Alright. Took my car to the drag strip today and ran the 1/8. And I must say I'm addicted now. For being my first time I ran 6 times. My best time was 9.63 at 72 mph with a 2.23 60 ft. Anyway I can try and make it faster? I'd like to make it faster. Currently I'm looking at exhaust because my l31 is running stock exhaust. A locker to get away from the peg leg. And a cam swap to get away from my 96 lt1 cam.

 

MPH seems low, what is your full setup? L31 Vortec engine with Lt1 cam? What induction?

 

How far do you want to go optimizing the car for 1/8 mile racing?

if this is your daily driver you will have to make some compromises.

The best improvement you can make is a rear gear swap.

Ideally you want to be in "red line" as you cross the finish... for 1/8 mile you will need a much lower gear than for 1/4 mile simply because the track is half the distance.

BUT this will be a poor setup for a street car, even with overdrive.
because will be looking at 4.56 or lower gears for 1/8 mile.

The other issue is you probably have the stock rear end, don't waste time adding posi or anything else... SWAP the entire rearend assembly for a 12 bolt or a 9" Ford.

Plan you rear end build for future upgrades to the engine & trans.
That being said you have to be realistic about the intended use of the car..

Remember the rear end is the cheapest & easiest drivetrain component to upgrade. (when building a race car)

 

Ha that don't mean a 9 inch setup for our cars is cheap! That's my next step but ima run this ten bolt as long as it lives. It's all about havin fun man someone is always gonna have something faster!

 

who said building race cars was cheap?!

Fun is one thing, but you break enough stock parts and you already paid for that 9".

 

Well you said cheapest. Anywho my power glide was cheaper than a new 9inch! I ain't far from buyin one just hate to drop the coin. I haven't put a dime in the ten bolt tho. Stock axles welded up with 3.23s

 

A competition built 'glide, TH350, or TH400 can cost several thousand especially with a high end torque converter, manual valve body, transbrake, etc. etc.


like you said there is always someone faster.

 

Not counting my 9 inch converter from ptc I have 750 in my glide. Yes it has a brake and a manual valve body. It was built to hold about 750 hp. Only thing more to add to it is straight cut gears and a aftermarket case. Granted I got a very good deal

 

LOL
I guess our definitions of "competition" are different.

http://www.jegs.com/i/FTI+Transmissi...06180000603339

A Reid case, for a 'glide is 1,000$ that's just the case with an SFI rating..
no guts,no converter, & no tailshft.

 

first of all, Is the 2.23 60ft because it's spinning? or is it just lazy off the line?

What rear gears?

to give an idea, in a car that was ~3100lbs running down the track, I would run 8.3x at about 82-83mph. It was an L31 with just a Edelbrock Performer intake, 600 Eddy carb, and some hedman long tubes. It also had 4.10 gears with a 4th gen posi, a built th350 trans with a cheapo Jegs converter in it that would stall around 3500rpm.

Have fun with it! that's what it's all about. exhaust and sticky tires will do you a lot of good.

 

X2 on the sticky tires. You just have to figure out what you wanna do with the car. But I know the addicted feeling man

 

I dont plan on making a full blown drag car guys lol. Shes a street warrior. Shes a bit lazy coming off the line and my reaction times suck. Im running a carter 600 afb cart. Proformer intake. Open 3.42 gears. Stock stall that stalls at like 1250rpm. For my first time at a track period it was fun. I wanna do the 1/4th next and see what ill push out. That day my favorite two pulls were against a cammed crown vic with exhaust and an 07 dodge ram hemi.

 

Your first post you said you "want to make it faster".

That being said there is only so much you can do to a street car. (if you are on a budget)

The problem is the 1/8 is such a short track there is only so much you can do with an otherwise stock car "to make it faster" because it will never be optimized for the short track without compromising as a daily driver or "street warrior" as you put it.

I will give you an example my drag car is setup for 1/4 mile.

That being said the entire car is optimized for that purpose.. 4.30 gears with 28" tall tires, 690 HP engine,, 3400# car = low 10s @ 130 MPH and 6800+ RPM thru the traps.

Can I drive it on the street.. you bet ! But on the expressway the cruising RPM would be terrible especially without overdrive.. so gas mileage is compromised for the sake of 1/4 mile acceleration.

If I were to setup my car for 1/8 it would be even worse on the street because the 4.30 gear would be in the high 5s... possibly in the 6s... I can run the calc. to check..

For a dual purpose car: One you plan to drive and take out to race it is really all about compromises unless you have deep pockets for full time power adder like a turbo or supercharger or are willing to pay for the fuel to run it on the street.

This is why Nitrous is so attractive to a lot of dual purpose racers on a budget. On the street the car is "tame".. at the track you use the gas to "wake her up".

 

example using a "stock F-body" optimized for 1/8 mile racing..

3800#
220 HP
6000 RPM
26" tire

1/8 Mile ET: 9.48
1/8 Mile Top End Speed: 70.22
Ideal Ratio: 6.61

Example using a mildly modified F body (a bit lighter and a bit more HP)

3600#
300 HP
6000 RPM
26" tire

1/8 Mile ET: 8.46
1/8 Mile Top End Speed: 78.69
Ideal Ratio: 5.9

Example using a highly modified F body (a bit lighter and alot more HP)

3400#
690 HP
6800 RPM
28" tire

1/8 Mile ET: 6.29
1/8 Mile Top End Speed: 105.83
Ideal Ratio: 5.35

 

http://wallaceracing.com/dragcalceigth.php