Near stock 73 Swinger first time at the track

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73dartneedswork

73dartneedswork

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I took my car to the strip tonight for the first time. I’ve never ran the quarter mile before and I wanted to see what it was like and see what my car would do. My car is a 73 Swinger, stock 904 trans and rear end. The engine is an internally stock 318, but with headers, Performer intake and a Holley 600 carb. I got better with every pass, but my best run was only
60’- 2.82 1/8-10.98 1/4-16.670 @ 85.68. I thought I would do better, but I imagine with more practice I can run faster. I was having a hard time getting traction and I felt I had to baby it out of the gates. What are some tips on improving my times or are my times about the best the car will do?
 
Without getting crazy, the first thing I would do is get a set of M/T ET street drag radials. You never said if it had a sure-grip so if not install one. Up the gears. I not sure what the stock gears are but I bet they are not helping you launch. 3.73 or 3.90 will help you launch and still be good on the street. You could get a bigger stall convertor and shift kit for trans.
I know there are alot of other things you can do as far as motor goes but like I said these are a few things that can be done without getting into a crazy car transformation.
You will improve your 60ft times and lower your E.T. some but after that I figure a mostly stock 73 Duster w/318 will be low 16's.

Let us know how it goes.
 
When you took off was you stalling it up or leaving off Idle. I now my DD If I stall it up it has no traction.But when I leave of Idle it hooks. Every tenths better on your 60ft is like 2 tenths on the bottom end..If you can get the 60ft down to 2.0s that would be 1.20 seconds off your time..

You could do a baby camshaft,3000 stall, a stall a lone will probably knock 4-5 tenths off your 60ft..
 
thats a pretty legit number for a stock A body with a 318, like the others said there are many options to knock off some tenths...a stock converter, hwy gears, cheap tires can all independently kill you off the line...the MTT et street tires are amazing..but useless without a set of gears and a posi. the spinning you're feeling on the line is most likely much less violent than it feels like...your 85 MPH et shows that your HP is probably in line with your stockish setup, its not like you're blowing your tires off and then throwing down a 110 MPH run...which would point to a 12-13 second car..anyways...i hate to say it but with a stock 318, even the nice converter, gears, and mtt's will only do so much with 200HP..maybe a mid 14 sec car.. each of those upgrades also make it a little less streetable..and a little more geared toward the quarter mile. you could click off high 14's with a 3000 stall, mtt's, and 391's..but it deff comes down to HP in the end.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I definitely want to get a suregrip rearend and when budget allows maybe some other performance modifications. I still have a lot of work to do (body, paint, interior) to get the car to where it’s a respectable looking driver. I’ve only driven four passes down the track in my life and I imagine with more practice I’ll get better. With a suregrip and better launch’s I’d like to get into the 15’s.
 
I made it back to the track tonight. Since the last time I took my car I've added Suregrip and 3.55's. (I used to have an open diff and 3.23's.) I not spinning my tires as much and my 60' and et has improved, but I wanted to get into the 15's.

My best time was 60' 2.488 1/8 13.453 and my 1/4 was 16.026 @ 85.986.

I was excited to hear my car chirp the tires going into second gear. But going from second to third the engine feels like it's surging or stalling out. I have to take my foot out of it for it to shirt into third. I don't have a tach so I don't know what rpm I'm running. Should I manully shift the car into third?
The car does feel and sound like it's out of tune and my mechanic has told me the distributor is pretty worn. With a new distributor and betting tunning, I think I'll get into the 15's.
 
if thats your first time at the track, you didn't do half bad. I had a semi stock 318 in my dakota used to race back in the day.

setup was a stock long block 318, small crane extreme energy cam 268/454, street dominator intake, a too big of a 650 double pumper holley, and shorty headers.

Transmission was rebuilt, but stock with a stock converter, and a stock dog leg 8 1/4.

I coudn't floor it off the line because the carb would bog, however I would still 60ft 2.50's. It ran consistant low 15's, and would of been in the 14's if I fixed the off the line problem.

You could be able to do alot to that motor, keep it streetable and run 14's. 2 1/2 inch exhaust if you don't have it would help tremendously, and like they said, at least some bigger tires if not some et streets or drag radials. Just keep with it and let us know your results and mods!
 
73dartneedswork said:
I made it back to the track tonight. Since the last time I took my car I've added Suregrip and 3.55's. (I used to have an open diff and 3.23's.) I not spinning my tires as much and my 60' and et has improved, but I wanted to get into the 15's.

My best time was 60' 2.488 1/8 13.453 and my 1/4 was 16.026 @ 85.986.

I was excited to hear my car chirp the tires going into second gear. But going from second to third the engine feels like it's surging or stalling out. I have to take my foot out of it for it to shirt into third. I don't have a tach so I don't know what rpm I'm running. Should I manully shift the car into third?
The car does feel and sound like it's out of tune and my mechanic has told me the distributor is pretty worn. With a new distributor and betting tunning, I think I'll get into the 15's.
Click to expand...

You were at sac raceway right? This is the guy with the red truck.

JMO, you need a tach. It makes a huge difference as you can see what rpm you're launching at and adjust. Even if you could have knocked a little off that 60ft time, you would be in the 15s.
 
Sounds about right... I took a 67 Dart with junkyard 360 conversion and ran it down the 1/4 mile last summer. It is a stock 360 with a dual plane intake, 750 Holley, Summit headers and duals, shift kit in the 904 with a stock converter. At the time I was still running the 7 1/4 with 2.90 gears. The first pass in the July heat was a lack luster 16.03. Not wanting the ridicule of owning a 16 second car, I made a second pass and improved the launch. The result was a 15.81 at 86 MPH. The sad news is it is still a 15 second car.
 
I went back to the track today. I corrected the timming on my car and added some drag radials. It hooks so much better. I really wanted to get into the 15's and I actually got into the 14's.
60' 2.160 1/4 14.805 @90.040. A cam and better heads are next.
 
Thats real good for a 318 dart.Carefull, pretty soon you will be wanting to go 10's. It can become addictive.
 

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