First let me say - never take your car on a "feature day". Go there at 8:15 this morning, go right to tech - no problems. Supposed to start time trials at 9:00, but the electronics were out from the storms yesterday. Finally at 11:00 I am the second car to go. As expected this car does not bite at all.

RT .485 (hey its been 20 years)
60' 2.401
330 6.205
1/8 9.296 @ 79.54
1000' 11.976
1/4 14.251 @ 99.09

I had to let off of it 3 times to get the car to move. But the MPH was decent.

2nd run (1st round of elims at 2:30PM). Only change was to install the black spring to try to get off the line. Both passes were made launch from idle. I tried power braking the car on the aproach to the line on the 2nd run, but that was even worse.

Thought that the 99.09 MPH should have put in me in the high 13.00's. plus the track was in much better shape so I dialed in an optimistic 13.75.

RT .322 (getting better)
60' 2.257
330 5.981
1/8 9.077 @ 79.47
1000' xxxxx
1/4 14.096 @ 97.20

Did win though. The guy in the right lane decided to red light. Had to leave at 5:00. At the rate they were going, I wouldn't have ran round 2 until 7:00 and I had a commitment.

First 2 things I need to do.

1> the Hotchkiss front springs that have been cut are going in the trash. The front end is way too stiff.
2> BFG radials may look good, but they don't bite at all. Have to decided on something else to run on the back.
3> Going to step up me secondary jetting. Seeing how the car slowed down as the air temp crept up, I would think this is the correct move.

All said, the car feels good in the midrange, but is hitting a ceiling around 4800 - 5000 in top gear. Tough to be exact with the factory tach, but fairly sure I was around 4800 - 5000 through the traps. That would give me about 10% converter slip, maybe more on the second run.

The goal is high 12's. Lot of work to do.

99 mph should be good for 13.30's or so. I agree on both the springs and tires.

Joe, actually there is darn little that needs to be done to make your 12.9x e.t. goal.

1) Real tires, no suprise really.
2) Proper suspension, I'm sure you have been reading and searching all the posts on this topic.

From what little I know about your combo I think you have a 1.9x 60' time waiting. That alone will drop you right down into the 12.9x's for e.t. Because you had to pedal it on launch, that on-off-on-off-on accelerator action cost you mph along with e.t.

Good luck, Thomas

Hey...I just ran in my no/e class yesterday...made 6 passes 60fts were 1.73(just after the sun went down) the rest were 1.76-1.78 one heck alot more consistent than the slicks I had on the car. Mine are 275/60/15's run at 18 psi. Drag radials do hook!!! ask Todd graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Don't mean to hijack this post. How long of a burnout do you do with your drag radials Rapid Robert?

ease thru the water box,,,get em spinning to 5000,shift to second,they start to pull down pretty quick,release brakes and power to the line. I don't think I could get into 3rd gear,they get sticky pretty quick.

I have drag radails on my 66 and I will be going to the track next month. Thanks for the tip.

Joe,just for comparison,my friends 69 SS396 thats very similar has run a best of a 14.24/94 MPH with 3.08's and a 600 Holley vac. secondary and a spinning 2.15 60 ft.
Hooking harder and an intake swap should get you into the 12's
My friends car has the Performer as well.His motor seems to get a little lazy around 5000 rpms too,even after a swap to a 3310

Needless to say, I am encouraged. With some chassis tuning, tire bite and a harder launch there's probably low 13's, high 12's or better with no engine mods. I was pleasantly surprised to go 99.09 MPH. I would think some carb tuning and timing will get me about 3 - 4 mph (102 - 103 mph). That is flying for basically a stock .030 over 402 motor, with 2.19 int. valves and a rather mild hydraulic flat tappet cam.

Regardless of what I do with the rear tires, I have to make some corrections to get the car to launch straight. Right now the car pulls to the left out of the hole. I am making an assumption that preloading the pass. rear side will get it going straight - correct? With this corrected, right now I am launching from an idle. I would think I still want to do this with this type of car.

All considered, not bad for the first outing. Unforetunately, I doubt I will see any more track time this year. I had wanted to dial everything in first for a baseline before I put the solid roller in it. Maybe late Sept., we'll see. At least I know what (or think I know) what has to be changed.

Ironic isn't it. What started out as a restoration of a '69 396/325 car with air, is heading into a replica of the SS/JA car that we bought in '76 and turned into a Pro Bracket car and ran through about '84. The next step is going to be a tough decision. May just blow right past the 12 sec. bracket. The big question is where to stop. I really did not want to install a 6 point cage, but safety becomes another issue.

Stay tuned!

Joe,there's nothing like having a resto/semi-stock looking musclecar that runs low 13's/high 12's or quicker graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Right with you Chris. Surprisingly, after running 99MPH, I actually had a few guys wanting to know what I was running. With the big Dynomax 20" case turbos and full exhaust, the car is as quiet as a stocker. The only hint of any cam is heard through the headers.

By the way, thanks for the input. You've been a big help.

Joe

PS: When I finally get things dialed in and get solid 12's, I wonder if they will let me through tech with the column shifter hooked up again. That would be pretty fat wouldn't it. Sitting in the staging lanes, arm thrown across the top of the bench seat, relaxing with the A/C running!

Joe,glad I could be of help.Hope to meet up with you some day for some bench racing :cool:
I think some 275/60 BFG drag radials would be a tremendous help in the traction department.