Jason Line (NHRA Pro Stock Champ and Buick Racer)

Discussion in 'Race 400/430/455' started by Steve Schlater, Apr 15, 2017.

  1. BQUICK

    BQUICK Gold Level Contributor

    Wheelies sure are fun but not the best way to go A-B. Going up is not the shortest distance to finishline.
     
    hugger likes this.
  2. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    I agree 110%
     
  3. BuickGSrules

    BuickGSrules Gold Level Contributor

    I am not going for wheelies, just the best possible setup to 60 ft. With Jason's car going low 1.30's some tricks must work on the setup.
     
    sriley531 likes this.
  4. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    I would imagine it's geared pretty nasty and turns some pretty stout rpm
     
  5. Jim Weise

    Jim Weise EFI/DIS 482

    Looks like a modified ladder bar setup, with the upper arms being converted to a track locator. Amazing that NHRA allowed that, he must have been buddies with the tech guys.

    JW
     
  6. TORQUED455

    TORQUED455 Well-Known Member

    If you're talking about my car, it doesn't have Alf's suspension on it. As a matter of fact, during those runs as seen on You Tube with the 506, it didn't even have an ARB on, and it still went low 1.30's tripping the 60' beams with the rear wheels while foot braking. Although the oil pan and headers survived unscathed, the landing bent both front wheels and the tires actually hit the tops of the inner fenders. Things have changed since then, but no Alf Weibe suspension.
     
  7. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    The front of the rear lower control arm mounting point was dropped down from stock tho correct? That's why I assumed it would as Alf's , TRZ offers a drop bracket now with multiple holes
     
  8. Jim Rodgers

    Jim Rodgers Well-Known Member

    Trans, converter, gear and scaling is why Jasons car leaves like it does. And many many passes.

    The Weibe setup is finicky, and the track has to be good for it to work. I know of several other Buicks with it.

    NHRA allows bolt on suspension. Weibe setup is bolt on, no welding.
     
    sriley531 likes this.
  9. TORQUED455

    TORQUED455 Well-Known Member

    Ethan, you are correct - it has some old Dick Miller stuff from the 90's still on there. The rear of the rear lowers are also lowered. That was done before I got the car and don't see a reason to change any of it.
     
  10. standup 69

    standup 69 standup69

    I ran alfs setup for years long ago, worked pretty good was odd on the street with the super short and stiff springs that bolted in , was heavy and stiff.
    I still use the upper wishbone slider with my ladder bars ,works great bolts right in where the upper arms use to be
     
  11. standup 69

    standup 69 standup69

    yes Jim turned it into a very short ladder bar
     
  12. Buizila

    Buizila GO BROWNS !!!!!!

    That is by far one of the baddest super stockers on the planet 9.90's......WOW!!!
     
    sriley531 likes this.
  13. BQUICK

    BQUICK Gold Level Contributor

    Stocker not super stocker....makes it more impressive

    But still, I've run a 1.31 60ft but with only a 4in "wheelie" with only 3.90 gear and 4200 converter. Ya want to go out not up....
     
  14. BillyG

    BillyG Well-Known Member

    OK guys, OLD THREAD ALERT HERE. And this is a little off-the-main-topic too, but I find the following quotes to be a very interesting sub-topic since I have a copy cat version of the Alf Weibe set-up for my Chevelle that I bought a few years ago (which I have yet to use since it requires the OE type factory bumper brackets to be welded onto the axle tubes which very few aftermarket rear ends have and I have an aftermarket Dana 60 rear) But I digress.....
    I could be all wrong, but it seems to me that the X shaped bar welded to the LCA (the one you're talking about) must prevent the entire LCA from rotating since it is bolted in two places. So I suspect that it greatly hinders if not prevents any vertical travel of the rear suspension. Perhaps that is the real reason why Alf's set-up worked so good at the drag strip.

    But for nose heavy moderate powered (600-800 HP) skinny tire drag cars, many of them need to get the skins up in the air to maintain starting line traction on a consistent basis. Just look at the top ten cars in the stock eliminator classes. Those are some of the most efficient and most consistent 10 second drag cars around, and they ALL do 2 to 4 foot wheelies off the line.Very few 10 second skinny tire cars launch as consistently as those top stock eliminator cars do. So the big wheelies are the lesser of the two evils for some skinny tire cars, because the alternative evil is lack of consistent traction, and therefore wheel spin. I'd rather have wheelies than tire spin. Wouldn't you??

    I know a guy with a 555cid powered mid 9 second Chevelle that has a copy cat Alf Weibe set-up on his car that does 4 foot wheelstands consistently with 1.3 second short times consistently who swears by the AFCO da 3840F/BNC front shocks for preventing parts damage after wheel stands. AFCO specifically designs them for that purpose. I bought a pair for my car but I haven't tried them yet.

    I'm pretty sure that one of the two reasons why Alf Weibe's rear set-up for A-body cars worked so well and hit the rear tires so hard was because of the short 22" instant center length that it created, not because of any drop of the forward mounting of the LCA.

    Tell the boys who run the stock eliminator cars that. All the top guys' cars in that class do 2 to 4foot wheelies on every run down the 1320 and those cars launch more consistently than 90% of all the 10 second skinny tire cars anywhere.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
    BUIKRCR likes this.
  15. MYBUICKS

    MYBUICKS Well-Known Member

    I have an an Alf Wiebe suspension in my GS. There are two versions and my understanding is the earlier version (which I have) is no longer legal in NHRA stock eliminator class. The later version does not have adjustable Heim joints and is legal in stock eliminator. This is not official information but my friend runs the class with his GS and that's what he told me.
     

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