I joined a Mopar club a couple of months ago (not been a Mopar club member for thirty years), and just found out they have an event coming up in October for solo road course track meet for the club – which will be held at a local police training facility.
First thought – cool, I can’t wait.
Second thought – um, I’m far from ready for this.
My original plan is to convert my ’86 5th Ave for just this kind of thing.
- Parts gathered for the 56ths transformation (but not yet installed): 5-leave rear springs, rear sway bar, Solid K-frame mounts, FFI steering gear, 11” rear drum brakes, 12” front disk brakes and weld-in subframe connectors.
- Other parts not yet purchased/obtained: 8¾” differential, Iso-clamp removal and police wheels.
- Parts not related to this but was planning on installing at same time as above items: big block with aluminum heads, intake and water pump/housing and a 727 (not gong to happen for above event).
- Right now, the 5th Ave, with its 2.2:1 differential gear ratio just won’t work well for this event.
Sense that time, I picked up my ’77 wagon – which runs darn good as is, for a 318 2 bbl automatic car.
The 195/14” tires won’t cut it – but vehicle is a good platform to work with.
I don’t have much extra time nor the extra money to spend, to get either car ready for this – except for using existing parts (and/or other inexpensive extras). I do drive both cars daily (mostly the 5th), so any upgrades have to be done over a weekend.
Any work while the heat index is over 100’, is also out.
My dilemma is which car to get spend my time on. The plans are to perform modifications to the 5th Ave anyway, but it needs more work done.
The plans were not to modify the wagon, per se, but upgraded brakes and sway bars are on the (eventual) to do list. I think the wagon might perform better sense its (current) curb weight is less and car looks cooler.
The important part is there is only 3 months to get ready, and I’m not that fast of a mechanic.
Before the dilemma came up, it was my plan to remove differential in 5th Ave and insert my police 8¼” differential, with limited slip and 2.94:1 ratio, in next month or so. While differential was out, to replace the (what’s left of) single exhaust. Tossing the 3 cats to the curb during the process. I have to get the exhaust fixed soon, regardless of what happens for road racing.
Question 1
Given the facts above, which car do you think would perform better for this event?
Question 2
Is there anything you would recommend doing to either car (not mentioned above). Also in what order modifications are recommended, in case I run out of time?
A big thank you for all who give advise!
I’ve not done this in a daily driven car, before - but do have plenty of experince racing smaller vehicles.
BudW
First thought – cool, I can’t wait.
Second thought – um, I’m far from ready for this.
My original plan is to convert my ’86 5th Ave for just this kind of thing.
- Parts gathered for the 56ths transformation (but not yet installed): 5-leave rear springs, rear sway bar, Solid K-frame mounts, FFI steering gear, 11” rear drum brakes, 12” front disk brakes and weld-in subframe connectors.
- Other parts not yet purchased/obtained: 8¾” differential, Iso-clamp removal and police wheels.
- Parts not related to this but was planning on installing at same time as above items: big block with aluminum heads, intake and water pump/housing and a 727 (not gong to happen for above event).
- Right now, the 5th Ave, with its 2.2:1 differential gear ratio just won’t work well for this event.
Sense that time, I picked up my ’77 wagon – which runs darn good as is, for a 318 2 bbl automatic car.
The 195/14” tires won’t cut it – but vehicle is a good platform to work with.
I don’t have much extra time nor the extra money to spend, to get either car ready for this – except for using existing parts (and/or other inexpensive extras). I do drive both cars daily (mostly the 5th), so any upgrades have to be done over a weekend.
Any work while the heat index is over 100’, is also out.
My dilemma is which car to get spend my time on. The plans are to perform modifications to the 5th Ave anyway, but it needs more work done.
The plans were not to modify the wagon, per se, but upgraded brakes and sway bars are on the (eventual) to do list. I think the wagon might perform better sense its (current) curb weight is less and car looks cooler.
The important part is there is only 3 months to get ready, and I’m not that fast of a mechanic.
Before the dilemma came up, it was my plan to remove differential in 5th Ave and insert my police 8¼” differential, with limited slip and 2.94:1 ratio, in next month or so. While differential was out, to replace the (what’s left of) single exhaust. Tossing the 3 cats to the curb during the process. I have to get the exhaust fixed soon, regardless of what happens for road racing.
Question 1
Given the facts above, which car do you think would perform better for this event?
Question 2
Is there anything you would recommend doing to either car (not mentioned above). Also in what order modifications are recommended, in case I run out of time?
A big thank you for all who give advise!
I’ve not done this in a daily driven car, before - but do have plenty of experince racing smaller vehicles.
BudW
