Alright heres my situation:

This buddy of mine, Bryon, has a 1989 Lincoln Mark VII, with the Mustang 5.0 motor, automatic, stock rims and tires, really all stock. He has a true dual w/H-pipe exhaust into SuperTraps at the tip. He usually runs 11.10s-11.40s in the 1/8th mile. However, he said he gave his car plugs, wires, air filter, and oil change and his car now runs 10.69@71MPH.....kinda hard to believe considering my best ET is 10.49@68.84MPH.

I am running a 92 Camaro RS, 305 TBI, automatic, ACCEL Dist. Cap, rotor button, SuperStock wires, ACCEL plugs, Smog delete, B&M TrickShift tranny fluid, and an open air element. the last time I ran it at the track I ran a best of 10.49@68.84MPH, my best time yet. I believe the motor is referrer to as the "Crap LO3". Anyways, it has stock manifolds, 2 1/4 inch y-pipe to cat. to a 80 Series Flowmaster. I am running 245/60/R16 tires on the aluminum "Anniversary/Z28" rims. My car usually runs like 220 degrees when I race. Anyways, heres the dilemma now that you have the facts.

I have raced this car and out of the 10 times I have raced it, it has beaten me 2 times, only because I had already made 21 passes that night, and i got absolutely no traction. However, Bryon has been talking about his car all week and saying it made that dramatic improvement, yet I still havent seen a time slip. He challenged me today, a best 2-out-of-3 at the track Friday night and we both throw 50 dollars on the line. So, my question is, is there anything i should be worried about or can a car really get that big of an improvement over a tune up? Also, would it be wise to run my electric fan to a switch, to keep my car cooler and make it run alot better? Also, considering I am not really building this car as a racer, would it be wise to keep the open element breather on the TBI or go back to the stock air cleaner assembly. i do have a 3 inch side vented cowl hood BTW. anyways, any help would be appreciated and thank you. BTW, any questions, Ill attempt to answer them.

P.S. Neither car has Positive traction, I usually beat him by about 2 car lengths, and my reaction time is usually around .200-.300 because of the crappy takeoff power (even withbuilding the RPMS up).

 

Well if his timing was off and he was running on two fouled plugs sure a tuneup can improve your times significantly. Sounds to me even after the improvement you still got him edged out so what are you worried about?

 

I have seen those old 5.0 lincolns run low 16's stock which is pretty much exactly what his car is running in the qtr So I would defenetly believe hes running those times. A 10.69 in the eighth comes out to be about a 16.03 in the qtr. You are running about a 15.7 in the qaurter which is pretty good for an auto L03. With only 3. difference between you I wouldnt risk the $50 because you never know if he can run better now. You already know your best time. Also keep the open element filter its good for like a tenth over the stock cleaner. And the fan switch and a low temp thermostat would help cool you down a little. Good Luck.

 

You make 10's with those specs ? Damn.. you must be at sea level or something. Anything more done to the engine ?

 

race him, beat him, take the money, laugh and walk away,

 

Disconnect the front swaybar, air up the front tires to about 50 PSI and try and get some cold air to the engine and you shouldn't have a problem.

 

OK thanks to all for the advice heres what went down:

I put the switch on my fan and let it run most of the night already have a 180 degree thermo and went back to the open element. Got to the track around 6:30pm, made a pass at 7:30 pm and ran 10.69@67.46 MPH.....but i was manually shifting and my 700R4 is really weird so i decided to let the tranny do the work that night. Bryon shows up and want to make a test run, round 8:00pm, so I say ok whle it allows my car to cool down in the pits, so he makes a pass of 11.14@66.23MPH, which is really odd, considering all the bragging claims he made. So he gets back into the pits and says he needs to add his ACCEL plug wires, so me and the "middle man" (guy holding our money) help him change wires and then we both suit up and I wish him good luck, being in good sportsmanship. However, after the money was handed over to the middle man, the deal was the winner has to give the loser a rematch in one month, so heres the night results:

Match 1: ME: 10.53@67.88 MPH

BRYON: 11.17@64.67MPH

Gave him 30 minutes in the pits to tune his car and make phone calls to try make it faster, then we suit up and go for the second run, which is:

Match 2: ME: 10.51@68.11MPH

BRYON: 11.14@64.94MPH

So, I was victorious, got my cash and shook his hand and told him he had a month to get ready to try to get revenge on the little LO3 RS in his "Big Bad Stinkin Lincoln" However, I looked over at his car and on the return road, he had gotten so mad he had punched his windshield, like a moron, so I told him he may be investing in a windshield first and he told me windshield jobs, pulling one from a junkyard/donor car and installing are a "one man, easy as cake job" yeah right, I have done one or two before and they arent. So then, the last runs of the night, and I just raced whover was in the other lane which happened to be this 95 Mustang GT, 6 inch white vented cowl hood, Cobra intake, huge exhaust, headers, and a 6 speed, looked and sounded mean and I wasnt really wanting to get stomped that night, but I lined up anways and beat him off the line, then he got me by a car and i started coming back up but in the end he got me by a car and a half but what I was in so much shock over was what the board read on me.....10.38@69.33MPH.....I had just broke in the 10.3's, which is a big big deal for me cause my car is the little weak Throttle Body car, bone stock except for ACCEL wires, plugs and cap, open element breather, and a fewq other small things but basically all stock and to me, it meant alot cause now I know with some L98 heads and an aftermarket cam, Ill be doing some serious times but like they say, all good things must come to an end and its time I hang up the little TBI cars racing days and start prepping my t-top 82 for the track. anways, thanks for all the advice and BTW, Monday, I had to gloat and I rubbed it in alot because the previous week, everyday he had hounded me and talked alotta stuff and so it was only fair dues but after only 2 hours at work he left and is off the rest of the week....how coincidential, hehe. Thanks to all again!

 

Good job, nice kill

 

kewl. Good kill, I'm a firm believer in driver ability affecting times more than mods. I run a 10.65 the last time out, would be a good race?

 

with a stock 305 tpi , in my current config i ran a 10.101 in the 1/8th @ 68.78.

 

nice kill...

punching a windshield...