Pure Stock Drag Racing tips & tricks

[68z302]

[ QUOTE ]
And muncie shifters usually went in the same garbage can as air pollution pumps, and stock exahaust manifolds. Schonye [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]
And now we're paying stupid amounts of cash to get the stuff back!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

Rob

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

What a fun night at the dragstrip with the Yenko Deuce!!!!!!!

I didn't get out of work early, but I managed to get there by 6'ish, got through tech just fine, and got right into the staging lanes - first run was around 7:15, Temp was around 84+, RH was 81%, barometer was 29'ish, elevation was something like 2050'.

I didn't have a chance to pump up the tires, so the rears were 28 and 26! No spring clamps installed, and I left the air cleaner on.

I was so concerned with not rolling through the lights, (I never raced with a 4speed before) that I wasn't concentrating on the lights coming down! Needless to say I slept at the tree! I hit the tires at ~~ 2k rpm - way wrong! I smoked the tires for at least the first 20-30 feet - even after peddling it. My 60' was 2.49, 1/4 was 15.03 at 93+mph = bad run, but what a blast! I got right back in line.

The second run was two hours later since someone went off the end of the track at 160+mph when his chute got caught in his wheelie bars. I hit the tires at 1500 rpm this time, which was better - just a little bog, little chirp, then off we went! My 60' was 2.20, 1/4 was 14.6x at 94+ mph - better, but a lot to gain yet. I then got right back into line, if your in by 9:30 you get to run even though they need to stop by 10.

The third run was interesting, when I went to spin the tires to warm them a little, they didn't spin! It just hooked, so I went into the staging beams - it was now 10:20! This time I feathered the clutch off the line at 1500, meanwhile constantly increasing the rpm's. No bog, no chirp - gave me my best 60' at 2.17. I don't know if that is good or not, but it felt a lot better. My 1/4 was 14.5 at 95+ mph, it was nice to end on a high note - albeit, not very high, but a ton of fun.

It's possible that I was shifting too early, I hit the next gear when I thought I was at 6k, even though the shift light didn't come on, I checked my recall and I did hit 6100 at least once - so, maybe I was shifting too early.

I can't make it to the reunion, maybe I can go to the track this Friday night - we'll see. I found out where the air line is, so this time I will play with the air pressures some more.

Fun time, saw Frank Radake's son there for the NMCA event the next day - small world!

[Salvatore]

[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img] Can't really complain about that! At 95 mph you are in the 13's at that rate. Remember it takes more than 1 or 2 nites to get leaving the line correctly. These cars with the tires and leaned out carb didn't do much better than that in the old days. Good job! Sam

[Mr70]

Way To Go Marlin!
Those times seem respectable for your first time out.
Stupid question,but was your Gas tank Completely Full?
I plan to take my Chevelle to the track someday too,so I enjoy hearing about another Pop his Cherry at the Dragstrip. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[mmcporter]

Nice runs Marlin. Most importantly, you had fun. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Chevy454]

Congrats, M! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img] I bet the Nova got LOTS of looks! And well deserved looks at that!

So, you jonesin' to go back yet? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif[/img]

[hvychev]

Thats really cool Marlin! It sounds like you are easily headed for the 13's! It took me way more than 3 runs to post a respectable time. Keep trying! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

[COPO PETE]

Marlin.... Your 2.1 60' is real good. I was always happy if I could get that with my Nova. It's is very important you shift that car a 6000 rpm. That is the cars sweet spot. Keep the total timing at 38 as any more will just slow it down. Any chance you'll be at the Pure Stock Drags this year??????????
Peter

[MotownMadman]

Marlin,
Years ago I had a BB 69 Nova I pounded the streets with, I had problems with a straight launch, after trying many different cures several things worked well and cured the problem. I fixed the wheel hop by adjusting the pinion angle which worked best between four to six degrees. I managed to get a straight launch by adding a extra leaf to the right side of the rear. That side always squats down farther then the left, I took the idea from a 69 Hemi Charger RT I had owned that came that way from the factory. If you want to retain stock appearence you can get a stonger set of leafs for the right side that look nearly the same as stock, it will make the car ride a bit different during normal operation but makes a world of difference with a good launch. I dont think this is needed running stock polyglass, but if you ever bolt on some weekend traction you could have an extra right spring set and U-bolts ready to go on. Now dont laugh, but a good old set of cable operated cut outs on the exhaust dont hurt either. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Another old street trick is to run your windshield washer hoses to the front of your rear inner fender wells and put bleach in the washer bucket. These ideas may not be for a original Deuce as yours, but if you ever build a ground pounder for the street they come in handy. Some might say it is cheating, but I have never seen a rule book for street racing. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif[/img] The body mounts Pete mentioned is a big plus, also a cable tie down or solid motor mount on the drivers side also helps to put the torque to the rear wheels without losing a lot along the way with twisting and body motions first. The 292 angle plug Chevy heads mentioned work well while maintaining a stock appearance, not only are the plugs angled but they have no heat riser channel which makes for even exhaust flow. I have a set of these heads I may part with. Just buying the gaskets that block the heat riser to the intake will help. While it wont cure the exhaust flow being even, it will keep the air/fuel mixture a cooler temperature which does help. Removing the engine cooling fan and running an electric gives more power as your engine works less not turning the fan. For a street driven car you can set up a quick install electric fan for weekend fun, tie staps and a couple of electrical connections and youre in business. Coiling your fuel line through a coffee can packed with dry ice helps to keep your fuel cool, this makes a noticable difference and is something else that can be set up with a couple of quick connect fittings and some tie staps. Having these nifty tricks ready to install it only takes a few hours to prep a car for drag duty, then a couple of hours back to stock apperance. Just remember, no matter what, it's never fast enough and it can always go faster! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]
Motown [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

[Rowdy Rat]

Marlin,

First time in this particular section of the forum... Interesting information posted here... Have to check in here more often!

I have a lot of data that you might be interested in. I have always been an early LT-1 nut although the ones that I've owned have always been installed in Corvettes, not Novas. Still, there are many similarities between the two so I think that I might have something useful for you.

First off, I agree with Pete... Your current camshaft is overkill and may actually be costing you some power. I've flow tested several sets of "186" castings and can tell you that even with a great three angle valve job, an unported "186" head starts to run out of flow around .450" lift on the intake port and .475" on the exhaust (compare this to the lift figures of .458" and .485"... the engineers knew what they were doing). There is absolutely no need to lift the valve any higher on an unported head... There just isn't any gain in flow to be had through the intake or exhaust ports.

Regarding the camshaft itself, the LT-1 cam has been discontinued for about a year now. Prior to that, Crane made these under license for GM, so what you were actually getting was a Crane camshaft in GM packaging. Regardless, they were absolutely identical to the original. I had two original LT-1 cams (the first removed from a 1970 Corvette at 1,600 miles, the other at 67,000 miles) as well as a new Crane manufactured GM cam checked on a Cam Doctor at Jere Stahl's shop in York, PA. With the exception of some wear related lift reduction on the 67,000 mile cam (as you would expect), there were no differences in the acceleration or lift curves. The exhaust lobe is identical to exhaust on the old "30-30" cam, but the intake is quite a bit different and accelerates off the base circle at a much faster rate (GM was able to do this because of the use of screw in rocker studs)... There is also quite a bit of overlap designed into the camshaft to make it work with the stock exhaust manifolds... There was a considerable amount of engineering work put into the LT-1 engine.

If you send me your new address Marlin, I will be happy to forward copies of the "186" flow data, the camshaft plots/data as well as some tuning/engineering data that was offered up on another forum by Duke Williams and John Hinckley.

Regards,

Stan Falenski