1/2 mile racing

[Sweet5ltr]

Car is a 1969 Road Runner. Currently, 440 w/ S475 Turbo, meth injection, and A2W intercooler setup. Car now has a built 727 w/ 3,200 stall (turbo/FI specific) and 2.96 rear gears. Would really enjoy 1/2 mile racing as they have a local runway available twice a year, anyone have any idea what it would take to keep this car stable @ 130+MPH for an extended period of time? Anyone done this type of racing before?

 

[Roughbird72]

I believe they do those from a rolling start, 130mph may be a conservative number.
Good speed rated tires & being able to brake safely would be my first priority.

 

[mmissile]

Keep air from under the car. Downforce.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Keep air from under the car. Downforce.

Yeah, I was thinking some sort of belly pan and front splitter. Will need to be ran without a hood as their is no way the six pack hood will handle a 1/2 mile continuously. Car has SSBC front and Baer disc brakes on the rear, no issue with slowing the car down. Mickey Thompson ET streets rear and sportsman fronts.

 

[Moparmatt72]

Belly pan, front splitter and rear diffuser would be good, even a wing either super bird one or a APR fully adjustable one, know it's kind of ricey but those are very good quality wings. I have herd that bonnieville has solid tires you can rent for sustained high speeds.

 

[Phil McGrath]

No, but I nearly top ended my 69 Road Runner between Phoenix and Casa Grande with a 440-4spd, 3.23 tail gear, 215/75/15 front and some 275/60/15's rear. I got real scared at 4200 in 4th and let out with a lot of room too go under the gas peddle. I would start with getting the whole car as low within reason as you can safely go. Duct tape all the seams and close the windows....

 

[dvw]

My 64 Belvedere regularly runs close to 150, My sons 62 Savoy close to 140. Both have no body mods and are quite stable.
Doug

 

[bobtile]

My 64 Belvedere regularly runs close to 150, My sons 62 Savoy close to 140. Both have no body mods and are quite stable.
Doug

I was wondering about 1/4 mile speeds. I regularly see 150 in the quarter, but how would the car handle at that speed for an additional quarter mile?

 

[HYRDGOON]

I've done 130 MPH plus in mine for longer than a half mile. Definitely scary as it wasn't a closed course but it did seem reasonable stable. Agree with the rest as low as possible and whatever you are willing to do for aero would make a comforting difference

 

[Budnicks]

3.23:1 at roughly 6000rpm is 146mph with a 295/50/15 less than 27" tall tire
I'd think that the 2.96:1 would get you to 155
if your combo is at all decent, doesn't bog in low or hi-gear...

low car, low center of gravity & lower drag,
block off any air from going around the radiator under the hood etc.
maybe tape off the grill, keep out as air that goes under the car as much as possible

they aren't very aerodynamic any ground effects would be helpful
big wide oil pan acts like a belly pan sort of too, airdam/spoiler on the front
maybe a deflector on the rear may help some too...

I had a 68 Charger R/T with a 446ci that'd run 150 {159 with a radar @ 6500rpm}
with 3.23:1 gears easily in a 1/2 mile straight flat stretch, it wasn't force fed either...
Never did it as an organized event thou, just a bunch of guys going out &
marking it off & going for it...

Good luck & have fun

 

[HYRDGOON]

I had a 68 Charger R/T with a 446ci that'd run 150 {159 with a radar @ 6500rpm}
with 3.23:1 gears easily in a 1/2 mile straight flat stretch, it wasn't force fed either...
Never did it as an organized event thou, just a bunch of guys going out &
marking it off & going for it...

Good luck & have fun

Makes sense. We use to hit the frozen lakes in winter and do radar runs with our sleds. why not cars?

 

[Cranky]

My 70 Challenger didn't like 130 too much. With the grille set back, air would pack up under the hood and lift the front end making it feel very light in the steering. The leading edges of the hood would come up a good 1/2" higher than the fenders. Lowering the car helped but the hood still tried to lift. I guess that's probably why I saw nearly every Challenger around with aftermarket hood pins? Oh the other hand, my 71 Cuda was rock solid at 130. My 68 roadrunner drag car ran 126 in the 1/4 and it too felt solid as did my 71 Duster at 134 in the 1/4. The Duster was a bit lower than stock in the front tho. 66 Mustang Fastback had some front end lift at 135 but not as much as the Challenger. Don't think your roadrunner is going to present much of an issue if any at speed....and if it does, a simple air dam will help quite a bit.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Car has more than enough power with boost. Working on some aero mods now, still figuring out what exactly is going to work. Have a new steering box and 1st Gen Camaro front spoiler. 18x9's w/ 255's up front, 18x10's with 295's on the rear. 14" 6-piston brakes to actually stop the car, along with new brake lines/MC. Going to pick up a new Hotchkis front 1 3/8" and 1" rear swaybar assembly, with Bilstein shocks from PST.

