Yeah without a body on it, That tire wont fit. I know.That is a diff tire I think or the pic is deceiving, I see no room for suspension travel with the big tire and he went with a much smaller 31x16.5 in the other pic.

 

Hmm. Looks like he has plans on his web site though. We'll just have to follow along and see what happens.

 

Last year I checked out this car last year at Rockingham Dragway and looked underneath it. If I remember correctly, I guess it is sort of a hybrid that retains the monospring type set-up, but is a straight axle without u-joints or IRS. I'm pretty sure the NHRA/IHRA sanctioning bodies allow that for 'Vettes in Super Stock for strength.

With all of the talk about "buying a Nova", not much is cooler in my opinion than a Corvette drag car, even if it is "hacked up". My stepdad races an '82 in which the body was molded from an actual '82. So no real Corvette died for the cause. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

Our stock rearends are not that fragile. I have been running my vet for more then 14 years, the first 10 were alot of street racing, a big 460, 411 gears,really good heads, wild cam, 5000 stall converter, 400 auto and a big shot, actually double shot of nitrous with big MT ET streets.
Other then twisting a pair of axles which I discovered on normal inspection and replaced with an indistructable set I have never broken the rearend. 3 transmissions, 4 torque converters but NEVER a rearend.
Yes even I can bang 5 gears down the road and still have a working rearend.
This thread I thought would give insite into doing a solid rearend but it is really of little value for those that really would like some concrete constructive ideas.

 

norval: That is the biggest load of manure I have seen shovelled on the forum in a LONG time!!!

The list of blown rear ends from cars built with much LESS than what you have is long and illustrious. Virtually NO serious (meaning Super Stock and higher) Vette racer uses the stock IRS crap for drag racing.
An auto will ALWAYS be easier on a rear end than a stick. That's common knowledge. And driving on the STREET does not compare with dumped clutch takeoffs at the strip using REAL racing slicks.

This thread doesn't apply to you...no sweat. You do your speeding on the street. This thread is more for those who race LEGALLY on the strip.
Many who have posted on this thread or visit here have found some useful information and ideas. Perhaps you need to suggest Troy open an "Illegal Street Racing" section, as that seems more appropriate for your type of driving. Sorry...not EVERYONE on here worships the ground you walk on or believes your design ideas are infallible.



Dep

 

Chill out guys, we are not exactly comparing apples and oranges here anyway. There are many well built IRS suspensions that are competitive in drag racing and the same for the street. If I were against them I would have taken mine out and put in a solid axel.

The solid axel to me is much more sensible and practical for hard drag racing due to several facts. We do have the anti-squat issue and the extreme shock to a flexible suspension that is not a positive attribute to the launch of a Corvette. Remember the extremes that drag racers go to for every ounce of power and suspension modifications are probably some of the most extreme and worth while of the power train.

IRS is acceptable in lower power requirements and on the street. I can't see Big632 running an IRS to address his needs and I really can't see the necessity of putting a solid axel in a stock street Corvette either. We all have different needs and to each his choice of direction to address them. It is hard to argue or debate the issue when we all have such a variation of need.

Even the ones that do use the IRS on the drag strip are modified and use many expensive parts to supplement the weak links of the system. Many feel that the better hook and the cost of extreme duty components warrants the decision to go to a solid axel. One more item. If it breaks you don't make the next round, and if you ain't there to run, it's over.

There is room and need for both, not just IRS. jim

 

As a one-time VERY-serious bracket-racer, who plans to relocate to Florida and resume my racing again, this is my entire reasoning for a solid-axle in the C3, even if it IS only running mid-12's:
consistency, durability, and reliability are the MOST important things when building a bracket-car.


Thanks for hitting the nail on the head.

 

Now heres someone who knows what hes talking about!

 

I would like to start a new thread about how to go about putting in a solid rear, but it would be easer to make a video! its just not an easy thing to write about. There are alot of parts you have to make. I put mine in without narrowing the frame rails and i kept the battery box, compartments, gas tank all untouched. I did however have to cut the x-member a make it a driveshaft loop so it can go up and down, and NO there is no vibration at any speed nor does the angle of the shaft have any ill efects. I did'nt know that this thread was supposed to be the learning chanel! If you want to put in a solid rear I think you should go to the drags or maybe a vette show to see some for yourself, as there are alot of ways to do it! If you would like to see mine, just let me know when your in town and Ill walk you through the whole thing!

