IHI

iTrader: (1)

Was'nt an ideal day, forecasted to rain all weekend, and when we left home it was raining like crazy, then the closer we got to the track the more it let up. Blew through tech since they were'nt doing extended tech yet, and while waiting it was spitting...nothing major, just enough to make a person mad. Track made the call to the lanes, nobody was going up, finally i seen a few slick cars go up so i got behind them...second in line on a fresh after winter green track, cloudy as heck sparatic spitting of rain but all i needed was 60' of track to see what was what on my convertor since just street driving i know it's too loose.

Staged, let go of the button, front end started coming up, then it dropped like a rock and 7K rev chip spitting and sputtering, pedeled it, stood back on it and ran a 11.29 @ 127.89mph....

so waited until i saw more cars go up, this time i did a burnout through the lights, backed up, staged, let go of the button tach went to 6500rpm so i rode that out a bit, pulled second gear and she dropped to 6000rpm, 6400 rm shift light comes on so by the time i shift it's 6500 again and drop back to 6000 and crossed the line screaming at 7000rpm slip said 1.44 60' which is where i was at last year but it ran a new best of 10.59 @ 127mph in full street form. I did drive it over to the scale the other day and it showed 3768lbs with me in it so that will be my official weight designation for this year until i get the new exhaust installed and engine compartment tin work done and we'll reweigh it.

We'll be leaving it all alone for next weekends points race, and then next sunday or monday night i'll yank the convertor and have it tightened up about 1300rpm or so to get the flash point around the 5100-5300 mark so it's not slipping like crazy like we currently are. i'm hoping for 10.20's in good air realistically high 10.20's-10.30's but we'll see what happen's. either way pretty excited to get convertor fixed and see what she'll really do. Not to shabby for a pump gas 23* headed sbc in full street form @ over 3700lbs.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Dang, put that thing on a diet! lol Weighed mine recently and with me in it it's 3535 lbs. I need to go on a diet Hope you have a better year after the converter change.

IHI

iTrader: (1)

I'm "tentively" looking for a nice 87-93 fox body, would like a notch back instead of the hatch. Nothing against the F body, but the reality is, they're 1000lbs lighter from the get go so there's a low 9 second ride on pump with my drivetrain, and the after market offered for those cars is off the charts cheap for bolt on's....compare our F bodies for a fully outfitted tubular k member/a arms/coil over conversion/rack and pinion set up and the 3 vendors i talked with at different racing events had me from $2600-3230. I look in typical speed magazines and the same set up is only $1200 for the fox body....no wonder some many guys run them, just makes more sense to go faster cheaper.

RED_DRAGON_85

if i was going to get a rustang, it'd be a 89+ fox body.
nice cars if you ask me.
and you cant beat the cheap parts either.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

hey josh, congrats on the new bests, i'm still coming up tomorrow pending decent weather. if you find a fox we may have to talk about your roller if you sell it lol

IHI

iTrader: (1)

I'll still keep my junk since it's all there and i'll race it while i build the mustang, it'll just be a toss up or which one to make the fast one since i'd like to keep this engine for a street car since it's so docile and mile mannered, but i want to build a fast car too....it'd just be easier to build a 8 second pump gas mustang then it would be this F body is all.

They're calling for a day of rain, and the big swap meet was 3 sets of worn out slicks being sold for $20/set. I think the bad weather kept alot of people away, which if i lived more than the 20 minute drive i'da probably stayed home too. I just wanted to get the extended tech out of the way, but that did'nt happen, tomorrow is chasis cert day so i'll be home doing paperwork since i dont need anything certified.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

man, maybe i'll have to stay home, its a hike out there. o well, next weekend i should be racing

F-BIRD'88

Nice 'bird, cool wheelies.. Good luck to you this year at the track.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

You did pick up 1 MPH, so in better weather, there should be more left on the table.

85/86 coupe gets my vote.

IHI

iTrader: (1)

Currently @ 18.7% convertor slippage right now, once we either get this current 8" retuned if it's indeed still in working order and not broken or make the move to a 9" convertor there is ALOT left in this mild combination. But it will be next month before we have a chance to try it since i'm racing next weekend as is, then jerking it out and sending it back since i'm not ready to drop $1K on a convertor right now until they split this 8" open and all is good inside, then we know for sure this one is just not going to ba able to handle my combination and get stall speed down into the 5100 range since i dont think they can tweak fin angle enough to bring it down where it needs to be.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

18.7% lmao. good to see its finally running how it should. what brand are you using currently?

