Night at the drags....ended up being a drag

Did you have a good time, smell the burning rubber and the race gas....if you can anwser yes, then you had a good night!!

 

igo has a good point. get it right capped, then open the proverbial can o worms. BTW, it is more likely the pump or supply lines. i have a friend with the 600 edel on a chebby 400 that he drags and said his runs rich WOT.

 

Shadow, I went to the ANGLETON track, that is why I didn't call. I know you are a Houston Raceway kindaguy... I did drive through your area on Thursday, had to weld up some turndowns on my truck exhaust out at the ranch, but figured it would be rude to just pop in.

Also, I didn't even know the track was open until 3pm and made last minute adjustments and headed out the door.

I have been driving around the southern half of the state today looking at junkyards and found 5 mavs, but with few useable parts. Got a front grill medallion from 924 MAV (THANKS ED!!!).

I had lots of time to think...I will try the duraspark and street radials ASAP. I think that, and messing with the jets/rods on the carb will fix a good portion of the problem. If I still run my pressure down, I will then do the electric pump.

I really had two good runs with the caps on, no sputtering, shifting at 5000, I just was burning out too close to the water, so when I let off the line lock, I drove through some more wet area, so my tires were still wet at takeoff, and I peeled out halfway down the track. The track guy who mans the lights told me to burn out twice, or at least let off and peel out forward toward the staging light. That helped the takeoff, but by then I had the caps off and the fuel delivery issue/spark issue.

I have to get new tires before I do any other racing. I will take the wife out tomorrow and teach her the line lock, get a picture of her doing the LAST burnout on these tires, turn it in to Car Craft (they love pics of chicks doing burnouts, might get a mav in the magazine? Naw, probably not, too ugly (the car, not the wife)). Then drag radials.

Also, tomorrow, I start the replacement of the rear leaf springs and all the bushings. After that and the new rubber, I will start a weekly run or two and try to work out the bugs until I get it all fixed up and running right. I WILL beat 80 at the 1/8, that is my current goal.

Currently, I have best 60 ft of 2.201, ET of 9.462, and 73.76mph. I think I can get 80 mph in the 8s on the 1/8 mile with this motor once I get the bugs worked out.

Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions. It will take a little time, but I will get it.

PS--I want a MII suspension...never mind, I will start a new thread on this one...

 

OK, I am narrowed down to the Mickey Thompson E/T Street and Street Drag Radials...

I drive highway 30 miles at a time, maybe 5 times a year. The rest is just around town.

Both are same price. Both are 255/60r15. E/T is wrinke wall tube tire. Drag Radial is "special wall for improved launches" but steel belted. Selling point is which will last longer for the $300 and which will work with my existing Cragar rims the best?

 

didnt u put in a mini spool? if you did, get 2 xtra wheels for the slicks. you'll tear up the soft rubber on the street.

 

That is what I originally intended to do...just buy some cheap one-piece rims for the slicks, but then thought that since I am eating tires up in 6-12 months, due to burning out and the extra wear from the spool, I would just get street legal drag radials.

Am I still better off with the T/As on my rims, and a second set of rims with full wrinkle wall slicks? Or put street drag radials on my current rims? Cost IS a factor...a pretty important one!

 

you are talking about 300 for the drag radials. if you drive them on the street with a mini spool, you might get a year out of them. they scuff horribly because they are soft rubber. i get a pair of cheap tires (235x15) at pep boys or tire rack for 80-85 $. they last at least 2 years & then the dot slicks last at least 2 yrs depending on how the burnouts are.

the wrinkle walls might last a tad longer on the street, but cornering wont be fun.

so over 2 yrs do you want to spend 380 or 600+? or if you only get 1 year out of the cheapies, 460 or 600+? if you really beat on the tires that hard, you might not even get a year out of the dot drag radials on the street. so maybe its really 460 vs 900? admittedly, i have access to a tire changer & have a bubble balancer. that keeps costs down. around here mount & balance is at least 15/tire. and bubble balance works just fine. i have no vibrations at 96 mph.

easy math if you're a bucks down racer like i am.

 

How will the wrinkle-walls last longer??? I figured they would actually wear out quicker. What is the logic behind that?

I bought my last 245 BFG T/As used with very little tread left, but wanted to just try them out to see how they fit and looked. I have gotten 2 years and about 2000 miles out of them.

I was happy with that time/mileage (considering the way I drive them). So based on this info, should I go drag radials or wrinkle-walls.

The more I ask, the more confused I get...

Thanks for the suggestions and help, regardless.

I am a weekend-only driver, with just a few trips to the track per year, so my tires will last longer. I have had the car since June 2003 and have only turned over around 4000 miles on it, so I am averageing about 1000 miles per year.

I guess I should ask...How bad is the cornering with the wrinkle walls compared to how good is the hookup with the drag radials?

The only cornering I do is freeway on-ramps and turning at intersections. I don't drive fast on turns, just straight.

 

i guess its because the wrinkle dont skip/chatter so soon on minor curves. i know people running both types of dot. the wrinkle are sloppy on turns because the sidewalls try to roll some.

my son uses bfg drag radials & he does 1.90 60' times. he's got the 8" tread 26" tall size. when i reorder i'll probably try the 10" tread ones. they're only $4 each more. i know people happy with both types. at some point its up to u to flip a coin & decide. one reason i get the bfg is the tread & height choices to get what i want arent available, or cost more in other brands.

 

So, it sounds like the wrinkle walls will actually "give" more with the spool, on turns and such, reducing wear a bit.

I am currently arguing with myself regarding drag radials or wrinkle wall/tube tires.

Will they both work equally well with my cheap Cragar 15X8s?

I can get the same size for the same price either way (255/60r15) so it is just up to me to make a "decision", which correlates to a male's version of a "committment"

 

look in jegs or summit. i believe they list acceptable rim sizes with the tires. i would go with the drag radials. i also think they react quicker since usually have more air pressure.

 

Cool. I will have to try something different than BFG T/A radials...no gription whatsoever...

 

why would anyone want bfg t/a radials at the strip? i dont quite follow what u are saying.

 

If I bought another set of T/As, I wouldn't use the T/As at the strip, but would use them TO the strip, then swap out to slicks when I get there.

This is why I am leaning toward a set of something strip worthy, but street legal, for the short term (next year or two). Eventually, I would like to have a second set of tires (slicks) for the strip, and probably BFG T/As for the road. I really liked the road performance and how long the T/As lasted despite the abuse I put them through.

 

Just get the M/T Drag RADIALS and be done with it.