to greaserkid

-
6

68gts340

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2005
Messages
442
Reaction score
2
Location
western new york
these guys on here have given you some real great ideas and suggestions, probably the best that you could buy, and it is for free. I feel a need to try a diffferent approach. it wont be very popular though.. but it needs saying . ...
it is my opinion (fwiw ) to start out a little slower, their is so much more you need to learn. this is only a suggestion , but here it goes...get your 3.91 s and the 8 3/4.. get the drive shaft too if you can ,you will need it. install only the rear and , now take the car to the track , and run it , learn how to read the tree ,stage the car ,see just how long a .750 reaction time is, in other words learn how to drag race, safely and legal... and have fun most of all. this is what it is really all about....
next dial in the car ...see if you can make it faster with what it has, try different timing settings ,different carb settings , even set your pinion angle . but here is the key....do only one thing at a time.....this is very important for a simle reason, it the car runs worse then you have learned what not to do, and becuase you only changed the one thing ,you can put it back with out trying a dozen different things .. then put on your next bolt on item . maybe the headers.. and run the car some more ...try different settings again, next put on your carb,, and run ...and try to fine tune and so on ......untill you have all that you can get out of the chassis and the bolt ons......NOW YOU ARE READY TO ADD A BIG MOTOR.....you will be able to drive it and tune it ... and you will have learned what changes do what to a race car.... now you have arrived... you know what is wrong , know where to look and how to fix it... and above everything else your pride and joy new motor will be in one piece ....to many of us have wasted new motors for dumb reasons..I. E . never have heard detonation before,,,whats that noise ...huummm cant find it.....run er again.....BANG....smoke ...oil.... tears....took out a piston....

like I said ..only my opinon... but most of us can only afford one motor...
start building your motor that you want ,just have the car and the driver ready , BEFORE you swap her in there....THEN go kick some a$$....
I welcome any ones opinion on this .... Ron
 
Todays problem is:I want it now and it has to be faster than every one elses and it has to last for ever.
Well life is not like this,and some say just go buy a crate hemi and go fast.Well 15,000$ crate hemi does not make you go faster than a person with a well tuned 318 made for the track and tuned to the max,and using every once of power it can make effectively.Take for example,which every one should do,is look at a car closest to your car in the NHRA Super/stock catagorey.Allot of darts run low 11,s and into the 10,s and pick the wheels up and fly,with 318,340,360,s.They do not have half the parts some street guys have.If some one want s spend just mega bucks and has it,all the power to you,but have a bunch of motors on hand to change,because if you do not know **** about tuning all ends of the car,you will be the best tire smoker in the land.You will never go any where,but you will be the best tire smoker.What makes the NHRA car faster than the street car,Knowledge,applacation,math,weight,gearing,and maxing out the littlest item to make it better.Should some one watch their penies,for sure,if you have ever been on the other side of the table doing a deal with me you be lucky to leave with your shorts.I always search for deals and get the best price and the best parts,why,because I have been doing this for 33 years.Not everyone has this knowledge or experience,if you do not,you listen and learn and find out why its done that way,for what reasons.Its best to find the right way to do things and not the cheapest way to do things,as the second way always cost you twice to three times as much,if you would have done it the right way first,by spending a little more.Hey,it,s taken me many years to get my dart to a piont where I can install a 12,000$ motor,and 5000$worth of tranny and diffy,but the time and effort has paid off,right parts,right price.We should surround ourselfs with the most knowledgeable people we can and learn from them,ask questions,why is it like that,and get a explaination in a form we can understand.When taking to BJR,we talk a certain way that only a few can understand,on the techincal side,I can,t talk to a beginner is this way,have to simplify it more to get them up to speed.But you are right 100%,the bottom line is,learn to walk,then learn to run,Mrmopartech
 
thanks guys, I think we all grew up " back in the day" , we all wanted the same thing and we spent way to much money ( that we didnt have ) only to make the same mistakes all over again. I would just like to help these younger car crafters learn from all our years of mistakes. and believe me ,I made more than my share..... Ron
 
I have always been one of the "slower" guys. I have enough pride to say that, But I am having fun and I am learning(Only 28 years of age). If there is only one thing in this world that I can't stand, it would be the tall tale teller that had a car back in the day that pulled the front tires on the street(which you can find some videos on the net of this), Ran a stock MG down the highway at 160mph going to michigan, and had a car start on fire but only burned the front drivers seat and then burned out......BS
These are some of the stories I here at work.

