Wheel Balance

**Firebirdjones** · 08-04-2010, 07:18 PM

Yep he still has it. Bought it new. I think he'll be burried in it

He's 72 now. Still loves to race it. That pic was from 2007.

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

Yep he still has it. Bought it new. I think he'll be burried in it

He's 72 now. Still loves to race it. That pic was from 2007.

I saw the date on the photo and why I asked.. I hope he does get burried when the time comes..

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

Not sure who you mean, but I'll chime in with what I run.

My fathers car in the pic is a 15x8 wheel with 295-65/15 MT drag radials. They are 29.5 inches tall and about 10 inch tread width. Not something that would fit on a 4th gen without serious massaging. I run the same rim sizes on mine but use 275-60/15's which are 28 inches tall and about 8-8.5 tread width.

Rim sizes play a huge roll in how well the tire is going to work. Which is why those drag radial classes limited to a 275 put them on a 12 inch rim. The wider it is the more contact patch you lay down. Also people don't realize it, but the taller the tire is the more contact patch you lay down also. Which is why you'll see these same guys running 30-32 inch tall tires to gain that extra edge in traction, because the class limits you to a 275 section width.

Rim height is also huge. The most I would think about running for a sticky tire would be a 16 inch wheel. You want some sidewall to work with. The more the better. When rim diameters increase, the sidewall decreases, it gets harder to get the tires to hook and you lose that shock load ability the tire absorbs.
They do now however make drag radials for the taller 17 or 18 inch wheels that are 28 inches tall to give racers more sidewall to work with. I believe M&H is making them now.

In my opinion though, a 15 inch wheel is the way to go. You get more tire size choices, and more sidewall. More sidewall the better, and the taller the tire the better.

I agree on the 15" tire. Your Dad was close to the same size (295-50-15) McCreary dirt track tire I used on my 67 Camaro with a solid Centerline with 15 x 8 rims (it was too wide for the rim but it fit on the car - tires would rub the inside when I turned onto the return road though - pizza cutter 15 x 3.5 with 165 wide front tires). Tire was 28.5" tall on a 4.10 gear. Car ran 11.20's @ ~120 mph at OCIR. That's when I what I ran got me kicked off the track...

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:34 PM

Forgot to add: I also painted a stripe on the tire/rim to make sure it wasn't running around the rim too bad...

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

I agree on the 15" tire. Your Dad was close to the same size (295-50-15) McCreary dirt track tire I used on my 67 Camaro with a solid Centerline with 15 x 8 rims (it was too wide for the rim but it fit on the car - tires would rub the inside when I turned onto the return road though - pizza cutter 15 x 3.5 with 165 wide front tires). Tire was 28.5" tall on a 4.10 gear. Car ran 11.20's @ ~120 mph at OCIR. That's when I what I ran got me kicked off the track...

Kicked for no cage ?

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

Kicked for no cage ?

You got it! Car teched for a 11.50 and I did a glory run to see what it would do. It outran what it was teched for...

FWIW: Combo was 454 block with 396 crank and 396 rods with a TRW 427 12.5 piston and a General Kinetics 600 I/E lift @ 320 deg duration cam. 049 oval port head and a Strip Dominator Intake with a worked Holley 750 (list #4779) double pumper. Hooker 2" headers and a 3" exhaust out to the rear.

All this in front of a TH400, 3500 stall and a 4.10 geared 12 bolt. Car was gutted...

I had maybe $3500 into it back in 86...

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

You got it! Car teched for a 11.50 and I did a glory run to see what it would do. It outran what it was teched for...

FWIW: Combo was 454 block with 396 crank and 396 rods with a TRW 427 12.5 piston and a General Kinetics 600 I/E lift @ 320 deg duration cam. Strip Dominator Intake with a worked Holley 750 (list #4779) double pumper.

All this in front of a TH400, 3500 stall and a 4.10 geared 12 bolt. Car was gutted...

Its the same at the track here 11.49 means a cage. I have done a best of 11.52. I have heads that I could put on and hope they would get me close to 11.2. But I do not want to cage the car, well not yet... Full 3600 weight.....

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:44 PM

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

Its the same at the track here 11.49 means a cage. I have done a best of 11.52. I have heads that I could put on and hope they would get me close to 11.2. But I do not want to cage the car, well not yet... Full 3600 weight.....

I hear ya. It sucks but rules is rules. It's for our safety... It's been that way for decades...

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 07:47 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

I hear ya. It sucks but rules is rules. It's for our safety... It's been that way for decades...

Dont get me wrong... I way understand the saftey part.

I am not a rule fighter here.. Just dont want to cage for now. So no more parts go on until I do.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:50 PM

FWIW: I took that 67 out on the street and won oodles of $$$ before folks stopped taking the offer....

