The Sharp Automotive Stock Car

[Diplomat_Wagon]

Here's where all of my spare time has been going.

It's our shop's thunder/bomber/hobby stock car.

Some of you may remember this 1980 'Doba from a while ago but here it is again to go out in a blaze of glory.

Sold the car to the shop and then spent a whole pile of hours to build her up.

360 2bl from a '76 Monaco, 904 from a '79 'Doba,

Cage took alot of work, the basic built to fit cage was from CSC Racing and fit awesome, but there was an additional 35' of pipe added.

Runs awesome and can't wait to take her around the track.

Just paint, some minor adjustments to the front end and four brand new tires on 15x7's left to go, oh and to bolt in the belts.

Finding the right ignition key.

Leaving the farm for good.

Gutted

As it sits now, almost race ready.

Coilovers helped out the old springs quite a bit.

12gal circle track fuel cell.

All the creature comforts of a 17th century jail cell.

Fuel line is run through that 3/4" electrical conduit.

Made the window screen from 1/4" rod with two 5/8" center bars.

Oldskool man!

Driveshaft hoop and straight pipe. :giggedy:

We are going to be the only Mopar racing this year it's all 80's 350 powered Chevy Caprice/Pontiac/Buick 4drs with the exception of a humongous '72 Caprice 4dr and a '72 Olds Cutlass 4dr.

I think we'll do pretty good. It's gonna be so much fun! :giggedy:

 

[Dr.Jass]

Holy monkey bars! It may have the comforts of a dungeon, but you gotta feel safe in there! Are you the driver, or on the pit crew?

I'm surprised they don't make you run a muffler... all the race cars at the local track have to run 'em, even the late-models. People buy a house next to a paved oval, then complain about the noise?! The track was there long before you, goombah.

A couple of words of advice, if I may: the car needs to come down, like way down--probably an inch in the front and at least 3 in the back. The CG is way too high, especially if you're running on pavement. The coilovers need to go away. You'd do much better to add an extra short leaf and let the car sit low. As a rule, leaf springs are more effective when the arch is nearly flat. I want to see this thing win, not just compete! :dance:

I'll be anxiously awaiting results as the season passes... have fun, and be safe!

 

[69.5CUDA]

and could you PLEASE ad a filler plate to that spot where the tail lights once resided..it looks like it was rearended bad......i know its a stocker but no reason it cant look nice for a lil while...ya filled the heads fill the tail

and i second that...drop that bitch down low..youll wish you had.....

 

[Diplomat_Wagon]

I'm the driver of the beast, I'm gonna see how she handles with the coil overs but they probably will go since the car is way to bouncy.

After we got some paint on her the tail is getting a cover, it just looks nasty.

Trying to get the last little things done before the test and tune tomorrow.

The track is a 3/8 mile clay oval (inside) and is 80' wide.

 

[69.5CUDA]

the freshest painted car always gets the first hardest hit

 

[Dr.Jass]

I'm the driver of the beast, I'm gonna see how she handles with the coil overs but they probably will go since the car is way to bouncy.

That's what happens when you have way too much spring, and not nearly enough shock. You know what you have to do... and the front shocks better damned-well be as new as the rears!

 

[restoman]

Short dirt-track racing.
There's nothing better!

Drop it low, get the suspension as stiff as you can and get that right front shoved out (if the rules permit it).

Have a blast!

 

[Not A Duster]

I just happen to know where you can find a spare 360 and 904 for that beast cheap ....:shifty:

 

[69.5CUDA]

you know...those coilovers might actualy be fine back there with a MUCH shorter stiffer spring .just to keep the rearend stiff insteadof soft

 

[Dr.Jass]

The coilovers, at a glance, do not appear to be either adjustable or able to have the springs changed. Even if they were one or the other, that upper shock-mount crossmemeber is flimsy sheetmetal never intended to carry any kind of load. After a season in the clay wars, the upper bolt holes will be big sloppy openings (insert your own ex joke here).

It doesn't necessarily need to be stiff, it just needs to work the way Chrysler intended:

Short front spring segment = stiff, acts like a control arm.
Long rear spring segment = softer, allows bump absorption and downward axle travel under acceleration.

This is why when you see a properly set-up Mopar rear suspension, the ass end of the car stands up under hard acceleration. I would add an extra short leaf to the existing springs, and on further thinking, I'd remove the rubber from the factory pinion snubber and replace it with a polyurethane control-arm bumper. Then, I'd cut down some alternator spacers to the correct height to get that pinion snubber within about ½" of the floor (use Grade 8 or better bolts here).

When you stab it, the pinion snubber will strike the floor (might want to reinforce that area with an extra plate), both spring segments can do their thing, and the axle will pivot on the snubber--planting the tires into the clay for extra traction and therefore acceleration.