IHI

iTrader: (1)

Right now it's a BTE 8" C100+ stator deal. worked great behind the engine last year when it was way down on power and slow as helll. but not so much as this new version is making more power than ever.

The N/A time in my sig of the 10.69/126.whatever was with a borroed convertor behind this engine 3 years ago that only last the 1 day i took it out, raced and won and then the snout snapped off the crank starting my downward spiral of problems. That convertor went to 7000 soon as i let go of the transbrake and never seen anything less than 7000rpm the whole way down the track...so even that time in the sig is skwered by a extremely loose convertor...so this should be really impressive once i have the proper convertor with ALOT less slippage...shoulda been a 10.40 car way back then, but never got a chance to get a good convertor behind it....funniest part, that convertor i made that 10.69 pass years ago flashed 7K behind my junk only flashed 5000 behind my buddies mid 9 second 68 camaro powered by his BBC....he told me, this will probably be way to tight for your small engine...and then it went to 7000 all the way downt he track LMAO!!

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

just shows that converters are crazy animals! i have a feeling that the weight of your car had a factor in that, i'm gonna try to get about a 4500 in mine... i need to get that thing in paint

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

Josh your 3700 pound car vs his what 3k pound car would have a huge effect on it flashing as well. PTC over BTE

IHI

iTrader: (1)

It would but at the same time a person would'nt think it'd be THAT dramatic of a change. I'm hoping that spraying just laid over the fins and this 8" can get by with a tweak, but i'm almost positiove the way my luck goes the convertor will be good to go when they split it, and i'll get the call saying, "welp, you've just got a strange duck and we cant do anymore with this size convertor, so we have to step you up into that 9", so here's the bill for cutting yours apart and putting it back together, and here's the bill for the 9" that will get you where you need to be"

So we're going to try our azz off next weekend to win at least one day to fund the new tires i just ordered and pay for this new convertor. Then i'll start having issues pointing to the sky and will have to start fighting that crap.....i just need to get a track only car underway, alot easier and cheaper in the long run.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

What keeps you from cutting weight anyways? You could knock off a couple hundred lbs and still keep it street trimmed couldnt you?

IHI

iTrader: (1)

Not much left to trim out of the car. I street drive it so aint no way i'm putting those crappey plastic or aluminum seats in there, hard enough to drive 1/4mi in those uncomfortable POS's much less a night on the town. Engine bay is already pretty well stripped but this lil m block weighs as much as a factory BB, roll bar adds weight, TH400 is heavy, ford 9" is heavy, Sure the heck not pulling my carpet out since it does'nt weigh much anyhow and adds more nice factor than i'm willing to sacrifice for a driver, stereo system..well, i could pull it out, but it's become a running joke at this point so for nostalgia reasons, subs/amps are staying put. I have been looking for a fiberglass hood though, i'm growing tired of replacing hood struts every spring cuz this thing is pretty heavy. Drop the exhaust, not a chance i think open headers suck.

I just dont see too many place i can save enough weight and still have a decent driver, if it was track only there'd be a tube chasis under it and just a 3rd gen shell which would mostly be fiberglass anyhow. But for a driver i want it to be comfortable....anybody can completely strip a car but when i'm racing and am spotting stripped down track only BB powered race cars with my pump gas sb street car and winning...it gives me a nice ego boost

Shagwell

Congrats on the time, that's getting it done, especially with the converter being wrong.


The hood alone will get you close to 3k! Seriously though, the stock hood is heavy as fu@#.

My Kirkey is considerably more comfortable than the stock seats ever dreamed of being. The pro streets have more padding than my pro drag, so I'm sure I could ride cross country in them, no issues. As I stated in another thread, a huge part of how comfortable they are is in how they are mounted. Too many people mount them flat, and then they suck. Lean them back a little so the base is as the same angle as a stock type seat to support your thighs and they get real comfy.

Since you're running a cage and subframe connectors, you could gut the doors out as well.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

or shell out all the cash for CM everything in the front end lol. aluminum center section (don't know if you're running iron or not). aftermarket brakes like the aerospace ones. you can cut weight yet...just $$$$$$$$$$$$ to do it.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Ok, my 89 is my "toy", it went from DD duty to sitting waiting on the new motor. It has glass hood, jegs racing seats(actually pretty comfortable with your wallet out of your back pocket). My T5 trans weighs 75 lbs, the T56 will be 125, so i dont mind, still better than a auto. The 12 bolt weighs less than the 9 inch i think, i will be removing the carpet for some lighter material, and since i know i will be going night and weekend, i will be finally ditching the AC, besides that, i dont know how to make it work with a big block anyway.


