Hot Rods Early Corvette drag racing Tips and tricks

JP, that is haulin the bacon! I like it!
I think for my car, my goal will be very similar to Collin (Lumpy63). A period looking 7.0 1/8 mile that is still streetable. Keep it relatively simple, easy, inexpensive and have fun with it
Larry

 

I have never heard of the word inexpensive when it comes to racing or building a car.
jp

 

just by a pre bent one from morriosn, alston chassis works, cut it to size and mount tabs on frame, like a chevelle or camaro.
jp

 

The other day I was ordering parts for the 61 and my wife asked me “if it was expensive.” I told her “stop right there, if it has corvette attached to it you never have to ask again. Kinda like woman and the word wedding.” Lol


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You are so right... I should have emphasized the word "relatively" lol

 

Saw some one post a picture of their cross bar running straight across the back. I you plan on running stock seats or are fairly tall, I would recommend bending the crossbar like mine in my 57.

 

Yep I wish I had bent mine and angled the roll bar back a little more. I am 5' 10 and I have enought room just nothing extra. I also have a swing out bar.

 

Baron I really like the design of your roll bar. I would like to do that in my 56. If I remember right from your build thread, you bent it up yourself right? If you start a production of them, I will be your first customer

 

No, I bought a Rhodes kit From Summit, but I did add more bars and did some bending. The part number was 13-0307 and added the swing out bars.

 

Another thing. I can get in and out without removing the steering wheel but It is a lot easer if I remove it. I was going to shorten the steering column and use one of those quick release kits but didn't. I got it where it is a slip fit and made a nut that I can unscrew with my hand and you can see in the pictures. Someone with a big belly would really have trouble getting in and out. It makes me watch what I eat LOL. Keep fit and trim A lot of people will come up to me while I and in the car in the staging lanes and say kinda tight in there and I say yea just like a fighter jet LOL.

 

I happen to know where there is a set of used
hooker 2456‑1hkr headers. Just sayin’
They look like these just not as purty

 

My roll bar came from S & W Racecars. I had them custom bend the cross bar so I could use the stock seats after I saw how much space I was going to lose.. I forget how much they charged for the new bar, but it wasn't to pricey. They leave it long so you have to notch it to fit where you want it to. Kind of a "one shot deal". I made one out of exhaust pipe for a pattern and transferred the measurements to the new bar. Take's all the guess work right out of it.

 

https://swracecars.com/product/1958-1962-corvette-8-point-roll-bar-2/

 

Thanks Baron, It looks like there are three options. 1 3/4 x .083 Chrome Moly, .120, & .134 mild steel. They are advertising the .120 wall is not recommended for drag race as it is too close to the .118 minimum spec. I called them to see what the weight difference is between the .083 and .134. He said about 15lbs. I think I will just do the .134 so I don't have to tig it. He is sending me the form to fill out for the bent seat brace. Baron, do you have the measurement that you used? I'm guessing about 4-5" back?

 

The bars I made patterns for I used PVC water pipe and heated it up with a heat gun and bent it by hand. Worked like a charm. If I was going to build another roll cage I would build a mockup out of pvc pipe.

 

I think more like 6 or 7 inches. When I spoke with them the sent me a form I was able to print out and ,add all the dimensions and emailed it back to them. They bent it up to spec, leaving it about 5 inches long on both ends. I'll try to get an actual measurement for you later( No luck finding the PDF file on my computer).

 

Not familiar with the Dart Little M but the Dart SHP is good for 4.185 they say. We are at 4.165 now. Not familiar with the Motown.

 

Been a little side tracked with other projects and shop work lately... I'm really digging the roll bar pics. I bought a JD squared bender a little while ago , gonna give it a workout Keep the input and pics coming. Thanks Guys.

 

The dart Little M is more complete and machined to use as delivered. The SHP block is less expensive to save racers $$ to build. It also has a recommended bore max of 4.185" But if you get a no or a little core shift, it can be bored to 4.25". It is an expensive risk, bore it to big and you have a expensive boat anchor. You should have the new block sonic checked. I sent the first one back and the second one was within limits. Why risk it?, I always risk it, to go faster .

The Motown or World blocks had a really bad rep when I built my Dart engine back in 2004. I can not say how they are now. Jim

 

The new motor for the Vette really sound good, Lumpy!

 

Vetrod62.. since you brought it up. I’m not a SBC guy with the exception of my sons dirt track car engine, but if I was ever to build one for the street I would start with a Dart block. After racing them I feel there is nothing better and I am not one to quivel over a few $$$ at least not today. Same with cylinder heads. There are great aluminum heads and a few iron which I would use. For the street the EQ 350H with 1.94 intakes would give anyone great drivablity in a hot rod and not sacrifice reliability. I’m pretty sure it would be a 372-377” and all the parts are over the counter with max HP just over 6000 rpm.....Just me.

 

My favorite H.A.M.B. quote of the day!

