Hey, I'm Tom. Live in South Dakota and am an active member of a street rod club that's been around for 50 years, (Counts of the Cobblestone). We go drag racing at an 1/8 mile track in Sturgis once each fall. We're going this Sunday, and I get to go this year. I've only raced once, and would be thankful for a few tips.
My car is a '41 Chevy Coupe. It's got a 225, 30 over, purple shaft cam Part # 4120243, electronic ignition, Holley 390 4bl, Clifford aluminum intake, Clifford Jet Hot coated headers, Lokar floor shifted 904, and 3.31 to 1 8 3/4. I completed it when I lived in Colorado Springs in 1999.
I have not tuned it up in forever, so with the drag races coming I have a few days to do a few things. A tip or two an any one of these points would be way cool. Thanks!
1. What plugs? I've got the head where the plugs go in the tubes. Hotter plugs on #1 & # 6? What gap?
2. Do they have a high output coil at parts stores?
3. Which plug wires?
4. Any special cap & rotor?
5. What should I set the timing at?
6. A little more air in the front tires?
7. Carb adjustments suggestion?
8. A gas additive?
9. Should I let the trans shift, or manually shift it. My tach is over near the glove box, and I'll probably be thinking of lights and the track and stuff. So I'd probably shift when it sounds right.
It's a heavy car, with highway gears. But, I plan on having a lot of fun. Thanks. Tom[/img]

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Tom, slanted41

Sounds like a very cool ride.

I like NGK GR4 plugs.

Wouldn't bother with a hot coil as I've tried many and not seen gain w/o other mods.

Biggest piece of advice is to set total advance to 30 deg or LESS (vac unplugged, hold a 3000 rpm). 225s do not like a lot of advance.

Watch out for being too rich with that carb. That can cost some power too.

Have fun!

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

What year is the engine? Does it have mechanical lifters?
If "yes", I would check the valve adjustment to be sure that is correct.
I would also tune and check the distributor advance as already suggested.

For me, I like the sound of open exhaust so I have "dump-out" caps on all of my street cars, remove the cap and it makes some noise. This helps me hear the car "working" at the noisy track and frees-up some power.
DD

Thanks. I'll for sure use your tips(although I won't have time to make cut outs). I'm not sure the year, but it does have mechanical lifters and I'll adjust those, and set the advance. Is there a way to insert a photo here? I would show it to you. Appreciate the tips, Tom
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Tom, slanted41

Had a really great time drag racing yesterday, And I did pretty good. There was ten of us street rodders at the 1/8 miletrack. I was racing against the likes of a t-bucket with a 283, a blown hemi '35 Plymouth coupe, a '37 Chevy pick up with a 350, a big block street rodded '57 T Bird, and others. We did double eliminations, I finished third. Including time trials I got to go down the track eight times. I won five of those. My best reaction time was .1701 and my best ET was 12.41.

I did get some NGK plugs, timed it to 30 deg, and set valves using Lev Lowrie's tips from an old "Slant 6 News" No.44

Thanks again for the tips D.D. and Lou

Lots of fun! .If any body is on the fence about running down the track a time or two, I recommend it. Tom (slanted41)

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Tom, slanted41

Sounds like a great time, Tom.

You can likely get another 0.2-0.5 sec of tuning done with some more effort. Reaction times take a while to practice, just like any physical activity. Not bad at all for your first time!

Maybe we'll get you to a Slant 6 race next year??

Cheers,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I had 3 different 40's Chevy's in high school back in the day.
To know you have one now w/ a Slant 6 is totally cool!

And listen to Dennis (Slantzilla)!

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.