Sharing
 

When I read a post of the loss of someone in the Class Racing community and there have been too many in past few years, months and weeks I think of this quote by the Dalai Lama;

“Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.”

Many of us here are Baby Boomers and are in high gear on the drag strip of life, if you know what I mean.

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I agree wholeheartedly, Frank.
Most of us come on here to learn and to teach.
We don't write books, for the most part, so I believe in passing it on some way.

( See Musical Post i n The Lounge)

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I have read some of the posts (complaints) and just shake me head. At 76, I just want to run my car as much as time allows, no pun intended.

AHFS doesn't bother me. The car is going to make a full pass every time. What ET it runs, it runs.

Frank is correct, we are in high gear with just a few feet to go. Better enjoy it while you can!

#5458

Curt Rees

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Sharing is very important in our lives. Whether it is knowledge or just friendship, do your best to help as much as you can. I have the privilege of hanging with my friends at the track and giving moral support. This makes being at the track fun for me and my friends. As I stated in another thread - - When the time comes for my funeral, I pray that my friends say I was a good friend. Not for who I was, but how I treated them.

I am 72 - dad made it to 87 and mom made it to 88 - so you do the math. Yes my time is short, so I better have as much fun as possible. Thank God for decent health, so far.

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I’m not old but I’ve been off puppy chow for a long time. I’m hoping I’ve got 30 or 40 to go. If I live as long as my dad and grandpa. Maybe more. I owe so many people on this website a beer (some a steak dinner). That I’m afraid to list them all for fear I’ll forget somebody. I don’t have a lot of knowledge to give. But when I can help someone I will. I appreciate every single one of you guys that has helped me and answered my stupid questions. They key (in my opinion) to getting help is don't be a D.

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I asked a friend and racer who is actually older than me how he was doing and he said "Well, I'm somewhere between the 1000' and the finish line". That about sums it up for us Boomers! Bill Taylor B/S 1005.

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While I may be the one of the youngest members here on class racer as well as being part of the very small percentage of "kids" that are interested in drag racing let alone stock eliminator, it is nice to be able to read the years of experience and knowledge everyone on this forum has to offer. For what it's worth, what really dragged me deeper into the whole class racing thing was being Billy Nees' personal tuner and part time driver for the "Not For Nothin'" project, and the car I drove all last season came out of the back catalog of his collection. There is however something to be said for learning things for yourself. I am currently in the process of building my first "stocker" engine and am trying things in this build that Billy told me would never work, but to me it's worth the effort to try certain things anyway. In the end, I am going to learn something whether something works or doesn't work, and that is what is most important to me. (sorry for the long post)

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Well said! Being 26 I feel lucky to have this resource (classracer.com) to learn and try to figure things out for myself from ideas from people that have been doing this for longer than we’ve been alive. There’s no way my car would be near as good as it is without the help from people that have been doing this long before me and i know I still have a lot to learn.

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“There’s no way my car would be near as good as it is without the help from people that have been doing this long before me and i know I still have a lot to learn.”

Well stated.

My favorite thing is when speaking with another racer or builder and the “Light” turns on. After the conversation, I ask myself why did it take so long to get pointed in the right direction. “And so it goes “

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I truely believe in sharing to help keep this sport alive. When I first started in stock by no means was I a rookie in racing but was to the class. I by know means now am an expert at anything. One thing that I have learned about learning more about racing is listen, you will soon find out alot, and when to ask questions. A lot of it is timing, being in the right place and asking questions at the right time. I am surprised at some of the things that I have picked up in a conversation that know body else picked up in the groups that were talking. I share in groupd like this some times just to see who is paying attention and come ask me question afterwords. I know quite a few people that are not open to sharing knowledge that is ok, you will learn who these are sometime it takes years with some people. I have learn a lot from so many people over the years. One thing I learned very early was there is no way I could out send them but I could out work them. Excect Stevie Wann, he is the hardest working guy I have ever met in drag racing.

Best advise when you get lost go back to the basics.

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Am I missing something? Everyone is talking about all the help they received, but I'm sitting back waiting for someone to post something that will actually help others. Come on man give me some crumbs.

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SMH Barry...
Try this it might help
As I age I keep thinking of a Quote and I think it was Clint Eastwood.
Memory fade on that... lol
I'm not going to "Let the OLD Man In"
or something like that...

