ran 11.15 tonight, then it rained!

[Nine Ball]

I finally made it to the track tonight with the new slicks on the '69. Its been raining on every track day for the last two weeks, and tonight was no different.

Car: 1969 Camaro SS, 6-speed manual, 348ci LS6, stage 2 heads, 232/232 cam, Magnacharger. 3.73 gears, Hoosier slicks on Pro Stars. I'm not sure on the raceweight since the scales didn't work. I'd estimate 3450 lbs though based on the last visit.

Weather conditions: 70F, 29.79 barometer, 92% humidity (drizzle)

My last series of hot laps went like this:

60'=1.69 (15 psi tires, low rpm dump, bog city)
1/8=7.26
mph=98.37
1/4=11.25
mph=123.85

60'=1.67 (15 psi tires, higher rpm dump, bog then spin)
1/8=7.20
mph=99.22
1/4=11.19
mph=124.63

60'=1.62 (12 psi tires, higher rpm dump, some spin)
1/8=7.15
mph=98.68
1/4=11.15
mph=123.52

Then I let the car cool down for about 40 minutes and got back in the staging lanes. I was going to try a rev limiter dump on 12psi tires. I made it all the way up to the front of the staging lanes and then it started raining. Damn! It always happens that way, right?

Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait for my 10-second timeslip. I have a few more things to iron out on the car before my next visit. The tune feels like crap in the higher rpm, since we only dyno tuned it up to 5500 rpm due to fuel system issues. Those issues are fixed now, but I need a re-tune. The car has absolutely zero weight transfer of the line. Since it is slammed down and on a road-racing type suspension setup, it launches like a brick haha. No wheels up this time, but it was close. 3rd and 4th are still grinding, making it impossible to speed shift quickly. But hell, it still goes in gear. Add that to the rebuild list.

People at the track got a kick out of seeing someone abusing a "showcar" :D

Tony :3gears:

[F70t/a]

Nice going tony!!! Those are some badass numbers!! :icon996:

[ProdigyCustoms]

Those are good incrementals and speed. You'll see those 10s.

[MrQuick]

Nice job Tony, knock that 1.6 down to 1.5 and get your fuel issues out of the way and 10's should be no problem. MPH's are there. You got 4 runs almost...im lucky to see 2 runs in one night. Remember mother nature hates men.

[parsonsj]

Nice numbers. I remember helping Andrew clean all the molten rubber off his GTO during RSE. It is a kick seeing a "show car" go apesh#t on the dragstrip.

Me, I spend the weekends grinding metal. I'm dreaming of the days when I get to go race.

jp

[Nine Ball]

Anyone here have good experience with the Cal-Trac traction bars? I'm wondering if it would be better to use the top hole vs the bottom hole on the front mount?

Mr. Quick, "Mother nature hates men" is definitely true. Is sunny this morning and the tracks are closed today.

[JonB69FB]

I run mine in the bottom hole, but I have to because the rod end interferes with the bushing eye on my springs if I try to use the top hole.

Did you try adjusting the preload? I got my best results with the bars set "neutral", meaning that they were adjusted (with my weight in the car) so that the stop bolt was just touching the top of the spring. You should probably try adding a turn/removing a turn of preload on back to back passes and see if it makes a difference.

A couple of other questions:
1. Are the slicks new (I assume they are). Like any race tire they dry out over time and loose performance.
2. Did you do anything to free up the front end of the car? It makes a *big* difference on my car and only takes about 15-20 minutes to loosen the front shocks and pull a swaybar endlink.

You might try giving John Calvert a call--he drag races a stickshift car and should be able to give you a few pointers on adjusting the Cal-Tracs.

Oh yeah--great times! It's a lot harder to run 10's (even with a drag car) than most people think. It took me 3 trips to the track to squeek in and another couple before I could get the car to run there consistently.

Edit: Finally, you might find it useful for someone to videotape the rear suspension on a launch, so you can see exactly what's going on--it'll make the suspension tuning decisions a lot easier.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Nice Job, Tony! I think you'll see 10s next trip to the track.

[ProdigyCustoms]

We use the bottom hole, and put a Tick of pre load in the right side. Just touching on the left, and just a quarter turn past snug in the right, if the 60s pick up, try another quarter turn till is slows the 60s. If it hates it, try going the other way and let them slap the springs.
It really depends a lot on how much flash you have in the converter, and how much it surprises the suspension. Also, I do not know how you are staging, weather you are leaving from idle and smacking it, or holding it on the converter till it is about ready to creep. But if it is not a big stall, which I assume in a cruiser it is not, I would be at idle and surprise the heck out of it. This will flash the converter a bit more, and also stun the suspension.

[67Sally]

Keep it up Tony. Many of us are living our g-machine dreams throuh you until we can get our builds done.

[Nine Ball]

Cool, here is my first ever video. Bought the software and cord today:

11.15 video: http://www.ls1tech.com/videos/Camaro1115.wmv

[JonB69FB]

Cool video! It almost looks like it's unloading the rear tires after the initial hit. Is it more visible when watching the video on a TV?

[Nine Ball]

Cool video! It almost looks like it's unloading the rear tires after the initial hit. Is it more visible when watching the video on a TV?

It definitely bit, and then unloaded, causing the tires to spin. I'm fighting against too little gear and too much tire for the current power. I went with the 3.73s and 28" slicks in preparation for when I add the nitrous to the car. Probably do that in a few weeks during the long holiday break.

I'm just looking for a 10.999 on the blower. That should be easy

[ProdigyCustoms]

OK, forgot it was a manual, LOL! Forget all that converter talk.
Actually looks like you need to slow the front end down. It is rising fast and unloading the tires because there is not enough power to carry it. Are you rear shocks adjustable? Your front shocks adjustable?
If you watch it, it hits the tire, but as soon as the front end is maxed out, it falls over and spins.
looks cool!
Post this video over a Drag Race results dot com in the tech section. Plenty of experts over there. I believe they would agree.

[Nine Ball]

Interesting point on the front maxing out. Had it not rained, I would have done a rev limiter clutch dump, which might have been able to pull the front end up. But, yes I have QA1s all four corners, so I have plenty I can play with to figure it out. That night I had them set at 2s up front, and 6 in the LR, and 8 in the RR. After this pass, I dropped both back ones to 4s, lowered the tire pressure a bit to 10 psi, and was planning on a higher rpm launch. Then it rained on me. DOH!

I live 3 miles from an 1/8 mile track. I'll probably take it there to dial-in the suspension, because I can do laps on that track.

[ProdigyCustoms]

I suffer the same problem on motor in my street racer, it runs 10.70s / 10.90s with 1.50 60s. If it only goes 1.60, it falls off about 15 on the big end, but ussually when I go 1.60s, it is spinning bad, but still finishing. On motor, I just do not have quite enough power to continue to carry the wheels, so it was falling over like yours.
6 in the rears and 3 in the front would be where I would start next. Be careful with to low tire pressure, that can cause a bounce which is no good. Hooisers like pressure, I run 12.5 to 13.
Are they slicks or QTPs?

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Bitchin' vid, Tony!!

[RobM]

all i can say is wow. you really have some power to play with there. looks like i need a supercharger for X mas

[JamesJ]

What track was that at?

[shmoov69]

Nice times Tony! Do you have the front sway bar unhooked? On mine, it made all the difference in the world! NO travel at all to this! This pass had a 1.68 short time. Next pass, broke an axle! :barf:

[Nine Ball]

Prodigy: actual slicks. I definitely felt a bounce in 1st gear, might try going higher on pressure and rpm dump.

James: Houston Raceway Park

shmoov: front swaybar disconnected on those runs.