The weather is going to be good, so, Saturday I’m headed for a car show at [url=http://www.winterportdragway.com/] Winterport Drag way[/url]. This is one of their bi seasonal shows that I have attend several times before, but never raced my Dart. This time I think I’ll run her a few times down the track now that she is running a lot stronger.

This race stuff is all new to me, and am looking for a few tips for a few good runs to get a handle on my performance parameters.

An update to modifications made to my 225, 67 Dart rag top:

Oversized ENDG valves, ported, gasket matched, and shaved 0.075â€￾ cacluated 9.5:1 compression peanut head.
Clifford intake & shorty headers, Holley 390 4V carburetor.
Dual exhaust.
Bored over 0.030â€￾ block.
Unknown hot cam that loves 3000 to 5000 rpm.
Orange box, blaster II coil.
904 driven by a 2600 (on paper) stall converter.
3.55:1 8 ¾â€￾ Suregrip, D70/14.

Haven’t weighed the car, but is most likely on the heavy side north of 3100 pounds because of; HD suspension, anti sway bar, sub frame connectors, 8 3/4â€￾ rear, and sound deadening on floor. Nor has it seen a dyno, so I don’t know what the torque, and power curves look like.

I’m guessing launch should be at highest rpm pre converter lock-up with out creep.

Shifting; let Chrysler do it at 4000, or row up through the gears changing at a much higher rpm at what feels like the top of torque curve? Anyone that has a similar engine build feel free to advise a shift point.

Last year's show, second row, second in from left, yellow [url=http://www.winterportdragway.com/photos106june09carshow.html] Dart[/url]; me showing my best side, removing 110 miles of road grunge.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Have you reviewed this article?
http://www.slantsix.org/articles/bracke ... t_race.htm
DD

Thanks Doug, I had not seen your drag tutorial, great job, very illuminating.

I had checked out the track’s rule book on line this morning, and it seemed a bit confusing, but figured once there, someone would guide me through the process. Luckily some of my old car buds will be running their monster V8 NO2 breathing behemoths. So when they are racing I’ll be watching, and when my class comes up they hopefully will be helpful.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

WJA. we will be @ Winterport with 3 or 4 A body 6 bangers both Sat & Sun and would be glad to help out with anything you need, just look for the best looking car there & that wil be us! [62 Dodge LancerGT & 2nd best looking car 62 Valiant 100 2 dr sed ] Looking forward to meeting you,, Ron Heath

In bracket racing it's really not how fast you can go...it's whether you can nail that same time at the end everytime without getting whupped or getting the redlight...



-D.Idiot

Ron,
Great, I’ll be looking for you. Are you going to be in the pits, or the show side?

I’ll have the YELLOW Dart ragtop, and a jug of “Show & Shineâ€￾ in hand lovingly massaging its body to a fine luster… over in the show area.

Joe Colby may show up as well with his 62 Valliant.

Film at eleven.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Take a 12 pack of Millers over to Ron Heaths camp.....they will make you faster n louder.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Sandy sure knows about the miller & we will be racing hopefully all three of my 62's. last fall they really liked the Lancer up there. We surprised a lot of people when they saw it go. This year it is sporting a new coat of paint ,so the rat look is gone!

What ever you decide to do, be consistant!!!!! You want to get on or close to your dial in (ET). Don't try to come up too hard on the stock converter. Start around 1200 RPM and go up or down and watch your 60 foot times on your ET slip. By all means, shift trans yourself. Watch your tach. Don't wait for the engine to fall on it's face before you shift. Don't spin the tires on your launch-it will kill your ET. Watch other racers stage procedure. Good luck and have fun!! Bob Lintner

Leaving from idle works best for me, even with a 2500 rpm stall. I find if I stall the trans up to X rpm it throws out my consistancey because each run I leave on a slightly different rpm, but hey, that's just me.
If you are going to stall up the trans then get into pre-stage so the first light comes on, then get the rpm you want. Once your happy with that, then "bump" into stage holding the engine at that rpm. This way you're not rushed. Also letting your opponent go into stage first helps too, that way you're dictating the start of the race, and again, you're not rushed.
Have fun!!

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62 Valiant, 225cid Slant 6/PB 904 with lots of good bits

http://www.moparmarket.com/readersrides ... user=SV162

I also get better 60 foot times if I do not stall the converter a lot. My converter tends to momentarily "flash" up to a higher stall RPM when hit with WOT from idle.
I also leave my auto trans in "drive" and let it shift automatically. Granted, the 904 in my drag car has the valve body "dialed-in" so the shift happen "where you want them"... in my case, 5800 rpm.
Keep things simple for the first run. stage the car, leave it in drive, watch for the tree to drop, floor it and hold it floored until the finish line... and see how it does, then adjust from there.

Oh, with a convert, bring a helmet.
DD

My primary objective is to discover what this car will do. So I shall make a few runs starting with 904’s prescribed 4000 rpm shift point. Than move that shift point up from there.

Where this is an eighth mile, I should think I’ll never see third gear. I’m assuming 5000 red line on this engine. I don’t think any blue printing or balancing has been performed, and really don’t like to take her up to five grand; although, she is quite willing to spin up to that point.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Bill
5000 Wont hurt a thing. When you get above 6K that when it will matter.
Have fun,
Frank

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

Ron: Ron was waiting for me at the entrance booth, and kindly invited me down to his pit area for a chat, a viewing of the hardware, and meet the crew… Real nice folks, I enjoyed my short visit with them. Both cars he brought were Hyper-Pack equipped, the red one is a quick daily driver, and the white is a race car that goes like stink.






Well I went racing, or rather pulled a few time trials this morning. The track was a mad house, it was Gass’ah, snowmobile, lawn mower, and car show day as well. The waiting got to be non conducive to my ADD… So only two runs in Drive, and off to the show.

Good news I didn’t read light…

Bad news my reaction times were a bit looonnng 1.165 & 0.973 seconds.

Good news the car was running real good, in relation to all the previous months I have owned it, no bog, no ping, consistent 4000 rpm shifts.

Bad news she had to shift into third gear when shifting automatically way before the finish resulting in a first run of 62.15 mph at 10.752 seconds, and 63.47 mph at 10.730 seconds in the 1/8th.

I shall go on another weekend less hectic, and experiment with manually selected shift points. I suspect, based on the return home trip, that shifting when into the 5000 range, and staying out of third gear, my top end speed will pick up considerably.

In case something broke, I had this as a back-up plan:

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

WJA,

Sounds like a great time and some good results out of your car. 10s in the 1/8th in a true street car is nothing to sneeze at. I met Ron & co at Hagerstown and they are racers/Slanters of the best kind...

Cheers,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988