Ford vs Chevy Build-up

[Dave Gantz]

Originally Posted by SSGT Mustang

I've got three fox bodies. A coupe, a hatchback and convertible. Only the convertible has camber problems from not having a steel roof.

The car is in excellent condition. 50,000 miles, never been hit.

When I went to paint, the doors on both sides of the car had to be bent in to get them realigned. Even with caster/camber plate (camber at full slot), couldn't get the camber even close.

The strut towers have moved inward, because of the lack of support. Push them out with a brace and camber returns. Even with a brace, caster/camber plates are usually needed if the car has been lowered.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. Makes perfect sense.

I agree with the others, Rich. The can ran well. Everything is still intact. You're not far away. As they say, "If it were easy, everyone would be doing it".

[partsbob67]

very nice for the first time out with it. if you can take it to a chassis dyno you can tune it easier. if someone sits in the passenger side and reads the screen while you do the run on the dyno run it goes a lot faster. congrats and good luck!!

[Mark Yacavone]

Rich, Why were you running the car in N, if I might ask?
Natural O car that makes P.
How much did it weigh?

[HandOverFist]

Thanks to all for the support...I'm headed out the door in a few minutes to go tear into that rear-end.

Mark - The car was light last night as I expected it would be...3165 pounds. Running it in N we were 123 pounds light...O would have been 230 pounds shy. Had I known what the car was going to do I could have run it in P and at least been able to run the index lol!

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by HandOverFist

Thanks to all for the support...I'm headed out the door in a few minutes to go tear into that rear-end.

Mark - The car was light last night as I expected it would be...3165 pounds. Running it in N we were 123 pounds light...O would have been 230 pounds shy. Had I known what the car was going to do I could have run it in P and at least been able to run the index lol!

Wow. Did you put any kind of ballast or weight box into it?
My 1980 HB was 300 # light when I got it done. I had done the research and built a permanent 100# into it before I even started bolting weight in.
I would recommend at least O/SA with it.
Of course a lot of your data from last night would be skewed by adding that much weight.
But then ,if you weren't making any power anyway, due to electronics, maybe not.
I'd say tune the computer first, then put the weight in it for O, then start over.

[HandOverFist]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Wow. Did you put any kind of ballast or weight box into it?
My 1980 HB was 300 # light when I got it done. I had done the research and built a permanent 100# into it before I even started bolting weight in.
I would recommend at least O/SA with it.
Of course a lot of your data from last night would be skewed by adding that much weight.
But then ,if you weren't making any power anyway, due to electronics, maybe not.
I'd say tune the computer first, then put the weight in it for O, then start over.

Had no clue what the weight was until I scaled it at the track. Now that I know I can build ballast boxes...probably carry a heavy spare wheel/tire to boot.

Disassembled the rear-end today and found nothing terribly wrong. Ring/pinion is smooth and easy...with rotor/pads bolted up it requires a little more effort to turn. Surprisingly the greatest resistance to movement is from the driveshaft. Even removed from the pinion flange it is strangely difficult to turn in the normal rotation...fairly easy turning backwards (trans in neutral). I believe the vibration I felt on the first pass was simply the solid upper control arms in the torque boxes (no bushings).

I'll do some more tuning on it, but I fear the engine might not be capable of producing the required hp in it's current state...we shall see.

[Mark Yacavone]

I figure about 280 hp would put you .2 under in O.
1 hp per cube isn't really too hard with a Stocker cam.

Those cars will go mid 14's through the mufflers with 3.73's and stock converter, AOD
with 200 ,000 miles on them.

[HandOverFist]

Yes, I was surprised how poorly it ran the first pass until I returned to the pits to review my...ahem...recording. Perhaps I will get a handle on it soon.



http://vid434.photobucket.com/albums...psdijd3mza.mp4

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by HandOverFist

Yes, I was surprised how poorly it ran the first pass until I returned to the pits to review my...ahem...recording. Perhaps I will get a handle on it soon.

Something is wrong with that driveshaft, I would say. Check your pinion angle.May need more neg. to get enough on the front...Just guessing from here.
Converter goes right to 5 grand? Sounds about right ..for starting point.

[SSGT Mustang]

What do you have for a first gear in that trans?