Tell me your wheelbase and was it as hard as some say it is when they are short How many bracket race them on a regular basis? Also what kinda front suspension did you have? Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WB was 129". Yes! One evil handling car till high gear. It is hard to drive with the front end off the track. Use to bracket race it. Suspension was torsion. It did not work worth a sh*t. Oh, do not forget the 200lbs of lead on the front axle. Got tired of the sh*t after 10 years and built a new car..... ps. fastest.....8.90 ET.....153 and change....
What about rear gear ratio wont that tame one down some? I've seen some with 5.13 wouldn't about 3.73 to 4.10 be more reasonable?
Wheelbase is a state of mind, I have built 100" wb altereds with blown 417 Donovans and they go straight as a tight string. Any car not set up will be hard to control. Where all this insanity began with evil handleing cars begins with the driver and trying to save a bad run.
Believe it or not we had a guy at our track bought a new Rear engine dragster and every time he made a pass he was all over the track We finally asked him man what in the hell is wrong with your car you need to talk to your chassis builder and see why it's all over the track and his reply was and this is the gospel truth he said my old door car drove so bad and this car drove so good that I would wiggle the wheel to make the ride more fun Yes he was an idiot and still is
DRE just about every body I talked to about FED lengths told me 225 or longer or you won't get down the track glad to here you say what you did about the set up We got a Vega we bracket race and it wheelstands pretty high but goes straight down the track and others at the track leave about a foot high and they fight the hell out of them so you are right it's in the setup or something may be broke or out of adjustment!
My dad did 127mph in our 96inch wb flathead dragster. After we put a powerglide in I have only gone 106mph but cut half a second off! Only problem now is keeping the front wheels on the ground so we run wheelie bars now, if we don't the back of the car hits the strip... A little too high of a stand for us, plus it loves going to the right. Other than that its straight as an arrow all the way down! Posted from the TJJ App for iPhone & iPad
137 in 99" TE-440 198 in a 120" 204 in Panic, around 110" wheelbase is a state of mind, wasn't the main reason why cars either went straight or not, track conditions, rear end setup (galled spider gears can make you sideways real fast!), weight distribution...sure, all other things equal (which they are not) longer WB is probably better (but short wb gets a more exciting ride!)
dreracecar obviously has a lot of expertise/experience. I'd just like to add my 2 cents. The shorter the car, the more critical the setup. Rear wheel weight balance (side to side) and rear end alignment needs to be perfect. Longer cars are more forgiving. A close friend had a car that was evil leaving the line. He asked me to try it out and see "what I thought was wrong". I braced my left hand against the side of the cockpit and when I left the line it went perfectly straight. What was "wrong" was the driver. Stage straight and DON"T SAW THE WHEEL!
When I built my car at 193" it was because I bought 2 pieces of 1 1/4 cm tubing and cut them in half and where they came together was my wheelbase. 95.2% of the people who have told you that short wheelbase cars dont handle have never driven one and the other 4.8% cant drive. Here is my latest project.
157 in a 100" gas dragster 167 in a 110" gas dragster 185 in a 115" fuel Comp Coupe 201 in a 150" fuel dragster
The trick to these cars is that you should never have the clutch lock-up. If the clutch slips thru the run , torque does not take over and move you around.
147 inch front motor digger. 309 inch SBC on 100 percent nitro at Fresno in 1967 . Went 8 .30 at 202 mph.
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