Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

This is our family's bracket race Camaro. This picture was taken last week. There still is some black painting to be done, primarily on the frontend. We powder coated the trim & door handles/locks. The driver's window & regulator was replaced with new. I have new blackened Dzus fasteners ordered for the front.

I pick up the car this Thurs. Have plenty of work to do when we get home to get ready for racing the end of the month.

I went today to install the electronics/ECU & fire it up after sitting in the shop for 4 months.

https://i.imgur.com/VIvsh9K.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Picked up the car today still have a bunch of work to do!

https://i.imgur.com/DuJY7zo.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jBcIzh3.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

In hindsight, I should have never put the fiberglass front-end on the car. I was trying to get a better weight distribution front to back, that I thought I needed. LOL! Mainly because of using a small tire for bracket racing.

This is what I found I needed after trying to flip the car on its back. I need more weight on the front! I have been tightening the extension on the front shocks, limiting the travel & using a launch retard out to about the 60'. This has helped calm the wheelies some & improved the 60's.

I'm past the point where I need to add some additional safety items to race the car faster: a parachute & head/neck restraint device. I don't mind putting the chute on, but I'm hung up on not wanting to wear the restraint device.

The car hasn't been raced since Apr. So, kind of excited to get it out with a whole new look & a few other uprgrades.

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Having some window glass issues. The windshield had picked up a very small chip while at the front of staging lanes behind the burnout box. It wasn't an issue until it was in body & paint. It decided to crack & star.

While it was in the shop, we had the driver's door window replaced. Needless to say, the windows curvature is excessively defective. It didn't allow the window to roll up all the way. According to the glass guy this happens occasionally.

Anyway, the windshield was in stock in Las Vegas & they had to order in the door window. Needless to say, the windows aren't getting installed until 9/25/2024. Two days before our testing/racing starting on 9/27/2024. I live in rural NV. & it takes extra time to have things delivered.

I should be able the make the races as long as there's no more hiccups!

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

We made the testing & last 2 points races of the season this past weekend.

https://i.imgur.com/C2YnHWJ.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Here's our most unique bracket vehicles. I built/tested it around 2004. NHRA started a class for it & my son wanted me to build it.

It's based off a Yamaha Banshee 350cc, twin cylinder 2 stroke. We used it for heads-up/grudge racing also. It was very successful in all venues we raced in from 300' dirt/sand drags, hill shooting, 1/8th mile but was purpose built for 1/4 mile.

The quad has recently been reconfigured for heads up 1/8th mile racing. Hoping to get some testing done this winter on it.

The 1st pic was our small motor in the far lane around 2010 with one of my boys on it.

The 2nd pic is the quad getting some upgrades.

1700/781L :)

https://i.imgur.com/EcbKfXG.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eRUOigV.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Very nice bracket car noticed it said Super Street on the window. Will you be running that class ?

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Thanks for taking interest. :)

When the car was NA, we dabbled in S/ST. We have given some thought going back with the boosted combo.

Since the pics were taken in the body shop, we have removed S/ST from the windows.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Super Street looks like a fun class Just wish it was at all national events and had a national championship.

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

It's a fun class & I've raced two different cars in the class many moons ago. I still have all the crap needed to run the class, but not so sure I could make the old plate throttle stop work with the combo.

As for all national events or championships, as you probably know is wishful thinking.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

The plan was to race 2 events with multiple races at the end of Nov. Then we were going to pull the motor for time changes & a freshen up.

Plans change, with our race season starting in Jan. I decided not to race the end of the month & get the motor pulled. We've pre-ordered most of the hard parts & received some of them already. Hopefully this will help us for the start of the season.

We also ordered a new Holley Terminator X TBI EFI system, because my older Holley TBI EFI set-up is no longer supported. I have been busy transferring the old tune to the new software. Plus, we have to install/re-wire the new system in. The EFI expert(s) are saying there will be some differences when swapping the tune over. I hope it's minimal because the old tune was safe/conservative, competitive & ran high 8s 1/4 & 5.7s 1/8th on pump gas (100 UL).

