I need to go just a little faster looking to hit 7.0 in 1/8

I am currently running a 1970 Plymouth that weighs around 3120 lbs. The car consistently runs 7.15 in the 1/8th. I would like to get the car down to run in the 7.0 index class, so I am looking at a few options and would like to hear peoples opinions. Here is my current setup:
440 engine
Heads - 906 ported w/1.81 & 2.14 valves
Competition Cam - solid .525 lift, 248 duration, 110 Lobe Sep
Intake - Weiand Team G
Carb - 1050 Holley Dominator
Headers - Hooker Comp 1 7/8
Coil - MSD Blaster
Ignition - MSD 6AL
Dist - MSD Pro
Converter - TCI
Gear - .488 ratio posi
Tires - Hoosier 29x10x15

The car has been run a good bit and seems to be a 7.15 car with what I have. I have a few options, so I wanted to see what you think.

I have a set of Edelbrock E-Street Heads, closed chambered 75cc that I was putting on another car. These would save some weight, and I would have to go to the 2" headers. Would these heads & bigger headers get me to 6.9-7.0, or do I need to do something different?

I am also considering going to Hoosier radials instead of my current bias tires. Anyone make this swap pick up any ET?

I also have a .456 gear spool I could slide in vs. the .488.

Any other suggestions on how to get a quick and easy 20-25 HP?

here is a bump for you.
way back in my NU-BE days, we thought the trick to quick times was 4:88, 5:13, and 5:38 gears, no matter the tire size. well, 10.00, 11.00, and 12.00 x 15 were the tire sizes normally in use.
anyway, fast forward to the last time i had my charger out, [2006-2007, then back in storage it went] i dumped the 5:38's and installed 3:91's.
the engine was not touched other than fresh gas and new plugs.
it went within 1 tenth of the 5:38's best time.
not sure what that means, but you might want to try your 4:56's or maybe even 4:30's.
the heads and headers you mentioned couldn't hurt. i would certainly give them a try if it were me, and i don't know anything..........

Thanks Bob. Talking to Hoosier they seem to think for bracket racing the bias tires are better than the radials, more consistent and last longer. When I stopped racing 10 years ago, this car was way better than the driver at consistency!

I like the idea of bigger/better headers. Get the 2 in headman hustlers. I have them on my car and with iron heads and a 509 cam , 750 double pumper it was running 7.0's 2 weeks ago. I also run 4.56 with a 31 inch tire. I believe those headers are .1 to .15 better than any others out there.

Being your running I'm assuming 1/8th mile that 4.88 should be fine. If you were to run 1/4 mile they might be a bit much.

What stall is your convertor?
Do you know the current chamber size of your 906 heads? The Edelbrock should be right around 50lbs lighter for the pair. If their camber is smaller than your 906 than that will gain you a little compression as well.

i think CAB has said for years, 2" headers work way better than 1 3/4 or 1 7/8".
[if and] when i get my charger going again, i have a set of 2" to 2 1/8" step TTI headers i'm going to use on my 446. it has ported RPM's, 11:1 compression, and .590 purple cam, with a 4500 converter.
the car has 3:91's in it now, but i may step up to 4:10's or 4:30's, depending on what size tire i go with.
i'm hoping that combination might make my car a fun ride, even though it weighs a bunch.

I believe the converter is a 3500 stall. The chamber of the 906 has not been altered, so I assume since they are open chamber, there would be some compression gain with the Edelbrocks. The flow of the906 is probably close to the stock Edelbrocks since these were professionally ported. You are correct the two areas I think heads would help is more compression and lighter weight.
I just run the 1/8th, and getting a consistent 7.0 is fast enough for me. Any faster and I will start breaking everything behind the motor. Dad ran 6.65 with a hotter 440 and we broke everything from the engine back!

The other thing I am considering is simply swapping the cam for a slightly bigger one. I know that can be a rabbit hole, but I am probably running more carb than I need now, so a little bigger cam might get me there.

Thanks for the input.

3120 is light for a '70 RR, seems to me, so I'll guess it's had a weight-reduction program.
Otherwise, 150 fewer lbs should get close to target.
What's the tire diameter, what shift & trap RPM, what 60', what stall ?
The Eddys should flow better, any porting on the iron heads or Eddys ?
Agree on the headers.

I hear mixed messages on headers. I have to believe 2" is better than 1 7/8, however that is not the cheapest option as most 2" headers cost close to $1000 or more. Seems like a cam swap could be done for less.

If I change to the Eddy heads, I will have to go with the bigger headers anyway since they have angled plugs and you can not get a plug in with smaller headers on it.

Thanks for your input and suggestion. I will let everyone know what I end up going with and how I eventually get there.

What TeamG intake are you running 4150 or Dominator?

This car is a race car and I cut a lot out of it years ago. Doors have been cut, glass in doors remove and Lexan installed, hood and trunk supports all have been removed, so the 3120 is legit, but I can not remember if it included me as a drive or not! I need to get it weighed again, since that weight was in 2001. I have done more to the car since, including putting an aluminum water pump and housing.Not much left to reduce unless I start buying a lot of fiberglass. Only running about a 1.5 gallon fuel tank!


1/8th mile trap speed - 96 mph
60' - avg 1.63 min 1.51
Shift at 5800 rpm
Rev Limit at 6400 so I never go this high
Usually the shift light is on when I go through the finish line, so I would say I am hitting 5900-6000 rpm at the line.

I am running the dominator Weiand Team G, not the 4150. I also have two spacers, each about 1" below the carb.

Most 906 heads are 81 cc and eddys can be bought with diff CC. but most likely are 84 cc

Radials...and going a size or two smaller (a 7.15 car doesn't need a 10" tire) may put you there.

Do you have E85 in your area?

The Eddys I bought are the closed chamber 75cc. Bought them for that reason.

We do have E-85 here.

So you think going with a 9" radial would pick up the ET?

The 906s I had were 91cc. A solid FT might get you there. A good 4200 convertor wouldn't hurt. To bad you couldn't snag a 557 or 528 cam and lifter package they offered a few years ago for 200 bucks from Jegs. It would be nice cheap experiment.

The 557 cam is the one I was looking at. I figured the 528 would not be much different than what I have now @525.
Cams are kind of hard to come by these days.

I bought the 557 and the 590 both with lifters for 400 bucks about 7 years ago. I know the 528 has an outrageous price. What's the 557 going for? My car ran 11.41 @117 with the 557 and a 3800 T/A with 3.91s and 9 in ET streets. TorkerII intake and 950 Holley.
Put the 590 in it and it went 11.28 @ 119.

The 557 is about 251 @ .050 if I recall so only about 3 degrees bigger in duration, not that the increase in lift doesn't help too. If you are going to make the effort for a cam change, I would think you might want something a tad bigger. I have heard mixed reviews on the Team G and that some had some core shift. That might be an easy change if you could snag a used intake.

That's why I asked him about what Team G. I have read the Team G dominator was a very good intake not so much for the 4150.

I would put the aluminum heads on, and whatever you need to do with headers

What Don says!

Sorry just saw it's a b-body. You said 70 plymouth at 3100 some pounds and I assumed a-body.

I know good headers are expensive, but thats the thing that jumps out to me a good race header.

However the aluminum heads are sitting there. I would think you would need to change the cam to take full advantage of them though like a Howards 721602-08

I used to be right where you are now.'72 Cuda, 440 w/stock 906 heads &.557 MP solid cam. I "borrowed" (try before you buy kinda deal) a set of ported (somewhat) 452's, This was back in the early 90's. As I was changing the heads, I noticed that my cam had a lobe down. Only cam that was available to get me going by fri was a .590 solid lift MP. I changed both the cam & heads and went from 7.20's to 6.90's. And my converter was an old worn out GER. I have always run the 2" Hooker super comp headers, so I can't tell you how much of a difference that would make. I also used to run 5.13:1 rear gears, but I switched to 4.56:1 years ago. The 727 has a LOT lower 1st gear than a 2 speed racing transmission does. Don't let your bowtie buddys tell you that you HAVE to have all that rear gear, you don't. And your tires will thank you.

Good luck, Brian

What are your E.T.s with the different 60' times? I would think that 1.51 60' would get the same amount or more off the E.T. vs a 1.63 60' all other things being equal. So, shaving a tenth or .15 off the 60' should get you where you want to be. At 3100lbs, improving the 60' should not be that hard.

