Little engines that can

[Day2_69Z]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: John Brown</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Current NHRA racing is run on a qualifying set-up in an eliminator bracket. Whoever runs the farthest under the unrealistic standard that is set for each class is the number one qualifier. If by chance, by accident or on purpose, a car and driver was to set a record at the level that they can really run, they would have to qualify against that new record. It's too easy to just leave the records alone and qualify 1 or 1.5 or 2 seconds under the minimum. You can then pick your own dial in and use that number for the rest of the event. Can you say &quot; big bracket race?&quot;.</div></div>

Nobody in their right mind with the way the indexes are Would Set a New Record... that messes up the whole wagon train.

[markjohnson]

NHRA Stock Eliminator will make a person crazy wondering how they are so fast compared to their streetable brethren! They may look like a slightly modified musclecar with contingency decals on them but they are light years apart. It's like comparing a donkey to American Pharaoh. At first glance they look similar but . . . .

[Day2_69Z]

That's the Best most Educated Statement I've Heard in Years if not Decades about 'Stock Class Race Cars&quot; !!!

Night and Day doesn't even compare to that

[img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/[/img]

[Thomas]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Day2_69Z</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Buy a class engine that runs on or under the record and pull it apart......have untouched &quot;stock&quot; components on hand for comparison. That's if you can find someone to sell you (an outsider) an engine.

Protest and tear down rules still apply.........And you will NEVER SEE a fellow Class Racer called to Tech for A teardown protest.........NHRA will do a C.I. &amp; a Compression ratio check on occasions.
They are at &quot;Risk&quot; themselves......
.....for a &quot;counter protest&quot;

Its Racing......if you ain't cheat'n, you ain't race'n.....
</div></div>

I'm not stating that everyone is playing by the rules.
Just because it is not &quot;legal&quot; doesn't mean that someone is not doing it.
If your engine is torn down, by the NHRA, they check certain things.
I believe that intake runner and head port volume are two of the items.
If you can modify those, without them showing any signs of tampering and they still meet stop specs, then you are good to go.

Do not kid yourself, any engine, which will run under the index, is expensive and every engine builder has his own little bag of tricks.
There is a lot more too it than just having the the best engine.
There is also a lot of tuning involved.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Looks can be deceiving when it comes to &quot;stock&quot; engines....Back in the old days at Dover Drag Strip we called them &quot;mountain motors&quot;...there was always a little more to them than met the eye [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif[/img]

wilma

[Salvatore]

Mountain Motors was/is a term used for IHRA Pro Stock racing. 850 cubic inches of whatever.
Usually the Fords got the most cubes out of their stuff.

The Mountain Motor Nationals at MIR. Fun to watch. Most could not qualify at an NHRA Pro Stock event.

Stock eliminator as of I guess last year can run roller rockers.
Acid porting the heads have been around a long time to.
Next Stocker you look at, see how much flange there is on the head where the headers are bolted to.
Camshafts, same stock factory lift but the duration could go on for minutes.

I remember John Guilus did a 327/340 motor for Abbazia Bros. in their 62 E/S vette a few years back. Saw the car run 10.40's in good weateher allday long. NHRA factored him to death after that. AFB carb too.

[Thomas]

There are so many more aspects to make a Stock Eliminator go fast than just the engine.
Right now, I am learning how to tune a Q-jet.
First you buy a carb built by one of the handful of gurus.
Then, you spend countless passes swapping primary jets and metering rods, secondary metering rods, secondary rod hangers, adjusting secondary air valve opening, etc...

Besides the engine, there is the transmission with the right gears and the correct converter for &quot;your&quot; engine.

You have to figure out the right gear ratio for the differential.

Do you run short or tall slicks?

Did you pick the perfect shocks for your combination?

The list goes on and on...

Most of the guys who run fast have spent countless hours tuning and testing their car.

How many of you guys know how to read a spark plug for the correct fuel mixture and heat range?
I'm willing to bet not many.

This is my first season Class racing and I am totally overwhelmed.

My house and my friends have all taken a backseat due to the number of hours I have invested setting up the car.

I am one of the lucky ones, as the Super Stock racer, who own the performance shop that I deal with, has taken me under his wing.
If I were doing this on my own, I either would not be as far along as I am now or I would have already packed it in and gone back to bracket racing my 2000 SS.

[Salvatore]

All you need to do is go buy a new:
COPO
Mustang
Drag Pack and you are an instant Stock/SuperStock racer.
NO flogging, no real test and tune.
Complete and ready to go.

[Thomas]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: [email protected]</div><div class="ubbcode-body">All you need to do is go buy a new:
COPO
Mustang
Drag Pack and you are an instant Stock/SuperStock racer.
NO flogging, no real test and tune.
Complete and ready to go. </div></div>

If you think that you are going to buy one of these cars and be competitive, you are mistaken.

Even these cars require endless hours of tuning and setup.

The difference between these newer computer controlled cars and the older carbureted (sp?) versions is that the new cars are tuned with a laptop.

However, you will still need a laptop for the older cars as, if you are not running some form of data logger, you will never figure out where the cars' shortcomings are.

[Salvatore]

Pretty fast right off the Assembly line. If you are a good computer guy you can dial them in pretty good.
Those guys do share info with each other.