Been reading alot on the BBB and SBB sections latly and all the times they are talking. So I am wondering what it would take to get 12.5 or lower with a STREETABLE nailhead. Something that can idle at 700. I know of Bob and Toms car and engine and the Henry j, But I guess I am talking about a- body skylark type. Anyone out there got any times? I know GSGTX is getting close. Doc, when you were drag racing and only was beat 2 times do you remember any times? I dont know about taking my covertable down the track at over 100 with the old top on it but this summer I am going to make my way there atleast once just to see where my car is atuzzled: If and when I get there I am thinking somewhere btween 13.4 and 12.9o No:. I guess droping pounds and head flow are going to be key.
God bless you! I wrestle with high 14's at 3950 lbs..! But I think our cars are set up a little different, I've seen your videos...:3gears: My top is beat too, but it holds on up around 100 (even if it's all blown up like a balloon) A good way to keep the pressure down and still race legal is to drop the rear window at the zipper. I learned the hard way you need to raise the header a few inches and take the tension out of the top to zip it back up....Gave the folks at Lebanon Valley a profanity filled show that day! I'm interested in how you do! Please keep us posted.
Well Rhett,,, no,, I cant remember the numbers,,, it has only been right at 50 years..... but you are in a up hill battle because convertibles are heavier than regular cars..... most people dont know that.... my old car was a 2 dr. coupe hardtop and as I remember it weighed 3550 with me in it and 5 gal of gas.... the engine was a standard bore 401... built to super cat specs... with a switch pitch th400 and 4.11 posi... g78/14 tires.... it was a beast in low gear....I did lighten it up as much as possible.... any time i worked on any part , I would scrape all the sound deadner/under coating off of it and just paint it black..... finally i sanded it down to the bare metal and had it repainted.... that lightened it up some more....
Thanks for the reply Rhett and Doc. Dropping pounds is probably the way to go. But switching out my 4 speed to a auto 4 speed is about as far as I am gonna start changing things on this car. With me in it I guess its about 3950 or so. Mabey someday a lighter car to play with. Rhett I wish I had tryied to get the most out of my stock engine before I started to do a few things to it, that would of been fun. We will see what happens this summer.Also I know I need more traction:grin:
Yeah, I'm glad I held off, it's been fun (and sometimes frustrating) trying to wring the most out of the stock setup...At least you get a feel for what really works...The Q-Jet, Doc Mod, recurve, fan clutch and 2.5 exhaust have been the heavy hitters to date So far I've got pretty good traction....Airbags in the rear (Rt side at +/- 10 lbs), weak stock springs, rear end LOW, crap NAPA gas shocks - The front needed the most work for weight transfer - tall thin springs (forget the Moog number), low friction lower ball joints, loosened lower control arm bolts double nutted, 90/10 shocks, shimmed and lubed sway bar brackets and tall links (90-92 Chevy 1500 I think) I can launch at 1700 RPM and mash it at the line, or walk it out at 2000 -2500, both in high stall...all depends on the track. And thats on stock 215-14 radials. Tom and I talked about launching in low stall and hitting high stall 10-20 feet off the line. I rigged up a switch and tried it, it didnt make much diffence but that was last year when I had low coil voltage, we'll see what this year brings..I've still got my trans modifications to sort out.. I'm losing line pressure when the fluid gets thin. All this makes just throwing a buttload of HP at the effort sound appealing. I watched Ken Mild run 12's with a basically stock open diff 2.90 something 69 GS with a monster motor bolted in (stroker, gessler heads, etc...???) I'm sure it cant be just that easy??
Rhett, like I said you need to be absolutely sure that spacer plate is FLAT!!!! Did you do as I said?? If not take it back out & do as I said. You need a known FLAT surface. A solid FLAT piece of Granite. Kitchen counter top??? Start off with 600 grit wet-r-dry. Then move up to 1000 grit & lastly 2000 grit. This will assure the plate is FLAT. Of course easier to do is two gaskets. Tom T.
Rhett,, as I read your post, i realized that you did not mention airing down your rear tires....we did that a lot back in the day.....makes them bite a lot better....and run the fronts about 40#.....usually would work out to 40/15.....or so.... it would cut the et a lot.....
