Anyone willing to drive my car at Milan (or give any advice)?

[moparpoor]

We will talk this weekend! The weather for wed is 76 and a little chance to rain ! Cant wait for cooler weather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

yep drive it yourself!!

 

[Sonny Black]

if you drive it yourself be prepared to have an addictive experience that you will not be able to control 'till you
are out of money....but the RUSH is worth it!:brave:

Sonny Knows...

 

[Budnicks]

if you drive it yourself be prepared to have an addictive experience that you will not be able to control 'till you
are out of money....but the RUSH is worth it!:brave:

Sonny Knows...

Yeah...LOL... It's worse than being a drug addict, sometimes I think... I tried to get away from Drag Racing "mostly", from 1997-2005 or so, after touring all over the US for years, then instead of going somewhere every week, to some race across the country, I only went about once a month, to the local tracks, then I found another 68 RR & oh well back to rehab...LOL... Budnicks Knows

 

[65 Plymouth Satellite 426]

Do Like I Did...First Time Out At York US30 Driving Rigor Mortis '64 Polara Super Stock Car AND Ran Up Against Jere Stahl To Boot In First Race! Scared Shitless! You'll Learn Pretty Quick What Your Car Is Capable Of! Try Not To Red Light And Over Power The Racetrack By Burying The Loud Petal! You Don't Want To Blow The Tires Off The Car! Try Different RPM Leaves And Shift Points! Have Fun, Believe Me, Once You Do It, Back In You'll Go! Go For It!

 

[kb73rr]

I met up with Moparpoor yesterday and I followed him down to Milan....

You guys were right about EVERYTHING. I should have drove my own car myself (which I did). It was a huge rush. The people there were really friendly and helpful. I need some better back tires allright.

I didn't do anything to prep my car before going. I was thinking I should at least take the spare and stuff out of the trunk but changed my mind. I figured the weight in the back wouldn't hurt. And I topped it off with gas too.

I got in 6 passes total. Here is the one I think is the best. I am car 111.

The other ones were all pretty consistent with ETs in the 14.6 range and speed in the 94s. That's about what I was expecting based on how the car felt before.

Running it at Milan was very enlightening. It seems the biggest performance issues I have right now are:
1) Trans not set up properly. It's shifting at 4400 rpm and that's killing me.
2) 3.21 rear axle ratio.
3) Could use more traction.

I fuxed up the last pass - BAD!!!! I was trying to manually shift from 2nd to 3rd and missed at WOT. Big whoops. I thought right away that I blew something up, but when I exited the car still drove under it's own power. There was however a really impressive cloud of smoke out on the track - right about where I missed my shift! So I drove back slowly. The car felt normal, no weird sounds, gages all normal too. I got back in the lane to go some more but nobody was running. Then a track guy came over and told me he figured I cracked the output shaft housing or something because fluid was dripping out and they had to clean up the track. Uh oh.

Luckily Moparpoor took a look and explained what really happened - as well as the importance of having a self-locking/sealing trans dipstick. Unfortunately, he did not think it would be a good idea to flog the car any more until checked for trans damage - and so he didn't drive it. At least I made it home with no problems.

I'm going to do what Moparpoor suggested tonight. If it's OK I'll go back tomorrow for the Drag Racing 101 class and some more test and tune. Addictive is an understatement.

Thanks guys and especially thanks to Moparpoor !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[67Satty]

Good going man! I'm glad you raced it yourself!

 

[moparpoor]

No problem it was fun even though I only got to make one almost complete pass!!! By the way beautiful car you have! We will meet up again for some track thrashing. A bunch of us are planning a day at the track later on this year towards fall! Wish we could have done some more testing though. Weather was awesome wish every day at the track was that nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Moparmatt72]

Glad to hear you had fun driving your car down the track.

 

[Ryguytoodry]

I'll be in the same boat as you kb73rr... I have only taken a mid-12 second civic down the track, and I'm building my turbo slant car for high 11's. The time difference doesn't sound like a lot, but the launch is what I'm scared of.

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

I met up with Moparpoor yesterday and I followed him down to Milan....
View attachment 129444
You guys were right about EVERYTHING. I should have drove my own car myself (which I did). It was a huge rush. The people there were really friendly and helpful. I need some better back tires allright.

I didn't do anything to prep my car before going. I was thinking I should at least take the spare and stuff out of the trunk but changed my mind. I figured the weight in the back wouldn't hurt. And I topped it off with gas too.

