"The True First Lady of Racing"

This is tough, emotionally. Louise Smith passed away this past weekend. Southern stock car racing lost a huge piece of its history but gained a permanent marker to its legacy. For Louise Smith was, in my opinion, a true legacy. I don't think Louise ever met a stranger. If she did, they didn't remain strangers for long.

I was about 30 or so when I first met Louise in the late 70's. She was sponsoring a "Baby Grand" car (that's what they called the Ford Pintos and Chevy Vegas that raced back then) driven by Larry Pearson. She loved the Pearsons (David, Helen, and their three sons Larry, Ricky, and Eddie). If she liked you, you were a "friend" for life.

During our involvement, there was a story that points that out. She came to Gaffney for a shrine sponsored race one Saturday night. The events of that evening changed a portion of Nascar history and it was my fault. My Dad had a motorhome at the time and we took it to Gaffney. David, an active shriner at the time, was there to help promote the event with a race against his former boss and friend, Cotton Owens. Larry came over there with him. Louise, living in Greenville, came as well. We all got on top of Daddy's motorhome to watch David and Cotton race. David won (as usual). He had to cut Cotton off to do it, though (haha).

After that, Louise, my dad, myself, Larry, and several dirt track buddies went inside the motorhome. For the rest of the evening, Louise kept us laughing with tons of racing stories. One of which involved her rings. Louise wore a lot of rings. As she told us stories of how she got each one and their value, one of the racing buddies, (I hate it. I can't remember his name.) commented on how the value of just one ring would pay for a whole season with his dirt track car. At that point she admitted that the rings s

***Life * in * the * Fast * Lane*** - Must Reading!!!

INTRODUCTION

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!


By opening this section, you have shown that you have a desire to try to be a step ahead of the rest. Believe me, that desire is one of the most needed elements you could have towards becoming a winner. These up-coming sections will give the guidance and instruction. Your desire is what will make it all come together. For those of you that are just getting started in automobile racing, a lot of this may sound a little off the wall or confusing at first. But, as you start applying these steps to actual hands-on procedures, you will begin to get a grasp of what you are really accomplishing.

Building a car is a pretty expensive project so it is very important to try to use the proper parts and perform the applications properly the right way the first time. So, don't try to cut corners from being in a hurry. There may be times where your weekly budget will only cover one part and it will seem like you will never get finished. Cutting corners is similar to sticking your hand in a basket full of rattlesnakes. Sooner or later, you're going to get bit. It's up to you to decide if this is fact or fiction. Me? I'm scared to death of snakes and so is my billfold. So, save that extra money and buy the good part that will last rather than the cheaper, but possibly more available, inferior part that will break.

DEPENDING ON WHICH PART IT IS, THIS PHILOSOPHY COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE !!!!!!!!!!

While we are on this subject, let's talk about safety equipment. It's plain and simple. If you like yourself only just a little bit, there are three things that you want to invest your money in; a good, new drivers suit, a new, well-known name brand set of body restraints (seatbelts, shoulder harness, crotch strap or submarine strap, etc.), and a new fire extinguisher system, self activating if possible. Your largest enemy in this project, believe it or not, is not your wife (if married). It's fire! You may say

"Man, I'm only running in a street stock class. I can't afford that high dollar stuff."

Can you afford $25 -50,000 dollars in surgery and skin graphs (this is a very conservative estimate)?

Here again, It's your call. Buy a good body restraint system that offers an aircraft-type, quick-release mechanism. Avoid buying a used one unless you know for a fact that it is fairly new. After weathering for a while, it looses some of it's strength. The same goes for helmets, especially if one has had a strong impact. Acid from body sweat slowly eats away on the straps and inner liner causing an improper cushioning effect when impacted or struck. Read My Lips (keyboard)!!! The dividends you will receive from trying to cut corners to save a buck might be adverse ones. I wouldn't want to find out how adverse or severe they may be.

