How would you build a low 10’s street car

[1970boy]

If 10’s and a street car seem undoable how does mid to low 11’s sound? Still gunning for a turbo but does changing the goal of 10’s to 11’s make things easier for the goal of streetable power ?

 

[flyfish]

If 10’s and a street car seem undoable how does mid to low 11’s sound? Still gunning for a turbo but does changing the goal of 10’s to 11’s make things easier for the goal of streetable power ?

Not un-doable, bottom of page 2, post #50...pretty much the whole enchilada for building my street car....runs 10.3's in the heat.

11's does make it much easier to achieve...could do that blindfolded with a turbo.

 

[Matts440]

What’s your motor stroked to and what did it start out at? Turbos seem like the only way any of this could be manageable

I went with a ritter block, Eddie magnum heads, it's a 427cid, but I'm also going for 1000+hp

 

[justinp61]

A low 10 second street/strip is certainly doable, the hard part is gathering all the parts. I didn't read through the whole thread but read a few of them, some interesting replies for sure. My guess a lot of the guys who are telling how hard or how high maintenance they are have never built or owned a low 10 second street car.

My Dart is 3350# with me in it and has ran 6.40 @ 109 mph in the 1/8 and will run deep in the .30's. It has a full interior, heater, wipers, full factory wiring, heck even the map, ashtray and trunk lights are there and still work. The car does have a fiberglass hood and front bumper.

The Dart is powered by a 434" small block, solid roller and runs on pump 93 that I buy just down the road, no race gas needed. As far as maintenance goes I change the oil once a year, in the spring before I take it out for the first time. The valves are checked at the same time and not again until the next spring. In three years I've never found one off more than a couple thousandth. That's it, nothing more. The plugs haven't been out in two years.

We drive it to the track most of the time if I'm running some of the street car races. If it's bracket racing I haul it because the exhaust is removed and slicks put on. We also take it out and cruise, it never gets over 180°, in fact in the spring or fall it doesn't run much over the 160° thermostat. I spent a bunch of time tuning the carb so it cruises nice and clean and isn't cantankerous at all.

The front suspension is rebuilt stock with Strange brakes and Viking double adjustable shocks. It has Cal Tracs on the rear, mini tubbed with a 4.10 equipped Strange S-60 and a spool. Viking DA's in the rear too. The car has a 6 point roll bar.

If I were starting over I'd buy a Gen III Hemi, put a good set of rods and pistons along with a good cam, probably two turbos, 3.23 gears and go run low 10's or high 9's. It would be very street friendly and live a long happy life unless I did something stupid.

It isn't rocket science to run low 10's, you just need a plan that involves the right parts to make the power and a decent chassis. Yes it does take a pocket full of $$. IMO a turbo is the cheapest way.

 

[Hot Metal]

I'll give you my 1987 set up if it gives you any ideas,

1971 340 Cuda, no's matching, 727 car.....under 10:1CR, mods as follows>
approx weight@the line 3550lbs, all steel car.
Stock engine & 2.02 heads..+..DC.590" [email protected] sft cam, Holley Strip Dominator, 2" open spacer+ worked 850DP, 1.75" race headers.
10x28's/4.30's/4200 stall, stock Leaf suspension clamped@front+snubber, best NA was [email protected] to get it in to the 10's>
I hit it with a Cheater NOS kit with 250hp jets, which only gave me around 170fwhp increase...(.093" orifice solenoids and too rich a tune on the petrol jet) = Result 11.01@122. Today you can do the same or better with a 175 shot and leaner tunes.

 

[1970boy]

A low 10 second street/strip is certainly doable, the hard part is gathering all the parts. I didn't read through the whole thread but read a few of them, some interesting replies for sure. My guess a lot of the guys who are telling how hard or how high maintenance they are have never built or owned a low 10 second street car.

My Dart is 3350# with me in it and has ran 6.40 @ 109 mph in the 1/8 and will run deep in the .30's. It has a full interior, heater, wipers, full factory wiring, heck even the map, ashtray and trunk lights are there and still work. The car does have a fiberglass hood and front bumper.