You dont think you could have gotten away with a TH350 and a 12 bolt? That combo would save weight, do you have a tubular K member? It would not be cost efficient for you to swap all that out anyway, but if you could do it all over again is there anything you would change?

bluegrassz

iTrader: (3)

Congrats on the new time. I know how having the wrong converter can screw everthing up. PTC does make come good converters and could work over your current 8 in.

On the Fox body, I have been reading on quite a few LSX swaps into the fox bodys. AJE makes a tube k-member and with 4.6 mounts, makes a easy swap. I beleive Kooks makes headers for the swap also.

Look on Youtube for a Fairmont LSX swap. Its a turbo LM7 5.3 stock running in the 9's.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

that car is nutty. made me think about going turbo with the 5.3 i had and sold. but i don't think i'd trust a 12 bolt with a torque arm mount....all that force on the center section is gonna cause it to flex, and thats not good for parts at all. a th350 can live at that power, but its gonna be unhappy without a decent amount of $$$$ invested. and even then the cases are gonna crack

IHI

iTrader: (1)

laying the seats back would be a must, if nothing else for headroom in these things. When i put my hoop in i had the seat bolted in so i could slide it all the way back and tilt it rearward so I was comfortable, once in awhile i let a buddy of mine run it and he's a tall dude so he's a little scrunched but he makes it work LOL!!! but if i ever did after market, which in this car i wont since it's a normal interior due to being a street car it'll be set up like you said with the seat in the most comfortable addition. As for gutting my doors.....and lose my power windows??!!! ooooh no, no way!! It's far to convenient while baking in the summer staging lanes to drop both windows for some sort of circulation and then flick the switch and they'e back up again Told my wife even if i built a tube chasis car i'll find a way to put pwr windows in it since i'm an independent SOB at the track LOL!!

Zone: i chose the driveline piece i did for one reason only- durability for the long haul. Nothing i hate worse than working on this POS, and i have far more important things do do in life than constantly take chances with "maybe" on a weak TH350 with transbrake at my power and weight level, same with a 12bolt, i'm not going to put on some leakey azzed C clip eliminators, and i'm not going to special spec a 12 bolt center section with pressed in ford 9" axle tubes to get away from c clip's all together since:
1. Ready to run, HD center sections with vast gear selection are just a phone call away
2. If i do want to change gearing in my Strange center section, i just pull it and take it to the shop vs dropping the whole rear end or taking the entire car down there for all the phuckstick wanna's be's working in there to finger their way through my car checking it out.
3. I'm not willing to take that one chance of the carrier flexing and chewing up gears...my buddy with a stock 70 chevelle has gone through 3 carriers, 5 gear sets in his car pushing 550hp at similar weight as mine...and everytime a new and improved shop does their "bullet proof" install, within a months time it's tweaked again and needs replaced....back to my "more important things to do than worry about weight since if it cost me .5 and i dont have to f..k with it EVER, i'll gladly lose the ET...kinda like me dropping the exhaust.

If i drop the exhaust would it pick me up?? maybe, maybe not, 4 engines and never once has it done a thing getting it off the car, and i'm to the point, i dont want to mess with it, i hate working on this thing and i hate that loud brain shaking, ear shattering open header BS as well. Not to mention if i cant run an ET in 100% street driven form, then it's not a real number. I know all our opinions vary on that aspect as guys rip out seats, drop their fuel tanks to fumes, pull the radio, carpet, etc....I dont street drive mine like that, so that's tainted numbers pure and simple is my opinion, what i run is what i "could run" on the street if i could stick it and that's what i care about...anybody can gut a car, and run bare essentials, for my street car, that aint a happen'n

Tubular K member, if they were priced like Fox body stuff, it'da been installed, but for me to spend $26-3200 dollars for a complete new front end and only lose a few pounds, i'll put that money into better engine parts to compensate for the weight and have a 100% stock durable piece that can tolerate our pityfall potholed roads here.

Shagwell

My saying gut the doors was not about the windows, but the energy bars and thier associated hardware.

If he cut the cage out and replaced it in moly along with a moly k-member and a-arms he might loose 75-80#'s. In a single frame-rail full tube chassis car, moly is 100#'s lighter than MS. Also, along with the "lighter" material comes a considerably higher fatigure rate, thus a short life span, especially with street use.

The k-member and a-arms are worth around 50#'s to be tube instead of stock. The biggest plus to them is the amount of space it opens up around the motor. Almost anything you do becomes easier.

