I doo what the voices in my head tell me to do,,,,,

Well, not really. But that was funny. I had a card in the passengers window, and a pic of it got it put in with the article in Mopar Muscle back in 2002.
Actually, been suffering from depression (have for decades) and was starting to listen to the thoughts of getting out of racing. Being tired, spending lots of money, you know the drill. Well, I pulled the car out of the trailer, fired it up and drove it around to the shop to put it on the rack for needed work. I thought DAM I LOVE THIS!! So, onward into battle! The car ran some super good, consistant numbers last outing. 8.910, and 8.909 on test day, the third pass I changed shift rpm to 7250 from 7450 and it didn't like it, 8.942. This was Friday test day, DA 2198 on the 8.910 pass, 2124 on the 8.909 pass. Saturday, got two passes in, 8.899 ,da 2380. Second pass, 8.894, da 2323. Now if the driver can get his shi- ah, stuff together, we can go some rounds!

Nice numbers! Love the car. Something about those 60's Mopars...

Thanks, DG. Read about your getting daylight under the front

i feel your pain... follow your passion. it's good!

I feel for ya, Greg. I even sold my car, once. Worst day ever for me and my son. We both cried. 2 years later, I bought it back. Looked like crap after being sanded down and left outside for 2 years. But it's mine, almost done, and can't wait to get her down the track again.

Glad to hear you got it back, SG. May you have MANY FUN ROUNDS!

Awesome Greg. What block you running mate ?? Aftermarket or full fill ?

Be careful about listening to the voices Greg. I listened to mine and you've seen what I ended up with!
Say Hi to Sandy for me and Rocio. Dave

Mega block,4.500 bore, not filled. 4.15 stroke. 3065 race weight.

Well, you listened to the right ones!

Haha, that's what got me into this mess in the first place!! Nice passes!

Glad to see your car is working good. I'm in the same boat as you, car works good, driver not so much, lol.

Great seeing you enjoying the car again and getting out making some hits. It may take us longer to get the job done but the fire is still in our belly.

Greg..... I hope this isn't like pouring salt on a wound...... But what was the combo you were running to get the times in your sig, and what do you think it would run now in similar air?

I know you were messing with cams/springs/rockers for a while...... Just wondering if in the end that ended up improving the combo or not.
I lost track of all that stuff you changed.

I firmly believe old racers never quite, we just figure out get more power out of the walker.

No problem, Dwayne. There is so much different, it is hard to quantify, but I will try. All density altitudes come from Dragtimes web site.
On the 8.779 pass, it went 153.16 mph, slight tail wind (5?)
Cam- Isky RR735, 280/290/110,v in at 110. Jesel 1.55 rockers for .760 lift intake, .680+ exhaust.
RADIAL slicks, that weigh 34 lbs each. They wouldn't 60 ft till I dropped them to 12 psi. Recommended, 14+
The car went into severe "radial rock", and I should have lifted. Guys asked me why I didn't!
The converter was tighter than I thought, stalling to only 5300 plus.
with 60 fts being 1.280 and slower, on that first pass, it could have run 8.760, as other runs showed 1.260 in worse weather.
The next year I put new rings and bearings in it. Metal went through the motor and ruined the bearings. New cam also. .500 lobe lift intake, for .775 lift, .026 lash , .700 exhauast lift, duration 283/296/112, in at 110. The new cam didn't seem to pick up the power any, but who knows, it could have lost some power on the rebuild? Same converter, weight in race trim the same.
2006 the car got knew Goodyear 33.6 x 15.1 x 15 tires. Very heavy at 41 lbs each, and I am sure it dropped the trap rpm with growth and bigger diameter thrown in, not to mention resistance. The car ran
8.88 at 150.61 with 2124DA.
I didn't run the car again till 2010. I had moved a lot of weight forward, and the car responded with consistent 1.260 60 fts. Also I had 2.30 intake valves put in, and flow picked up about 3-5 % on the intake, and the exhaust got sunk a touch to go down to a 1.78 but remained about the same flow numbers.
The car ran 8.893 at 150 .13 mph, DA about 1249.
I ran M5 fuel for 2011,12, and 2013, so those runs aren't really worth looking at. The car picked up about .13 ET in the 1/4.
After the 2015 season I had the block rehoned, put in new rings, bearings, cam, and 1.7 rockers. The hone didn't remove all of the marks from alky corrosion, but I figure they didn't want to go too far with the same pistons. The crescent shaped marks are down the bore a ways, so maybe there is minimal loss, I don't know. The new cam is a Mike Jones inverted flank cam, 285/296/114 duration, with .016 lash. Lift is .867 intake, .750(?) exhaust, in at 108. I also had the converter loosened up to a true 6200 rpm flash stall. The car has run the numbers in the first post, with consistent 1.260 60 fts, 8.894 at 150.61, da2323. Tail wind, 5 to 7 mph. So all in all I am not impressed, but it may be that all the changes messed up a very good combo that I had back in 2003. I think I picked up some with the converter for sure, not sure on the cam. Like an idiot I sold that Isky cam. Wish I hadn't now!