The Dart is powered by a 434" small block, solid roller and runs on pump 93 that I buy just down the road, no race gas needed. As far as maintenance goes I change the oil once a year, in the spring before I take it out for the first time. The valves are checked at the same time and not again until the next spring. In three years I've never found one off more than a couple thousandth. That's it, nothing more. The plugs haven't been out in two years.

We drive it to the track most of the time if I'm running some of the street car races. If it's bracket racing I haul it because the exhaust is removed and slicks put on. We also take it out and cruise, it never gets over 180°, in fact in the spring or fall it doesn't run much over the 160° thermostat. I spent a bunch of time tuning the carb so it cruises nice and clean and isn't cantankerous at all.

The front suspension is rebuilt stock with Strange brakes and Viking double adjustable shocks. It has Cal Tracs on the rear, mini tubbed with a 4.10 equipped Strange S-60 and a spool. Viking DA's in the rear too. The car has a 6 point roll bar.

If I were starting over I'd buy a Gen III Hemi, put a good set of rods and pistons along with a good cam, probably two turbos, 3.23 gears and go run low 10's or high 9's. It would be very street friendly and live a long happy life unless I did something stupid.

It isn't rocket science to run low 10's, you just need a plan that involves the right parts to make the power and a decent chassis. Yes it does take a pocket full of $$. IMO a turbo is the cheapest way.

Going the gen 3 hemi route with turbos seems like it would be the best way to have my cake and eat it too as far as being reliable and getting into the 10’s but then from there am I looking at a lot of cutting and fabrication just to get the hemi in?

 

[Matts440]

Take a look in the forced induction section, subcoms thread with a stock 5.9 magnum and a single turbo, converted to fittech is running 10s, with low boost at 8-10

 

[1970boy]

Take a look in the forced induction section, subcoms thread with a stock 5.9 magnum and a single turbo, converted to fittech is running 10s, with low boost at 8-10

Well hearing that makes things sound a lot more attainable then other people are making it out to be I’ll take a look at that thread

 

[Matts440]

He is using e85 but you can do on pump, turbos are easy on the rotating assembly but if you want to up the boost put atleast forged pistons and h beam rods in. Converter is up there from ptc but do dont want to go cheap on that. Trans yes upgrade to handle the power, rear end for sure 9" or Dana.

 

[1970boy]

He is using e85 but you can do on pump, turbos are easy on the rotating assembly but if you want to up the boost put atleast forged pistons and h beam rods in. Converter is up there from ptc but do dont want to go cheap on that. Trans yes upgrade to handle the power, rear end for sure 9" or Dana.

I’ll definitely go for forged internals and look at the h beam rods I want the build to last and not go boom after a couple of passes rather over build the motor than cheap out where it counts

 

[Matts440]

You can choose 8:1, 8.5:1, or even 9:1, I went 9:1 just for pump gas. Plus spool time depends on the ar of the exhaust housing, if you want a fast spool stick to a .90 or .94, a 1.something will take longer to spool it up. Vs racing is used alot for cheaper good turbos or on3performance, or some have gone with the ebay $300 and higher ones with good results.

 

[1970boy]

You can choose 8:1, 8.5:1, or even 9:1, I went 9:1 just for pump gas. Plus spool time depends on the ar of the exhaust housing, if you want a fast spool stick to a .90 or .94, a 1.something will take longer to spool it up. Vs racing is used alot for cheaper good turbos or on3performance, or some have gone with the ebay $300 and higher ones with good results.

I’d want to run pump gas as well so I would go with the 9:1 and how does sizing turbos for your motor go? Is it based off of displacement?

 

[Matts440]

Displacement and amount of air flow, it plays more on twins, if you run a single you can go with a 1.0 since all 8 cylinders are pushing the exhaust through it, think subs car has a 1.10 since hes a single turbo. Theres alot of build over there just glance through them and see what they did, you get budget orientated to all out so it's great to look through some of them.

