TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Nov 01, 2004 12:21 pm

Im in the process of upgrading my 67 to a cooler and more performing car. I recently installed a 2007 and i have a close ratio trans that is definitely more drag racing than highway cruising. i installed a 2 inch narrowed beam and lowered the rear one spline. the car looks killer. it totally rips and im happy. my question is, with the rear lowered and the camber causing the wheels to not sit "flatly" if you will on the pavement, am i hurting my performance? obviously, i dont care about the tire wear, but i dont want to be hurting my 1/4 mile times. i've been spending some money to make the car faster, so im really not wanting to hear that i could be shaving time off by raising the rear of my car back up. also, im using a traditional traction bar and am still experiencing some wheel hop. does this have anything to do with the camber? will a camber compensator help? any help is greatly appreciated.
thanks
steve

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:19 pm

Yeah and no. It depends what happens when you take it to the track.
Given enough power it will hurt your launch. But if your tires are sticky enough, it might not make a difference.
All you can really do is take it to the track, and after you get somewhat consistant with it(running within half a tenth on each pass), see what your 60' times are compared to your ET am MPH. If you end up running like 13.80@105mph with a 2.4 second 60', then you got some serious traction problems or need to seriously work on your technique. If you end up running a 13.80@like 98mph, with a 1.9 or 2.0 second 60', then chances are your car is hooking up pretty well as it is.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:25 pm

saying my technique is good but my 60ft times are bad and im not getting traction........will it just be a case of simple wheel spin? and what about the wheel hop?

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:27 pm

Steve... time to get a pair of the M&H DOT tires.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:28 pm

what are they glenn?

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:35 pm

Stevie Fierce wrote: what are they glenn?

They're DOT street legal "Cheater" slicks. Basicly drag slicks with minimal tread.

BTW... here's what Steve's car looks like.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:39 pm

thanks for posting the pic glenn.
i found their site and a list of different sizes.

https://www.mandhtires.com/~map/?cat1=RACING+TIRES&s=348dc3ecf7ada5deae9e531ed83203d1

what size would fit on my BRM's? 6.0/26.0-15 ?? my rims are 5.5in.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:40 pm

I have a set of M&H slicks 6x26x15 on 5.5x15 alloys.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 1:44 pm

Stevie Fierce wrote: saying my technique is good but my 60ft times are bad and im not getting traction........will it just be a case of simple wheel spin? and what about the wheel hop?

Wheel hop can be from all sorts of things. Its basically caused by marginal traction. If you are getting hop you are atleast kinda hooking.
Are your shocks in good shape? Maybe a helper spring would help too? Something to help keep the trailing arm from moving around as much.
You could try just putting the rear back up a notch and seeing if it would help to find out for a fact if it is related to the drop/camber.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 2:03 pm

the shocks seem ok, but that could be an issue. i also bought a new set of urethane spring plate bushings/grommets. any advice with those? good/bad? heard worn out ones can contribute to wheel hop. mine are original so i guess that could make the trailing arm move more than it should. i guess in the end, if all else fails i will try with the rear at stock height.
what about those bolt in traction bars, the ones that bolt to the frame and to the shock towers? i know you use one glenn, right?
its such a price difference compared to a normal underneath traction bar.

Mon Nov 01, 2004 6:30 pm

slap those bad boys in..the original ones suck and are probably worn out.

use alot "lube" with the urethanes...

Mon Nov 01, 2004 9:24 pm

Traction Bars make a big difference. I had all kinds of wheel hop in my lowered 63 until I installed my traction bar. Now, no hop at all. I got the aircooled.net bar, and modified the mounts to berg style hangers.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:58 am

Steve, I has severe wheel hop and once cracked a tranny case. It's been gone since I installed a Berg traction bar 20 years ago.

And forget urethanes mounts. They fail and tear apart alot. I'm using Berg HD mounts with a Berg tranny cross member. Even with 5000rpm launches, my dual QPs never hit the body. All the power is transfered to the wheels.

Wheel hop can do some serious damage to the tranny. But once you stop that, be careful with slicks. If they hook too harsh, then somethng else has to give. I've already broke a CV and upgraded to Type 181 stub axles.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 4:34 am

Glenn wrote: But once you stop that, be careful with slicks. If they hook too harsh, then somethng else has to give.

I hear that! Here's what's left of my "new" differential...

Tue Nov 02, 2004 6:15 am

Glenn wrote: And forget urethanes mounts. They fail and tear apart alot. I'm using Berg HD mounts with a Berg tranny cross member.

are you talking about trans mounts glenn? im not using urethane trans mounts, i was talking about for the spring plates.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 7:10 am

Stevie Fierce wrote: Glenn wrote: And forget urethanes mounts. They fail and tear apart alot. I'm using Berg HD mounts with a Berg tranny cross member.

are you talking about trans mounts glenn? im not using urethane trans mounts, i was talking about for the spring plates.

OK... squeak squeak.

Tue Nov 02, 2004 8:48 am

the problem with uretane spring plate bushing.other than sqeeking,is they need to be fitted-not just put in..you need to grind material off until the spring plate swings freely..put in place,trim/grind until crush is minimal..lube em and final assemble. when you take off original rubber ones you will find:torn pieces,oval holes(round when new) rubber grit in center dent of cover,cover with have shiny places and etc. get 2 bolts longer than original cover bolts to pull cover back in place as stock cover bolts wont be long enuff to pull cover into position.. sooo-2 longer bolts 180 deg. apart to pull in until stock bolts will pull rest of way then replace long ones with correct length. rest of job is same as indexing torsion bars.. stock replacement bushings are fine until about 250 hp IF you run kafer cup bar.(i can email one my son makes-or csp or tracy grimm,or under dog etc.) i run berg intermediate mount with rubber,rubber trac-GB bar and german pad mounts=same setup used by Gary Berg in his berglar 67) my kafer bar is being powder coated at this time.