Any tips, new to drag racing?

-
T

TheMonster

New Drag Racer
Joined
Jul 6, 2009
Messages
55
Reaction score
0
Location
Evansville, IN
Well I am about 60% sure I am going to get a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger. It has a 318ci engine w/ purple shaft cam, but getting swapped for a stock 360(yes or no?), 727 trans, 8 1/2" rear, partial tub, 650cfm carb, new electric fuel pump, new front shocks, and hood pins.

What are some first things I need to do? I would like to keep the 318 in until off season, then swap it during this winter. Anything with a $1000 budget I could do with it? I am planning on taking back and passenger seats out and getting rid of a bunch of unneccessary weight. How can I get it ready to be able to take it to the track? I would like to keep it streetable unless I could get away with 7 miles to the track lol. Or get a trailer 8) Thanks.
 
Wow I wasn't thinking but how much are a pair of drag slicks, I will need some wheels to go with them too? =/ I ask that with a summit racing magazine sitting right next to me lol. Looks like about $300 for 2 rear tires. What are some cheap wheels I could get?
 
aeroracewheels.com is about the cheapest wheels that I have ever seen. They are pretty light simple and cheap. They do the job though and they pretty much have the same styles but they are cheap and do the job.


Jeff
 
Actually I might be able to get some cheap wheels and some slicks from my uncle. So with a $1000 budget what should i be looking for?
 
What all do you have so far? What kind off racing do you want to do and how fast do you want to go? Are you going to build it your self or are you going to need to pay some one to help you? Doing the work your self is going to save you a lot of money.
 
for cheaper wheels...search ebay and craigslist for them...

i have found several set that way.
 
if your swapping in a 360 anyways, see how much nitrous the 318 can take, saves you like 600 bucks and youll go fast :)
 
New to drag racing? Just throw money at it and it will go faster. Good Luck
 
TheMonster said:
Actually I might be able to get some cheap wheels and some slicks from my uncle. So with a $1000 budget what should i be looking for?
Click to expand...


Well depending on what parts you may have already, I'd just go with bolt ons that you could later swap over to the 360. Carb, intake, exhaust, ignition, etc. That way you'll be that much further ahead when you do make the change.

codfish
 
Remember to be on your time and never look at a green light
 
I'm 90% the local drag strip is 1/8th mile, if that helps. The 360 is completely stock, like some guys said and my dad, anything that will bolt on to the 318 will bolt on the 360...so i will keep that in mind, idk what is/isn't working on the car but my dad has an 8 1/4 rear, 727 trans, and 360 motor if something isnt.

Also, all the work will be done ourselves, uxcept cyclinder work ect.

Another thing, what is an extremely rough 1/8th mile time with the 318 with purple shaft cam and 727 trans, not sure about gears. An another rough time with the 360. nevermind i will look on dragtime.com

With the 360 could I get into the 9's or unlikely?


...Another question(sorry about so many but im stoked) How many passes can you make before you have to completely tear down an engine and replace seals and parts?

Also my dad and I are friends with a guy thats pretty hardcore about mopars, which is sweet, so if we really need help with anything he has a shop and what not. He has like 40 blocks sitting in his garage. (Including a 426 Hemi :) ) So he has a ton of parts like heads and intakes. (makes me like mopar so much better than chevy)

Also I don't have any specific times i want, to be honest, I don't know an 1/8th mile time what is good or bad. I know 1/4 mile time really well, but a 8 second car...i guess that is good, but idk what a stock car would run 1/8 mile, or a blowed big block would run in an 1/8th mile.
 
67GTX is exactly right...........just throw a bunch of money at it and it will go fast. Seriously, if you want to go fast, just add juice........then you blow the engine. Build the engine the right way.......then you tear up trans and rear ends. Their is really no cheap way to go fast (and stay together).....It is probably realistic to have a 12 second car that doesn't hurt parts and is relatively inexpensive. But, in my opinion, anything faster will cost about $500 for each tenth. Good luck PS....when you get in the 9's it is about $1,000 per hundreth.
 