The trans and rear are a wash, as I fully agree on having more than needed in both those departments. I hate being under the car, so I too put in parts that keep me from being under there repeatedly.


Leave it as is and let it eat. - I'm soon to finish a full chassis stang notchback with a BBC/th400/ladder bar 9"/glass nose & doors. Will be up for sale cheap....

IHI

iTrader: (1)

Oh you evil dirty bastage....hangin the carrot in front of the horse
you can "set it up for a pig block" just make sure the motor plates are there for a sbc too, if you could, lose the ladder bars and upgrade them to a 4 link, yes i'll pay the upgrade fee since it'll retain better resale down the road, then call me for a trial season and i'll letter everything up for Shagwell Chasis Works

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

call racecraft about the front end, they can do one in mild steel if you call them. that's what i'm going to when i do mine, just get poly bushing stuff and a coil over kit. if you get the spindles (which are big money) you can run those adjustable mustang struts, they actually designed those and their upper strut mounts to use the strange spindles. just a thought.

IHI

iTrader: (1)

The reality is, i'm done sinking much more into this car, we're starting my garage build soon and then once that and our house addition/kitchen is completed we're buying a big RV of some sort and taking some time off then when i come back to racing it will be a rail or a tube chasis something or other and this will probably stay like it is other than getting vamped to go 9's legally....it's been a fun ride to mess with but sticking thousands into it is money i'll spend much better on a overall better platform, and i'll just keep this as a hot street car/bracket car...but i'm wanting a vaction bad as a ****....1993 was the last time i had an offical vacation, other than that it's just been 3-4 day weekends at tracks across the mid west here and the annual trek out of state to a new track, wifes tired of my excuses, i'm tired of working all the time and getting burnt on racing so some R&R is looong overdue....best part, then we'll have a big diesel pusher to take our sorry butts to the track after our traveling stint then all i need is to get my daughter into jr. racing, buy a stacker and ONLY load the jr in it like the rest of those crazy yahoo's with monster rigs and a jr.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

LMAO. at least the guy who's got a stacker here has a beautiful tube chassis mustang. but the juniors go up top! get a little trailer and pull the junior behind the firechicken, then you'll be my hero lol

IHI

iTrader: (1)

I'd end up being the guy with the huge hauler that does'nt do well since in the back of my mind i'd always be wondering, HTF am i going to pay for this crap

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

yeah... i still drive mine to the track tho, but i may end up hauling a little baby trailer with tools/tires/tent/beer if i go to CFR or cordova this year eddyville is only 15 minutes away tho so i can just have the sister bring the essentials in the eLUMINAtor lmao

87_TA

Good runs..

ross

Congrats on the new NA best im shure there are more to come.
As for me I have to pull mine apart and fix it I think I hurt it at pinks arm drop deal when I over heated it.

IHI

iTrader: (1)

I'll be sure to smack that toddle shirt stealing SOB for ya when he comes up here this fall. We all got to listen to what that premaddona POS wanted to make his track apperance: RV for his personal space, $20K appeerance fee, body guard.......who the F..K does this none car knowing POS think he is???!!!! Some folks say he's "good for the sport, he brings attention to it" then i have to say as will about everybody that races with consistency, i'm yet to see any increase in spectators at the track. He and his lame azz chicken wings a flapp'n can go pound sand as far as i'm concerned. As a marketing deal he's done well for himself, i'll give him that, but for the guys working their azzes off to actually race a points series for a season he's done NOTHING so he's good for our sport how?? He's good for Speedvision and personal gains, nothing else.

ross

Don't get me wrong I did win $2,000 that day it just sucks to have to put it back in the money pit. I noticed it was not running right at the next race super chevy. I was running a tenth slower than I should I was thinking it was the tires I switched to a set of micky's 275 radials and thay are heaver than the hoosiers about 6-8 lbs each. So I bought a set of hoosiers and took the car to the track and did two passes on both sets of tires the hoosiers were a solid .01 faster not the tenth I was looking for. I still took the car and ran the NMCA true street race water pump seal went out overheated it again and was DQ.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Does it happen to be factory units that are modded? The strange/moser pieces are a lot stronger. LMR goes 7s with their 12 bolt, busted the gears on a tire shake, My buddies 68 camaro broke the axles in his 9 inch shaking tires also but with a street big block.

I thought the flexing of the rearend was not that bad with a TQ arm, and i didnt think the axles being welded on the 3rd-4th gens would not be as important too? Since the center takes all the abuse anyway.