Let's touch on chassis construction relating to the safety issue we've been discussing If you don't have a good deal of welding knowledge, enlist the aid of someone who does. Good enough won't do when you are T-boned in the drivers door by another car running 80+ mph. Those bars had better hold. If not, your funeral insurance may well go into effect. Bad News!

If I should happen to suggest a section that you already have read or hasn't been listed yet, it is to actively stress the importance of the subject under discussion. In this case, referring to proper chassis construction, SECTION 5 is must-reading if you don't understand how it relates both to safety and handling.

A very important subject that needs to be addressed is you, the driver.

My opinion, for whatever it's worth, is that most folks, male or female, can be taught the fundamentals of driving a race car. But, the unfortunate reality is that some people have no business trying no matter how bad they think they want to. They either, don't have the physical ability, or the mental ability, or both. Not only can you get yourself killed, you might bring about the injury or death of another driver, pit crewman, or spectator. Hopefully, you can understand the enormous responsibility you shoulder in auto racing.

Unfortunately, there are only three ways to find out if you are actually capable of handling the type of racing you are interested in.

• *One way is to talk a friend into letting you drive his car.
• *Another is to build your own car.
• *Your third choice is probably your best.

There are several driving schools around the country that cater to various forms of racing. Enroll in one of them. Although they may seem expensive, if you don't possess the needed ability to succeed as a driver, the cost is minimal compared to what you might have lost otherwise. Regardless of how you decide to test yourself, by starting with a properly built car, you will get the feel of how a car is supposed to drive. This will give you a better gauge to go by in analyzing your own abilities and short-comings. Also, you won't be as apt to have an accident simply due to an ill-handling car. And, you won't be as likely to be injured when you do screw up, of which, you will do many times. Up to now, we've talked about the car, safety, and you.

So, let's go a step further.

You can't carry that sucker on your back, so, you have to have some way to get to the track. There is an abundant supply of different types of towing or hauling vehicles.

For towing, always use something that is, at the least, rated large enough for the load that you are pulling.

For example; when I first started, all I had was an old, warped, home-built trailer and a 1960 Plymouth Valiant station wagon. One night, that trailer started swaying so bad that it spun that old station wagon around right in the middle of the road. Once it stopped sliding, I checked my seat to see if I left anything behind, if you know what I mean.

After that, we started using my buddy's "64" Chevy Impala two-door coupe. It was bigger and heavier, so we figured it would solve the problem. WRONG! While coming down a hill at about 50 mph, the trailer began to sway. We started sliding, spun around, and almost went off a 15-20 ft. embankment backwards. The worst part was that there was my buddy and his wife, another friend, his wife and kid, along with myself, in the car. Luckily, we didn't hit anything or anyone and there was no damage except for the stains in the seats. If the traffic pattern had been different, someone could have been killed that night just because we were too stupid and too cheap to get a proper towing vehicle.

Now? I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 1-ton dually with the largest engine available. Why? For the brakes. Also, the economy. The truck, trailer, and all the stuff loaded on it represents a lot of weight. Lots of weight requires lots of brakes to stop it, especially in a hurry, plain and simple. As for economy, a large engine will give better mileage and accept the wear and tear over a much longer period of time than a small engine that is constantly in a strain. The same goes for the drive-train. The extra weight of the truck, along with it's suspension and four rear tires, also makes it much easier to control that heavy trailer that's trying to push you all over the road. The trailer hitch takes a tremendous beating, so, use the strongest you can get.

A trailer that breaks loose becomes a deadly missile if it plows head-on into an on-coming vehicle.

The same goes for the race car should it leave the trailer.

The proper way to secure a car, whether to a trailer or a car-hauler, is to rest the frame on four blocks, slightly raising the car. Then, using at least four tie-downs (chains and boomers or heavy-duty, ratchet-style straps), secure it tightly in a manner that will keep it from moving in any direction. This is something that can't be over-done, although there will be those that will tell you otherwise. Just grin and play it safe. It's your nickel, not their's.