I guess my impression of how I remembered it all went down was reasonably correct.
A lot of time, effort and $$$ spent for a very minimal gain.
I'm sure the radials were worth at least a tenth and a mph or two...... So youre kinda back where you were.

I think yours is a good example of...... It's not always as easy as people say it is to pick up a combo that's working pretty well.
At least, not by "tweaking" it.

I think you are spot on. There is just no substitute for experience. I would venture to guess that your tunnel ram suggestion some time ago would have been a better move, and combine it with an offset crank grind to pick up 29 cubes (4.4 stroke vs 4.15) might have been a better move, plus some effort to lighten this tank up. At my age and being retired, this is what I have, so I will enjoy it as is, unless someone has a tunnel ram for sale dirt cheap

This is still a great car and I always enjoy your updates. Keep having fun G.

Thanks hardcore, and everybody else. When I enitialy built this motor most of the choices were a result of listening to sharp guys on this board. A lot of knowledge here. This also led me to go to (and listen to!) some very sharp folks for head porting and cam choice. The results speak for themselves. These heads are 1998 440-1 vintage, not as good as newer heads?

Update; I was concerned that the exhaust temp went from my usual 1180 area to 1205, then 1225 degrees. I also went from a 108 pill to a fatter 104, then with the temp still rising, I went to a 100 pill. The 1225 degrees showed up with the 100 pill. If the temp was that high, in the past I would see scorching on the plug base, usually about half way around from the ground strap. So I pulled the plug on the cylinder with the exhaust temp probe, and it was only scorched on the ground strap. As I understand it, too fat (and I burned a lot of extra fuel!) and alky is still burning in the exhaust when it goes by the temp probe, giving a false high reading. So maybe there is a bit more in it. I plan to start at 108 next outing, about 8 percent leaner. It should run better, and might want 112 for a pill, which was a bit fat before the new cam. So the jury isn't all in yet! I did find some crap in the filters, but not enough to lean it out, IMHO.

This isn't a suggestion...... More like a "I wonder what would happen if..."

I wonder how much different the car would run if the motor were basically the same, only built with today's parts.

-CNC 345 heads
-tricked up 4500 carb
-run on Q16 gas
-easy(er?) on parts cam

Just curious but how much is Q16 now. That's a hard sell after running alcohol

Where we live Q16 is the same cost as C14 or C14+. Was why I switched 10 years ago. We used to buy by the barrel but air kills the fuel so we switched to 5 gallon pales. In our area it is $85 a pail!!

What kind of compression does the combo have now?? Also what is the trap RPM, Shift RPM and Shift Recovery RPM?

Al, trap Rpm is 7400, shift Rpm 7450, recovery 6275 for a difference of 1175 drop on the [censored]. Compression is about 14.9/1.
One thing that bugs me is the acceleration graph. I couldn't get a picture to load, but here are some data points.
Time starts at trans brake release.
.19 seconds g force is 2.14
.33 sec drops to 1.58
.53 it goes up to 2.38
.72 drops to .1.64
What's up with the big swings in G force?

What does the driveshaft RPM look like on that run? Without seeing it I would say off hand hook, spin, hook, spin scenario is likely.

That is a big drop on the shift. Which leads me to think that converter is way to tight for the combo..That 6275 is also the stall speed of the converter unless something else is happening. I think if you could tighten that shift recovery number up a but you would find a big gain in ET. How long does the engine "stall" on the RPM graph after the shift?

Al, I have a second converter I could send in, see what happens. On the driveshaft rpm, it definitely shows spin/hook/spin/hook. Two things come to mind; it hits the wheelie bars hard, and maybe the rear shocks are set too soft? I have new Big Gun afco shocks on it, set a fair amount stiffer than the suggested starting point, roughly 2/3 of max on extension.

I would guess the spin and hook could be attributed to track prep, or possible you need to tweak the shocks a bit. For a ladder bar car its almost impossible to go to stiff with most stack valving honestly. I would not be afraid to tighten them up on extension at all. But this is a place where video can be your friend for sure. These are calls made based off track conditions. The better the surface the stiffer you can go. The lesser the surface the softer it will need to be to hook. You may also want to try loosening the compression a few clicks. The extension setting will control the hit and plant the tire the compression setting is used to keep it planted. But if it is hitting to hard you will need to slow that down a bit. Once again video and data interpretation.

I don't think trying a looser converter would be a bad thing. Definitely like to see that shift recovery RPM tightened up a bit. Reading and interpreting your data will say a lot there. I would imagine when you shift to high gear the RPM stalls or climbs very slowly loosing that much on the shift.

Is this car a ladder bar? With a less than 100" wheelbase?

106 wheel base, 30 inch ladder bars