Here is a link to my blog highlighting some testing completed over the past two weeks. The goal was to get a 3700 lb stock eliminator Stage 1 to hook on a marginal track utilizing a 9" radial slick. http://buick455dragracing.blogspot.com/ Although the task was a bit daunting we feel that we were successful and now have a starting boundary point for utilizing both suspension and ignition programming setups to tune the car to hook on any track. The next step will be to go to a killer track and find the upper boundary suspension and ignition tuning setups to put the maximum amount of power into the track. I would like to thank Tom Rix for helping me with this effort. Without Tom's help I would still be sitting here scratching my head and spinning the tires! Paul (Jody) Plummer
Jody, I checked out your site and like it. I'm always looking for ways to make my Buick a little quicker. Converters are a hot topic. I wish Jason or Alf would share some of their converter knowlege. (Or maybe even their converter!:laugh: ) Jim Rodgers 1970 GS Stage 1, 100% Stock Appearing Q-Jet, iron manifolds, full 2.5" exhaust 10.47 at 126.5
I have one of their convertors in the car as well as a lightweight transmission built by Larry Line, Lance's father. What I don't have is the horsepower they are developing. Right now that is a good thing because I am not able to get all the power I have right now into the track. I am just now begining to understand that the big trick is getting that horsepower into the ground. Even at my power level I still had to detune this car off the line to get the tires to hook. I also have learned that the outside looks of a car can be deceiving and not all racecars are alike. In stock eliminator for example a lot of the cars are not original collectable muscle cars and have little or no value outside of their worth as a racecar. With preserving originality restrictions removed, they can easily design the roll cage to integrate with chassis and suspension points to optimize chassis stiffness and tunability. With a car like mine, yours and many others you see at the GS nationals you just would'nt want to hack on the cars for the purpose of gaining a few more mph or lower timeslips. This is where the challenge lies. A less than optimum race car to preserve orginality, in most cases more HP than one can feasibly put into the ground and a desire to get the car to consistenly hook on tires that will fit in the wheel wells without cutting up the car. Some would say we are stupid for trying but it is pretty cool when you stumble on to something that works. A couple of weeks ago a wise old sage told me that we should stop trying to compare our cars with guys next to us (insert Jason Line's Blue car here). Instead we should spend our time figuring out what works best for our own car since this the only combination we truly know anything about. The only thing my stocker has in common with Jason Line's blue car are the 5 letters in the emblem that say BUICK! Jason worked for Joe Gibbs before getting the Pro-Stock ride. In my opinion, he has forgotten more about making a production based Buick run than we will ever know.
The converter is Frank Lupo Dynamic - 8" convertor. They will set-up the stall speed where you tell them too and were excellent to work with. The work Larry did on my TH-350 transmission was easily worth a .1 of second although I would easily surmise from Larry's comment when I got my gearbox that it was probably not optimum - "who in the hell built this thing no wonder this thing wouldn't get out of its own way". He also recommended a Scott Mclay M200 although my budget would not allow for it at the time.
Hey, I know where your coming from. What works for one setup doesnt necessarily work for all of them. But I never miss an opportunity to learn something new. I'm sure if I got 15 minutes to look over Jasons blue car, your car, or Schlaters green car I could find a few things that would make my car quicker. Looking and asking questions is what its all about in my book. Your website for instance, I read thru it carefully, and learned some things I had absolutely never thought of. Printed off some things too, hope you dont mind. My combo is a lot different than yours obviously. You have a rule book to follow, and for all practical purposes I dont. So as long as it doesnt affect the outward stock appearance of my car/engine I will go for it if I think it will help. Chassis tuning is your biggest gain at this point IMHO. That and converter. Dont overlook the converter, and dont hesitate to try multiple converters in the thing. Getting these cars to leave hard is the name of the game. You get it to RIP out of the hole, then work on sticking it. At least thats my philosophy for what its worth, which prolly isnt much. :laugh:
Jim I have seen your car run and your philosphy is excellent. You are always welcome to copy anything from the website as I put this thing together to give back to the Buick racing community. If you have something to share as well just email me and I will put the information up on the site. Thanks for the great feedback and the great information! Jody
