going back sat hope i do good but i have had the big head all week all my racing buddys have been calling needing to borrow $$$$$$ it s all fun my home track is hallsville they went outlaw this year that s whey i went to baytown to race for points the racers in baytown have been very nice they have help me being new to the track the track it.s top of the line
Rick Book and Guys Finally got to run both cars Sunday, the Mav with new 351(stock stroke this time) did well for only having 30 minutes run time on it. Seems to hook better than with the 393, must be a little less torque. He went two rounds and then had a water leak at the pump mounting bolts, decided to call it a day before getting in his own water leaks at 114mph. I took it for a run on Sat while Todd was at work. new MT's and never been burned in. Left the line and went sideways, got out of it and right back on the gas, still smoking the tires it decided to get funny again so popped the gas and lost some time etc. but did stay in it when straight again. Ran 110mph 9.something. Will stay with my Fairmont for now. The Mont ran a 9.29 107mph first pass then the track went sour and slowed to to 9.38. Dialed a 9.37 and won 3 rounds. Battled a head wind all day too. 4th pass ran a roadster who I have put away several times but it was late afternoon and past my nap time. Took one at the tree, 657 light. Was toast and went to the house. Supposed to get new timing system in May and that may help this old guys reaction times. Will do some tuning on the Mav and maybe get it back in the win column. Todd does not care about point chase just money rounds. By the way all the cars I beat were Chevy's. one a 68 Camaro that ran a 130mph run and got beat by my 302 Ford.(my 516 light to his 615). Then again the roadster was Chev power so it all evened out. Bracket racing is just that, more driver and consistency than anything. It's a blast anyway you look at it. Will send one of Todd's time slips seperate post.
re: .657 R/T Been there - and then some. I felt like they used a calendar to record my reaction time on a few occasions. But normally, I do stay in the 5's more often than not. Sounds like you did pretty good though - 4 rounds ain't bad. I hate getting my windshield branded witht the "X" (beat out first round - can only run in consulation rounds only). Re: Smoking the Mav Tires Are you guys running the same converter (if auto - I forgit)? If so, the flash of the torque might be too loose for the new engine (??). Also, and you probably know this trick already, I've broken new slicks in on rough concrete. A couple of John Force burnouts usually scuffed em up pretty good. Good luck with it all and thanks for the update. Keep us posted (right now, the only racing I get is racing vicariously through you guys!). Stay Well, Rick
Time slip Can't get it to post, tried rezing it but still to big, will give the info here. By the way Rick, did have some good r/t up until the last run. 516, 557, & 538. Same old story on my part though, let go of total concentration and in the dumper I went. Have had days of low 6's until brain engaged, know what I mean. Todd's #'s: .554 R/T 1.451 60ft 4.311 330ft 6.759 1/8th mile 100.96 mph 1/8th mi 8.739 1000ft 113.39 mph 1000ft The tire spin is partial track condition and maybe a little loose on the converter too. With the 1.76 Glide trans, have to run a pretty good stall but mostly need to back half the Mav and get some bigger tire on the ground with better suspension. Now has stock 6cyl springs, 50/50 gas shocks and cal trac's. Maybe get all the mods done someday.
Powerglide Hey Old Guy I see you are running a Glide. I had one built for my comet and was wondering how you like it? Also do you have a trannybrake and how much stall are you running? I wouldn't think you would have traction problems with the 1.76 first gear. What does you car run and what size slick are you running?
1/4 mile Comet The glide is in my sons Mav which times are posted above, I run a C4 in my Fairmont. The Mav has a stall of 4400 on 10.5 Mickeys. The launch pad at our track is not quite up to par and the street tires required on the street class leaves a lot of powder and various other fluids on it before we get up there to run. Sometimes you can hook and sometimes not, more to do with rear suspension than anything. The bad 5.0's on Sat nite use coil over four link, high dollar stuff and get out of the hole on 10in M/T street tires with no probs. NOS is the norm on these cars also. My son and I build everything and keep to a pretty tight budget. If we get a NHRA track in Little Rock as is proposed, then the picture will change for us. Right now all is for fun and friendship(winning is my goal but not the obsession). The super-pro cars are running high 4's and low 5's in the 1/8th with 14in tires and so on. The glide is a very nice trans for bracket racing, consistent as the devil with just one shift. Use a JW bell housing and stock case with good internals and a TCI trans brake body. Can't use brake in pro-no/e but cost wise is only a few dollars more than a strictly manual one from TCI. Can always use it later on if moving up in class etc. Used a saws-all to remove the stock bell and tidyed everything up to match JW. Did all the good mods to it and parts for racing. Using a B&M quarter stick shifter, works great. Hope this is not to boring but just some info if you need it. By the way my Fairmont ran about a 1/2 sec slower and 4mph off the Mav with a 302ci and C4. on 9in tires. Just goes to show how much work and cost is involved to get a tenth or two when you reach a certain level of power etc. Got to go down and check on medicare insurance, gettin close to that deal you know.
