Daddy's Girl

I am very very new to the strip and have only owned this car since January. First trip to the strip today was anything but awe inspiring. I am not sure if it is something I am NOT doing or something that needs to be changed with the set-up of the car. Prior owner said he had went 93mph in the 1/8th last fall with the same car and exact same set up. Here is what I have '83 Z28 with 350SBC, 750 Holley, Dart heads, 10 bolt diff., 2400 stall, 350t tranny, 3.73 gears, full-spool and running on P295/50R15's with 12psi. My times today, god I hate posting this but if it helps, I will--60' 2.16, 330' 6.56, 1/8th 10.04, 1/4 15.9. It hooks good and seems to have power off the line but loses it all between 1/8th and 1/4 mi. with hardly no gain on mph between the two. Any suggestions or advise?

slowride94z

does it rev up at all like 6500rpm? check the timing, fuel pressure, does it have free flowing exhaust?


93 mph is mid 7s in the eighth, fast, very fast street car

Daddy's Girl

It has stock exhaust with cat. I have a cut out but could not get it open today. Fuel pressure is fine but a garage adjusted timing and fuel and it seems the idle is too fast and the fuel is too rich....I have to admit that even though it is an automatic tranny I used manual shifts and shifted each one at 5000 rpms never let it run up any higher--think that may be the problem--need to let it wind up more before shifting?

PHINES LT1

the early shifting could very well be the reason for the slow times. your times are WAY off of what the prior owner are claiming. how well do you know that person, could be full of $hi% when he said he trapped 93 in 1/8th. as already posted that is very fast, mid to low 7s. next time leave it in drive and see what happens. good luck

Daddy's Girl

Thank you very much. I will try to let the rpms rise more before shifting next Saturday. I also learned something new today--guess my run made it to YouTube and one of the fellas at the track I run ask me why I hit the brakes before the end of the 1/4 mi.? I assumed the 1/4 ended at the timing billboard---nope not at that track, the billboard is actually between the 1/8th and the 1000' mark so yes, I was braking WAY to early....live and learn I guess that is why they call it Test n Tune.

slowride94z

I think they get your speed form like 100' before to 100' after the actual line. not sure of the distance

I always run it all the way out the back

did you run 93 mph in the 1/4?

canuck94z28

The previous owner was full of horses*t.A 60ft. of 2.16 is lousy since my GTP does a 2.20!When you did that 15.49 1/4 what was your mph?Even my 79Z28 ran 15.11@90.4 w/2.2 w/similiar mods as you.If you can give us more info. from that time slip,etc we could help more.

Daddy's Girl

I did not get anywhere close to 93 mph. but it was more than likely due to the fact that I was already braking and in neutral before I cleared the 1000' mark. I made some really amature mistakes last Saturday so I will return again this week and not make them again. Just one example is that I thought I was running DR's on the rear--not so just 295 radials---at 12 psi. I thought I was suppose to let the air out to get more footprint--not on radials I guess....tell you what- let me go back and correct the mess ups I made this week and let you know what my new times are and see where I need to go from there. Thank you all very much for your help--it is truly appreciated....

Z-RATED94

Have fun and let us know how it goes. At least you know you will be faster this next time out. Make sure you run normal air pressure it the radials and skip the water box. If anything, try and give them a quick spin just to get the crap off of them before you pull up to the line.

AutoRoc

Hey it's a learning curve! If you learn 1 new thing every time out at the track, you're doing great. Don't ever forget to get on the brakes at the end... It's happened to a "rookie" before...I'd bet more than once actually..

5SPDCHK

Definitely a learning curve when you're new out there. A small piece of advice is to take a walk (or scooter/quad/golf cart ride) all the way to the END of the track. You should be looking at where the mph markers are, the ET markers, the stripe, how long the shut down area is, what is at the end of the shut down area, etc. Some tracks have such a long shut down that you often don't need to touch the brakes.

Good luck this weekend and let us know how you do!!!

niknik

There's some really good advice in here. I ran at the track for the first time ever on 3/1/09... And am hoping to bring my times down next time I run... I'm wondering if I made the same noobie mistake as the OP and braked too soon at the end of the run.. Guess I'll find out next time.. I put down a 13.40 @ 104 mph on my 3rd pass with my lil bolt on car on street tires...

Daddy's Girl

Wow what a great day at the track--I got in nine runs and a few white slips (wins) I had a blast. The owner took me down the track and showed me exactly where each timing light was and the distance markers. I ran with full psi in the tires and tried different things with the shift points so my times varied a little my average was a 14.7 in the 1/4. My best 1/8th and 60' were 9.5 and 2.12. It seemed that warming up the tires just a little seemed to help some. I am manually shifting as the first run was just a "put it in drive and punch it" and I did a 16 sec 1/4. I have ran the rpms up to anywhere from 4500 to 6000 before shifting to try to find the best combo for the car. It has a 350t tranny which bascially makes it a three speed with 3.73 gears. Some of the old timers are telling me to switch to 4.10's what do you guys think? I am learning so much and having the time of my life. I made the front page of the tracks website (www.ozarkracewaypark.com) and am now on Youtube--lil ole me

Z-RATED94

Not bad, a rookie the first time ever, and straight to a celebrity the next time out. Don't get a big head now, ok?

1996camaroSSclone

Is this a street car or just your drag car? If you do alot of street driving stay 3.73, if drag go 4.10. The guy that you bought it from is full of it if he said he trapped 93 mph in the 1/8, maybe 93 in the 1/4 is what he meant?

P.S. Nice car buy the way and welcome to drag racing. It's a lot of fun and you can meat a lot of cool people.