I don't see you posting here often, so I'd like to take this opportunity to ask you some questions. What sort of lightening did you do to your 87 5.0? Are there obvious things you can remove to help lighten up the car? Also, which suspension components did you use (brands even if you have time)? I believe you said you have
4.10:1 gears, right? Quite a step up from the 2.73's (??)... 12.97 is awfully impressive ;) especially for a stock motor!
-Mike
-- A happy kid behind the wheel of a 98 Mustang GT Cold air intake FRPP 3.73 gears Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter Full Boar turbo mufflers Hi-speed fan switch
I don't get much time to read and post here during the racing season. Once winter blows in, I'll be back around.
We removed the inner fender wells, front bumper and rear seat. I have nice comfortable, light weight racing seats up front with 5 points for each. I took off the power steering stuff and put in a nice light manual rack, short belted it and put a K& N cone filter on. That's about it for weight and under the hood. I have Lakewood drag shocks front and rear (90/10 - 50/50) with a set of Southside traction bars. I swapped out the clutch for a HD Ford racing version and replaced the steel drive shaft for an aluminium unit. The 8.8 rear end is fully spooled with 33 spline Strange axles, the axle tubes are welded and I have an 8 point cage and massive 2x2 steel tube frame connectors. I have a B&M short throw shifter with 4.10:1 gear ratio on a 28 inch rear tire @ 10-11 lbs. (On the street I inflate them to
20 pounds) The car is fully plated and street driven all the time.
I didn't start in the 12's....it took a lot of time and work to get things just right. I was stuck at 13.1 & 13.2 for over a year. It was powershifting and seat time that made the difference. I still have not done a good solid powershifting 1/4 mile pass this season because I want to finish off my points season first (NHRA 1/8th mile) before I destroy the old T-5!!! Another advantage I have is the fact that I only weight 140 myself so if you're a big guy then it's always going to be a bit harder. I have to launch that car pretty hard (over 5000) and hit all the gears perfectly. I use a big tach with a shift light set at
5700RPM. I can get through the 1/8th in 3rd (at 82mph) with a little leftover and in 4th (at 102mph) in the 1/4 mile with even more left over.
The car is a coupe which starts about 200 pounds lighter than the hatchback so there's a few 10th's right there. It was no easy task to get a 12 out of that engine. My next goal is to see if I can get an 11 out of it with a 125 shot of NOS....as soon as the points season is over it's cowboy time!!!! YE-HAWWWW!!!
*WOW* heheh... seems like you put quite a bit of $$ into that fine car.
I bet it took a while... must be *quite* the driver! When do you destroy the T-5... any idea what you're going to replace it with? I weigh 205lbs... I don't have the advantage your tiny ass has LOL j/k. How tall are you??
Hm... 5700 RPM? Those motors like to rev that high? Like, I've always heard they don't make a whole lotta power up there... I guess I'm wrong though!!
I'm sure you can with some work. I have faith in you :P lol..
-Mike
-- A happy kid behind the wheel of a 98 Mustang GT Cold air intake FRPP 3.73 gears Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter Full Boar turbo mufflers Hi-speed fan switch
LOL...like a tank! but I love it. I can launch it as hard as I want and I won't break the rear end or axles. Oh that feels good for a change!!! The T-5 will be the next to go so I have a bell housing to contain that baby when she blows.
I've painted the cage with an anodized blue paint It came out really nice looking. I also did the manual rack and all the front end parts since you were in it. The motor mounts were broken so I replaced those too. ..so after all that work, it still steers like a 1940's dump truck but it's fine by me. It only needs to go straight ;)
Anyway, I have a big ol' slushy TBird with power everything to remind me of my decadence LOL!!
I'm not much of a driver yet. This was my first stick car ever. I had driven trucks but never an 8cyl stick car. I guess I'm doing OK compared to some but I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn. Bracket racing for my hard earned money probably helped LOL!!
Humm, 205....you're a little under weight for the average driver at our drag strip LOL!!...You should hear me...my 250-300lbs buddies are all talking about getting into the 8's with their "9.20 cars" talking about tearing out weight or replacing parts with lighter stuff...I walk around the car and tell them that I can tear 100 to 150 pounds off the car without reducing performance nor safety. I just tell them to let *me* drive it. They don't find the humour in that one....nor do I seem to get any takers. Oh well, they will just have to spend another 5 grand if they want an 8 second slip. (or stop eating all that fatty track food :)
I've got an 84 302 bored .030 over with 10.0:1 pistons, stock crank and rods, 351w heads, Comp Cams 31-254-4 cam (.554/.558 lift & .294/.306 duration), in front of a built up C4 tranny with 3000 stall converter, that will pull hard up to 7000+ RPMS. Haven't had time to take it to the track since the changes to the motor, due to working alot of overtime. I'm hoping to get a weekend off next month sometime. There is tentitive plans to take it up to Ottawa next year and line it up against Buzz. I might even put him in the car and see if his 100 lb weight reduction tip actually works. ;-)
Well, it does get a little expensive. You can almost figure $120.00 for each trip to the track, with fuel for tow vehicle, racing gas for the car, entrance fees, and food & drinks. They are talking about working 7 days a week for a while after the up coming Labor Day weekend. I'm not looking forward to that at all!
LOL!! I'll make sure not to stop for a big breakfast that day. If we lined up together, my only hope would be in the 60ft. I know your car will outrun mine but that's not the winning factor in bracket racing. I would have to get you on the tree for starters, and then make sure you don't catch me....not easy at the best of times.
So far my best race of the year was on opening day against last years champ. I lost in the final but it was so close that I felt like a winner. All season it has been a battle for the top 3 positions. I still have a remote chance of winning the championship but I'm going to need every break and every piece of luck possible. I never give up. (too stubborn)
What was your best 60' so far? Mine was 1.814 with the stock motor. Still haven't gotten it to the track with the different heads and cam, due to still working OT. Starting next month I'll have more options to get it to the track since the points season is now over, and the track will be doing a lot more Test & Tunes up untill the beginning of November. Hopefully, I'll be able to get off work for one of them.
So where did you end up? 2nd or 3rd? Still not bad for only your second year of racing, and with a stick! Just think how much more consistent you would have been if you weren't running around between rounds taking photos, and running an automatic. Allot less things to think about, and more time to concentrate on what you need to do at the line. ;-)
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