Thread: Billetproof drags, found a Youtube

Tweet

I found this video on YouTube today, and was surprised to see me in it (6.30 and 9.30 minutes) It was fun watching the day all over again. Next year, REAL slicks !

Don

BILLETPROOF drag races Oct 2011 - YouTube

"...Next year, REAL slicks !,,,"

Naw the bug didn't bite you Don

Yep, you got me figured out, Mike. I wanna do it again, and can't wait for next year.

Don

Hopefully i can crew for ya

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

Yep, you got me figured out, Mike. I wanna do it again, and can't wait for next year.

Don

Yeah, plan your holiday around that time in October. It will also give you some cooler weather than the oven you and Sue experienced this trip.

I just looked at the conversion chart online. If I can knock a second off of my 1/8 time with good tires that would be the equivalent of about a 10.92 in the quarter. I might go to deeper gears than the 4.30s I am running and get some Hoosiers or M and H slicks for a go at it next time. I probably should go to 31 spline axles too and a hoop. If I could turn those times on a car suspended with buggy springs on both ends, I would be pretty happy. I'm pretty sure the motor has it in it , I just need to hook better.

Don

I was gonna say thats not a 1/4 mile trac in Lake Land Don.
That place has closed and re opened so many times I stopped
going when I was there. I was told that the property was sold a while back.
Kurt

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

If I could turn those times on a car suspended with buggy springs on both ends, I would be pretty happy. I'm pretty sure the motor has it in it , I just need to hook better.

Don

Springs should really have nothing to do with how the car hooks, their only function should be to support the weight of the car. Shocks, bars, tires, and instant center is what determines hook....

Kurt, no, it is still open. It isn't the fanciest track in the world, kinda out in the boonies, but the pavement isn't bad (except it gets a little bouncy in the shut off area) and the people there treat you well. It is probably one of the few places around that will let cars like most of us had run. They "softened" the rules a little that day which was nice. I think if you are a grownup and willing to take the risk, and not try to sue someone else for your own decisions, you should be allowed to do that. I knew my car could get squirrelly on me and assumed that risk and wouldn't have blamed them for letting me run if something did happen.

Dave, the point I was trying to make about having a traditionally suspended hot rod is that they are not the most dragstrip friendly suspensions going. Coil overs would have given some better tuneability and a better launch I bet. That being said, if I do build a little altered it will probably have a solid mounted rear because the Bantam I had years ago was old school and I would want to recreate that one as close as possible. I know it wouldn't be the latest greatest setup, but it would be fine for what I want it to do.

Don

Point taken. But, the springs, be they coilovers, leafs, or transverse should not be considered a chassis tuning item... They should only be correctly sized and rated to support the weight of the car. The tuning on coilovers comes in the shock valving and adjustments, the spring part of it just supports the weight. The items I would be concerned with are the bars or rod ends (or hairpins) snapping with the additional bite from slicks. Good shocks valved correctly will do more for traction with any kind of suspension. Nothing wrong with leaving the transverse spring, just make sure the parts that will have to withstand the torque transfer are up to the task!!!!

Most altereds and diggers runs solid mounted rears. They work ok on a good track, but with decent power the cars tend to unhook and buzz the tires once you're off the sticky part of the track... Very few of the smaller tracks spray anything much further out the 60' to 100'...about the same place where you run out of rubber laid down on the track from the other cars. With less power then the rich kids run, a solid mounted rear works great, ran one myself for 3 years in Top Dragster and Quick 8.... Tire choice was critical for the car, softer compound worked better on tracks with less prep to them. If we were running some place that had a lot of big power cars then we could go to a harder compound, get good bite off the line and still keep the car hooked up from 300' to 600'.

What about drag radials, Dave? I keep seeing lots of them on PassTime on some pretty hairy cars. How do they compare to regular slicks?

On our 68 Mustang I ran 11 inch M and H slicks and even with a 4 speed they hooked great. I think I would use those again for the old school look I like.

Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

What about drag radials, Dave? I keep seeing lots of them on PassTime on some pretty hairy cars. How do they compare to regular slicks?

On our 68 Mustang I ran 11 inch M and H slicks and even with a 4 speed they hooked great. I think I would use those again for the old school look I like.

Don

I set up a couple cars with the Hoosier Drag Radials, so I guess they're the only one's I can talk about... One car with them is a '63 Nova, healthy small block and a Heidts IFS under the front.... He's running the 245's and really hooks hard on the car with 15 psi and a 2800 rpm launch with a 700R4 trans and 4.11's. The other one was an '83 Mustang with 5.0 and 5 speed. same width tire, good lower bars and held the same 60' times with the drag radials as with slicks!!!!! The car is tubbed, he was running a huge 15" wide slick and went to the 245 radial---actually goes a full tenth of a second faster on the drag radials because of the HUGE decrease in rolling resistance. I have the Hoosier's on my Mustang...they even do ok uptown on a Saturday night!! Best part about the drag radials, they don't "unload" like a slick does and give the big bouncy ride on the big end......

PS--Just pulled the invoice, we put 245 x 45 x 17's on the Mustang....another + with the drag radials is the 17" tire of course has less sidewall height and more stability going thru the quarter.....

Those radials sound like a good move. I remember the M and H's on the Mustang hooked best at about 11-13 psi air pressure, and at the big end I could feel it moving side to side as I went across the finish line.

Don

I like them!!!! Others might be as good or even better then a Hoosier, don't know, it's all I've used.... At our last street shootout, about half were on Hoosiers, the other's were divided between M/T's, BF Goodrich, Goodyear, and a few on Nitto's. You can really feel the difference in stability with less sidewall height on the 17's vs. the 15's.....

PS---The car that took home the money (my buddies Nova) was running Hoosiers and a "slightly modified" pair of AFCO shocks.... Had some valving changes done by the shock guru at Speedway Motors to keep the car hooked up out of the 60' area....

Ya I used to run out there Don, years back. Then I used to walk accrossed to the other side of the track and watch some of my other friends at the mudbogs
I had one of my friends that asked if my son could take a ride with him thru the mud pit and they were both about drown when he took a wrong turn and his tuck
went all the way under. He came out the window with my son over his shoulder then went back to get his truck pulled out.
It needed a new motor after that though.
Kurt