If you look through a circle-track catalog, you'll see that Afco and others still offer aftermarket Chrysler-style leaf springs for roundy-round. Why? Because in classes that still require leaf springs, the knowledgable want the different-length spring segments. Neither GM nor Ford ever used that setup on their factory buggy-spring offerings.

One very-good thing that I see on that rear suspension--you used different lower shock plates for double-eyering shocks and eliminated the iso-clamps. That's two tremendous improvements right there. :dance:

 

[Diplomat_Wagon]

Oh hell yeah Jass I was tossing that ISO bullshit at the back.

The car has new KYB shocks as well as new sway bar end link and center biscuit bushings.

Paint should be dry by the time we take her out this afternoon for the second day of test and tune.

I hung out at the track yesterday afternoon and got an idea of the cars and the breakdown is a '72 Olds Cutlass 4dr 350, a '72 Chevy Caprice 350, a '78 Buick Regal 2dr 307, 80's Pontiac Fullsize 4dr 350, '80's Something Fullsize Chev 4dr 350, '74 Mercury Cougar 400 and our lil 'Doba.

Should be fun! :giggedy:

 

[Dr.Jass]

a '78 Buick Regal 2dr 307...

That fella has no intention of competing.

 

[69.5CUDA]

i wouldnt want to get in a tangle with the couger or gutless

 

[Dr.Jass]

The Cutlass might be a threat (those older Rocekt 350s are pretty good) but the Cougar? A non-entity over the season. The 400M's oiling system sucks balls, and while it does have good cylinder heads, the shortblock will eat itself. If Cougar-boy had a brain in his head, he'd be running a 351C--same or better heads, no M-series oiling deficiencies, and far-better suited to continuous high-RPM use. The only way to make a 351M or 400M live is to block the oiling to the camshaft and run splash-oiled roller bearings. That's a pretty-expensive process so it's not likely the Cougar's got it, particularly if there's a claim rule.

 

[restoman]

The Cutless has a decent engine set-back over the front wheels and a half-ways decent 350 Rocket has a ton of low end torque - that'll be your only competition as far as car-wise goes.
Get your 'Doba in and out of the corners well and you should be un-beatable.

 

[Diplomat_Wagon]

The Cougar made three laps on the replacement transmission and the car at IDLE started smoking so bad we actually thought they had a barbecue in they're pit.

The Olds never showed for the test and tune so I didn't get to see it but I guess it's a pretty fast car and the girl that drives it is completely fearless and drives like a nutjob. :shifty:

After a minor torsion bar adjustment at the pit the old 'Doba went roundy round like a dream and ran like a champ in first gear all the way! :giggedy:

The poor lil bugger needs a rigid blade fan for sure though, the clutch fan won't keep it cool enough to make 15 hard laps, only goes about 6 and she's pushing 230*F.

The coilover were replaced with a set of Monroe shocks for a D-100 pick up which was the only thing in stock in town at such short notice, car sits nice and drifts around the track nicely! :giggedy:

 

[restoman]

 

[thrashingcows]

:giggedy:...........:clap:

Can't wait for the vid.....:dave:

 

[69.5CUDA]

note i said "tangle" not race..that couger and gutless would chew that lil doba up and a fist fight..which do break out..rubbin is racing afterall

a chick in the guttles..WOOT im rooting for her..sorry lol you dont see to many chicks driving race cars

 

[Dr.Jass]

I'd rather be in the Cordoba. Though lighter, it's a far stronger structure than anything full-frame... makes a better race car, too, since it's much stiffer. Just because the Cougar and the Cutlass weigh more doesn't make 'em anything but heavier, and that doesn't mean momentum isn't on their side either.

I've witnessed first-hand some great examples of this: 1996 Windstar turns in front of '84 Dodge 1-ton with a plow rig (the plow was off) and a swapped-in 440 travelling straight at 35MPH. Windstar crushed badly on RH front, but ultimately repairable. Dodge W350? Total loss; passenger-side headlight was under the cowl, plow carriage was destroyed, trans and transfer-case adapter both cracked in half, frame Z-shaped when viewed from above. Then, last Labor Day at the Dickinson County Fair, 72sickness ran a mid-'80s Diplomat in the demo derby. He was a heat winner against much-larger full-frame cars including early-'70s GM fullsize wagons, Crown Vickies, etc. The back of that car held up amazingly well. Jake himself was surprised, as he thought he was going to get punted clean off the fairgrounds with the first hit. The momentum of the full-frame cars only served to damage themselves rather than wreck the stout little Dippy.

The idea that full-frame cars are stronger is long-held, but a complete fallacy.