We put on another good showing this year at the Tri Power Nationals in Norwalk. Ended up runner up this year. My 4th trip to the final round at that race but didn't get her done. Here's a link to a couple of videos from the weekend, one time run and one ride along during eliminations on Sunday. For those that don't know the combination, 455, 290cfm heads, stock intake, Q-jet, stock HEI distributor, recalibrated 1977 Q-jet, 10" converter, 3.42 gears, 27" DOT tires. I tune for 11.60's to stay roll bar legal by retarding the timing 4 degrees, race weight at 3740lbs, and shift at 5000rpm's.....Cliff http://www.youtube.com/user/69tiger?email=share_video_user
Congrats Cliff. Foruth time to the finals is great, even if you are runner-up. Hell, its been so long since I've raced, I would probably be first round runner-up. I have to make it a point to get up your way. I have been meaning to pay a visit to your parents for a while now. Next time I do, I'll stop by to chew some fat. Jim J.
Thanks. Just wanted to show folks that you can run really well with a lot of "stock" parts. The looks you get when folks wonder over to check out your set-up in final rounds is PRICELESS! We've won that race more than anyone else, at least since 2000 when I first starting running the car there. The key to being successful, is being simple. I don't use a lot of "exotic" parts, than can be somewhat unreliable, and fail you when you need to count on them the most. My HEI still contains it's original mid 1970's "990" module, stock weights and springs. I NEVER touch the carb at the track. We install secondary metering rods based on the weather that is expected for the weekend, and leave it alone. All I do is add gas every 3-4 runs to keep weight consistent, and check tire pressure. Same exact burnout, stage rpm, shift points, etc for every run. On Sunday just before the 1/4 final run I had a youngster look at my stock intake, q-jet and stock Shaker assembly and say to his buddy "and he's got a Q-jet on there too!" That makes the entire weekend worth the trip!......Cliff
You are most welcome. One thing folks should look at here is that we are not using a lot of rpm's to get our daily driven pump gas street car into the 11's. Instead we use a lot of CID, moderate compression, good flowing small runner heads, and well chosen camshaft. In about the same air as we saw at Norwalk two weekends ago (3500-4000DA), we've ran 11.30's at over 121mph in full tune with 5800rpm's shift points and 3600lb race weight. This engine combo will produce just over 550hp and 600ft lbs torque. It will make over 500ft lbs torque thru the entire loaded rpm range. No need for a lot of rpms to get thru the gears and to the end of the track. The 10" converter that I use is a custom unit, flashes to about 3500rpms, and locked just about solid above the stall speed. This doesn't allow the high torque 455 to "push" thru the converter, nor does it require a lot of rpms to get it to fully couple. To date I've tested nearly a dozen converters in my car before settling on the one we are using now. I've tried them clear up to 4500rpm's stall speed, and as low at 2800rpm stall. Even with the higher stall converters, the car left harder, required more rpm's thru the gears, and due to the added slippage above the stall speed, ran no quicker in ET while loosing a couple MPH on top end.....Cliff
