Drag Racing and Autocross!

Last year I joined some friends at Island Dragway.  My best friend, a veteran index racer, had his wife there in her new 07 Mustang GT making some passes for the first time in her life.  It was really cool to see her hot lap the car - the look on her face was pure joy after every time she went down the track and collected her time slip.  It brought me back to the days of my 90GT that I tried to make into a street / strip car.  I had a lot of time slips with that car.  That car taught me there's no real way to make a great street car that is also great drag car.  The specs for one are nearly opposite for the other.

I came across my terminator and parted out that 90 GT.  But I tell you, seeing that look of joy on her face, I went home that night and bought a helmet and said "I'll be doing some racing next year!"

And that I did. So far I've tracked both the cars.  We trailered the terminator to Mustang Week in Myrtle beach South Carolina.  I promised myself that as soon as I had the car and a trailer to get it home if it broke, I was going to do all the events.  I took it on the speedway, did the autocross and even took it to the drag strip.  It reminded me how much fun it was, even if I wasn't being competitive.  I had such a good time I can't wait to do it again next year.

Speedway run 
Autocross first run 
Autocross second run
NMB Dragway 

Towards the end of the season, I got into a group called the Venom Wolfpack.  The NJ Venom Outlaws is a pretty cool car club.  The Wolf Pack is a smaller group of that club that hits the drag strip.  I took the 94 GT Vert out to do some drag racing on a Friday night at Island and I really had an awesome time.  It also reminded me of how a street car is not that great at the drag strip.  I had a few problems.

Venom Wolfpack
Vs. Frankie 
Vs. Sheryl

Wheels and Tires
On my 94 GT is the original set of wheels from the Cobra.  They are wrapped in Nitto NT555 G2, stock size 275/40/17 for the Cobra.  Turns out that these wheels are absolutely terrible off the line.  They are great street tires, but drag tires they are not.  I could either launch at a low RPM and ride the clutch out a bit in second, or the wheels would just spin and kill my 60ft time.  These tires are definitely not drag tires.

The remedy for this will be some diamond racing steel wheels - 16x10 with a 6 inch back spacing (12.7 offset), and some M&H 26x11.5 (26x10 essentially) bias ply tires -Link Here.  That will allow me to launch this car properly when the tree drops!

Brakes / Lack of a line lock
There's two issues here.  First, when I took the entire brake system from a Mach 1, the pads were unknown.  Couple that with the fact that the rotors did not have much life left in them.  I have upgraded SS braided lines, but the first time I jammed the brakes at the end of the 1/4 mile, I know I boiled the fluid in the brakes.  Chalk it up to excitement.  It also reminded me that the pads and rotors are less than ideal.  Another issues is that when staging the car I needed to foot brake it and do a burnout to clean off the tires.  Thats not going to work with the new drag wheel / tire setup.

The remedy for this is some parts I already have on hand!  I had the stock rotors, front and back, from my cobra.  I had them surfaced and cleaned up (only 30k miles on them before removed for the Eradispeed).  And I picked up some hawk HPS pads and speed bleeders.  I'll be using Motul brake fluid also.  This install is coming soon!

Lastly is the line lock.  I'll also be installing that so that I can do a proper burnout.  Pump the brakes, hold, press the button and it locks the front brakes.  Rev up, drop the clutch and let the smoke fly until I release the button.  I've had it before, works perfectly!

Rear End
The weak link in the 94 drivetrain is definitely the stock axles and differential in the rear.  The housing has already been straightened and the tubes welded.  Upper and lower control arms with good bushings, and the posi was rebuilt with an upgraded S spring and better clutches, new pinion flange, solid pinion spacer and 3:31 gears.  But that stock differential and 28 spline axles are not going to survive with the drag tires.

The remedy for this is a better built 8.8 rear.  I picked up a complete 8.8 housing out of a 95 GT.  I sold off the entire disk brake setup including the brake lines.  I'll be disassembling it, straightening it, welding the tubes and then have it hot tanked and painted (maybe powder coated?).  It will get Strange 31 spine axles and an Eaton Trutrac torsen style differential, along with fresh bearings, races and seals.  I'm debating on keeping the 3.31 gears or going 3.55.  The 3.55 does sound nice.

The built rear, brakes, and the wheels and tires should make for a lot of fun at the drag strip!  Until the new motor gets finished (read my other blog about the big bore 347), we will see what the best this iron headed 306 can do!