Preparing my 71 mach 1 for road racing

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Milalynne

Milalynne

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 4, 2024
Messages
56
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11
Location
Bedford Texas
My Car
1971 Mustang Mach 1 Yellow gold
I have always been into drag racing but no longer. I am interested in learning road racing, and I am going to do it for fun. I am wanting to get yall's expert advice on prepping my Mustang. So far, I bought all new bearing kit, new 5-layer leaf springs as my car was sagging in the back, I bought the QA1 single adjustable shocks after researching, cost me 800$ for all 4, I bought a 1-inch front sway bar and a half inch rear sway bar. My wheels and tires are the stock size E70X14 wheels and tires. The only thing I can think of besides bigger wheels and tires is a monty carlo brace across the top of the engine compartment ( I would only put it on when i am on the track, subframe connectors but I thought they were more for drag racing. Anyone with road racing experience have any suggestions for me? BTW, I think it's great that some of you take the time to help enthusiasts like me on here. so Thank you all. Ive attached a photo that has my wheels and tires in it. It also has my sweet service puppy named Rhaenyra. But i was thinking buying Mag 500's and tires for them and just use them on the track
 

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The member you need to talk to is Tony-Muscle. Tony races his car and has all the knowledge you need to prep your car.
However, from what little knowledge I have and this is just my own view point, you might have asked this question before you started spending money of "stuff".
In my humble opinion, the sway bars are too small. I have 1 1/8" front and 7/8" rear from Addco. What "brand' of 5 leaf springs did you buy? I ask this from personal bad experience with cheap springs that ended up costing me way too much money. I highly recommend Eaton Detroit Springs springs. They can even custom make them for you.
Again, this is just my opinion, it's your car, your way.
 
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When I lived in Colleyville I did open track with the local Mustang club at the speedway inside track and in Cresson at Texas Motorsport ranch, Great places to learn road racing. Take what you have right now and get yourself tuned up for the road course. Then talk to everyone you meet for how to tune the car. Don't plan to be great on your first tries. Enjoy.
 
There are several things that you want to look into. There are a lot of safety areas that you don't want to skim on. Road racing gets expensive quickly.
-Most importantly is that you upgrade your brakes and brake fluid which I don't see you mentioning. Can you race with stock brakes? probably yes, but if you are going to be driving at 100mph+ in a race course and braking hard at the corners I suggest you go with the biggest brakes you can afford. I don't know if you still have rear drums but I suggest you upgrade them. Once you upgrade the brakes or even if you don't, make sure all the brake lines are in good condition. However, since they rot from the inside out it is very difficult to know their condition. I wouldn't race on of these cars without first replacing all the brake lines. The last item on the brake system list, but probably the most critical is to completely flush, and I mean completely, the old brake fluid and replace with a high performance DOT4 fluid like Motul 600.
-For suspension I agree that a larger sway bar would work better. However, of all the improvements I made to my car, the one that made the most noticeable improvement was adding a Panhard bar to the rear. Granted that by the the time I added the Panhard I already had a very good front end system. Play with alignment settings to get the most out of your suspension. Try to get the most caster you can and get to at least 1 deg of negative camber. A little toe in doesn't hurt but keep it to the minimum like 1/16".
-Chassis improvements are also very important. Yes, I suggest subframe connectors and a good shock tower bracing (like a Monte Carlo bar). Once you start pushing the car around corners you want to control twisting with subframe connectors not only for stiffness but also to protect the 50+ year old unibody.
-A good seat belt, at least 3-point, should be a minimum. If you get serious about racing you will find that a nice bucket seat is necessary to keep you from sliding all over. If you are sliding all over the seat then it is one more thing you have to think about it when at a turn. A good dead pedal is great to push you back into the seat and control sliding.
-Tires. I don't know what tires you are running but there is a HUGE difference between typical radial tires and 200tw high performance tires. I don't know how much you will find for 14". I have 18" wheels and there is a lot to chose from. Tires are definitely the single item that will give you the most performance but to get there you can't skimp over what suggested above.
-Last but not least, once you have cover the above areas, it is seat time. Experience will make you a better driver. If it sounds overwhelming it doesn't hurt to start first with autocross and then jump to road racing. With autocross you can hone in your skills at much lower speeds and with less risks than road racing.

I am sure I am forgetting a few items but these are what first came to mind while responding. Please ask if you have questions.
 
