car class??

[blackharley01]

Hi I am in the process of building a 1987 grand national. i have taken the body off of the frame, cut the trunk and wheel housings out, cut the firewall to set the motor back, and started setting up for ladder bar suspension. to start out with we are going to run a naturally asp sb 377 dyno @ 750hp on pump gas with a 400 trans brake and a 9in rear. the rear tire is 33/14-15 mt. later we have hopes of doing a twin turbo 427 ls2, but for right now im trying to keep cost down by using some of the stuff i have here. i am thinking we should be in the mid to high 9's to start out with, and hopefully end up in a high 7 low 8 range later on. one of my friends races on a 10.5 tire running 7's and told me i better pick a class before i build the car.

so my question is where do i go from here, and is a 25.2 cage going to be good for what i am trying to do? what kind of class should i be building to? this is going to be more of a weekend fun thing than full out competition for us. lebanon valley. englishtown, or atco will be the places in our area to race.

thanks, dave

 

[John Wilde]

Dave,

Welcome to the board.
There may be some opportunities in getting the car as you are first setting it up for heads up racing. Normally when someone is setting a car for tires that big they are running a pro type class. You would need at least low 7 second power to do anything there. Have you already taken the stock suspension mounting points out? You may want to consider a drag radial type class.
It could keep the cost of the car down and the enjoyment up.
What racing org are you need so I can take a closer look at the rules.

 

[blackharley01]

yea too late on the stock suspension... i cut most of it out including the front upper control arm mounts. i am going to use a 82-92 camaro front spindle with struts and air bags on tubular lower control arms. i could go to a smaller tire once the car is all set up i guess... i really dont like the way most of these cars look with the rear so high up in the air. i wanted to slam this thing down on the ground and tuck the tires up as far as i could go. i can fabricate just about anything i can imagine... i just dont want to build something and then find out i cant bring it to my local track, then have to tear it apart. i stumbled on this car and figured i could put it together with stuff i have here. i think nhra is going to be the the organization at the tracks in my area. ive been reading about these lsx swaps and little m's sounds like the route i may take later on, but for right now i think very honest 750hp should be good to play with untill i can get the suspension dialed in. i have a very interesting idea for the rear suspension... it is sorta a cross between ladder bar / swing arm, but with more adjustability. ill be using air bags that i can move in or out for rate changes. send me an email and ill send you a video of a mock up.

thanks for the reply...
dave

 

[Dusty Bradford]

If you cut the stock suspension mounting points off the front and went to a strut your pretty much screwed in any heads up class. You can search locally to see if any org allows those type changes. Even outlaw 10.5 which is a 6 second class uses the front stock suspension.

 

[blackharley01]

can i at least bracket race it with a strut front suspension? i cant believe there are no classes with cars that are modified with a strut front suspension... i still have the parts i can weld back in... it almost sounds more worth it to do that.

thanks,
dave