Street Racers, Racing Secrets ?!!

[Dixie]

I do remember some old timers tell me to either add an extra clamp or un-clamp the rear of the leaf spring and it would hook better. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. I can't remember which they said. Not a trick, but adding an aftermarket adjustable pinion snubber really helped mine launch.

 

[hemicop]

I do remember some old timers tell me to either add an extra clamp or un-clamp the rear of the leaf spring and it would hook better. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. I can't remember which they said. Not a trick, but adding an aftermarket adjustable pinion snubber really helped mine launch.

You'd normally clamp the front part of the spring and if necessary unclamp the rear only to allow the rear to separate a bit more, not eliminate it. Getting a stocker to hook on the street is the real trick which is why I like watching the F.A.S.T. cars so much---they essentially use all the old tricks from back in the day along with some new ones.
Some here have to understand, back then we didn't have an Internet or near as much speed equipment & pre-made combos to get cars to run fast so you had to know how to work with stock components, hide your secrets and modify whatever you got your hands on.

 

[oldbee]

You'd normally clamp the front part of the spring and if necessary unclamp the rear only to allow the rear to separate a bit more, not eliminate it. Getting a stocker to hook on the street is the real trick which is why I like watching the F.A.S.T. cars so much---they essentially use all the old tricks from back in the day along with some new ones.
Some here have to understand, back then we didn't have an Internet or near as much speed equipment & pre-made combos to get cars to run fast so you had to know how to work with stock components, hide your secrets and modify whatever you got your hands on.

And if I remember right the frt spring clamps kept moving/loosening up & you had to tighten up again. Some great stories here!

 

[hemicop]

Suspension was pretty easy to play with & not be TOO noticeable as there was only so much you could do. Plus driving a car around with a loose front-end & relatively firm rear suspension could be a pain--especially in big cities with lousy roads.
Engine mods were a touch easier in pre-emission days but a big-*** cam usually drew too much attention. Usually a cam with decent lift but not much overlap could pass but, again, streetability would suffer. My last "streetracer" was a 331sbc with a .600 lift cam---not real streetable but fun. The best street racer motor I had was a 440bbc (.060 427) with a ZL-1 cam, alum heads, Tarantula manifold (remember those?) and an 850 Holley. But notice the cam is something of a street/road race type cam so see, you can see you CAN have too much cam, even for a street racer.
Locally back then Mopar guys tried to emulate any of the max-wedge stuff/specs as Hemi stuff even back then was few & far between and Mopar really didn't have their various heads for a wedge like they do now. All the smallblock guys could do was run their 340s and maybe try utilizing some stuff from the 340T/A engines. No one really messed much with smallblocks as back then "cubes (ins) were king".

 

[oldbee]

Internet??? lol, all we could was read magazines & hope those guys knew what they talking about; you soon learned who in the area 'knew it' and who didn't. Luckily in my area there was a guy a named Arlen Vanke and the 'knowledge' flowed down to us "other guys".

 

[hemicop]

I met Arlen once----very nice guy.
In NYC you had tons of shops back then and like the Mid-West doorslammers were "king" so the emphasis was on them. I can think of about a dozen shops within a half-hour of where I grew up that had multiple cars running out of them. However you relly had to be connected to know the latest/greatest stuff & where the big-money races were for unlike some stories the big money really wasn't at the "name" street-racing locations.......

 

[Mike Gaines]

My Coronet is 100% street legal...current California Tags and insured with Hagerty.
M/T ET Streets (DOT legal) slicks.
It runs 10.30's at 129+mph in the quarter mile at the track. Looking for 10.20's @ 131mph at the upcoming California Hot Rod Reunion Race at Famoso (Bakersfield).
I drive it to local car shows but that's about it.
Don't know if I would run it on the deserted highways.
Might get loose at 130mph and kill me....lol.