Stanglover said:
The member you need to talk to is Tony-Muscle. Tony races his car and has all the knowledge you need to prep your car.
However, from what little knowledge I have and this is just my own view point, you might have asked this question before you started spending money of "stuff".
In my humble opinion, the sway bars are too small. I have 1 1/8" front and 7/8" rear from Addco. What "brand' of 5 leaf springs did you buy? I ask this from personal bad experience with cheap springs that ended up costing me way too much money. I highly recommend Eaton Detroit Springs springs. They can even custom make them for you.
Again, this is just my opinion, it's your car, your way.
Click to expand...
wwwwWhen I lived in Colleyville I did open track with the local Mustang club at the speedway inside track and in Cresson at Texas Motorsport ranch, Great places to learn road racing. Take what you have right now and get yourself tuned up for the road course. Then talk to everyone you meet for how to tune the car. Don't plan to be great on your first tries. Enjoy.
Colleyville Texas?
tony-muscle said:
There are several things that you want to look into. There are a lot of safety areas that you don't want to skim on. Road racing gets expensive quickly.
-Most importantly is that you upgrade your brakes and brake fluid which I don't see you mentioning. Can you race with stock brakes? probably yes, but if you are going to be driving at 100mph+ in a race course and braking hard at the corners I suggest you go with the biggest brakes you can afford. I don't know if you still have rear drums but I suggest you upgrade them. Once you upgrade the brakes or even if you don't, make sure all the brake lines are in good condition. However, since they rot from the inside out it is very difficult to know their condition. I wouldn't race on of these cars without first replacing all the brake lines. The last item on the brake system list, but probably the most critical is to completely flush, and I mean completely, the old brake fluid and replace with a high performance DOT4 fluid like Motul 600.
-For suspension I agree that a larger sway bar would work better. However, of all the improvements I made to my car, the one that made the most noticeable improvement was adding a Panhard bar to the rear. Granted that by the the time I added the Panhard I already had a very good front end system. Play with alignment settings to get the most out of your suspension. Try to get the most caster you can and get to at least 1 deg of negative camber. A little toe in doesn't hurt but keep it to the minimum like 1/16".
-Chassis improvements are also very important. Yes, I suggest subframe connectors and a good shock tower bracing (like a Monte Carlo bar). Once you start pushing the car around corners you want to control twisting with subframe connectors not only for stiffness but also to protect the 50+ year old unibody.
-A good seat belt, at least 3-point, should be a minimum. If you get serious about racing you will find that a nice bucket seat is necessary to keep you from sliding all over. If you are sliding all over the seat then it is one more thing you have to think about it when at a turn. A good dead pedal is great to push you back into the seat and control sliding.
-Tires. I don't know what tires you are running but there is a HUGE difference between typical radial tires and 200tw high performance tires. I don't know how much you will find for 14". I have 18" wheels and there is a lot to chose from. Tires are definitely the single item that will give you the most performance but to get there you can't skimp over what suggested above.
-Last but not least, once you have cover the above areas, it is seat time. Experience will make you a better driver. If it sounds overwhelming it doesn't hurt to start first with autocross and then jump to road racing. With autocross you can hone in your skills at much lower speeds and with less risks than road racing.

I am sure I am forgetting a few items but these are what first came to mind while responding. Please ask if you have questions.
Click to expand...
Thank you, this is the kind of info I was looking for. Im not making this m pure road racer, its going to be in fun races with other Shelby and mustangs at the mid america mustang shelby meet at Tulsa, its for fun but you do give it everything, you cant pass more than 3 people at once and only pass on straight aways, nobody wants to wreck their half a mil Shelby. I will also enjoy test and tune at the speedway through the year but it will be a street cruise mustang. I will eventially build another mustang thats a pure road racer but thats another discussion. I have thought about the brakes, I know the fluid will eventually boil unless i do everything right. so I do have plans to upgrade my brakes, break lines etc. I picked out the sway bars because its bigger than the stock ones and like I said Its not going to be racing in like the SCCA or anything. Ive done my research and studied on sway bars, shocks, so im hapy with what I got and and im happy with my 5 layer leaf spring, I really needed it because my rear end was sagging since it is over 50 years old. Leaf springs is not going to win me any road race trophies. I was thinking about subframe connectors welded on, I just dont want the ones that I can only see if i looked under the car. my whieels and tires are stock 70 14inch, so I thik I might get some Mag 500 and only use them when I take it to the track, Panhard bar to the rearv is interesting Im going to look into that. I thought about the Monto Carlo bar as well so i buy one of those. I have been racing and building cars since I was a kid, everyone of my family do not drive new cars, they drive old corvettes or mustangs. all built in house. Thank you for the info I appreciate you taking the time.
 
Stanglover said:
The member you need to talk to is Tony-Muscle. Tony races his car and has all the knowledge you need to prep your car.
However, from what little knowledge I have and this is just my own view point, you might have asked this question before you started spending money of "stuff".
In my humble opinion, the sway bars are too small. I have 1 1/8" front and 7/8" rear from Addco. What "brand' of 5 leaf springs did you buy? I ask this from personal bad experience with cheap springs that ended up costing me way too much money. I highly recommend Eaton Detroit Springs springs. They can even custom make them for you.
Again, this is just my opinion, it's your car, your way.
Click to expand...
LOL I wouldn't be buying anything if I didn't know what I was doing. I have been building cars since I was 8 years old with my father, I meet Steve Saleen the first time in 1988 at a track in Oklahom and Carroll Shelby in 1992. This post was meant for a prelesional racer. I appreciate you taking the time to read my topic but your questions and info is not what a different situation . Thank you
 
Stanglover said:
The member you need to talk to is Tony-Muscle. Tony races his car and has all the knowledge you need to prep your car.
However, from what little knowledge I have and this is just my own view point, you might have asked this question before you started spending money of "stuff".
In my humble opinion, the sway bars are too small. I have 1 1/8" front and 7/8" rear from Addco. What "brand' of 5 leaf springs did you buy? I ask this from personal bad experience with cheap springs that ended up costing me way too much money. I highly recommend Eaton Detroit Springs springs. They can even custom make them for you.
Again, this is just my opinion, it's your car, your way.
Click to expand...
Thanks ill reach out to him. !!!
 
