1970 Buick Stocker Suspension Data

Below are links to my YouTube postings in which I spent the past week trying to make my 3700 lb stocker hook up a 9" radial tire on a marginal track.

The first video was taken 9-13-2008 at Spokane County Motorsports Park (SCMP) in Spokane Washington. A little word about this track before we get started. This is an old AHRA facility in which very little care and almost no upgrades have been done in at least 25 years. It has an asphalt launch pad, grooves in the pavement and is in pretty bad shape.

The county recently purchased the facility and a great group of volunteers - Spokane Pro Gas Racing Association - has been leasing the track and putting on Saturday racing events throughout the month of September. They have been seeing between 200-300 cars show/day for each event. These guys are doing an excellent job with what they have to work with.

Pure nuts and bolts - very little VHT, the burnout box and launch area look like a topographic map of the Rocky Mountains and the last time the rubber was scraped was probably sometime in the 1970's. My goal was to make my 1970 Buick GS 455 Stocker hook on a 9" radial tire at this track, something I had thus far been unable to do the past three seasons.

My thinking was that if you can hook in Spokane, Wa you can hook anywhere in the country.

Please also note the timing system currently in use at SCMP has a correction factor built in that is supposed to correct the runs to sea level - the guy that used to own the facility had a very favorable factor indeed - big numbers on the scoreboard kept the fans coming! So please do not take the run data and try to compare to your track. The data below is only good for SCMP and run to run comparisons at this track only.

Both sets of runs were performed in the same lane 1 week apart.

The first video is a run in which I had a very stiff rear set of springs in the car K= 780 lb/in, antiroll bar, double adjustable shocks up front and single adjustables in the rear. Good Year 9" drag radials on the rear. Front rebound and rear shocks set to "0", Launch RPM on the two step at 2500. SPIN, SPIN, SPIN.

9-13-2008

60ft - 1.8629
1/8th - 7.4262 @ 96.95
1/4 - 11.50 @119.37

Made three other runs that day - the best 60' I had was 1.733 and ran 11.44 @ 109.71 on the brakes in an elimination round.

Air was about 4000 ft
Timing set at 32 deg
Lauch Retard set at 12 degrees for 1 second to kill the launch

Sorry boys no incrementals - timing system doesn't have them!





Set-up for this run was stock soft springs K= 110 lb/in springs in the rear-end. No air in the air bags and anti-roll bar. Hoosier 9x30x15 9" radials. Rear quarters at 27" and fronts at 26". All shock settings set to zero and front end travel limiters set to lowest setting possible - 6" total front end travel. (This set-up was as loose as a goose!)

9-20-2008

60ft - 1.6121
1/8th - 7.14 @ 97.38
1/4 - 11.209 @ 120.3

Made 6 other runs that day - the best 60' I had was 1.5951 and ran 11.195 @ 109.79 again hard on the brakes at 1000' in an elimination round.

Air was about 4000 ft
Timing set at 32 deg
Launch Retard set at 12 degrees for 1 second to kill the launch