Scott,
I share the nostalgia and understand your desire, but just a word of
caution...Moving weight toward the rear for traction can be to your
disadvantage. When I built my Comp Coupe, I had your mind set. I set the
engine back as far as reasonable and then found out, the hard way, that
I had a very unbalanced car. It required 500 pounds of added weight to
bring the center of gravity forward of the center of pressure. Although
the car still was losing traction, this adjustment allowed the car to be
controllable.
Since then, along with adding a spoiler and some other modifications, I
moved the engine forward six inches and now have a car that handles very
well, with no major traction problems, and carries no added weight. The
car has not been on the scales since the modifications so I don't know
what the weight distribution is, but up to this point, it is not an issue.
It is easier to build it right from the beginning than it is to change
it later.
Tom, Redding CA - #216 D/GCC
Scott Cowle wrote:
> I really want to build a Bonneville car and I'm thinking of a Dodge Shadow
> with a blown 340cid in it. I read all the time about the traction
> difficulties on the salt so I want to copy a funny car from the early
> sixties-it was a 64 Barracuda or Valiant that had the driver sitting in the
> trunk with his head sticking out where the rear window was but still below
> the roof line.There is a picture of it in a funny car special edition
> magazine . It seems to me that if I put my fat ass in the back seat or even
> the trunk of the Shadow and move the engine back substantially this will
> help with this problem. I have a good 340 and a cheap Shadow to start with.
> Any comments or suggestions?
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