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Let go of the button go to dinner

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It's about leaving a legacy of, humanity, leadership, knowledge, performance and the result and the willingness to mentor others to achieve their dream.

I achieved my dream without winning a WCS or a National Event. We raced at a very high level by working on it, being fast, going rounds, and listening more than asking.

When I was a spectator watching the best before I was a contestant I wanted to race with the big dogs and I did.
Wow!

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I wanna see younger/next generation get into S/SS

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I'll go first. My brother and I started racing in 75. Had CMS do the machine work on our first motor. They were one of the hot places at that time and we read about a big block Chevy Stocker they built that set a record. For those that are not old enough Danny and Wayne Jessel owned CMS. As dumb as we were back then about Stockers, we really didn't get much from them. Not long after that they had their share of troubles and went out of the machine shop business and started Jessel valve train products. It took us 2 years to run the index. We were lucky we ended up at a shop that was about 10 miles down the road from us. Precision Auto. Owned by what I still believe to this day were a couple of the smartest guys in the business. Dale Hall (Yes Div one hall of fame and small block chevy Alcohol dragster) and Norm were very helpful and took the time with 2 young guys that had only a small clue. I still remember after banging several valves and thinking they did something wrong. Dale came out to the house and showed us how to measure piston to valve the right way. We put the motor together and just didn't give it enough room. He took the heads replaced the valves and set it back up without charging us. His son Scott Hall has followed in his footsteps and stayed in the automotive industry working for Moroso.

How many could still set up a dual point distributer to change the timing as you go down the track? Remember those days.
So here is a tid bit that I'm sure most know. If you run an older small block chevy Stocker auto. Make a pass. Come back and change your timing to at least 42. Make another pass. What did your 60ft times do? Now figure how to get it back to normal timing before the 60ft. Top end after the shift you should retard about .03. Play with it to see what your car likes. As we know every car is different. Your gain will be more in the summertime. I think most of you are playing with timing but if you don't you are missing out on about .04 Thats one of the reasons why I like the digital MSD boxes. Who's Next ! BP

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I thought this was about sharing how come I'm the only one. Do you guys who want to share not have anything that would help anyone.

At least tell me where I can spend 5 grand and pick up 7 tenths. That I would really love to know. BP

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After 30 minutes of typing, I’m proofreading and then it’s gone. The joys of living in the country. Sorry

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My turn. All the "experts" don't live out of town! From Mike Lynch S/S stick racer. You have to become the expert on your car, or you have to have a whole lot of money to spend or waist. They're are great engine builders and car builders that will get you in the ball park. To get to the point of being a fast car, most racers know its the combination of most things that like each other. Gear ratio, trans, trans ratio, weight, shocks, springs, cam, heads, valves, converter, carb, FI program, and so on.

A race car is a shinny Rubric Cube nicely wrapped in a physics problem. It is somewhat solved one line at a time. For me its not easy.

I think suspension is the cheapest and easiest part to work on first. If it don't roll easy your leaving something, ET, on the table. Thanks Captain Obvious.

You'll need a few tools and some help. Tools: Tape measure, good level, 5' to 6' straight edge (I use a 3/8 X 3'' X 60'' aluminum), pencell and paper. And you will probably make some tools as needed.

So lets check the rear end first it has the biggest tires. You want Zero toe, no camber, and straight in the car. Also check for drag on the brakes.

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"I think suspension is the cheapest and easiest part to work on first. If it don't roll easy your leaving something, ET, on the table. Thanks Captain Obvious.

You'll need a few tools and some help. Tools: Tape measure, good level, 5' to 6' straight edge (I use a 3/8 X 3'' X 60'' aluminum), pencil and paper. And you will probably make some tools as needed.

So lets check the rear end first it has the biggest tires. You want Zero toe, no camber, and straight in the car. Also check for drag on the brakes."

Larry just offered one the key elements that I have always endorsed. The other is distribution of weight within the rules, buy scales, they're reasonably priced and available from Summit and Jegs.

Lastly, rent a track and just make 60' hits until you're satisfied with the result.