Then again, if you already have the heads and don't mind committing them to this project, that is a good route, too. Which route is the easiest for you?

If you have the time, what I would do is advance the cam timing 4 degrees and just see what happens. I built a road runner for a guy with just about the same combination, and it went 6.90 on a good cool day. I had a Howards cam approximately same lift and duration with a 108 center installed at 106. The heads you mentioned might get you the tenth you need. I have seen converters pick them up a lot as well. You did not mention your MPH for the 7.15ET. What I usually look at is is the MPH high for the et? If it is then usually some tuning and adjusting is in order. If the MPH is right for the et, then usually you have to do something to make more HP to see improvements. Wallace calculators are free

For a while the Team G intakes were notorious for having core shift issues. How is the port alignment on yours?

I think you'd gain a bit from a smaller tire due to the weight alone, and moving to a radial has proven worth the switch from what I've seen.

You have a lot of good suggestions here that will help, one good thing about swapping to ethanol is you don't have to tear into the motor. More than one way to skin this cat so it's up to what route works best for you.

OP, do you know where your cam is intake lobe center is? If not take the time to learn now how to find out and make sure it is advanced on the intake lobes from 3 to 6 degrees closer to TDC than it is now. If it is at max lobe lift at 110 ATDC or more then move it closer to TDC. 107 to 105 ATDC.
Little things can mean a lot
Have you tried different launch RPM yet? If not do that also, seeing your 60 ft. times varying from 1.61 to 1.5? makes me think you have ET available to go quicker in both the 1/8 mile and 1/4 mile.
I try to focus on the reaction time and 60 ft. times when wanting to go faster and win more races, also try different shift RPM in 1st and 2nd gear and look at the complete time slip when your doing that testing Knowledge is power
How much total timing and how much timing below your current stall RPM?

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I will give a few more details. This car was built in 2000, and I knew very little about cars at that time. Everything I learned was by trial and error and the internet. Parts for Mopars were not easy top come by, the only aftermarket heads were INDY and so you basically had to build a set of your own. Bullet Bob Reed ported my heads and I paid a few bucks for them. The upgraded heads took me from the 7.45 range down to 7.22. I raced it for about 10 years, but most of that time I focused on helping my Dad with his 1974 Barracuda. We built this car after mine 1970, and fixed all the dumb mistakes I made when I built my car. His is NOT cut in any areas, still has all the glass and door structure. Still has the full trunk lid with hinges, and we were still able to get it down to a 6.65 sec in the 1/8th. The big difference at that time was his cam, which was the .620 Mopar purple cam. He ran the .456 rear and used a spool. He also ran radials from the start. His intake was complete crap and his headers were the same 1 7/8 headers, but his car felt like a Pro-Mod to me when I would drive it. I figure it made about 50 more HP than mine, and everything behind the motor paid the price. We tore up the transmission, the drive shaft, the rear end, and an axle. We raced a bunch in NC, Piedmont, Farmington, Mooresville and Rockingham. I dedicated the last 6 years from 2004-2010 helping Dad and getting his car right because I knew my time would come one day.

From 2010 till now our cars have basically sat in the garage waiting. Dad got sick with pulmonary fibroses 4 years ago, and watching him slowly loose his battle with this disease was very difficult. He passed away at Christmas last year (2020) in the middle of all this covid mess. My sister is getting his Barracuda, so that car is not an option for me. I will get the rear-end, and maybe eventually the motor, but I am now focused on getting my car safe and up to date. I figure running the 7.0 class and doing footbrake bracket racing will be enough for now.

Now it is time for me to take my car and move it to Georgia where I have lived for the past 7 years. We do not have the same number of quality tracks here as in NC, and in fact we are loosing Commerce later this season. I have visited Paradise dragway and Brainerd, and hope to run at both these tracks, as well as taking the car back to NC to race some. I want to get the car legal to run a NHRA track so I can run Commerce at least once before they close it.

A lot has changed in the past 10 years. The sport seemed to almost die, and then this outlaw racing has been a bit of a savior for it. I went to my first Outlaw race last month in Brainerd and it was very impressive. The thing is folks seem to have moved away from bracket racing and more towards the index classes like 7.0 and 6.0 heads-up, pro tree. That is why I am looking to pick up a bit, to have more options on when I can race.
My car was VERY GOOD as a bracket car. My last real race was Mopars at the Rock in 2010 where I won three rounds and lost in the third round with a MOV of only .0048. That day the car ran 7.17, 7.17, 7.17, 7.15, 7.18, 7.16. Since that time I did replace the front part of my motor with aluminum parts, (Water Pump, WP Housing, and Radiator), so I believe I have dropped 15 lbs there.

The current plan is to bring the car to Ga. this weekend, and fix a few things and try to have it at Caffine and Octane at the drags at Atlanta Motor speedway on 6/15. If we run it there, I will post the results and maybe some pictures. Glad to be back in the racing game, and I appreciate all the advice I plan to continue to listen to folks and learn.

https://www.caffeineandoctane.com/caffeine-and-octane-at-the-drags

Thanks Cab_Burge. I will try to learn more about the exact timing of my cam. I have to admit, this is not something I have ever messed with. The cam is exactly as it was when I bought this car in 1999. I will look into this more and see if there is any time to be had there. The only thing I ever do is go through and adjust the valves on a regular basis since this is a mechanical cam.

MPH through the traps is consistently 96 MPH. Only ran a 97 three times.

I should also mention one area that has been difficult for me is tuning the Carb. I battle some degree of hesitation off the line from time to time and chase it by changing the jets. I can usually get the car right after two runs if I need to adjust the jetting, but I am sure this is an area I need to get better at, and ultimately find the root cause for the issue. I have changed squirters, pumps, adjusted the fuel level and the pump arms on the Holley. I still feel I have a lot to learn on the Carb.
Despite all the problems I have talked about, my win ratio was about 40% over 120 rounds of competition I can find documentation for. Not great, but for no more racing than I have done, not the worst either.

Last note and then I am going to bed. I am really leaning towards yanking the heads and trying the Eddys. I will need to buy new headers to use them anyway, so putting them on this car vs another seems like the best option for now.
Once I get the car back to where I feel safe and stable with it, this is likely the course of action I will take to try to get it down to 7.0.

I still want to hear opinions, and I will post and keep everyone up to date on the results.

Thanks to all.

I'd do the heads since you have them, but I'd give it more stall. 4500 would be my choice.

Sounds like a cool car. Post a pic.

After reading your last couple of posts,I think your goal can be achieved with some tuning. B/4 you start throwing $ at it. Then do the head swap esp since considering a cam change at this time is not good idea because of the shortages and lack of options.

I'd do the head swap and see what that gains you. If you still need a little more ET I'd get a better/looser convertor. When my car ran 7.0-7.1s my 60ft was typically 1.51-1.53. I don't think you'd seen a big improvement from 1 7/8 to 2" headers. I went from 1 3/4" TTI to 2" hooker fenderwell and I might've picked up a tenth if I"m lucky in the 1/4. I have a .040 440 10.9:1 MP .557 cam, Trick Flow 240, Victor Intake, Proform 850, 727 with 5000 stall 8", Dana 4.56 using a 30" tire. Car weights 3200lbs with me in it. Best it's been is 10.49 @ 126, but typically a 10.60s car.

2' hooker fenderwells are about the worst hp header out there, primaries are too long and mis-shapen, collectors are garbage too. If a header has a bolt flange around the end of the collector it is designed for street use. In other words, hp is not the primary concern. Getting the exhaust attached to the head is.


Using those as a comparison to a 1 7/8 tti isn't a good one in my opinion.

1/8 mile...... the first 330’ has more affect on the ET than the last 330’.
So, address the first half of the track.

More stall, cam with tighter lsa, get rid of the TG.

4500+ stall, something like a 250/256-106 cam in at 102, M1 single plane.

Should go quick enough to let you back into the 7.0.

Almost exactly what I would have recommended. Plus, I dont think you need a dominator carb.

What pistons are in this engine? Might not have much compression with 90+cc iron heads.

You said that you have 1 7/8 Hooker Comp headers that wouldn't work with your alum. heads. I thought the 1 7/8" Comps and 2" Super Comps were OK with angle plugs and it was the 1 7/8" Super Comps that didn't work with angle plugs. I could be wrong.

