campton

Well I am very new to all of this. I have just built my first car. Its not a drag only car though Im pretty sure I have had the mind set of doing so with that. My goals havent come real clear to me for what I want out of my car until recently.

i had a truck, paid ppl to make it faster and then i figured I should do this myself with a car. I got a V6 camaro and the engine blew and bame..I went ***** out sorta.

I have a zz502 in it right now. Everything is ready to rock with it but the rearend which ill do as soon as I am home(im overseas). I upgraded the intake to the Rpm air gap and added a 150 sniper nitrous system to it. Im not sure what route to go for drag racing. GM 12 bolt or Ford 9 inch? 3.08,3.55, or 3.73 gears. Reason I dont say anything much larger is because I want to be able to drive my car on the weekends in the summer a decent amount. But this is not a daily driver.

But would like to drive as far as 60 miles or so decently without worrying about much. That was the reason to picking this motor. My tranny stall is the nitrous B&M holeshot 2400. Thats housed in a slightly modded TH400. Also is a 28" tire too much? I just feel I should have a taller tire though I dont have the stall or the gear but in the near future I expect 790 lbs/tq on the engine

Im not sure how much of that twisting force will make it to the rear end but I know if its not at least 650 I wont hes to buy a turbo I have been checking out to push the numbers up 100. Also I have TTM 17x10.5 in the back

So this might be a lot to swallow but I guess with all of this Im wondering what yall suggest for drag radials, gears, rearend? Any advise Ill take. I love advise and I love to listen and learn. As for my project. I already jumped into so its too late to back off. I know I should wait to see what i want as far as power since I havent driven over 300Hp in a car and im only 23. But hell, all my buddies ride bikes and 2 started on GSX 1000, not sure if we crazy or dumb but we love it.

slomarao

you should do some research first, than break down your questions so they are more specific.
Right now you are all over the place.

The Engineer

If you get really involved with racing at the track, it will probably be bracket racing, or some index class (i.e., 10.00, 11.00, Etc.).

Personally, I like the GM type 12-bolts for the 4th Gen F-bodys (Strange or Moser) and you didn't say exactly what body you're running (98, ???). If you're running 11.49 down to 10.00, you'll need a 6-point roll-bar installed with 5-point harness to meet the safety requirements. Along with the required SFI componends (damper, flex-plate, C-Clip eliminator axles, Etc.). You'll also need some sub-frame connectors installed if you have a uni-body F-body.

For hard-core drag racing, nothing beats drag slicks. Often racers put them on at the track if they drive to the track.

WD

jonesy

I personally like the 9", depending on how you have the 502 cammed I can't suggest a gear, I would dyno the car first and then get the gears accordingly

Stephen 87 IROC

For the best performance on the dragstrip, gears and tires need to be matched so that you cross the finish line at or just before the shift point in high gear (1:1 gear). It's not a clear cut choice as to what will work best with your car. An engine that peaks at 5800 needs different gears/tires than one that peaks at 7500 rpm. The converter stall needs to compliment the cam grind to get the engine into it's powerband quickly. A street/strip stall speed is different than a full race stall speed.

You could have a street/strip car that doesn't have a good performance gear or the tires are too tall and you'll run out of track before running out of gears. This would be a good highway cruiser but you're sacrificing economy and comfort for performance.

As for a diff choice, it become a personal preference. There's nothing wrong with using a direct bolt in 9", 12 bolt or Dana 60. Some like one better than the other but performance wise, it's unlikely you'll notice a difference between any of them. There are advantages and disadvantages to all of them.