Drag Racing

**BadBird** · April 5th, 2016, 04:19 PM

No rivalry, we just love to do the same things. We have both loved cars our whole life, both raced, even in the 60's he had a beautiful 56 Chevy and 64 Ford with the first 406 engines. He raced it quite a bit.
I had the most beautiful black 57 Chevy 2 door hardtop with a great engine, beautiful white rolled and pleated interior with bucket seats and four speed. It was the best looking car in Wichita and it won a ton of drag races.
Both Jerry and I would love to get to race together again, but I don't have any ideas of beating his car. I will admit to a lot of jealousy in his getting to drag race all year in beautiful weather and there are numerous car shows every weekend in Tucson the whole year. I would love that.
If Carol was to even mention us moving to Tucson, I would be there within a week. I absolutely love the heat, the desert and the sun. Larry

**BadBird** · May 25th, 2016, 09:41 PM

Anyone who has experience with slicks on a 64 Falcon I would love some help figuring out what the widest slick is that will fit, without rubbing the fender wells. Thanks, Larry

**BadBird** · April 23rd, 2017, 08:44 PM

Well, here is the good news. I finally have the 9" rear end installed. Got the pinion angle set with the driveshaft up 4 degrees and the rear pinion pointing down 2 degrees. Quick Performance said to get the pinion angle between 5-7 negative degrees. I now have negative 6 degrees. So that I am happy with. Got everything finished and took some pictures. Now the bad news. Looking at the one picture, (2nd pic)I can see that the pin from the leaf spring is not aligned with the hole in the axle housing support.
I couldn't see that when installing, only showed up on picture because I could stick the camera high enough to see.
Soooooooo, tried getting a mirror in the space to see if it is lined up, can't tell. Will have to probably tear it all apart again to make sure it's right, and might need to find a longer pin to put on the leaf springs. More to come. Larry

**ew1usnr** · April 26th, 2017, 03:12 PM

Hello, Larry.

"I can see that the pin from the leaf spring is not aligned with the hole in the axle housing support."

What would happen if the car were driven as is?

Thanks, Dennis.

**BadBird** · April 26th, 2017, 09:17 PM

Maybe nothing Dennis, but I sure wouldn't want to drag race with the pins not line up. It could definitely move around without that pin in the axle housing. I have one side taken apart, the pin removed and talked to the guys at Truck Springs where I got the leaf springs. They said they would sell me a longer bolt and send me a sleeve that fits under the pin section making the pin go up into the housing bracket.
I decided to try and make something myself. I installed a nut on the pin bolt and will round off the nut points making it round. I will send pictures out. Larry

**Luva65wagon** · April 27th, 2017, 08:46 AM

Larry, I had to really fuss with all this when I needed to relocate the axle relative to the wheel opening on the Ranchero. Finding bits that claim they fit right was tough.

I couldn't quite tell what I was seeing last time I looked and meant to ask for clarity -:but then got distracted and forgot to. I hope you have it all figured out now, but know you are always welcome to call and in most cases I'll come right away to give you a second set of eyes on something.

**BadBird** · April 27th, 2017, 04:53 PM

Thanks Roger, I know you would help in a heartbeat, you always have. It was just a brain fart on my part to not verify the alignment.
I got it all back together again. I was able to use the existing pin by running a 5/16 nut up against the pin end and then ground off the corners of the nut. It was exactly the thickness I was after.
Took a little work to get the pins to align with the holes, but with a little prying it fell in.
I did one side at a time to keep the rear end in place.
Rechecked the pinion angle and it stayed the same. Driveshaft is 4 degrees up and pinion is 2 degrees down. Just what Quick Performance asked for.
Got the traction bars re-set and now I might get some good weather to take it out and drive it. I am supposed to drive it about 5 miles at easy pace to warm up the rear end, let it cool down, and do that four times. Then drive it 100 miles at normal speeds before I do any hard launches. Attached some pictures. This time you can see the pin coming through the axle housing support.
One is of my messy garage, every tool I own is on the floor I believe. Larry