“Why risk it?, I always risk it, to go faster.” [emoji41]



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Just throwing out some food for thought. Some guys want to use ladder bars and others may even use a four link but many of us want to use slapper bars or traction bars. Of course when we purchase a set of traction bars we get what is packed in the box and install them on the car often with little thought. I have heard that the snubber should hit just short of the spring eye and even some say to let it hit the spring eye itself. I would imagine others would also have a different opinion. I am attaching an article from July 1973 Popular Hot Rodding on Ken Adams 1962 Vette. I am including the whole article but have blown up the picture showing how he installed his traction bars. It appears that he clamped the spring and has the snubber hitting outside the spring leaf itself, unless my eyes have gone bad or mind is playing tricks. I imagine he could have a plate mounted that I cannot see in the photo.

It made me wonder if there would be any advantage to such engineering, which of course would include modification to the mounting plate itself? Just curious?

 

Hi JimD, A few observations from the photos.
That rear axle housing looks to be rotating like mine, but not as much. Meaning the subber bars are working. Look at the crush of the left rear tire and slight rotation of the rear housing. I am sure that has some effect from the the extra rear mounts on the engine to frame. Mounting the engine and trans at 3 points is looking to break the transmission in half.

Several things wrong with the bar/ spring pictures. First shooting the pictures with the rear axle not under load tells you nothing. Second, having the lift obscuring the final position of the subber is worthless. The rear springs look weird, 3 leafs to the rear, and 5 leafs to the front, including 2 half springs. makes no sense.

I think the photos of the rear/bars are a photo illusion. No one would move the rear springs or the snubber contact outward, because there is little enough room for tires in the wheel wells to give up any space for that. Jim

 

A 377 is a great engine, I was actually repairing one Saturday that had been over revved (8000+ rpms). With 461 majorly ported and relieved. I loved this engine and the 301 engines. That is why I built the 395 in my black car. 425" x 348" stroke. Just a bigger brother. The Dart blocks are great, with priority main oiling. I do not know why you want to go with EQ basically stock heads when there are so many great alum. heads on the market with much more potential. There are no rules for heads on the street. Jim

 

What I want to know is why if he is using slapper bars why does he ALSO have a "Pinion snubber" to prevent "wrap up" of the driveline assembly. For the slappers to work there has to be some "Wrap up"??

 

Jim the more I look at it I think you are correct and it is an optical illusion.

As to LB's point I remember watching the guys running in modified eliminator in the early 70s and I was amazed (and am still amazed) at how violent the cars left the line. The RPMS they were turning were mind blowing for me at the time and they came out of the hole with such violence (for sake of a better term). I believe the snubber on the rear assembly may have been to keep the rear assembly from moving too far. It probably allowed some necessary movement but may have been a stop in essence in case things got too crazy, although that is a guess on my part.

I was talking to Tony Capuano the other night and we discussed on how many things back in those days were seat of the pants experiments. Like he said almost everything was seat of the pants and we had no computers to figure it out. I had seen this wheelstand picture below on another site and tried to figure out who it was. I found out it was Tony Capuano with a 61 Vette. I knew he had a 62 but not this 61 and so I tried to contact him and did. Interesting guy to say the least. He reminded me that he was on the cover of the Popular Hot Rodding issue I posted above with his red 62. He still owns the 62 and takes it out occasionally to local car shows nearby although he has a pretty big gear which prevents him from driving it too far.

his 62 on the cover

 

Hey! That's my all-time favorite magazine cover! Maybe it's because I was driving Val Hedworth's '55 Chevy that weekend.

c

 

Small world Chuck. Feel free to chime in on the Chevy or your Corvette and any tricks that you used as I am sure all of us can either benefit or appreciate first hand advice from those that participated in what I consider the golden era.

I talked to Tony on that hood scoop he had (he had a couple different ones). That scoop he had reminded me of the scoop that we ran on the 57 Vette when we switched from the stack injected big block in 69 to the tunnel ram dual quad with a small block in the early 70s. Put this monster scoop on the hood and it had an aluminum ramp like Tony's, but the engine builder built a two tier scoop opening on the top where the bottom chamber fed one four barrel and the second chamber above it fed the other four barrel exclusively. Not sure how it worked as it was a seat of the pants type thing but it looked good and seemed to work well.

Quite a different world back then. When I went to the nostalgia race at Milan a few weeks ago I went with a friend who runs a blown BBC Model A that turns high 7s in the quarter. After the race we stopped to see his car apart since he is getting it ready for next year with no distributor. The distributor is like a dummy that will only be used to find TDC and then that will be fed to a computer that will know when to fire each individual coil and adjust the engine for atmosphere, timing, etc, etc. He really loves all the new technology and the car runs super quick but it is a different animal for sure.

 

I do not get the snubber thing, my car at launch raises the entire rear of the car at least 4", well out of the range of the pinon snubber bracket. Maybe he needed better springs?