popsracer

Claydoh;
I'm 46 next month & have been racing for 3+ years. My son Michael is 8 this month and has been racing with me almost as long. Still trying get him to slow down. It's so easy to get excited and over drive the car.

IMPACTPLAYR

iTrader: (7)

This may sound stupid, but don't drink soda, or coffee the day of the race, and stay away from candy too. I find that if I stay away from alot of sugar and caffien I am much calmer and my lap times are better!!!! I also have less problems with my nerves.

Claydoh

I totally agree. One race I got all amped up on those Frappachino's and drove like crap. I get pretty nervous/excited anyway so I don't really need any kind of boost but damn those frapps taste good.

IMPACTPLAYR

iTrader: (7)

I learned the hard way!!! I ended up destroying the left side suspension three heats in a row after yanking a little too much throttle coming off of a tight 180!!!!

popsracer

I'm always a better follower that a leader. I can step it up pretty good to catch somebody, but then I get so nervous in the lead that I will end up making a mistake and get passed while my car is waiting to be marshaled by the guy standing in his sleep.
When I used to Street race my Road Runner with the 4spd, my clutch foot would shake waiting for the start.

psycho

The thing that always bites me in the... well, you know what I mean... is points. I race in a points series, so every race counts. When I think about that, I feel pressured to do well and wind up in the boards! Another thing that kills me is being announced. I usually tell the race director not to announce my name. Just say "the number 9 blue and red Vauxhall Vectra" or whatever.

popsracer

Here's how I adjust the droop on my cars. I put the car on my bench so the front (or rear) of the car is facing me. I put a large flashlight behind the car facing toward me. The idea is that I see light from under the tires as they lift off the bench. I use calipers to determine the exact center of the bumper or chassis plate and mark it for future reference. Then I use the non-sharp edge of an x-acto knife to lift the car from that center point and use the ride height guage to measure the droop to 1mm up front and 2mm in back. This is a baseline setting I always start with. Once that's done, I use a droop guage set to make changes at the track. There are two blocks that hold the chassis off your pit table. Then you use the droop guage to measure a point on each suspension arm and add more droop or take it away as necessary. I've heard all sorts of ways to accomplish this, but this method works well for me.

Setting droop should never affect ride height. If it does, you have no droop. You always want some droop or you lose traction over bumps. I have bump stops on my Mugen MTX2 and I set them so that the chassis doesn't hit the bench when I push down on it. They are just to keep the chassis from bottoming. Kind of a cool feature. I wish more cars had that.

bubbaicm

one thing to watch with ditigal servo don,t over drive it. don,t go past 100% on trim knob setting it will screw up the servo. also have seen someone turn on their radio on , on the same freq. with their end points way past what mine were set, and it slamed my servos,out two servos nothing could be done except send them back to the repair shop

psycho

That's why you always bring your baseball bat to the track. (I'm just kidding)

popsracer

Thanks, I was just seeing if someone had a batter easier way to adjust droop.
One thing is that I never use the down stops when I'm racing at parking lot tracks. I tend to cut the dots a little close and need that extra travel to avoid so many rollovers.
On a permanent track I would most definitely use the stops.

BTW I still have the Road Runner, all my R/C car stuff is in the trunk.

bubbaicm

is a tuning hammer ok? i do have one of these
ha ha just kidding!

RC Nitro

Pops: I understand the age thing, 48 in march and I am teaching my 6 year old. "slow down and go faster" That works great full scale too. I am like you, I follow great, then the neves get the best of me. My bud just follows me and stays on my bumper wait in for me to overcook the track We have a great time harrassing each other.

Pops: 383, 440 or hemi? I run chevy's and fords both small and big block. RR sb camaro's.

Howdy Bubba
John M

popsracer

I bought the car in 1975 as a rolling chassis from a friend. This was giong to be my 'Race" car. I already had another R.R. that was my daily transportation (383, & the usual mods).
The "Race" car had a brand new Orange paint job and nothing else. I spent the next 1-1/2 years putting the car together.

440ci. 30 over.
TRW; Forged 6 Pack pistons.
Forged rods shot peeded and polished.
Mopar; Stage IV Heads, ported/polished, big valves.
Mopar; 600 lift solid lifter cam (didn't want roller)
Harlan Sharp; Aluminum roller rockers.
Edelbrock; 440 Torker, port matched to heads.
Holley; 800 DP modified with 4 corner idle circuit. (Want a 1150)
727 Trans; Full manual, HD internals.
3000 Stall Tompson converter.

I never got the chance to run the car at the strip,, but I built it to run in the Mid 11"s.
The 383 that I had in my other car used to run 12.9's with mufflers, air filter and street tires. I hated getting dirty at the track.
The frst pic is of my "Street" car. Sold in 1983.

popsracer

The next two pics are of the Road Runner that I still have in my garage.

popsracer

Sorry guys I know this is a little off topic, but here is the last picture.

popsracer

I had a friend that adjusted the tweek on his HPI one day with a hammer. He hasn't raced on-road since.