To some this is old hat, to other's it is a foreign land. I personal fall into the 3rd group of "it's been too many years since I played with this stuff and cannot remember the difference between legend and real facts."

I am looking for a slick and rim to throw on the Demon for a grudge match at the track this spring with an old friend. My car has stock wheel wells and stock sized 8 3/4 with the Mosier 4.500" bolt pattern. Currently I run a P225/60/15" radial tire.

I need help in finding a proper sized slick for my 1972 A-body just to make sure I get as much bite as I can with out cutting out the wheel wells.

I tried to look all over the site but did not find anything that could help. Any advice from people who race currently to a guy who has not seen the track with his car in over 20 years?

Thank you,
Joe

I cant help on the size but I'd run a bias ply slick
to cover any track conditions

A 9x28 Hoosier or M/T bias ply on a 15 x 7 police car wheel will be economical and fit without any cutting.
What gear ratio are you running? That might determine if a smaller diameter slick might be necessary.

Most Stock class racers can fit 9" slick, usually 30" tall. But we are allowed to trim the wheelwells. A 28"= 29" may fit better. The taller, the better for traction.....if you have the correct gear to make up for it. Also use as wide of a rim as possible. Stockers try for 10" with the 9" tires. You can run a little more air pressure in them while maintaining a flatter footprint and stiffer sidewalls.

Like Mr. P said, a bias ply will hook more consistently on marginal track conditions. A radial slick will be a bit faster, but may not be as consistent, depending on track conditions. Radial slicks also don't grow so your finish line rpms would be higher than with bias ply.

Will you be able to swap to more gear for the race?

Personally, I use Hoosier slicks.

Hoosier race tire specs.

I would try a 28 inch tall with either 10 or 10.5 inch width drag slick(bias ply, M/T brand ) on a 8 or 10 inch wide rim with sero to 1/2 inch offset I have ran the shorter 8x26 inch tall slicks on a 1972 Dart with a 440 and 727 with 3.91 gears in the back, it hooked well with them Bigger is better when it comees to tires at the track

without trimming the front edge of the wheel well...9 x 28 will fit and 15 x 7 rim

What gears are in the rear? How much power you putting down? A taller tire offers an increased contact patch, but a shorter tire can increase your effective gear ratio, if needed

Basically a slightly modified 71 340 with a modified Thermoquad, LD-340 and a H-pipe 2 1/2" exhaust thru mufflers, gear ratio will be a swapped in chuck. Years ago I ran M&H 28 X 8 on a screwed 15" steel rim with 4.30 gear ratio and my 4 speed (69' low first gear cast 4 speed) with a very built 360 pushing just over 440hp, headers and 2 1/2" exhaust.

I need to know gear tire height so I can determine the ratio of the chuck I will have built. I am trailing the car but still want to stay higher than 4.30 ratio. With hydraulic lifters I need to stay under 5500rpm. I am thinking with 3.91 I should be good with a 28" tall tire but really would like 3.73 and I might just leave it in there as the 3.23 sure grip is good on the street but last year the car saw like 50 miles all summer as I played with my 66 Barracuda more. The 3.23 is kinda "blah!" if you know what I mean. I am not worried about fuel mileage.

I thought about street slicks but know nothing about them at all except they are really soft and wear out quickly on the roads. Currently I run a 25" tall radial street tire and out of the hole it is respectable.

Any more help is appreciated!
Thank you,
Joe

With a 340 your going want some gear, but you stated you could change the pig ratio too.

A great tire is the MT 9x28 witch is actually 27.3" That tire works great with a 3.91 gear but with your 340 it could use more gear. The MT 10x26 would be great also with your 340 and fit well and also work well with a 3.91 gear.

For your ride Id get the 10x26" slicks with your 3.23 gear and then pick my new gear ratio from there.

The math is MPH X Gear X 336 / by tire diameter =RPM

as for wheel id think a 15x10 and 7 1/2in back spaceing and maybe 31x10.5 M/T and a 4.30 or.56 gear if it were mine id go 4.88 gear with that size tire

I put these numbers in the calculator and this is what came up.
5600 rpm
105 mph expected
9x28 tire, 86 inch circ (includes 1 inch growth)
gear for 5600=4.30
The deeper the gear, the more it can work the sidewalls of the tire, which will be taller, so the better it works on the bottom end and also gets you a smidgeon more growth on top. If you think you could pull 5900, then go 4.56, and the lower the mph you expect below 105, the closer to you come to making the 4.56 work.

WOW!

What happened to the days of buying a used set from the swap meet and throwing them on? That is a lot of information for sure. I really don't want to turn over 5,500 rpm because in order to do so I need to change the cam and the rockers and pushrods. Kind of a lot of work just for a friendly grudge match. Also If I stick to a 3.91 or 3.73 I can keep the ratio in the car and drive it on the street with the current radials on it. I just want a set of slicks that will fit. I'm not sure if the engine will hold up to a 7,000rpm shift or not. I figure the lifters will float long before that. A mechanical cam swap will help but then the intake, exhaust and fuel system needs to be addressed.

I want to thank everyone with all your help. I need to sift thru all this great advice and see what will fit for my car and time. Time is huge as I am self employed and work a lot. This grudge match was a reason for a weekend off. I also love the feeling of returning to wrenching on the Demon again. She's kind of been left alone for the last few years due to no time.

Another option if you are willing to run the deep gears would be to see if you can fit Beehive type springs on the motor. It won't increase the power range a lot, but should up the safe rpm limit as much as 1000 rpm, if set with the same spring seat and open pressures. That would allow you to cross the finish line at 103 mph, 6500 rpm, running 5.13 gears. That will actually be a lot easier on the clutch than a 4.30 or less gear.
If you want to smoke this guy, leave no stone unturned. There are a lot of sharp cookies here, and there is a lot that can be done to give you a huge edge. It would be fun if you started another post on that as well. My mind is spinning already with ideas.

Is this an friendly grudge match with another mopar or another brand just curious.

Sadly the grudge match is with a Supercharged Mini Cooper that the boy thinks is all that... That is when his wife will let him run it. He thinks he finally has a car that can compete. My Demon is not the Demon I ran in High school and after - that one was hit by a drunk driver in 91' at a car cruise on the Berlin Turnpike here in CT.
I want to make this Demon fast but love the pump the gas twice and go of this car. It is a very reliable and safe car I can take the kids in for Ice cream but still smoke the heck out of the tires at the drop of a hat.
Joe