What is a respectable 1/8th mile time

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Punisher66j

Punisher66j

Dart Swinger
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I am currently building a 74 dart swinger for street/strip purposes and I was curious what is a good 1/8th mile time to aim for. I am putting a mostly stock 360 magnum from a 99 ram and a 904 auto trans. Magnum has been converted to carb and has a 650 edelbrock. I currently have a stock 8 1/4 axle and I am in the process of buying a 8 1/4 suregrip from a buddy to run until I can afford my 8 3/4 swap. What would be a decent time to run pretty much stock motor, stock rear axle, and stock trans. Thanks
 
My 73 Duster with a mild LA 360, shift kit, and 8 3/4 3.23 SG (on street radial tires at 20 psi) ran 8.20- 8.30 in the 8th which translates to about a 14.4 1/4 mile.

Circa 1991.

Not terrible IMO.
 
respectable ? for you, I don't know . for me, I have a # but it's a secret. lol
 
7.5 and you'll be doing very good. What are rearend gears?
Don't discount that 8 1/4. I beat the crap (with a 4-speed) out of a 8 1/4 with 355's and sold it to build a very stout 8 3/4 with brand new gears - bla bla bla - blew it up in 30 passes. That was my experience. built a dana 60 for less than the 8 3/4 and done.
 
YY1 said:
My 73 Duster with a mild LA 360, shift kit, and 8 3/4 3.23 SG (on street radial tires at 20 psi) ran 8.20- 8.30 in the 8th which translates to about a 14.4 1/4 mile.

Circa 1991.

Not terrible IMO.
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Wouldn't that be closer to high 12/low 13's? At least by my maths.

Respectable is all what you want it to be. A 12 second 1/4 mile car is a lot faster than you think. Especially on the street.
 
Gears I am not sure, it was a slant 6 car. I would like to run 12s in a quarter or better eventually but I really want to be around a 7.5 in a 1/8th but I'm not sure how hard that will be. The other 8 1/4 I found is a sure grip axle out of a f body that was a factory 4 speed car.
 
7.5 puts you in the high 11's. You'll need probably 400 horse or so to the wheels to do that. Depending on your weight of course. Stock magnum 360 should be 250 horse, 345 torque. Factory rated. Depending on mileage it will probably make less now. It'll move for sure. But to hit your goal will take the usual. Heads, headers, cam, intake, etc etc. Magnum's respond really well to small mods too. So you're lucky there.
 
Lustle said:
7.5 puts you in the high 11's. You'll need probably 400 horse or so to the wheels to do that. Depending on your weight of course. Stock magnum 360 should be 250 horse, 345 torque. Factory rated. Depending on mileage it will probably make less now. It'll move for sure. But to hit your goal will take the usual. Heads, headers, cam, intake, etc etc. Magnum's respond really well to small mods too. So you're lucky there.
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I currently have a air gap style dual plane intake. I plan on getting a cam and a set of eq heads over the winter but currently don't have the 1500 to do so. I do have a set of headers on the way as well.
This is the article I am basing my build off of.
How to Add 129hp to a 5.9l Mopar Magnum - Engine Buldup - Hot Rod Magazine
 
You add about 4 seconds to 1/8 mile time to come up with 1/4 time. So To me, I respect anything that can run mid 14s on down. That's about where the performance era cars started. So anything about 10 seconds or quicker in the 1/8 IMO is respectable.
 
Keep in mind I am very new to drag racing. I have done demolition derby and roundy round dirt track racing. I have only drag raced once and it was in my 6.7 cummins and ran a 9.54 in an 1/8. It was a damn good time and now I am hooked.
 
Punisher66j said:
Keep in mind I am very new to drag racing. I have done demolition derby and roundy round dirt track racing. I have only drag raced once and it was in my 6.7 cummins and ran a 9.54 in an 1/8. It was a damn good time and now I am hooked.
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Your 9.54 in the 1/8 is around 15.15 in the 1/4.... According to the Wallace Racing calculators.
 
You can go pretty fast with that magnum 360, especially with a decent convertor. As a example, i have run 8:90s with a LA318 in a duster, stock convertor, 3:21 OPEN gears and street tires. I would expect you could run a bit quicker than that with what u have.
 
