- 132
- "Hidden Valley", CA
- MEJ1990TM1
I've been fooling around trying to build a '70 Chevelle into a nostalgic sort of drag car. Something that would be like something out of the '70's. I am using transmission/rear gears that were prevalent back during that time frame. I seem to have hit a wall.
Here is what I am running in the car at the moment.
- Tuned to 769 HP
- M22 Four Speed (2.20, 1.64, 1.28, and 1:1)
- 4.10 Differential
- R5's Rear, and R1's Front
- Factory Suspension
- LSD (60, 60, 20)
- Rear Spoiler (As much as it pains me, but I was trying to make the car faster)
- Ballast of 200 to the Rear (I tried running with less weight. The car trapped faster, but traction suffered.)
I started out using the Ford Toploader wide ratio transmission gearing (2.78, 1.93, 1.36, and 1:1) with 4.56 gears. I was also attempting to tune the racing suspension to get the most weight transfer. I started out running a low 11. Really knocking on the door of the tens. With some work at throttle control I was able to finally get it into the 10's. The best I got with the 4.56's was a high 10.90. It was running out of steam at the end of the track. I made the change to 4.10's and the car really seemed to like that. After extensive tuning throughout the suspension the fastest I got was a 10.56 @ 135. The car was consistently getting 135, but the ET's varied mostly from 10.62-10.74.
Being I wanted to see how much better my tuned suspension was I swapped the factory suspension back in. What a joke that turned out to be. First run I had I got the car to a 10.56 I believe. Here I am running as fast with the factory suspension as my best run with my so called "tuned" suspension. After many runs with the factory setting the best I was able to get was a 10.52. Now the car was consistently getting into the 10.5's.
This is when I got my next bright idea. I would go from the Toploader ratios, to the M22 Muncie ratios. I expected the car to slow down since that 2.20 1st gear is quite a bit higher than the 2.78. After getting the throttle control dialed in for the higher gearing the car was then touching 10.47's. Here I am doing things that I suspected would make the car slow down, but now I am going faster. Go figure, huh?
At this point I broke down and added a rear spoiler. I really hated that idea, but I was really wanting to get the car into the 10.30's. That was my goal all along. After playing with many different down force settings my best run with the settings at the top of the page was a 10.407. So close, but so far.
Do any of you guys have suggestions as to what I should modify? I am quite certain I can get the car into the 10.30's ,or even 10.20's if the planets align, if everything was just right. Surely that factory suspension can't be getting optimum weight transfer. If the car could hook up solid with the Toploader I am sure the ET's will be improved. I was having to roll into the throttle pretty slow with the Ford transmission. I wasn't hitting full throttle until midway through second gear. Anything before that and the wheels were spinning.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Here is what I am running in the car at the moment.
- Tuned to 769 HP
- M22 Four Speed (2.20, 1.64, 1.28, and 1:1)
- 4.10 Differential
- R5's Rear, and R1's Front
- Factory Suspension
- LSD (60, 60, 20)
- Rear Spoiler (As much as it pains me, but I was trying to make the car faster)
- Ballast of 200 to the Rear (I tried running with less weight. The car trapped faster, but traction suffered.)
I started out using the Ford Toploader wide ratio transmission gearing (2.78, 1.93, 1.36, and 1:1) with 4.56 gears. I was also attempting to tune the racing suspension to get the most weight transfer. I started out running a low 11. Really knocking on the door of the tens. With some work at throttle control I was able to finally get it into the 10's. The best I got with the 4.56's was a high 10.90. It was running out of steam at the end of the track. I made the change to 4.10's and the car really seemed to like that. After extensive tuning throughout the suspension the fastest I got was a 10.56 @ 135. The car was consistently getting 135, but the ET's varied mostly from 10.62-10.74.
Being I wanted to see how much better my tuned suspension was I swapped the factory suspension back in. What a joke that turned out to be. First run I had I got the car to a 10.56 I believe. Here I am running as fast with the factory suspension as my best run with my so called "tuned" suspension. After many runs with the factory setting the best I was able to get was a 10.52. Now the car was consistently getting into the 10.5's.
This is when I got my next bright idea. I would go from the Toploader ratios, to the M22 Muncie ratios. I expected the car to slow down since that 2.20 1st gear is quite a bit higher than the 2.78. After getting the throttle control dialed in for the higher gearing the car was then touching 10.47's. Here I am doing things that I suspected would make the car slow down, but now I am going faster. Go figure, huh?
At this point I broke down and added a rear spoiler. I really hated that idea, but I was really wanting to get the car into the 10.30's. That was my goal all along. After playing with many different down force settings my best run with the settings at the top of the page was a 10.407. So close, but so far.
Do any of you guys have suggestions as to what I should modify? I am quite certain I can get the car into the 10.30's ,or even 10.20's if the planets align, if everything was just right. Surely that factory suspension can't be getting optimum weight transfer. If the car could hook up solid with the Toploader I am sure the ET's will be improved. I was having to roll into the throttle pretty slow with the Ford transmission. I wasn't hitting full throttle until midway through second gear. Anything before that and the wheels were spinning.
Thanks in advance for any help.
