Spin Control Question

[Ron Gusack]

The trouble with the 9's in a 1/4 mile race is the rpm's that I'd like to avoid.

I need the car to hook for the 9" class so I'd rather have a suspension set-up for that. I've got a few disadvantage in the class. I run a 400 where most others have glides. I'm a foot braker and they all have t-brakes. I'm all motor and they are NOS. It's a .400 tree so I deep stage to get a good light and never know exactly where I'm at. Other than those few things, the car is perfect for the class.

The 14's are for bracket racing and I've adopted the bracket racers mentality....Less power and more tire. Some of the tracks I've run on are very slippery. However, 12" tires would allow me to get the back down. Wouldn't that be a major step toward keeping the weight on the rear?

Kenny Keir likes the solid aluminum or steel bushings. What's the consensus on them?
Can lower bushings be installed without taking the control arm off?

I appreciate the advice and if you can tolerate it, keep giving it.

[Alan Roehrich]

You can get a fairly tall 12" tire to keep the RPM down for the 1/4. We run 10.0 at 129 or so with a 5.00 gear and a 9x30 Hoosier radial, even with the converter being too loose, we're at 7850 or so, and the radials do not grow.

I'd run the Del-A-Lum bushings, the Moog ball joints (long upper), and the Moog upper shafts with the big offset.

I think if you get the car set up right you can get a decent light on a .400 tree without deep staging. That car should go 1.28 in the 60', and when it does it'll leave hard enough to cut a light.

[Ron Gusack]

Originally Posted by Alan Roehrich

You can get a fairly tall 12" tire to keep the RPM down for the 1/4. We run 10.0 at 129 or so with a 5.00 gear and a 9x30 Hoosier radial, even with the converter being too loose, we're at 7850 or so, and the radials do not grow.

I'd run the Del-A-Lum bushings, the Moog ball joints (long upper), and the Moog upper shafts with the big offset.

I think if you get the car set up right you can get a decent light on a .400 tree without deep staging. That car should go 1.28 in the 60', and when it does it'll leave hard enough to cut a light.

Global West kit ETK 6769 with bushings, offset shaft and joints, but I can't find the length of the joints. The Moog joints seem to be 3/8 long, whereas some others are advertised as 1/2 longer than OEM.

The only way this car could go 1.28 is we put one of your engines in it.

[Alan Roehrich]

Ron, with all the limits on my engines in Stock, there's no reason you shouldn't make 100 more HP.

[Ron Gusack]

My limitations are that I'm using parts that I have available and most are very old. My stuff is junk by today's standards. I'm still looking into a new rotating assembly to try to get compression down and make roughly the same power. The Wallace calculator puts me at about 580hp.

Do you know if the BJ's in the Global West kit are long?
How long do I want? I see 3/8, 1/2 and 1" BJ's advertised.

[Alan Roehrich]

The 1/2" over should be fine, but you can run the 1" over.

[CrateCamaro]

Originally Posted by Ron Gusack

My limitations are that I'm using parts that I have available and most are very old. My stuff is junk by today's standards. I'm still looking into a new rotating assembly to try to get compression down and make roughly the same power. The Wallace calculator puts me at about 580hp.

Do you know if the BJ's in the Global West kit are long?
How long do I want? I see 3/8, 1/2 and 1" BJ's advertised.

Does the car have drop spindles? I just quickly skimmed through the posts and a seen that you had not cut the springs but the nose of the car is way in the weeds. Measure from the fender to the floor at ride height and then jack it up and just before the wheels come of the ground take a measurement and tell us what you got.

[CrateCamaro]

One more question....you said you have leaf springs with sliders and ladder bars. Im assuming you have replaced the rear shackle with an afco style slider but you didnt say anything about having floaters on the rear end. are the leaf springs bolted solid to the housing or do you have floaters? At this point from the video the front end looks like its loose but lacks some travel and the rear end looks like it bounces on the tire when it leaves which would tell me the rear suspention is bound up. Have you ever thought about removing the ladder bars and just trying calvert stuff or even a J bolt style traction bar?

[Ron Gusack]

Originally Posted by CrateCamaro

Does the car have drop spindles? I just quickly skimmed through the posts and a seen that you had not cut the springs but the nose of the car is way in the weeds. Measure from the fender to the floor at ride height and then jack it up and just before the wheels come of the ground take a measurement and tell us what you got.

Spindles are stock. Springs are Santhuff's lightest spring.
Travel measures about 7".
I lose lots of travel when I come up so high on the converter. Lower RPM means more travel but the light suffers.
Floaters on the rear and a box at the rear of the spring. The track on the box has a detent from the years of use. I've looked into making it a coil over with ladder bars or possibly a 4 link.
I've added 100 lbs in the trunk.

[Mike Pearson]

Get rid of the sliders on the back of the spring and put the shackles back on until you put the coil overs on. I had the same issue with the sliders on my car. As long as something is not bound up in the rear suspension the leaf springs will work just as good. I did not see any improvement in performance when I took the leafs off of my car and installed coil overs. There was a little weight savings though. It's all about the geometry on the ladder bar set up. Once you find the sweet spot your car will start working