67 Wagon test & tune

Well about a month ago I posted that I finally had the wagon running after 2 yrs of work.
Today I was able to get it out for the last T&T at Magnolia Raceway. Its a local 1/8 mile track.
Ran 7.09, 7.09, 7.13 & 7.11(shifted between 5600-5800). Only played w/the rear suspension(caltrac and shocks)some.
What I found was the car launches well but is a hand full as it goes down track.
I believe this to be a combo of the stock spec alignment, old school skinny fronts and 90/10 front shocks.
Didn't mess w/the carb just hoped the car would make a full pass. I plan on converting to E85 over the winter so my main concern today was how would it launch and travel down the track.

The engine a 512 based on a 400 block. The stroker is a 440 Source kit. 4.25 stroke, I beam rods 6.535 and Diamond flat tops.
It has Eddy Performer RPMs 84cc that Nick at Compuflow cleaned up, small Comp Cam xs282s, M1 intake and a Biggs 950 Holley I ran on my Cuda, auto w/Griner vb, PTC convertor 3500-3800 stall, dana with 4.10.
This is a street strip car for me so I'm pretty happy.

That's GREAT Tom!!!!!

Glad to hear you are rolling,,, 7.09 that's a LOW 11. Great first outing.
Drives funny? Sure you just ain`t rusty????
Just kidding.
Congrats!

Thanks Dennis. After 9 yrs away from this I could be. But no it definately starts to really wander as the mph goes up.
I have all winter to check some stuff out. I'd like the front end to come down a little sooner after the launch(never does now until I let off the gas) and am also going to double check the front spring hangers to make sure its not the rear end moving.
I already bushed the lower shock mount where the pilot bolt goes because the opening was much larger than the pilot bolt caltrac uses.
But yeah pretty happy.

I`m sure you will get it where you like it.

" Wander" in the front would be toe-out,or not enough caster in my experience.
Rear,,,, ,tire pressure,wheel/tire size I.E. rim too narrow.

What if the pre-load on those CalTracs is different side to side...possibly?????

Hopefully its just a few adjustments here and there to get it sorted out.
Engine is definitely doing its job.
Keep us posted...............

1st two runs were w/nuetral setting on the caltracs and #6 setting for drivers and #7 for pass rear shock. Still wandered but not scary.
3rd run only changed shock setting to 5 & 6. The car did not like it and lost 60' time and was still unstable but not scary.
Last run put shocks back to original and added a flat of pre-load to the right(car had been driving right some)wow it did not like the change and was a real white knuckler.
I'll find someone that can do the alignment at height and get a different rim probable 5" if I can find one I like for the car. Maybe some close to me will have a suggestion on an alignment shop thats used to doing more of a track alignment.
Personally I think its mostly the alignment. Had the Cuda 5-6 tenths quicker in the 1/8 w/these rims and was very stable. But w/the Cuda the front end would come down sooner.
Like I said finally out again. Been a rough 5 yrs and finally starting to get back in the groove. So glad something good finally happened.
Hey hows that Roadrunner coming?

Sounds like a nice day at the track and the car ran good for you. Now it's just a matter of sorting things out to get the best out of it and I'm sure once thats done the et's will show it too. So got any pics of this wagon

Yes I do. I' ll post some a little later and a video if I can figure out how to rotate it.
My wife used her iphone and the video is sideways when I loaded it to my computer.

Here is a video of my slowest run. Hope it wks.
[img:right]http://[img]http://i1312.photobucket.com/albums/t522/cudatom/th_IMG_0397_zpsd06srlgi.mp4[/img][/img]

Congrats on getting her out and putting some passes on it. 7.0's is like 11.0's in the 1/4. Nice going. Ron

Thanks Ron, I figure I have about .1-.15 I can tune into it. The DA was almost 3000' and there was a pretty good head wind.
Can't wait for spring to get it back out and get it all sorted out and take it to some of the 1/4 mile tracks.
Maybe you can answer this at what ride height should I have the shop set the alignment. The shop did the alignment at stationary height and that is not cutting it w/the Caltrac 90/10 front shocks.
Right now I get 6" of front end travel(sits at 24" and tires just clear the ground at 30")?

Progress on the 68 is at a snails pace.

