79 Aspen 2020 season

[cjd1963]

Very pleased with the 2020 season of racing with the Aspen. The highlight was my win racing with the Buckeye Stock/Superstock Association at KilKare raceway on August 22nd. By the way this is a great group of racers to be associated with. Also raced at the Jegs Sportnationals and 2 NMCA races, St. Louis and Indy. Best ET and speed for the car was 12.59 @ 104 mph. Plans for improvement over the winter are stainless steel custom headers purchased by a fellow Aspen racer and a new 489 case center section from Moser. Hope to pick up around .25 to 3 tenths with these additions to the car.

 

[MOPAR MIKE]

Great job!
Good luck with the updates.

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Nice!

So I've got to ask: how are you getting to that ET with that speed?

Or to be more precise: how did you manage to get better 60' times? (and what are they?)

The reason for me asking is: my coupe has gone 13.13 @104mph, but my best 60' time has been 1.87, which I think is bad.

I understand why it is so on my car: focus has been on building a suspension configuration that attempts to keep this brick s#hithouse on the road in as civilized of a manner as possible. The adjustable KONIs have gone a long way to making that happen, as have the 5-leaf springs, HD sway bars, etc...all that really does NOT allow a drag-racing launch to transfer the weight to the rear and plant the tires more firmly.

So back to my original question: care to share your suspension setup please?

Thanks!

 

[Duke5A]

Nice!

So I've got to ask: how are you getting to that ET with that speed?

Or to be more precise: how did you manage to get better 60' times? (and what are they?)

The reason for me asking is: my coupe has gone 13.13 @104mph, but my best 60' time has been 1.87, which I think is bad.

I understand why it is so on my car: focus has been on building a suspension configuration that attempts to keep this brick s#hithouse on the road in as civilized of a manner as possible. The adjustable KONIs have gone a long way to making that happen, as have the 5-leaf springs, HD sway bars, etc...all that really does NOT allow a drag-racing launch to transfer the weight to the rear and plant the tires more firmly.

So back to my original question: care to share your suspension setup please?

Thanks!

Are you getting wheel spin on launch? What kind of tires?

 

[Oldiron440]

Congratulations!!!

The Fbody makes a good stock class car.

 

[cjd1963]

Nice!

So I've got to ask: how are you getting to that ET with that speed?

Or to be more precise: how did you manage to get better 60' times? (and what are they?)

The reason for me asking is: my coupe has gone 13.13 @104mph, but my best 60' time has been 1.87, which I think is bad.

I understand why it is so on my car: focus has been on building a suspension configuration that attempts to keep this brick s#hithouse on the road in as civilized of a manner as possible. The adjustable KONIs have gone a long way to making that happen, as have the 5-leaf springs, HD sway bars, etc...all that really does NOT allow a drag-racing launch to transfer the weight to the rear and plant the tires more firmly.

So back to my original question: care to share your suspension setup please?

Thanks!

My 60' times are slow since it only has a 4.10 gear. 1.74 best this year. Should be at least a tenth better than that. The 4.86 should solve that problem. I put split mono leaf Cal Tracs on it last year. It has 9x28 MT bracket radials that are just under 88" circumference mounted on 15x9 Indy slotted wheels. Will move up to 92.5" circumference tires after I put the new center section in over the winter. Also the new headers will help. This is the best picture I have of the Cal Tracs. The car hasn't had a problem so far with traction.

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Hey Mark,

Are you getting wheel spin on launch? What kind of tires?

Yeah, the tires spin and they are the Nitto NT555Rs. I played with various PSI settings, always going through a burn-out. Best setup was to run at 16psi.

My coupe has barely any weight transfer on launch, so the tires let loose very easily. I am thinking when the 408 stroker goes on-line that will only get worse!

 

[Duke5A]

Hey Mark,



Yeah, the tires spin and they are the Nitto NT555Rs. I played with various PSI settings, always going through a burn-out. Best setup was to run at 16psi.

My coupe has barely any weight transfer on launch, so the tires let loose very easily. I am thinking when the 408 stroker goes on-line that will only get worse!

I would call Cal Track before changing anything to improve weight transfer. You're going to give up a lot in the way of street handling to achieve good transfer. A set of Cal Tracks helped greatly on Dad's car and that was with Radial T/A tires. Next time out Dad will have a set of Mickey drag radials.

 

[Duke5A]

You're going to like those SS headers. It's the only way to go in my opinion with these cars. I have yet to see a coating that lasts more than two seasons and haven't seen any store bought header that fits without running under the steering link.

 

[M_Body_Coupe]

Mark,

...A set of Cal Tracks helped greatly on Dad's car and that was with Radial T/A tires. Next time out Dad will have a set of Mickey drag radials.

Got any part numbers so that I cam myself a little smarter about the "new-tech"? lol

Yeah, remember, I was running a set of NOS rubber ISO pads until last season when I went to POLY...so the stock-appearing thing is sort of my thing?

 

[Duke5A]

Mark,

Got any part numbers so that I cam myself a little smarter about the "new-tech"? lol

Yeah, remember, I was running a set of NOS rubber ISO pads until last season when I went to POLY...so the stock-appearing thing is sort of my thing?

CalTracs - Standard Archives - Calvert Racing

You're still running the ISO setup? Even with poly pads I have to imagine the axle rolls forward off of the springs making it harder to stay planted. If you want to run CalTracs you'll need to ditch that setup. Dad eliminated it on his and was able to keep the rear sway bar using adapter plates from Firm Feel.

 

[Locomotion]

Does the Aspen already have a 2.74 low gear?

 

[cjd1963]

Does the Aspen already have a 2.74 low gear?

No Myron it doesn't, maybe in the future.

 

[MOPAR MIKE]

No Myron it doesn't, maybe in the future.

That 2.74 gear set will wake it up. Turbo Action used to be very reasonable on these gear sets.

 

[CM360]

Hey Mark,



Yeah, the tires spin and they are the Nitto NT555Rs. I played with various PSI settings, always going through a burn-out. Best setup was to run at 16psi.

My coupe has barely any weight transfer on launch, so the tires let loose very easily. I am thinking when the 408 stroker goes on-line that will only get worse!

 

[CM360]

The F and M bodies are weighted on the front end. You need to transfer weight to the rear. I won't make any difference what rear suspension changes you make unless the front weight get transferred. 90/10 front shock and remove the front sway bar. If its a street car, then just do the shock change and add 200lbs to the trunk, seriously.