Blocking the frame serves a couple of purposes.

1. It solidly secures the car.
2. It keeps the suspension from constantly flexing during your trip which would cause premature failure of it's related parts (springs, shocks, ball joints, bushings, etc).

Unless you are familiar with the various complexities of building a proper trailer, DON'T!!

Buy it. When purchasing your trailer, new or used, get one with a good suspension system and working trailer brakes. Some trailers are built with the axles welded to the frame. Bad news, walk away. Those kind will shake your tow vehicle and your race car apart. Inspect every weld for cracks or cracked paint. This could be a sign of the frame flexing which has made the welds weak and on the verge of failure. Dont let pretty paint fool you. A good paint job can really make a pile of junk look great. But, who wants great looking junk. Walk away.

Also, try to find one that has a heavy-duty winch, preferably an electric one. It sure makes loading and unloading much easier and you'll darn sure wish you had one if the car has to be dragged on the trailer after a wreck. Don't even think about pulling that trailer, especially loaded, unless you are positive that the trailer brakes are working properly.

Now, what kind of trailer is going to be best for your needs?

This depends, to a large degree, on your bank account. If the class of cars you wish to compete with run every weekend within a short distance of your home or shop, a smaller trailer with a storage box and tire rack will suffice.

For my preferences, first off, I wouldn't use anything but a gooseneck style of hitch. They are much easier to hook up and disconnect and they pull easier also, putting less stress on the towing unit as a whole. Plus, they are easier to maneuver in tight places.

Secondly, the cargo box gives you a dry place to store the tools and spare parts that you don't have to load and unload each week. Also, should you decide to race out of town and stay at a motel, you can drop the trailer and go out on the town without worrying about someone stealing everything out of the back of the truck. The same thing applies while you are asleep at the motel.

You may not believe this, but, there are a few folks out there in the 'real world' that have their own not-so, golden rule of "Do unto others before they do it to you." These guys are real 'pillows of the community' and those suckers will steal you blind. Get the picture? Security is a factor that is in your best interest to consider.

With this in mind, try to make your tire rack as secure as possible.If all a thief needs is a bolt-cutter to cut a lock, he will gain ownership to your tires. He'll probably say "thank you" but it won't be to your face.

On the other end of the spectrum where the class you plan to run requires a lot of long distance travel, going with a tractor-trailer rig, using a household moving type of trailer, has quite a few advantages.

From an economy standpoint, they cost about the same to operate over the long term as the 'dually' pulling a large enclosed trailer when considering the much longer period of time between engine overhauls, brake jobs, wheel bearings, etc. And the fuel mileage of the big-rig is about the same. In some cases, it may even be better.

"Man? Have you priced a set of those big-rig tires lately?"

Good point! But, look at their mileage. Unless you buy a rig that has a poor set of tires from the get-go, it's going to be a pretty long time before you have to buy some. Tires on the 'dually' do fair, but nothing like the big ones.

And, what about trailer tires?

I worked for a team where we used a 'dually', a western hauler as a matter of fact, coupled to a goose-neck style, 40', enclosed trailer. It was a real 'honey', complete witha work area up front with work benches and plenty of cabinets. It was a dual axle model on 16" rubber. We always used the best, new, trailer tires available from one of the leading tire manufacturers.

Guess what. We had problems. Under legal-speed driving conditions,these tires may have been just fine. But. Our team owner felt that if the radar detector wasn't on and we weren't running, at least, 75 mph, we were backing up, going nowhere. We couldn't get a thousand miles out of a tire before it shredded apart. The big-rig tire goes ump-teen (that’s slang for ‘a whole bunch of’) times farther.

Although I will admit that I have only done that once or twice (ha-ha), and do not advocate that you break the law, there is an unfortunate reality. In the racing business, time is not on your side. Proper preparation of the car takes up every spare minute and the race track is always too far away. Frustrating isn't it? With the big-rig, there is plenty of room for everythingyou would want to carry.

