Thread: Kind Of A Drag

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You asked about shifting it at 6,000 and valve float.Given it being your D.D.,I suggest you short shift it and develop consistent E.T's.For you to have fun without a dedicated race car,you really don't need to go as fast as the engine will allow.Wining is pretty cool with consistent times.Wifely sees that and thinks "hey how about that...............He won..............and brought home $75.00 bucks..........................ya know maybe we could..........."

Salutations all,

As I was driving to work this morning on the eve of my last day with tall gears A horrable thought came to me like an empty gas tank on race day, "What if I can't afford to drive this thing anymore?" Sure, gears will make it a hot-rod but if I hafta pour gas down it's neck like a drunken sailor I won't have enough cash to buy a hot dog. And even so, the car still carries a 4000 lbs heft. What do i do then? Throw out the seats? the doors? The heater? the radio? I refuse to throw out my wife! She's too good looking and she don't eat much anyway.

And I was thinking the same thing as Dave mentioned. Something's gonna break. Not a question of "If" but "When". Then what do I do? Leave the car at the track with the keys and the pink slip on the front seat? Walk back home and call work to say I can't make it in? Hold a sign on the highway that says "Will race for food"?

Yep, Dave is right. We need a beater for the streeter. But, Have you noticed how downright ugly cars have got over the years? Some are so butt-ugly you gotta sneak up to the gas pumps. But aside from the thought of driving a clown car or an easter egg there's the expense of more gas, registration, insurance...Less green to go for overweight race cars.

So, Look for a better job.... Sure, I can run for President of the United States of America. Why not? If elected I promise to make hot-rodding a constitutional right. I will reverse all the edicts Jimmy Carter made that killed the muscle car. I will outlaw the catalytic converter. I will mandate that GM brings back the Z-28. I will drill in Anwar!

I'm 54 years old now. I spent a huge part of my life turning wrenches and I enjoyed every bit of it. I worked in more wrecking yards than a junkyard dog. I went through 3 years of automotive technology. I was shop foreman after 1 year of college. I was ASE certified I was California certified. And certifiably crazy. I had my own garages. I had my own tools to do about anything. That is until some putrified prophylactics kept stealing them years on end. I used to have several cars. Cool ones too. Trans Ams, Camaros, GTX, Fire Chickens with snouts sticking out of the hood. Mercury Cyclone wannabees, fake GTO's.

Now, i'm a rent-a-cop. How i got here is a mystery to even me. Sure, I get to carry a gun to work. Big deal. I don't get to shoot anybody. Everybody hates me. My uniform is dark so I cook on hot days. I stand around most of the time with a finger in my ear. My dispatcher hates me. There's just no future in it.

But every morning I look at my sweet wife and realize that if I don't go to work she won't get to eat and well, I can't let her down. And she's such a good sport about everything. "Sure Honey, Buy the NOS for the car. We'll work it into the budget somehow". So, I keep the job I got cause I got it. Have never got a raise. Company's as crooked as a dog's hind leg. The supervisor's a lying #&!!!%. But I still go to work.

So, On my days off I work on my last remaining car. Dreaming of glory days working in the pit crew on a modified 69 Charger. Of being in a race car on the Main event door to door and feeling the mud bounce off the brain bucket. Oh, and the roar of engines beating my eardrums into cymbals.

So, I guess it's my dream to do the 1320 boogie. We all gotta have a dream or what's life worth living for? I used to want to make a difference in the world for good. Well, that never happened. I used to want to go streaking. That never happened either. I wanted to go to a disco. That never happened. Even though I had the shirt. But I did get to drive a train. That was fun. I got to drive in a demolition derby. That was great fun. I got to learn Karate and Kung-Foo. Aside from broken ribs that was fun too. I never regretted chasing a dream. Sometimes they come true.

So, I got this paradox. But how can i forsake this dream? the first time i took our "Hoopdee" out on the strip is something I will treasure in my heart for as long as I live. The results of 12 years working on the same car with 12 years of paychecks in it. Of plastigaging the bearings I put in myself. The results of all my knowledge and expertise. Put to the test. No, I wasn't the fastest. But the car didn't break. In a sense I did win. My engine worked. My transmission shifted. I drove the car home.

And the best part was when my wife wrapped her arms around my neck and said "Honey, you did your best, you're a winner to me and i'm proud of you".

So, as I look at the tachometer she bought me for Valentine's day i'm reminded, She beleves in me. She believes I can do anything I set my mind to. I can leap tall buildings in a single bound. So, as much as I can muster, I need to be faster than a speeding bullet. I can't let her down.

So, tomorrow morning I have to make decisions based on harsh reality. I got as our only car something that weighs more than the rock of Gibralter, eats gas like an OPEC orgy and is slower than a prisoner going to execution. So, do I buy gears? Or not? Do I fill the NOS bottle? Do I magic marker the dots back on the fuzzy dice? How does one balance a dream with reality?
If I wait till I can afford it all i'll never do it. Shucks, if I waited to get married til i could afford it i'd still be leafing through my Uncle Joe's magazines. Dreams can't always be postponed. Reality is always with us. And time is our enemy.

So, part of me cautions that something's gonna break, I can't move a mountain faster than 15.20. i'll be walking home.. Loose my job..and i'll shoot my eye out.

And another part of me giggles with excitement thinking of the NOS bottle filled, Gears that turn our rock into a rocket, a shiney new chrome cover on the differental and another chance at the drags...

What part do I give in to? What would you do?

PS, The car does have a POSI of sorts. It's a small carrier with dog teeth displacing the spider gears. It's actually meant for 4WD vehicles but I got it cause I didn't hafta replace the carrier. It's still working, both wheels burnout. If I didn't have it one wheel would be bald by now.

