Les

After about a 14 year absence I finally made it back to the drag strip yesterday in the 69. The car used to run low-mid 12s before I changed heads/cam/intake, and this was my first chance to find out what it could do with those mods. At Sacramento Raceway it's hard to race under ideal conditions because just about the time the last of the storms are done it gets hot real quick. Temps were into the 80s at 6 PM when racing started and the DA was 2200+ feet when I checked at around 7:00-7:30.

The good news- nothing broke and the car was very consistent. The bad news- I had a light miss at the top of 1st gear. I'm not sure if that was fuel delivery issues coming off the launch, if I was hitting the rev limiter, or it was something else but I'll figure that out later. The Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials were awesome. I dead hooked on every run. Here are the stats-
Run #1- 60 ft. of 1.76 with a 11.83 at 114.31 MPH
Run #2- 60 ft. of 1.78 with a 11.75 at 114.65 MPH
Run #3- 60 ft. of 1.74 with a 11.80 at 114.99 MPH
Run #4- 60 ft. of 1.72 with a 11.82 at 114.86 MPH

The air was cooling off late in the T&T but we had a track shutdown midway through the event because the ambulance had to divert to injuries at the oval track next to the strip where a guy got hit by a mini sprint car. My 2 buddies who helped me trailer the car there were great but I could tell they needed to start the 2 hour drive home, so I called it after the 4 runs.

Bottom line, I know there's more in the car and I hope to find it. I'd like to thank Alan, known here as "ajrothm", for his excellent advise prior to the event. Oh by the way, it was a blast!!!

Tangelo79

Nice consistency! Great time and mph!

427Hotrod

Killer!! A 9.5 compression 427 with a flat tappet cam, auto, 3.55's running solid 11's with no drama.. And consistent too!

Congratulations...it's fun driving home in something that you know will spank just about anything that could pull up beside you isn't it?

JIM

ajrothm

Congrats Les!!

I knew that car had mid 11s in it... Thats a great first trip out. 2200' DA ain't the best..... In some 0' DA or - DA like we get here in Houston during the winter your car would have ran 11.50@116 or so...

Now its time for the tweaking to begin... You have a good baseline. You need to figure out the miss up in first.. My guess is fuel may be sloshing away from the pick up in the tank if you ran the fuel level too low...(I forgot to tell you to run ATLEAST 1/4 tank, I usually run 1/2 tank)..... Next you will probably need jet extensions and a notched float for the rear bowl. Also you'll want to ditch the rear power valve. Get a PV plug, then go up on the rear jets about 6-8 sizes.

You'll need to play with the jetting/timing at the track next time to see what it wants.

Also you need to play with launch rpms to see what the converter wants. Your 60's are a little soft. It looks like the converter is a little tight. Maybe locking the timing out and putting more advance in it will help it leave.

Either way you had a successful trip out and youre just getting started... I think you can get 11.40s with the car, maybe 11.30s after its all maximized. (in the same 2200' air).

AGVI

Congrats from one Les to another! Awesome times man!

Les

Thanks guys.

Jim, I feel like I'm in a Prius compared to that monster of yours. However, I appreciate your comments and am happy with my car for the first time out.

Alan, I was hoping you'd stop by. I really think you're right about my fuel level. I tried to carry enough while still minimizing weight but I may have missed the mark. You did address the proper tank level in a PM, so that's on me. It fluctuated between 1/4-1/3 on the gauge initially and, of course, got worse every run. I also thought about the jet extensions on the way home. I removed the front sway bar and was surprised at the improved front end rise on launch. Rear shocks were set at 3 clicks short of full stiffness. I left harder than I expected to but I know that, after being gone for so long, my starting line routine can improve. What do you think a good 60' time would be with my combo? And thanks for the encouragement.

By the way, I'm sure you drop a lot of jaws when you run yours. Even with mine, I was surprised at how many people approached me asking about the car, taking pics, and complimenting it. There are a lot of C3 Vette fans out there. It was funny, there was a C6 Z06 there with modded exhaust but I'm not sure what else. He ran 11.9-12.2 all night with traps of 119-120 and some folks clearly enjoyed watching my old school Vette out run him. Met some great folks in the pits too.