Edit. I was wrong. All the hookers require dings to fit angle plugs. Looks like you need Doug's or Tti.
Or a torch and a bfh

I think you really just need some minor tweaking. Honestly at 3150 lbs you should be able to run the number even with the 906 heads.

Here is an Example( yeah I know aluminum heads but we are 500lbs more and these aren't that much of an improvement over the 906)
72 Cuda 3650 lbs
Eddy heads 10.5 comp
Comp cam Number:XS282S
Duration at .50 is 244 and 252
Lift .52 and 5.4
Performer intake w/ 950 holley
Headers are Comps 1 7/8 with mufflers
Auto with 4200 stall
4.10 gears with spool
15x29.5x9 slicks
Car runs right where you are now shifting at 5400 rpm and 500lbs heavier
Oh it also runs power brakes

If this was my car I would get a better converter with more stall, we like PTC, change out the 488's. I would ditch the intake. Not a fan, if I remember right cylinders 3,5,2 and,4 are fairly restricted due to how intake bolt access was cast. Also add a 4150 carb. When footbraking we have had real good luck with the 950. I just don't see the need for the dominater.

See where that gets you. If not where you want then change the heads. I think you can get where you want pretty easily

You shouldn't need to change the jets to make it not bog or lay down off the starting line.
Two things can make the car bog or be lazy off the starting line, to rich or to lean. Most Dominator carbs have dual 50 CC accelerator pumps, way to much fuel through them will make it bog or load up the first ten to 30 ft. off the starting line, some of the later Holley Dominator have 30 CC pumps. What is the List number on your carb? It should be stamp with 4 small numbers on the top of the flange where the air cleaner sits if it is a early model and not a HP model
Do you have a weather station to race with? If not how about outside air temperature, humidity and barometric pressure information at the track?
Do you know about air density? If so do you remember or know how much it changes at the tracks you race at? The reason I'm bringing this up is you should not have to change the jet sizes unless the air density changes up or down by a 1000 ft. or more, lean it, smaller number on the jet, out one size if it goes up 1000 Ft, make it larger by one size if it goes down 1000 Ft.
I'm thinking the humidity back east will make a big difference on your air density, moisture molicules lean the air out, less water molicules make it better
As already suggested work on what you have now until you can't make it go any faster before changing parts, focus on the starting line first to make it consistent and faster
Keep us in the loop, we need more racers at the tracks

Agreed.

Just say you were in the market or in the need of a new carb. What would you suggest? Holley HP with the idle air by pass?

I would not change the carb. Even though I have a 750 double pumper on it now (6109) The fastest et and mph on the same engine in my car , on the same test and tune day, came with a 1150 dominator (7320). The best "new" carb in 4150 style I have had my hands on was a 80496

Again, thanks to everyone on your feedback. I spoke with my engine man today and he has been watching this post and was able to know exactly who this was by the details I posted. He suggests, (and I agree with him) that for now I focus on getting all the safety stuff checked out on the car before we even look at the engine. There is no doubt, the old drum brakes all the way around the car drag and have always been an issue. It is not a cheap option, but in the long run I do want to go to lightweight discs on all four wheels. This way I know I have the weight reduced some, less friction due to old drums, and better stopping power which is a safety thing. Now that I am older, I do care a bit more about that than I did in my 20's!
He also believes the radials can pick me up a little ET, so I am back to thinking I want to try these when I replace the tires.
He thinks the Carb is too big, but is more concerned about getting a better intake like the M1, so I will probably switch that out fairly soon.
There is no doubt I still need to learn more about tuning the carb, and while it may not be the best fit for now, if I ever do go faster, it will be good to keep it. I have a performer intake sitting on a car now, so I might take a look at trying that with a smaller carb. Seems like these days the best options are go with what you have sitting around when you can because items are hard to find and getting more expensive each day.

Maybe at this point you are asking, "Why does he have a new performer intake, and a set of Eddy heads sitting around?" well that is another story for later. Remind me to tell you that one.

So let me address Cab and the weather questions. I have detailed records from all my runs from 8/1999 - 4/2010, however I really did not understand what mattered until recently. All I was logging back then was temp, humidity and barometric pressure. I knew lower altitude track my car was faster, like Rockingham, but I did not fully grasp the air density. I have learned a good deal more about that since, and have even went back and found a few more details from dates that details are saved on www.airdensityonline.com. So thanks for that advice, and I will definitely be paying close attention to this as I run in the future. The last race I lost at Rockingham I felt like I was all over the details of the weather. My dial ins were spot on and the car was running on the number very consistently. Just before the run, I felt a slight breeze in my face. I did not adjust the dial in for it, and for the first time that day the car ran 2 hundredths off the dial instead of just one. I lost the race by .0048. No doubt weather can be a game changer.

Last note and it is bed time. Thanks for all the advice, and I agree with Cab one more time. Mopars win in the first half of the race, so focusing on the 60 ft, and getting out of the hole is where I am going to put my efforts for now.

Dang dude.....You kicking it OG style with that right there. Shades of ol Kevin Chapman.......

Your engine guy is very wise. I just assumed most of those safety issues had been addressed. Definitely address the front brakes. Luckily whenever I bought my car [68 Cuda] my friend had already converted the front brakes to disk off a 73 Dart. I would be thinking about having a stronger DS built with 1350 joints and yokes. I had mine built by a place that does truck DS. They also build for Pro stick cars, that cost about 250 with the U joints. Do you have the Performer or the Performer RPM? I'm asking because it took me 2yrs to snag an M/1 not many people want to let them go. I got a TM/7 from the same guy. Their out there, you just have to be at the right place at the right time ,I'm usually not that lucky.

What compression is he running ? I might have miss it, someone mention e-85 That 31 hundred something pound is that race weight?

I agree. Dad twisted a drive shaft in his Barracuda, so I know if I go any stronger on the engine, this is an upgrade I will need to do first.

So let me give everyone an update for today.
1. Went to NC and brought the car home to Georgia. Towed her over the mountains I-40 vs I-85 because 85 is just miserable to drive most of the time.
2. The car started right up. I did have to get a new battery, but otherwise ran fairly smooth.
3. I have an issue with the back wheel brakes locking up. They get tighter and tighter but do not release. This was an issue the last time I took the car out in 2018, so I know that has to be fixed before we can do anything else. We traced the issue back to the proportion valve. It was incredibly difficult to remove the lines from this valve! We also removed the master cylinder, cleaned it up and are rebuilding it. I know I want to replace the drum brakes with disc but was planning to only do the front for now. I think I want to go with the Wilwood Drag Dynalite brakes for the front. Brakes have always been a challenge and I have spent more time and effort on trying to get the old ones to work without dragging it is time to upgrade to a good, safe disc brake. Before we do anything else to the brakes I am going to understand what I need to replace to convert over to disc.
4. The rubber lines for the front brakes were horrible. We removed these and will replace them. The one rubber line connecting to the rear-end looked to be ok, so we are not replacing it for now.
5. Inspected the slicks and found they were still in good shape with a lot of tread on them. I replaced the front runners in 2018, and they look good as well.
6. Since we are going to redo the brakes we will re-route the right side line in front away from the transmission. It is currently in the stock position, and I understand the NHRA wants this moved away from the trans.
7. Installed a new safety Harness that is certified till June 2023.
8. In 2018 I installed an MSD distributor I got from a guy getting out of racing. I checked it and he had removed the springs. I went to my Dad's car and he runs a similar distributor. I checked his springs and installed a similar set to his. I need to learn more about these and how the affect the car. I also know when we go to run the car we need to dial in the timing. How much timing do most folks run? 36? 38?
9. Hooked up the transmission cooler I had bought before. This time I installed it with AN fittings and steel braided hose. No short cuts here. I did get a transmission temp gauge just to watch it. I have no idea what a normal temp should be in a race car.
10. Of course bringing in the car peaked the curiosity of the neighbors. My next door neighbor came over and talked for a while. He was actually the plant manager in the Chrysler transmission plant. He knew all about the old car and was tickled to share some stories. I had no idea he had this job in the past!

Of course the "To Do" list is pretty long, but if we get the brake situation solved before the weekend, there is a chance we may go do a test-n-tune session at Paradise Dragway in Calhoun Ga. on Saturday. If we do, I will try to get an updated weight on the car and share the latest numbers with everyone.

