Carnage--Me, Not The GT

Went racing again Friday night. I wasn't going to post any details, but enough people emailed me to ask how I did so I guess people really do read my long winded racing adventure.

First run was kind of slow, as is normal for this car. I had a trusted spotter who said that the car ran out good but seemed to slip a little going into 4th (I had the clutch set to 1100lbs, which I thought would be safe.) So I crawled under the car between runs and gave the clutch one more full turn--now 1220lbs.

I also got my right arm in a "Chinese handcuff" position between the hot header and the floorboard while aligning the allen head socket and doing the adjustment. I ended up yanking my arm out and loosing/burning a 1"x3" section of outer skin off the inside of my wrist. I continued racing and the clutch held up though out the night. I kept a bag of ice on it between rounds and it really didn't affect my times. The wrist is now covered with Silvadene and bandaged--this shifting arm is expected to survive. Time to get some protective sleeves!

No new speeds to add to my resume', but I was running a fairly consistent 11.70 all night with a 1.66 60'er. My best run was a 11.62 on a 1.61 60'er. I dropped tire pressure down to 12 lbs after the first run and the car still felt good on the track. I also used a different setting on the Rancho shocks. 1 turn on the left, 3 turns on the right (was 3/3.) Looking at the tires after the race, the outer inch of both sides of the tire where hardly pealed during the burnouts (10" tires on 8" rims.) I may need to drop the pressure even further (or dare I try lower?) My burnouts were a couple of seconds long, just enough for the RPM's to drop. I then powered out of the burnout.

I am still spinning at the line according to my observers--but once it stops spinning it goes like a rocket. Pulled the wheels in 2nd gear once. It is never consistent enough at doing this. I used a 4100rpm launch all night.

During the first round of eliminations I whooped another new 6.0 GTO. He dialed 12.12 to my 11.77. I had a very good light and I left while he waited for his to become more green. The next round I dialed an 11.77 and lined up against my nemesis SS Furious, the class champion who dialed in a sandbagging 12.0. We have comparable running cars (he has a 440BB) and he normally dials in the 11.8 range. He hole shot me with his .027 R/T against my sleeping .321. I ran it out crossed the line before him by a nose. Unfortunately he ran a 12.05 to my 11.72 (on the 11.77 dial.) It was a fun and exciting race chasing him and crossing the line before him! SS Furious eventually won the Stick class that night.

Next race (hopefully) will be this Friday. Weather looks very poor, but the car (and I) are ready for another round of fun. If we don't get to race then, I won't get back to the track until the end of June, due to weekend work commitments. The bright side is that I will have time to get the pressure plate updated.

My car is still in pieces!!! ARGGGHHH...LOL
You are getting some serious slips in.. good for you.

That 1.61 footer is getting closer to where you wanna be. What was your PSI on that run... 12lbs? Be careful on dropping your PSI too much... makes for a hairy ride at 3/4 track when she starts wandering like its on ice!

Get a sub 1.60 footer and you'll be eyeing the 10.99 barrier!

Sorry to hear about the burn Dennis. It sure is easy to get distracted for a moment in the heat of race day.

Sounds like Mr. Mopar is very tough to beat. Just keep on him and sooner or later he is going to light up the "RED" and you can smile at him as you cruise for the finish line.

Looks like the 60fts liked the lower tire pressure.

I was just thinking... and I think there's a chance the car might want to be shifted sooner. Try shifting the thing at 6000 rpm and see what it does. I'm thinking that big torque happy engine will torque its way right through the rpm range, and may even run quicker. (just a thought)

Knowing who spec'd you cam, I'd say it has a fairly high lift and a relatively short duration, and might respond very well to the lower shift point. It might also help explain why your car torques its way through the 2nd half of the track so well.

Good Luck!

Sounds like fun! glad you had a good night, except for the burn. Thats gonna hurt for a while.
On that note, mechanics wear has a sleeved glove that works well for the arm. It has a kevlar sleeve that goes up to your elbow and a fake leather type glove. However the glove has no kevlar to speak of. When i am installing seats and guides on our heads i have to handle them while there at 300deg. Ive bummped my arms so many times pulling them out of the oven and never had an issue. Having said that, i have to use another kevlar glove to actually handle them with my hands. (they should have extended the kevlar to the whole glove IMO!!)
Anyways they are about $50 and called the "Happy Hour" glove
Mechanix Wear Happy Hour Glove with Sleeve - ALL MECHANIX WEAR GLOVES

Good luck and hope you heal up well.

Thordane--your day will come! You just gotta stop buying new "toys" for your car and take it out of the garage once in a while.

Winter's are for rebuilding, summers are for racing!

