Your gonna have to read the rules.. it could
be in a couple of classes.. I have 2 choices
either unlimited or SME.. not sure what I want
at this moment BUT thats if it runs right

Started looking at pistons options for stock stroke 400 all I can find is Keith Black. Anyone know of a forged piston?

Spped Pro L2266F can be used, will be positive deck and weigh a ton.

What's the slower class? I will be running a 450hp 340 in a 72 scamp.

Diamond Racing 52006 or 52007 are .030 for stock stroke and 1.094 or .990 pin.

Diamond are for the 451 stroker combo.

Speed pro lot of positive deck, need some thick gaskets for it.

SME... thats Street Machine Eliminator.. its the
slowest class but on the last day the quickest 32
will be picked and then they run a bracket race..
BUT what ever your average was for the week they
knock it down by .1 for your dial in for the night

SME has a 10.0 minimum ET.. you have to have
a legal 5 point minimum roll bar to be legal
in the class... or 11.50 for no roll bar..
but this past year I think all 32 were under
the 11.50 times.. so if you want to even get
into the 32.. yo better have a roll bar... JMO
or just enter into SME and dont worry about where
you finish.. just have fun and see if you can finish
the week.. its not easy
EDIT
You have to have all the stuff legal for 10.0
to be legal for it

Street Machine Eliminator is way below an 11:50 I was 33 last year with a 11.236, was moved up to 32 for the final because some one above me broke, I could not go either because my last pass I scattered the wounded motor that had been slowing all week. I had made an earlier pass on the last day so I had a time slip to turn in. I finished the week but did not run the top 32. This is the second time in 4 years that I made the 32 car field but couldn't run, one of these years I will make it!

The class will get faster next year for sure.

Some interesting stats about class selection. Last year, out of the 292 finishers, one hundred eighteen cars finished Drag Week with a five day average above 11.50.

61 of those chose to do so in SME, or Street Machine Eliminator, despite knowing they wouldn't make the quick 32.

57 of them chose to do so in another class of their choosing, despite knowing they had little chance of placing in the top three of said class.


Pros and cons of running a class vs running SME.

The first run session of the day is class cars, for about an hour and a half to two hours. So if you are an early riser who wants to be in the first twenty cars down the track, maybe a class is for you. The caveat is, you are in the lanes with 6-9 second machines that do long burnouts across the line, and often break stuff, so those sessions may leave you in the lanes longer, and severely try your patience!

The SME session is second, generally about two hours after the gates open. So, if you like to sleep in at the motel, and hammer their continental b-fast before arriving, SME may work out best. These cars are all supposed to be slower than 10.00, so by rule, don't do long burnouts, and these sessions go pretty smooth, which means less time in the lanes.

67autocross
The whole mopar springs moved in things allows you a number of classes to chose from Pro Street even, if you choose a big tire. Possibly Modified with a small tire,but definitely Super Street.
The problem is, Pro Street and Modified do not split between BB or SB, it's just one class.

So for your car, either SS/SB/NA or PA, whether or not you add nitrous, or SME.

Thanks so much for the reply Billy, my car is not built yet so I have no idea what it will run. Ultimately I just want to enter the event and try and finish. The car will be built with lots of used parts and a budget of $10k Canadian ( $7200US ) sort of a back to basics project for a change.
So if it was you what class do you recommend for a first timer?

I tell everyone who will listen, build a car you like, and will enjoy. Drag Week is once a year, and there are plenty of other things you may enjoy doing with the car, so don't get wrapped up in building a car to a specific class.

You are going to be in this car for forty or more hours, driving down roads you never even knew existed. Some considerations should be given to comfort.

1. A good exhaust system. You should be able to talk to your co-driver, or converse on a cell phone, but most importantly, it needs to keep spent gasses out of the car! Sealing the firewall also helps.

2. Dyna-mat isn't cheap, but you don't have to do the entire floorboard. A few well placed peices where the exhaust runs under the car, and under your feet will help with heat and noise.

3. Cooling system, for water, trans, and even engine oil if running a filled block. Do not scrimp here, a well designed system, with proven, reliable components will make the trip, and car, more enjoyable.

4. Go conservative on compression and camshaft. A valve spring eating, 13.5 to 1, pinging, overheating monster gets old quick, and valve train issues are the number 1 killer on Drag Week.

My daughter likes racing with the SME cars, less pressure from her perspective, and a great group of friendly people, but in the end, it's really just 350 street cars with different letters on their windshields.

I have not found much for a off the shelf piston. What the most anyone has sprayed on KB piston?

Of course that depends of the heads. Anyway, you proapably have to make valve reliefs, and while at it, you might also turn the piston tops down to get zero deck. There is no lack of material there... If you have factory open chamber heads you can open them up a little so that the piston doesn't hit the edges, or you can modify the pistons not to hit. With unmilled piston top and valve reliefs you'll get about 10.5:1 CR with unmilled factory heads. Done that, and the cast crank stock rod 400 run 10.6's in a light '73 Valiant.

Originally was thinking about sidewinder heads, depending on budget. Maybe the pistons and factory open chamber would work better for a cheap combo.

If you go with Diamond pistons they will move
the pin height for very cheap.. I had mine moved
and it was $35 for the set.. then I had them dish
the pistons to lower the compression..that was $35
also.. if you make more than 3 changes they call it
a custom piston and the price changes

I’m just putting the car together with parts that I have left over from other projects or current cars that I’m upgrading. I figured instead of selling stuff off and getting nothing for it I would put the parts in my old 72 Scamp and get it back on the road. So it’s not about winning or what to do with the car after, more about what I have in the shop that I can use.
The drag week Idea started a few weeks ago when a friend asked me if I wanted to join him and some friends on a trip to watch Drag Week, I figured if I was going to go that far I might as well participate so I proposed we dig the car out of the snow bank and do a Joe Dirt re- build and take a shot at it. One of the guys agreed to ride with me as long as I put good seats in the car so I now have my teammate!
I will likely run turn downs on the exhaust before the rear axle but I will take your advice and buy some good mufflers to keep the noise down, do you have a suggestion for something decent….and don’t say flowmasters.
For Cooling I’m going to go with a champion rad and some type of electric fan, it gets hot and humid here in the summer so I will make sure I do some driving in the heat to make sure everything is staying cool.
I have the engine built and it is a basic 340 with stock J heads and a solid lifter cam and 9.5 compression, I don’t think that it should give too much trouble as it is pretty basic…but who knows. I also have a fresh 727 with Cope forward manual valve body and good sprag for the car, it’s fresh also.
One thing I’m thinking of doing is changing gears between the track and the driving portion, use a 4:10 on the track and pop in some 2:94’s or the driving portion. Like I said I will take any advice as you have done this a few times and would rather show up ready to finish.

We are registered for dragweek!!

Looking at one of two possible cars tomorrow.
Wife is excited to be in the event.

Sold out in 6 minutes.Raced or attended every year since 09.Going to pass tis year. Have fun and you will have a blast.