PS: I know the wiring is awful and we still have too many holes in the firewall. Both are pretty high up on the to do list. Also the car has rubber fuel lines, and this will also be fixed very soon, (maybe before the weekend). One more thing. Back in the day when I was trying to build this car I had access to a Plasma cutter and we used it EVERY where we thought we could loose some weight. That is why there is a hole in the fender well. You can also see the front bumper and supports is removed, as is the side windows. We cut all the support out of the hood, removed the springs, and cut eht structure out of the trunk and doors. In 2018 I replaced the radiator, water pump housing and water pump with aluminum. That is why I needed the trans cooler.

Check out Aerospace Components brake kits before buying.

Ok so here's what I ran back in 1990>

3300lbs@the line, '69 Cuda
440-6 block, 906's ported to around 260cfm with 2.14/1.81's
Team G dominator flange with an 850DP
CC. .650/.650 290@.050" SFT cam
2" f/wells, CR was under 10:1 on motor
_____________

Suspension:- 90/10 fr, L/bars-c/overs
chassis tied
4.88's/14x32's, 8" 4800stall verter.
Car ran only once NA and went 10.71@125 which is a 6.76 1/8th
thats 531fwhp on track, trapped@6700rpm
that may give you some idea of things of where you are now
as I had similar stuff to you, the big thing for me was that cam, it ticked over at 900rpm and pulled real hard top end.
tie your chassis together for starters, back off and adapt down to a good 950DP carb and go again see where you are, I think you need more cam than you have, thats a street not race cam you have in their.

Day - 2
Yesterday I actually found a Willwood Brake set for the front of my car in stock. It had black calipers, and I would have liked red, but I took it. Is supposed to deliver today. So here is what we did last night.
1. Removed all of the front drum brake assemblies. Cleaned up 50 years of grim and dirt.
2. Removed the valve covers, and of course broke both of them. We will need to adjust the valves later this week, so I went ahead and ordered new valve cover gaskets.
3. Took apart my MSD distributor. This is one I got from someone and I was not sure about the springs or the bushings. The colors seem to have faded badly, and so have my eyes. I have some bushings, I am guessing they are the black, blue and red. They actually measure roughly the following numbers. .371, .340, .308. Does anyone know what size is what color? What do you run in your set-up? We were assuming we should run the blue bushing (+21 degrees) and set the initial timing at 15 degrees for a total of 36 degree overall. Not sure what combo of springs to use. Any suggestions?
4. Removed the seat and ground off some sharper edges on the legs. My wife is having to repair some of the snaps on the seat cover and I installed a little extra padding.
5. Weighed the brake parts we removed. I will compare this to the new ones when they arrive to get an idea of how much weight we lost on the conversion. Parts we removed weighed 70lbs.

Tonight will be a big night of work if everything comes in as ordered. Still eye balling Friday night at Paradise, but Saturday morning is an option as well.

I would start with the black bushing 18* and the 2 blue springs [medium] that way can go to 18 initial +18 advance for 36. Then see how idles and advances. Then play with the springs for quicker advance if needed.

I use the black bushing and the weakest springs I can use on that later model MSD distributor, there are at least 3 different MSD model distributors that fit RB and B motors
I set the total timing at 34 degree BTDC and use what it ends up with at idle RPM as long as it doesn't kick back on the starter

Thanks for the advice. We will adjust the distributor in a similar fashion tomorrow. Seems like getting to the bushing is kind of tough, but we will get it.

Speaking of tough, every nut on this car is stuck! It took two of us way too long today just to get the old oil filter off. Ever notice how no one on Motor trend TV seems to have these issues?
So tonight we got the following done:
1. Installed the new front Wilwood brakes. They really look sweet.
2. Installed the new master cylinder.
3. Changed the oil. I am going with a K&N oil filter and Valvoline 10w-30 VR-1 Racing oil, along with some Lucas Oil stabilizer.
4. Set up the carb. Again, many things stuck. Removed the bowls and cleaned it up. Here are a few specifics about where we are going to start with the tune. Of course as mentioned before, this is a Holley Dominator 1050, and I know most everyone thinks it is too big for the car. But it is what I have for now, so this is my set-up:
Squirters are 31's. Back jets, 88 with extensions. Front jets 92. I adjusted the pump activation spring, as it was loose and turning the top nut did not change anything until I figured I had to hold the bottom to keep the whole thing from spinning. I have the whole carb set where I want to start with the tune, but again, I am always open to suggestions if something I am doing sounds way off.

I weighed the old brakes vs the new and it is 30 lbs off the front of the car. This is coupled with the fact that I have replaced the radiator, water pump and housing with aluminum, saving around another 30 lbs. That is 60 lbs off the front of the car. That does not include the weight the driver has lost in the past 6 months, getting back down below my old driving days weight by a few pounds.
Nothing yet on trying to make more power, but getting the carb and timing dialed in may help.

Tomorrow we still have a large list to tackle including:
1. hook up the brake lines
2. Bleed the brakes
3. hook up the proportion valve and set.
4. Adjust the valves
5. Install the valve covers and check for leaks.
6. Set up the distributor and set timing.
7. Re-Install the seat
8. Adjust new safety harness
9. Check MSD rev limit pill and set shift point on tac.
10. Make sure the tires are all full of air
11. Double check and adjust the accelerator cable
12. Final install of transmission cooler. We have run the lines, just not secured the cooler.
13. Cut and re-install exhaust turn out. This one got damaged as it was hanging too low and hooked the garage floor lip while backing up. I need this turn out to keep the exhaust off the shifter cable.

IF we get all that done tomorrow, we will load and head to Paradise Dragway on Friday for a good long test-n-tune session. If we do not make it, they are also open Saturday, or worst case would be next Friday.
IF the car runs ok and there are no issues, we will be at "Caffeine and Octane at the Drags" on 6/13 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. I would love to get in a few grudge races with some of those exotic drivers who think their $200K cars could smoke my Plymouth.

Looking at this picture, I would add subframe connectors (if you don't already have them) plus Caltracs to make the car stop twisting. My Car (67 Barracuda) used to twist up big time as well. Once I put Caltracs (the links, monos & shocks) on the car, it launched nice and even (both tires off the ground)....and it picked up a little bit of 60' and ET too.

If your only needing to pick up .15, you might try borrowing an alcohol carb from someone (one that is a known good working carb)

Alcohol has more impact on lower compression motors than high compression motors. On my wife's 11:1 motor is picked it up almost .3 and that was on a 390" small block with an out of the box Holley HP 950 alcohol carb from a 750 Barry Grant Silver Claw carb.

That may be the simplest, cheapest and quickest way to get you to 7.0 and if you can borrow one and try it first you can find out for sure without spending any money..

Set up the carb. Again, many things stuck. Removed the bowls and cleaned it up. Here are a few specifics about where we are going to start with the tune. Of course as mentioned before, this is a Holley Dominator 1050, and I know most everyone thinks it is too big for the car. But it is what I have for now, so this is my set-up:
Squirters are 31's. Back jets, 88 with extensions. Front jets 92. I adjusted the pump activation spring, as it was loose and turning the top nut did not change anything until I figured I had to hold the bottom to keep the whole thing from spinning. I have the whole carb set where I want to start with the tune, but again, I am always open to suggestions if something I am doing sounds way off.

Good starting point on the Jets but I would carry some extras with me dominators like fuel. Good luck

Thanks. I looked back over my history with this car and found my 6-8 fastest runs had very close to this jet set-up. There have been times in cooler weather or at low altitude that I have been able to pickup by running slightly higher, but in general this has worked fairly well in the past.

I always carry a full set of jets, but never been very good with the quick change tool from Holley. Find it easier just to drop the bowls and switch them that way.

Thanks, I certainly need to look into beefing up the suspension a bit.
I did weld in frame connectors, and I am running a solid motor plate in the front part of my engine, 90/10 drag shocks, stock springs and a pinion snubber.
I will research the Caltracs. Probably need them or at a minimum SS Springs. I am wanting to get the front wheels up pretty good and I have heard stories of B-Bodies twisting so bad they pop the windshields out.