 

[hemicop]

My Coronet is 100% street legal...current California Tags and insured with Hagerty.
M/T ET Streets (DOT legal) slicks.
It runs 10.30's at 129+mph in the quarter mile at the track. Looking for 10.20's @ 131mph at the upcoming California Hot Rod Reunion Race at Famoso (Bakersfield).
I drive it to local car shows but that's about it.
Don't know if I would run it on the deserted highways.
Might get loose at 130mph and kill me....lol.

View attachment 514574

And it would be considered a "serious" street car-even now! And I think that's the point of this thread. A little forethought & commitment and you can have a street-legal fast car. Nowadays we have access to a lot of things we only dreamt of but what it takes to turn those times hasn't changed---only our perception of it. Sure you can buy a 9-sec Demon now or maybe even a 10 or 11 sec car but, I'm sorry, those things simply lack the "character"(?) IMO of something like your Coronet or my A-body.....

 

[Cornpatch MO]

I do remember some old timers tell me to either add an extra clamp or un-clamp the rear of the leaf spring and it would hook better. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. I can't remember which they said. Not a trick, but adding an aftermarket adjustable pinion snubber really helped mine launch.

Brings up a question I don't want to start a new thread on...When a pinion snubber hits against the bottom of the floor on launch, does it make a rather loud , sharp , thud sound? enough to make you think something may have broken? ..........................MO

 

[Dixie]

Brings up a question I don't want to start a new thread on...When a pinion snubber hits against the bottom of the floor on launch, does it make a rather loud , sharp , thud sound? enough to make you think something may have broken? ..........................MO

It made a pretty loud sound. I kept mine adjusted for immediate use, so it hit a lot just in regular driving. I'd also recommend welding a small steel plate in place for it to hit, so it doesn't beat-up your floor pan.

 

[hugh mungus]

A loooong time ago, a guy in the neighborhood had a '69 Impala, I think, that had squirter nozzles in the rear wheel wells that ran to the windshield washer reservoir. He claimed it was a factory set-up.

It was factory, it was on roughly 2000 '69 full size Chevys, I have 11 '69 full size Chevys and two of them have it from the factory. It was called "Liquid Tire Chain," there was a button on the dash that, when pressed, would spray some ice melt on the back tires for when you get stuck in the snow.

 

[HT413]

It was factory, it was on roughly 2000 '69 full size Chevys, I have 11 '69 full size Chevys and two of them have it from the factory. It was called "Liquid Tire Chain," there was a button on the dash that, when pressed, would spray some ice melt on the back tires for when you get stuck in the snow.

Ya know, that's something i never heard.

 

[oldbee]

Ya know, that's something i never heard.

I think I remember, but it's been so long ago!!

 

[Mike Gaines]

Brings up a question I don't want to start a new thread on...When a pinion snubber hits against the bottom of the floor on launch, does it make a rather loud , sharp , thud sound? enough to make you think something may have broken? ..........................MO

Take the pinion snubber OFF. The drag race guys just don't use them anymore...check around.

 

[miller]

Yeah, but they probably don't use leaf springs, either.

 

[Dodge 330]

Yeah, but they probably don't use leaf springs, either.

The SS springs work for a while WITHOUT a snubber. Ran a 1.54 with no tricks and just 90/10 shocks. They wear out quickly nowdays, however.

I use and prefer Cal-tracs and a split mono leaf. Much better control and consistency. You do lose a little of the stealth aspect, though.

 

[not so famous bob]

And if I remember right the frt spring clamps kept moving/loosening up & you had to tighten up again. Some great stories here!

I tried the front clamps, couldn`t keep them in the right place. Tried the pinion snubber and vatiations of it, the hemi tore them all up. Finally went w/ no clamps on the rear of 002-003 s.stock springs, but had to replace then every couple of yrs.

 

[rumblefish360]

Yeah, but they probably don't use leaf springs, either.

Depends. While not a street car, it does have leaf springs and it does haul some ***! Click below, go to 1:20 in the first video.


http://www.dragzine.com/news/video-al-jiminez-and-the-fastest-leaf-spring-radial-car-in-the-world/