Jeff--Thanks for the encouragement. I had a few cars that gave me fits last year--this year I think I can put a scare in them. It is cool having Mr. Mopar there though as his 66' Fury and my 65' Stang are the only vintage racers in the Stick class. To bad that he is just so darn good at what he does! LOL The good side is that when our people go to the other tracks in the area, they generally whoop ass on those track's regulars so at least I'm being challenged by some of the best.

Mike--yes the 60's became more consistent with the lower air pressure. I should have tried it low before, but once we get into eliminations I don't like to change stuff around.

I have short shifted the car and it does tend to like it--I actually have been shifting in the 6-6200rpm range instead of the 6400 range that was recommended by Jay. The cam is pretty much as you described (239/248 .598/.587 w/high centerlines) as it was originally spec'ed for a street car (but I found out later that I like the track more.) I can't imagine how the car would run with a more track oriented cam. I have considered going solid roller this winter, but that would certainly mean I would also be installing a rollbar.

HotRodPinto--Thanks for the link--I certainly need to get some form of protection and those might just work if the covering is true leather and down melt to the headers. This is not my first dance with the headers. I wonder how those would be with the fingers cut out (bag lady style?)

I do have some access to some arm covers at work. They are made at lower temps (400 or so), but not sure how they would be with header temps that can be up to 3 times that. Still, it they will be better than than what I have been doing for protection, which is nothing--(read dumbass.)

Originally Posted by dennis111

Mike--yes the 60's became more consistent with the lower air pressure. I should have tried it low before, but once we get into eliminations I don't like to change stuff around.

You shouldn't have to go any lower than 12. I believe I ran 12 to 12.5 in mine when I used that size tire. When I recommended lowering the pressure, it was mostly in regard to the 15 psi that you were running. That was definitely too much. Bottom 1.6's isn't 'bad' for your combo.

I have short shifted the car and it does tend to like it--I actually have been shifting in the 6-6200rpm range instead of the 6400 range that was recommended by Jay. The cam is pretty much as you described (239/248 .598/.587 w/high centerlines)

It might even like a 5800-6000 shift point.

I do have some access to some arm covers at work. They are made at lower temps (400 or so), but not sure how they would be with header temps that can be up to 3 times that. Still, it they will be better than than what I have been doing for protection, which is nothing--(read dumbass.)

The headers only get up to 1200 degrees for very short periods of time while the engine is running under power. The thin header tubes cool off fairly quickly once the engine is turned off, so the sleeves should be 'ok' for adjusting the clutch after the engine has been turned off for a few minutes.

Good Luck!

Originally Posted by n2omike

The headers only get up to 1200 degrees for very short periods of time while the engine is running under power. The thin header tubes cool off fairly quickly once the engine is turned off, so the sleeves should be 'ok' for adjusting the clutch after the engine has been turned off for a few minutes.

Not only that but those arm covers are probably rated for exporsure to 400 degress for at least a period of a few seconds, probably way longer, so they would be fine for temps over that for just a bump into the tube

I love racing sandbaggers. A couple guys in our class usually dial .5 slow. I know they do it to try to bust the opponent out. I LOVE to run them in my Mustang because it runs about the same ET's (6.85-6.95). One of the cars, it will run 6.80 flat out but he usually dials 7.30-ish. If I have to run him, I will dial close to his, not exactly on it as not to be obvious. Usually run him down pretty quick and move over away from him at the finish line--makes judging the distance much much harder. 'Course it helps that the rust-stang of mine runs a very good MPH at the finish line....about 4-5 mph faster than most cars at the same ET. 103-104 most of the time but the 60' times suck. Makes it a little harder to judge...LOL...I've had some guys park at the stripe and let me drive right by.

Originally Posted by mavman

I love racing sandbaggers. A couple guys in our class usually dial .5 slow. I know they do it to try to bust the opponent out. I LOVE to run them in my Mustang because it runs about the same ET's (6.85-6.95). One of the cars, it will run 6.80 flat out but he usually dials 7.30-ish. If I have to run him, I will dial close to his, not exactly on it as not to be obvious. Usually run him down pretty quick and move over away from him at the finish line--makes judging the distance much much harder. 'Course it helps that the rust-stang of mine runs a very good MPH at the finish line....about 4-5 mph faster than most cars at the same ET. 103-104 most of the time but the 60' times suck. Makes it a little harder to judge...LOL...I've had some guys park at the stripe and let me drive right by.

Thanks Mavman for offering a strategy for sandbaggers. Next time I'll try to be a little more discrete and wait until we are in the staging lanes to mark my dial time. The tip about moving away near the traps is pretty cool too. I will most certainly get the opportunity and apply this knowledge in a future race.

Thanks for digging into your bag of tricks--Much Appreciated!