I have debated alcohol and even E-85. Both are interesting options. I run a pretty small fuel cell, and switching to alcohol would probably require me to increase the size of it. I am about to upgrade my fuel lines to braided steel, and maybe after I get the fuel system completely updated I might try to play with the fuel. Been running about 114 Octane racing gas. Now that it is $11/gallon or more, I might look at other options. Thanks for the suggestion.

Like Don (B3422w5) said, I'd put on the heads you already have. Get whatever headers you need to make em fit. With the current combo, I think a 1 7/8" header would be better, but if 2" is all that will fit, then so be it.
Also get a better intake manifold. Like fast68 said, an M1 or even a Holley SD would be better. I had a similar combo years ago and the Holley SD w/ the 4500 adapter was faster than the 4500 flange Team G.
Honestly I'm surprised your car isn't faster for what it is.

What is your compression only reason I asked is a friend tried. 114 last year and his car slowed down, he only has about 12.1 compression so lower octane might be something to try to

Yeah, e85 is only about $2/gal....If you are paying $11/gal now and e85 swap would pay for itself in 1 race season (no joke). I made the move to e85 quite a few years ago. If I recall correctly I picked up 1.5 tenths in the 1/4 mile going to e85.

I switch to pump E85 6 or 7 years ago on my S/P bracket car, that fuel is way more consistent than any other gas or race gas I've used, my S/P car now doesn't vary more then .003 ET in the 1/8 mile from the first run in the morning to the last run in the heat of the afternoons here in central Oregon
My other cars would vary a lot more than that on gas depending on the weather change, some times as much as .015 \
I pay from 3.75 up to 4.20 a gallon at the pump, they sell VP race gas also and the cheapest on, lowest octane, is over $10.00 a gallon
E 85 doesn't go bad in the jugs either when sitting, winter or summer

sorry, did not read the whole thread.....but did you consider going to another Rocker Ratio? If you use 1.5s maybe you can find a good used set in 1.6 ratio, they´re around and will give you a little more power relatively cheap.

Michael

Thanks, I am strongly considering getting the M1 intake and trying it out. As for the headers, the problem I have is that the Eddy's have angled plugs and anything less than 2" will not allow you to put in plugs. Trust me, I have learned this the hard way and now have a set of really nice ceramic coated 1 7/8 headers I can not use, (at least with these heads, I am sure I will use somewhere else).

I will be honest on this one, I do not know the compression ratio on this motor. The bottom end was built when I bought it and even though I went through and checked the bearings years ago, I did not try to measure the specs to get the CR calculated, I have always thought the 114 octane would be a safe bet, but I might just experiment with some lower octane to see what the results are. Certainly at $11-$12/gallon I do not want to buy gas more expensive than I need!
I will put getting the CR figured out on my list of things to do. Thanks.

You'll have to find an M/1 used, they don't make them anymore. If you see one you better snag it, it took me 2 yrs to find one. Do you know if that engine has flat top pistons? Also I wouldn't even consider SS springs because the the price of Cal-tracs and matching springs are reasonable. For now clamp the front section of the springs esp the right side and better shocks on it to see if you level up your launch.

The rocker ratio option sounds like a very good idea. I may very well try that if I switch out the heads. I could go ahead and find me a set of 1.6 ratio and set the heads up with them. I have always thought this was an expensive option based on what I have seen, but I was always looking at roller rockers when I looked at this. Since my cam is a solid lift I would have to find the right set. I have seen ugly reviews of some of the sets vs others. Some like the Harland Sharp seem to be preferred, but they can get pricey. I will start to keep my eye out for a set.
How much does your cam specs change when you go from 1.5 to 1.6?

I think I know where there is an M1, so I am going to call him today and see if I can get it. I believe the pistons are flat top. They guy who was building the car initially had very good documentation, and the engine seemed very solid. Unfortunately most of the parts listed for the motor came from a Federated Auto Parts, and I have never been able to find the details by part number. The invoices were from 1996.

I would say you don't need race gas with those open chamber heads maybe a mix 50/50 of 110/93.

M1 intakes for RB blocks even for the 4500 carbs seem to pop up all the time. You shouldn't have a problem finding one. As for headers you may want to double check fitment. I know my brother ran hooker comps with no clearance problems with his Edelbrock heads on the 440.

Here is the progress and pictures from the last two night, both of which did not end until 1:30am.
We got the brakes in and installed them. That was most of Wednesday night.
Last night we ran all of the new brake lines. We installed an 18" pipe over the transmission and ran the line through it so we could keep the front passenger side line in tact and still meet NHRA rules. We bled the master cylinder. We set up the advance on the MSD distributor by changing the bushing and springs. We opted to use the blue bushing and a blue and lightweight silver spring. We will play with this more in the future I am sure. We changed the oil, and installed a new K&N oil filter. We went with Valvoline VR racing oil in 10w30. The old oil filter removal was ridiculously hard. Again, there is not anything on this car that is not stuck!

We are close to being ready to go to the track today, but not there yet. Me and the crew chief both get off work at noon, and if we can finalize a few things we can do the remaining last minute tweaks at the track. The track opens at 5:00, so we need to leave around 3:30 if we want to be there early. I will let you all know how it goes. With the changes we have made I am hoping to see the car go 7.05. We have removed at least 60 lbs. off the car, but I have never run this track so we will see what we can do.

I will post a picture of the headers on those heads when I go back to NC. Perhaps the Eddy heads your brother had were indeed the ones with straight plus vs angled. My understanding is the closed chambered Eddy heads all have the angled plugs and this is what causes the problem with the plug clearance. I tried everything and every plug I could find. Would not take even a "Shorty" plug.

the duration does not change substantially.....maybe 2 degrees longer? I don´t know for sure. It´s the increase in lift that gives more power. If you wanna know your lift number with 1.6 Rockers, take the 1.5 ratio number, divide by 1.5, then multiply by 1.6. Or use the lobe lift multiplied by 1.6.

Michael

here are good pics of 2" headers on the angled plug heads.
http://www.hughesengines.com/TechArticles/10hpmanifoldshookersupercompheadersonbigblockangle.php

are there 1-7/8" headers that use the same tubing layout as these headers?

I seriously doubt that switching rockers from 1.5 to 1.6 will do anything more than lighten your wallet. Just my opinion.

Flat top pistons and open chamber heads? Have you ever checked the cranking pressure? It may pick up a little with a lower octane fuel. My last three engines have been pump gas builds. In all three I've tried higher octane gas and all have slowed down. The last one made 30 more hp on the dyno on pump 93 than on 98 race gas, even though it was tuned for the 98.

Just double checked with my brother, he ran Hooker Comps on his iron head 440 and switched to TTI headers when he ran the Edelbrock heads. The heads have angled plugs. Sorry for the error. TTI does show the 1 7/8 headers fit both straight or angled. Good luck

[. TTI does show the 1 7/8 headers fit both straight or angled. Good luck [/quote]


Here's a picture TTI 1 7/8" With Edelbrock RPM heads angled plugs.

Mark

I am going to figure this out soon. Thanks for the advice.

Here is the last update for this week.

While we still had a pretty good list of things to be done before we could race, my buddy came over at lunch and by 3:00 we were ready to load the car and take it to the track!
We got all of the new brakes and brake lines bled and found only one leak. The leak was not on any of the fitting we made, but rather on the fitting going directly into the caliper from Wilwood. We made some adjustments and got the leak to stop, so now we have great new disc brakes on the front of the car.
When we went to crank the car we had two issues.
#1 the main ground wire that goes to the charger connections on the back of the car was coming apart. This caused the starter to drag and not start even though we had a brand new battery. We realized the full charge was not getting to the starter and traced it back to this connection. Greg and I were able to clean this up, get a new fitting on the line and establish a much better ground. Now the starter turned right over.
#2 the intial timing was way off. Once we were able to get the car started and put a light on it, we found the timing to be off and when adjusted the car ran very smooth and cranked immediately.
Problems solved! Off to the track.

We arrived at Paradise later than I had hoped, but they were a bit behind schedule as well and so it gave us plenty of time to test the brakes, and check things out. The brakes worked far better than ever and I felt super safe and thrilled to be back behind the seat.
They do things a little different at this track than I am used to. They let everyone take a few warm up laps down the track to get their cars warmed up. By the time we were ready to take ours, they had flipped over to actual time runs. Since this was my first time at the track running, I was not clear on what I was doing, and so I took it very easy on the first pass. Car felt good, I was ready to lay down a better time next round.

