Alright guys is kinda got myself into a challenge, i'm not sure i'll be ready to win by spring......what do you guys think, can I take him?

His car is a 1969 Mustang, 351 lightning shortblock, GT-40 heads, 3.50 gears, flowmasters, auto w/ shift kit and high-stall converter.
Car has run consistant 12.4 through the mufflers N/A, and 11.9 w/ a 100 shot. He told me my car will never be faster than his, which sent me on a spending frenzy.

My car is an 89 formula w/ a 355, most mods are in the sig, along w/ T56, Dana 44 w/ 4.11 gears, adjustable panhard bar, Adjustable torque arm, relocation brackets, front and rear bumper supports have been removed,rear seats are removed, and I will be purchasing tubular k-member and a-arms b4 the race. I will be racing w/ a set of 26" mickey T slicks, and we will be racing N/A.

What do you guys think, honestly......I wanna win but I am really starting to run low on cash, and this guy is constantly running his mouth about F-Bodies, and calls my car a Turd. We will be racing Mid May, so I have alittle time......So if you think I'm gonna lose, what should I do to WIN. Thanks, Kyle

 

First things first, you'll never beat him unless you ditch the tpi. Buy a converted lt1 intake for $400 off www.lt1intake.com. This will open your car up. Next, get rid of that dinky "hot cam" and get a bigger one. You should put up a pretty good fight. No way you'll be in the 11's without spraying yourself.

 

It should be a good race,but if you have your combo dialed in I think you will take him.

 

Oh wait, you got a mini-ram.

Just get a bigg cam. Get the 230/236. That'll woop his *** with a nice 3400 stall.

 

What are the specs on your heads?

Since you'll be running off the juice, you'll have a pretty good shot if you can launch the car. Your Miniram is going to take advantage of the airflow capacity of your heads, but the Hotcam is going to hold you back some from the potential of the setup. I would say get as much practice as you can before the race so that you'll know how to launch the car best, as well as to get an idea of what kind of times you'll run and go from there. But, like pasky said, if you want to make sure you'll win and not have to guess, do a cam swap to something bigger than the 218/228 Hotcam.

 

My heads are AFR 190's. They have 54cc chambers and have been worked over a bit more than they were when i bought them from TPIS. They flow: intake:70,140,208,251,276,281 and exhaust 60,105,148,176,189,200. I was planning on installing a larger cam but when I called comp to either get a custom or a recommended upgrade, they recomended one that was smaller than what I got. So I put the engine back in the car. I guess when I get the new K-member in maybe I'll put a bigger cam in.
Hey Pasky, How do you like the CC306? I also have 1.6 rockers so I dont know how much piston clearance there will be. The heads are good to I think .625" lift. Will this cam run well w/ my TPIS chip programed for the Hot-cam or will I need to buy another one?

 

Oh, and my car is has about a 11.5:1 compression ratio, I don't know if that really matters. Thats why we are running N/A, because now I'm alittle worried about spraying it. I will probably be reurning my NOS kit.

 

I would absolutely go for something around the size of the 306, or even larger if you dare to really take advantage of those heads.

 

Would the ZZ-409 be alright you think? I think a buddy of mine has one laying around that I could get cheap. I think the specs are 226/226 and .520" lift w/ 1.5 rockers and I have 1.6's. I just dont want any probs w/ clearance right now. Will that give me that much more performance?

 

that cam would do the trick. you'll be fine on lift, might have to upgrade your valve springs though. the extra intake duration will help, but the extra lift is the main thing that will help out over the Hotcam. The lift of the Hotcam with 1.5's is only .495, its .525 with 1.6's, so you'll see a considerable increase in lift.

 

Alright, cool. I think i'll try to get that in b4 the race. I really wanna win, and I need to win for the fact its kinda a expensive race for me too lose. He wants to race for $500, thats how cocky he is! I can't back out now, so besides that or the CC306, is there anyhting else that you would recomend? I'll be sure to get lots of practice before this race happens and also see how it runs and post the times. I don't know what else I could do until then, I already have mufflex y-pipe, and 4" catback, the T56 is getting rebuilt, I'm running Tokico illumina adjustable shocks and struts, I have a short shifter, removed A/C, emissions. How much weight woulld a fiberglass hood drop? I guess ill have to go on a diet too. I want reassurance that I will win, so what else do ineed to do?

 

You might want to look into a good race clutch.

 

Right now I'm running a Lt4 clutch, so that should be fine. Come on guys anything else, that will make a noticable difference?

 

Fame connectors and remove front swaybar at track.

 

I have spohn subframe connectors, and remove which sway bar at the track? This is a street race, I know that doessn't help me but it is. ANything else?

 

By taking off the front swaybar or undoing the endlinks your front end will raise more giving you better weight transfer to your rear wheels. The guy who wrote the book on how to get your 3rd gen into the 11's claims that you can pick up 2 tenths with a good ram air set up. I've also heard many people claim 2 to 3 tenths with an electric water pump instead of a belt drivem one.

 

I'll try the sway bar thing. i have SLP cold air intake, I am not sure if that helps. I don't have a electric water pump but I do have an edelbrock aluminum water pump w/ underdrive pullies.

 

how much does disconnecting the front sway bar affect the driveability on the street?

 

I don't know, I have read other posts that said to do that but haven't tried because I built my car as an all purpose ride. I will try it at the strip, and when I race for cash but I won't just be driving around like that. So are there any other suggestions or you think I basically have enough to beat him as long as I practice my launch? I figured that would be part of it, and some suspension tweaking Of course. I guess if there aren't other suggestions I will just try what was said and when the weather breaks get some base quarter mile times, and go from there. I really appreciate your help and suggestions guys.

Thanks,
Kyle

 

a cut out would help a little bit. And are those rocker arm's, roller rockers? you could pick up a few ponies there. Also do you have a posi?

 

I reccomend the comp 230/236 .510 / .520 112lsa cam.Its slightly smaller than the CC306 however its makes power about 700rpm before the 306 begins to. Its a great cam.

Comp Cams "Extreme" LT1 Camshaft, 230 / 236, .510 / .520 112 LSA

with 1.6's you'll be at .544/.555

I love the 306. Its very drivable.

 

Removing the front swaybar just makes the front end lean a bit more in corners. No real "drivability" problems without it. Lose all the weight you can. (From the car duh)

 

I could harldly notice not having the sway bar until I was taking decelerating ramps at 75, but it was still not very noticeable. (minimal lean)

The first upgrades I would do if money permitted them is RAM clutch. Bore and stroke mod to 396 cid then get a custom grind cam by comp cams. Then you would be easily on your way to victory with decent driving.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I will be doing the 396 next year, until then I will probably be swapping the Hotcam for the cc306. I also will practice racing when the weather breaks and i'll try removing the swaybar. Other than that I will be removing as much weight from my car that I see fit. ANd I'll let you know what happens w/ the race.