For all:
Last Sunday I autocrossed my 67 stroker 5spd. Somehow in the excitement
of registering I forgot to tell them about the stroker motor, so I was in
ESX, which I guess is E-stock, street tires. Passed tech fine, my preps
included popping off the hub caps, and pumping the front tires to
40psi and the rears to 35 psi. Also removed all stray gear and spare
tire from the car. My tires are from the PO and
are Firestone Arrivia 185X60X14, on the stock rims.....not anywhere close
to sticky, but at least with all the air I figured they would not roll under.
I raced in the first 12 car heat and was lined up behind a guy in a stock
Miata on street tires, he was in CSX. Turns out we each improved about
1 or 2 seconds each time, but he was 3-5 seconds faster. He had
Yokohama AVS tires, which I have to belive make up for several
seconds at least....in any event, I did quite well and was not slowest
time of day, I actually beat a few people.
The car handled great, and was a big hit with the crowd, and the
announcer. "Jim Cawrse improves his time to 1.06.323 in that
nice vintage Datsun 1600" was a good thing to hear on completing
the last run.
Stock suspension: I found I could twitch the wheel and the car would take
a nice set sideways in preps for a corner, also power drifting was
real easy even in second gear. I didnt even bother downshifting
to first cause there was enough torque to light up the inside rear
at will, and tighten the apex with my right foot. It was a fast
course, and I left some long burnouts getting out of corners,
prompting several onlookers to comment on the great power
of the "1600". There was a 5 cone salem, which was great fun,
although I found as swinging momentum built up I had to
be careful of oversteer on the last cone or so.
Bottom line, there is much improvement to be made on
sticking power, and a LSD would be awesome, but
I love the balance of the car as it is right now,
I think the best part is being able to toss the tail
out but not worry about a spin.
I will probably race it as is to build my skills
during this first year. Wish I had a few hundred
spare dollars for some stickier tires though!
Darn 510 project is soaking up my fun money.
What a great time!
Best Regards,
Jim
Chesapeake Va
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