Well, I made it to the strip finally. Good news is I dusted a newer Mustang smile.gif , that's always fun. Bad news is I think that I need to practice the lauch with my new Tremec 5 speed. Here's what I ran:

60 ft. 1.952
1/8 mile 8.84 @78.47
1/4 mile 13.88 @ 97.12

My Combo:

67 Chevelle full interior, no power accessories.
350 LT-1 (1972 w/ 75 CC heads)
Lunati cam- 00010 grind w/ .480 lift, 230 duration
Edelbrock Manifold (not performer or RPM)
Flex Fan
Mallory Ignition and Distributor
600 CFM Edelbrock
5 Speed TKO w/ 355 gears, 8.2 rear
Eaton Posi, BMR lower control arms
Front shocks stock, rear air shocks set at 10 psi.
235-60-15 BFG Drag Radials

I know the 60 foot times are bad. The BFG's hook really well. I could not find the proper launch speed. At 2,000 RPM lanch, it would grab and bog a bit off the line. I tried to launch at higher RPM's and I lost traction and got some wheel hop. :eek:

My goal is very low 13's for this car. I plan to upgrade the cam to a Comp XE-274 along with a set of Vortec heads and RPM manifold. My guess is this will easily take another 1/2 second off my time. Near term, I will be adding an electric fan and junking the Mallory distributor in favor of a MSD. Mallory has a tech line which I sent an email to asking how to change the timing curve. This is a Unilite 9000 model. The guy tells me that I'll have to take the whole thing apart and that if it were his car, he would go get an MSD. Could not believe it, they must out-source their tech help,but I'm taking him up on his advise.

Any other ideas you guys can offer? I'd really like to solve the rear suspension problems to keep the wheel hop to a minimum and reduce the 60 foot times.

graemlins/thumbsup.gif Outstanding performance for your first trip to the track! Your 60' isn't really all that bad considering your traction issues. IMO a sub 2.0 60' is great for a first timer and means you are well on your way to a near ideal hook. It seems to me if you improve upon the wheel hop, etc. you will be in the 1.80's and that's doing real well for a 13 sec car.

Can you clarify what intake you have? Is it a dual plane (hi-rise)?

Rod

It's a dual plane low rise. It came with the car. It says Edelbrock, but not a performer or RPM manifold. I'm sure it's not helping above 5,000 RPM. I was shifting at 6,000 RPM and couldn't get below 14 seconds. I started shifting at 5,500 and got into the 13's. I'm going to leave the manifold alone for now and replace when I upgrade the heads.

Originally posted by trimless:
It's a dual plane low rise. It came with the car. It says Edelbrock, but not a performer or RPM manifold. I'm sure it's not helping above 5,000 RPM. I was shifting at 6,000 RPM and couldn't get below 14 seconds. I started shifting at 5,500 and got into the 13's. I'm going to leave the manifold alone for now and replace when I upgrade the heads. Any pics of it? Sorry, you've got me really cuious about that now! smile.gif

I know the major changes you mentioned look appetizing right now but it sounds like you have a lot of room for improvement with your present combo, ie: traction/launch technique, intake set-up, distributor tuning. I think you could see mid to low 13's with what you have right there. Just my opinion.

I'll post a pick later today when I get home. You may be right about the potential of this combo. The heads are really an unknown. I do know that I can run regular unleaded with 20 degress of initial timing with no detonation. That tells me the compression is most likely at or below 9 to 1. I don't know what's been done to them (porting), but I can't help but think the vortecs would be a huge improvement. If I can pick up a cheap used elelbrock RPM, it may be worth swapping.

Cool, I'll look for th pic later.

RM- sent you a PM with the picture of my intake manifold.

Thanks!

What you do for a burnout, and what was your launch technique? Do you just dump the clutch and floor it?

I have a Tremec TKO with 275 Nitto Drag Radials and best 60ft I can get is 2.03 and I'm running similiar times as you 13.7-13.9s but have a little more power cause I trap around 100. Always looking for some advice on how to get the car to stick to the ground better!

I tried several techniques and found that heating the tires up was benefical. I spun the tires a bit in the box, pulled forward and put it in 2nd gear. Dump the clutch and do a good burnout. At the line I found the best results from a 2,500 RPM Launch. As soon as the clutch is engaged -floor it. I had a slight bog when the tires hooked but managed a decent 60 foot time. I ran 20 PSI for tire pressure and never tried anything lower but maybe next time.

I'm surprised no one else has chimed in.

Originally posted by trimless:
Front shocks stock, rear air shocks set at 10 psi.
235-60-15 BFG Drag Radials

I know the 60 foot times are bad. The BFG's hook really well. I could not find the proper launch speed. At 2,000 RPM lanch, it would grab and bog a bit off the line. I tried to launch at higher RPM's and I lost traction and got some wheel hop. :eek: Do you need the air shocks? I have regular gas Monroes on mine and no wheel hop as of yet. I would think the BMR arms would eliminate any wheel-hop especially with a relatively mild combo.

Rod

Nice work on your first outting. I have one concern with your combo and that is the air shocks. Personally I strongly suggest not using them to launch, your shock mounts just are not made to handle that kind of stress. Air shocks are for raising the rear to compensate for a heavy load in the car or trailering, not launching. This may sound like I'm preaching, but my trunk floor, rear end and gas tank are all out of my 69 ss right now because the previous owner used air shocks to get a good launch. Now I'm repairing a destroyed upper rear shock mount and it is a pain in the @#$!!!
Take it from me its worth getting rid of them now. Good Luck with your combo I'm sure low 13's are in yopur near future.
Jeff

The air shocks came with the car. I really don't need them. I let most of the air out before racing and didn't think that they would cause a problem with only 10 PSI. If regular gas shock will help I can get a pair for sure!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't weight transfer to the rear a good thing for traction? So the rear shocks should not be stiff at all for good traction, is that correct?

Here's a good thread on rear suspension set-up. (http://www.chevelles.com/cgi-bin/forum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=020976) "mc71454" and "kjett" have been doing a lot with their suspension set-ups so you can do a search on their usernames and get some good info. "mc71454" mentions the old racer's front shock nut trick a lot which produces weight transfer to the rear. This could possibly help your wheel hop situation.

You may also want to start a separate post because somehow this thread is getting passed up.

Like I said, for my recent project, I'm running regular gas Monroes and I have zero wheel hop at my present power level which is similar to yours. I'm shooting for 12's once all the bugs are worked out.

Thanks for the information, great reading. Are you running an automatic or stick?

It's a TH350 with 2400-2600 stall converter. First trip to the track with it was a spinfest but should be going back soon with better tires and some other adjustments. smile.gif

Well, the manual trans does tend to produce more "driveline shock". So that may explain why I'm have a problem and you are not. I'm going to try some new rear shocks. I also took a look at the upper control arms. The bushings appear to be ok, but they also look 37 years old. I'm wondering if these need to be replaced or do the lower control arms have more to do with the wheel hop problem? I replaced the rear spings when I installed the BMR lower control arms.

http://www.bmrfabrication.com/ImpalaSS.htm this will help all your wheel hop problems

Originally posted by skaz:
http://www.bmrfabrication.com/ImpalaSS.htm this will help all your wheel hop problems I think he already has the BMR arms if you look at his first post.

Yes, I already have the BMR lower control arms. I'm not sure the upper arms will make any difference. These upper control arms are pricey, so I don't want to throw money at a problem unless it really is worth it. The quality of these pieces is very good and I've had a set on my daily driver (1995 Caprice) for two years and really like them.