Round 2 - I went in and staged and ran like I normally would. The car jumped off the line and felt like it had a bit of a spin down most of the track, but the car felt strong. It only ran a 7.5 but that felt really good for the first time running in 11 years. I was beside a dart and beat them pretty good. When I got back to the pits, they were checking the track. They were thinking I might have laid down some oil due to my car smoking a bit.
We looked closely and found the new valve cover gaskets I put on were leaking horribly. In addition, we did find one of the fittings going to the trans cooler a bit loose, so we tightened them up. We also pulled the valve cover gasket, added some sealant, dogged the screws down again and headed back to the staging lanes. This time I left the hood off the car and as soon as I brought the RPM's up the smoke started flowing out of the passenger side at that same gasket. I made a hit, but immediately saw smoke and let up, moving to the side out of the main racing groove. This time the track crew saw nothing at all on the track, but I was done for the night. I did not want to put anyone else at risk since our car was not right. It was kind of embarrassing to have my car look like this, but I realized this was not really a bad outing for a car that has not run in 11 years.

All in all it was a decent night for test and tune. The good thing is everything we worked on this week worked well except the valve cover gasket, so of course that gets me to my question of the day.

"What the heck are you all doing to get a decent seal on a valve cover gasket for a Mopar performance valve cover?"

I was running a Fel-Pro VS 50145 R. This is a black rubber material, without the tabs. I will never buy these again, completely useless in my opinion.

Oh and one more comment, not being negative but I was not that impressed with the Jegs Harness I bought. I had a nice Simpson one from before, but now that they have the dumb rule about changing belts every two years dang if I want to pay that much for a new harness. The problem I had with the Jegs belts were they were extremely difficult for me to hook. I caught the end of my finger in it and I am still typing this without using my left index finger. Sorry Jegs, would love to have something good to say about the belts but I really have used much better in the past.

Let's end on a positive note.
Wilwood brakes, big thumbs up!
Right Stuff master cylinder, thumbs up!
MSD distributor, thumbs up!
Autozone loan a tool program for flaring kit, thumbs up!
Jegs pre-made AN-6 5 & 6 ft steel braided lines for transmission cooler, thumbs up!
Getting to bed after 1:30am three out of the last 5 nights, but getting a car that has not run in 11 years to the track, and making a decent pass at a track you have never run before, and being back in the saddle as a Mopar drag racer, Super awesome big Thumbs Up!


I do want to thank the great folks at Paradise Dragstrip. Everyone there was super nice and helpful. Several people came up to me and made kind comments about my car. Thanks to my loving wife who supports my love of racing. Thanks to my buddy Greg who has been there by my side all week. I miss my dad, but it sure helps to have them both to enjoy this with.
We will be back, but we have a few things to work out first. I also want to thank once again the folks on this board for providing a lot of good opinions and perspectives that have given me new ideas. You guys are great and I appreciate your support. We will not be racing at Caffine and Octane at the drags, but I might still go just as a spectator this year.

PS: Sasquatch I want that M1!

You got it running and made it to the track that was the goal. Let me guess on the valve cover gasket ..pass side front leaking? It was a big accomplishment esp since you weren't able to take the car out for any test hits b/4 you went to the track. I'm shooting to get mine to the the track next Fri eve. for test an tune. PS. It felt good to hear that 440 sing didn't it?

Yes it did feel good. Yes it was the passenger side!

I was surprised at how many Mopars were at the track last night. It was a small turn out in general, as they just started running Fridays this week and there is another track not too far away running Friday night TNT as well. Out of about 40 cars there, I am going to say there were 10 Mopars, 12 mustangs and a mix of other cars. good to see some other Mopar folks there. Most of them were Darts and Dusters. A few late model street cars as well.

So now that it is the morning after, here is my evaluation of the next steps.
1. I still have an issue with the back brakes even though it is minimized by the effectiveness of the new front Wilwoods. We are going to replace the flex line on the rears, and may still run all new line to them. Down the road I can see the next conversion kit to put similar disc on the back. I have learned we have to plan ahead these days if you want parts!
2. We have to find the solution to the valve cover gasket. I am not running any form of crankcase evacuation system such as SUM-1020-108 from Summit. Dad used to run one of these and I wonder if this would help?
3. The wiring of the car need to be fully gone through and cleaned up.
4. I am not 100% sold on the set up for the transmission cooler. Is this cooler enough? I am using SUM-331000. I have it mounted in the front right beside my radiator. I have a digital temp gauge I have not hooked up so we will get that hooked up. Not sure what temp I should expect to see.
5. Maybe consider putting a thermostat back in? Now that I have this new aluminum radiator it seemed like the car never got over about 160.
6. Try to determine the compression on the engine and investigate the right fuel to run to get the best horsepower.
7. Replace the fuel lines with steel braid tank to carb.


The engine paint is flaking off, and I am sure there are lots of bolts that got heated up last night good for the first time in a long time, so who knows what the bottom of my trailer is going to look like later today when I go to unload the car. No doubt later this year we will be pulling and going back through the engine. For now we will get all of the rest of the car up to the standard I want it to be so when we do upgrade the motor it is ready to run more HP.

I had the same problem on that side because of the tight fit of MSD dist. I ground a little notch on the valve cover to help clear the dist. Glue/ permatex the gaskets to the vc let it cure, then install on head dry and clean. I have the cast aluminum M/T valve covers. I used a flex hose for a 99 Ram because it is longer to compensate for the body lift. If you still have the factory hose it may have gotten pinched shut from the body lifting because its too short.
Any updates?

Here is the latest update and a question or two for the group.
1. This week we replaced the passenger side valve cover gasket with a Morosso 93055. This looks like a much better gasket, so I am eager to try it out and see if we have stopped the oil leak.
2. While we had the cover off, we went through and adjusted all of the valves. Most were still very close to right, but a couple of them were either too tight or too loose. They are all set correctly now.
3. We adjusted the oil level. Looked like we were over by about 3/4 qt and that may have contributed to the leak.
4. We fine tuned the accelerator cable. This is something I have always had to tweak to make sure I was getting WOT when the pedal is to the floor.
5. We did a compression test on all of the cylinders to try to determine the comp ratio. The engine was cold, I know it is better if it is done hot. Here are the results:
#1 - 137 psi - 9.32:1
#3 - 135 psi - 9.18:1
#5 - 138 psi - 9.39:1
#7 - 130 psi - 8.84:1
#2 - 128 psi - 8.71:1
#4 - 137 psi - 9.32:1
#6 - 140 psi - 9.52:1
#8 - 140 psi - 9.52:1
Average - 9.23:1
This seems to be the current comp ratio. I assume if I am running 114 octane race gas I am way over what I need and would probably pick up some time by moving down to closer to 100 octane. Any thoughts?
6. We changed plugs, and this is where I would like some opinions. Now that phone cameras are as good as they are, I can post pics of the plugs and get your opinion on if we are running too rich or lean. They look a little rich to me, but I am no expert in this area.

With those cranking numbers I would be running 93.
See what the new plugs look like after running 93.

What heat range are those plugs?
They look like the mixture is way to rich and two of them, the shiny ones, look like they have oil on them
How did you figure the compression ratio from this compression test?
What valve overs are you using those gaskets on?

Champion J12YC
Compression = test PSI/14.7
Using the MOPAR Black Valve Covers. I feel confident the Moroso gasket is going to fix my leak.
I agree there is some inconsistency in the way the plugs look. That is why I have trouble reading them. Plugs were not immediately removed after the run, so I don't know if that affects them at all or not.
I am going to try a lower octane fuel, probably cut some 93 octane with enough race fuel to get to 95 or 97 to start with.

Thanks for the feedback on Jetting the Carb. I have started watching airdensityonline.com and have purchased a weather station for the new trailer. I have always known the temp and humidity as well as altitude had an affect, but the 1000 ft guideline is a great standard to try to use on changing jets.
You mentioned the 30CC vs 50CC pumps. My dominator has the 50CC. Do you think this is contributing to the bog on the line? Should I switch to the 30's?
The only reason I went to this is when we started out, we knew nothing about tuning a carb. The car always bogged on the line until someone came up and told us one day to try larger jets. Once we did, it really took off the first time.
Even now, if the car is cold, (below 200 degrees) or if I do not rev the engine enough, when I punch the accelerator it wants to bog. I have tried different jets & different squirters but never really found the right combo.
It tends to do best when the car is warm, so this week we re-installed the thermostat, to help bring it up to temp quicker.


