Trying to pick up an extra .05 to .10!

[1965wagon]

Went to the track this weekend and i have been tuning on the car and have gotten it to the 12.10-12.12 area very consistently but... I really need to be in the 12.02-.04 range to be competitive because it is a 12.0 index for NSS. So I guess Im asking are there and small tricks other then losing weight! I was thinking of putting synthetic grease in the front wheel bearings and going through the front brakes and cleaning everything making sure they roll smooth because i think Im giving up some there just though i would pick every ones brains

Here is the list of things i have done:

adjusted timing until i gave up mph and ET so i found its happy spot!
put 90/10 front shocks and qa1 rear shocks and have them to where the 60' is deadly consistant1
pulled all extra weight i can think of with out losing the seats or stockish interior parts!

 

[lewtot184]

i'd look for any nit-pik thing i could find in fuel delivery. also, cam installed centerline; too much advance,...?

 

[Hemi 354]

Do you have ANY excess weight that you can get rid of?

 

[Shorthorse]

This has the makings of a good thread. There's no ET that money can't buy but if your on a budget or simply want to pick up some ET without breaking the bank, there are several things to look at. The two most common have already been mentioned but ring true. Weight and tune up.
Could you give some detail about your car? Engine, fuel system, trans, rear end and your car itself, full interior, roll bar?, any fiberglass parts, stuff like that.

 

[1965wagon]

This has the makings of a good thread. There's no ET that money can't buy but if your on a budget or simply want to pick up some ET without breaking the bank, there are several things to look at. The two most common have already been mentioned but ring true. Weight and tune up.
Could you give some detail about your car? Engine, fuel system, trans, rear end and your car itself, full interior, roll bar?, any fiberglass parts, stuff like that.

The car is all steel no fiber glass....yet
engine is 440 .040 over 12.5:1
906 heads ported by cfm performance and bigger valves has a .570 lift FT cam with HS 1.6 rockers
running the eddy dual 4 inline intake and has 2 650 eddy carbs
4 speed trans with adjustable soft lok McLeod clutch
open headers and no air cleaners
thinking about making a air pan and doing a scoop hoping to squeeze that extra bit out of it as crazy as it sounds i dont want it to pick up to much!!
fuel system is a billet holley pump with 5/8 aluminum line to a fuel log with 2 new regulators to individual lines to each carb @ 6.5psi each

 

[1965wagon]

Do you have ANY excess weight that you can get rid of?

I wish right know nothing i really dont want to take the seats out one for looks and also cause i do drive it with the family!

 

[SUPERSTOCKRACER]

It's a hell of a lot easier to lose .1 or more with a 12.20 car than it is with a low 9 second or 8 second car. I'm trying to lose .05 and its hard as hell once you start making high HP and going fast.
Start pulling things off your car, wiper motors and arms, rear back seat, side view mirrors, add fiberglass bumpers, hood, and put in a set of race seats and I bet you get where you want to be, temporarily.lol

 

[dvw]

20-25 lbs will get you there. Air pan will help as well. 25 lbs would be easy.
Doug

 

[Shorthorse]

I like it. Love them wagons. I'm doing some electrical work on a 63 wagon for a friend right now. The old wives tale about a 100lbs being worth 1/10th may or may not be science but there's some truth in it.
"The car is all steel no fiber glass....yet" - That's going to help for sure. I noticed you have Cragar rims. While they are very cool, they are heavy compared to aluminum rims. Used rims can be picked up for a reasonable price but it all depends on how you feel about your Cragars.
There's an old post on Moparts called Real World Weight Loss. It's over 50 pages and might help.

 

[1965wagon]

slowing it down really isnt an option tried that once didnt work they are .50 intervals and i had 180#s in it and -3* timing and it still went 12.38 on the brakes on a 12.50 dial so going faster is the only option so i may try the back seat for now just to see if that does and thing and just keep fine tuning it!

 

[Budnicks]

1 thing I would suggest
try to close off any areas in the front
{maybe even add a spoiler to keep air out from under it too}
other than were the air needs to go thru the actual radiator area,
Also ram air {or scoop} sealed off to the carbs, fresh cool clean dense air
would help gain a few MPH & a few HP too...

both are cheap to do

Not really knowing or ever seeing your car run, makes it a bit tough...
But limiting the front end travel may help too,
wasted motion, the idea is to get the car moving forward
as quick as possible not up, that's usually for SS guys
that want to clear the beams quicker....

I'd also suggest moving the battery to rear, better traction
lightens up the from for much better weight transfer too,
that just may get you the 0.05 too

I'd also suggest, carbs especially multiple carbs, tuning/jetting for altitude,
that alone can make the world of a difference
elevation & weather, track conditions, sun or cloud cover can change your
ET far more than 0.05 to 0.10, that your looking for

hooter ignition ?, less ohm resistance plug wires ? to carry the spark too
possibly a little less valve lash, gain a smidge of top end

BUT;
weight loss is the most cost effect way of lowering ET's
it's all about HP - weight ratios

good luck

 

[Budnicks]

Getting a well performed routine for burnout & staging the car
same thing every time, as much as humanly possible,
even engine/oil temps are a good way to pick up ET
especially if your somehow doing it wrong, too hot or too cold etc.
Even the type of oil can effect HP, just enough to gain a smidge here & there...

 

[Budnicks]

Run an electric water-pump, electric fan/s
turn off the fields to the generator during the run,
both will add a few ponies

every belt drains a bit of power

 

[1965wagon]

Yep car is electric fan and water pump has a one wire mini alternator and has amsoil synthetic through the whole drive line!

 

[lewtot184]

tinker with the intake. trim the divider in the plenum down 1/4"-3/8" or maybe try a 1/2" open spacer. try some .101" or .104" jets in the secondaries. running "naked" carbs isn't good. some sort of air entrance into the venturii is best.

 

[Shorthorse]

slowing it down really isnt an option tried that once didnt work they are .50 intervals and i had 180#s in it and -3* timing and it still went 12.38 on the brakes on a 12.50 dial so going faster is the only option so i may try the back seat for now just to see if that does and thing and just keep fine tuning it!

There's a slight problem. If you want to run a 12:00 index, you have to be able to run faster in order to deal with different weather and track conditions and stay competitive. A full hard run of 12:00 at any given time, even at the same track on the same day is a lot to ask for. Especially if that's all you've got. You're very close to 12:00 but you still need the car to perform sub 12:00 times. Timing, tuning, adding weight and just good old seat of the pants driving is what you need to run index classes. I wish I had that stuff figured out.

 

[68 HEMI GTS]

how do you shift it, foot stay planted on the gas or do you lift between gears?

 

[1965wagon]

tinker with the intake. trim the divider in the plenum down 1/4"-3/8" or maybe try a 1/2" open spacer. try some .101" or .104" jets in the secondaries. running "naked" carbs isn't good. some sort of air entrance into the venturii is best.

i think i am going to try some carb spacing first and even some different length header extensions!

 

[Mike67]

If those are old-school steel cragars try running an ultralite wheel...it ought to save you 10 lbs...
Couldn't tell in your pic but if you have a cast iron wp, pick up an aluminum one of not going electric...lots of weight savings there too...

 

[1965wagon]

how do you shift it, foot stay planted on the gas or do you lift between gears?

yes right now i lift but i am having a 833 faceplated so then it wont be lifting on the shift and wont have any problems!