I am building a tow van for my business first and a toy while no being used for that.(no race track ever)It is very hard to keep the drag racer in check for me too when applying the build to the van.The last dual purpose street/ET racer I owned was a 73 Dodge Dart sport 340.Opening headers at the track,swapping slicks on there too,sometimes carb swaps at the track too.

Shine doesn't go fast or win races.So If you considered the cost of a race car body,drive train vs continuing to invest in a really nice as it is car,the race car body/drive train might be actually cheaper way to be involved in drag racing.Who cares if it maybe for the whole time it's in primer.And if you hurt something-you still drive to work in your current car.

The way money is these days,you have a prime time to take advantage of a distress sale from a guy that is behind on his primary bills and needs to get out from under a ET bracket race car.Hell even a roller wouldn't be a bad deal depending on what you got.

I passed on a auction on a Malibu wagon,that by the way is one of the best wt transfer cars you can get for what was heavy ET class.It had as a roller all just the best parts you could get.I thought and my partner thought too it was as a roller a $10,000 dollar car invested.SOLD at $1,500.Those deals are out there and are more frequent than you might think.So the first good deal is the toughest.Turn that into a contender and run it for a yr,then turn it for more money than you bought it selling it as a roller.Take that to turn it into the next roller,etc.Yeah-yeah,I know guys are going to say you can't do that.Be we have.It has just gotten slower to sell because of the money situation and we have gotten to a much higher dollar car which not everyone can afford.

The other thing to consider if your not going down the path of reselling ET cars,is titles don't matter for race cars.Even through it does improve the value of the car.Soooooooooooo the pick and pull yards is a open canvass to pick what you want if you can work a deal to just pay what the scrap price would be.Build that and wala you have your race car.

So my point is cruise the really,really,nice car you have.And if you need to race,there are tons of ways to get there too with a car for that.

Dang! I forgot about the boneyard! that's how I got my GTX. Well, Makes sense. Wife did remind me this morning wed hafta get a trailer, well, something to work on anyway. I guess im wanting to get it done before my eyesight fails. Well, athe best we could get for transportation right now would have to say "Schwinn" but I can't see killing a car we had for so long. But, I feel the need...

Think we'll go scoping for possible race cars tomorrow, be fun anyway.

Oh, yeah! you're right about foregoing the lifters for now. I researched my intake and the ceiling is 5500. But I swear I saw the tach pass 6000 and beyond once.

Hey, if the Monte is your toy, play with it!!! My last "driver" cost me $250.00 and picking up the tab for coffee!!! It looks like crap, already has lots of rust so I don't have to worry about it rusting out, front wheel drive, and about mid 20's on mpg--might do better if I broke down and put a set of plugs in it. It's an old 90's Chrysler, bought it off the back line of a used car lot before it went to the auction. It's junk, but it beats the heck out of driving something nice to the parts store or wherever when I'm covered with body dust, grease, or whatever..... There's lots of cheap driver's around if you get out and beat the bushes!

I just bought some 3.73 gears at a new speed shop where I had to go to fill up the Nos bottle. To be frank I think i'm taking them back tomorrow. I'm scared shirtless about how bad it's gonna wind out on the freeway and all that fuel i'm gonna put in.

They also said I should change the eldelbrock carb for a Holley, which I have. Problem is I don't see a way to add the Nos switch. The front has the accelerator pump in the way and the back has the throttle linkage in the way. Sooooo......I donnou.

I found a nice junker out in the back of a car dealer. Two tires are flat and no battery but it looks like they had 1350 on the windshield...And it's my wife's favorite color.. Purple. It's some 4th generation Camaro ragtop, Early 90's I guess. I wonder if they can finance me........

I might suggest you don't fiance race cars.Take a walk in the p&p buying something solid body wise as a roller at scrap pricing.Something like $150.00 to $300.00.Hell you could get lucky and buy one that someone has taken out the heater core/A/C already which you wouldn't want anyways to save yourself some work.

Wheel speed/rpm calculator:

Engine RPM Calculator

this is G.W.s wife steph...he asked me to log in and say thanks to you 1g the calculator worked like a dream and he has taken ppls advice and used it
right now he's under the car...AGAIN!!!

and many thanks from me too

I think Dave's right, a inexpensive daily commuter is the way to go. You might not love the car, but it will get you to a paycheck without worrying about blowing something at the track, that cost big bucks to fix, and being stranded with no way to earn some cash. Anything Japanese 10years or older will get you good gas mileage and cheap price tag along with reliability. It may not reflect who you are, or be fun to drive, but it will free the monte to fill those needs, while making other things in life easier. This is an expensive hobby, or way of life, I believe in taking it slow as I go, paying for the stuff I need with cash, so I never feel the need to hurry, and incure more debt, especially with this economy. Heck you could even buy a motorcycle or scooter if your commutes not too far, get cheap gas milelage and save the bucks you would be spending on the Monte to get to work to pay for race day stuff! Just a thought.

motorcycle and groceries??? Don't thik the pretty one will stand for that...maybe with a sidecar

Heck I used to shop that way!

Just my 2 cents. Those old Montes are heavy. You could probally loose 200 pounds just by cutting those big ole protection beams out of the inside of the doors. Above all else,lighter is faster.

Keep the Monte and Build somthing else..Get somthing lighter and with a 350 in it swap engines and all is good

Originally Posted by Good Wrench

this is G.W.s wife steph...he asked me to log in and say thanks to you 1g the calculator worked like a dream and he has taken ppls advice and used it
right now he's under the car...AGAIN!!!

and many thanks from me too

I am sure you know this already.But you are going to lose some gas mileage with the gear change.Might be interesting if you post that for others to read after you have it back together.For me I try to be mindful about threads that I am writing for a archive.