60' times with El Caminos

78ElkySS

Weekend Racer
May 22, 2003
54
0
0
Crestview, FL
Been doing some looking around and seems that 1.9 is about as good as it gets with most El Caminos. Is anyone doing any better? I can't get mine out of the 2.00's. I push about 350 HP through 3500 stall into TH350 down to the final drive 3:73 and 26" drag radial and still spin out at launch. Granted the track isn't big on prepping but with the low HP i shouldn't have any issue scooting on out the hole. Should I looking into the DA shocks?
 

78ElkySS

Weekend Racer
Thread starter
May 22, 2003
54
0
0
Crestview, FL
Stock arms, some old Monroe air shocks to keep the left side from cutting into my tires on turns. A few years back I went through and changed the springs to some load progression coils where the coil gets tighter as stuffs loaded in the rear. At one point it was going to be a clean resto but racing is just too much fun. I just think its crazy that with my tires and low HP I should hook easy.
 

UMI Sales

Amateur Racer
Jan 6, 2009
254
0
0
If you are on a budget (aren't we all?!), I'd do relocation brackets on the lower trailing arms and an air bag in the RR.

Do you have a rear sway bar at all?

Do you street drive it all, some, rarely, etc? Percentage? As you move toward a drag shock setup you tend to sacrifice street manners. We can progress toward a drag setup and still preserve streetability.

ramey
 

melloelky

Top Fueler
Jul 1, 2009
3,654
31
48
mass
I'm interested to know also,the elcamino is very light in the back so would it take a different approach than say another g body?im sure the under-steer/over-steer factor is different with the elcamino vs a car.also rear sway bar selection if used at all might be different too?
 

78ElkySS

Weekend Racer
Thread starter
May 22, 2003
54
0
0
Crestview, FL
I drive it to the track and back, bout 20 minutes both ways. Other then that I idle around base just to get it out sometimes. I ran the 7.5 this season but that's being changed to a 9 inch in the next month. That's going to be that biggest chunk of the off season budget. Was thinkin of adding a rear sway and boxing my arms. What would relocation brackets do? Change pinion angle?
 

UMI Sales

Amateur Racer
Jan 6, 2009
254
0
0
Relocation brackets change the angle of the lower arms (more downward toward the rear) and increase anti-squat which in turn plants the rear tires. Depending on which brand 9" you choose, you may have that built in. Some rear manufacturers provide multiple holes on the lower pickup points.

Relocation brackets do not change ride height or pinion angle.

We have a new Pro-Tour style rear bar which is tunable.

And geez elcoholic, what combo are you using to shoot a 1.27? Yikes.
 

elcoholic

Amateur Racer
Feb 4, 2008
152
0
0
Omaha, NE
I'm using a chassisworks 9", their upper and lower control arms, an anti-roll bar, qa1 coil overs, 28x10.5, and a 388sbc
 

1982 SS

Frequent Racer
Jan 19, 2007
382
0
0
Clearfield, Utah
My El camino has gone as fast as 1.75 with a 26" tall drag radial. I had the trans and converter gone through and they came back much more efficient than before i couldn't hook up. I notched the frame and I'm running 29x11.5 slicks now and the best i've done is a 1.83 this year. At my local track, there is no such thing as too much tire. I use Dick Miller Racing (http://www.dickmillerracing.com) upper control arm relocation brackets, like the edelbrock anti hop bars but less severe on launch and they made a world of difference compared to the SSM lift bars i had on there before. El Caminos aren't hard to hook, it just takes the right approach.
 

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