mdacton

you have o.k. MPH so its making h.p.

do your homework....put all your effert into getting that 60' down.

forget the nitrous etc. until you get what you have dialed in and running like it should. your giving everything up with that 60' so work on that first

The Engineer

Two things on the converter; 1. You need more stall than 2400, probably a 9.5" around 3500 and 2. Some converters work best flashing off the line. So, try flasing your current converter to see of the 60fts improve.

WD

slowride94z

If the timing chain is worn out it will be down on power on the top end

pull the plugs and take the top off the distributor, put a socket on the dampener bolt, and rock the engine back and forth watch to see if there is any slop before the rotor button moves.

it should move instantly, much delay in movement means slop or play

Daddy's Girl

Thank you for the useful info. I will try to check the timing chain soon, but right now it is raining cats and dogs outside literally. I will flash the converter and run 18 psi on my slicks. I have on my list to check into changing the stall, and looking into a different torque converter. Will keep you posted, does anyone have any information about the set up I have on the heads? I posted it earlier but still not sure what any of that means...thanks.

5SPDCHK

You should play around with your RPMs on the starting line. Try bringing them up as high as you can while holding the brake. That will help your 60' times - but focus on not rolling in deep as that will HURT your 60' times and ETs.

Here's my staging routine:
I roll into the prestage beam and STOP. I bring up my RPMs as high as I can hold them (for me, it is 2500) and then bump into the stage beam using the brake. I barely flicker the stage bulb on and STOP. I focus on the 3rd yellow and go.

If you're just going to run trophy this year, it's a good time to figure all of these things out with your car. If you're OK with running 14s, focus on reaction time and consistency with your ENTIRE process instead of running faster - remember, it's not your ET and MPH that matter in brackets, it's consistency.

Try getting those reaction times down to .04X or better. Those should improve by bringing up your RPMs and staging as shallow as possible.

Good luck!

PHINES LT1

as for the heads, those are pretty good heads, but they are a part of a combination. Do you know which intake manifold you have and what the cam specs are? otherwise, you have some really good advice posted so far, good luck and have fun.

Daddy's Girl

5SPDCHK- thanks for the info on the light. They are running a light at the track ( not sure what it is called) but a perfect light is .500, so you are saying that I need to keep my r/t times at .540 and under?

5SPDCHK

Ah. Sorry about that... perfect light around here is .000. So yes, I would work on getting them under .549. Many races are won and lost on the starting line... I carry my practice tree with me everywhere and take hits on it whenever I can!

kazman

Setting the car up to run quick ET's on a T&T night is totally different than setting the car up for bracket racing. If you playing the go fast game that is fine however if you decide to go bracket racing you will have to start at square one again. Like stated in the thread its not how fast its how predictible. Bracket racing is about hitting the tree and running dead on your dial-in. I'm running a 14 second car this season which isn't anything to post about. Sure is fun putting 9 and 10 second cars back in their trailers. Good luck.

To go fast: Stage as shallow as possible. Put the pre-stage light on then very slowley bump forward until you just turn on the stage light. Try to hold the break pedel and bring the launch rmp up as much as possible. At a point the car will move forward. Keep it under this rmp. Next try running from idle, car might like the converter to flash. Experiment with launch rpm. Adding tire pressure. Pump the front tires to 45lbs. Pump the rear tires as much as you can and still hook up. Start at 18lbs. If you hook to go 20, hook up to 22 etc. When you spin go back down. Higher the tire pressur the less rolling resistance (faster ET and MPH). Weight reduction, remove loose stuff from the car (floor mats, spare tire, jack, etc), run with a 1/4 to 1/2 tank of gas.

5SPDCHK: The driver has to be consistant. The car has to be predictable. As long as you know what the car is going to do next round. The car can be in-consistant. Under certian conditions my car will slow by .05. I usually (ok hope to lol) know when and make the approperate shoe polish adjustment. This is a whole other thread so I will stop here and go back to my lunch time practice tree.

Daddy's Girl

Thank you that sounds like good advise and I am anxious to get to the track and try some things out---Unfortunately Mother Nature is not a fan of Drag Racing and the forecast is for SNOW on Saturday....I am hoping the owners of the track will consider doing another Sunday Test N Tune this week. There is allot to remember at the light, and I am sure as I get use to things it will start to come naturally. It seems there is not allot of time between pre-stage, stage and go---I will work on it though and thanks again.

kazman

The more seat time the more things will slow down for you. Relax and get into a routine. Big thing is to relax. You need to understand how the tree works and what the starter is doing. There is a difference on when the tree drops with autostart on or off, if deep staging is allowed and honered, or if deep staging is allowed and not honored. It should say on your time slip if auto stage is on or off. You have to ask your track about how they handle deep staging. Up here some classes honor deep while others don't. I would venture to guess that for a T&T auto start is off. This means the starter is holding the tree until both are staged (both pre-stage and stage lights on). He then drops the tree. This means you don't have to rush. Deep staging is went you light the pre-stage and stage then move forward to put out the pre-stage. Some might be doing this so be ready your opponents top bulb is off and the stage is lite. That means there are ready to go.

My process for deepstaging with a 10 second autostart and deep not honnored. I deep stage with a slow car.
I do my burnout and pull up to just in front of the prestage beam and stop. I do not turn on the prestage bulb. I have a fixed spot on the track where I stop after my burnout. I line the outer edge of my side view mirror to a fixture on the track so I am always 8" behind the prestage beam. I am now in control of autostart and nothing will happen until I turn on the prestate bulb. I take a deep breath and relax. I then bring the rpm up to launch 1500. Then I heal toe the break pedel and very very slowly (the front breaks make a creaking sound) move the car forward in one motion lighting the pre-stage, lighting the stage, putting out the pre-stage, and STOP. I maintain focus on the 3rd amber while staging and use my perfieral vision to watch the pre-stage and stage lights. Once set I know that my tree will come down in less than 2 seconds. I'm usually the last to stage and the first out.

Staging the car in the same spot every time is of the utmost importance in bracket racing. Changing the starting location will change every number on your timeslip including reaction time. Jackie and I have two totally different staging methods and are in 2 different spots on the starting line. We do have one thing in common. We are always dead on to our respective starting spots.

mdacton

everyone saying to stall up as much as possible......

My car will hit harder if I try 1500 and let it flash....wheels 2 ft up in the air. But if I stall it up 2500 it does not hit the converter as hard and it still leavs good.....

Daddy's Girl

I am the one who rushes myself at the line, I know but when I see the other person has pre-staged and staged I feel like I need to get up there too. I realize that experience will help me and I will become more relaxed the more times I do it. I appreciate the tip of lining up a part of the car in the same place, I had not thought of that before. I do know that some of the drivers have a favorite side and that may be one of the reasons. The light at the track has a pre-stage, then stage and does not drop till both are staged. It does seen like a two second delay before it drops. I try to go on the last amber and will get better with time and practice I am sure. Thanks for the help now if I could just get to the track to try it out!

mdacton

once you get your car ironed out and running what it should with propper tuning of the whole program....then its all a mental game.....and not an easy one either.