What do you guys think? Drag car or Street car?

[pro70z28]

Don't feel too bad. I've been working on mine since 2002 and still have a long way to go.

[Dennismoore]

What did the Guy on Pinks Say " Ford Makes it and Chevy Shakes it!!!

[Keith 944]

some of these guys on this site are true racing legends, have fun with whatever you do but please realize you may never have this chance again to say you talked to "so and so" . raceing will get into your blood and change your life, take it slow, build what you can afford, have fun and learn everything u can from these guys! wish i had this advise when i started. or even a computer. lol...
p.s. mine isn't a ford or chevy either, it's a racecar!

[dragster2006]

lol yeah it sucks.. i had a deadline set for it to be done for sometime in april but i dont think its possible lol makes me wana cry!!!!! haha

[MattConte]

Originally Posted by Charlie Yannetti

I was just sitting around and watching this fiasco.... HEY KID!!!... do yourself a favor... get in touch with some people that race seriously.... Divisional Event and/or National Event style racing.... get on a crew and learn the sport... it really is fun and by doing this you'll see exactly what it is about and get a good direction on where you want to go... and how much it might cost to be competitive...

I HATE all these young guys talking about street cars or street/strip cars... if that's the way you wanna go, you will end up hurting youself, or God forbid, some innocent bystander or pedestrian.... racing is meant to be done on a track... a safe environment... STREET IS NOT NEAT!!!!!

If you wanna cross breed parts and cars, have at it... I'm all about working with what you have... and it sounds like you could put together a really fun bracket car if you stick to it and keep asking questions... you will never know it all, so keeping asking... I'm still learning after 30+ yrs of this stuff...

AND please don't call anyone out... you will learn really fast that there are some of us racers out there just waiting for the opportunity to hurt someone's feelings... RIGHT ED!!!... OK, me too... LOL

Take advantage of those willing to help you on this forum... we are all serious about what we do and would love to help... GOOD LUCK with your project.....

Charlie
I respect your views and your time in the sport. You have some very good advice here. But one thing you said here that I quite disagree with you. First all I NEVER suggested that anyone race on the streets when I talked about a Street/Strip car. I have never and never will race on the streets. When I said "Street/ Strip car I ment a car that can be bracket raced and also be driven on the street legally. I am also not a "Young Guy" that has never been in the trenches of race competition. I am 43 years old and have been in all kinds of very competitive race teams over the years. From NHRA to NASCAR Busch Grand National racing.
Also the very first, very real race team I was on and also was a big part of the building of the car. was a full on, very competitive, very serious race car that the owner of that car drove it on the street to the local cruises and sometimes even to work on a nice day. Him doing that was apart of one of our major sponsor's deals. Arizona Speed and Marine wanted to make a point that thier product that we were pushing, is that they made a very streetable and racing competitive product. So the car had to be very streetable. We ran very well in Super Pro back in the late 80s. The car got on the cover of, I think it was Pontiac Magazine. We were also sponsored by Rockford Fosgate so we had allot of responsibility to our sponsors. It was also in the contract that if we were to EVER race on the streets. We would be dropped on the spot. Yes the car was allot of work, but it was fun and very popular at the track. We won or made into many final rounds. This photo was taken at Firebird International Raceway at the 88 Super Chevy Show ( We got in with our Pontiac because we had a Chevy 400 with the 86 Chevy Vette TPI systems that AS&M redesigned and built ground breaking speed parts for those induction systems.) This was my first race team I was on and I hold those times in allot of ways, higher then my NASCAR days. It was the most original race car I have ever been apart of. The car was all street legal, no tubs on DOT slicks and all full on stock interior, 300 lbs of Rockford Fosgate Stereo system and a car phone.(Rockford wanted that) This was the 80s so a car phone stayed in the car. The car went into the high 9s on Nos. I always wondered what we could have done without all of that not needed stuff, but we got paid to have it. BTW I was the guy that always wanted to shed the RF stwereo crap and get the car off of the street. but looking back. That was the part of the car that got us alot of the attention.


The last I heard of this car. It sold in the early 90s at the Barrett/Jackson auto auction. I will say that this car could not have been done without the sponsors.
Rule number on DRAGSTER. Never let ANYONE tell you that it CANNOT BE DONE. It can.

[dragster2006]

Man i bet its awesome being sponsored... hopefully in a few years after the cars done and i've been racing a bit maybe i can get the car sponsored by somebody... it would be kinda cool if mallory ignition could be my sponsor considering thats my last name LOL! about that car in the picture... i would of been trying to get rid of the stereo equipment too lol so it sold on the barret-jackson? thats awesome man. my grandpa had one of his coupes sell on there. so you and him have something in common lol

