As some of you know, I'm building a bracket racer. I've had a lot of ideas floating around in my head for a couple months now, and finally sat down and penned them all out. I like to work from a plan, it's a personal fault of mine. :rolleyes:

For those of you who run the 1320, do me a favor and take a look at what I put together, and give me your suggestions. I would like to do it right the first time, for the first time.

I've made a lot of progress in collecting parts, and really don't have a great deal left to go. I just have to start getting everything together. Most of what's left is straight labor time in getting the frame in shape. The body is going to stay in primer for a while cuz I'm lazy like that.

Okay, here's the plan for the combo (it's long)...

Motor:
454 cid .030 over
stock crank/rods (I know) :rolleyes:
Lunati solid:
296/304 (adv), 263/271 (.050), 0.630/0.630, 108 LSA (4000-7500 RPM)
GMPP rectal aluminum heads
2.19/1.88 Manley race valves, 11/32 stem
Crane gold roller tipped rockers
SRP 12:8:1 forged pistons
Edelbrock Victor Jr. rectal intake
CSI SFI approved dampner
SFI approved flex plate
Moroso six quart oilpan (no kickout)
Moroso high volume oil pump, pickup
Moroso windage tray

Fuel Sytem:
Holley HP950
Holley fuel log
Mallory comp 140 fuel pump, regulator, filter
1/2" aluminum fuel line (frame)
1/2" braided fuel line to/from frame
8 gallon fuel cell

Ignition:
Mallory Comp 9000 distributor
MSD 6AL ignition
Mallory blaster coil
MSD 8.5mm wires

Transmission:
TH400 tranny
B&M 8" converter 4500 stall
B&M reverse gate ratchet shifter
Moroso aluminum tranny pan
Moroso transmission cooler
SFI approved scatter shield

Cooling:
CSI waterpump
Aluminum Northern radiator
Summit overflow tank
Ford Windstar dual electric fan
Moroso oil cooler

Exhaust System:
Hedman Supercompt 2" headers
3" mandrel bent pipes to the mufflers
Flowmaster two chamber mufflers
3" mandrel bent pipes to the tips
exhaust exits prior to the front of rear tires

Electrical:
Battery relocated to trunk
Moroso cutoff switch
Moroso alternator brackets
Powermax alternator
Powermax ministarter

Rear Suspension:
Ford 9" rear with stock perchs for springs
Strange center section, with spool and 4.56 gears
BMR adjustable upper lower control arms (stock locations)
Comp Engineering 90/10 drag shocks
Rear disk brakes out of a ford

Front Suspension:
stock front disk brakes
Moroso line lock
stock A-arms
Comp Engineering shocks
manual S-10 steering gear box
sway bar removed

Frame:
rear frame shaved/gusseted for larger tires.
(Should fit 28x13.5 M/T ET's)
28x11.5's M/T ET's
Weld Prostar rims front/rear
15x3.5 front rims, M/T sportsman tires
Iceman TH400 custom crossmember
BMR driveshaft safety loop
Chris Alston 12 point roll cage
mini-tub rear wheel wells

Body:
Harwood 4" cowl hood
bumper shocks removed
stock body
inner fenders removed
BMR Aluminum A/C delete plate
winshield wipers removed

Interior:
One drag seat with five point harness
Full Autometer gauges
Stock dash
Grant GT steering wheel
fire extinguisher
carpeting and door panels intact
rear interior completely removed

Don't worry about the stock crank/rods graemlins/thumbsup.gif Thats what good rod bolts are for.

Should be a handful!

SS_Sean,

What is your car weight? If it is 3200 lbs or under, look for some 10.50s.....
If you find your car is launching hard, but goes flat a little before the lights and the MPH is down, call me.
I believe you may need 2 Mallory 140s, in parallel, to feed that beast. If I'm right, the 2nd pump should add some ET as well as MPH. I have seen over 2/10s......
If it pulls your head off even through the lights, I'm wrong.
Try it as you have it, and see. If you need the extra pump, it's only a pump, a Y-Block, and some line.....
Have fun.

UDHarold

Something I have noticed quite a bit on a lot of cars and believe guys should rethink this. Removing the inner fenders on a car like a Chevelle, literally saves an unnoticeable amount of weight. I have the factory steel inner fenders out of mine now for detailing, ready to go back in. I have not weighed these, but they can't weigh more than 8 - 10 lbs each. Installed correctly, they increase the structural integrity of the front fenders / core support considerably.

Can you tell I was bored last night? :D

Thanks for the ideas guys. I was wondering about the comp 140, since the exhaust side is really opened up on this motor/exhaust. We'll find out. I'm going to leave provisions for an additional/different pump on the bracket I'm fabbing for it.

