Register now to get rid of these ads!

Hot Rods Fast Street/Strip Hot Rods

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by travj31, May 15, 2013.

  1. What 1/4 ET and MPH would a street/strip "Hot Rod" styled car have to run to be considered fast in your eyes? Not some purpose built racer that has a plate on the back, but a car that sees considerable street time.

    If you have a pic of your own example post it up with some times and details!
     
  2. Pro Shifted
    Joined: May 18, 2010
    Posts: 51

    Pro Shifted
    Member

    light car, 10's
    heavier car, 11's
     
  3. Perrorojo
    Joined: Feb 25, 2011
    Posts: 357

    Perrorojo
    Member

    13 flat @ 110+. Would do it for me. For a traditional car that is:rolleyes:

    Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
     
  4. tylercrawford
    Joined: Jan 30, 2011
    Posts: 726

    tylercrawford
    Member
    from Buford, GA
    1. S.F.C.C.

    my thoughts exactly.

    Nowadays 10s in a "street" car is almost easy.
     

  5. TinShed
    Joined: Mar 3, 2011
    Posts: 553

    TinShed
    Member

    My wife's Comet runs 12.60's @ 131mph on street tires. Feels fast to me when the tires are not fighting to grip the road.



    These days stock show floor shit runs in the 10's so anything old sounds faster than it is most of the time.
     
  6. brad chevy
    Joined: Nov 22, 2009
    Posts: 2,627

    brad chevy
    Member

    High 12s -Low 13s any faster and the low rear gear wouldn't be very good for alot of street driving unless you own a gas station.
     
  7. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,820

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    my buddy had a chopnchanneled Model A coupe back before everybody chopnchanneled them. 350, turbo 350. just a motor from a truck. we were suprised when it ran 13.60's. I think that would be as slow as a person could go in a HOT ROD of any type to be considered "fast".

    while not real fast when a person is just talking the talk, mid 13's is still fun when you are sitting in the driver seat.
     
  8. That's kind of why I started this thread... I belong to a couple other OT forums and a bunch of guys did a track rental the other night for their OT cars. I grew up with the mindset that if your "street car" could run low 13's or high 12's you were moving, but in today's world of 500-600HP OT cars right off the showroom floor, those ET's aren't anything. The more I thought about it, it just made me wonder how people's perception of what a fast street car is and if their oppinion has changed, especially in the last 5 years or so since the renewal of the horsepower wars began.

    To me, if you can get that heavy tri-five Chevy into the high 12's or that lightweight 32 Ford into high 11's/low 12's, you are still doing something right.
     
  9. raven
    Joined: Aug 19, 2002
    Posts: 4,698

    raven
    Member

    How's mid 12's with a stock motor, 4.11's, AOD, and spinning them all the way with skinny bias-ply truck tires?
    r
     
  10. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,820

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    high 11's low 12's were the fast street racers back in the late 70's and early 80's on Fremont Blvd. I don't remember any 10 second cars, though one night an FED showed up at "little Fremont" which was a marked quarter mile a couple blocks from the actual drag strip.
     
  11. Mr T body
    Joined: Nov 2, 2005
    Posts: 2,228

    Mr T body
    Alliance Vendor
    from BHC AZ

    My benchmark for a "fast" street hot rod is Jerry Moreland's '40 Ford. Holy crap what a car. Overkill? Yes, but what a great example of excess......
     
  12. Pro Shifted
    Joined: May 18, 2010
    Posts: 51

    Pro Shifted
    Member

     
  13. Gotgas
    Joined: Jul 22, 2004
    Posts: 7,175

    Gotgas
    Member
    from DFW USA

    My OT '12 Mustang GT runs 12.2 @ 114. It is lowered and has 20" drag radials but is otherwise completely stock down to the air filter. You just can't compare old cars to new ones.

    If you have a full bodied car with 50yr old engine parts that runs 13s that is really something. And I'd say an open car in the 12s is great.

    Now if you start slapping modern aftermarket heads and intakes those times are slow, but at that point we're not really talking about traditional hot rod parts anymore.
     
  14. I'm hoping to get a couple passes under my belt in my roadster this summer. It's nothing too crazy and sees alot of street action (3000 miles last year). It has a mildly built 355, Turbo 350, and a 10 bolt with 3.73's. As previously stated, it's not blazing fast by today's standards but I'm guessing/hoping for mid-high 12's.
     

    Attached Files:

  15. earlymopar
    Joined: Feb 26, 2007
    Posts: 1,608

    earlymopar
    Member

    "My wife's Comet runs 12.60's @ 131mph on street tires. Feels fast to me when the tires are not fighting to grip the road."