Originally Posted by MattConte

Charlie
I respect your views and your time in the sport. You have some very good advice here. But one thing you said here that I quite disagree with you. First all I NEVER suggested that anyone race on the streets when I talked about a Street/Strip car. I have never and never will race on the streets. When I said "Street/ Strip car I ment a car that can be bracket raced and also be driven on the street legally. I am also not a "Young Guy" that has never been in the trenches of race competition. I am 43 years old and have been in all kinds of very competitive race teams over the years. From NHRA to NASCAR Busch Grand National racing.
Also the very first, very real race team I was on and also was a big part of the building of the car. was a full on, very competitive, very serious race car that the owner of that car drove it on the street to the local cruises and sometimes even to work on a nice day. Him doing that was apart of one of our major sponsor's deals. Arizona Speed and Marine wanted to make a point that thier product that we were pushing, is that they made a very streetable and racing competitive product. So the car had to be very streetable. We ran very well in Super Pro back in the late 80s. The car got on the cover of, I think it was Pontiac Magazine. We were also sponsored by Rockford Fosgate so we had allot of responsibility to our sponsors. It was also in the contract that if we were to EVER race on the streets. We would be dropped on the spot. Yes the car was allot of work, but it was fun and very popular at the track. We won or made into many final rounds. This photo was taken at Firebird International Raceway at the 88 Super Chevy Show ( We got in with our Pontiac because we had a Chevy 400 with the 86 Chevy Vette TPI systems that AS&M redesigned and built ground breaking speed parts for those induction systems.) This was my first race team I was on and I hold those times in allot of ways, higher then my NASCAR days. It was the most original race car I have ever been apart of. The car was all street legal, no tubs on DOT slicks and all full on stock interior, 300 lbs of Rockford Fosgate Stereo system and a car phone.(Rockford wanted that) This was the 80s so a car phone stayed in the car. The car went into the high 9s on Nos. I always wondered what we could have done without all of that not needed stuff, but we got paid to have it. BTW I was the guy that always wanted to shed the RF stwereo crap and get the car off of the street. but looking back. That was the part of the car that got us alot of the attention.


The last I heard of this car. It sold in the early 90s at the Barrett/Jackson auto auction. I will say that this car could not have been done without the sponsors.
Rule number on DRAGSTER. Never let ANYONE tell you that it CANNOT BE DONE. It can.

[Charlie Yannetti]

Hi Matt.... first of all, I'm not looking to prolong the beating of this particular dead horse.... BUT, my reference to "young guys" was a very general statement and did not make reference to anyone on this forum.... my statement was made in a reaction to hearing this guy talking about building car and giving information that would lead one to believe that it may become a powerful street car.... a powerful street car, in a lot of cases, leads to a lot of careless driving... ON THE STREET... so I made reference to my experiences...

Where I'm from, I have a lot of these "young guys" asking advise on how to get their cars to run faster... I know they have no intention of participating in any ORGANIZED drag racing.... but they do claim to race... don't even want to know where and when... but because I race, they are looking for answers...

I can appreciate your start in racing as mine was very similar at the age of 16... however, I think we can agree that there are no longer street/strip cars... if you really think about it.... I learned it when I became a cop 33 years ago and got to pull these "young guys" from their wrecked street/strip cars... and I know it's bracket racing, but NOS belongs in the dentists office... but that's just my opinion.... as is everything else I write...

[dragster2006]

Yeah thats exactly what i was planning on doing from the start. screw building a drag car... i just wana go out and street race with the rest of these people my age with their rice burners and maybe end up going head on with a car in the other lane and possibly kill myself. <------ being sarcastic.

Thats not what i wana do. a street/ strip car to me is a car that you can take to cruise nights and race on the weekend. im not a street racer. i do NOT support it at all. my uncle is a cop and if he caught me doing it he would have my car send to the crusher. and if i ever hear of my kids (that i dont have but will in about 10 years) street racing i will take their licenses away and dont let them till they're 21! i understand your point but thats not what i plan on doing with this car. its not going to be a street/ strip car. its gonna be an all out drag car for now.

lol im gonna also add too that im not gonna deny ever street racing... i've done it! but im not a fan of it. i street raced somebody about a year and a half ago. i was house sitting a my grandpas place while he and his girlfriend (which i call grandma) were on vacation in florida. he accidentally left his key to his biscayne at the house (must have forgot it) so i decided to take it out for a spin (this thing has an 6-700 horsepower 468 in it btw) lol well yeah sure enough i raced a couple guys and it scared the **** out of me lol so yeah. i've done it. the damn thing!!! lol but god damn. it was FAST. and it WAS fun. but i will never do that again... i'll just race at heartland park on thursday nights

Originally Posted by Charlie Yannetti

Hi Matt.... first of all, I'm not looking to prolong the beating of this particular dead horse.... BUT, my reference to "young guys" was a very general statement and did not make reference to anyone on this forum.... my statement was made in a reaction to hearing this guy talking about building car and giving information that would lead one to believe that it may become a powerful street car.... a powerful street car, in a lot of cases, leads to a lot of careless driving... ON THE STREET... so I made reference to my experiences...

Where I'm from, I have a lot of these "young guys" asking advise on how to get their cars to run faster... I know they have no intention of participating in any ORGANIZED drag racing.... but they do claim to race... don't even want to know where and when... but because I race, they are looking for answers...