If you think that this may be your bag, it would be a good idea to look at several to get a better feeling for how you may want to outfit it.

There is another side benefit to the big-rig that most new-comers usually don't think about. One thing that most all racers need is what? A SPONSOR!!! Now, sponsors like to see their name or logo in big letters to get as much exposure as possible. Right? Maybe an ego thing or something. What would you have with the big-rig that prospective sponsors like? Two, large, 45', rolling bill boards that will be seen by thousands of possible customers up and down the super-slab.

We will touch more on sponsors later.

Fortunately, there are a lot of good deals available around the country for good, used race cars, spare parts, tow vehicles, and trailers. Most beginners in the field of racing fail before they get started good for a variety of reasons. Some start with a good deal of money and buy real nice equipment to fit with their ego. After failing and getting their ego somewhat deflated, they sell out and you can usually pick up a pretty good deal on practically new equipment. Check around and find out how to subscribe to some of the national racing periodicals or publishing companies. That's where you will find most of the better equipment.

There is another side of the coin, though. It IS a buyer-beware kind of market. Remember those "pillows of the community?" Some of those guys apply their trade real well at selling "great looking junk." If you are not exactly familiar with the equipment you need, by all means, incorporate the services of someone who is that you feel you can trust. Even if you have to pay him, the savings could be substantial.

Okay, we've got a tow vehicle, a trailer, and the car is strapped down good and secure, so, let's hit the road and go racing. Right? Not quite. What have you loaded the trailer with? Maybe we should check your inventory check-list. If you don't have one, it would be a good idea to make one. Since I have no way of knowing what kind of racing you plan to do, I can't give you an exact list for your particular application.

But, let's see about the basics.

First off, for your towing package. You need to keep spare tires, oil and filters, fan belts and hoses, an alternator, a starter, extra anti-freeze, a water pump, anything you can think of that might leave you sitting on the side of the road, short of a major engine or drive-line failure. Towing and road service charges aren't cheap and some of those out-of-town mechanics and parts dealers grin from ear to ear when they see you coming. To them, you are a one shot deal. Need I say more?

The same goes for your spare inventory for the race car. You will need several tires of different circumferences and rubber compounds in order to dial in the handling of the car because of changing track conditions. If there is no tire rule governing these factors at your local track or by your sanctioning body, your tire inventory could be fairly large. To help equalize competition and cut costs to the car owner, most sanctioning bodies now incorporate rules governing tire size, compounds, and make. Normally, the make is governed be cause that manufacturer is a major sponsor of the sanctioning body. This normally means more money in the car owners point fund. The more major sponsors, the larger the kitty, thus the more for you at the end of the season, depending on how you finish in the point standings.

There is more about sponsors in section 10, ‘Using Your Head'.

You can count on being involved in minor mishaps from time to time. The weakest parts on your car are the pieces that make up the steering and suspension systems. So, you need to carry with you, at least, one extra replacement for each of the parts in those systems (tie rods, center links, rack and pinion if used, steering box, control arms, hubs and axles, etc.). Front-end parts take the most abuse. Primarily, you will be passing on the inside of your competitor while negotiating a turn and occasionally the two of you will get together. If you see that it is inevitable that you are going to "put the iron on him," try to do it as softly as possible to keep from bending any suspension or steering pieces.

Since everyone knows that you are new to the game or area, some one not-so-deserving soul may take it upon himself to cordially introduce you to "Old Mister Wall". You may, very well, meet him anyway without anyone else's introduction.

The guy is a sadistic grouch. He lives for the chance to turn your car into a candidate for the salvage yard and the sucker won't offer to pay you a dime for his mischief. This is, kind of, a long way around of saying carry plenty of front-end parts. You'll need them.