Les

Bump for some input. I'm looking at this jet extension/float combo. Any reason not to get this nitrophyl float? Also, since the extensions screw in I assume the jets screw into the rear part of the extensions, right?
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-200353/

SmokedTires

ajrothm

Yes... The jet extensions screw into the metering block, the jets then screw into the extensions. You will have to get a notched float, they are usually that black/dense foam/plastic material. They are fine.

Make sure to get a rear PV plug that screws in and I would start out 6 jet sizes up from what you have in the rear. Then jet up or down from there. When the rear PV gets uncovered when fuel is sloshing, you can get that hesitation that you got in the top of 1st.

This will be the beginning of your carb's strip tuning. If you are having any stumbles off the line from the hit, now is the time to put a 50cc pump on the rear bowl. If no stumbles, leave it as is.

C3 Stroker

This is a good kit....the QuickFuel 950 that I use comes with this as standard equipment. Yes, just screw the jets into the rear of the extensions.....fuel sloshing in carb = solved. 1/2 tankfull of gas solves any possible supply problems. Other things to check are fuel pump capacity and float level in carb. Congrats on a great street machine

Solid LT1

Les, are you bringing this Vette to Vette Magic in 2 weeks? Looking forward to seeing some good running C3 Vettes at the event.

Les

Alan, I'll take a look at the power valve when I get into it to put the jet extensions/float in. The carb was a Holley DP modified by Barry Grant before Holley took him on and forced him to give birth to the Demon line. I honestly can't remember if it has a PV or a plug in it. There was no stumble at all off the line so I think I'm good there.

Thanks for all the info. I'll be ordering that kit from Summit today. I did check the float prior to racing and had it adjusted right. I'll definitely have a good 1/2 tank of fuel before my next time out.

Eric, realistically I doubt it. The 2 buddies who helped me trailer the car there on Friday put in quite a bit of time and effort to get me there & back. I don't think they'll be up for another trip so soon, and one of them may race his C5 Z06 that there day anyway. If he does I'll probably be there to help him and enjoy the rest of the racing. Will you be there?

Thanks!

427Hotrod

The only thing we're missing is pics!! Wasn't anyone taking pics at the track???

C'mon...we love action shots!

JIM

Les

Actually, I keep forgetting to mention that my buddy took vids. We were running late getting home that night so I forgot to get them from him. He says he'll get them to me this week. If they're decent I'll put them on youtube and post them here.

BKbroiler

Congratulations on those great numbers. If you could run in air with a DA of 200 instead of 2200 you'd probably drop 2 tenths.
It's interesting that your best ET was on the run with the slowest 60 time. Probably has something to do with the miss making it a little erratic from run to run.

Les

Thanks. I'm not sure if it could be a factor, but maybe launching a little softer on that run didn't uncover the jets quite as much and it pulled a bit more RPM in first. Without an accurate tach I just don't know. I was working off the shift light and the miss was coming in a tick or two before the light was flashing- enough to slow the car. On the 3rd run I short shifted on the 1-2 to avoid the miss. Whatever the case, my jet extension kit will be here in a day or two and hopefully that will take care of the problem.

gkull

I was thinking about your times. You must be up around 500 hp. Over the years of going to Vette Magic I was one of the few C-3 vettes in the sub 11.99 run group.

Very significant because you never saw that many fast big blocks. The majority of older Vettes seem to be the purist NCRS crowd and stock 390hp 427s are very slow at the drag strip. Even the 425/435 hp couldn't hang with the hot rodded big small blocks like mine.

I can't drag race now because my 420# mono and rear Koni setup is instant wheel hop. I I would hate to did out the old big steel just for a drag race day

Les

I spent the last few days in SoCal for my son's wedding and got back home this afternoon, so I just saw your comments. I think your power estimate is fairly accurate. Based on similar big block builds I figured, and hoped, that my motor was in that neighborhood. I was waiting to hit the track and attempt to verify that.

Regarding the comment that most older Vettes tend to be stock, I was not expecting so many guys at the track to be surprised that I was really going to race a numbers matching Vette. One guy actually tried to talk me out of it and said that I should at least demand single passes so that nobody else could have an incident and take me out. I figure life isn't forever and I built the thing to perform, so why not enjoy it?

Amelio

Congrats on the good passes!

Its always a good day at the track when you leave without breaking anything and an even better day when you have good times like yours

I see you went with the Mickey T's....those things are great....the best drag radial I have ever used!

Les

Thank you sir! And I agree- I'm very impressed with the MTs. Those bad boys definitely get it done!