Thank you everyone for the replies, I'm used to modern cars (Z06 and SRT) which actually handle very well at speed. It's a bit different in a classic..

 

[HYRDGOON]

Car has more than enough power with boost. Working on some aero mods now, still figuring out what exactly is going to work. Have a new steering box and 1st Gen Camaro front spoiler. 18x9's w/ 255's up front, 18x10's with 295's on the rear. 14" 6-piston brakes to actually stop the car, along with new brake lines/MC. Going to pick up a new Hotchkis front 1 3/8" and 1" rear swaybar assembly, with Bilstein shocks from PST.

Thank you everyone for the replies, I'm used to modern cars (Z06 and SRT) which actually handle very well at speed. It's a bit different in a classic..

Sweet5ltr is there a build thread or something to that effect with your car pics, specs and details. Would really like to see more of it.

 

[Photon440]

Back in 1977 when I first got my '70 road runner, I was on some prairie highway effortlessly loafing along at 100 mph. I decided to see what it would top out at so I just kept it floored and watched the speedo. It indicated 136 and would climb no higher, no idea how inaccurate it was at that speed (was fairly accurate going by mileage markers at 60). The car still felt light but stable. I guess the rear spoiler wing wasn't quite tightened down because it suddenly flipped forward, chipped a bit of paint where the leading edge hit the top of the quarter panel. Air grabber was open but the hood was stable, no shaking.

After a little over a minute of this, watching the temp slowly start to rise I noticed that the fuel was also slowly dropping. I backed down to 100 again, haven't ever driven as fast as that top speed since that day as a teenager.

 

[Mopars & Missiles]

..........Car is a 1969 Road Runner.....anyone have any idea what it would take to keep this car stable @ 130+MPH for an extended period of time? Anyone done this type of racing before?

I'll tell you this, I have a '69 Coronet (very similar to Road Runner) and the front wheels are off the pavement at 140 mph. I've done it personally. It feels really really smooth at that speed, because you're OFF the pavement. Move the wheel a little left or right, the car continues absolutely straight. Let off the pedal, and you'll see and feel the car drop right back down onto the road again. I like speed, but I won't do that again.

So, you need to add downforce, especially in the front. Probably some in the rear as well, but scary light in the front at that speed. Just my experience, you can take it or leave it.

 

[cryplydog]

My 68 rr would bury the 150 mph time and time again on the concrete straights with a 440, 4spd and 3.23 w/3310 holley headers and edelbrock intake and ofcourse good 110 flite fuel. The car handled good at speed, I was one crazy kid and I don't know how fast I was going but I was spinning that particular engine past 6500 and hell I would go several miles until I ran out of straight road. I often wonder what held that engine together but it never did spin out but I always kept it over full of heavy racing oil.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Sweet5ltr is there a build thread or something to that effect with your car pics, specs and details. Would really like to see more of it.

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...80-The-quot-Anyone-Can-Do-It-quot-Restoration
^ When I originally started this project in 2012. I spent around $20,000 to get it back on the road, I have another.. $12,000+ by now..
I'll start up this thread again when the car gets torn down in a few months. We're actually building a 20'x30' garage currently for it, just had the concrete poured last week. Wish it would fit in my garage, but it's about 2' too long.

440, Eddy heads, Victor intake, Longtubes, Solid lifter cam, S475 turbo/rear-mid mount, A2W intercooler, Snow Stage 2 meth inj, new 727 w/ 3400 stall, 8.75 rear & 2.96 gear w/ locker. Big brakes, big wheels, and decent sized rubber. Working on the handling and aero mods now, those are some of the most difficult aspects of a B-Body.. May need to get back into my D.C. Chassis manual again.

 

[Photon440]

Wow, it looked really nice four years ago, you're tearing it down again? Good luck with the new ideas!

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Wow, it looked really nice four years ago, you're tearing it down again? Good luck with the new ideas!

Going to repaint the car and engine bay B5 Blue w/ pearl (same color as my SRT). Doing powdercoat work under the hood as well to the intake manifold, intercooler, turbo piping, etc. Like any of these classic cars that are actually driven, they need new paint and touch up work every few years. Even with new sheetmetal, rust is inevitable. If you glanced over my original build thread, it was built on the dirt practically under a car port.

Like I said, a few aero mods that have been mentioned above and bracing up my front spoiler. Not sure of how many other modifications could be done without serious work, skill, & effort involved. I just want to drive the car a few times a week in modern traffic and most of the modifications I've done up to this point allow that. You see, the reason I needed a built engine and a turbo was, I live in a hilly area and I need that extra boost to get up and over...:icon_cool: (to quote Jay Leno)