You are right you have some work to do,7.98 is aways from 7.0's, but with a blown BBC you should be able to get there.
1.29 shows you are not leaving hard enough. Our JF car that runs 1.00-1.05 sixty foot times with my injected SBC, and has run allot of 7.0's. It has been over 40 years since I ran a clutch, so you might want to talk to your clutch supplier to get some tips, but of course you need to launch harder. Why are you running a clutch, old school, had the parts, cheaper than a Powerglide ? Your clutch will require more between round maintance than a converter. I'm not sure any 7.0 cars run cltuches, only injected nitro in A/FD. Powerglide will be more consistant, partly because of a trans brake, I just talked to a A/FD nitro team complaining that the transbrake racers have an unfair advantage over the clutch teams.
I'm glad you are using plugs with cad platiing so you can "read" the plugs better. Yes, you are too fat if you don't see any discoloration, and if you don't see any discoloration on the plug ground strap you may need more timing. One tip I give to "newbies" is to put one new plug in so when you look at your plugs you have just one run to look at. Another tip I give is for the 1'st run of the week-end install the new plug in # 1 hole, #2 run , new plug in #2 hole, etc. Reading your plugs will help you allot getting your tune-up right. And of course, a data system, like RacePak or RPM will give you allot of info and help running your car. I suspect once you get your set-up close, your problem will be Slowing your combo to run 7.0's.
I have only had a limited experience with a "bag" chute, last year i was trying to help a new Jrfuel guy get his licsense in Vegas, and I thought it was difficult to work with, and wondered the same thing about not using the bag. So of course call Stroud for advice. but one thing that helped our chute deployment was when we added a wedged bracket to the chute mount to allow the pilot chute to shoot over the top of the roll bar to get to clean air. No problem since we did that plan running 190mph. Also all chute companies will make netting to cover your wheelie bars so your lines don't get caught in your wheelie bar tubing.
Jon 805-444-4489