We are planning to do a rear gear change also from a 3.89 to a 3.70 or 3.55 gear.

Don't know if I have enough time, but I want to convert the front AFCO shocks over to coilovers. Plus, I have to buy & change over the lower control arms.

Got a busy short off season to get this done & try to find time to test the drag quad.

1700/781L:)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

My son put a quad together last minute for a race earlier this year. The quad has no power adder but is on methanol. The below slip is one of the runs, it's a consistent 5.00 performer in the 1/8 mile.

While our quad will not be as fast as that, due to a hefty weight penalty; the chassis & my other son riding (280 lbs.). It will still be a quick ride. Looking forward to all the snide comments at the track. The most common one being "that's cute". My reply is always "wait till you see cute run"!

Who knows, I may even throw my leg over it & make some passes @ 62 years old. :eek:

1700/781L :)

https://i.imgur.com/zKR1Dax.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

I dropped the motor off at the engine builder today. Below are a few changes we are making to the engine. It has around 250 trouble free passes on it since we configured it for the ProCharger. The only exception was a broken rocker arm & we replaced the well-used T&D arms with new.

The new crankshaft (billet) is getting a BBC snout/post vs. the old being a SBC post. The new rods are going to be boost specific specs vs. the standard H-beams we had in it. We are going to time change the valves with the same that Brodix assembled the heads with new.

We are also going to a gear drive for the cam, an RCD or Milodon.

This is a competitive & reliable bracket engine combo. I hope we can get around 400 passes out of it before the next freshening.

Note: The Moroso solid motor mounts (block side) are junk after 250 runs, they have cracks & are distorted badly! We have purchased new ones & are going to weld in a doubler plate to beef them up before installing. We are also looking to add a torque limiter of some type to the frame rail & head.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Been pretty busy last couple weeks. We've been blessed with our 1st grandchild, he's a big boy at 10 lbs. 4 oz. He's the priority right now!

We are still making some time for the race car changes. We decided on a 3.60 rear gear, it's going to bring our rpm down but increase our mph. : eek: We spent yesterday removing the old Holley TBI wiring harness & installing the new harness for the Terminator X TBI.

We took some time this weekend to go over the tune & plans for our Yamaha Banshee DMX. We are hoping to do some limited street testing around Christmas/New-Year. We are going to keep the test hits very short in distance, around 200' to help keep the speed down. We have run 93-95 mph in 300'. Then planning on 1/8-mile track testing in Jan.-Feb. time frame. :)

https://i.imgur.com/ThhrE75.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

I have to baseline the clutch on the Banshee, my boys don't believe in doing that. The 1st thing is to measure the spring installed height. Then measure the pressure, if I remember right, it's around 100 lbs. total. Then I have to weigh the lock-up arms. We usually stagger the weight with 3 arms the same & the other 3 heavier or lighter depending on what we are trying to do.

The clutch tuning is critical on these engines with peaky hp & torque numbers. Plus, we run a 1.94 final gear ratio, but that will probably change to something around 2.00 ratio.

These things are really hard to get off the starting line without bogging. Lots of rpm, clutch slip & delay the lock-up arms about 10'-15' out. This is with a single stage lock-up. We also have a multi-stage lock-up that delays the lock-up arms further out.

Clutch tuning is one of my most favorite things about this quad, that I enjoy.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

While I didn't make any changes to the clutch. It got inspected & baselined with its current set-up. We are using a single stage lock-up system for now & may change to our multi-stage eventually. The base pressure was higher than I like, along with more arm weight than I like. It's what I'm going to start with! The quad went low 9.80's in the 1/4 mile with this clutch set-up.