 

[Oldiron440]

The hard part isn't that it is hard but for me spending the money was hard. The car is an endless money pit. And I bartered machine and transmission, work did my own assembly work all the fab, paint and bodywork and my business brought parts and materials with some donated by jobbers. It was a good promotional tool for the business but the money still went out.
The best thing you can do is list every thing you want and need to do if your planning to run this at a track and put a cost to it. Spend time doing this and go from front to back on the car as it was done earlier and be thorough. Don't bullshit yourself on what this is going to cost because it happens a lot, there's plenty of cars that never get finished. Then figure out how much money you need to come up with to do it.
I will say the cost of my Volare doubled going from 11.80s to 10.50s, 1180s were cheap.

 

[skep419]

any LS engine 4.8,5.3,6.0, ebay turbo kit, 4L80 trans, ford 8.8 rear. Find car to put it in other than yours to not piss everyone off.

stock magnum 5.9 250 shot until it blows/repeat

408 best heads you can get 12.5-1 E85 g-force 5 speed

 

[Cope]

My advice is if tens are your goal buy the rule book and build the car by the book.

EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING on the car needs to be geared towards that goal.

Heres a pic of the interior of my "street" car.

Notice the phone holder. Thats the only creature comfort my car offers.

No window cranks, no ac, no radio, no turn signals, no headlights, no sound deadening, no heat shield, no carpet, no wipers, non adjustable seats, no back seat, no cup holders....(the last one dose piss me off.)

Heres what the cops see when i drive it.
Big slicks, roll cage and a big prostock wing.... so yeah...... I gotta be REAL careful about when and where i use the skinny pedal.....

If i can make one pass at 10.9999 id be happy. Ten years building the car and i hope to make that pass next summer if i get lucky.....

So yes i think it can be done but theres a lot of compromise that goes into building a car that quick while keeping the licence plate and all it would take is one mistake on my part or one pissed off LEO and i loose that license plate and probably my drivers license.....


So save your cash and think long and hard about what you want out of your "street car."

 

[318willrun]

If 10’s and a street car seem undoable how does mid to low 11’s sound? Still gunning for a turbo but does changing the goal of 10’s to 11’s make things easier for the goal of streetable power ?

10's in street form is doable. However, as you stated, the slower the goal, the easier it is to obtain. If you want to run at a local track, 11.50 will keep the safety equipment requirements to the bare minimum and low cost. 11.50's on the street is not shabby at all.....

 

[fishmens67]

Not un-doable, bottom of page 2, post #50...pretty much the whole enchilada for building my street car....runs 10.3's in the heat.

11's does make it much easier to achieve...could do that blindfolded with a turbo.[/Q

Okay, I am building a 67 Valiant that I hope to get into the low tens or maybe even high 9's with, and I know what I've done, and what things are costing, so I might be able to give you some real world perspective. My car is being built to the NHRA rulebook, and is fundamentally a race car. I will occasionally drive it on the street, but it's a race car first. Probably the first thing I'll tell you isn't something you want to hear. Any older modified car that runs 10 second 1/4 miles, is not going to be a very streetable vehicle. The modifications needed to the chassis, suspension, and drivetrain will make it a bit of a handful on the street. Either accept that now, or build a nice 12 second car, which is way more fun on the street anyway. Most people who haven't been in one don't seem to understand how much difference there is between a mid 12 second car and a mid 10 second car. It's night and day, chalk and cheese.