Thanks Doc! I actually do bring them down to about 25 or so, and the fronts up to 45....gonna try lower this season. 20? 15 seems awful low and you're think the center of the tread would "bow". It does work, but I cant seem to read the burnouts with these tires well enough to not be guessing.... Tom! - I'd better come clean and tell you I did not follow your advice (OK, I did lay it flat on the lift, but it wasnt too scientific)....I just bolted it all together and figured I would be good if I torqued it all correctly. Didnt work,and I think when the viscosity gets low I am losing pressure at the valve body. My buddy has a pressure guage and I'll check first, but I think we all know that pan is coming back down....I think the key is two gaskets, original plate, block both valve bodies and re-utilize the original screen pick-up. That way I'm back to "known good". Start listening to people who know or do it twice, thats the lesson there. I'll think if you when I've got tranny fluid running down into my armpits. 66GSConv - You're car sounds awesome and obviously makes some power - what mods did you make? I'm not familair with your set up, that a dual quad car?
Rhett, I have a eelco 2x4 set up that I like. But I just love my Holley 950 with the annular boosters. Did the doc dual plane 4 years ago and then took it a little farther. I am still going to play with this set up more this spring:Brow: I have ideas:Brow:These were a couple of pictures as I was working on it. One thing I noticed, we know we have to use a adaptor plate and I ended up with 2 4 holes I cut open the 4 holes on one of them and used it as a open hole spacer and the car likes it better than the 4 hole.
Nice work on the manifold! I did the same kinda thing on my Doc mods, radiused all the turns and edges I could reach with a 6" burr. Didnt gasket match though, so thats somewhere on the horizon. I've been thinking about spacers for this spring - I've got about an inch hood clearance with the Q-Jet set up, so probably a safe 1/2 inch as I've got the block chained down. I got two 1/4 inch composite gaskets form Cliff Ruggles, one holed and one open. I figured I'd sandwich them, holes against the carb and open to the botton and see if it gives a better velocity at the top, with more room to turn at the bottom. It probably wont do much at all, but thats all part of the fun, right?
Well,,,, Let me tell you what i have seen done, in the past..... Where does your car fall wt to hp or cubes ??????? I have seen guys lighten the car up to where they are just barely in the top of the weight bracket... and that is good....and,,,, I have seen guys put ballast in a car , so that it drops out of the bottom of a class, down into the top of the next class.... you know , kind of like a woman......:laugh::laugh: when you sleep it off and wake up and she is a -2 instead of a 10.....
Doc...I remember them daysuzzled: Rhett...I bought 2 half inch aluminum 4 hole spacers from summitt. They were 12 dollares each and I used the 4 holer on the nail and it was ok. Then I took the other one and opened it to a 1/2 inch open spacer. Really woke the nail up in the mid rande and up top. Didnt seem to lose any low end at all. Just my .03 cents:TU:
I've got a 1 inch alumnum spacer, but I'm cautious of hood clearance. The Summit 1/2 inch spreadbore ones arent cheap, so I figured I'd experiment with the cheap (but nicley constructed) cardboard gaskets sandwiched with RTV...if it works, I'll spend the bucks for a real one.
NO RTV on gasoline. Radial tires don't flatten like bias plies. No less than 22 PSI. Of course this also depends on the tire size.
Thanks Tom - I can use paper betwen them too...i'm really just screwing around. Is there a better product to use? I'm with you on the radial tire thing, and these are only 215-75-R14s to begin with.. thats why I really never went lower than 25, I'll try 22 this spring... Doc - I've got the heat risers blocked at the carb pad with brass plugs on both my modded intakes.I still use the stainless plate as an insulator, I'd keep it either way. 66GSConv - What rear and gears are you running? What air cleaner are you running? Any issues with hood clearance? I really dig your car - Great color and love the Centerline style rims.....I watched your videos again last night, it car steps up and goes..How are you keeping motor mounts in it? Cam?
Rhett, I am not running a stock nailhead. I have done a lot of home mods here. I have a 6 inch grinder to and pop a couple of beers and do a little grinding:beer Comp cam 218-230 at .50 and headers, TT rockers. Big carb. As for as the tranny,2004r with a 9.5 converter -2600 stall. Rear is from techg8 8.5 with 373 gears. Them gears with the nailhead does burn a little rubber. Thats why I think when I get to the track this summer I am hoping to bust into the 12s. Who knows if I can get traction:grin:KN 12 inch air filter with breather top. No hood problems yet
Too bad you're that far west, I'd love to show up when you run... Sounds like a good combo, I like the gear choice. Did you do everything at once or piece by piece? Interested in how the rockers worked for you..
As far as motor mounts I better secure the drivers side this spring. Last summer I was still fooling with the linkage for the carb and next to my friends house in a little parking lot I gassed it for him. When I let off it didnt spring back:shock: I quickly got that under control. If a motor mount broke under wfo it could get hairy.
