Planning on running a few quarters this summer in my ‘68 442. Installing 4.10s and 28” drag radials. Right now my suspension is bone stock and the BFGs don’t hook up very well. I’m afraid to get to the track and just smoke tires. What are some simple but effective mods I can do to help hook up at the line?

 

I have always heard that the simplest thing you can do to a gm a body to help it hook is to lower it. It moves the rear control arms into a better geometry so they say.

 

Your going to need to give more details.

 

Lakewood lift bars. Like SSM bars , adjustable uppers , dual adjustable shocks and good springs. In my case my springs are from a 69 442 but they work for me. Pay attention to the front too. In my case lowering the car wasn't gonna be an option as it's heavily street driven and the first obstacle is actually my quick steep rise driveway entrance. I use talk ball joints to maintain a stock ish ride height and enough front end travel along with Moog 6 cyl front springs , and afco 80/20 shocks. Car has run a best of 11.68 with a 1.56 60 ft. @ 111 mph. That's with a 350 olds. I went well Into the low 12's with stock home boxed lowers, 50/50 rear shocks and an air bag in the right rear spring. 90/10 shocks in the front with worn out springs . Good tires are a much . Bias ply slicks will be more forgiving than a drag radial. People claim top end stability issues but I have never experienced it with the bias ply slicks.

 

More details...
Current setup is stock suspension, all brand new (bushings, tall ball joints, springs, and shocks). 25.4” tires with 3.23 posi. I have a fresh rear axle off a ‘69 442 with 4.10s I am installing and going to 28” tires. TH400 with 2800-3000 stall. Engine is 455 running E85, dyno’d at 530/550. Willing to make some simple mods to help with traction. On the street I just light up both tires, so I usually start from a roll when I get on it.

 

The BFG's are a pretty hard tires I wouldn't even worry about hooking on the street unless you are street racing which the formula is simple loose and soft but it will make for a horrible ride. Buy some good slicks add some good traction pieces in the rear like lakewood lift bars , set the pinion angle and you should be good to have a semi successful outing. Anything is possible but don't expect to hook on the track with a BFG radial ( non drag ) . People have but not common place unless you have lots of trickery involved like the guys who run F.A.S.T class running 9's on a bias ply street tire.

 

Set the pinion angle?

 

Yes there is lots to explain and controversy on how it's measured and set. All I can say is do your research.

 

Thanks fellas. Sounds like drag radials alone will help quite a bit brill look into Lakewood lift bars and learn about pinion angle.

 

If you can get a spare set of wheels I would opt for some lightly used slicks. The bias ply slicks will be more forgiving to an under tuned chassis. The drag radials will demand more balanc as they are a harder wall soft compound tire vs your typical slick with a soft compound and wrinkle wall sidewalls. You can usually pick up a lightly used set of slicks for half the price and for the occasionally racer you will get your money's worth for half the price.

 

Ultimately this is what your want, with a radial slick.

 

I like the ARB. I'm not a fan of the anti hop bars. I ran them before and even with mediocre power levels on 2 decent axle housings (8.5) I bent 2 before I knew what was going on.

 

Showing what I ran 1.37 60s with @ 3670. NHRA stock 315 HP 455.

 

I'm not doubting it at all .

 

Air lift 1000 series bags in the rear springs, do not tie together, keep the air fill to each bag separated and adjust at the track for even traction; use lowest air pressure possible. Also Lakewood 21312 bars or Summit SUM-SM1312 which bolt on in place of the stock lower rear control arms changing the instant center for better planting the rear tires. Very effective and inexpensive which you can easily install yourself. You also should get the braces which install between the forward mounting points of the upper and lower rear control arms to keep from ripping out your upper frame cross member!

 

I like it. VortecPro I need to drive down the street and introduce myself this year. I just need to figure out exactly where you're at. Battenrunner said you look scary but you're actually a pretty nice guy!

 

On my 65 442 I run UMI adjustable uppers, UMI lowers, UMI weld on adjustable lower mounts and a BMR anti roll bar. Hooks well on a 275/60 MT radial.

 

That's the other route I was thinking is just update to adjustable control arms to prevent binding and softer tires. I'm bone stock right now and don't want to alter things too much as I've got a lot of time and money into keeping it stock.

 

After reading what you have said about your car this is my recommendation. Since everything is new it's probably safe. It doesn't sound like you want a race car. Just bolt the tires on and get a base line. Then you can look at changes. Right now changing to adjustable uppers won't net you anything significant. As for what works better between lift bars or stop hop set up you will hear all sorts of arguments. I know what I prefer. If you have not bought the radials a bias tire will better. Radials can be faster IF the car is set up for it.

 

I like the center in center out muffler, most don't understand the importance of this, the welding not so much.

 

Half of my exhaust comes off. Drops like 60 lbs. I used header collector rings and drop the mufflers and a good section of exhaust pipe on the fly.

 

Ok so lift bars and slicks and don’t mess with any of the stock setup. At 5000 feet I probably only have 400 actual hp so I’m sure tires alone will get me most of the way there. I see a Lakewood has a few different looking traction aids, one called lift bars and one called ladder bars. Which is the one I want?

 

You need to start with a drag radial, see how that goes, if that won't hook it you can go from there and make some modifications.

 

I actually would rather start with a full slick. Since you can gauge how hard you hit the tire you can determine if you can go to a drag radial. I did this by having my wife record the car and focus on the rear tire and watching how much it was driving the tire down and if there was a change in the wrinkle. A bias ply can handle suspension unloading to an extent before you spin where a radial will not. Oddly enough for my set up we saw literally no change in anything between the radial and a full slick. You can usually pick up some used slicks for atleast testing fairly cheap where a radial can be hard to gauge how good it is since it's affected greatly by heat and use. I have seen guys run a radial damn near to the cords on track only cars but on the street the heat cycles won't be kind to the compound.

 

I forgot to mention you want the lift bars.

 

 

That's book is full of alot of questionable things imo

 

I have never read this book. What I do know is there is more than one way to make a meatloaf.

The best advice so far, from my opinion is start with a better tire. Get a good starting point. Then make changes. This is the best way to learn. On the other hand you can just pick a compleat set up as outlined by someone. If you go that route and have issues you will have a hard time fixing it.

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Mark I see you have two fuel pick up points in your fuel system, why did you go this route and how is it routed from this point forward? Are you running a return line?

Thanks
Bernhard

 

Normally I wouldn't do this setup, but I had the parts and wanted to keep it cheap, and it actually worked so I left it this way. So theres two pickups out of the cell going to each pump, out of the pump they go into a Y block and one line to the regulator up front. The pumps have hi pressure springs added to raise fuel pressure, to avoid back flow on the launch.

 

Thanks
I see a lot of money invested into fuel systems, its nice to to a systems that works with the Qjet without draining the bank account.

 

Honestly it should have a MagnaFuel 500 pump, but I put that car on hold after the wuhan virus hit. We built and tested the "race" truck instead, and it was fun! I just put my Chevelle back together last month, so I've been busy.

 

So you are not running a return line it's a dead head set up?

 

No return-on any of my cars from the regulator, my other cars with a Magna Fuel 500 pump return from the pump to the cell, because they run 24 PSI out of the pump, they return to the top the cell, then theres hard line plumbed from the top of the cell to almost the bottom of the cell so theres no areation.

 

Top shelf work as usual.
What PSI are you running with the Buick set up.

 

I believe I had 14 PSI at the y block out of the pumps, then it was regulated to 5 psi out of the Magna Fuel regulator. I've also played with lowering the fuel pressure below 5 PSI to lean out the engine in high gear.