    Man, those numbers seem off. Usually cars in the 130 mph range are running 10.5 seconds.

    - EM
     
  16. i was thinking maybe it was 12.60's at 113? unless its a turbo car that just hauls ass on the top end!


     
  17. rustednutz
    Joined: Nov 20, 2010
    Posts: 1,580

    rustednutz
    Member
    from tulsa, ok

    Falcongeorge is right. Modern head and cam technology is a real game changer. I ran an OT NA car that weighed 3300lbs, drive to the strip and run 10.30 @ 128mph then drive home using pump gas.
     
  18. If you can run low 13's or high 12's in an old car... you're doing something to make it go fast.

    11's is hauling ass in any type of old car...

    If you are really trying... 10's shouldn't be a problem.

    I am starting a build on a 10 second street roadster... built from crap I had lying around.

    Once I get the thing looking more like a project... I'll start a build thread.

    But I have put the concept out there, here on the HAMB, for the last 10 years... and decided recently that it was time I got to work on it.

    Should be a learning experience for us all!

    Sam
     
  19. indianhead74
    Joined: Mar 3, 2005
    Posts: 159

    indianhead74
    Member

    Oh No! Some new cars are way faster than my hot-rod, I think mid 12's is still pretty fast for a traditional wrenchable car. Any unmodified car isn't a hot rod anyway. Indy
     
  20. Here is an exerpt from a post I did ten years ago.

    What I was thinking 10 years ago is pretty much playing out.

    The only difference is the motorvation is from a 454 that I pulled out of my '57 Chevy... and a TH400 and converter I got from my barber.

    THAT, and a few things like "solid mounted rear end" and "no front brakes" are things that should not be done on a street car!

    Enjoy!

    Sam





    So you guys are probably wondering WTF is Sam doing here? Well, I just want to throw out some tips and tricks to build a ten second screamer for the strip. My biggest wish is for a group of you guys to meet in a garage, once a week, pool your cash together (a grand each aught to do it) and build a true ten second screamer for the drags...

    Step one: I know the sedans and coups are pretty... but there is some merit to a roadster body... more specifically, a FIBERGLASS roadster body... For one, they are CHEAP... the BFD's body was found by my brother out in a field... so we went with it... but if I had it to do over... I'd stick with a cheaper '23 tub and turtle deck... comb your swap meets guys... you should be able to get one for around $100-$200 used... The other merit is that they are light... and semi-stream lined compared to a closed car... I could almost guarantee, the stream-lined savings combined with the weight loss is enough to bump your high 11 second sled WELL into the 10's...

    Step 2: The chassis:
    Two things, weight distribution and suspension.
    I started out with some 2x3 rails... the next Altered I build will be all round tube... why? Well, it is easier to build. First off, buy yourself an NHRA rule book and study the shit out of the funny car chassis specs... there are important bits about ube diameters and wall thicknesses that you will need to know... second, attent a Goodguys or NHRA drag race... this is CRUCIAL to the construction of your car. Take notes on how people mount things, especially the engine, the transmission and the rear end... the front end will be run of the mill, Speedway or MAS stuff... but the rear will either be mounted solid to the chassis or hung with ladder bars. FWIW, either way takes about the same amount of work... with ladder bars, you have the cost of the components... with the solid rear, you have just the cost of some steel plate... either way, it is much-o important to set it up STRAIGHT in the chassis and get the pinion angle set up correctly. Ladder bars you have to take suspension travel into consideration... with a solid rear, you have to take the balance of the vehicle under consideration... the car is either going to spin the tires, pull the front wheels off the ground, dart one way or the other, or bounce down the strip... all of which will have to be tuned with weight, tire pressure or stagger adjusted with the front hair pins. (that's why solid ends on hair pins aren't the ticket) Also, if "tens" are your target E.T... none of these will be so severe that the car is uncontrolable... (if all is set up square).

    One of the cool things about this formula (so far) is that a candidate to go fast is really something that can be found at your nearest swap meet... i.e. T-bucket projects!!!
    The front end is there... the frame is there... and the body is there! All you have to do is ditch the rear suspension for a more favorable solid mounted rear end or drag race ladder bar set up and you're DONE! (well, almost)
    The cage on your ten second wonder, to make it simple, should be built out of 1 5/8".134 wall... you can build it to the minimums... but that may only add to the aggrivation of teching the damn thing... More specifically, I would drop the cash and buy all .134 DOM... the Electroweld tubing, even though you may buy .125 or .120... will not pass the .118 minimum for steel tubing in spots near the weld joint... all this is moot until the car runs 9's... but once you run tens for a while... you'll want this thing to run 9's! To close out step two... again, get a rule book and study it until you are blue in the face...