Re: Powerglide After running a 'glide for a full season, I wont go back. They are deadly consistent, the soften up the launch a bit compared to a c4 (great for bracket racing), and most importantly I think it's a great safety issue. I leave the line with both hands on the wheel, and when the shift light comes on @ 7200 I reach down and give the shifter a push into high...then both hands back on the wheel. I think it's much better than hanging on to the 3 speed shifter through 1st and 2nd gears, or at least I like it better. Not to mention that the 'glide only uses about 11 HP to turn it compared to the c4's approximately 30. Interestingly enough, the 'glide's 60' time is quicker than the c4's was...the best with c4 was 1.52, switched to a 1.82 glide (before I found the 1.76) and its best so far has been a 1.41. But, that could have been due to the extra torque of the 393 (before it grenaded last season)
i going to stay with the c-4 2.46 1.46 1.00 with the 302 for a 100.00 you can re-build a c4 and thats with a shift -kit you cant buy a dip stick for a pg for that working on a roller c4 got the parts at the machine shop hope to have it back soon hope to cut the 30 hp down to 15 hp or less my 60 ft runs 1.460-70 had a 1.458 (302 no power adders)sat night around 10 pm had some cool air car is 2600lb with me in it just don,t think the 302 will work with the pg may be wrong but for the extra $ for the glide ill stay with the c4 has anyone went from a c-4 to a pg (302)??
I agree, PG's dont like small v8's and "heavy" cars. I did forget to mention that they cost a mint to build one too...especially for us Ford guys that have to spend the extra $300 for the bellhousing and $200 for the flexplate. I think total I spent close to $2000 including converter to build mine, but this winter I took it apart for inspection, and it still looks brand new. When we ran c4's we had to freshen them each year as the high clutches were starting to wear a bit, but then again, we built them basically stock except for close tolerances and the full manual VB. BTW I have only used the 'brake once on T&T day last year, the 60' was a 1.45, but I was not ready for the hard launch and was forced to lift at 30' to correct. Either way, I will stay with the glide for it's consistency.
well, i looked at the mav last night. not good. tried to put a socket on the crank and turn it. wouldn't budge so i guess it's time to finish the new engine. guess i'll pull a dale jarett if it's not ready for the next race and race the big brown truck. always wanted to see how fast the dually would go in the 1/4. hope i don't fall asleep. thought that since i'll have the engine out i might just go ahead and send the tranny to the shop for a checkup too. oh yeah, when i opened the rear of the trailer i noticed the car leaning to the left. flat tire. but i had already been on the phone pricing some new m/t et streets. good luck to everyone else. gotta go to work so i can support my habits.
Safety Tip Just discovered that after Sundays race program, seemed to have blown the outside ring off the vibration dampner. Never touched a thing under the hood???? Anyone turning some high rpm's should check for cracked or broken rubber bonding on theirs. Best bet is to get a fluid one or others that are NHRA etc. approved. Am now wondering just where that part ended up. Just installed a new 5pt harness because the old one was about 3yrs old, looked good but trying to be on the safe side. Wish I would have seen the dampner at the same time. Will spend today going over that Fairmont with fine tooth comb for other probs. Good luck to all this coming race season.
Don, dont feel bad. My '74 street driven mav is down as well, again. I was adjusting the carb one night and she just started blowing a little steam out of the exhaust, and I knew exactly what was wrong. The head gasket on the driver's side was blown between 6 and 7, and also the #8 hole fire ring was broken, so it was on it's way out as well. I'm sure it was due to 18 psi boost and re-using head gaskets. Not going to fix it until the wastegate gets here...I ordered a Racegate from Turbonetics with a 7 psi spring, this way hopefully the motor will last longer, and be a bit more driveable. Good luck to you and keep us posted.
gotta pull the engine sunday and get some parts to finish the 302. this engine was going in my 64 fairlane so it's not as i would want it for the strip, but it'll have to do. it's a 302+.030, trw 12 1/2 forged aluminum pistons, everything has been balanced, comp cams .512 lift, next one will be bigger. weiand water pump, electric motor, electric fan, msd billet distributor, 6al box, 650 double pumper and torker II manifold, 1970 351w heads, isky springs and retainers and chevy valves. i'm keeping the c4 and 4:33 gears in the rear. going to pick up the new tires tomorrow if i get to the speed shop. anyone care to guess what the compression will be. pistons are trw L2249N. book says the heads are about 60.4cc. if i use the chevy valves does anyone know what pushrods i should use. also going to take the heads to the shop and get them cleaned up and springs checked. funny thing about this whole thing is that i blew the motor in the first round of eliminations and i'm still in second place for the team points. got 3 weeks to get it back together. as soon as this one is running i think i'll start on the 347.
Compression Ratio You are using the same pistons I used for a few years in our 302's. They work well but are extremely heavy compared to others(tough as nails though). Our engines with 0 deck height and 60cc heads calculated to 11.1, are you using adjustable rockers and guide plates? The stock pushrod length will work with them but not sure if you use stock rockers that they will. With a 4000 stall we used a 4.86 gear which worked great for 1000ft track, turned 6400 across the line. Almost exact same cam and carb. Hope this sheds some light on stuff. Going to run again this Sat, tnt then race on Sunday. By the way, went to a SRP 14.1 piston this year and they weighed in 6oz less a piece than the TRW's. what a differance in throttle response and overall power. Picked up three tenths right out of the box.