Aside from parts that can get torn up during competition, you need to carry with you anything that you can replace in 15 minutes, 20 minutes tops. Here again, the type and class of racing you plan to enter dictates what you carry that's feasible verses extra parts that you won't have the available time to replace. Some parts I would consider necessary are hoses and belts, rocker arms and push rods, valve cover gaskets, all brake parts including rotors (and drums if so equipped), everything pertaining to the ignition system, electrical wire and connectors, a starter, an alternator (if used) and regulator (if external), a battery, filters (air, oil and fuel), plenty of bolts, nuts, and hose clamps of various sizes, racing oil, gear-lube, and anti-freeze.

As you can see, the list gets pretty long. Of course, if you plan to race on a larger scale that requires travel and will be at the track several days ahead of time for practice and qualifying, spare engines, transmissions, and rear axle assembles are added to the list plus related parts.A variety of springs, shocks, and sway bars should not be forgotten whether racing on a large or a small scale.

As time goes on, you will come up with many other things to carry that will help keep you in the event, plus, make the trip more comfortable, such as lawn chairs and a gas grill. While we are on the subject of parts, here is something to think about if you have a few extra parts dollars.

You'll be surprised at how many teams don't use a written check-list, relying on their memory, thus, arriving somewhat unprepared. By having a few extra strategic parts, new or used, you can offer them for sale at a profit to help cover some of your expenses. At most small tracks or weekly events, there will be few, if any, vendors to offer tires or parts in case of breakage. So, as you can see, this is certainly an area where proper preparation is an important factor. Most people usually try to take the easy way out. As the teams get to know you and your method of operation, they may start buying more. Rather than up-date their operation, they will come to rely on you as their vendor, of sorts. It will be up to you as to how far you want to get involved into this as it will take up some of your time that you might not be able to spare.

Considering what tools and equipment you should take, here again, to a degree, depends on where and what you race. There is no sence in carrying along a spare engine and engine crane if you aren't going to have the time available at the track to change it. Hand tools, air tools, and electrical tools are all necessary. Anything you can do to make your trailer a rolling workshop is to your benefit. Any repair you can do at the track will save you from making your trip a wasted one. If your luck is anything like mine, try to carry enough parts and equipment so that you won't have to borrow anything, regardless of what happens.

Everytime I did, the item I borrowed usually broke and I would have to buy the owner a new one. So, I decided it was better to go ahead and buy the new items in the first place and avoid the hassles and lost time of trying to just get by. Try to incorporate some portable welding equipment into your inventory. At least, an oxy-acetylene outfit, but a portable MIG outfit would be good also.

We mentioned air tools earlier so, naturally, an air compressor (preferably electric) is an asset. Somehow, all of this electrical stuff has to have power. Don't count on the tracks to supply it. Some do, but most don't. Probably the best time to acquire a good power generator is during your trailer or car-hauler hunt. Some of the better trailers are equipped with a camper or motorhome type of generator that will supply enough power for all your needs. 4500 watts of power, under most circumstances, is plenty. You can also use quartz lights to brighten up your pit area during night races. You will fall in love with that very quickly. Depending on the size of your pocketbook, you can make going to the races very comfortable. An assortment of drop-lights and extension cords are very helpful.

One area I didn't cover when talking about spare parts was extra gears for the final drive or differential. If your class allows you to run a quick-change type of rear-end, all you need is a variety of spur gear sets to alter your ratios. If not, you will have to carry extra third-member assemblies of various ratios. Certain sports car classes are even more complicated where-as the trans-axle has to be disassembled to change the final drive ratio.Two things regulate what ratios you may need; the power range your engine must operate in for the particular track you are at, and the amount of adhesion between your tires and the track. The adhesion problem can either be due to, the track itself, or, the tires you may have to run (in the event of a tire rule), or both. If, at all possible, you are allowed to use the 9 inch Ford rear-end housing, regardless of the make of your car, there is a large selection of final drive ratios to choose from made available through a variety of after-market manufacturers. Usually, you can find the proper ratios needed in order to operate the transmission in high gear. This is important.

