Who’s doing what in the off-season.

[padam]

Gear package is here!

 

[malex]

I guess I should think about putting my transmission back in. Ambition became lost over the winter. Now that it has finally started warming up, maybe I’ll find some focus.

Did get the Challenger out of the trailer after a long winter nap. Back at home where it belongs.

View attachment 1451524

View attachment 1451525

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Huh?? What the, did ya go into hibernation all winter over there?

 

[malex]

Gear package is here!

View attachment 1454113

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Is this an trans upgrade or maintenance repairs?
What’s the latest on wheel studs. And you were asking something about sleeves over the studs. On my Weld Draglites it was just a matter of cleaning up the holes a touch so the studs would slide through easily. Then it’s just slide the wheel on followed with the spacers against the wheel. I used the Strange 5/8 stud kit, which came with the spacers. The Moser kit however looks the same but comes with 2 different sizes of spacers (short and long). More pieces for the same price.

 

[padam]

—-
Is this an trans upgrade or maintenance repairs?
What’s the latest on wheel studs. And you were asking something about sleeves over the studs. On my Weld Draglites it was just a matter of cleaning up the holes a touch so the studs would slide through easily. Then it’s just slide the wheel on followed with the spacers against the wheel. I used the Strange 5/8 stud kit, which came with the spacers. The Moser kit however looks the same but comes with 2 different sizes of spacers (short and long). More pieces for the same price.

This is an upgrade/ Maintenance to the transmission. I had slick shifted it yeas ago, and the gears were finally shot.
The big dogs on the gears are the best upgrade for an 833 and are supposed to last a long time.

I also got the 5/8 studs. I posted this pic earlier, the deleted it because I realized the studs were going to interfere with the parking brake strut, and I felt like an idiot.

So I stopped at work and put a little racing clearance on the struts.

 

[padam]

Well, the *** end is ready to go. New 2” longer split mono leafs to replace the super stock springs.
I had to shorten the front hangers, and get new bars for the Caltracs.
New 5/8 wheel studs, and new brakes while I had it apart.

Also the new flywheel and clutch, Lakewood bellhousing are in.
Mostly new clutch linkage from Brewers.

Now on to transmission assembly, then installation.

That’s all of the big stuff, other things I will get to if I have time.

 

[malex]

Well, the *** end is ready to go. New 2” longer split mono leafs to replace the super stock springs.
I had to shorten the front hangers, and get new bars for the Caltracs.
New 5/8 wheel studs, and new brakes while I had it apart.

Also the new flywheel and clutch, Lakewood bellhousing are in.
Mostly new clutch linkage from Brewers.

Now on to transmission assembly, then installation.

That’s all of the big stuff, other things I will get to if I have time.

View attachment 1454677

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Very much progress. Those studs are one heaping load of assurance.
Are those Viking or QA1’s under the rear? Are they keeping that rear diff under the car on launch?

 

[padam]

They are Viking double adjustable. I wasn’t able to get the launch really under control last year, that’s why I switched to Calvert springs.

The new pressure plate is adjustable so between that and the Clutch Tamer I’m hoping to soften up the hit.

It still seems to me that I have a lot more suspension trouble than I should for a 12 second car.

 

[malex]

They are Viking double adjustable. I wasn’t able to get the launch really under control last year, that’s why I switched to Calvert springs.

The new pressure plate is adjustable so between that and the Clutch Tamer I’m hoping to soften up the hit.

It still seems to me that I have a lot more suspension trouble than I should for a 12 second car.

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Getting the launch down takes time, especially when you start hitting the tires hard. The best thing you could do is get some videos of your launch so you can see what the car is doing SloMo is great for that.
Curious what your car weighs.
Are you getting lots of separation on launch?

When I found my bent studs, it was at the same time that I found my perches were flattened / curled. My Dana was rocking under there pretty good. Probably had about 10 degrees of pinion angle change. Had only my perches been boxed to start with.. The best I got my car with the cal tracs and QA1’s was 1.38 60’ I switched over to Ladder Bars and haven’t looked back, with 1.30 60’s with the 505.

But, my Buddy who pits next to me who runs ladder bars went and bolted Split Mono’s on with Cal Tracs along with good shocks. Afco’s. He’s getting 130 60’s with those cal tracs..
That shows how important it is to have good shocks. I believe that he said that the consistency isn’t quite as good as the ladders but there’s nothing wrong with what you’ve got.

There’s lots of guys in this room that can help you fine tune your car, they all helped me out and they’ll chime in soon enough too.
Pic of my perches. Crazy.

 

[fourgearsavoy]

They are Viking double adjustable. I wasn’t able to get the launch really under control last year, that’s why I switched to Calvert springs.

The new pressure plate is adjustable so between that and the Clutch Tamer I’m hoping to soften up the hit.

It still seems to me that I have a lot more suspension trouble than I should for a 12 second car.

Good thing you soften up the clutch with the 23 spline gears. I have a brand new pro-shift 23 spline third gear with no drive teeth left on it. He broke it on the first pass after he got it back from Liberty's

 

[padam]

—-
Getting the launch down takes time, especially when you start hitting the tires hard. The best thing you could do is get some videos of your launch so you can see what the car is doing SloMo is great for that.
Curious what your car weighs.
Are you getting lots of separation on launch?

