Cheap ways to drop ET?

[Nixon1]

My 60 ft times SUCK. My ET's suck. I need some help here to get her to hook, guys. I think I've found the tires I'll run with it...they arent drag radials, they'll last a little longer....but they're Cooper Cobra ZHP-01's. They hook pretty damn well so far...but if anyone has a suggestion of a better street tire for traction in the rear, let me know.

Now I'm looking for ways to get it to hook better. Free if possible, but cheap works too. I heard something about using 4 cylinder springs as cheap drag springs....would these go in the back?

And how about my front swaybar? Should I remove it?

Thanks guys... My BEST 60' in the new motor is only a 2.345....pulled a 2.78 once on a set of piss tires. I NEED TO HOOK it. I'll be knocking on high 13's if I can bring my 60' down to a solid 2.0.

[Ackbar00]

Swaybar, 4 cyl springs, put the car on a diet. You can do better than 2.34. I got mine full weight, swaybar hooked up and stock to do a 1.99 on stock tires.

[Nixon1]

Well my suspension sucks...it only travels like half an inch or so in the rear and bottoms the suspension out and unloads to the tires. The BEST ET I ever yanked was a 2.188, and that was with the old motor that had nitrous-blown piston compression rings, a clogged oil pump, a bent connecting rod, and a timing chain in bad shape, so the motor didn't have the power to break the tires loose too bad.

So again the 4 cylinder springs...do those go in the front or back? Or both?

[BilLster]

4 cyl springs all around remove the front sway bar box your stock lower control arms or box some 4cyl ones smaller bushing rebuild the traction lock with a extra steel ,

50 lbs of lead in the trunk. skinny tires in the front.

and as said before lose weight from the car remove anything that you dont need for the track.

[Nixon1]

What do you mean by box the lower control arms?

And also, I dunno if this makes a difference but I was told I have adjustable upper control arms in the rear.

[420nitro]

Originally posted by Nixon1
My 60 ft times SUCK. My ET's suck. I need some help here to get her to hook, guys. I think I've found the tires I'll run with it...they arent drag radials, they'll last a little longer....but they're Cooper Cobra ZHP-01's. They hook pretty damn well so far...but if anyone has a suggestion of a better street tire for traction in the rear, let me know.

Now I'm looking for ways to get it to hook better. Free if possible, but cheap works too. I heard something about using 4 cylinder springs as cheap drag springs....would these go in the back?

And how about my front swaybar? Should I remove it?

Thanks guys... My BEST 60' in the new motor is only a 2.345....pulled a 2.78 once on a set of piss tires. I NEED TO HOOK it. I'll be knocking on high 13's if I can bring my 60' down to a solid 2.0.

I rec. this for the race track only...but you know how that goes

So lets see... you said cheap...how about free!

Fill the front tires to 50-55 psi.
Set the rear tires to about 24-28 psi. (all cars vary)
Remove the front sway bar
Remove all unwanted weight from the cowl forward.

Then if you want to start spending some money...

Sub-frame connecters
Aftermarket rear lower control arms ( Mega bites, south sides, etc)
Air bag (install right rear spring with about 4-8 psi.)
If you like, you can put four cylinder springs in the front.
Then go get some slicks... 26x8.5 on stock 15 inch wheels, or 26x10 if you get some 15x8 wheels.
Leave your Coopers for the street and real drag slicks for the track.
(unless you get some punk that wants to run you on the street )
*Battery in the trunk and slicks will require you to have a master battery disconnect and a drive shaft loop.*
Lakewood 70/30 or 90/10 front struts.

Now this is by no means the best stuff, but for the money its hard to beat.
Now I am sure somebody might know some additional stuff but this will help alot.

If you get all of these things, I don't see why you couldn't get a low 1.7 60ft and a solid 12 sec. pass!
Good luck and have fun.

[420nitro]

Sorry I thought you had a 5-speed. You will need a converter too once you start hooking, then you should be a solid 12, but you can prove me wrong.

[Nixon1]

Thanks everyone.. 12's huh? Not on this tranny... It slips all the gears. Should be able to do 102 mph in 3rd gear at 5500 rpms, but instead it'll do 100 mph and push 6200.

The last run I did was on a set of Sigma Supreme HP's. Left the fronts at 35 psi and deflated the backs to 25 psi. Iced my upper intake manifold and all my intake tubing, and ran the car cold. Pulled a 2.78 60' after it spun first gear past the 60' mark. Everyone I show the video to thinks I'm bouncing a rev limiter...I tell them that's my right foot desperately trying to gain traction and avoid overrevving it.

In the next week or two I'll start shaving some stuff out of it...so far I got the back seats out, but that's about it. I'll drop that sway bar out soon since the car handles like crap anyways.

So what do you think I should be able to trap at with a new tranny, closer to 105? Currently, my best is 100.4. If I let the engine cool first and run her cold I think I can get a 101 out of it.

