First time in new car.......

[maydayneal]

I will be picking up my Nova this Saturday ......on Sunday KCIR has a test/tune scheduled...weather permitting (not looking so good) I will take to the track for the first time. So how would you guys approach getting familar and confidant in a new (for me) car?? With only street car experience down the quarter mile......this car has all the standard goodies....line lock for good burn out....transbrake for a good launch....neither of which I have ever used. Now having been with my bro-inlaw for years helping him with his rear engine dragster....I do understand how and what is going on....but still having never done it. I'd like your thoughts about how we "break in" the car and me??

Here are some of my thoughts.......

Burn out:
I dont think I will have to much problem getting the mechanics down for this....get positioned in the water box, get some pressure on the brakes, press the line lock to lock front, release the peddle still holding the line lock and bring up the RPM, shift into second, hold for a sec or two and release the line lock and off the gas shortly after. Ok?

Launch & first pass....
Stage car, I'm not going to use trans brake on first pass. I think I will footbrake a bit and bring up RPM's just a bit and at the green take off at about 1/2 throttle just to get the car moving and continue to accelerate to the 1/8 mile and off the gas and on the brakes softly....figure I better get a feel for those brakes before I build too much speed in the run.

Second launch....
Much like first pass but a bit more aggressive on the acceleration again to the 1/8.

Third....
Still foot braking the lauch and running more speed to top end at 1/4 mile.....still not full throttle all the way.

Forth....
First transbrake launch....the module will be set at 4800 rpm's.....as long as it does not come off the line crazy...I plan to stay full throttle to the 1/8 mile.

If everything is working well.....I plan to be running all out from there.

Comments & suggestions??

Once I get a plan....I will share this will the track offical so he knows that I'm testing.

Thanks!!

[rusty]

I think that sounds like a good plan. I would definitly foot brake a couple 1/8 mile hits before running it out the back door. Have a safe trip down to Oklahoma and hope the weather holds for you on Sunday.

[waterdog]

Sounds to me like you've got a great plan. I always like to do a quick inspection, to make sure everything is race ready. Before I make a first pass, I like to take a little cruize thru the pits to get a feel for the steering and the brakes. Remember the only person you have to impress is yourself and most important"HAVE A GOODTIME". Walt

[jeffwiebe]

I took three years off before last year. I should have known better, but my first pass after three years i floored it on the trans brake stalling at 6000 rpm and launched it. I couldn't see the track for the first while from the whiplash. I wasn't ready for it, my head went back and it took a while to recover. I kept my foot to the floor and drove it out the back door. 10.0 at 135mph. That sure got me pumped up. I had to sit and collect myself for a few minutes after that.

[427belair]

That reminded me of my dads first (and only so far) pass in my car He had some fast cars back in the day but nothing with a trans break. So I strapped him in and went over my process with him. Well he did just fine with the burn out.... way longer than than he bitches at me for pull into the beams and sits as the light turns green, waits some more then lets go of the trans break..... 1.8xx reaction time he bitches at me for anything worse than a .08 Runs it to the top of first gear then NOTHING. 1/8 6.6x @106 1/4 12.90 @58 mph. He said when he let go of the break it felt like someone hit him in the head with a baseball bat.
He also was racing a buddy of his from high school who got the hole shot win he ran a 12.98.

[maydayneal]

LOL....those stories are funny and scary at the same time. Obviously I have never experienced a trans brake launch....looking forward to the hit/rush....but being very conservative in getting there. Safety is foremost on my mind.....I get that covered and I can relax and enjoy all the fun and experience.

[vegaracer]

That sounds like a good plan. Have fun at the track.

[71 Nova]

Great plan! Might wanna check a few plugs after your 1st full throttle pass to be sure the carb and timing are right. Have fun!

[maydayneal]

Great plan! Might wanna check a few plugs after your 1st full throttle pass to be sure the carb and timing are right. Have fun!

Good thought to check those plugs........hmmmm...let me see if I remember right. White chalky is lean....black is rich...either of which needs some carb adjustment. Lots of blueing on the ground stap around the electrode is too much heat and take some timing out. Am I tracking right??

[J Murphy]

Before I make a first pass, I like to take a little cruize thru the pits to get a feel for the steering and the brakes.

That's always a good idea anyway. I second this.

The first time I ran a car with all of the "standard goodies" as you put it (coming from 11 years in a Jr Dragster and two in street cars), I went over the complete procedure at least ten times all while sitting in the car, all the way down to the shut down procedure, miming and reaching for everything (minus actually hitting the switches and buttons of course). I ran it through my head a couple of more times after that. The owner of the car was there to make sure I was doing it right the whole time. Worst case you can write down the procedure on a small piece of paper and put it on the dash. Good luck.

[Scott Coxwell]

Just be sure you get those brakes burned in and stopping good first!!!

[vegaracer]

Theres a couple of good spark plug articles on here
http://www.dragstuff.com/techarticles/h ... plugs.html
http://www.dragstuff.com/techarticles/r ... plugs.html