Help upgrade my 69 to a safe, reliable, racer.......

Discussion in 'Race 400/430/455' started by Pro69GS400, Sep 3, 2020.

  1. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    No brake in the white car it’s a 400 with a switch pitch. Still column shift. If it shifts on it’s own it only shifts about 4200 rpm I want to shift it at about 5500+ for a better time. The trans going into the GS will have the brake.
     
  2. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Leave it in low it will shift on its own,..
     
  3. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    might not happen till 6200 tho ha
     
  4. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    Not sure I feel comfortable spinNing the white car that much. It has arp holding it together other than that it’s a stock 430 bottom end. The original owner told me to shift at 6000 but only time I’ve had it that high was when I went to neutral on a Missed 2-3 shift Lol I’m only using the white car now to gain exsperiance at the track. it’s a Beautiful car that is solid and dependable That I’m enjoying tremendously but the motor isn’t gonna live with high r’s that’s where the GS motor Gary is building comes in. It’s gonna be punished LoL.
     
  5. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    I’m at a car show now with the white car and the wife has the blue one here also. Great turnout 200+ cars all quality types of cars here.
     
  6. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    So will the trans shift eventually if in low? 1-2 & 2-3 shift?
     
  7. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

  8. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    its obviously better to dial the governor in but it will upshift
     
  9. Thumper (aka greatscat)

    Thumper (aka greatscat) Well-Known Member

    Bring me your governor
     
  10. No Lift

    No Lift Platinum Level Contributor

    Is the downshift switch hooked up? That could make the WOT shift points abnormally low.
     
  11. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    The switch pitch is hooked to a dimmer switch. I haven’t noticed any other switches. I will be familiarizing myself with the circuit today or tomarow because I noticed after the car show yesterday it is not going in high stall now. This just happened yesterday I haven’t noticed any issues before now. The power indicator light inside shows power so must be something at the switch or at tranny. I am not sure how long it’s been since the current tranny and convertor has been serviced but the trans shifts very firm, quick and doesn’t show signs of trouble the convertor seems like it could use more stall. At idle it still pulls and surges against the brakes. Maybe it needs freshened up. Not, sure what Jim W. might be able to do to it. I can definitely feel, hear and see the rpm difference when it’s in high and low stall but it seems like it needs more....I may be expecting to much from the combo I don’t have much experience to compare.

    Hugger those TLC control arms look nice I am be in contact to check your pricing. Still looking at and trying to educate myself with some of the other suggested items....

    Ben yea I have progressed to and do better using a couple fingers like you mentioned to manipulate the column shift lever but I am not as consistent as I want to be. The GS has an old ratchet shifter in it that I that I miss in the white car, the GS had a Manual valve body. The white car is kind of old school and I frankly I am trying to resist changing a lot, I will have the GS to satisfy my desires to go faster and to drive down the track. I do want to be able to get the white car down the track when I want to and be able to reach its full potential. I know right now I am holding it back with my experience level.

    Gary the governor modification you mention would it shift at 5500 or close all time or just under WOT? I guess I want to be careful not to loose drivability in the white car because eventually the GS will fill the race needs.....

    Steve the ladder bars I have like I mentioned came from Morrison years ago, they do have some turn buckles for some adjustment but I am not sure how much adjustment they provide. I remember when I ordered them back then they had sent them in error they were an upgrade that they let me keep vs exchanging for the bars I paid for that were solid.
     
  12. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    FYI I have already purchased a throttle stop for the new motor, it may help keep my underwear clean among other reasons.......
     
  13. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member


    Did you do a mechanical stop or air/co2
     
  14. Thumper (aka greatscat)

    Thumper (aka greatscat) Well-Known Member

    Only under full throttle,Sandy's shifts at 5000rpm but drives and shifts normally while cruising.
     
  15. No Lift

    No Lift Platinum Level Contributor

    The T400 uses an electrical downshift solenoid which is pretty much the same as the switchpitch one. It needs 12V applied to it when you go to WOT. My '69 had the switch attached to the gas pedal. As I said if that is not hooked up/working it may affect at what rpm the shift points are. On a SP trans there should be two terminals in the same connector. Whatever terminal your switchpitch converter uses the downshift is the opposite one. With the engine off when you apply power to either terminal you should hear a light click coming from the trans. You may hear a slight difference in the sound because the SP one is deeper in the housing.
     
  16. Pro69GS400

    Pro69GS400 Well-Known Member

    It’s mechanical https://www.jegs.com/i/Dedenbear/302/TS5/10002/-1 Along with https://www.jegs.com/i/Dedenbear/302/PK5/10002/-1

    . That sounds like what I’m looking for......

    nolift - I’ll let you know what I find on SP. may or may not look at it today.....have company coming and grass to cut.....
     
  17. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    Yeah that's not an mechanical stop....that one is electrical and can be programmed to turn on and off sometimes several times if needed or even overridden on to chase someone down.

    This type of of stop is often used on a car that runs much faster than the class they are racing in..... say very low 8s.....they will launch on full power.........this will kick in and almost kill the car for a programmed duration.......the reapply power to allow the car to run say 9.90. These are used very heavy in index class.

    You will need some form of timer to use this to its fullest.....not something that's normally a starting racers tool

    What I was thinking was a stop that you had to manual adjust that phyically limited the opening that couldn't be changed while going down track....something like this
    https://www.jegs.com/i/B-B/128/10990/10002/-1
     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2020
  18. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    If you're just interested in having fun and truly enjoying the car,...don't use any that stuff,...its much more fun when you are found the work,...not electronics,...if you're interested in hauling the car around and making rounds for money then yea all the crutches are necessary

    Jmo
     
  19. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    if you want to slow the car for the first few passes and work your way into full power thats easy,..pull timing and limit rpm
     
    No Lift likes this.
  20. Thumper (aka greatscat)

    Thumper (aka greatscat) Well-Known Member

    Actually his stop works very well to slow or speed up car without using electronics.when I race 9.90, 10.50, or 10.90 I set the stop opening for those times and run down the track with the reduction all the way down.if I felt I spun I'll flip the over ride switch to open to full throttle the last 100 feet and pick up a couple hundreths,won many races win I should've lost
    Another advantage in index racing when guys use the on,off on tactic is they will say go 150mph in the lights while running 10.90,and I'm at 118mph for 10.90. They cant judge the stripe with this much difference,plus they usually hold a couple.just dial it tight and hit the tree run it out the back door and they break out trying to take the stripe. We won the 10.90 series in 2018 like this.
     
    Steve Reynolds likes this.

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