The Little Cordoba That Could.

Diplomat_Wagon

Diplomat_Wagon

Hiding In The Bushes While
Ran my first race with the little Cordoba and for a first showing I placed 2nd in the first two heats and brought home a Trophy for finishing FIRST in the feature race! :giggedy:

She ran awesome! Never saw 210* all race day, only things to fix is a large dent behind the driver's door I got in the second race, put a new dust cap on the front passenger side rotor since I lost one and we need to align the power steering pump because it threw the belt off twice, I ran the first and the third race with no power assist.

Here's some vids as promised.

First Heat
[video]http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v364/1979_mopar/Stock%20Car/?action=view&current=Jun272010FirstHeat.mp4[/video]

Second Heat
[video]http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v364/1979_mopar/Stock%20Car/?action=view&current=Jun272010SecondHeat.mp4[/video]

The Feature Race
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v...?action=view&current=Jun272010FeatureRace.mp4

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Sweet! Just watched my old room mate make his roundy round debut this past weekend and as predicted by everyone but him, he didn't do so hot! :D Pretty damn good you're first time out Dipstick!:clap:
 
Ta hell with the dent, battle scars are part of the image. :clap:

That announcer is a real fireball. He would be better suited calling numbers at a bingo hall. :doh:

I didn't realize that you were "doin' it inna dirt". You've had a lot of practice doin' it in the back forty. :D

I noticed that as time went on you were running lower on the track were the dirt isn't so loose.:2thumbs:

Now you need to learn how to kick the ass-end out as you're going into the turn. Doing that keeps the front from plowing so bad. You just point the wheels and steer with the throttle. ;)
 
So here's the other Thunder Cars.

'74 Mercury XR7 Cougar with a 460 4bbl, since the 400M didn't survive the test and tune.
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It's a dog, not sure why but it doesn't move like it should.
This happened to it not one but TWICE during the races in the same spot just after turn three.
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(My GF toes is the pic. :shifty: )
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"The Car To Beat" and I beat it before it blew.
'72 Olds Cutlass with a 350 Rocket 4bbl and a female driver, I got the dent from her. :D
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Getting a 350 Chev motor now.
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The Tank.
'71 Chev Impala 350 4bbl, developed a rod knock during the feature race, uses coolant badly.
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The only other Mopar.
'86 Fifth Avenue, 318 2bbl, quite rusty, suffered electrical problems in the line up for the feature, good lil car but not as fast as mine.
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And the last one I forgot to get a close picture of.
'78 Buick Regal 2dr with a 307 4bbl, was kinda sad towards the end of the feature, all I had to do was drive as fast as he could go. :p
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Well, 3rd-gen Cougars are notoriously-ill-handling pigs in the first place; add the nose-heavy big-block and it's not hard to figure why it can't navigate a track. :D Sorry, but according to the rules to which you linked me, they can't run a Chevy V8 in the Cutlass as that combination was never available in '72. It's likely they're doing it to run a cheater engine, so be forwarned: the only Chevy engine ever used in 3rd-generation Cutlasses was the 250-inch straight six. Also, the Buick Regal was not available with the Olds 307 until 1986... but he doesn't appear to be an issue anyhow.

I congratulate you on your win and I'm ecstatic that you did in your first race out. :dance: But be forewarned: in the heat races, The Tank was smokin' you in the straights and it was pretty obvious that big Chevy was hurt in the Feature. Never fear--there's still power to be found in Myrtle... you just have to find it!
 
I contested about the Chev motor in the Olds but non of the officials seem to care so I'm kinda stuck.

I just hear "It's just a Thunder car". :doubt:

I will be bringing it up at the meeting tomorrow night, I will be contesting that I can run a roller cam 5.9 then just because.

His argument is I'm racing a car that's actually under the 114" minimum wheelbase and getting away with it with only barely being over 113". So.... :p

Where would a person find extra power in old Myrtle?
 
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Diplomat_Wagon said:
Where would a person find extra power in old Myrtle?
Click to expand...
Find a better rear gear.
Towards the end you were getting through the corners ok - maybe a little too low going in was hurting your line coming out - but he was accelerating better even when he was lower on the track.
Off the corner is where you'll win races.
 
The stock gears I'm limited to for a stock '80-'82 Cordoba are 2.21:1 or 2.45:1 from a V8 and 2.71:1 from a six car.

I'm reading about 4200-4300 rpm at the end of the straight and about 3200-3500 rpm out of the turn, that's in 1st gear with 2.45 and a 2.21:1 rear gear and a 225/75/15 tire, but that's also with a $20 Princess Auto Tach that I'm sure is reading slow.

Doing the math a 2.45 rear gear will give me a final drive of 6.00 over the 5.41, I think that should be just about right, maybe a lil better yet with a lil shorter 215/75 tire instead of the 225/75.
 
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Maybe if the competition gets away with a Chevy mill in an Olds, you can squeek a better gear in there? I'd be thinking a 2.90 something or even a 3.21 would really pick it up out of the corner.
Do you keep it in forst gear only?
When you're entering the corner, try to not cut it so close to the bottom on your entry, it's hurting you through the center of the corner. Doesn't look like there's much in the way of grip in that loose stuff. :)
 
I pull her down into first and leave it there.

I could run the 2.71's but I'm afraid that I'll run out of safe rpm before the turn.

I know I gotta work on my entry and exit. :p
 
I had a 80 plymouth caravelle with a factory 3.21 sure grip in the 8 1/4. So I'm sure it was also an optional gear ratio for the cordoba as well.

Plus if the other team can run a chevy mill in an Olds, then you can run 3.21's in another 8 1/4 diff.

Looks like a hoot there Dippy...Congrats on your victory!! :2thumbs:
 
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