When I found my bent studs, it was at the same time that I found my perches were flattened / curled. My Dana was rocking under there pretty good. Probably had about 10 degrees of pinion angle change. Had only my perches been boxed to start with.. The best I got my car with the cal tracs and QA1’s was 1.38 60’ I switched over to Ladder Bars and haven’t looked back, with 1.30 60’s with the 505.

But, my Buddy who pits next to me who runs ladder bars went and bolted Split Mono’s on with Cal Tracs along with good shocks. Afco’s. He’s getting 130 60’s with those cal tracs..
That shows how important it is to have good shocks. I believe that he said that the consistency isn’t quite as good as the ladders but there’s nothing wrong with what you’ve got.

There’s lots of guys in this room that can help you fine tune your car, they all helped me out and they’ll chime in soon enough too.
Pic of my perches. Crazy.
View attachment 1454759

I didn’t see any sign that the perches were rolling like that.

From the videos I took last year, it seems like I was getting too much separation. Then the rear would hop, and the tires would unload.

About half way through the season I got it to where I could drive the car straight, but still not what it should be. And I only got that far with help from guys on fbbo.

If I can’t get it where I want it with this setup I’ll probably go to ladder bars.

 

[malex]

I didn’t see any sign that the perches were rolling like that.

From the videos I took last year, it seems like I was getting too much separation. Then the rear would hop, and the tires would unload.

About half way through the season I got it to where I could drive the car straight, but still not what it should be. And I only got that far with help from guys on fbbo.

If I can’t get it where I want it with this setup I’ll probably go to ladder

I didn’t see any sign that the perches were rolling like that.

From the videos I took last year, it seems like I was getting too much separation. Then the rear would hop, and the tires would unload.

About half way through the season I got it to where I could drive the car straight, but still not what it should be. And I only got that far with help from guys on fbbo.

If I can’t get it where I want it with this setup I’ll probably go to ladder bars.

Yeah you have the usual Mopar launch. But it comes around quick once you get it figured out.
Shock adjustments is how you’ll get there. Based on my experiences the rear rebound needs to be cranked up. Just as important, the front shocks also need rebound added too. Slowing that front end lift down keeps the rear tires planted longer to get you out a ways.
You’ll need negative pinion angle, 4 or 5 degrees. But all of that won’t help if your perches have started to crush. If they’re not boxed, you need to look real close. If they’re not then box them. In the last 3 years there’s been several cars pitted right around me and they all had perches bend. None were previously boxed and their launches went away and were just like yours.

If you see any sign whatsoever of space, movement, dig deeper.

Porpoising. Both ends up and down.

Rear separation maxed out. Those QA1’s wouldn’t keep that diff under the car. Good shocks are a must.
But once I got the perches fixed up, proper pinion angle and front shocks stiffened up it came around pretty quick and I started getting the odd 1.38 and 9.
Nothing worse than being staged and thinking what the hell is the car gonna do this time.
DVW helped me a lot when I was going through all this. And I wouldn’t have believed how critical front shocks play into it, until experiencing it first hand.
Keep at it.

 

[dvw]

The amount of seperation (rise) is controlled by the instant center (IC) location. The higher and shorter it is the more it will rise. Obiviously leaf/Cal trac is in that short/high range vs ladder bar. A 4 link has an adjustable I/C. The shock rebound is used to slow the rise. If the shock is tight enough the car will be going forward before it fully rises. Rise hits the tire and plants it. The tire can only take so much plant before it deforms and is overwhelmed. The more power (engine torque, gear ratio, trans ratio, quick clutch lock up, loose converter) you throw at it, the tighter the shock needs to be. Compression adjustment keeps the tire from bouncing back up into the wheel well. Just stiff enough to keep it down and no more.
Doug

 

[malex]

A Buddy’s Swinger. Long time race car, always a 10.0 car and huge wheelies. Then the launches went away. This became the norm.

Air under 3 tires in this shot. The problem: Perches went flat. Fixed it up, car is back hanging the wheels.

 

[padam]

Front shocks are tough to find for a 73. I finally got some QA1 single adjustables for a Mustang II that I got to fit.

I see the left side is rubbing up in the the K member somewhere, so I hafta fix that too. They probably need tightening up.

 

[stage3]

drove the car around the block today getting ready for saturdays local car show. holleys r working great mainly thanks to this thread. a major step up from the carters. back in the day it took these same carbs for the hemi to outrun the wedge as the story goes.

Holley Carbs

also installed the door bars that came with my roll bar kit from rhodes race cars. they lay down towards the back for much easier access.

 

[malex]

drove the car around the block today getting ready for saturdays local car show. holleys r working great mainly thanks to this thread. a major step up from the carters. back in the day it took these same carbs for the hemi to outrun the wedge as the story goes.

Holley Carbs

also installed the door bars that came with my roll bar kit from rhodes race cars. they lay down towards the back for much easier access.

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View attachment 1456238

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Enjoy the show Stage 3. Hey, you raised the bar lots on this thread with your tuning wizardry. Special thanks from me!

 

[Mike Gaines]

First Race this season 2 weeks ago. Won the race and my first NHRA WALLY

 

[Mike Gaines]

I am sorry guys, it is not a B Body but all my buddies are on this site and I want to stay in touch.

 

[65hemi]

Mike, were you at the March Meet? I looked for you but must have missed you.

 

[bearman]

Mike, with a car like that feel free to post wherever you want too. Great looking ride