As for the engine tune, we'll be starting from scratch on the fuel side. We're switching it from methanol to Q16. The carbs are Lectrons & we had to replace the needles & changed out the power jets with ones suited for gas. As for the ignition we are staying with the same timing/curve as it was with alky. We also removed the dual fuel pumps but are using dual needle seats on each carb using gravity to feed them.

https://i.imgur.com/p3Qsg2v.jpg

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Below is our bracket drag bike that I bought for my son. It's a nothing special back half bike. That consistently goes rounds & wins races.

While I was visiting my grandson today. My boy brought up he's planning on racing it this year.

I have never made a pass on it & don't plan to. ;)

https://i.imgur.com/xr3yt1O.jpg

1700Camaro/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Some plans have changed slightly for the race car:

Gear change is complete with a 3.55 ratio & not the 3.60 ratio.

I forgot to mention we wanted to change the converter stall we were between 5,500 & 5,600 stall. We had wanted 6,000. I talked with Hughes & they stated I would probably see a 300-400 rpm increase with the rear gear change. I guess we'll see.

We ordered a Shaver/Wesmar gear drive system. Milodon didn't have a part # for my application. RCD was a long wait.

The new EFI wiring harness is getting cleaned up this weekend. We're doing some other miscellaneous wiring/accessories.

Still on schedule for firing up the Banshee this weekend & getting a few very short test hits in to check the tune & clutch. While we don't expect too many issues. The big change is in the fuel. It had a well sorted out dyno tune & track tune on methanol. We are starting from scratch with running Q16 with no dyno tuning. See if I can remember to take video.

Hoping to get all 3 vehicles out for our season start in Jan. I'm not sure the car will make it in time.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Here's one of the 1st test hits on the quad. We were traction limited for the 1st three gears. Next time out we should have a little better traction.

The plan is to hit the track when it opens toward the end of Jan.

https://www.facebook.com/10000111888...3952054277790/

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Hopefully next time out we have more traction on the street. We're setting the quad up for the Kingman Street Drags in May.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wmSvu4EexyE

1700/781l :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Got a call from my engine builder today. They wanted the water pump to make sure it had clearance for the Enderle timing cover. The have to mill the front cover for pump clearance. My 2-piece ATI cover didn't have clearance for the gear drive.

As for the RCD gear drive, I got the rest of the story. They don't make their gear drive for an SBC with a BBC snout/post anymore.

I also got an update on the new Total Seal rings. These are the AP series rings with gas ports. I questioned them as that was what I thought I had previously. They stated these were the upgraded rings with more gas ports & DLC coating, great!

As for the health of the motor on teardown after 250+ runs. They didn't see anything alarming. They feel with my tune-up, maintenance & engine upgrades. They thought I could get my goal of 400 passes on the engine without major rebuild. There are only 2 items I may replace before the next rebuild is lifters & valve springs. This is what I was hoping for, a low maintenance 8 second engine without pushing the tune/boost. So far, it has been a great, consistent & winning bracket racing combo!

We're a little behind on testing the quad due to life issues. Hope to have video up of that.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Great thread! I love S/SS but have been bracket racing since 1982 and can appreciate anything. I have as much fun in a 15 second car as a 9.90 car and there's less maintenance between rounds! LOL!

(side benefit, this is the first thread I've seen in a while that wasn't highjacked by the self proclaimed genius)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Thanks J M!

I love all Straightline racing & we do it all with many different race vehicles. I know this isn't a bracket racing site, but I do try to share a bit. As I've stated, I'm primarily here for Stock & Super Stock.

While I have won races with the slow vehicles. I prefer the 8 - low 10 sec. rides. Although I have raced a mid 7 sec. truck in S/C & brackets.

As for your last paragraph, you may have jinxed the thread, but I don't care. He's the biggest D..Bag of the forums. Hence why he's been banned/banished or put in time out in numerous forums, including Class Racer.

1700/781L, thanks you for taking interest! :) It has gotten more views than I thought for a bracket race title. :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Been busy with getting 3 race vehicles ready for the upcoming season starting the end of Jan.

I picked up the Camaro's engine today & worked the rest of the day get pulley alignments measured with parts ordered to correct. All work is being done outside the car. Hope to finish everything & disassemble accessory drive & install the engine at the end of the week.

