Epic day at the track/show

[66 Sat]

Yesterday was Mopar Sunday at Willowbank Raceway in sunny Queensland. It was fantastic. Lots of cars, track open from 8am for test and tune, plus plenty of cars in the show and shine.
Around 11am they closed the track and started a cruise going up the parade lane and then back down the track the opposite way.
Then we stopped to have a look at the cars before the announcement came over the PA - the Bracket Racing was about to begin! I had no idea this was coming, thought it was just the timed runs. I've never raced before, it was such fun.
I dialled in a time of 14.10 and won the first 2 rounds. I lost in the semi final with a 14.104 because my reaction time was trash (I didn't want to red light).
What a great day out with my eldest boy.

 

[66 Sat]

 

[66 Sat]

 

[66 Sat]

 

[66 Sat]

 

[66 Sat]

Still couldn't break into the 13 sec / 100 mph.

 

[66 Sat]

 

[66 Sat]

Convoy on way home

 

[493 Mike]

No wonder we can't find all the missing cool Mopars. Seems you fellas have them!
Mike

 

[Ron H]

No wonder we can't find all the missing cool Mopars. Seems you fellas have them!
Mike

Lol yeah, I'd almost swear my old Challenger is in one of those photos - spittin image anyway.

 

[Bighouse]

They’re going all over the world

 

[70 SUPERBIRD]

Very cool pictures. Thank you for sharing

 

[PRHeads]

Nice looking facility........and some great looking rides!!!
Thanks for posting the pics!

 

[66 Sat]

Any tips on how to gain that last 0.1 sec, 1 mph? The car is very consistent, every run was virtually the same, but the 60ft time seems to be where I lose most of the time. It's currently a 3.23 rear with stock converter, but drives so nice on the street I'm hesitant to change it.

Another few pics, I've got so many I can't keep track of what I posted.

The Superbird was a real one, 440-6 bench seat column shift sold new in 1971 from Greenville South Carolina

 

[RemCharger]

Any tips on how to gain that last 0.1 sec, 1 mph? The car is very consistent, every run was virtually the same, but the 60ft time seems to be where I lose most of the time. It's currently a 3.23 rear with stock converter, but drives so nice on the street I'm hesitant to change it.

Another few pics, I've got so many I can't keep track of what I posted.

The Superbird was a real one, 440-6 bench seat column shift sold new in 1971 from Greenville South Carolina
View attachment 1502759View attachment 1502762View attachment 1502763

The suggestions in the last thread were good;
Also, not sure how crafty your hands are
But you can get a belt to just run the waterpump, ditch the fan and alternator loss.
Keep it cool. Push to the staging. Keep batt charged. Make run, keep speed up on return road for airflow. Watch temp gauge.
There's more ways to gain speed, depends if you like the free stuff, or dumping your wallet out.

 

[66 Sat]

The suggestions in the last thread were good;
Also, not sure how crafty your hands are
But you can get a belt to just run the waterpump, ditch the fan and alternator loss.
Keep it cool. Push to the staging. Keep batt charged. Make run, keep speed up on return road for airflow. Watch temp gauge.
There's more ways to gain speed, depends if you like the free stuff, or dumping your wallet out.

I know I asked this before, I'm just wondering if it's my technique or if I need to make some mechanical changes. It'd be ideal if I could find another 20hp or so that's there all the time without having to make changes at the track. On Sunday I did lower the psi to 20 in the rear tires and added a couple of degrees of timing (I know..extensive tuning right?) and I did improve from my previous best of 14.196 to 14.104, although the mph dropped a touch (99.80 to 99.29).

I could try slackening off the power steering belt next time.

The car already runs cool, even when racing (180 degrees) and we do push it in the staging lanes.

Maybe I'll get some spare wheels and street legal drag tires so I can swap them at home before I leave. I don't want to be carrying another set of wheels and jack with me and swapping them there if I can avoid it.

 

[Ron H]

I’d give a check to your acquired drag-racing routine, if you have an automatic knowing the auto-generated shift points. You run leaving the auto do its job, or manually shift? Do you set on the brake pedal in gear, say at or near like 2000 or so, at the line? Optimal thrust may not happen unless manually shifting (some exceptions given modifications). A good tach and/or with a lighted rpm setting for an aid so you can make the exact shift, might just get ya down the track just a bit quicker. Amazing how a few hundred extra rev’s btw gears can make a difference.

 

[66 Sat]

Manual shifting, changing at between 5,000 and 5,500 (doesn't seem to make much difference), brief burnout in low gear, hold it on the brake at maybe 1,200 rpm just before I launch. If I hold it with any more revs than that the tires just go up in smoke. I'm not looking for a 12 second pass or anything....I just need a tiny improvement.

I've been against many cars that run a mid 13 at between 96 and 98 mph. I'm at 99.8 mph but just can't seem to get it right. Maybe I need to wait for a windy day blowing in the right direction