    Step 3: Drive train.
    This is where things get sticky... I mean, the cheapest way to make hp is through cubic inches... but most of the large cubic inch motors will be kinda big and heavy for an econo altered... if I were going the total junk yard route... I'd opt for a Buick 455... you will need about 400hp or a ton of tourque... the key here is to make the power and get it to the ground... I know smoking the hides is fun... but that does NOTHING for lowering your E.Ts... if you see SMOKE during a run... I can almost guarantee that you can shave a second off of your ET if you get rid of the smoke
    Another thing to consider is peak hp and overall rear end gear ratios (taking in consideration tire diameter). My suggestion is to keep the cam, carb, intake, exhaust on the hairy side of a stock motor... in other words. match all three components and make them as radical as possible with stock compression ratios and port volumes... you can do the home porting job and performance valve job... but save the killer bottom end for the next motor... Also, rear end ratios... if your cam only makes power to 5500rpm... gear the car and select a tire diameter that will hit 130mph in the lights... due to slippage and such, the thing should go at least 125 in the quarter... that is good for mid to high tens. As far as a transmission is concerend... think powerglide! (aluminumcase only) If your car weighs under 2500 pounds...it is a proven fact that it will run quicker ET's with a glide. Now a trans brake is almost a ncessity, as well as a race converter... so if you are going to sink any big bucks into this operation... do it here. The BFD runs in the tens without the trans brake... so if you are on a budget... just get a nice race converter with a stall speed that is about 500rpm past the number where your cam comes in... I tend to think that a looser converter will improve your ET's... but I have no hard fact on this... FWIW, the cam in the give away motor makes power from 2800 to 5800rpm... and we have a 4400-4800 converter.

    Next up in the powertrain segment is ignition and ignition timing... Spend the bucks and buy an MSD 6Al box... (about $195) at least it will give you and upper end rev limiter... then if you decide to add a two step rev limiter (about $75) you can, later on. We had one from the get go... but it just aids in a consistant launch RPM (and no need to feather the gas pedal on the line... just stab and go!) Also, the pro-billet (as apposed to anti-billet) distributor is another $200... but well worth the money... you can run a points dizzy... but that is just one more thing to screw with... their coils are also reasonably priced and ready to run... as far as ignition timing goes... make sure your mark is dead nuts (check it with a degree wheel and/or a TDC guage) and set it up taking in consideration your motor's internals (Compression, fuel, cam, and most often forgotten... stroke)... Also, put the LIGHTEST springs available on your advance weights... or, just simply lock the advance curve out with a screw... with a low (relatively) compression ratio and a good spark, staring the thing shouldn't be a problem... the theory here is that you will be launching the thing at a relatively high rpm(3000rpm-4000rpm) and want all the timing in and accounted for... for high compression motors, MSD actually makes a timing retarder that allows you to back the timing off when cranking the motor... useless for what we are doing.

    Now as far as tires go... a 10" slick is enough to put it to the ground... if you insist on buying used slicks (like I did) get a pair that has plenty of life, are not cracked and are still kinda soft... don't spend more than about $75 for a set of used drag slicks... and DO NOT, expect to get any kind of reasonable 60 ft E.T. out of a stock car slick, or retro pie crust slick...
    as far as fronts are concerned... you do not need any brakes... so spindle mounts are a natural... but they are EXPENSIVE... so a set of aluminum centerlines on some stock hubs are fine... use your judgement here... but don't hang any brakes on the front... you don't need them, period.
    (just make sure the rears are new!)
    Front end set up... 15-20 degrees caster, 1/16" toe in and go... front tires are CHEAP... just make sure they are skinney.

    And my suggestion for a rear end is a 9": ford or an 8 3/4 Mopar... buy a spool, used, they're cheap.
    Step 4... safety stuff.
    Everybody wants to know what they need to run "X" ET... here's a brake down for a little roadster that runs 10's

    Aftermarket rear axles.
    Arm Restraints.
    Auto Trans reverse lock out.
    5 point harness with up to date SFI rating ($100, tops)
    Drive shaft loop.
    SFI Harmonic balancer.
    Snell rated helmet.
    Catch can.
    Padded roll cage.
    SFI 32a/5 fire suit.
    Neck collar
    tail light.
    trans shield.

    This stuff is right out of the NHRA rule books quick reference chart... the neck collar is not manditory... but I would strongly suggest it... also, a master electrical cut off is not manditory... but I'd install one for ease of shutting the system down...