AAMOF, even after I swapped the 427 for a stock 454 (cast iron 66 intake with a Holley 650 and cast iron exhaust), folks still would believe me when I told them it was a 79 truck 454...

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 07:53 PM

I have always raced on a closed course... And I never race for money.. cough cough.

**Firebirdjones** · 08-04-2010, 07:53 PM

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

I saw the date on the photo and why I asked.. I hope he does get burried when the time comes..

Well I was kinda hoping he will at least give me the chance to buy it when the time comes. After all I built the entire drivetrain and set everything up

On a more serious note, the car does hold alot of sentimental value to me as well.

Cool stories Jim. My father is in the same boat with his. It went 11.30 a pass or 2 after that shot was taken. He got parked for the day, and vows to never install a roll bar in the car. I was still tuning it, I think the car had 10 second potential with more tuning and better air, it was 3400 DA that day. Later that day it went on the chassis dyno and still showed a lean AFR.
In any event he is building a 498 cubed motor now, the never ending quest to go faster

That was just a little pump gas 455 in that photo.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:55 PM

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

I have always raced on a closed course... And I never race for money.. cough cough.

I was talking Los Angeles back in the mid-80's *cough cough*...

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 07:57 PM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

Well I was kinda hoping he will at least give me the chance to buy it when the time comes. After all I built the entire drivetrain and set everything up

On a more serious note, the car does hold alot of sentimental value to me as well.

Cool stories Jim. My father is in the same boat with his. It went 11.30 a pass or 2 after that shot was taken. He got parked for the day, and vows to never install a roll bar in the car. I was still tuning it, I think the car had 10 second potential with more tuning and better air, it was 3400 DA that day. Later that day it went on the chassis dyno and still showed a lean AFR.
In any event he is building a 498 cubed motor now, the never ending quest to go faster

That was just a little pump gas 455 in that photo.

I hear ya Larry.

My stories are all from the 80's and 90's when I had a shop and was heavily involved with such things...

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

I hear ya Larry.

My stories are all from the 80's and 90's when I had a shop and was heavily involved with such things...

Yeah I had a 71 camaro back in the 80's. But it only had a 350 in it.. It was people like you with the 396's and bigger that I had problems with.. BBC use to erk me off..

**67CamaroRSSS** · 08-04-2010, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

Yeah I had a 71 camaro back in the 80's. But it only had a 350 in it.. It was people like you with the 396's and bigger that I had problems with.. BBC use to erk me off..

Back then it was "Ain't no replacement for cubic inch displacement"...

I had a few killer SBC's (327 4 bolt main using an 010 block and 69 Vette large journal crank with full roller valve train - max HP at 7500 rpm) but when I went BBC I sold all the SBC stuff and never looked back...

**Z28Thunder** · 08-04-2010, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

Back then it was "Ain't no replacement for cubic inch displacement"...

I had a few killer SBC's (327 4 bolt main using an 010 block and 69 Vette large journal crank with full roller valve train - max HP at 7500 rpm) but when I went BBC I sold all the SBC stuff and never looked back...

Hell I was running 13.2's and .1's back then. I was stupid to think I was fast. But heck back then people would trailer 13 second cars to the track..

**Firebirdjones** · 08-05-2010, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

Yeah I had a 71 camaro back in the 80's. But it only had a 350 in it.. It was people like you with the 396's and bigger that I had problems with.. BBC use to erk me off..

I had the same issues. I used to run around with a high strung 327 4 speed and 4.56 gears, was quick for what it was. I later had a 355 with a tunnel ram and 4.88 gears that dipped into the 12's back then. That was moving for that particular era. But I'd routinely get my clock cleaned by a certain COPO 427 camaro running in the same area. That's when I decided to take a serious look a BBC's. We actually became good friends, and Mike still owns that COPO too. A legit 29,000 mile car. I ended up buying a 454 chevelle at that time, which I also still own. The rest is history

Although I admit, I still have a passion for those high strung small blocks, and never got rid of those either. I still love to row gears with 4.88's out back.

Originally Posted by Z28Thunder

Hell I was running 13.2's and .1's back then. I was stupid to think I was fast. But heck back then people would trailer 13 second cars to the track..

Back then a 13 second street car was a terror and hard to beat. There were very very few legit 12 second cars in the late 70's and even into the 80's despite what people would like to tell you.
Even today if you take a hard look at things, most cars on the street are still 12 to 13 second performers. It's easy now to get a car in the 11's or even the 9's or 10's and be street driven, but you rarely actually see those types of cars in your daily commuting. Those have mainly become weekend toys that come out maybe a few times a month.