1000's Gulp O.o...haha

Well I don't want anything too fast.

What I am hoping to do is find a 440 and get some parts later, but right now...just something to have fun with, nothing extremely serious. Just something to have fun working on with my dad, learn more about mopars/cars in general, and have fun messing around the track. :profilel:

...Another question, How many passes can you make before you have to completely tear down an engine and replace seals and parts?
 
TheMonster said:
Well I am about 60% sure I am going to get a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger. It has a 318ci engine w/ purple shaft cam, but getting swapped for a stock 360(yes or no?), 727 trans, 8 1/2" rear, partial tub, 650cfm carb, new electric fuel pump, new front shocks, and hood pins.

What are some first things I need to do? I would like to keep the 318 in until off season, then swap it during this winter. Anything with a $1000 budget I could do with it? I am planning on taking back and passenger seats out and getting rid of a bunch of unneccessary weight. How can I get it ready to be able to take it to the track? I would like to keep it streetable unless I could get away with 7 miles to the track lol. Or get a trailer 8) Thanks.
Click to expand...

keep it simple.I won more money running 8.70 ets 1/8 mile with a 273.could not wear the slicks out.then i decided to build a 340.now tearing stuff up left and right.spent about 10 grand last year replacing ring gears/rear ends/tyranny's/slicks just to name a few.
 
well im going to speak from only a little experience here...currently building my 71 scamp and have done ALL the work (except the paintjob) myself and have almost all the parts already and there is definatly way more than 1000 bucks into it...speed costs money because you need reliability and power, and when things break you need money to replace, and when you want to go faster you need more money for that...its a money pit, but its definatly a better drug than anything else out there in my opinion...and an 8 second car in the quarter is a beast as you obviously know, but even an 8 second quarter mile time is fast...take it from experience- when you make your first pass down that drag strip in a v8 car, even if you pull off a high 14 second et, your gonna feel like you just hit godspeed lol so dont worry too much about it all...i say have fun, build it as funds allow, and maybe win some cash bracket racing to fund future upgrades...good luck!

p.s.- you chose the best form of motorsports in my opinion!
 
If you don't have a 727 already, don't spend the money there, use a 904.

Does the car already have an 8.25 rear in it with a 904? You have from the trans back covered if so.
 
yeah already have a 727 trans, and has a 8 1/4" rear end, might be changing gears, don't know what they are yet. Looks more like 70% on buying the dart now. will go up to 90% haha about monday.
 
barracuda man said:
keep it simple.I won more money running 8.70 ets 1/8 mile with a 273.could not wear the slicks out.then i decided to build a 340.now tearing stuff up left and right.spent about 10 grand last year replacing ring gears/rear ends/tyranny's/slicks just to name a few.
Click to expand...

Wow really, only have a v8 318 and 360 though :profilel:
 
mshred said:
well im going to speak from only a little experience here...currently building my 71 scamp and have done ALL the work (except the paintjob) myself and have almost all the parts already and there is definatly way more than 1000 bucks into it...speed costs money because you need reliability and power, and when things break you need money to replace, and when you want to go faster you need more money for that...its a money pit, but its definatly a better drug than anything else out there in my opinion...and an 8 second car in the quarter is a beast as you obviously know, but even an 8 second quarter mile time is fast...take it from experience- when you make your first pass down that drag strip in a v8 car, even if you pull off a high 14 second et, your gonna feel like you just hit godspeed lol so dont worry too much about it all...i say have fun, build it as funds allow, and maybe win some cash bracket racing to fund future upgrades...good luck!

p.s.- you chose the best form of motorsports in my opinion!
Click to expand...

Haha, can't wait...was going to use my camaro, but its my daily driver. beefed up 355ci. This weekend needs to come and go fast!:burnout:
 
Do you want to go fast or win races on a $1000 budget? If you want to go rounds you need to be consistant, first you need traction-posi rearend and slicks. next you need to be good on the tree-buy a practice tree or even see if you can find a good program on the internet. A well tuned engine, no matter what hp will work fine. Just those three things you will have fun and win races. Now if you just want to go fast and don't care if you win go with the NOS. Oh yea your question on tear down...depends on what you got. @ 275 hp I never tore down untill I wanted to go faster. @400 hp I tore down after 5 seasons and it was a waste of time. @500+hp it seams once a year isn't enough. Drive it till it breaks then you know what to fix!
 
