I wanna break 13.0...!

Get some slicks and drive the hell out of it!!! It'll also help if you dissconnect the front sway bar. Do you have any suspension work? Control arms, subframes, and drag springs will also help. You should be able to get to a 13.0 without touching the engine. Just focus on tires, suspension, and driving. Also, a steeper gear might help(4.10's?) Do you know if the cam is a stock cobra cam or is that why you say unknown??? I cannot stress how much you need tires to get below 13.0 though, that's the main thing. I couldn't get a 13.0 in my 331 powered '93 lx on street tires. Good luck! BTW, if you destroy your transmission I can rebuild it for you for cheap ;) Oh, and if all else fails I know where you can get a nitrous setup for cheap. Erik D. '94 white lightning

hmm.....just noticed its a vert. It may take a little more power to move that weight any faster. What type of intake do you have? Do you have the roller rockers on the cobra long block? Electric fans??? Also, remember that weight is your enemy, do you have a system or anything(you may want to remove it at the track, along with spare and jack). What is your timing set at, you can gain a little over stock by raising it. There are alot of different ways to reach your goal. How much do you want to spend? Erik D. '94 white lightning

Assuming it's tuned correctly, you have a strong enough engine for

13's. Focus your attention on chassis tuning. Weight loss will help, but you have to pretty much strip the interior to make a significant differance. What tires are you using? The car has to be a well thought out and well tuned package. Dumping a hot motor into an average car won't get you there.

As Erik D. already said you definately need to get the car hooked up to break into the 12's. Drag slicks and a good suspension setup will go a long way toward achieving your goal. Then drive it like it can't break. My combo doesn't seem to be too far off of yours, and I've run a best of 12.97 while still experiencing some traction issues, even with a set of 26x10 racemasters. I also have a 3:55 rear, but have a box sitting in my garage with 4:10's that I hope to install sometime soon. Also plan on going with a taller tire after the gear change.

Jason

Lots of good points for me to ponder Erik.

All I know about the engine is that it's from a 93 Cobra and has an aftermarket cam in it. (wish I knew the specs of it), stock (non Cobra) intake, no electric fans (yet), not sure about the Roller Rockers.

I'll be tossing on a set of March pullies here soon as well.

How well would my engine benefit from say a Cobra or Explorer type intake ??

How about just a ported lower intake w/stock upper ??

Would a 70mm TB do me any good ??

Oh, the rear suspension has Coil-over shocks.

Also, I believe the car "may" have aftermarket springs as well. It handles/rides VERY well for a Fox Body.

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

Roger that.

Tires are Goodyear Eagle IIs 225/60-15s currently.

I can "Smoke em" at will with the current 2.73s w/Traction Lok right now.

It'll "Light em Up" if I punch it in 1st grear at 40MPH as well !!

The engine comes on STRONG around 2500RPMs and doesn't fall off, even way past Redline (6250RPMs)!!

That's why I suspect it's got a pretty damn nice cam in it right now.

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra l>

How is your suspension set up Jason ??

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

I've got Koni adjustable front struts and rear shocks. Eibach drag springs all around, with an air bag in the right rear spring. Stock upper control arms, and SSM lowers. Watch a bit if you go with the Eibach drag springs up front, they raised the front of the car a good 1/2 inch. I'd like to pull them back out and take a half coil or so out to get back to the stock ride height. Been thinking about swapping out to some Maximum Motorsport lca's at some point down the road also.

Jason

Camshaft(??),

Ok.. if your engine actually pulls hard at redline (dyno-testing can assure you of that), the first thing I'd be worried about is ripping those 2.73 highway gears out and putting in some 3.73's or 4.10's. You can run a slightly taller tire and go with the 4.10's for more traction and grip. Run drag slicks (or BFG drag radials.. Nitto's are ok, but I've heard better things about the BFG's and M/T radials) to make sure you get a bite at the line. All the power in the world is useless if you can't put it to the ground. Even with the stock gears, you still need to hook.

After all that is said and done, I agree with the others... it's your engine against the weight of your car. Keep in mind that this weight can help if it's putting pressure on keeping the tires on the ground (Nitto recommends keeping a full tank of gas and weight over the rear tires to help plant them, but gas is heavy in iteslf... so this is your call). People rip off the front sway bars... I've seen people rip off the stock strut tower brace... I see you have one on your car. For autocrossing, they're a must-have. For drag racing, they're just more to pull down the track.