    Now, as far as steering, seat, belt mounts, battery mount, engine mounts, fuel tank, blah-dee-blah-dee-blah... refer to the rulebook, check out other racers and by all means, if you have a question, feel free to e-mail me and I can send you pics of how I did it...

    Keep it light, keep it simple, keep it CHEAP and JUST DO IT!

    Any questions?
    Sam.
     
  21. 57JoeFoMoPar
    Joined: Sep 14, 2004
    Posts: 6,131

    57JoeFoMoPar
    Member

    For me it's all about "fast for what it is". If you want to go real fast, buy a new Mustang, Camaro or Corvette. Or, if you budget allows, an exotic like a Lamborghini or Ferrari.

    My mother-in-law's daily is a Roush 427R that will dip deep into the 12s. My boss has a 2007 Mercielago which would absolutely decimate 99% of the other street legal cars around. Sorry, but bring your fastest traditional rod, you're not going to hang with something like that. Especially true if you need to make a turn or race past the 1320.

    That said, there is something very special about hauling some ass with real vintage power. The level of cool and character involved with a loud, badass, legit fast hot rod is an X-factor the late models don't have and probably never will.
     
  22. GassersGarage
    Joined: Jul 1, 2007
    Posts: 4,727

    GassersGarage
    Member

    My avatar '55 Chevy was my daily driver, back in the mid '70's. 25 mile compute, one way, from the San Fernando Valley to downtown L.A.. Mild 327, 4 speed and 4:56 gears, which was no problem since rush hour traffic was a crawl. She was a high 13 second car which I drove everywhere. Hunting, fishing, etc..........Then again, Super was $.25 a gallon.
     
  23. metalman
    Joined: Dec 30, 2006
    Posts: 3,297

    metalman
    Member

    The 39 Ford coupe I bought a couple weeks ago has a very mild, basically stock 400 SBC, stock turbo 359 and a 3.00 open 8" ford. You could drive it across country with no issues I'm sure. Last weekend I bolted on a set of drag radials and ran 13.70 @ 100 at 1 mile high altitude. Back in the 70's I thought my 37 Chevy coupe was a bad ass street car (big block, built turbo400, ect.) and I did win my share with it. Funny thing is both cars ran about the same et/ mph but I don't feel my new one is really that fast! I think it's because the cars around got faster, 70's 13 seconds was respectible, today slow.
     
  24. SamIyam - nice write, lets see your plan come to life now!
     
  25. Now my Roadster weighs 2300 lbs. Has a SBF with alum heads and 2-4s. It runs low 7s in the 1/8th at around 92 MPH. This is with 4.62 gears and 10 inch wrinkle walls. This converts to low 11s at about 125 in the 1/4. I change gears to go racing. Street gears are 3.25s
     
  26. patmanta
    Joined: May 10, 2011
    Posts: 3,871

    patmanta
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Woburn, MA
    1. MASSACHUSETTS HAMB

    My OT daily driver's supposedly will run somewhere in the mid 13's stock. I haven't tested it, but it's a fast, fun car (2010 Dodge Challenger R/T).

    So, that said, my Hot Rod is going to need to beat that to be fast on paper to me. But honestly, I don't care if it's slower, that just gives the car room to grow & time's to shrink.
     
  27. Let's see some pics and timeslips of your street/strip Hot Rods!
     
  28. TinShed
    Joined: Mar 3, 2011
    Posts: 553

    TinShed
    Member

    With slicks on a good day it may go mid 10's I made 1 pass just to see what it would do. I have had a few drag cars and the MPH is high because of all the wheel spin I had in the front half. I had a similar built motor in a fox mustang that ran 10.60@128 but had less cylinder head. That said there is nothing traditional in this engine.
     
  29. brandon
    Joined: Jul 19, 2002
    Posts: 6,368

    brandon
    Member

    my terd went 11.90's on street tires...and I do not consider it to be fast...:D with the right parts in a light car , you can fly....nothing radical, just a decent package in a decent working car:eek:

    time ticket added....this was from my old vortec head truck motor....2bbl and shift at 5k, go thru about 3800 in 3rd. that motor went 12.30 @ 115, with a tight convertor...got a couple hundred other time slips on the car , but for some reason , I found this the other day...the r/t was why I saved it...hahah
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 16, 2013
  30. Got a freind with a 47 Ford Coupe runs in the low 9's. Was a normal st rod a few yrs ago now full time drag. All he has to do is hook up mufflers to drive on the street.
     

    Attached Files:

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.