are driving so it is my humble opinion that he should race that car and know everything about it. I have always been a four speed or 5-speed man and if I could, I'd pull wheelies all day long!! I have hit second gear even while the wheels were hanging! Pick them up again in 3rd! There is nothing more fun that 1.20 60 footers and carrying the wheels through first and second. Good luck with that unusual race car and do everything to assure safety to yourself and the fellow on the other lane. I like that, "Kick the tires and light the fires!"
Pat:cheers:
 
Demon416 said:
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.
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If it launches straight.
 
"Man, it you guys really hit him hard on that wheelie gig. Bill! Where's your slips!??!"

Oh, hell, that's all right; I've got broad shoulders. And besides, maybe you guys were right; maybe it wasn't really a wheelie that it did. It could have been doing some other weird thing instead that just seemed like a wheelie to me. I was so scared that I almost defecated, so I guess I could have perceived it incorrectly. I still haven't been to the strip but, having said that, I will add that I have never lost a race with the car. The damned thing hooks up and doesn't burn rubber for some reason. But who's complaining?
 
daredevil wrote: "...have had 4 darts 64 thru 72 and still not believing it..."

All of your Darts were a much larger, heavier car than the early-early A-body.

Outsider wrote: "A factory stripper '62 Dart weighs in around 3444 pounds, and has a wheelbase of 116 inches."

But the '62 Dart was an intermediate-size car, not a compact like the Valiant and Lancer.

The '60-'62 Valiants and Lancers had only a 106.5" wheelbase and the body was narrower. They weighed as little as 2,510 lbs.
 
Bill Crowell said:
daredevil wrote: "...have had 4 darts 64 thru 72 and still not believing it..."

All of your Darts were a much larger, heavier car than the early-early A-body.

Outsider wrote: "A factory stripper '62 Dart weighs in around 3444 pounds, and has a wheelbase of 116 inches."

But the '62 Dart was an intermediate-size car, not a compact like the Valiant and Lancer.

The '60-'62 Valiants and Lancers had only a 106.5" wheelbase and the body was narrower. They weighed as little as 2,510 lbs.
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I have a `65DartGT with i blieve 111inch wheel base would you know the dry wieght of my car and IF i correct on WB thanx Bert
 
TMP67 wrote: "The only place that car is "popping a wheelie" is in your dreams."

Oh, OK. So you didn't read my later post then, so you don't realize that I admitted that maybe it wasn't a wheelie? You know, it's always a good idea to read the entire thread before responding ...how many more times am I going to have to admit it before you'll chill a little?

I also notice that you didn't respond to any of the factual points that were raised, such as the much lighter weight and shorter wheelbase of the '60-'62 cars.

So if it would take 700 horsepower to pop a wheelie in a 3,400-lb car with a 116" wheelbase, would you please give us your opinion of how much horsepower you think would be necessary to pop a wheelie in a 2,500-lb. car with a 106" wheelbase? In doing so, you might want to recall the reasons why altered wheelbase drag cars had aluminum body panels and the rear axle was moved forward.

I look forward to reading your reply.
 
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