The other question is... have you been to the drag strip yet? Have you run any times to see how well you're doing and where you're at? Buzz Haze was in the 12.9x's with a stock-engined '87 LX notchback. It's stripped to the bone with gears and exhaust, but the long block is just as Ford delivered it.

Also, realize that in a convertible, NHRA rules mandate a rollbar under

14.00. All drivers under 14.00 need an approved helmet (note that all motorcycle helmets do not meet specifications for drag racing, a scary thought if you're on a bike with nothing around you but your lid). You are probably there now. If you don't have a rollbar and you try to run, they will throw you out after one run. IHRA-sanctioned tracks may have different rules (I can't remember right offhand).

JS

Camshaft(??),

Take off the oil fill cap and look down the hole, you should be able to see if you have roller rockers or not. If all you see is a piece of metal, you don't. If you see rockers, its probably roller rockers.

That'll definitely help!

If you go with a cobra/explorer/gt40 intake I think it would help in your combo. It may move the power band a little higher in the rpms, but in the long run it should help over a stock intake. The stock intake could be decent if it is ported, but if you look at stock vs. cobra/gt40 side by side, there is no comparison.

eh, so so.

it may help a little, but it would help even more with an intake to match(cobra/GT40)

Never heard of coil-overs in the rear, are you sure????

Cool, thats a plus!

BTW, you should really get to the track as the car sits, that way you can see how close you are to 13.0 right now.

Erik D. '94 white lightning

Haven't had the opportunity to get to a track yet. Hope to soon though!

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

I wouldn't go any higher than 3.73's. 4.10's will give you more torqure off the line, and better 60 ft times. But at the end of the quarter in OD. A 302 with a hydraulic cam has a rev limit of no more than 6500. You'll get valve float after that. If you use a 3.50 rear gear ands shift at 6300 rpm's, you'll be maxed out at the end of the quarter in 4th gear. If you use 4.10's, you'll be at around 5,000 rpm's in OD, and probably just a tad slower. If you're racing 1/4 mile, use 3.50's. If you're racing 1/8 mile, use 4.10's.

FYI an EFI 5L will shut fuel at 6250.

Mike

1995 Eagle Talon TSi

Mine keeps pulling upwards of 6800RPMs. It feels like it would pull more, but I don't want to overstress the bottom end. I don't know if anything has ever been done to the short block. ???

I think the HyperTech chip I have must override the 6250RPM fuel shut off.

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

May be. They do this because all the FMS cams are all done by 6250 including the stocker. It's not a very efficient way to limit RPM but it does work.

Mike

1995 Eagle Talon TSi

Good points JS. It makes all the difference once you get the car hooking the way it should. When I first got the car I realized it was spinning off the line so instead of boosting the power, I spent time sitting the car down. It's a matter of weight transfer and reducing the "unsprung" weight. I did everything possible to free up HP like taking out the power steering and smog pump, going to a short belt & a good K&N filter. If you want to see what it's got, check out my website link in my sig.

My car is not stripped down quite as much as some people may think. I still have the full original dash, heater core, carpets and interior panels. I even have a CD player & 4 speakers in there. The only thing missing inside the car is the back seat plus I replaced the front seats with lighter ones. I didn't start out running 12's.

....it took a lot of practice ;)

-- Buzz Haze-Ottawa ON

87 5.0 LX Coupe

Nice car/website Buzz!

I'd like to eliminate the P/Steering on my car as well.

How did you eliminate yours ??

-ERIC

89 5.0 LX Vert w/93 Cobra long block, GT-40 heads, Unknown Camshaft(??), HyperTech Chip, 73mm C&L MAF, BBK 2.5" O/R H-pipe, Flowmaster 40 Series Deltas, King Cobra Clutch Set, BBK Strut Tower Brace, Poly bushings.

Camshaft(??),

heh-heh, I just unhooked it and removed the pump. The power rack is still there with the lines clamped off. The thing is a little hard to parallel park but I bought a manual rack to put in there. It wasn't expensive to get the rack either, under $200 can.

Buzz

Traction-Lok.