First of all, to achieve your 10 second performance goals, you need to focus on several things that are not engine related. A ten second car is going to reach 130+ mph in the lights, so it needs to be safe. A roll cage should be a very high priority item.
Serious brakes. Don't even think of retaining any part of the cars original braking system, it all needs to be upgraded.
Traction. You can have all the horsepower in the world and it won't do you any good if you can't get the car to hook up. This means wider tires than will currently fit on the car, narrowed axle, wheel tubs, and likely a completely new style of rear suspension. (my car uses a narrowed Ford 9" with a 4-link, and adjustable coil overs) And if you want to run 10's you will need slicks, which you can't run on the street, so that means two sets of rear wheels and tires.
Chassis stiffening. You want the car to transfer weight when you accelerate, so you will need to stiffen the chassis. Think frame connectors, torque boxes and again, a strong roll cage.
Weight. The lighter the car is, the quicker it will accelerate. You should try to get the car under 3000 pounds fully equipped ready to race. This means foregoing the usual niceties in a street car... no AC, power accessories, no carpet, no fancy upholstery, etc. Suddenly it's not as inviting a place to be, especially if you want to drive it on the street regularly.
Drivetrain. To get a 3000 pound car in the tens is going to mean 550 to 600 horsepower. Now you need a convertor, transmission, driveshaft, engine mounts, cooling system, and fuel system to support that motor. Unless your name is Dick Landy or Ronnie Sox don't even consider a manual transmission.
Money. As other have pointed out, speed costs money, and the faster you want to go, the costs climb exponentially. Paying people to build the car will easily double the final cost.
Here are some of the costs I have incurred while building mine, doing all the work myself except for building the engine and trans.
Roll cage - 650
Racing seats - 700
Fibreglass bumpers - 450
Sandblasting and epoxy undercoat - 2500
Gerst K member - 3700
S&W back half kit - 1800
9" narrowed rear - 3200
Baer Brakes - 1800
Strange shocks - 550
Fuel cell, pump, regulator, lines, - 1500.
720 HP naturally aspirated engine - 19,800
Trans and convertor - 3300
Wheels and tires - 2000

As you can see, I have almost 40 grand into the project and it's not painted, wired, plumbed, or cooled yet. I fully expect to spend another 15 grand before it's done. Perhaps these facts will help you adjust your goals, or just make you start saving money. Either way, have fun with it!

This is a very good post. Certainly a low 10 sec reliable pump gas combo can be built, but it cost's.
Just make sure you fill up before you pass through my town, 91 octane is all we got.

 

[B3422w5]

A low 10 second street/strip is certainly doable, the hard part is gathering all the parts. I didn't read through the whole thread but read a few of them, some interesting replies for sure. My guess a lot of the guys who are telling how hard or how high maintenance they are have never built or owned a low 10 second street car.

My Dart is 3350# with me in it and has ran 6.40 @ 109 mph in the 1/8 and will run deep in the .30's. It has a full interior, heater, wipers, full factory wiring, heck even the map, ashtray and trunk lights are there and still work. The car does have a fiberglass hood and front bumper.

The Dart is powered by a 434" small block, solid roller and runs on pump 93 that I buy just down the road, no race gas needed. As far as maintenance goes I change the oil once a year, in the spring before I take it out for the first time. The valves are checked at the same time and not again until the next spring. In three years I've never found one off more than a couple thousandth. That's it, nothing more. The plugs haven't been out in two years.

We drive it to the track most of the time if I'm running some of the street car races. If it's bracket racing I haul it because the exhaust is removed and slicks put on. We also take it out and cruise, it never gets over 180°, in fact in the spring or fall it doesn't run much over the 160° thermostat. I spent a bunch of time tuning the carb so it cruises nice and clean and isn't cantankerous at all.

The front suspension is rebuilt stock with Strange brakes and Viking double adjustable shocks. It has Cal Tracs on the rear, mini tubbed with a 4.10 equipped Strange S-60 and a spool. Viking DA's in the rear too. The car has a 6 point roll bar.

If I were starting over I'd buy a Gen III Hemi, put a good set of rods and pistons along with a good cam, probably two turbos, 3.23 gears and go run low 10's or high 9's. It would be very street friendly and live a long happy life unless I did something stupid.

It isn't rocket science to run low 10's, you just need a plan that involves the right parts to make the power and a decent chassis. Yes it does take a pocket full of $$. IMO a turbo is the cheapest way.

