Daddy's Girl

I have a 1983 Camaro with a cammed 350 and a 750 holley carb. running 373 gears and a 350th tranny. I basically am racing with a three speed and having a hard time getting anything at the end of the 1/4. I am considering putting the stock tranny back in it and possibly going with 4:10 gears. I know this may cause some traction issues but would rather deal with that than everyone passing me at the end. I have only had the car since January and am still learning exactly what the other owner actually did to it as I am not sure what he did tell me was accurate. It seem to be a consistent 14 sec car right now but I know it can do better...any suggestions?

PHINES LT1

What was the stock transmission? 700r4 or something else? a TH350 is a three speed transmission. not real sure what else you are asking about

cnorton

The 4.10 gears plus the lower first gear ratio in the transmission should give it a boost in 60 foot times. The ratio spread between gears will also become a factor. On the other hand, in bracket racing, most passing does occur in the last few feet of the track no matter what gear or transmission you're running. What is your RPM at the finish line? And, if you're running an 1/8th mile, what gear are you in at the finish line?

The Engineer

You never mentioned what stall converter you're running. A top-end race converter (9.5" Hughes, ATI, Etc.) is the key to making any auto transmission perform (turbo 3 sp, or P/G) in the quarter.

Also, you make 64% of your 1/4 mile ET in the 1/8 (first 660 ft) and that is where you'll see the improvement with a top-end race converter.

WD

Daddy's Girl

Yes the stock tranny is a 700r4 and is in my garage. I am running 1/4 mile test and tunes with it right now but the 1/8th mile times are not to impressive either-9.5 at 73.5 mph. my 60' times are around 2.1-2.2. It has a 2400 stall but I am not sure the brand of the converter. It is funny that the new owners of the track are the Chance family who happen to own Chance Racing Converters though. I just spoke with the prior owner again and he told me to load up the rpms at the line using my brake to 3000 then punch it and I should be able to get my 60' down into the 1.5 to 1.7 range. Also, to shift at 5500 rpms. I have been running on P295/50R/15's on the back and warming them up a little, they are not spinning off the line but as I shift into 2nd and 3rd I feel and hear a little spin. I am going to take the slicks out this weekend and see if they help any. My times really suck right now and I am not exactly sure if it is something I need to do to the car or something I am not doing as the driver. Any suggestion would be helpful and appreciated.

JakeRobb

What tires are you using to get those 2.1-2.2 short times? Can you describe your technique in the burnout box?

5SPDCHK

Can you put someone else in the seat for a few passes to rule out driver error?

What class do you plan on running the car in when you get it figured out?

PHINES LT1

I really think the prior owner has no clue what he is talking about. If the converter is a 2400 stall, you can not bring the RPMs to 3000 using your brake. also I highly doubt that you are going to cut anywhere close to a 1.5 60ft while running mid 14s. Not trying to bash your set-up or anything like that, just dont want you to get your hopes up based on what the prior owner is telling you.

Z-RATED94

This all sounds very true and is usefull info to build off of. One example is the 2800 vig. I use to run. Would brake torque to about 2000 rpm, at about 2100-2200 it would push through the brakes.

Daddy's Girl

Thank you all for your responses--
5SPDCHK- The person at the track who is helping me is also the person who lines up the cars and give them clearance to advance to light so him doing it out of the question--unless I hang around afterwards and ask him to do it after the test n tune. He has already offered to run it for me.
Phines LT1- I have had some conflicting information given to me by the prior owner already, but he said he had not driven the car for two years and it was basically parked for that length of time and in dire need of a timing set and new plugs, so who knows how much of the problem is misinformation or driver error?
dunno.
JakeRobb- tires I have been running are radials--P295/50R/15's and I basically pull through the water, punch the throttle and hold the brake at the same time, this is until around 5000 rpms in 1st then shift to second and roll through leaving a trail of warm rubber behind me to back up on---no slipping on the line that I can tell.
ZRated94- I know, I tried to load up last week and pulled a red light......

Daddy's Girl

Sorry there was a question about what class I intend to run the car in and to be honest I will probably just stick to a Trophy Class this summer as I am still figuring out the car and what it does actually have and need. I will be going to all test n tunes and every midnight drag as they are mainly for street cars and cars with DR's both are run on 1/4 mile. I will later this summer or early fall be starting with a small shot of NOS on it and work my way up depending on how the car handles it. I am really not into defining myself as running in a "class" as of yet---I just want to get to the other end as fast as possible right now...

Daddy's Girl

Wow I am so full of it (questions) I am taking the slicks with me next Saturday and was wondering where to start at with the psi's on them? DO I start at the full pressure amount or do you get a better footprint with a lower pressure?

mdacton

try the slicks at 18 psi.

call ultimate converter concepts... Lenny is good and has good prices on converters.

Post several passes.....

things I look at now to see whats going on is my 60', my 330 e.t. and your 1/4 mph......that will pretty much tell you whats going on. Whats are the details on the engine? what heads etc.....

Daddy's Girl

mdacton- the motor is a 350 SBC w/ 750 holley the other specs on the heads are all Greek to me but this is what I have--can you translate???
World Products, Sportsman II, 200cc intake runners, 2.02" intake, 1.60" exhaust, 1.250" valve springs, cc chamber, valve springs, .560 max. lift for hydraulic cam---Ok that is all the information written down for me when I bought the car. I truly have no clue what any of this information means good, bad, or indifferent--can you enlighten me a little???

Daddy's Girl

Here are the times I ran last Saturday--I made six passes
1- RT .61, 60' 2.1, 330' 6.32, 1/8th 9.7, mph on 1/8th 72.7, mph at 1/4 90.43
2- .64, 2.16, 6.29, 9.6, 73, 90.65
3- .60, 2.15, 6.26, 9.6, 73, 90.23
4- .91, 2.18, 6.31, 9.75, 71.6, 89.62
5- 1.00, 2.20, 6.28, 9.64, 73.29, 91.04 -shifted at 5000 rpms
6- .92, 2.17, 6.33, 9.79, 71.09, 87.41 - shifted at 5500 rpms