I got in 6 passes total. Here is the one I think is the best. I am car 111.
View attachment 129445
The other ones were all pretty consistent with ETs in the 14.6 range and speed in the 94s. That's about what I was expecting based on how the car felt before.

Running it at Milan was very enlightening. It seems the biggest performance issues I have right now are:
1) Trans not set up properly. It's shifting at 4400 rpm and that's killing me.
2) 3.21 rear axle ratio.
3) Could use more traction.

I fuxed up the last pass - BAD!!!! I was trying to manually shift from 2nd to 3rd and missed at WOT. Big whoops. I thought right away that I blew something up, but when I exited the car still drove under it's own power. There was however a really impressive cloud of smoke out on the track - right about where I missed my shift! So I drove back slowly. The car felt normal, no weird sounds, gages all normal too. I got back in the lane to go some more but nobody was running. Then a track guy came over and told me he figured I cracked the output shaft housing or something because fluid was dripping out and they had to clean up the track. Uh oh.

Luckily Moparpoor took a look and explained what really happened - as well as the importance of having a self-locking/sealing trans dipstick. Unfortunately, he did not think it would be a good idea to flog the car any more until checked for trans damage - and so he didn't drive it. At least I made it home with no problems.

I'm going to do what Moparpoor suggested tonight. If it's OK I'll go back tomorrow for the Drag Racing 101 class and some more test and tune. Addictive is an understatement.

Thanks guys and especially thanks to Moparpoor !!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh boy here we go now!!
The addiction has started. Be prepared to keep throwing $$$ at it.
It won't stop.

 

[Budnicks]

oh boy here we go now!!
The addiction has started. Be prepared to keep throwing $$$ at it.
It won't stop.

Amen to that...LOL...

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

Once you get down to 11 seconds, just go and buy a done car.it will be much cheaper.

 

[kb73rr]

oh boy here we go now!! The addiction has started. Be prepared to keep throwing $$$ at it. It won't stop.

Ha ha ha - NO, I'm not addicted and not throwing $$$$ at it. I'm too old and slow and cheap for that and the car is too much of a pretty street car/boat to EVER be a good race car. And for further proof of not being addicted, I did not go to Test and Tune and Drag Racing 101 class last Friday either. Yeah, it was kind of rainy, but that's irrelevent.

However, going back to my earlier comments, last night I took it back to the shop that rebuilt the trans. They said they can get the WOT shift points up to 5400 no problem. We'll see how that does. Also got a self-locking trans dipstick so no more spewing trans fluid all over the track.

Item 2 was the rear axle ratio. It had 3.90 gears in it when I got it and that sucked on the highway (70mph = about 3400rpm). Now with the 3.21 gears it's doing about 2800 at 70 and cruises real nice but has sluggish performance. I'm thinking 3.55 gears would be a decent streetable compromise. I welcome any suggestions about that.

Item 3 was traction. I'm thinking I could use some better stickier wider tires just in case I go to Milan some more. I've got 8" wheels on the back now. Hypothetically, I was thinking of picking up a set of 10" wheels and some Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial Drag Tires P315/60. I welcome any suggestions about that too.

I don't think wheels and tires should qualify as "throwing $$$". It's more like routine maintenance - like having a set of winter tires for your regular car. Some of us do that up here in Michigan. The gears, yeah maybe, but honestly I was thinking about that before I ever went to Milan so that shouldn't count as throwing $$$$ either. And the trans is under warranty so no $$$$ involved.

The self-locking dipstick only cost $50 with tax and shipping, so that's not throwing much $$$$ either.

See - not addicted - not throwing $$$$.

By the way, I am going to have to go back to Milan again after the trans shop fixes my shift points - just to be sure they did it right and see what differance that made if any. Weather permitting that that will be Weds 8/7. Anybody want to run the piss out of my car?

 

[Ryguytoodry]

What about 3.73's out back? I highly doubt you'll see a big difference from 3.21's. The shift points will do you some good. As for the wheel/tire set up, just find some sticky 8" drag radials, no need for a 10" on your car.

Just my 2 cents,
-Ryan

 

[Budnicks]

Yeah a 3.73-3.91:1 with some decent taller drag radials {especially if you already have some 3.90:1 ??}, that would help some to wake up the car for sure, get a better bite, help to move a heavy car out in the first 330 feet, where allot of the ET is made... then just get some taller tires to drive around on the street/hwy, to help cut the gear ratio a little... it's a livable compromise... your low shift points don't help much either, the switch from 3.23-3.55:1 will make almost NO difference "at all"... IMHFO