[420nitro]

Do you still have the stock torque converter??!!!
If you do...boy are you in for a surprise. You think you got traction problems now...haaa just wait. Either way you need a stall somewhere in the 2400-2800 rpms. It would also explain your low MPH. I think you should be in the 104-107mph. I know the slipping trans is hurting you too. If you do your transmission right with the correct converter, it will leave just as good as a 5-speed!
Good luck

[Nixon1]

Lol...yeah when I get the tranny rebuilt it might be with a manual valvebody if they make one for the AOD....if not, then a TransGo shift kit, hardened input shaft, kevlar OD band, and some other stuff that I cant remember right now.., and I'm gonna put a 2500 stall in it since the car really starts to hit its powerband strong at about 3000 rpms, so I wanna stall it to 500 before that. 104-107 huh? That'd be nice...considering I went against a newer Mustang with a Vortech tossed on and he trapped at 106....that'd be nice to be trapping that N/A.

Lemme ask ya something though...would the stall have any real negative effect on my gas mileage? I wouldnt think so, but....when I'm getting like 10-12 mpg city in my DAILY DRIVER, well, I need all the mileage I can get.

[420nitro]

My first set-up went 12.48 @108.4 mph with a 5-speed! What you have is pretty much what I used to have. GT-40 heads & intake, 70 m.m throttle body, C&L mass air flow, E-cam,1.6 rockers, 1 5/8 full length headers, mac off road-h-pipe, flowmasters (2.5 inch) 5-speed, 4.10 gears. Race crank under drive pulley.

[Nixon1]

Thats VERY encouraging.. 108 is a damn nice trap... I cant even push it up to 105 if the car would even do it right now cause it'd be screaming so high in 3rd, I'm probably peg the tach.

[420nitro]

Originally posted by Nixon1
Lol...yeah when I get the tranny rebuilt it might be with a manual valvebody if they make one for the AOD....if not, then a TransGo shift kit, hardened input shaft, kevlar OD band, and some other stuff that I cant remember right now.., and I'm gonna put a 2500 stall in it since the car really starts to hit its powerband strong at about 3000 rpms, so I wanna stall it to 500 before that. 104-107 huh? That'd be nice...considering I went against a newer Mustang with a Vortech tossed on and he trapped at 106....that'd be nice to be trapping that N/A.

Lemme ask ya something though...would the stall have any real negative effect on my gas mileage? I wouldnt think so, but....when I'm getting like 10-12 mpg city in my DAILY DRIVER, well, I need all the mileage I can get.

As goes for the m.p.g thing, you would be surprised! Get a Precision Industries converter and talk to them. They could set something up and tell you up front about the m.p.g. As goes for the transmission, yes they offer a manual valve body, but why. Take it from me, keep it as streetable as you can. Nothing better then putting it in the "d" and standing on it to a mid 12 sec. pass.
Then turn on the A/C on the way home. But what do I know?

[Nixon1]

lol well I'll only want the manual valvebody if my shift kitted valvebody cant be calibrated to shift at the right points. If it can then there's no need. And yeah, I've got ice cold A/C too!

Btw, for converters I was looking at a B&M Torkmaster cause it still has a lockup...or a TCI Streetfighter, but I'm not sure if the TCI has a lockup or not.

[andy669]

You want a stiff spring in the rear, and a soft spring in the front. Use the stock V-8s in the rear, and the 4cyl's up front.

It sounds to me like all you need is some weight transfer and some tires. Oh yeah, and a tranny. I drove my 94 all over hell with a 2600 convertor and I got 20mpg on the interstate. I'd have to do 80mph to keep the convertor above its flash speed, otherwise the trans would get hot.

Andy

[Nixon1]

How easy is it to pull the front swaybar off? And will it help a lot? I'm hoping to get a good couple inches of rise on the front with the swaybar off and 4 cyl springs on. I want it to do everything but lift the tires.

[Dark_5.0]

This is the best advice you will ever recieve on getting lower ET's

Get a stall converter ASAP. With your engine mods you should have done that long ago. If your gonna drag race why would you want to leave at an idle

Get a couple of spare rims and some 15 inch slicks to put on at the track. With your mods you should be running a 13 flat at least.

Lots of engine mods and street tires is a waste of money.

Slicks let you see your cars full potential not to mention you will run alot more consistent. Since your car is an auto if you bought slicks you wouldnt even need to mess with the suspension.

JMO,

[Nixon1]

Lol the reason I haven't done ANY of that is because I HAVE NO MONEY! I'm in debt and can't afford to buy ANY extra goodies right now...which is why I'm looking at cheap or free ways to make it hook on street tires.

I finished building the engine and ran out of cash and lost my job at the same time.

[Nixon1]

To add a new questions:

How wide will these 15 inch rims need to be to be able to run any kind of decent grabbing strip tire??

And again, does anyone know of a better street/strip tire? I'm going with the Cooper Cobra ZHP-01's for now. Are there any drag radials that can withstand use as a heavily driven daily?

[BigCountryGT]

No offense dude.

The words Cheap and Go Fast don't go together in a sentence.

I feel your pain though brother. Its hard to persuade my wife to let me spend money on a fourteen year old car.

The four banger springs, sway bar removal (I couldn't tell when I took mine out), Battery in back etc. Are all good Ideas and will help, but it won't help that tranny problem If you do get more bite in the back it will just make the transmission slip worse or fail. Sad but true.

UMC302 had an AOD for a bill, That might get you through for a while.
Lynntech makes a good manual valvebody to stop the short shift and with a flip of a switch you can have overdrive.