Was thinking about your steering issue.
I had a problem one time with something similar. .. my steering box was dragging /tight. There was no "center " neutral spot. Basically makes you constantly over correct to try and go straight.
Might look for any rubbing or tight spots with the front off the ground.

Thanks Dennis, I will add that to my list as something to look at.
I don't think its dragging. The car has a Flaming River gear box(bought it used last year from a guy on this forum).
I may switch it out w/the one in the Cuda. That box is a known entity and has been rebuilt by Steer & Gear.
Its an easy switch so I may just swap it out. The only items in the front end that aren't new are the upper and lower control arm bushing and strut rod bushings. Don at Hargroves said everything was nice and tight. I has already planned on replacing those this winter. With what I have in the car may as well do it all up right.

Did you have the front end aligned to stock specs before you went racing ? You could watch the video and see how the car seems to sit going down the track to see if you want to set the alignment with the car up some on the suspension. I can tell you I did not do that on my 63 as I basically set it close to stock specs as I gave it all the caster I could which was around 1 to 2 pos as you cant get much more with all stock front end parts and I set my camber close to 0 and the toe about 1/16 in. I will say my car handles great and goes nice and straight. How about your rear tire pressures ? Also what rear tires are you using ? I know when I ran a bias type of slick and street drag ties in the back of my 63 did not handle the best as I was running a basic street radial tire up front. But when I went to a radial slick it handled like a dream as I did not think mixing the radial and bias slick would cause it to wonder some but it did. And when I ran a bias slick with the lower pressure they run it made the car wander a tad on the top end. I race with about 16 lbs in the radials and it has no wondering at all as I love how it handles with radials on all 4 corners. Just something to consider. Good luck with it. Ron

Ron the alignment is stock specs at resting height. The front to rear was w/in .032, being the passenger rear was .032 further forward than the drivers side. Not perfectly sq but well w/in specs for leaf springs.
I don't have the rest of the specs. But I believe the toes was 1/16.
Tires are Moroso DS-2 fronts and Hoosier slicks on the rear 28x9 on 8" slick. I ran 16lbs in the slicks.
Unfortunately I didn't have anyone down track. But from the seat and videos I have the front end did not seem to settle down before I left up on the gas after the pass. The stability issues would start right before the 2-3 shift and then thru the traps.
Thanks for the input Ron.

put two lasers on the front wheels,point the lasers at the wall in your garage at ride height and put mark on the wall.Raise the car one inch and mark the wall.keep doing this one inch at a time until the wheels start to come off the ground.I'am betting you'll be surprised.If you really want to get serious lower the car with the torsion bars and put a mark on the wall and go up to ride height

I agree. I can even see that just by eye. I know as the front end rises the alignment will change and the changes can be dramatic. I was wondering what others that use caltracs and stock front ends were using for their alignment specs and at what ride height 1", 2" etc.
I can change the amount of travel easily but was told that 5-6" of front end travel is optimal.

see if you can find an old mopar chassis book and read about bumpsteer and how to correct it.My car was really a hand full until I read the section on bumpsteer about 10 times.

Tom I`ve been thru this a couple times, Stock they are VERY bad with bump-steer.
I have the book in question,let me know if you want some help when you are ready.
I do it with a square,tape measure and some masking tape.
Perfect is usually not an option, but good drivaility is fairly simple.
Bump-steer on the 68 was pretty severe as I bought it.
Be glad to help if you need some...

You know Tom I remember when my brother had his Cuda done up to a tube frame car he had rack and pinion put in it and I had forgot that he had bad bumpsteer at first. Right after launch when the wheels touched the ground it would handle like crap until the car settled down. Now this car was modified alot but I remember the company that did the work had to make these 2 to 3 inch spacers for the outer tierod ends and that ended up fixing it. I also remember in my Viper school training since it was a race car type frame we had to check it for bumpsteer and toeout on turns and we could shim the rack to make adjustments to help bumpsteer. Just thought you might like to know about that. Ron

Thanks guys all good info. I do have a copy of the old Mopar Book. I believe there is a section on the chassis in it. I'll read thru the section.
Dennis I will definitely give you a call if I don't get it figured out.

Tom, I see Brett is setting the bar pretty high for you, tell him I said congrats. Also if you go to mags site and then get to Gary Millers site he has pictures from the weekend. Some good shots of the wagon. Dave

Thanks Dave I will do so and yes Brett did real well Sunday.