Question #2 - E-85, I am very interested in trying to switch my car from racing gas to E-85. My assumptions are to do this you need to change the following things:

1. Fuel pump & regulator. I am running the blue Holley now. -( $405 )
2. Fuel line. I am changing this anyway due to moving away from rubber line. I am thinking I need to go to 1/2 inch 8-AN for E-85.
3. Fuel cell - Currently I run only a 2 gallon tank. I only use about 1/2 of it on a typical 1/8 mile run, so I assume the fuel volume needed to run E-85 will not be more than 2x. (I m changing this anyway so no incremental costs)
4. Carb rebuild, (looks like this is about $491 from Summit)

Probably $1000 is a good estimate I am guessing to change over to E-85.
Can I simply pore it in and try it first with what I have and a little tweaking or would it ruin my current equipment. I am not thinking a long term repeated use, but would like to understand the gain I would get before I drop the money on this.

I think you would be better off buying a new E85 carb as all alcohol base fuels eat and corrode aluminum
I've been racing on pump 85 for 6 yrs. now I had A.J. Casini at Bob George racing(206-472-7412) convert a 1150 CFM Holley I had in hand to E85 back then.
E85 motors consume around 30% more fuel per run, my car was had a blown alcohol(methanol) B1 motor in it before I bought it and put in the bracket 400 stroker motor on pump E85. It has a 7.5 gallon fuel cell mounted in the front of the car and no radiator It does have two small oil cooler running coolant through them for the cooling system. The motor runs very cool most of the time with this set up
Let me warn you that once you get the E85 carb tuned in correctly it will vary very little from the first run of the day to the middle of the day and on into after sundown, maybe as little as .0005
Good luck on your deal

The carb will bog if you have too much transfer slot exposed. There needs to be fuel in the T slot to carry over into the next circuit once throttle blades open. I think you stated that you already checked the lever at acc pump arm. When the engine is warm an idling does it get blubbery[cam sounds rumpier] if you roll into the throttle slowly without pump shot coming in? What initial timing do you currently have?

Play with what you have try lower octane 1st, do some research on e85 I believe in another post about E85 someone mentioned it runs better with more compression, I could be wrong so maybe someone that running E85 can shed some light

Definitely don't need race fuel at that compression. I'd be running 93 . I'm at 11.5 comp and was running 98-99 (mix of race gas and recreational gas(90 octane). I've switched to e85 and really like it. Still sorting some things out on my carb but I ran .08 faster than with mixing fuels.

If you decide to switch to e85 I like Mark at Lightning Carbs in Florida. He really fixed my set up after another so called e85 expert in central USA screwed it up pM meif you want. I'm not going to list names or bash the guy on our forum.

The timing curve we are running starts out at 15 degrees and advances fairly quickly by 21 to a total of 36. I am running the second quickest springs in the distributor, so it should be ramping up to full advance by 2800 RPM. That is close to the rev level I am holding at on the line before I launch. (I am not running a transbrake and may not be consistent in this area yet, could be anywhere from 2200-2800).
I will have to test the blubbery thing next time I take it out.

I converted my carb to e85 with a kit off ebay from Rob Mix. It had metering blocks, gaskets, squirters, and jets for a baseline. I also put in a Holley black pump, 1/2 fuel line, steel mesh fuel filter (paper filters no worky)....but the most important part in my opinion is a wideband so you can tune it. e85 burns so clean it is almost impossible to read a plug. I just picked up a cheap wideband on Summit that was about $150, works great. I think I only spent about $650 total to convert...but that was a few years ago.

Planning to take the car to Brainerd Dragway on Friday night for test n tune session. Brainerd should be a good track to test on and they have a scale so I can get an updated weight on my car. Since the last time out we fixed the rear brakes, got new Moroso valve cover gaskets, new o-ring on trans dip stick, and added a trans temp gauge. Should be able to get in several runs.
We also picked up our new 24 ft enclosed trailer. Never owned one before and this one took 12 weeks to get but it is really nice. Glad I ordered it when I did as the base price has gone up by $2600 in three months! Trying to figure out what to do for the floor. Any suggestions? Rubber flooring looks really expensive but that is what we would like to do.

I´d try 20° or even a little more initial with a limiter kit for the distributor. From my experience engines will idle cleaner, maybe this will reduce your bog. I´d also check the advance curve with a timing light, there are many variables and i would not rely on what the spring kit instruction say.

Michael

I agree with this. I would try 20 intial w/18 advance gives you 38 which should be a good starting point for an iron head lower compression 440. This may help with the slight bog you have. Did you change the rear brake hose yet? Put some jacks under the frame and let the rear drop to see if its too short. Have you had a chance to check the light throttle response[blubbery]?

We did change the brake line in the rear and they work better than ever now, so I am excited to go to the track with good brakes that I do not feel will be hurting my performance.
We adjusted the throttle cable to make sure it was fully opening and adjusted the screws on the pumps to take out any slack in them. I have not had a chance to run the car and do any other testing, as I am working on it in a neighborhood and do not want to bother any of the neighbors. I expect to get in several rounds of testing on Friday and hope to get the car weighed and get a good idea where we are now. Even though we made a couple of runs 3 weeks ago, I would not say we have had a good run to evaluate the car on. I am hoping that Brainerd will be a track prepped similar to what I am used to in NC. The tracks in NC are always very well prepped and honestly as much as I like the folks at Paradise, the track reminded me more of a no prep track, at least that Friday.

One other note, I have looked at the 1050 Dominator I have and the 1050 Dominator my dad has on his car, and even though I thought they were the same, they are not. Mine is a 8082-3 progressive 2 circuit, while his is a 8896, Soft progressive linkage, bigger jets out of the box (90 vs 84), 3 circuit and a 125-55 power valve vs my 125-65. Not sure how much of that matters but I was glad to find the original info on my carb. I intend to set it up similar to out of the box as a starting point for tuning on Friday. Will adjust the jets up a couple of sizes due to the spacers, until we try running without them. I don't want to change things too much, but I am hoping to see some 7.0's.

I will try upping the initial timing to 17 instead of 15 and go to a total of 38. It really seems to idle and crank well at 15 but we will see if the 17 helps.

Good luck to ya! Let us know how it goes!

Update from Friday night.

Summary
Weighed the car, 2860 without me in it, 3080 with 220 lb driver.
Best time: 60ft - 1.579, 330ft - 4.625, ET - 7.190, MPH - 95.27

Took the car to Brainerd for the first time. They were running a nostalgia race the next day so the track was pretty full. We were hauling the car in the new enclosed trailer for the first time.
Got to the track a little later than we had hoped but they were just getting started so we went to unload the car. As I said, this was our first time loading or unloading the car from this trailer. Some of you may know where this is going.
As we were pulling off the trailer, the exhaust hit the spot where the ramp comes out of the trailer and completely stopped the car. Our trailers have always been narrow ramps, and this was a full back door. We bent the exhaust headers pretty bad and had to take a jack to lift the front of the car just to get it out of the trailer. Lesson #1 learned, we looked at other trailers and need to either park on a more level spot or have an extra transition ramp to keep from hitting the bottom of the car.
Once we recovered from that, we took the car out and ran a 7.19 at 95.27 mph straight off the trailer. Here is the set-up we went with:
1. We switched to 93 octane gas
2. We lowered the jets to 88/87 and increased the squirter to a 35.
3. Timing was 36 degrees at full advance
4. Shift at 5800, rev limit at 6200. We hit the rev limit hard well before the finish line.
5. We did put thermostat in at 180 so the car was running about 190-200 degrees.
We had no stumble at all off the line.

So we were very happy with the run. Figured if we had not hit the rev, we may have been in the 7.0's, so we changed the rev limit to 6400. Cooled down the car and went back out.
This time the car slowed down to 7.48. We tried 3 more runs but never got out of the 7.40-7.50 range. The last run we advanced the timing to 38 and the car slowed about .1 seconds.
The car has been making a kind of loud sound on one of the cylinders. Kind of a loud bang when that one cylinder hits. We inspected the headers, and while they were bent down probably 2-3 inches, we did not see any cracks in the headers. We were so focused on this we really did not get around to making changes to the set-up as we were just trying to get back to where we started the night. We did play with the bias on the brakes from round to round as we had not had a chance to really get them dialed in since changing the fronts to disc.