 

I agree there should be a new thread with actual facts about putting in a solid rearend. NO I don't intend to do it myself but if I did I am sure I could quickly work out the details for myself. I am NOT interested in setting up a drag car. I am interested only in a good handling car.
When this post started I thought some interesting ideas would come out but so far it has contributed nothing to HOW to actually install a rearend. But like most of Debs posts this is just so
much dreaming and nothing else.
I expressed a concern that having should a short driveshaft could lead to high speed vibration do to the universals going through a fair angle change. Our stock setup involves maybe 1 or 1 1/2 degrees maximum deviation from straight but a moving rearend could get into 3 -5 degrees and I would worry about vibration. Maybe not.
I do know that our present rearends even if used agressively on the street are not really the big problem some seem to thing. With an automatic and slicks it can live, mine has proven it over my 14 years of running the car and all of it with a nitrous bigblock or my blown motor. I have destroyed 3 transmissions and 4 torque converters plus one pair of axles but nothing else.
If a solid axle would improve my handling one would be installed this winter but since it is step backwards in handling I will NOT.
I would love to see a dedicated post to actually installing the solid axle for those that want to do it, there a plenty of guys on the forum that have done it.
As for big tires the solid axle would not help.
I would love to see your car but only the way I would admire anyother well built car not to get ideas about installing the solid axle.
It is not in my plans.
Thanks anyway for the offer.
I do not attack people I only attack ideas. Some quote I picked up from some Moron. George taught me that new word.

 

<yawn> huh? Did someone mention swiss cheese frames??? Oh....it's that same guy blowing his bazoo again.



Dep

 

Ummmm, can I ask a dumb question? I know stuff all about professional drag cars, apart from the fact that at Santa Pod you can get right up close to the start line & blow your eardrums out & vibrate the fluid in your eyeballs when the TF cars leave the line. In the 70's I used to stand ON the start line at my local dragstrip (Blackbush airport). I like that & there's not many places that it can be done at (something about safety issues & lawsuits). My hearing isn't as good as it could be....
Over the years of watching it I've seen the brutal looking rails & FC's evolve from butch behemouths(sp) into sleek & lithe monsters. All in the name of getting the best drag coefficient so that power wasn't wasted holding the car at a certain speed & was freed up to accelerate it. The problems of drag have been known about for years, even that crazy Aussie who did 150mph at Bonneville laying on a Vincent, while wearing swimming shorts & cap, in the late 40's was aware of losing power overcoming drag (if he was really serious he would have shaved off all his body hair!). So why convert a C3 to a drag car?????? The aerodynamics are shyte. I can't remember the figures, but the power needed to run a C3 at 130mph on a flat surface is a heck of a lot more than required to run a C4 at the same speed. I expect a C6 needs even less. So the aerodynamics of the body may not pay much part in the early stages of a run, but as speed increases, so does drag (exponentially??) & at the top end of the strip, when the acceleration has dropped right off (& is probably when you want it the most?), a lot of power is wasted simply pushing the body through the air. If it was more aerodynamic then that power could be used to accelerate.

Pizzas & beer (I prefer Frank Zappa's combination ): I've had Pizzas all over the world (dunno why, I prefer steak!) & the best was in Bergamo in northern Italy (near Monza). 3rd best was in the US. 2nd (& this really hurts me to say it!) was in the south of France
Beer. what I've found with beer is that every country exports it's crap stuff (with the exception of Grolsch). Here we get the pissy Bud & crappy Fosters. In the US I found some nice beers, as I did in Aussie, but I'd never find them here. In Monterrey I walked into "a Genuine British Pub" & damn near pissed myself laughing. Not only were they serving Tetley, but the chalk board proudly proclaimed that they had just got in some Double Diamond!!!! The stuff is muck, I've not seen it here in years & honestly thought that they'd stopped making it. We laugh about it, it's the epitome of warm beer, along with Watney's Red Barrel (as it's not worth wasting the enery to chill it), but it looks like it's still being made & shipped to unsuspecting foreigners. I asked the barmaid (bartender?) about it & she said that they like the British beers as they were weak & the punters didn't get drunk & start causing trouble. Weak? That's equivalent to making love in a canoe. If anybody ever visits the UK, I'd recommend a visit to santa Pod for some TF racing, as you can get up close & personal, followed by an evening in the Salisbury area (entirely possible to explain to the wife as Stonehenge is nearby) drinking some beers from the Hopback Brewery (recmnd Summer Lightening), or any number of independant Brewers. Leave the big brewey output alone, that's the stuff you'll be able to get at home, just like we get Bud Light here.

