drag set up

[richard96]

I would like to hear suggestions on suspension upgrade for a '79 Z28.

It has all the stock components, 3.42 gears, spool, and traction bars.

Right now, experiencing no traction off the line and some wheel hop.

It has a 454 with a mild build, built T350, and a 2500 stall.

[Dave632]

The absolute first step is to get some tires, either drag radials or some slicks, the biggest you can get under your wheel well. Some drag shocks would be a plus.
Is this a track only car? Running a spool on the street can be rough.
If you are still getting wheel hop even with traction bars, (what kind of traction bars are they), there is some slop in the rear suspension somewhere.

[richard96]

I was hoping you would chime in Dave. Thanks for the reply. It is a track only car so far. I am trying to help a friend in need. He has a low budget.
There is some wheel hop but not much. He does have slicks but they're mostly used up.

He managed to get his 60' down to 1.8 from 2.0+. He also has air shocks. I think hes trying to put some hard-walled slicks (27.5") on next.

Pretty much all the suspension is original except the traction bars and air shocks.

[Can't Explain]

Get rid of the air shocks as they are the worst shocks to have for drag racing.

This is what worked best for our stock fendered 67 Camaro.

Adjustable shocks, from 50/50 to 70/30 for the rear and 90/10 to 70/30 for the front. Ours worked best near 50/50 and 90/10.

Add a wedge to the traction bar so that the bumper is against the spring. We made delrin bumpers for ours.

Remove the front rubber bushing from the leaf springs and install a solid spacer in there.

Remove the front sway bar

Install low compression rated springs in the front so it sits lower and the springs will help lift the front longer lessening the shock to the rear tires.

We also removed the upper control arm bushings and made greasable solid spacers to allow free movement of the front end.

This is a good starting point but also make sure you have sub-frame connectors in. This is VERY important and the chassis will flex a lot.

Through the years we ran from 11.20's to 10.80's at 119-121mph with 28" x 15" x 10" Hoosier bias-ply slicks on a 10" width wheel.

[Dave632]

Get rid of the air shocks as they are the worst shocks to have for drag racing.

This is what worked best for our stock fendered 67 Camaro.

Adjustable shocks, from 50/50 to 70/30 for the rear and 90/10 to 70/30 for the front. Ours worked best near 50/50 and 90/10.

Add a wedge to the traction bar so that the bumper is against the spring. We made delrin bumpers for ours.

Remove the front rubber bushing from the leaf springs and install a solid spacer in there.

Remove the front sway bar

Install low compression rated springs in the front so it sits lower and the springs will help lift the front longer lessening the shock to the rear tires.

We also removed the upper control arm bushings and made greasable solid spacers to allow free movement of the front end.

This is a good starting point but also make sure you have sub-frame connectors in. This is VERY important and the chassis will flex a lot.

Through the years we ran from 11.20's to 10.80's at 119-121mph with 28" x 15" x 10" Hoosier bias-ply slicks on a 10" width wheel.

This is all good advice.
I would suggest a new set of wrinkle wall slicks also. You have to bite the bullet on this one as old slicks get hard and are useless.
Old slicks can be almost as bad as stock tires. I remember a guy who had a set of slicks that were never used but had sat for several years. The rubber had hardened and was useless as a slick. Old slicks are pretty useless when it comes to good traction.
You can do everything to the suspension and have it right, if your slicks are old hard junk nothing will work.
The Camaro you see pictured had MT 10.5W tires which were new and it could 60' in the high 1.20s on motor.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n197/dvince777/MVC-019S-2.jpg

[richard96]

Wow. Very good advice Wayne and Dave. Tires are the most important in my book. My buddy thinks he needs more power. I said you need suspension and slicks. Hes only cutting a 2.0+ at 60'.

Thanks so much and we will get to work.

[Dave632]

2.0 for a drag car is not good at all. My 95 Camaro with a stock converter did 2.0 with drag radials. Even that car with a converter would have dropped into the 1
.8s.
The wheels in the air on the Camaro was not due to a headwind.:biglaugh:
My Beretta did 1.12 on motor and 1.07 on juice but that was a different animal.:shocked:
You are correct in thinking tires are very important. Your buddy will probably pick up .3 in his 60' with tires and 1/2 to 3/4 second in overal ET with just a tire change.
Good luck with the car.

[richard96]

He got to a 1.8 before and I think he can do better. He is just starting out. The car is heavy plus it has the 454 also. No favors there. Its not gonna be fast at all but it has alot of room for improvement.

I printed out the ideas you guys had and gave it to him. He's gonna round up some parts and add to his setup. I'll post up again when we go the track.

[Dave632]

Sounds like a plan.
It is always fun working your times down.
I remember a 72 Nova I bought just to run down the track and have some fun with.
The first time it went down it ran a 10.1, IN THE 1/8th.
By the time I was finished with it we ran almost 5 seconds faster with a 5.70 in the 1/8th. There were some tough problems we had to figure out but solving them taught us a lot and there is no better school.

[Can't Explain]

There were some tough problems we had to figure out but solving them taught us a lot and there is no better school.

Ain't that the truth!!

Forgot to mention that with the 388 we had 1.45-1.47 60' time and with the 355 we had 1.52-1.53 60' times.

There's a guy in my area with a stock block LT1, M6 with headers, cold air and tuning and was running 1.6's in the 60'. It was all in the supension tuning and he was running in the 12's. Now with cam and mild head work his best time is just into the 11s.

Also forgot to mention, you might want to add some more gear to that, depending on what RPM you are going through the traps at. 2000 in 3rd gear would be too low

[richard96]

Those are some good times all around. I can't wait to tweak on my own car. Thanks for the references guys. This puts things into perspective.