Well I am back from the track for a second time in a couple of weeks. It was another learning experience for me to say the least. I don't think I am ever going to get more than one run at the track at Bithlo(Florida). I got there at 6:15pm and didn't run until about 8:15pm. I am not patient enough to get back in line and wait another 2 hours.

For starters, I found out that I was completely wrong about my assesment that I ran in low 2 my first time out at the track :bb I had an idea as to how fast my car was, and when it fell quite a bit short of expectations I tried to come up with answers. Since I fumbled with the shifter at the line, it made sense that it was in the wrong gear.

I also learned that no matter how much horsepower you have, your not going to run fast in the 1/4 mile unless your geared for it. I have the stock 3.08 gears, and although it feels fast coming off the line, it apearentely isn't :(

Now for my newest numbers from the track:

R/T.......... .642 Better
60'.......... 2.116 Better
330......... 6.287 Better
1/8.......... 9.745 Better
MPH......... 70.40 Better
1000.......12.778 Better
1/4..........15.333 Better
MPH..........88.51 Better

As you can see, I bettered all of my previous numbers, but I don't mind saying I am a little bit dissapointed with the overall time. I know that the car is shifting early in drive, so I could manually shift in the higher RPM's to increase my time, but best case senario is that I may get into the high 14's if I'm lucky. I still can't understand why my times are so high even with the gears, maybe due to my lack of experience.

I have made a decision not to run at the track anymore. I love my car, it looks nice, it runs great, and it feels extremely fast, so........I guess I will just enjoy it for what it is as oppossed to worrying about what it's not. I love the drivability of it as it is, so I'm not thinking about changing gears any time soon. I am curious as to what types of times I would see if I swapped out my 3.08 gears for some 3.55 gears. I can't see having the top end gears if I am never going to drive above 120 MPH, so I could see the reason a lot of owners go with the bigger gears. Oh, well, maybe when it's not my daily driver, I will think about replacing the gears. For now I'll just adjust my signature time and not worry about it. :cheers:


[Modified by Warp70, 11:10 PM 2/15/2002]

 

I read your entire message and think that you have the proper mindset and I especially agree that 1/4 mile times are really not that important especially for everyday cars. You have a great car and should enjoy it and leave the anxiety over numbers to career racers.

However, your statement above is slightly incorrect. HP (actually torque) can definitely overcome tall gears to produce very good times in the 1/4 mile. I know of many late '60s factory muscle cars (i.e. Chevelles, 4-4-2s, Gran Sports) with minor tweaking that run low 12s with 3.50 or taller rear gears. Also, how about all those basically stock, late model LS1 F-bodies running around your town & mine that run 12s with 3.36 rear gears? My totally stock '96 WS6 LT1 Trans Am runs 14 flat at 100 MPH!

HP/TQ will overcome highway gears if you have enough of it. Unfortunately, you (along with most of us) just don't have enough to run those great magazine numbers that set our expectations so high.

Who cares! Don't get me wrong, I'm a tried & true drag racer at heart but when you really get down to it, how many multi-shaft IRS cars currently campaign on the NHRA circuit anyway? :)

Mark


[Modified by mdsmith, 12:52 AM 2/16/2002]

 

You need to go to the track on a test and tune day. I have been able to make 20 runs in one day. With your motor mods I would expect better also. Carb settings and timing being right on might be all you need to get 14's. Your 60 time shows you have some power and traction. It looks like you don't have a top end charge. Are you shifting into third?

Here is a pic of my under hood mess

 

Thanks gkull...I was hoping someone else would say it! Didn't want to contradict my message (above). 14s are more like it. Looks like the mid-top end is the problem. 60' is not bad, tails off after that. Would expect MPH to be higher with the 3.08s. Jetting & timing tweaks could get you there.

Mark

 

Keep practising! gkull is right when he says make many runs. I made 16 runs on my last trip to the track. Go early and go often.