With an 1/8th mile track and a $1000 budget - it really is going to be about quick acceleration and traction. 3 things I would look at

1. Diff ratio
You haven't mentioned if the diff is a suregrip (LSD) and what gears she is running. Depending on how streetable you want it then I would be looking at something like a 3.5 to 3.9 diff ratio gear set (and LSD if she doesn't already have one). If less streetable then 4.11 - 4.30

2. Wheels and slicks
As you identified these will assist enormously on the short track. Mickey Thompson street et's seem to be getting a very good reputation for quick times and good hook-up - just need a bit of heat to get the best out of them.

3. Decent tune
Assuming she has a 4 barrel carby of some description on her then you'll get a good time by making sure the jetting, airflow ratio and tune are giving you everything the 318 has to offer.


Keep the nitrous for later - just have some fun with this - on 1/8th track the 318 in a Duster will feel pretty dam quick especially if she hooks up off the line well.


Just my 2 cents worth
Cheers
 
you sound like a young gun, nothing wrong with that, I'm only 19 myself.

Just have fun and take the good with the bad, don't get too bent out of shpe when something doesn't go perfect cause that's kind of the nature of this sport.

Your best bet IMO is to just get the car, check it over make sure it runs right do some test passes on a very secluded stretch of road that is clear of any innocent bystanders to make sure the car runs out right then head to the track and see what happens. Don't think you have to have slicks just cause you're going to go drag race, drag strips are prepped and sticky, with you not having a ton of power there's a decent chance you could hook fine on street tires. Keep things simple and enjoy it
 
360 Charger said:
With an 1/8th mile track and a $1000 budget - it really is going to be about quick acceleration and traction. 3 things I would look at

1. Diff ratio
You haven't mentioned if the diff is a suregrip (LSD) and what gears she is running. Depending on how streetable you want it then I would be looking at something like a 3.5 to 3.9 diff ratio gear set (and LSD if she doesn't already have one). If less streetable then 4.11 - 4.30
Click to expand...

Aren't Suregrips really expensive? What is the difference between a suregrip/limited slip diff and a posi?

360 Charger said:
2. Wheels and slicks
As you identified these will assist enormously on the short track. Mickey Thompson street et's seem to be getting a very good reputation for quick times and good hook-up - just need a bit of heat to get the best out of them.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was looking through a summit racing magazine and was planning on getting a set of MT's

360 Charger said:
3. Decent tune
Assuming she has a 4 barrel carby of some description on her then you'll get a good time by making sure the jetting, airflow ratio and tune are giving you everything the 318 has to offer.[/qoute]

Yeah I wasn't thinking about that, on my camaro we have a edelbrock tuning kit with different springs and jets. Does Holley have a kit like that? or just buy random jets?


360 Charger said:
Keep the nitrous for later - just have some fun with this - on 1/8th track the 318 in a Duster will feel pretty dam quick especially if she hooks up off the line well.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't want nitrous, kind of want to stay all motor, im not a big fan of nitrous.


360 Charger said:
Just my 2 cents worth
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
wigsplitter74 said:
you sound like a young gun, nothing wrong with that, I'm only 19 myself.

Just have fun and take the good with the bad, don't get too bent out of shpe when something doesn't go perfect cause that's kind of the nature of this sport.

Your best bet IMO is to just get the car, check it over make sure it runs right do some test passes on a very secluded stretch of road that is clear of any innocent bystanders to make sure the car runs out right then head to the track and see what happens. Don't think you have to have slicks just cause you're going to go drag race, drag strips are prepped and sticky, with you not having a ton of power there's a decent chance you could hook fine on street tires. Keep things simple and enjoy it
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm 16. And that makes since, buy the car first...then worry about other things later. 8)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top