Shagwell

If I was building the compete car you can bet it would be 4-link, but it would probably be a legal outlaw front end as well. - "We" inherited this thing in a motor deal, meaning my ol man assembled a big-block for this guy, put a set of his alum heads on it as well as one of his roller cams and lifters, three months go by and realizing the guy would never be able to pay it off, he took the car in exchange for the work/parts. "We" meaning my ol man took the trade deal on the car and will put whatever money comes from it's sale towards the camaro, while I get to do all the work of cleaning this f*er up.

It's a thin-wall 2x3 chassis, spaghetti a-arm front, ladder bar rear, coil-overs alla round, narrowed 9", Willwood brakes all around, 15x3 and 15x16 convo-pros, fiber-glass nose and doors; just a good roller. Whoever did the chassis did a nice job, those that did the finish work(small brackets/tabs type stuff for the seat mount, master cylinder, etc) did a......shall I say "less than acceptable" job. I know for a fact that the car changed hands at least 6 or 7 times w/o ever even going down a track, the guy we got it from had a(in his words) "stout small block" in it that ran mid 8's.............in the 1/8 The damb thing doesn't weigh 2700#s with a bbc, my stock 170k mile 185hp suburban motor could run that in this thing.

I've completely diss-assembled the car, and cut every bracket/tab out. Once I get it back together and make it look decent we'll probably drop the brodix headed 468 that's currently in the camaro in it and sell it so that we can finish the blower combination for the 'maro.

Another thing, or old camaro went 1.20 60fts, ran low 5's with a itty bitty bbc and it was a ladder bar car.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

uhhhh my 3200lb ish thing runs low 8s with stock vortec motor out of a 98 suburban....

IHI

iTrader: (1)

What you just described bout sums up alot of the stuff i see for sale, nothing but scrap metal people think is worth a mint, as of this point in my life after being young and money was tight doing what i had to, to get by, ive learned sometimes it's just better off hiring stuff done or buying things at a higher price intially since it'll ALWAYS be cheaper and easier than un-azzing somebody elses problems even though the price looks good initally...seems you always end up with more money involved then if you'd a just bought something you initally thought was out of your price range in the beginning...and i'm sure you know EXACTLY what i'm talking about.

Shagwell

Yes sir, been there, done that, and the t-shirt even sucked.

The kicker is we have about $1k in this thing right now as recieved, so I've got plenty of room to clean it up and make decent money. I had it stripped inside of a day(plasma cutters are cool; even better than an air stapler or a hot glue gun). It'll probably take me about a month of tinkering evenings and some weekend time to fix it, around $1-2k in materials, so I should make out pretty good on it.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

there's a 25.5 or 25.2 mustang chassis for sale on the bullet for like 3500, looks well done but its BARE

Shagwell

The chassis itself is the cheap part. All the crap that it takes to make it a roller is where you really starting looking for sponsors other than Visa Platinum....

IHI

iTrader: (1)

EXACTLY, the rolling chasis is the cheap and easy part other than tedious as hellll, it's when all the fuel, brake, electronics start getting done and everything that goes with makin it work that the price gets to be more than many newbies ever anticipated and can afford.

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

Personally, i do not like the way a fox body rides. But you want it to be a full drag car? If so, why not get another bird? Or is it just the weight that is the concern?

IHI

iTrader: (1)

I have a freind with a 84 bird that said he's make me a good deal if i truely wanted a sister car, but i'd just soon get the smaller lighter fox body since they're much easier and cheaper to build....one only needs to take a good hard look at the feilds...mostly mustangs...and it's for a reason

ZONES89RS

iTrader: (2)

I understand, but damn, i dont want to be like everyone else....that is why i wanna do a chevy motor in a 98-04 stang...i am set on doing it for some reason too. I dont really see mustangs that mustangs that much lighter though. They are, but not a thousand lbs or anything. We are going to be removing the 302 and T5 from my buddies 89 this weekend so we can find a 5.3 or 6.0 with a TH350.

fenton06

just find a newer SN-95 car... I dunno what theweight difference would be but the suspension is the same, just a better body style IMO, at least the 99+ ones.

Shagwell

Technically, the SN-95 body style is 94-98. The 99-04 is called something else. - Either way, you're back to being as heavy as a 3rd gen with those cars.


Ride and available parts won't mean anything if he does a full chassis car.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

just get it over with and build a digger or an altered!

Shagwell

Been there, done that...they're not nearly as fun as door cars.

brandoz28

iTrader: (1)

really? i've thought an altered would be a blast. i'd think in bracket racing the extra visibility would be a plus