Eric, As you know I switched.
Dragsters have no “personality”. My 66 Charger did. No one will come up to you and say how much they love your dragster or how they had one of those when they were young. I enjoyed that side of racing the charger. With that being said, I really do like racing a dragster. Maintenance on the dragster is a lot easier and one of the reasons I switched. As I got older crawling around the car got increasingly more difficult. With the dragster, everything is out in the open and easy to access. For me, the reduction in weight was almost 1700 (3650 to 1950) pounds so the wear and tear on the parts was considerably less. I race alone, so I do find that loading and unloading the dragster is a little more work than the car. I honestly don’t know why that is, but it does take me longer!
I had major issues with engines and transmissions this year, but I did buy a “new” 2004 dragster. Here are a few things that I think are important to racing a dragster with a mopar engine. Of course buying a dragster already fitted up with a mopar engine and glide, eliminates some of the items you will have to deal with!
1. Frame rails have got to be at least 20 inches between the inside edges of the pipe where the motor sits to easily clear the oil pump and starter. Tighter can be made to work, but 20 inches would be my recommendation.
2. An oil accumulator is a good thing to have because with a dragster pan and even with good trap doors, at 170 MPH stops at PRP, the oil does uncover the pickup at times
3. Stopping at PRP with a hardtail with no front suspension at 170 is going to be difficult. It is too easy to get the chassis into a bounce and they are hard to recover from. I have been there. You travel and race at many tracks, I would think you would want some suspension. People say good things about adding a front suspension to a hardtail. Cost is under $2000.
4. I prefer to run no alternator and a 16 volt system. While not a big deal, if you are used to running an alternator, you may find it challenging to have to charge all the time between rounds, or find it difficult to fit in the alternator between the frame rails.
5. Plumbing in the radiator becomes somewhat expensive because most of the dragster radiators have AN fittings, and only the more expensive water pump housings are AN capable. The old reliable 1 ¼ hose clamp setups and radiators can be made to work, but they require a lot of fitting up.
6. You’ll need a shorty gear set for the glide and a shorty cover.
7. Avoid the “lay down” dragster seating. You race 8.90 stuff and seeing the finish line is a must. The lay down visibility is not great for seeing the stripe and the opponent.
Bob