Inner fenders are still a sore subject with me, since I ran over one of them with my work truck while they were out of the car. :D They're easy enough to put back in, if I get tired of looking at my crappy stock front suspension.

Originally posted by SS_Sean:
GMPP rectal aluminum heads
What's up with that??? tongue.gif :D

SS-Sean
Nice, well thought out combo. Change out your front disc pads with Wilwood for great stopping power. Line lock, 2Step, Launch control, Transbrake?! Hope that your rear suspension will handle all that power! I have a similar set-up with brand new professionally installed ladder bar system. Ran 10.94 on soft hit that transbrake solenoid failed and footbraked a 11.42 so was done for the day. As Harold said, I hope to run 10.50! Have fun with your project and keep us posted! :D

Originally posted by blazerbob:
SS-Sean
Change out your front disc pads with Wilwood for great stopping power. Line lock, 2Step, Launch control, Transbrake?!Front's will come in time. I forgot to mention the Moroso line lock. I've got that. I'm not going to run a transbrake for this car. Probably in the future, but not for now. I'll have to work out the two step rev limiter with the MSD 6AL, after I get everything together. It would be nice to roll up to the line, and run a burnout in the box without having to worry about RPM's running through the roof.

Just clarify, I just changed out to Wilwood pads with my stock brakes. That change alone transformed my stopping power to my liking! ;)

Duly noted, Bob. Thanks.

I have a few comments and they are meant to be Constructive NOT Critical. ;)

B&M 8" converter 4500 stall - why the BM ? There are many proven race converters such as ATI, Coan, BTE, Transmission Specialties.

Moroso oil cooler - Not necessary - You want Hot Oil and cool water. Good for Oval track and maybe a street car driven to the track to help in stop and go traffic.


Moroso alternator brackets - just for looks or do you have a mounting problem using stock brackets? - just curious. Stock brackets keep it simple and reliable.

Powermax alternator - Don't forget the Hi-amp relay for the cutoff switch if this is a 100 amp alternator, which is not necessary for a strictly drag car.

BMR adjustable upper lower control arms (stock locations) - Why? just box the uppers and lowers also BMR's are heavy...OR Preferably Get a setup with at least no-hop bars and adjustable others while boxing in the lowers and use poly bushings.

An anti-roll bar setup would be probably the best so some others have used very succesfully. considering your likely launch RPM's and gearing it will be tough to hook.

At a Minimum you will want to introduce anti-squat into the suspension or you will be wasting motion (energy) while doing the "squat".

Rear Comp Engineering drag shocks - waste of money - get some QA1's with 12 settings and be done with it.

Front Comp Engineering shocks - an often debated topic but....IMO a waste of money determined through my own trial and error and testing on 3 different combinations- Same as above get the QA1's for a drag only car

I am on the fence about the fuel pump issue Harold brought up and I agree that trying it with one pump first is the way to go. I will be testing my Carter 172 mechanical versus a Mallory Comp 250 this season in back to back testing.

Hope this helps..

Originally posted by mc71454:
I have a few comments and they are meant to be Constructive NOT Critical. ;)

B&M 8" converter 4500 stall - why the BM ? There are many proven race converters such as ATI, Coan, BTE, Transmission Specialties.

I'm sure it'll change, but I've gotta pick a company some time. I'm walking into that with no knowledge of winning brands. You've changed yours a few times, right? I have, however, heard great things about ATI converters. I'll keep them in mind...damn, going fast costs money! :D

Moroso oil cooler - Not necessary - You want Hot Oil and cool water. Good for Oval track and maybe a street car driven to the track to help in stop and go traffic.

Okay.

Moroso alternator brackets - just for looks or do you have a mounting problem using stock brackets? - just curious. Stock brackets keep it simple and reliable.

I don't have any extras right now. Wanna sell me some? I agree with you 100%.

Powermax alternator - Don't forget the Hi-amp relay for the cutoff switch if this is a 100 amp alternator, which is not necessary for a strictly drag car.

I'm concerned about the dual fan, water pump, and all the other stuff that's running off the electrical system. 'High' is a relative term, but I got your point.

BMR adjustable upper lower control arms (stock locations) - Why? just box the uppers and lowers also BMR's are heavy...OR Preferably Get a setup with at least no-hop bars and adjustable others while boxing in the lowers and use poly bushings.

This one I'd have to argue. Even boxing the stock control arms isn't going to stop those cheesey arms from flexing. I don't have anything to back that up, but I'm betting that's the case. BMR's ARE a little heavy, that's for sure.

An anti-roll bar setup would be probably the best so some others have used very succesfully. considering your likely launch RPM's and gearing it will be tough to hook.