Punisher66j said:
LOL and I was proud of my big *** truck. That is slow as hell.
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Really, 15 seconds isn't slow at all. Anything under 14 seconds is FAST. Quick enough to get you in trouble. A stock non-turbo Stealth was 15 seconds. I owned one and it was a very quick car, though it was more road race type fun than drag race. I wouldn't feel bad about a 15 second truck at all.
 
I ran 8.76 in the 1/8th with a boner stock la 360(70 340 intake with old 780 holley)in my duster.3.91 gears and a cheap 10" converter..and that was with a 727.

Mopar built the 360 and it had fairly low miles,but wasn't fresh at all.
 
Punisher66j said:
I am currently building a 74 dart swinger for street/strip purposes and I was curious what is a good 1/8th mile time to aim for. I am putting a mostly stock 360 magnum from a 99 ram and a 904 auto trans. Magnum has been converted to carb and has a 650 edelbrock. I currently have a stock 8 1/4 axle and I am in the process of buying a 8 1/4 suregrip from a buddy to run until I can afford my 8 3/4 swap. What would be a decent time to run pretty much stock motor, stock rear axle, and stock trans. Thanks
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as the 360 is likely at or near 250HP (more than the 318 but not a high performance engine by any means) you should be able to catch 14's in the 1/4mi. fairly easily - which is around the 9 to 10 sec mark for the 1/8th I think.. do what you can to make that car lighter!
 
I believe Jesse Owens ran the 220 when he was a track star at Ohio State in 20.3 seconds. More common now is the 200 meters and I think the world record is 19.19 by Usain Bolt. All of you guys are running the 1/8 mile faster than they are.
 
RustyRatRod said:
So To me, I respect anything that can run mid 14s on down. That's about where the performance era cars started. So anything about 10 seconds or quicker in the 1/8 IMO is respectable.
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Yep, that is why I picked any "14" second number as my goal (even a 14.99) with my "low dollar 318 build". Without gears (2.76 I believe), or headers, and a factory converter, and staying under 500.00 bucks these days, that's what makes it fun.....
rc_brooks said:
Really, 15 seconds isn't slow at all. Anything under 14 seconds is FAST. Quick enough to get you in trouble. A stock non-turbo Stealth was 15 seconds. I owned one and it was a very quick car, though it was more road race type fun than drag race. I wouldn't feel bad about a 15 second truck at all.
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I agree, and what makes it seem "not as fast" is the performance of cars/trucks today is pretty extreme. 250-300 horsepower non-turbo V6's are everywhere today, even in mini vans. I had a 1970 dodge truck with a 340 that ran 15.05 (with the truck converter, very tight). I felt it was plenty fast......
 
How wide of a tire can I fit in the back with a stock axle? I wasn't sure if was a good idea or not but I have a buddy who still races dirt track and he has some hoosier dirt track tires he said I can have and I heard they do well for low budget. I don't know if they will allow them though cause I don't think they are DOT approved.
 
I've always shot for 7.50's. anything 11.50 or 7.35 and faster requires a cage. My best is 7.88 in the 1/8. going backwards with a 4 speed but even low 8's would be fine by me. will be way more fun rowing anyway.
 
You're asking what is a respectable 1/8 mile time, 8.10 and quicker. A time of 8.10 is equal to a mid 12 second run in the 1/4, which I think is pretty respectable. How much quicker you want to go from there is dependent on how much you want to spend. You can get there with out a lot of fuss, just careful clear thought and the application of that thought. Tires that bite, a chassis that will 60 ft 1.8 or a little better, match cam, gears, converter carefully, you are there.
 
JBurch said:
You're asking what is a respectable 1/8 mile time, 8.10 and quicker. A time of 8.10 is equal to a mid 12 second run in the 1/4, which I think is pretty respectable. How much quicker you want to go from there is dependent on how much you want to spend. You can get there with out a lot of fuss, just careful clear thought and the application of that thought. Tires that bite, a chassis that will 60 ft 1.8 or a little better, match cam, gears, converter carefully, you are there.
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I want to go as fast as it will go and still be streetable. Some day I will eventually build a full drag car but for now street strip is what I want. I plan on having around 400 horse once my engine is done. That won't be for awhile but I should still end up around 275 to 300 sooner than later. as far as a torque converter goes I just have a stock one for now. Money is super super tight so its baby steps for me. I am not sure how to make the car lighter and still keep it a street car. I don't want to gut the interior and so on and loose the drivability. I think a 12 second quarter mile would be a great start and eventually I'd like to hit 10 second or so.
 
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