Every set of gears that the power flow has to travel through robs a little horsepower due to the friction generated between the two gears of each set, thus, less power to the rear wheels. A transmission operates at a 1 to 1 ratio in high gear due to the fact that the input shaft and the output shaft are locked together and, in this manner, the least amount of friction is generated. Another advantage to utilizing high gear is that the other lower gears can be shifted to aid faster acceleration on re-starts after caution periods, leaving the pits after a pit stop, or exiting a turn on a tight road course. This is the way it's done in the middle and upper classes of racing regardless of whether a quick-change rearend assembly is allowed or not.

For those that may not be familiar with the term "quick-change", it refers to a style or design of rear-end assembly that allows one to change the final-drive ratio without having to remove the third-member or differential assembly. It is accomplished, simply, by removing a cover on the differential housing exposing a pair, or set, of spur-gears, exchanging them for a different set, and replacing the cover. Spur-gear sets are available in a multitude of different ratio combinations which allows for a closer fine-tuning of the final-drive ratio. The power flows from the drive shaft to the first spur gear, through the second spur gear, and then to the pinion gear driving the ring gear assembly.

Now, based on what we talked about in the previous paragraph, yes, since the power has to travel through an extra set of gears, there is a power loss when using the quick- change design. The minor loss in power is offset by several advantages.

• 1st: The ratio availability allows you to really dial in the power range of your engine to the particular track or course you are attempting to compete on.
  
• 2nd: As we mentioned earlier, the ratios can be changed in only a few moments compared to the 20 to 30 minutes it takes to exchange a third-member.
• 3rd: They are designed to handle the higher horsepower and torque that is produced from the racing engine.

As if the novice racer hasn't got enough to deal with already, the 'ultimate hierarchy of rules making' decided a long time ago that novice cars in street stock classes had to retain their original equipment type of powertrain. This rule was made with good intentions to help keep costs down for the beginner. It also meant that the beginner had to pull out the math book, especially if short, circle track competition was his bag. This is because there are no differential gears low enough in ratio available for the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) units in the low budget classes. This means having to run in 2nd. or 3rd. gear depending on whether a 3-speed or 4-speed transmission is used (preferably the 4-speed).

This is a good time to try to make a confusing issue, maybe, a little clearer.

You hear people refer to ratios as high gears, tall gears, low gears, and short gears. Example:

"She's not geared low enough so lets go from the 6:70 gear to the 7:13.” (All cars are called she. Don't ask why. Nobody knows.)

“Whoa, wait a minute. The guy is wanting to go to a lower gear ratio but he's going higher with his numbers.”

These terms (geared low, geared high) refer to engine rpm's in relationship to the speed or revolutions of the wheel rather than the numerical ratio. When you put your car in low gear the engine revs up real high but the car doesn't go very fast, does it. In reference to final drive ratios, using the 6:70 ratio, this means that the engines crankshaft turns 6.7 times for every single revolution of the rear wheels. To raise the engines RPM's for a given speed of the vehicle, the numerical value of the ratio has to be increased. Thus, going from a 6:70 to a 7:13 ratio makes the engine operate at a higher RPM for the same given speed.

Now, why make the change in the first place? The person in our example feels that his engine is running too slow or below it's optimum power level. So, in order to increase the engine's speed to that level for the given track that he's driving on, he needs to increase the numerical ratio of his final drive. This is to improve acceleration. Just as you would shift to a lower gear in your transmission to accelerate faster, he is doing the same thing for the given space he has to operate in. Thus, he wants to gear lower.

Gearing lower means more power at the rear wheel. Gearing higher means more overall speed but more distance is needed to accelerate to that speed within the power range of the engine.