I don't think I get what you're trying to say?

At a Minimum you will want to introduce anti-squat into the suspension or you will be wasting motion (energy) while doing the "squat".

Drag shocks and coils, like moroso trick springs?

Rear Comp Engineering drag shocks - waste of money - get some QA1's with 12 settings and be done with it.

Nice units. Very spendy, but nice.

Front Comp Engineering shocks - an often debated topic but....IMO a waste of money determined through my own trial and error and testing on 3 different combinations- Same as above get the QA1's for a drag only car.

Okay.

I am on the fence about the fuel pump issue Harold brought up and I agree that trying it with one pump first is the way to go. I will be testing my Carter 172 mechanical versus a Mallory Comp 250 this season in back to back testing.

Hope this helps.. Thanks for the contructive criticism. That's the stuff that helps. As I said, I'm walking into this blind, and obviously have a lot to learn!

I'm surprised no one has made fun of my Comp 9000 distributor yet! smile.gif That's one that will get changed as soon as possible. Some of this stuff I already had, and will have to make do with until I can afford to change it.

Sean,

I used a BM holeshot 2400 very succesfully starting in the low 15's down into the mid 12's over 3 seasons. Since then I have only used Trans Specialties Converters.

I have changed the converter adjustments/setups a few times but they were adjustments on the same converter. In My 11 second combo I used a 10" 4200 flash sprag type converter for 2 years. Lasy year I tried that converter in my new 540 combo and powered right through it with my shift light on all the way down the track...I went to a new 9" race version from Trans specialties, I went with a setup that was too tight (by my choice) to see what it would do street/strip, But it did not enough to get the lead brick moving, settled in on a 4200-4400 9" and I am very happy with the street/strip performance it gives.

The Converter is so crucial to total performance, I know it is sometimes hard to fork over $800+ for a converter when they are also available for $350..BUT I can tell you and so can many others that if you are serious about bracket racing as it seems you are, you need consistency and it is only as good as it weakest point, the converter is critical to consistency.

As for the $$ to go fast..YUP..This ties into the distributor..You can go just as fast with an HEI core triggering your MSD as you can with the Mallory 9000...a budget is a budget and if the high dollar converter taxes your budget, get a good HEI and put the extra distributor $$ on the converter, it will be $$ well spent directly influencing positively to your vehicles performance.


What I meant about the anti-roll bar is the type that wolfe-racecraft makes, Dick Miller, etc. It attaches to the rear axle and the roll cage, keeps the car level on launch.

The anti-squat is introduced when the Instant Center (IC) of the vehicle is modified, as with No-hop Bars, Ladder bars, Southside Machine bars. The rear will lift forcing the tires into the pavement instead of the squat. I have a video comparing the launches of a NO-hop bar modified IC versus a stock IC setup. I don't know if you have seen it, I know others have who may read this post.

The QA1's have 12 settings and have proven to ebe very effective in tuning my own suspension in the rear. Well worth it to crawl under and turn a knob a few clicks to soften or stiffen.

I installed a Painless Wiring alternator feedback relay that allowed my cutoff switch to cut off the alternator feedback and actually shut the motor off ..well with continuous duty as seen on the street it caused a 2 volt voltage drop and eventually burned out..Painless Wiring now makes a High Amp relay for continuous duty with 100 amp alternators, I just installed it.

The BMR's did not have enough adjustment to correctly set my pinion angle when they were used in conjunction with a set of Edelbrock No-Hop Bars. This is why I sent them back to BMR, sold the Edelbrocks and ended up with a very high quality and very adjustable Dick Miller kit. I will be adding a DM anti-roll bar sometime this season.

LOL...on the alt. brackets, no extras (wish I did)I bet someone on the board has some though.

You have a good Combo there which will take a while to fine tune, but that is (at least to me) part of the fun of it.

IMHO,
Qa1 or Koni shocks will work better especially when it gets hot and slick out,also a rear anti roll bar.
Use more compression ratio since this is a race car.
If you are going to be racing every week or so buy a better Connecting rod it will pay in the long run,unless you have 7/16" bolt Chevy rods with good bolts.
Smaller camshaft or more rear gear .You should be turning 5 to 10 percent rpm higher in the lights than what you shift at.

Very good stuff, guys. Thanks for the input!!

Save your money on the aluminum heads. As you have seen around here a good set of iron heads will work fine and you already own a set. just send 'em up to Lake Oswego (via "bolt-on HP ads in local auto trader) and you can use the money savings to pay for the water pump, alternator, maybe even a happy gas sys :D .

When you get close to needing some of those parts give me shout. I may have some "left overs"

I sent you an email Jeff...