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I believe this is common knowledge but I'll share anyway. Easy way to pickup hp and et. Remove 1 quart of oil. But pay attention to oil pressure going down the track if you've never done this before. An oil accusump would also be a good idea.

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Brakes dragging has been one of My biggest finds.

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Get to know and make friends with those who know more than you.
Listen more than talk.
Ask questions if given advice try every bit offered. It's not always one or two steps plus if you show you're not willing to try or do things in the required progression the help will stop. Don't be an ask-hole.

"STOCK IS NOT STOCK!" (JSTP)


Rigid Chassis

Free Moving Suspension must be loose and smooth.

Do as much as you can yourself if skilled.
Everything you do on a race car takes at least 4 hours and more.

Buy good parts when upgrading spend your money once.


All the small things done with many hours of work may not show up until you open your wallet and buy some hp. That's how you pick up tenths.

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Clean front wheel bearings of grease and use light weight engine oil..will need to drill and tap a fill hole...

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My friend and mentor George Widuch always said :" If you do a bunch of stuff that can't hurt, it helps"

Little and lite is sometimes slower than big and strong. Two examples come to mind. Stock 8 3/4 Mopar rearend the housing is made of sheetmetal. It bends and twist. If your axle will not slide in and out easily more than likely it's bent and twisted. It will be a HP eater. Chuck Beach found out that a Dana 60 was faster than an 8 3/4. I backed to backed 8 3/4 vs Dana 60 at Indy on a Wednesday, when Indy was Indy, and the Dana was quicker, faster, and heaver than an 8 3/4. Longevity was way better with the Dana 60 the R/P lasted over 20 years. We have been known to put a few runs a year on the race car.

Hope this helps.

Oh all that stuff about listening instead of talking works. I forget, I do that a lot now, what race it was at but my friend Kenny Schindler pointed out a person that could help me. Kenny gave me very specific instructions on what to do to help me learn, "See that guy in the suspenders, that's Hot Rod Myers, introduce yourself and get him to start talking...........then shut up and listen."

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Keep your 8 3/4 rear end housing straight by attaching chromoly rods with spherical ends to the axle ends and the top of the pinion where the snubber once was and adjust them until the axles slide in and out easily.
But I agree with Larry the Dana 60 is the way to go on any Mopar.

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The tubes would twist so bad the paint would pop off and I’d loose pinion angle.

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Glen we would always say you have on kill, and then you have blow up mode. Running low oil is in the blow up mode. LOL

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I’ve been looking at this. Recently installed these:
https://www.nucapperformance.com/drt.php

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Barry I'm in bracket mode on every run, just like you............almost. lol

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Those look like OEM clips from one of the Asian cars from years ago.

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On the front end, work to have zero to very little toe change through the range of travel. For us that took awhile. Good luck!

Get the car the best it can be first, then when a change is made it will respond positive or negative. The days of a 20 Hp improvement with a cam and spring change are gone for most of us. I fight all the time to make the second number right of the decimal point smaller on the et slip.

Hope this helps.

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Budget permitting, ceramic bearings. Ever notice someone pushing a car almost effortlessly in the staging lanes? Yep, you guessed it.

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There is a lower cost alternative to ceramic bearings; DRP Bearing Spacers.

https://www.drpperformance.net/hub-components

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DHHT-y6U0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOLRbhwlBag

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I installed those based on your tip in another thread. They obviously didn't have any for a AMC Spirit, so they custom made a set (after giving them some dimensions) for the same cost as a stock set. I went with a different company for polished bearings as they had mine in stock:

https://negearpolishing.com/services...ring-seal-kits

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There’s a lot of good parts in bar stock and they’re easy to find. All that has to be done is cut away everything that doesn’t look like what you want.

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If you need access to a lathe try an adult education at a higher learning center. It will be fun and save you a few bucks in making that special piece. Explain to the instructor what and why you want to do this special project. You’ll learn a lot but don’t hurt yourself. The machine doesn’t now the difference between steel , aluminum, or fingers, it will cut all three.

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Glenn I forgot who it was that told me 72 ounces was all I needed. I shuttered every time I thought about it.

Also another good one, "Rpm's are your friend."- Mr Garley Daniels
Spoken like a true engine builder!

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Mr Daniels would know.

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2.25 qts man you must hate your engine..........lol