I can appreciate your start in racing as mine was very similar at the age of 16... however, I think we can agree that there are no longer street/strip cars... if you really think about it.... I learned it when I became a cop 33 years ago and got to pull these "young guys" from their wrecked street/strip cars... and I know it's bracket racing, but NOS belongs in the dentists office... but that's just my opinion.... as is everything else I write...

[jaw8850]

Ok I'm not sure if anyone replied to the part about ladder bars. You will have no need for them at all. Get yourself a good set of either non adjustable or single adjustable lower tubular arms and a set of double adjustable upper arms and aluminum rear end bushings and an anti roll bar, good shocks and rear springs and your car will be set. I live in Richmond VA and there is a 93 notch back twin turbo car here with stock style suspension(mentioned above) and an anti roll bar in the rear running 7.98 in the quarter mile on true 10.5 tires not 10.5w. And in reference to a Chevy in a Ford if it's what you got use it and most importantly have fun the only draw back is resale I don't know why but it's rare to find someone that wants to buy one but if you plan on keeping the car who really cares about resale. But one thing you will need to learn is take everyones advice especially those older racers because they may joke they may cut you up but in the long run you can learn more from them than anyone else. I too have a mustang I built by hand over several years(see pics in my profile) every single part including paint. The only thing outsourced is my Tranny because my buddy owns a Trans shop and he helped me rebuild it. And the thrill of the build is by far the best experience and if and when something breaks(and it will) you will know how to fix it with your eyes closed because you made it!!!!! Also bracket racing is all about consistancy not who is fastest so focus on safety 1st, chassis and brakes 2nd, then a balls out motor.... and if you haven't bought your $1200.00 lemons headers buy a set of hedman headers for a 70 Chevy Nova they will fit the car with very minimal mods (dent here or there) and unless you are building a full bore race engine as in 15:1 compression huge flowing heads dominator carb etc you won't need those lemmons headers for performance. If you have any questions at all feel free to ask.

[Schmidt A103]

Here is my take on it.I have been at it on and off{racing} for about 20 years now.I went from a street car,to making that street car a gutted out fiberglass and lexan potato chip,to buying and getting my lisence in a dragster,then deciding that if I cant drive something on the street to cruise nights and the local store I couldnt justify owning it.That wasnt to say that I still didnt want to run 9's,I just wanted to do it in a street car that could be bracket raced.I eventually put all the street equipment back onto my car along with all the steel body panels,did a frame off resto,then powered it with a strong running bigblock pump gas engine with all the same elctronics as anybody else.I have to say it was exactly what I needed.There is a big difference between a street/strip car and a street racer.

As an 18 year old kid starting out building your own stuff and not some 2nd generation prince,you should be proud if yoour first serious car can run brackets or 10.90 class.I didnt get into the 10's until I was 25,and into the 9's until I was almost 30.

As for your combo,I will be building such a car myself.I actually bought a car last year but it was an 89 hatch and had paperwork issues,I got it for nothing,but what I really wanted was a notch with a clean title so I could drive it on the street.I wanted to put my bigblock in it since it would have been about 600# lighter then my car and I dont have a cage in my car and dont want to cut up a car I spent 5 years restoring.

Here are some real helpful tips for you.Your car isnt the lightest Mustang out there.An 84-86 Notch with no options is the best choice for weight.The rear suspention setup is fine in all Mustangs.Many shops know the basics secrets to making them work.Frame connectors,a rollbar that is tied to the rear upper control arm mounts/Welding all the control arm mounts on the body to the floor of the car.Almost all the aftermarket suspention kits work.You would do well just to buy a non adjustable kit and install it with an 8.8" housing,and stock height springs and add an airbag to the passenger side spring.I have done these cars with both big and smallblocks in them,and the big hurdle is the K memeber and the steering shaft in regards to header clearance.Bigblocks actually fit better then smallblocks because the header flanges point down instead of straight out.All the lightweight stuff they sell for the front helps a lot.the tubular K member,and manual rack and shaft,are the 2 biggest upgrades,A 5 lug swap is also a good idea since there are a lot of chevy wheels out there.There is some weight to be had by taking all the sub structure out of the bumpers,deleting the heat/ac system and all that.On a hatch,you can save weight by replacing the hatch with a fiberglass and lexan one.Dont worry about weight over the rear wheels,these cars hook so well and are heavy enough over the back that it wont hurt.Another issue is running a hatch with a fuel cell,you need to close the cell in somehow for it to pass tech.You should be able to get an 89 hatch with glass hood and hatch and all the tricks I mentioned with an aluminum head smallblock and powerglide to be under 2800 without you in it,and still have side windows that roll up and down and lights that work.My opinion is that you sell the car you have and look for a no options notch to put everything in.

No matter how you look at it,you have a good combination.The reliablty of a Chevy engine teamed up with a lightweight body that has one of the best stock chassis setups of any car ever made,unequalled aftermarket support and a racer knowlage base bigger then anything short of a slapper bar camaro..

Good luck