Took the Bird to PIR today what a trip.

2nd pic

Sweet!

looks like fun!!!!

Very cool. I love to see a Mopar on a road course. How did your brakes hold up?

John

Any suspension/set-up/comments you want to share on your car?

CAR HAS 383 TORSION BARS. NEEDS STIFFER ONES. BIG SWAY BAR UP FRONT. BIGGEST COULD GET IN REAR. 12" ROTORS, CARBON METALLLIC PADS FROM DICK AT FIRM FEEL.-2.0 DEGRRES CAMBER WANTED MORE BUT NEED OFFSET BUSHINGS FOR THAT. 391 GEARS BUT WERE A BIT SHORT HAD TO USE 5TH GEAR AND THERE IS A BIG JUMP FROM 4TH TO 5TH. NEXT TIME 3.55 OR 3.73'S. CAR WEIGHS 4200 WITH ME IN IT. GOING OUT TODAY TO GIVE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL KIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES RIDES ON THE TRACK.

Nice combination, at 4200lbs maybe step up to 1+" TB, a big difference you will like, and a fairly easy swap, with heavier TB, and less roll, I bet the neg 2 Camber will be fine and the max needed, nice to see car doing what is was built for. Have you had any formal driver instruction?

Before it goes back out. I've going to do the tb change and a few other things. I've had a couple driving schools/track days. And I just completed ICSCC's novice race program. Tomorrow is my first senior race.

Good luck and awesome car,always wanted to do that and giving the rides is very cool

Neat.

Very cool

It is really hard to get enough brake for a 4200 lb car inside of a 15 inch rim. Might be able to fabricate up a 12 x 1.375 setup using some Wilwood parts. If you have very much power on board you'll cook anything smaller than that.

You are my hero,
Too bad it's not a real bird cuz it's more fun that way.

You have a ton of body roll happening.

My

Put ducted air on the front rotors and I hope you lost the splash shields.

Set the preload on the front wheel bearings to about 100 inch lbs. Use a beam type torque wrench.

Large front T bars needed badly

QA1 shocks and some competition tires...Toyo makes them in many sizes now...will make the biggest difference.

As for whoa to stop the go, if you can get Andy to whip up some adapters to use the wilwood dyna lite caliper there is a pad compound I am using that works really well [does not noticeably fade] and has good balance with carbon metallic shoes on the rear. I will go look for the info.
Banzai!!!

Watkins Glen June 2009, yes it's real

YOU'RE RIGHT. I LEFT OFF THE DUST SHIELDS. BEFORE NEXT YEAR I'LL UPGRADE THE TORSION BARS. PUT ON BETTER SHOCKS. I WAS UNABLE TO PICKUP ANY TIRES WITHOUT SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY FOR THIS TRIP. IT WAS A RIOT DRIVING IT EVEN WITH THE BODY ROLL. WE RAISED ALOT OF MONEY FOR THE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL. THE SUPERBIRD WAS ALSO USED AS A PACE CAR. I'LL TRY TO POST SOME MORE PICS SOON. THINK I'LL GET A SET OF 16" WHEELS FOR IT.

You also realise there is no end to this upgrade thing You've be warned

Very cool, looks like a ton of fun.

I hope you can post more pics.

Oh for some video.

If you put 17 inch wheels on there then you can run Viper brakes. Here is a local '68 Valiant running at PIR with a Viper conversion kit on it.

I stand corrected. I found some video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNK1gyHj6SY

(if'n I have the right bird)

Thats the right bird. Ain't the internet wonderful. As the day went on I got more comfortable coming into the corners faster.

I am very envious of how much fun that must have been.

Nice Dart. Lets see some pics of the rear wing. Bill

Come on down to Spring Fling Speed Festival next April. There's some cars that come (and have come) down from Oregon and Washington. Including the red 68 Valiant pictured above.

Sean and Joe Machado run their wing cars (clones). Sean's is pretty setup, gutted interior, a stout 440, and just last time out changed over to running the 15" rim Brake Man disk setup: http://alltimeracing.com/v2/content/view/4998/30/







Sean's tow rig (and his dad's car to take on the track)

I ran a few laps at Buttonwillow this year. Brought back memories when I autocrossed and did hillclimb in my Chevy Monza. Did Portland a few times on open track day. Pretty hairy track when it rains.

Don't hesitate to go heavy on the torsion bars.
I'm using coilovers (with an AlterKtion setup), I had 550 lbs springs last year, which I swapped for 450's this year (more comfort for road use), and the trade-off in body roll is obvious.
I miss the 550s on the track. I don't know how that translate in torsion bars, but with a car this heavy, I'd say aim for the biggest you can find. But consider frame connectors with heavy suspension up front.

2 degrees of camber is OK (I'm running 1'50").
More gives more confidence going into corners, but the rear will slide easier, especially with a stiff bar (or a 4-link, in my case).

I suppose you have a Tremec 5-speed with the .64 5th ratio. I bought the same and thought I'd never need the 5th on a track (and I have a 3.55 rear end).
Bad thought, I should have bought the .8 final ratio version. At the top of 4th, at aroung 155 mph, a shorter 5th gear would be useful for long straights.

As Tom Quad said above, Wilwood has some great compounds, I'm using their 6-piston calipers and never had fade on a track yeat (my oil gets too hot before that, the oil cooler is on the shelf for this winter).

Love your ride Justin!!!

I have a need for some real speed!!!!