What ever, I am here to learn from you guys, and to maybe help someone else some day. I have to say that I agree with 68gts340 wholeheartedly on this one, and Don't be a Tall Tale Teller!!!!!! You will get more respect being the "slow guy" than a lier anyday. Take your time to learn your car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Not that I'm calling anybody a lier here, cause I'm not. It's just a pet pev thing of mine.
Thanks for letting me vent....LOL
 
I tuned on my dart for about 2 months to get it to run somewhat good. That is all I will be doing next year to it, unless I break something(god forbid).

By the way greaser, I will be pulling my 8 3/4 out in about 2-3 weeks and selling it if you might be interested. It is a A-body 8 3/4 with the small bolt pattern. I am putting a narrowed rear in the car in it's place.
 
I agree too, being only 18 I still have alot to learn. I want my 340 going bad, but Ive been realizing I cant get it all at once, and so Ive been enjoying my 318. Doing this is allowing me to make wiser choices on my 340 build.
 
think you guys are spot on! i can remmeber when i put my screamer 340 in the engine bay, i was so proud of it, it had (and still has) all the best parts money can buy and it also has some of the most expensive mashinework done to it, but i was hugely disapointed in the begining it was a long walk from non tuned crapy racemotor on the street to the beautiflly tuned wonder it is today and it makes more power than most can handle safely i think i am a lucky bastard i didnt blow it or atleast break something before i had tuned it in... i would have had a lot more fun if i had learnt some more about tuning and setup in general on my 318 before i put the 340 in...
hope you take this the right way none of us wants you anything bad we dont want to bee boring just make sure you know how to get the most out of the combinations available:)
 
I have to add thanks to all the responses on this thread and I can but only agree 100%.
This kind of information is priceless in cash & time and goes along with a couple of lines I read in the Mopar Engine book.
Learn the car, learn how to stage and race it, best revs for shifting etc and work on consistency then make one change at a time as already stated.
Too many guys run out and buy a catalog full of parts and don't go any better or only marginally quicker because of a mismatch of parts.

As 47 year old just getting a ride together for the strip I follow this forum as there is just so much information you can't buy.
I find trying to search through the options for the best match the biggest challenge.

You got to crawl before you walk and walk before you can run.
 
Good post. I have always looked at it like this.........I will never be the fastest as I have nowhere near the money for that. So live within your budget and try to make the best of the combo you have. Dont matter if its 15's or 10's, If you have a stock 318 running 15.0's then you have a good running combo or a 440 race car running 10's. You can have fun at any speed and you should always learn to handle the slower cars first and work your way up. I am 49 and I could not be happier then just having a nice 11 second street/strip car. I saw both of my sons Ron Jr 19 and Tim 17 wanting to go 10's allready. I talked with them and help them with their cars and have got them doing well but they did work up to it. Yea 19 Ron Jr runs mid 11's and 17 year old Tim runs high 12's but they grew up at the track and I have worked with them. Just this past weekend Ron Jr ran 11.55 on his first pass which was a new best. On his second pass the car got loose on the 1-2 shift and he lifted right away running 12.62 @ 82 mph. But I was so proud how he handled the car and lifted as soon as it walked sideways a little. Thats smart driving as I know he was looking to better the 11.55 he just ran. I told him when he came back around that he did the smart thing. You can always come back another day to race that way. But I think my working with him and him watching me over the years made him realize to respect the car and learn how to hanlde it before just jumping into a fast car. Ron
 
I took some of this advice and put a carb spacer on my 318 and went out to the track. Did some adjusting to the timing, ran a 15.55 then had a 93 mph on one of the runs. Last weekend it was ran 15.85 at only 89 or so. So it picked up some till I broke it.
 
This is a great post simply because it has been on my mind lately. I almost fell into the trap of spending more than I should all at once just to prove a point with looks and numbers! After seeing your points I definetely have enough on my plate with what I have so I think I'll keep doing the little things like I have so far and hold off for the big motor etc until after I learn a bit more on my small block. ThanX for keepin it real for me peeps!!!!! My wallet likes this theory better.
 
WOW!!
I got this same lecture from my Dad several times. It took a lot of wasted money, and a bit of maturity(just a bit) to finally realize He was right. Thanks for stirring up some old memories 68GTS340.

You GTS guys are pretty smart.
Suprise, suprise!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top