Auto Racing: Datsun 610 with L20B, rear camber, st helens oregon

Question
I know this is not a road race question but it is a circle track question. I race a 1974 or 76 610 on a 1/8 mile track. If I was going to go to a junk yard and pull parts off of some wrecked cars to make my car turn better and pick speed back up would you suggest any certain parts? Or do you have any top secret setups I could use? I Drive in St. Helens oregon at river city speedway. Thanks Mike

Answer
Hi Michael:

I believe your 610 still has the independent rear suspension which should make it quite competitive - - -and especially so on rough bumpy tracks.

But first, you need to get a book on handling. My favorite is quite oldl, but easy to understand. It's "How To Make Your Car Handle" by Fred Puhn and is available at any bookstore. Larger stores and chains stock it, you can order from Summit Racing, or a book store can order it for you - - -it's about $16.00. The book contains a real wealth of information about all kinds of set-ups from drag racing to Indy Cars.

Now for starters, here are some starting cambers.
LF 2 Dg. pos,        RF 4 Dg. Neg.
LR 1 1/2 Dg. Pos     RR  3 Dg. Neg.

On a 1/8 mile track you need to run about 1/8" toe OUT to counteract the Ackerman effect. ( read about that in the book !)

The rear toe should be about 1/16 " toe IN on both wheels. If you need to loosen up add some toe IN to the LR- - -nobody will ever figure out how you get it to turn in that well !!  

If your car has a solid rear axle, disregard the rear camber stuff, and try to run enough springs to avoid a really tight car - - -tight is simply hateful, especially on a shorter track.  Unless you're on dirt you don't need any rear steer, so make sure your diff is square with the centerline of the car.

In the front , get all the positive caster you can handle, When you can't turn the steering wheel, or when it starts to wear you out, that's too much caster, other wise all you can get is better.

If you're running the stock radius rods in the front, cut them in half, weld some tubing to the front end, and a nut..  Get INNER tie rod ends for a 300 ZX, and weld the appropriate nuts to the tubing.  Thresd the rod into the tube and adapt the big ball jointed end to the original mount.  The nut you need for that is a 16mm X 1.00 (thread) See if you can find some jam nuts for that they're thinner. Use locktite to mount them, if one comes off you'll suddenly be viewing real estste you hadn't planned on looking at! Been there !

If you will write me directly at DNLDDY@aol.com, I'll send you a pic or two of the 510 we built,  I think I have a pic of the radius rod invention.

Good luck, keep in touch and let me know what works and what doesn't

Thanks

Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida