So its been a while since I posted about this, last year was a bust between the tracks being closed and my tires being not sticky enough after 3 years, I didn't even go with the Regal. I did race my fathers 36 Ford Pickup with a BBC behind the cab. But this year I got what I have needed since I redid my whole car, double beadlocks. I was waiting for them from the wheel company, so I missed the spring racing, but I got back out this October again.
The first time I took the Regal out with the new tires, old wheels and the new drivetrain 4 yearsd ago, I spun the tire halfway around the rim just trying to tune it on the street! So I called M/T and they said either double beadlocks, or glue them on. So I glued them on. You aren't supposed to rim screw radials for safety reasons. I think that worked temporarily and then started slipping again, but I am not sure. I can tell you this, new tires and double beadlocks gave me better 60 foots than I ever had.
And I put 3 junior dragster harnesses in the back so I could take the whole family to ice cream, or pickup from school, etc. The kids love the cam locks, and I actually get compliments on the rear harnesses for the kids, I didn't think people would notice. They are old enough now even the youngest is up to a booster, so the 4 point harnesses made sense. I don't trust the lap belts only with the cage bar right behind the front seats.
I also installed four 3" stainless Borla mufflers in parallel with some custom made Y pipes I fabbed from the dual 5" oval exhaust I had made previously. It quieted it down quite a bit vs the 5" oval mufflers with almost no case volume I had before. So I have one pair of these on each bank, each side is dual 3", so quad 3" exhaust, ha ha
So the first pass I went down the track for a new best all motor. 9.58@142 with a mild 1.41 60 ft through the mufflers. With my heavy car, 3.60 gear, and 4L80 trans it’s not really setup for 60 ft on motor. I keep the front end travel low and the shock rebound somewhat stiff so I don't wheelie. My shocks are double adjustable front and rear, which is critical when trying to tune a drag car launch.
Next pass I warmed the bottle and turned on the juice preparing for an 8 second attempt. The tires had warmed up to about 18 psi from 17, I let it go thinking with the wider 9" rim it would be OK since it had not spun at all, before I only had 8" wide rims. I was wrong, the car went about the same 60 ft spinning a little. 1.40 60 ft, 9.07@152 MPH. Damn, another 9.0! But still fun. I lowered the tire pressure back to 17, loosed the front rebound 4 clicks on the shocks, warmed the bottle back up, and went back up there. This time someone oiled down the track, so I had to wait a while. By the time I got up there the bottle had cooled down, was only 830 psi. I tried it anyway, this time it hooked, but only ran 9.11@151 with a 1.38 60 ft. Low bottle pressure is disappointing.
I started thinking, why is it that my 60 ft is barely better than my motor pass when I had the bottle on? Also, right before my pass it was idling at 1800, but my crankcase vacuum was normal, so I sent it. But the idle was fluctuating a lot then, would barely run 1 second at 600 RPM and then 1500 the next. I took the air cleaner off to find out the IAC valve literally fell out and sprung apart! The screws had vibrated loose over the last 4 years of driving and racing I guess. So completely removed it and taped the hole shut, then went to check the plugs only to realize I forgot my tools in the ski boat, doh!
So I borrowed a ratchet from a fellow racer, all plugs looked good. Then I started pouring through the last data log trying to find out why the 60 ft wasn't what I expected, previous best before was 1.303. After looking at everything through the whole run, crankcase vacuum, oil pressure, trans pressure, converter slip, any clutch slip, timing, transbrake off time, nitrous pressure, A/F ratios, fuel flow, air temps, speed, converter lockup, etc. There is so much data with the Holley I have to separate it out to make sense of it. When looking closely at the launch for some reason the nitrous wasn't activating immediately on launch. Then I found a delay I had put in there of .15 seconds one time trying to hook on a cold day at a different track. I thought hmmm, I wouldn't think .15 seconds of juice would make much of a difference in ET, the engine was still running great, and I actually remember running a 9.02 with that delay, which was the best that day, but I zero'd it back out to turn on immediately.
Went back up there expecting about the same result at this point since it was very windy and the track was getting dust over the prep. And I let go of the button and hoooolllleeee crap! It took off it's hardest yet, slowly picked the wheels about 6" and held it there for what seemed like a while but it wasn't. While the front was up I was slammed back in the seat hard enough I had to focus on reaching the shifter to bump second before it hit the rev limiter. About the time I did it gently set back down around 40 foot so smooth I was proud of the chassis work I had done, and I looked up and saw my 1.28 sixty foot on the board and I started yelling! Hell yeah this tank is moving! At this point I am thinking, I needed a 1.29 and I got a 1.28, it might be the one, just keep on pulling! I felt the converter lockup around 135 where I set it in the Holley(feels like a 4th gear at WOT but it’s just the converter). Then you have to get on the brakes pretty hard and fast at 151 MPH, I don't pull the chute at that, I figure my cousins don't pull it at 180 I'm not repacking it for 150.
I pull up to the timing booth and get my timeslip, 8.97@151, finally! All the hard work paid off! I finally met my goal of going 8s on pure pump gas. No race only car, 100% street legal, full interior, heavy overdrive trans, 3.60 gear, 275 radial DOT tire, 3700 lbs with me in it. And its now an official 8 second ride. I keep reliving the feel of that launch and seeing the 1.28 in my head. Its only about .03 faster than my previous best, but it felt like so much more! I know it's not that fast for a race car, but its not a race car. No boost, no race gas, huge radiator, 4 mufflers, full trunk, full interior with back seat, power windows, 4 channel stereo, remote door locks, etc...my first car has become a ride I am proud to say I built. And it has become the best test bed for the Volcano Dry Nitrous system. Spraying that on pure pump gas is pushing it, so the cylinder distribution has to be spot on, and the plugs show it is.