On the way back home it occurred to us that the first round likely had a mix of 114 and 93 octane. My tank only holds about 2 gallons, so it may have had 1/2 gallon of 114 left in it. Perhaps this was the difference as we ran 93 the remainder of the evening. I know it sounds like we are just terrible testers but this was only the second time out with the car in 11 years, and I was focused on getting comfortable driving again.
On the 4th pass down the track I did come heads up with a new Challenger. I never saw him once we left, so that felt nice!

All in all I was happy with the evening. We did not hurt the car much from what I can tell, and we made 5 passes on a new track. We got the trailer home in one piece, even though it was about 2:00AM before we got in. Brainerd is a 2 hour drive, not like the 30 minutes it used to take me to get to three different dragstrips in NC!

This week and next we are re-wiring the car. (That is another story for another day). We are painting the trailer and getting it organized inside. We plan to check the left side of the car, (pull the valve cover and check the valves), inspect the headers closer, change out the transmission pan gasket with a nice new Moroso Blue one, relocate the transmission cooler to a lower horizontal mounting instead of the vertical position we have it in now. We also plan to run the car a bit and pull the plugs to try to see what they look like. Finally we are going to check the vacuum and make sure it is good and not having leaks.

We are looking at test and tune again in 2 weeks at Brainerd, and then hoping to get in a run at Commerce on 7/24. Still have some safety work to do to the car before we run an NHRA track, but we are very close, and want to run there before it closes later this year.

Next time out we are going to start off with a target of 100-104 octane by mixing 93 with the racing gas I have. Not sure if this will matter, but it really was the only thing we changed significantly from the first round. We will likely swap out the 6400 chip on the MSD as well. Maybe in a month we will have new Hoosier Radial racing tires and see if they help.

A few new questions for the group:
1. What do we need to check on the headers since we hit them unloading the car. Is there any thing we could have done to hurt the car when that happened?
2. Have you ever heard of an MSD chip messing up and hurting your performance. I think these are only there to keep you from over reving and we never seemed to hit the chip once we changed it up to a 6400.
3. What should we check when we hear a loud popping on one cylinder?
4. If the idle is not holding steady, would this indicate a vacuum leak? It was moving between 800-1200 every 15-20 seconds

I have the same MSD dist you have and mine did the same thing [searching] at idle. Try 1 heavier spring in the dist to see if it helps. I had to use 2 medium springs for it to stabilize. Still all in at 2500. I have 25 initial/34 total. I also had to toss the rev limit pill it was causing it to miss way before I hit the limit on the pill.

Try raising the front of the trailer a little more when unloading your car that should give you the clearance for the exhaust

Thanks, we will do that.

You need to go back to race fuel (we'll maybe not 114), or a mix. Those cranking compression numbers aren't telling the story. And I wouldn't change anything else......yet. You need to get the fuel right first. What do the plugs look like now.?. Are the pistons a dome style? Since we cant see all the increments of each run, and have no weather data, what happened exactly on those following runs? Was it in the 60, or was it mph.

It takes one heck of a hit to bend headers down 2-3 inches. You better check thing over on the engine and slow the heck down.

Let me clarify a bit. I have had a turn down on the end of the driver side header to keep the exhaust from blowing directly on the shifter cable. This turn down has caught several times when I was backing up, this was not the first time. We removed the turn down and realized the header on that side was down about 2 inches. We never hit it very hard, always while slowly backing up but this time it caught on the trailer. We were able to bend it back even with the right side.
So when you so check the engine, what exactly would you be looking for? A leaking header gasket? Broken header? A broken header bolt?
I don’t know what else to check. From what I can see there is no real damage but I dont know what I dont know.

As for slowing down I feel like I am taking this much more patiently and being a lot more careful than when I initially built the car 20 years ago. I am trying not to take any shortcuts with safety, and I want to continue to move forward. My short term goal is a consistent 7.0 car and we are not close by results than I was 11 years ago. Still I am not discouraged and continue to try to improve each week. Like everyone else at some point the budget will naturally slow me down!

Went to unload the car today and the drivers side slick was flat. I knew I was on borrowed time with these but they still showed decent tread. I have been eyeballing radials so maybe it is time to try a thinner slightly taller Hoosier or Goodyear radial.
This will probably keep us from running Brainerd again in two weeks but we still should be able to make Commerce on 7/24.
Next time out we will go back to experimenting with fuel, try new tires and probably change the MSD distributor spring to a stronger one to prevent the idle creeping. also going to replace that 6400 rpm chip in rev limiter.

Lots to do between now and then.

I’m right there with you hitting my exhaust backing out. Even unhooking and jacking up the trailer it’s still iffy for me. I run alcohol so I have the mufflers, a short section of exhaust, and it’s turned to come out in front of the rear slicks. What even makes mine worse is I’m 65 and go in the driver’s side window and I don’t like to start it inside the trailer. You said earlier it started making a noise then Slowed down. Find out what that noise is before something gets hurt. Are the ones lugs close to the header? Could the header have hit and damaged a spark plug? Pull the valve cover and look and feel around. It may come down to it just liking the race fuel but there’s still the noise you heard. Summit and Jegs both offer ramps that slide under your ramp door to help with the exhaust issue. They are very nice but not cheap.

Here are the details. Instead of typing them all I am going to post a picture of the log.
Changes we made are highlighted in yellow.

Thanks. We will pull the valve cover tomorrow and check the valves to make sure everything is right.
I will likely build a ramp extension that will allow a slower transition. I also think the trailer is still too low in the front, so I am going to flip the hitch and raise it 2 inches in front. I hope that will help it pull a little better and lower the rear by an inch or two. Right now it is too low in front, 11.5 inches vs 13.5 in rear.

I would mix it 50/50 next or some 100-110 race fuel. What's available in your area?

I have both 5 gallons of 112 renegade and 3 gallons of 114 Sunoco. The track has gas for a reasonable amount. Glad I am not having to buy it from the local Sunoco store near me. They want $16/gallon for 112!
I plan to mix it to a target of 100 and test there. Will also try some straight 112 again once we have a good base just to see if it helps or not. I suspect somewhere in between 98-114 I will find the sweat spot for my car.

Renegade makes a 98 race gas, Crate 98.

Been a while since I have had anything to post on here. Every week we get rained out, and simply have not been able to get back to the track. Since the last time I was on here, we have made the following changes.
1. Bought a set of Hoosier Radials, 29.5x9xR15. These look a good bit taller than the old Hoosier Bias tires I had. These are also the lightweight radials weighing on 22 lbs each. Excited to try them.
2. Found we had a leak around the valley pan gasket. Once this was fixed, the idle became much more steady.
3. Bought an M-1 Intake. Putting it on tonight and hoping to improve from the Weiand Team-G I have been running.
4. Bought new 1/2 inch steel line for fuel. This will help me be legal at Commerce this weekend. Installing tonight. Safer and looks a lot better than 3/8 rubber line.
5. Going back to 100-112 octane fuel. We may not need it, but I do not want to worry about that right now.
6. Plugging any holes in the firewall this week
7. Moving the drive shaft loop forward to within 6 inches of the front to be legal.
8. Install new SFI roll bar padding
9. Bought a 2020 SFI Helmet
10. Installing the bottom submarine belt in my 5 point harness. Never run that before but I want to try it.

My wife and I decided to name the racing team "Blackdog Dragracing" after our dog Martin.

Lots done to the car. I just want to get in there and try it all out.

Still to come: (Probably not until the off season)
1. Bought and received TTI 2 inch headers. Waiting to put these on.
2. Pulled my Eddy heads off the 68 RR and took them to Marsh Performance to switch out the locks, retainers and springs. Need to figure out which set of heads to put back on the 68.
3. Still plan to rewire the car

I will post some pictures as we work on the car this week.

Next opportunity to run will be at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce this Friday night and possibly Saturday. Planning to run there and Brainerd several more times this season. Also plan to be at Piedmont Dragway on Mopar Day 9/12/2021 and Farmington Dragway for their Mopar Day on 10/16/2021.