Now let's get back to operating a transmission in a gear selection other than high gear, or a 1 to 1 ratio. In order to determine the total final drive ratio, the transmission's lower gear ratio must be calculated. The easiest but least accurate method is to mark the input shaft and output shaft. Then, with the transmission in the gear you plan to run, rotate the input shaft 20 turns while counting the number of turns the output shaft makes, let's say 18 turns. By dividing the output shaft number into the input shaft number, you will get the ratio for that particular gear selection. In this case, 20 :18 = 1.08. What this means is that for every full turn of the output shaft, the input shaft will rotate just a smidgen (slang for “a little bit”) further than one full turn, or .08 more.

Since you should overhaul the transmission to make sure that it's 'up to snuff' anyway, you can also determine the output ratio much more accurately by actually counting the number of teeth on the particular gears that the power flow will travel. To find the ratio of two gears engaged together, divide the number of teeth of the driving gear into the number of teeth of the driven gear. This will give you the ratio for that particular set of gears.

There are two sets of gears in the transmission that determine the output ratio; the set that connects the input shaft to the cluster shaft and the set that connects the cluster shaft to the output shaft.

In the first set, the input shaft is the drive gear and it's count is 22 teeth while the count on the driven gear of the cluster is 38 teeth.

In the second set, the gear on the cluster shaft is 25 teeth which is the drive gear and the gear on the output shaft is 27 teeth which is the driven gear.

The formula goes something like this;
DVN : DRV X DVN : DRV = O.R.

Where as:
DVN = Driven Gear
DRV = Drive Gear
O.R. = Output Ratio
Thus: 38 : 22 = 1.73 and 27 : 25 = 1.08. 1.73 x 1.08 = 1.87.

Do you see what we have done here?

First, we found the ratio of the first set of gears which is 1.73 to 1.

Then we found the second set's ratio of 1.08 to 1.

By multiplying the two together, we arrived at the total ratio of the two gear sets, thus giving us the output ratio for that particular gear selection of the transmission. Of course, the tooth count numbers, here, are for example only, but the formula will tell you exactly where you are. At this point, we know that our transmission's output ratio is 1.87 to 1.

The next step can be figured a couple of ways. Let's say you've got a differential unit with a known ring gear and pinion gear ratio of 3.53 to 1. All you have to do is, simply, multiply the output ratio by the differential unit's ratio in order to get the final drive ratio.

So: 1.87 x 3.53 = 6.60 to 1. In other words, the crankshaft of the engine will rotate 6.60 times for every single revolution of the wheel that it is supplying power to.

Now, to show a variation of this example, let's say that you know that the final drive ratio needs to be around 6.60 to 1 for a particular track. But, you don't know which differential ratio you need to arrive at your final drive ratio goal. It's very easy.

Just take the transmission's output ratio and divide it into the desired final drive ratio. By referring to the example above, we do this; 6.60 : 1.87 = 3.53. With that, you now know that you need to find a differential unit with a ratio around 3.50 to 3.55 to get you in the ball¦park of your desired final drive ratio.

To sum this up, you can see that the key to all of this is the transmission's output shaft ratio. So, by knowing that, the rest of gearing estimates fall into place pretty easily.

One thing that can't be stressed enough is that you should document everything.

No one can remember every little detail. In the back of each of the various sections, there are information sheet blanks that you can have copied. Whether you use them or design a different type of format, use something. Every number, every specification, every clearance, every mistake (yes, Mr. Human Being, you will make a lot of them), every idea, every experiment and it's results. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

Well, we've covered quite a bit during this introduction, but before we go deeper, there is something that needs to be addressed.

Seriously now. Take a good, long look at yourself.
I mean it!

If you have any doubts that you may not have what it takes to complete this undertaking, save your money and don't even start. If the only area of uncertainty is in your driving ability, learning to be a good car-builder definitely has it's merits. Good ones are hard to find. You can find a driver that prefers to drive for someone else. With that, if you are sincerely ready, let's get started down your road to the

***Life * in * the * Fast * Lane***