After years of drag racing door cars, I want to step up to a dragster. When shopping for a dragster is there "things" I should be looking for, like a longer wheelbase, 4 link, hardtail, wing, no wing, etc.....I will be bracket racing this car in the "no box" class in my area and want a straight driving car that is easy to handle. I am looking for a rolling chassis I can drop my big block in, trying to stay away from brand x drivetrains, but whatever gets me into the winners circle will be just fine. I also have an 18' open trailer, I assume that isnt gunna work anymore. How do you overcome loading ground clearence issues, my trailer is dove-tailed but I still think a dragtser will bottom out on it

Double check the rules in your area about dragsters being aloud in the no-box class. PRP and many other tracks booted dragsters and center steer alterds out of the no-box class. Just a heads up.

When you get around to looking at dragsters advertised as "complete minus eng/trans" check for small parts that have been removed. I bought a dragster earlier this year planning on doing what your thinking, drop my motor in, hook-up a few things and be ready to go. Overall I'm happy with the dragster but it was missing some stuff. Cooling system lines & fittings, water-pump, trans-to-cooler hoses and fittings, coil, fuel pump, Fuelline and fittings and some brackets for mounting some stuff.
I did not check it as close as I should have when I picked it up. Late at night, in the rain, 500 miles from home and rushing to get going.

I made the switch a couple of years ago. I am happy with the switch, but there are a lot of little things that you can get burned on. I went from a 3500 pound 10.20 ET charger to a 1900 pound 8.30’s dragster with “just” the engine change. I went to the dragster as I am getting older and working under a car (that charger broke every part imaginable), is getting difficult. The dragster is much easier to work on, and the weight difference has lessened the parts breakage.

Things to watch out for:

Buy one already set up for Big Block Mopar!

If not:

Older cars are not wide enough to get the mopar bell housing and starter in. You need at least 20 inches measure between the insides of the frame rails. Mine is a little over 18 measure on the inside of the frame rails. It can be made to work, but you will work at it. Mine is a 95 S&W.
A hard tail car on a bumpy track will not want to stop well without the chute. 4 link and mono shock cars cure that. Get a suspended car if your budget allows.
You need to get the scoop tray and scoop with the car.
The wing is just a place to wrap the chutes up on my car. I need to toss the chutes every time because my car bounces in the shutdown. Don’t worry about getting the wing.
Don’t mess around with a glide without the 1.80 straight cut gears. Even the best of the stock planetary breaks after 300 or so runs. A good 1.80 straight cut glide and mopar bell will set you back just under $4,000. With a stock planetary glide and a mopar bell housing (around a $2K transmission) last for a while, yes, but not for the long term.
If you’re staying Mopar powered, headers are a real expense. You will be hard pressed to find used ones and new ones go about $1,000.
Be sure the rear end coupler is included (used in place of a drive shaft on the hardtails).
Decide before you buy if you’re going to run alcohol; and then make sure the mechanical fuel pump, vacuum pump and drive mandrel is included if not, there is a $1000 expense.
BBM front and mid plates will cost you around $500. More if you decide to go with an adapter plate to get the stock glide and the BBM engine mated up.
Figuring out how to limit engine movement fore and aft is chassis dependent and all of the pre-made kits out there are for SBC and BBC. You will need to fabricate something for BBM.

Bob Spelic

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I will be bracket racing this car in the "no box" class in my area

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I don't think Milan allows dragsters in no-box.

Dennis

Turner you have an email from jolly37c@live.com

forgot a couple.......on anything less than 20 inch between the frame rails; the external oil pump will interfer with the top rail and sometimes a vertical tube.

Some of the older more cost effective dragsters are "lay down" seating and driving the stripe with one of those is more difficult than the current upright seating in dragsters.

Bob Spelic

i know a guy that has one for sale running a bb mopar with chevy plates as well

As for loading and un-loading a dragster there are many ways to do it from buying Buffalo dragster ramps,dragster dolly or fab something up that works for you.I will try and find a picture of how mine is and post it for you to give you a idea.If you want a extra nice dragster that all you have to do is drop your engine in at a reasonable price the one in the picture may be up for sale as early as the end of this week.You have to be extra careful when buying a dragster to put a BB Mopar in because of the oil pump & starter locations. You would think it would be a simple fix,but its not.

Bob, rough tracks are a little hard to go down and Stop in a Fast hard-tail,but most of the tracks that run the Big $$$ races are smooth enough that there is no problem,that is why I shy away from most the small Out-Law tracks.
You may already know this but on a dragster you need to get the brake pads for the speed that you will be stopping at it makes a Big difference,I went over to Silver Dollar to do make some 1/4 mile runs(most our tracks and even Silver Dollar most time only run 1/8 mile)and I brought another set of brake pads to use.
I see most every dragster driver just pop their foot off the throttle at the end of a run like in a door-car and that's not the best thing to do even in a 4-link and a "Very Bad" thing to do in a hard-tail as it no only up-sets the balance of the dragster it makes the tires come up on the wheels like on a burn-out making the rear of the dragster very light,you need to just roll off the throttle.


As for the Hard-Tail vs 4-link dragster they both have their advantages with the 4-link being smoother but most times 200+ heavier,that is why I have not 4-linked mine or bought a 4-link.

PS You can see how I have the ramps extended in back,but also notice I have ramps under the rear wheels they are not needed most times but its easier to put them under the rear tires at the start than having to push the dragster back up in the trailer and then pull up on the ramps.Its simple and some what crude but works great.

I've often thought about getting one.
I'd suggest having all your race gear with you when trying them on for fit, and for getting out!

Thanks for the replies guys, been reading them on my smartphone all day but, my smart phone wont let me log in to reply. My home track does allow dragsters in the no box class, they used to dominate, I know the owner and will ask him to make sure it allows RED not just FED and nostalgia stuff.

I will be looking to spend about 10K, on the car. I seen a couple wide front dragsters on Racingjunk, do they handle better than the conventional together stance, and whats up with the little garden tractor tires on others.

might be looking into trading my 67' Barracuda rolling for a dragster

What track?

Dennis

I'll double what everyone else is saying above...more than likely if you buy a dragster that has been set up for a chevy a BB mopar will not fit without MAJOR frame work due to the width of the starter and oil pump area, Hedman upswept headers can be bought coated from Jet Hot in either 2 1/8 or 2 1/4 primaries and yes, be ready for lots of "engineering" if the car is not set up for injected methanol. I have raced dragsters since 1984, one front motor, 3 rear engine hardtails and 1 4 link, the 4 link was by far the best over all driving car, however, on a smooth track the hardtail was more consistent and with equal engines at least 2 tenths quicker...but, in my opinion if you're going to go faster than 5.20s in the 1/8th I believe the 4 link is safer and more forgiving...once you bounce a hardtail you'll know exactly what I mean... . Like was said above, get one set up for a Mopar, get all the accessories you can and if it has a lot of passes on it be sure to look it over good for cracks in stressful areas...front suspension, engine and rear end area, upright attach points...basically everywhere the frame "flexes". Good luck looking, they are a fun ride and yes, there is a reason they are bracket killers, consistent, easy on parts, good vision for driving the stripe and fun.

Some of the older wide front end ones have a straight front axle(are at least that's what they look like)don't know much about them. The wide or narrow both handle the same.With the narrow its leaves some extra room for things in the trailer, some can even get 2 dragsters in their trailer 1 backwards & 1 forward that was the reason for them at the start. The down side to the narrow ones is you can't turn quite as sharp,that is also one of the few if not only drawback on a dragster is being able to make turn offs with out pulling back & forth a few times, I found that out on my 1st dragster.That's why I have the front end a little wider on my 2nd one but no quite as wide as the old style and it will turn sharp enough to make most turn offs.

You'll also want to make sure the certification on the cage is up to date. I see alot of cheap dragsters on racingjunk but they still have the old helmet bars. Otherwise you'll have another $1000 in updating the cage and the cert. Unless your local track is ultra-smooth I wouldn't want to go any faster than 5.50's in a hard-tail. I believe the No Box cutoff is 5.70 and 9.00 at most tracks.

I smiled and laughed to myself when “Rapidus…” said once you bounce a dragster you’ll understand.. It brought back the memory of my hardtail trying to stop on a 8.0 @ 167 run at Pittsburgh. There is a bump at the end and once you hit that then the brakes, it’s all over and the only salvation is the parachute……………..LOL. I believe Pittsburgh still allows dragsters in the no-box class. They did last year.

Personally I would stay away from the real wide fronts, I just don’t like the looks. There is nothing wrong with buying a hardtail; you just may have to throw the chute to stop without major bouncing; ALL dependent on the track surface. I have dual calipers on each rear wheel so, I can stop but usually the bounce gets me………………lol

I made the switch 5 years ago and I do not regret it. Dragsters have no personality though. Cars do. Crowds won’t come around your dragster and say “I had one of those when I was a kid and it sure was fun”.

Buy a name chassis, buy the widest cage your budget allows (and get wider frame rail spacing as a bonus), be sure the chassis certification is current, for bracket racing get a sit up style instead of a lay back style seating position (be able to see the end of the nose piece), add about $3000 to your purchase to get the needed glide and the mopar specific items you’ll need.

Mine is a hard-tail and runs 4.40's with a Mopar engine no problems. :thumb

Nice looking Chapparel(Spell?) trailer. They will last forever, just a little heavy.

I agree with most of your comments. We run a 225" nostalgia FED. Fortunately, we race 1/4 only, on typically very good tracks so we don't have problems with rough, short, small outlaw tracks. Last year, we tried to race a one track----the pits were so rough and uneven that we dragged in the pits----and that was at the track that I raced on ------50 years ago! I really wanted to go back---but things arn't like you remember them!

my track could be considered "a small outlaw track", not lots of shutdown room and plenty of good racers that will be "dialing tight and cutting a light", tight turn-arounds, etc...I will want to drive back to my pit under power as well, is that an issue.......really like ad #2599652 on racingjunk