Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Recently acquired a 1967 Stock Eliminator and we are looking for a little guidance from those with a similar car and in the know. Car originally came with slapper bars and we just swapped them out for Caltracs. It is the 295hp/350 with a Powerglide running Hoosier radials...links are in the bottom holes with 2-flat preload on the passenger side. The car launches straight, but the 60' varies 1.50 to 1.53. Is this a normal set-up for this car or should we be running with the links in the upper holes?

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...psccb13116.jpg

(No external video's atm) http://youtu.be/qA8iJhkGaZ4

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

I have the Caltrac setup on my car... It's bascially a stocker minus motor....Travis at Calvert told me footbraking to start in lower hole and put 1/4 turn of preload on EACH side with driver in car.. If u have there shocks set them on 7 or so... The front end is as important as the rear... Make sure the car has at least 5" of travel in the front end.. U want a free moving front end with either modified moog bushings or the afco greasable bushings and 1/2" longer ball joints on the top and a good shock.. U do all this it will hook in a mud hole.. I did all of the above to my car this winter and my car leaves with the front end up about 24" and carries the tires out past the tree... My car usually is in the 1.45 60' range... It's all about everything being free moving as well

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Thanks - Car is very loose in the front typical of most Stocker's. We have seen no difference or improvement in the way the car leaves vs the slapper bars that came on the vehicle...it launches basicly flat footed with little lofting of the front wheels.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

How many passes on tires or have they been setting? Don't have any radial experience but know some run bias in elimnations and use radials for heads up or class. Basics now you are staging same depth? Car should 60' ie. 1.500 quickest of day 1.509 worst would be good.The more consistent car is in 60' better off you'll be,gotta be able to 60 consistent before you can be consistent the rest of the way.
Mike Taylor 3601

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Probably 30 passes on the tires. I was thinking there would be some improvement over the slapper bars, but evidently they work just as well as the Caltracs on this car. I know the wheels won't pick up with the PG like it would with a 3-speed metric...was just wondering if the majority of similar cars were running the links in the lower or upper holes. Been running with 18psi during testing.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Sounds like you need a harder hit (assuming you have a good motor and loose enough converter) so you could try less preload and even going to top hole. I can post up the Caltrac guide if you don't have it.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Try less preload, bottom hole is good, but you may have suspension bind if bars are too tight. I have a 67 with 355 HP crate motor and three speed. Once I found the sweet spot for all adjustments, my 60 foot dropped to mid 1.30's consistent.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

When it went together we made sure everything was greased, moved freely and didnt overly tighten the fasteners. Guess I will just try the upper hole for effect. Don't know if the video showing the tach during launch/run was of any help. Thanks to all for the input.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

I have found that when footbraking my cars that the top hole hits or reacts faster than the lower. But, it did not make a major change in performance for me. You might want to check your pinion angle also. I set mine up real simple. Car race ready gas driver etc. Turn both bars together until they touch the springs, then put 1/4 turn in both. Car leaves strait, simple. But I run a 69 350/255 3speed combo, not a stick or BB. I know that there are many people out there that could help if you have any question on the converter. It looks like it is flashing to approx 5800? I would assume that having more low gear in a PG and having the converter hit hard is crucial to 60' with a PG car. Also, did it sound like there was a slight lull at the top of the flash? I really like your car and the video. Let us know your progress.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Sounds like your car is just like our buddies '69 H/SA. He runs a 3-speed metric and it jerks the wheels pretty good...his bars are in the lower holes as well and our 60' times are similar, but his are consistent.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps682b8653.jpg

No doubt our car needs some sorting out. I believe the natural class for it is E/SA...it should be doing better than the current 7.40 it's running in the 1/8-mile. It had a broken 5.14 gear in it when we got the car...we replaced it with a 5.57 because that is what we had on hand at the time. We'll be going back to a 5.14 before spring for some 1/4-mile action. Torque convertor is supposedly a 5500 stall. The quadrajet is a minor mystery...the plugs appear lean even tho the primary jets are 68's and secondary rods are AX.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

On a bias ply slick, we found that having the shocks on 3 with top hole and just touching worked the best on our home track, which has marginal track prep.
When we go to eddyville or topeka, we can tighten the shocks to 5 or 7, add a 1/2 lb of air and hook every run.
Run the shocks loose and you should see more consistency and you will have a little "delay" built in for getting closer to launch off the bottom bulb flash.
We ended up going to DA rear Afco shocks when the ranchos wore out. You need enough power to hit the tire and stay "on" the tire.
Dont try to take away power, you will suffer more.

Clark

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Converter seems to be a little loose to me. 5500 would be ok with a three speed. I would suggest 5000. Looks like you shifted around 8000. Wow.... Try shifting a little lower.
I have the same combo and have a 1.98 low gear with a 5000 ATI converter with cal tracks and 60 ft. Around 1.43-1.45. Converter is real critical with the glide. I have two converters both 5000 stall. My ATI is .10 faster in 60 ft. Than my other brand. Who did you buy this car from?