The quad is being tested on the streets of Mexico this weekend. Short hits to start tuning the clutch. The following week is headed to the track for testing on the engine & more clutch tuning.

The drag bike is pretty much ready & will be run the 1st weekend of Feb. We have a TnT on Fri. with the 1st two points races on Sat & Sun. This will probably be when we bring the Camaro out; a big maybe will be the TnT at the end of Jan.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

In my defense, I thought you had to say it 3 times before he would appear, like beetlejuice....LOL!

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

We got some testing done in Mexico today. My big son was riding. This video is a short hit to around 300' getting into 3rd gear. As you can hear we had a Bogg on the 1-2 shift. We made 4 hits today & the last one we got right. We never got it to hook in 1st gear, but it got better as we lowered the tire pressure. The last run was pretty darn good for the conditions & ran it through 4 gears.

The plugs showed we were fat & we will wait to lean the power jets out once we get some 1/8th mile runs on it at a slightly lower altitude.

In preparation for the track next weekend. We took 20 lbs. of base pressure out of the clutch. We also had a little slippage on the 3-4 shift & we added 5g of weight to 3 of the lock-up arms.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/J2yMJ40JCAI

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Got the 1st heat cycle on the Camaro engine this morning. I must have done something right with the new Terminator X EFI install & tune.

I was alarmed with the lean AFR reading around 25.00, I think I figured it out. I didn't have the mufflers on & that caused a false lean reading with the O2 sensor. Holley wants 18" - 22" of exhaust after the O2, I only have about 6" with no mufflers.

Back out to the shop to fix the issue & put another heat cycle on the engine.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

It was a pretty good day of testing with the quad today. We were .2 slower on the ET I was hoping for a baseline.

The clutch was a little loose & showed in the 60'. It will probably be good for the Kingman Street Drags with the set-up. We are going to test at the track probably in Feb. or Mar. & add some base pressure for track testing.

We started with our 1/4-mile final gear ratio of 1.94 when testing in Mexico. Today we started with a 2.06 ratio & it was a bit too much rpm. The next testing will be done with a 2.0 ratio & should put us in the sweet spot.

We couldn't get a good plug chop the way the track was set-up today, but I'm pretty sure we are still fat. We did lean out one power jet on one of the cylinders. It was running fatter than the other.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Got the Camaro loaded today & headed for the track tomorrow. T&T tomorrow & points racing Sat. & Sun.

Hopefully all the new updates work as intended. We have a very conservative tune loaded in the ECU. We have pulled about 5* of timing in the boost range. Should be able to still run low 9's in the 1/4. If everything looks good, we'll start adding timing in small increments.

Curious what the rear gear change will do with the converter stall & fallback rpm.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

While the updates to the Camaro wasn't meant to make it quicker or faster; it did happen. I got out of the throttle around 4.5 sec. into the run & ran a 5.6x @ 123+ mph to the 1/8th. We part throttled to the 1/4 mile & went 8.8x @ 143 mph. That's .1 quicker than our best at both distances & that was getting out of the throttle/part throttle.

I changed the rear gear from a 3.89 ratio to a 3.55 to knock some rpm out of the finish line. I guess it liked the change. The converter flash stall raised from a little over 5,500 rpm to a little over 5,800. The shift drop went from 1,000 rpm to 600 rpm drop. Pretty much what Kevin @ Hughes Transmission predicted.

We did have an issue with the fuel regulator or fuel pump not keeping up with the 1:1 ratio of fuel pressure vs. boost. This was the 1st time logging the fuel pressure & oil pressure, we used analog before. We could have had the issue before. Regardless, we have an upgraded brushless Aeromotive pump on order & have to upgrade the regulator with a bigger return seat, they have a kit for it.

We'll see what happens next time out.