Yep. Easy to do, like you said. My W5 deal i drove everywhere. It did need 110, but its 7 bucks a gallon around here and i didnt drive it 15,000 miles a year. I didnt care putting 1000 dollars worth of fuel in it during our fairly short seasons. So what. If people whine about that, they probably have no business having such a car
Would have been slower obviously on pump gas, but still would have likely run 10 teens or 20’s in good air instead of 9.80’s
This was as old school as you can get. CE 3 ways all around on all steel 70 Duster except bumpers.
Back seat, uncut or minitubbed, 002/003 S/S springs, would hook and wheelstand anywhere. 20-30 mile jaunts all the time with 700 lift roller. Working everything including wipers, etc, Etc. New owner put a spring eater cam in it, runs 9.60’s now but it sits until put on a trailer to go race. I want to drive everything i do
Weighed 3350 with my 300+ behind the wheel. 1.34/35 60 foot
If i were to do it all over would do what you did, Indy heads, pump gas, lots of inches. Like you said most guys on here haven't built such a car. Its ultra easy to make enough power to dip into the 9’s with a smallblock

 

[fishmens67]

Yep, it is easy to do ! but it cost's. Guy's chiming in with their combo's and not really giving the actual cost's of parts and machine work. lol I understand the OP as having No mechanical knowledge and probably no mechanical ability.

 

[Cope]

The numbers i posted may not be what i payed but they are close to actual cost of the parts and or about what i charge do it.

If someone brought me a good condition roller, no way id build a 10 second car for less than 25-30 grand.

Heck, the truck im building now will be over 20 grand and it would be lucky to run 14s...

 

[SLOPAR72]

Sell your current car and look for a complete car with your desired ET or a roller setup to run your desired numbers. Building your current car to meet safety updates without an engine will be 13-16k. Maybe more if you need to farm all the work out.

Big block/automatic (powerglide) and 300 gas on top. With a stock block and tranny case you will spend 16-20k. And that's before tires and alot of passes to tune the car. 10's with reliability in a mopar ain't cheap...



JMHO,
JW

 

[AJ/FormS]

Not a mopar, but I have a car that gets 20mpg with a 355/4spd, 28" tires, 3.73, no overdrive. Burns 91oct pump gas, even has a Edelbrock 600 carb. With a Powershot plate, it's been 5.73 in the 1/8th with a 1.30 60'. Pretty sure it would run 8's at a 1/4mi track, but don't want to jump thru all the hoops for the tech guys

Grant

Sweet combo!

 

[j par]

My advice is if tens are your goal buy the rule book and build the car by the book.

EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING on the car needs to be geared towards that goal.

Heres a pic of the interior of my "street" car.

Notice the phone holder. Thats the only creature comfort my car offers.

View attachment 1715382094

No window cranks, no ac, no radio, no turn signals, no headlights, no sound deadening, no heat shield, no carpet, no wipers, non adjustable seats, no back seat, no cup holders....(the last one dose piss me off.)

Heres what the cops see when i drive it.
Big slicks, roll cage and a big prostock wing.... so yeah...... I gotta be REAL careful about when and where i use the skinny pedal.....

View attachment 1715382095

If i can make one pass at 10.9999 id be happy. Ten years building the car and i hope to make that pass next summer if i get lucky.....

So yes i think it can be done but theres a lot of compromise that goes into building a car that quick while keeping the licence plate and all it would take is one mistake on my part or one pissed off LEO and i loose that license plate and probably my drivers license.....


So save your cash and think long and hard about what you want out of your "street car."

Yes this car needs a time slip...

 

[justinp61]

Yep, it is easy to do ! but it cost's. Guy's chiming in with their combo's and not really giving the actual cost's of parts and machine work. lol I understand the OP as having No mechanical knowledge and probably no mechanical ability.

Nothing in hot rodding is cheap, I've been doing this for over 40 years and it has never has been.

I have right at $16,000 in my 434, that includes buying the complete R1, Indy headed 394" engine. I sold the rotating assembly with the damper to my nephew. I still have the Indy rockers and a MSD distributor that came with it that could be sold. So realistically $15,500 in a power plant to run very low 10's in a relatively heavy car. In a well set up light weight car mid, upper 9's would be easy. All on pump 93, put two more points of compression and race gas in it and what would it run?

I honestly believe I could take 12 grand and new Hemi and run mid or low 9's in my car. Window cranks, headliner, carpet with sound deadner, wipers, heater and everything else. It's really not that hard anymore.