Long time coming, but I'm building a little bracket car

hemichuck said
I've been messing with Mopars for about 40 years now and have had a multitude of performance cars over that time(from 2.2's to Hemi's) but for the last few years I have been mostly buying and selling parts. I found a 1968 Barracuda sitting in a guys yard, been sitting there for years, and I finally saw him outside one day and stopped in. The car is not a show piece and has been sitting in the dirt for many years but I ended up buying it for $400 and decided to build myself a little bracket car. I am basically trying to use up all the stuff I've had laying around for years and I want to build an old school(because I'm old and so are a lot of my parts) 70's style car. Things I already have are several motors, 340's/360's and a couple of 4 inch stroke motors. I have several sets of roller rockers, a bunch of cams (solid and hydraulics) A new set of Edelbrock heads, a MP tach drive race distributor, several intakes (strip dominator, MP-M1, Offy Port O Sonic and a Edelbrock TR5 tunnel ram), several carbs, Holley 750 and 850 DP and a set of 500cfm Eddies for the tunnel ram. I have a 727 we just rebuilt with a turbo action manual valve body, deep pan and a T/A cable shifter. I have an 8 3/4 spool and several cases (no gear yet) I know there are a million different combos and I am just trying to figure out which would be my best bet. I don't want a world beater, just something to satisfy my need for speed. Does anybody think that with the stuff I have I could build a car that runs low 7's or maybe even high 6's in the 1/8'th mile?

7.0 in the 1/8 calculates to a low 11 second car, like 11.0. In a 3100lb car you need around 415 RWHP to get there. Factoring in 15-20% driveline loss you probably need a 500 hp small block which is pretty stout. Stroker with a tunnel ram? Maybe, I'm not sure. From what you list in your parts stash, might be tough. You're going to need some really good cylinder heads and a pretty big solid or roller cam. Probably be easier to reach your goal with a big block.

That ET is also figuring everything is optimal - minimal converter slippage, correct tire diameter and gear ratio and you have your shift points ironed out. You're in KY, elevation is over 500 ft and it's humid out there. Might be tough to tune a small block on those mid summer days.

You didn't mention anything about chassis. If it's a race-only deal, start gutting the car and getting some fiberglass parts. Look into a Caltrac suspension, guys are in the 8s (1/4) with those. Most successful NHRA leaf spring stockers run Caltracs.

Small blocks need gears like 4.30-4.56 etc., especially 1/8 mile. Won't spend too much time in high gear so you need to get there quick. A trans brake would probably be good too. Consider a 904 also which may be a better match for a small block A body. A low gear set will help with torque multiplication. There is less rotating mass in a 904 which makes it less dangerous too.

Go to Wallace Racing and play around with their calculators, should give you a clearer idea of what you need to build into the car to achieve your goal.

IMO weight, the correct gear, chassis set up, matched converter and a realistic idea of what your real wheel horsepower is (factoring in 15-20% driveline loss) are what you are looking for.