I think 12s might be there with a stall converter, lower gearing and different tires. Currently has a stock converter and 3.00 rear end. :16suspect I'll be looking for a 2500 or so stall converter, not so much for performance but to loosen it up when idling in gear. It doesn't like to idle below 850, which means 1050-1100 in neutral. Just a little too high. It already has a small trans cooler that keeps it around 150* with the stock converter so I expect trans temps should be OK with a 2500 stall.
Good News and Not So Good News Finally got the 347 running well (at least from 900 RPM up) and took it to an 1/8th mile strip today. Just couldn't get any traction off the line. Think it needs some different tires (235/60-15 BFG TAs) or a driver with a whole lot more practice. Don't think it's going to get either one. There's a 2400 stall converter going in to replace the stock unit -- not because it needs more torque at launch. Purpose is to loosen it up on idle so the no-load idle doesn't have to be so high. On the way back home I wondered how it would have done starting off in 2nd gear. It would spin the tires some in 2nd gear with the previous (5.0) engine so I'm thinking it might have done better. Couldnt have been much worse.
Track time is probably what you need more than anything else, you simply do not just take a car to the track and put down good numbers unless you have experienced a few runs. Starting out in second is a good way to hurt things
I expected some tire spin but got a lot more than I expected. What would a 2nd gear start hurt? Converter or transmission? I'll be installing a TCI Breakaway converter and already have a Broader Performance 500 HP C4. Would those be likely to get hurt with a 2nd gear start? Just curious at this point -- I'm not thinking of a 2nd gear start as a solution but might like to try it just to see how the numbers come out. I'm really thinking I should upgrade the tires to match the engine's power, not throttle the engine back on launch to match the current tire traction. I'll start watching Craigslist for some used slicks, cheaters, or whatever. Any suggestions as to what I should be looking for? Rear end is an 8" TractionLoc 3.0. Lakewood traction bars. Wheel hop hasn't been an issue so far. Time slip is attached for my second and final try with wheel spin most of the way thru 1st gear. I need to get down around 8.5 sec in the 1/8th to beat my buddy's Trailblazer SS. On another run the TB SS did a 2.1 sec 60' with 3/4 tank of gas. Don't klll me for the poor reaction time. Wasn't prepared for the single flash of yellow lights on the tree. The other strip we went to did sequential yellow lights. Oh yeah, and please ignore the temp and humidity. Might get those numbers in August but Saturday was a beautiful day.
I would be concerned about the tranny and the strain on second gear the most, if it was me I would invest in a set of drag radials, probably a set of BFGs that way you dont have to change tires when you go to the track, you still will not be able to come off the line with full rpm but will be a lot better off and wont have to install a driveshaft loop. With your street tires do you do a burnout in the water box? If so dont, drive around it and then just back up close to it but stay out of the water and just do a little burn out to clean the tires off. Street tires get greasy when you do a big burnout in the water and traction is much worse. I know it is hard to launch and not stick your foot in it but with the horsepower you are running you need to come out of the hole at about 1,200 with your foot on the brake holding it the line and get it rolling before you get on it. I suspect you are waiting for light to come down and mashing the gas pedal from idle rpm. It has taken me 10 years to figure it out and I still havent got it all down, there is no way I could get good numbers without slicks, with them on you just go, no spinning it does take awhile to get use to aired down slicks as they give you a feeling of being in a boat and sorta floating down the track
On the first pass I drove around the water and didn't do any burnout. Left in drive because I wanted to see where the 1-2 upshift would occur under full throttle (haven't been able to do that on the street). Yep, MASHED the accelerator right off the line. Had to let off at about 100 ft as it was getting sideways. The second time I went around the water but did a little burn just to clean the tires. This time I pulled the shifter into 1st and again MASHED it and spun like crazy. Time slip attached to the previous post. I could have tried a gentler take off but at that point I wanted to back off and think about things. Seems like if the engine power is too much for the tires, the best solution should be to upgrade the tires not throttle the engine back. But, might have to do both. Just sent an email to my wife telling her she could get me a pair of BFG G-Force Drag Radials http://www.summitracing.com/search/Part-Type/Tires/Tire-Size/235-60-15/?keyword=g-force for my birthday next month. We'll see about that. With those, the 2400 stall TC and a less than full thottle launch maybe it'll do better. I need to get to about 8.5 sec in the 1/8th to beat my buddy's Trailblazer SS. I really don't like getting beat by a truck, especially a Chevy truck.
Do you have an opinion on what 60' time I should get with 235/60/15 BFG Radial TAs with proper throttle control on launch, 3.00 TL rearend, 2400 stall converter? How about with 235/60/15 BFG G-Force Drag Radials? Trying to get an idea of bang for the buck before I decide to spend the bucks. Also, if you care to offer an opinion, will the 8" rear end be OK with the Drag Radials? I don't want to start breaking things. C4 shifts are firm but not severe. I'm planning on adding a drive shaft loop for safety. Saw the episode of "Myth Busters" where they dropped the front of the drive shaft into a hole, pole vaulted the car, bent the drive shaft double and drove it up thru the trunk floor. I know it was set up for effect but it did make an impression.
A good guess at a 60' with drag radials would be in the 1.85-2.00 with practice even, I race a Maverick that runs a warmed up 302 that runs low 13s with drag radials and is in the 1.80s 60' The 8" should be fine for an automatic, if it was a stick I wouldnt do it. Make sure that you install the driveshaft loop within 6" of the front u joint, they are a real pain to put there, I had to do some custom work to mine to make it fit
Thanks for the helpl. :Handshake If it will do the 60' in under 2.0 it should be competive with the Trailblazer SS. The drag radials just made it to the top of my list. Still gotta work on my reaction time.
yea for every 1 you can gain at 60ft you can get 2 at finsh line ,so if you save 3 tenths you get 6 tenths at the finsh, my 351w did 1.50 flat it ran 7.46 ,when we started it did 1.85 60 ft with autozone bars chrome, ran a 8.18 was the best ,we then went to the lift bars made by lakewood ,with tuning and shimming we got it to 1.50 flat .....
i had a 4.10 , mini spool,ours was more a race setup even though we had a stock bottom end,id say you would be in the low 8s with alot of tuning,on the setup and id keep the street tires and buy another set of rear rims,and get some hoosiers i loved them quick time pros,they work great but dont last long on the street
Got some good runs My buddy with the Trailblazer SS and I went to the 1/8th mile drag strip this evening. I'm happy with the numbers. Best ET was 8.4684 at 83.33 MPH which, according to a conversion table, would be 13.2s in the 1/4. I was hoping to get into the 13s on the 1/4. The drag radials worked great. I was able to get on it pretty hard right from the start without excessive wheel spin. 225/50/15 drag radial are over 2" shorter than the 235/60/15 street tires that were on there for the previous run down the 1/8 mile. That helped compensate for the 3.00:1 rear end. May take a trip to Rockingham, NC at the end of the month and run the 1/4 just to see the actual 1/4 mile numbers. The Maverick beat the Trailblazer SS in ETs and MPH all four runs but my buddy's reaction times were always better than mine. We each arrived at the trap first twice. We would have run a fifth time for a best 3 of 5 but we both thought I had won three times. Saw the 2-2 tie while looking at the time slips closely after I got home. Anyway, we had a great time. Also had a bonus -- there was a beautful Mustang Sprint there with a BBF. I'll post some pictures and videos when they're available.