Caltracs work great, but if the slapper bars were set up correctly it doesn't suprise me that you didn't see any gain.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

I have my Cal tracs , in the lower hole, set to neutral, with me in the seat...car goes 1.44's , with 2300-2400 footbrake launch... 455 cubes, with 4.10 gear, ATI 8'' 4200ish, and qjet. Front end, is , Global west,Moroso springs, and Comp Eng shocks, front and rear... 80/20 front.. 50/50 rear...Car is very consistent, in 60'...https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...34592517_n.jpg

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Yeah, 8000rpm was a stretch on that run lol...usually shift about 7300rpm, but I'm used to using a shift lite which isnt in the car atm. Got a 5.14 gear on the way and planning to take the car to Bowling Green the 27th for a S/SS combo meet...probably the last trip to the track for us this year.

Most likely we will swap to a 3-speed metric this winter and maybe work on getting some disc brakes installed. I'll post up the results of the bar changes with the PowerGlide.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Began some work today on the car in preparation for Bowling Green and found some interesting things. The previous outing shown in the video suggested I shifted at 8000rpm and it crossed the stripe at 7000rpm...that was not the case. Working with the two-step this morning revealed the tachometer is reading about 800rpm high...that means I shifted at 7200rpm and crossed the line at 6200rpm. This also means the convertor is not flashing as high as it showed in the video.

With a new 5.14 gear in hand we proceeded to get the car in the air for the gear swap. Pulled the cover and found another shocker...the 5.57 gear with only 20 passes was wasted with a good handfull of shrapnel in the chunk. I had no clue from the previous trip to the track as it was smooth and quiet as could be. I was not present for the earlier gear change and began to question my partner about it. After some discussion it became apparent what had happened...they neglected to clean the cavity between the two pinion bearings of shrapnel from the first bad ring gear. Oh well, I will oversee the install of the 5.14 this time.

While in the air I moved the Caltrac bars to the upper hole...when back on the ground I will adjust both bars to a 1/8" gap with driver weight in car. Looking at the stock springs there is about a 1/2" difference in arch on the passenger side spring...closer to the link bar. May be time to replace both springs. Also eyeballing those shocks...

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...pse5628e0a.jpg

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/q...ps682b8653.jpg

Yup, that is my combo. I have a question did I understand you are going with a 5.13 with a sb 350 with a pg? I would have assumed that you would run the 5.57 or if there is a gear in between? But, you will work through that. How did you find out your tach was off? I borrowed a friends MSD tester once and found some problems, also check your RPM chips for resistance, some do vary. Good luck and keep us posted. Also, did you win the round from the video? I like in car video's like that. It looks good.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Yes, going with a 5.14 for the 1/4-mile meet in Bowling Green this weekend. Found the tach issue testing the two-step...you can see in the video where it seemed I shifted at 8000rpm...there was a 7800rpm high side chip in it that run and it never dropped spark.

I posted this info in another thread, but be aware that Richmond Gear has a quality control issue on their ring/pinion sets. Since moving operations to Italy the distance stamped on the pinion head is drastically incorrect...no doubt the Italians are having issues converting from their metric system. Doing the math one would need a 1/4" shim under the pinion bearing lol. I suspect all versions of gears coming out of Italy will have this problem...this may prove very costly for Richmond in the end.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Could you please post that up? thanks

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

New Landrum 21-144SP mono-leafs installed...first impressions are a considerable increase in ride height. Caltrac shocks were a no show so we will run what we got. 5.14 gear installed and ready to roll for TnT tomorrow at Bowling Green...fingers crossed.

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Both of our cars are Cal-Trac cars. Yep, even the Super Stocker. Here is what we have found......You need to hit them hard, but not too hard (oh yea that makes sense....lol). And Good shocks are absolutely essential. Set the Cal Tracs up exactly as they instruct, in the bottom hole. Set your shocks in the middle......if you spin an inch, soften the shock a notch. Assuming you are on a good hooking track, you can adjust from there.
After several years of racing this set up, it becomes easy. A good hooking track to go fast, stiffen the shocks.......a loose track, soften them up... One more issue we have had with the Super Stock car is where we place the ballast......We can not put extra weight behind the rear wheels, if we did, the car will extend the shocks and bottom them out and hop and spin.
That hasn't happened since we placed ballast in the front end. Good luck

Oh..one more comment...."More horsepower solves suspension problems" meaning, spend more time developing horsepower and the suspension will take care of itself...

Re: Caltrac's on Stock Eliminator
 

Having had the bars in the bottom hole last outing we opted to try the upper hole tm...we'll find out what it wants soon.