Nice improvement though. :yesnod:

 

you have to shift manually Warp70. It's shifting itself throught the gears, if it's anything like mine, at about 3500 to 4000, well below your power band. My weasely little 75 is running 14.6, you should be better off than that. Like it was mentioned above, go to the test and tune nights when there are no money races going on. I'm running the above time at 93. I find that manually shifting at 6000 rpm has given me my best times yet. When I go back next time I'll try shifting at 5800. You should be shifting into third near the very end of the track. For what it's worth, from everything I've seen, you should be in the low 14's and even the high 13's. My 72 Camaro has about 360 HP and it runs 13.2. Seems like a 300 horse 350 should be better than low 15's. Anyway, seeing how low you can go is great fun. You get a lot of satisfaction whittleing away at the time.

 

Are you running the stock 350/300horse cam? I could be wrong but that grind is the same one used in L48s of later years. Good low end torque, but wheezes out on the high end early. Looking at your 60 ft time & trap speed mph, it looks like that is whats happening (good out of the hole & not much top end pull). If pulling away hard from stoplights is your cup-o-tea, then enjoy your setup!! A looser torque converter would also add to that kind of fun factor. FYI, Maurice runs a 2500 stall converter w/3.08 gears and he turns mid 13s!!

 

with the governor reset, my 72 in Drive w/3.08 shifts at 56, and 90 into 3rd.
Since you live near me, stop by and i'll supervise you spending 1-2 hours to do it. I've got extra parts so it won't cost you a cent. (maybe a few beers) :cheers:

 

You have a nice 60' for your set up. Looks like you have a cam that give you nice low end torque and that's it. Your drivetrain is not for performance. A TH400 have a taller 1st gear than a TH350 and with your 3.08... Well. I have an L48 auto TH350 with 3.07 an I ran 16.05 on the quarter before doing anything to the car. My 60' is 2.17.

Now, what you're looking for is what's important. If you want to go faster, and not invest $$$ too much,

in order of $$$,

-Proper jetting and set up of carb (I gain 0,3 on the quarter just by fine tuning my secondary opening (600 vacuum holley))
-Ignition curve (Lars have a nice kit)
-A cam like XE262 would be nice with your drivetrain(Don't know yet, I will install it in a couple of month)
-You already have headers, exhaust and intake.

More $$$ and some lost of drivability
-A gear (3.55 or more)
-Heads
-A stall
-Another cam
-...
-...

And it goes on, no limits.:D

Stephan



[Modified by American Boy, 8:07 AM 2/16/2002]

 

Higher stall
SHift modualtor
Shift kit

And you should be set... then again i havent even run my car, it has the stock 2.73's :crazy:

 

I'd take DRIVES61 up on an offer like that. I'm also a firm believer in shift kitted trannys. The fun factor goes up by 10 when your car can chirp the tires on a 1-2 shift :)

 

Hey Warp
I agree with you. I would like to go to the track after I build my engine up a little just to play. To be able to stomp it to the floor and hold it there for 15 seconds would have to be fun. Hell if it took my 20 seconds to get there it would still be fun.

:D :D :D :D :D

Bob
Putting side pipes on today :D :D :D

 

I don't have a clue what your talking about(novice), but I might just have to take you up on the offer! :cheers:

As for the rest of the comments and suggestions, I appreciate all of them. I wanted to set the record straight with regards to my low 2 run not being accurate. I don't want to exaggerate anything, and I have nothing to prove on this board, you guys have all shown me that.......I was just new to the track.

Without changing my gears it sounds like there are some oppertunities for me to get faster. I know that manually shifting is going to be the biggest improvement as the car is certainly shifting early. I agree with the statement that I need to get more runs in, but man....the track is so packed it's impossible :mad I also want to get the car dyno'ed to see what type of Horsepower I am generating. I don't know what type of cam I'm running, because the engine came out of a 1970 Camero, it's not original. I guess it could be anything after seeing what type of heads I'm running...it's a built motor.

Shift Kit for the tranny????/Sounds like something I might need, I also keep hearing about Stall converters....uhhhhhhhh what the heck is a stall converter?? :D

 

1'st check to see where it shifts now, then hold it in Low and see if it pulls strong to 6000.
Lots of c3's, like bubbajj, don't have a working kickdown circuit, and shift early(below 5000) when floored.