well since my dad bought his new 76 and abandoned our old 76 project i was toying around with the idea of maybe turning the car into a drag car. (still have to convince him) Havent dragged since i sold my last mustang couple years ago which ran low 11's on a 308 small block with a 150 shot. anyways how do these cars hold up at the track with slicks and what not????

any problems with cracking fiberglass?? rollcage necessity or luxury? (i know below 12's its mandatory here in florida) any suspension do's and donts??? not looking to run anything crazy here but a high 12's to low 13's car would be fun! any tips you guys can give to make up my mind to pursue this or not?

the car is pretty solid and we just had new ecklers replacement floor pans welded in. its got a 0 mile rebuilt TH400 with a b&m shift kit and stock stall, no clue what size rear. and i guess i'll be working with the "fresh" 350 from the new vette(which i'll probably go over anyways). stock heads, single plane weind intake , a supposed cam, edelbrock 650. also have some hooker 1-5/8 longtubes in the car (but the engine is the least of my worries since i do all my own engine work) sine the car has no interior and needs paint i figured i could get away with a custom aluminum dash with the necessary gauges, and a race bucket, and harness. and a cheap paint job...

sorry so long. but any tips would be greatly apreciated !!!!!!!

this is it:

 

Check this site out. Great rear suspension setup just for dragging

http://www.dragvette.com/

 

I don't drag myself but the main thing to worry about is the IRS. For one NHRA considers the half shafts as drive shafts, so you need saftey loops for them. The IRS can take alot more then people give it credit for but it's still not as strong as a live axle in it's stock condition. If you check out Hot Rod mag's Pump Gas Drags one of the fastest cars (he runs low 9's) is a 69 Vette that still has the IRS, moded of course. You can get upgrades but you'll have to do a search. I've seen a system that was real good and had the saftey hoops integrated, but I don't recall the manufacturer, it was a reputable one though. Marlen Davis did a write up about it a few years ago. In case you don't now him(he's an automotive GOD, so you should ) he's the tech editor for Hot Rod and formally Car Craft. Of course you can also just put a 12 bolt in it but thats no fun

 

so what can the stock IRS handle?

26" slicks, 5,000 rpm launches????

or better off with drag radials?

again not looking to run 9's or nothing hopefully high 12's to low 13's if i go through with it.

 

12's and 13's are easily attainable. Just be careful or this group will have you getting a second mortgage for blowers, 600+ ci BB's and NOS by the tanker load! They are all horsepower crazy and are a bad influence!
-P

 

I might be the worse

 

+ tax.

GSC3 has raced his C3 for a few years, with a few engine combinations, and now runs mid/low 10s with the IRS, but his car is trailered to/from the strip:
Isosceles bought one of GSC3's old 383 pump-gas motors, threw it in his '79 with 3.36 gears, and ran low-13s/high-12s on street tires.

26" slicks might-not give you enough traction to be consistent if your intentions are to bracket-race the car in the Corvette Challenge Series @ Moroso Motorsports Park or Bradenton:
I hope to run the times you state with a pump-gas 350, 8" converter, and 4.11s between 28" or 30" slicks in my '82, but Van Steel will be doing work on my some-what inferior aluminum/Dana-44 IRS.

Maybe I'll see you at Bradenton, Moroso, or Orlando sometime.

 

Should be easy with slicks. My little 383 can make pretty good numbers on a crappy set of street tires.

 

thats what i'm talking about!!! i defenetly dont have the bank some guys here have since i'm still putting my self through school and i'm only 26. But if i get the 76 for free with a running drivetrain. the cost will be minimun. I figured on 4.10's possibly 4.56's, slicks 26"-28", gutted interior and anything worthless (will be a drag only car), the 350 we got, swap in the biggest cam the stock pistons will allow, port the stock heads myself, also have them shaved a few, roller rockers, keep the single plane weiand add a holley 750, a up to par fuel system. and 2-1/2" exhaust with race mufflers and dumps. the TH400 is brand new and should handle the power no problem, will just have to get a taller converter to match the gears and the cam. maybe if i have a few left a 150 shot of nitrous. i can pretty much build the whole thing in my driveway myself. only thing i cant do is shave the heads. i just wanted to know if the C3's were a good car to drag and and what if any problems i could face runing those times. but from the responses it seems this would be a worthwhile project, now i just have to talk it out with the old man.... lol


and i'll defenetly be hitting moroso if this goes through, see ya there!

 

Consider some road racing, it isn't either/or, mine is a road racer but I can turn some times in the quarter. Its whatever you personally like but its hard to beat road racing

 

i dont drag my 79, but I have had to push it on occasion.

 

High 12s to low 13s should not be a problem These cars hook pretty well on street tires. Like you said, you will need to change that converter first.

 

If you just going to race the car there is a ton of weight not needed
that could be pulled out of a 76 model. you won't need 5000 rpm
launchs just to run high 12s. put the car on an extreme diet.

 

the F.A.S.T. (factory appearing stock tire) record holder is a corvette running mid 10s.

I got to watch him at the muscle car shootouts at Rock Falls Wisconsin this summer. Suprisingly quick for small tires like that!

http://www.fastraces.org/




http://www.fastraces.org/members/fas...7!OpenDocument

 

Did someone say 600 in. + and nitrous ??

 

John,
Do you think I can shift and spray a 400 shot on this ride at the same time? 2 stages? What'cha think?
-P

 

Only one way to find out...............

 

That's just what I was thinking!
-P

 

Sorry I can' answer your question. ARE your rims western spoke ? I'M looking for the center caps.

 

i have pulled 11's on street tires. not a lofty goal for 12's or 13's at all