 

There are no 'dumb questions', but I may offer-up a dumb answer.....


You are correct that a C3 ain't the most aerodynamic race-car:
personally, I've always wanted a C3 drag-car, and after going thru a painful divorce, I need a 'new start' (something different from my Z28 ), and I also think a C3 has an advantage (no-computer, bigger sidewall ) over all the C4/C5/C6's I'll compete against in the Corvette Challenge Series races in which I hope to compete.

For foot-brake / bracket-racing purposes, which I'd guess is what most of us do, 'aerodynamics' effects us differently than those who are looking for all-out performance:
head-winds will cause us to run further-off (slower ) our dial-in, and tail-winds 'push' us down-track quicker, resulting in break-out/run-under situations....

While a C3 is 'aerodynamically-dirty', is probably better than 95% of all door-slammers out there, meaning head/tail-winds won't effect us as-much:
besides, my C3 probably won't run over 110 MPH anyhow.....

Isn't Santa Pod where Darrell Gwynn had his accident in April '90?

 

"Isn't Santa Pod where Darrell Gwynn had his accident in April '90?"

Yes I believe that's where it happened. Interesting you bring it up, because my step-dad and I were watching the Seattle NHRA race Saturday night on TV where Tony Schumacher's dragster frame broke at over 300mph and luckily, he didn't even wreck. My dad, who has been drag racing for many years, was just talking about Gwynn's accident and how it is believed that the dragster flexed so much on the ship to England during rough seas that the frame was weakend at various points and led to the dreadful accident.

 

Yes, I recall the scuttle-butt about container-transport, but also believe I heard that Gwynn wasn't wearing proper safety-equipment (arm-restraints? ) during that fateful run.....

He had just won the Gatornationals a week before, too:
I was at Columbus in June when the team re-debuted with Frank Hawley behind the butterrfly steering-wheel.....

 

I hadn't heard that about the safety restraints... What a shame. If you can, try to catch the footage of Schumaker's dragster at Seattle. It's amazing that there wasn't a serious accident. While IHRA Pro Stock is my favorite class, to me there is nothing in the world as awesome as two Top Fuel Dragsters or Funny Cars going full throttle down the track! Of course, I haven't seen the Space Shuttle launch (in person).

 

FYI....In 1983, Car and Driver did the road test on the new 1984 vette, and discussed the drag co-efficient of the C-4. The G.M. numbers were .31, they compared that to the c/d of the 1982 vette it replaced. The 82 vette c/d was.41..THE SAME AS A 1982 CHEVROLET CAPRICE!!!!!!!

 

I think this guy would highly disagree that C3 Corvettes aren't made for drag racing!

 

I believe that Gwynn had graciously/foolishly loaned HIS arm-restraints to the car in-line ahead of him in that session.....

This ain't the first-time that Alan Johnson's-tuned, ARMY-car has broken in-half:
in '03, a similar chassis snapped in-front of the foot-box, and the car broke COMPLETELY in 2 pieces, sending "the Sarge" on a wild ride:
the team dusted-off the back-up chassis, and promptly won the race the next day.

Johnson/Schumacher have sent the faulty tubing out for analysis:
since Don Schumacher himself regularly posts there, maybe we'll find-out more when the results are in.....
http://forums.nitromater.com/showthread.php?t=16951

 

Johnson/Schumacher have sent the faulty tubing out for analysis:
since Don Schumacher himself regularly posts there, maybe we'll find-out more when the results are in.....
http://forums.nitromater.com/showthread.php?t=16951[/B][/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Interesting information and thanks for the link.