My current car has had issues since day one with being able to "hit" a pro tree comfortably and have some delay in the box to work with

When I first got the car I chased it and made every change I could think of and at some races I'm good with no problem and plenty of delay

Lately I'm back to struggling and have next to nothing for delay and rpm higher than ever

I am not slow on a practice tree and I accept that some days I'm just not with it so to speak


In the past I went over the car everywhere I could think of....Looked for any movement in the engine trans and replaced some items...
I use a Biondo 00 button shimmed to reduce any extra travel

I have 2 transmissions.... A stock case built by Abruzzi.....I changed the VB to an iron ATD (Hiptser) and that trans won at least 2 races and was usually good

Trans #2 is a Dedenaber case and had a typical Pro tree iron VB in it.
I put a Coan Billet aluminum VB in it and think it's slower, not faster !!

I've had the same 9" spragless converter in the car for 5-6 years. It's been cut open twice and is looser now than ever but not by much....6300-6400

Now I know tracks are different but this has been an ongoing thing for a while.

Tires are fresh little Bubba's 60's are consistant if the track is good.

I'm about ready to take the Hipster VB out of the spare trans and put it in the Dedenbaer trans in the car in place of the Coan aluminum

Just looking for ideas that I might be overlooking.

No I'm not going to put a younger driver in the car !

Rich, the tree/rollout was way loose at LV.

Yes Ed I agree....

Last run I made at MG was .002 Rt No real changes to speak of at LV was .034

Usually not much of a problem but it was up there

And there was no air so down on power resulting in slower vehicle reaction time.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 1320racer,

I'll send this JW Pro Tree valve body I have, you'll be redder than Santa Claus on Christmas eve.

One of the best kept secrets in drag racing, JW has the fastest VB's.

My factory condition Nova goes double 00 370 pro tree JW valve body 3200 lbs 10 x 28 bias.

Do you get your eyes checked often enough to see a trend change? I’m younger at 68, but cataracts are to the point now, lens can’t get me back to 20/20.

Paul it’s been on my to do list. I have a while ago and my eyes were about the same as the previous checkup.
Right eye is a bit worse than left.
I use cheap readers and have for 30 years but distance is ok.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SCDIV1,

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Rietow:
I'll send this JW Pro Tree valve body I have, you'll be redder than Santa Claus on Christmas eve.

One of the best kept secrets in drag racing, JW has the fastest VB's.

My factory condition Nova goes double 00 370 pro tree JW valve body 3200 lbs 10 x 28 bias.

The only way I believe that is if you do it at a race I’m at and you get in the S/G line or S/C line at one of our Lucas series races.

I’ll make it easy on you and make it Maple Grove....

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:
And there was no air so down on power resulting in slower vehicle reaction time.

The Saturday time run was unbelievably slow..
Predicting off that run didn't go well for me and I was beat at both ends of the track for an early exit..

Was the tree set up for .400 or .370. For a while I was certain that some places had to go to .370 to accommodate PSB and so the equipment at certain places could only do 2 settings, .500 and .370. Also, is this a 0 stagger chassis?

.370, NHRA LODRS Divisional event.

Rich, it was just the conditions, swamp air and excessive rollout.

I recently went to the D2 national open race at Silver Dollar. in sst I normally run 060 delay to be high 00 to 10. there I had 018 to be teen. it had a lot of people scratching heads. all of the heads up classes were struggling.

retow is turning loose on nothing.

ep-

quote:

Originally posted by pauley:
I recently went to the D2 national open race at Silver Dollar. in sst I normally run 060 delay to be high 00 to 10. there I had 018 to be teen. it had a lot of people scratching heads. all of the heads up classes were struggling.

retow is turning loose on nothing.

ep-

Retow builds his own transmission, knows every trick in the book.

If I told you how many clutches were in the transmission, you'd think I'm carazy. Not crazy, just don't care if it sizzles. I can fix it. Never did sizzle or hot spot steels, so that tells there was room for improvement, over what I had.

Bradenton is 370, Orlando and SGMP are 400. This is common knowledge amongst Florida heads up start racers.

Why don't measure and adjust rollout at divisional events to the standard? Heck why isn't it to standard all the time if they run big events?

quote:

Originally posted by BG7X77:
Why don't measure and adjust rollout at divisional events to the standard? Heck why isn't it to standard all the time if they run big events?

It takes resources ($$ money $$) to have Brockmeyer come out and install the latest technology.

Any NHRA TopFuel race you see on TV is .370 - .470 Pro tree.

When you see the blue pre-stage and stage LED lights, it's the latest technology. That right there is bad ass, takes the sun shining in the tree, out of the equation.

99% of tracks I've been have killer timing equip Compulink or Accutime are both excellent. When you see the Blue LED's, it's a cut above.

Most events around Div. 1 that I get to are not a problem for me.

Lebanon Valley uses a different system and has a reputation for issues regarding the tree.

I just seem to have lost some vehicle RT and instead of making it better it went the other way.
Add in a tough condition at LV and I was toast...

quote:

Originally posted by SCDIV1:
Most events around Div. 1 that I get to are not a problem for me.

Lebanon Valley uses a different system and has a reputation for issues regarding the tree.

I just seem to have lost some vehicle RT and instead of making it better it went the other way.
Add in a tough condition at LV and I was toast...

You can definitely remove clutches, I've said it before, the industry standard for numbers of clutches are based on transmissions built by big name companies who's number one value is, customers who brag on how long their product lasts. Which is opposite of performance.

If you had the best of the best at every race, the racer with the ability to service the fewest clutches between rounds, wins on the fastest tree, in any conditions, fast or slow.

When I did the Powerglide on the fastest radial tire car on the planet, I was told one of our competitors, the racer who was first to go 4.40 at 3300 lbs on a DOT radial tire, was putting new clutches in his transmission every round. I thought to myself that's a smart racer, he got it. The people I did the trans for thought Wolf couldn't build a trans to last more than a round. Wolf was running on the edge, Wolf was a wolf. David Wolf was first to the 4.40's, Stevey Jackson was second, we were third all at the same race, we were on the pole.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mike Rietow,

Being fast and fast reacting are not the same thing...

There is no way anyone running Super categories or bracket racing is gonna have a trans that has a short fuse....and needs to be pulled out every run...

Get real !

quote:

Originally posted by SCDIV1:
Being fast and fast reacting are not the same thing...

There is no way anyone running Super categories or bracket racing is gonna have a trans that has a short fuse....and needs to be pulled out every run...

Get real !

You don't think they've always changed engines every round in Top Fuel, do you?

Some Top Fuel racer said get real 30 years ago.

It just depends on how fast the tree gets, and how stiff the competition gets.

It's an evolution.

I'm making a case to you for less clutches, to improve your current situation.

Perspectives, you've most likely never considered.