1700/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

We weren't planning on bringing the drag quad back this soon to the track, bringing it out Feb 14th for testing. We are testing the drag bike at the same time. The bike hasn't been out for 2 or 3 years. The bike will be run the same weekend for the #3 & #4 points races.

Anyway, we are going to test the 1.94 rear gear that we use for the 1/4 mile for 1/8th mile testing. We also bought a billet aluminum clutch cover that will make clutch changes a bit easier! The clutch is key to making these quads launch good with the crappy gearing.

I also built a new upper wheelie bar because we ran out of adjustment with the current bar.

I still think the 2.00 final ratio will be the right ratio for the 1/8th mile. The clutch we are leaving alone for the 1st pass but think it's correct for the street legal drags. We might make an adjustment for the track. We have been 1.3x in the 60' with the 1.94 ratio.

1700/STY/781L :)

https://i.imgur.com/uhqfDiU.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

I meant to post this run up a while ago.

I've been busy with the drag quad & bike. Plus, I'm planning to have a debut race in a Stocker in a couple weeks. Also, I'm thinking about bringing a Super Stocker out of moth balls; not so sure if a want to add that to my plate.

1700/STY/781L :)

https://i.imgur.com/0UDVmQK.jpg

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

This past weekend I got the Camaro slowed down to the high 8.90-9.00 range. I did screw up/didn't rip the throttle enough & went 151.xx mph on one run. I'm hoping to find time to get the parachute installed this summer. Then not worry about going over 150. Plus, it's a safety factor.

I went 4 rounds on Sat. & out in the 1st round Sun. Too many distractions with helping 3 other racers with their set-ups & our 4-month-old grandson being at the track for his first time.

The drag quad had the bad bogs on Sat. due to trying a 1.84 final gear ratio. We changed to the known 1.94 ratio for Sun. & made it to the semi-finals.

1700/STY/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

I've been dealing with some tuning issues since switching over to the Holley Terminator X TBI.

The 1st issue I discovered was the learn table was not being populated if that's the proper terminology. While the data log shows it's in learn mode, it comes up all 0's in the table. I'm still trying to figure it out & it makes it hard to make changes to the base fuel map without it.

The second & last issue, I think I fixed it today. While I was seeing some weird things going on in the data log with close loop compensation. I finally tracked it down to faulty Manifold Air Temp Sensor. It would work at idle, driving around in the pits & in the shutdown after the run. It would also work for about 1 second into the pass. Then it would drop into some very cold temps & started getting low/high error messages. I pulled the connector off the sensor & immediately saw the issue. The 2 male pins were barely protruding & might have been rubbing on the female connection.

I'm pretty sure I have the MAT sensor fixed. We'll see if the learn table starts populating; I made changes in the Learn Compensation Limits Table.

1700/STY/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

While I've done a pretty good job of not running over 150 mph. Most of the time I keep it around the low 130 mph range. I have slipped up a couple times, got close at 149 something; I did go 152 mph ripping the throttle late in the run.

Anyway, I bought a parachute & mounting kit from Motion Raceworks. It's getting installed in early June & is well overdue, mainly for safety reasons.

Also, I have to get a neck restraint system, looking at the Hans.

The plan is to still keep the mph under 150 mph; it works with my racing strategy.

1700/STY/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

What classes are you running ?

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

We primarily run Pro. We're running a 6.0 Index class in May & wished we had more index racing.

1700/STY/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

Been hearing lately that people say Index racing is fun

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

I've ran 8.90 & 10.90 classes with throttle stops/delay boxes, but I would like more index racing without them. This race coming up is without them.

1700/STY/781L :)

Re: Bracket Race Vehicle(s)
 

We got the parachute mounted; I'm not a big fan on how it looks on our car. Oh well, not much I can do about it.

We also got our front AFCO DA shocks converted over to coil springs. The conversion replaced our 4-year-old sagging Moroso front springs.

After 300+ passes on our ProCharged SBC we are putting it on a hub Dyno. I guess the main thing we'll learn is the HP & Torque peaks; not looking for any more power.

1700/STY/781L :)