Milalynne said:
LOL I wouldn't be buying anything if I didn't know what I was doing. I have been building cars since I was 8 years old with my father, I meet Steve Saleen the first time in 1988 at a track in Oklahom and Carroll Shelby in 1992. This post was meant for a prelesional racer. I appreciate you taking the time to read my topic but your questions and info is not what a different situation . Thank you
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, but your post didn't read like you had that level of experience.
 
Stanglover said:
I'm sorry, but your post didn't read like you had it ready to rip me of my experience. you wouldn't have assumed that i was dunce had you asked me some questions then you would not have insulted me by saying I don't know what I am doing. and if your the type of person that is on here to lend knowledge and not troll and make fun of people then you would have been able to help me with just saying hey did you mean this did you buy that size of sway bars because your still going to be driving on the street and other questions but you took the way of hurting my feelings and being wrong because im dumb, I have bach degree in Technology at NSU, im working on my MBA, I work for a fortune 500 company and get to work from home on my couch to be with my service puppy while making over 6 digit salary. So I am not as stupid as a you think I am. I consider myself one the best classic car restorer in all of Oklahoma 3 million people when i live there before moving to Dallas. Its my second passion to investing and im one the top investors in the Midwest in crypro, stocks, etc. sO yes I can do anything I want with cars and customize them using electronics like arduimo electrics to optimize So what I am saying is please dont jump too conclusions on before you ask questions and learn about the person, t would of told you about a an under ground storm shelter for tornados in the Midwest that in my second year I made over 250K and turned into a 6 months wait for underground steel shelters, I gave the business to my family and my brother to help them out after I built it up over 3 years.
Click to expand...
 
@Milalynne , My apologies, I had no intent to infer you were a dunce.
The last thing any of us want or intend to do is put down other members. We're here to help, but can only respond to posts as we read them.
Good luck with your racing endeavors.
 
Milalynne said:
wwwwWhen I lived in Colleyville I did open track with the local Mustang club at the speedway inside track and in Cresson at Texas Motorsport ranch, Great places to learn road racing. Take what you have right now and get yourself tuned up for the road course. Then talk to everyone you meet for how to tune the car. Don't plan to be great on your first tries. Enjoy.

Colleyville Texas?

Thank you, this is the kind of info I was looking for. Im not making this m pure road racer, its going to be in fun races with other Shelby and mustangs at the mid america mustang shelby meet at Tulsa, its for fun but you do give it everything, you cant pass more than 3 people at once and only pass on straight aways, nobody wants to wreck their half a mil Shelby. I will also enjoy test and tune at the speedway through the year but it will be a street cruise mustang. I will eventially build another mustang thats a pure road racer but thats another discussion. I have thought about the brakes, I know the fluid will eventually boil unless i do everything right. so I do have plans to upgrade my brakes, break lines etc. I picked out the sway bars because its bigger than the stock ones and like I said Its not going to be racing in like the SCCA or anything. Ive done my research and studied on sway bars, shocks, so im hapy with what I got and and im happy with my 5 layer leaf spring, I really needed it because my rear end was sagging since it is over 50 years old. Leaf springs is not going to win me any road race trophies. I was thinking about subframe connectors welded on, I just dont want the ones that I can only see if i looked under the car. my whieels and tires are stock 70 14inch, so I thik I might get some Mag 500 and only use them when I take it to the track, Panhard bar to the rearv is interesting Im going to look into that. I thought about the Monto Carlo bar as well so i buy one of those. I have been racing and building cars since I was a kid, everyone of my family do not drive new cars, they drive old corvettes or mustangs. all built in house. Thank you for the info I appreciate you taking the time.
Click to expand...
The reason I think brakes are number 1 is because if you get them overheating you will end up off track even if the car is meant for fun at the track. So at the minimum have a good high temp fluid and high temp brake pads. One time I went on track with high performance street pads and had to leave after just two laps with significant brake fading. Granted that some tracks are harder in the brakes than others.
Leaf springs are a disadvantage compared to modern independent or 4-link suspensions but with the proper spring rate, shocks and Panhard bar they can be in the ball park of competitiveness.
If you want to turn faster your biggest gain will be with Ultra High Performance 200tw Summer tires that can be used on the street. You can also use High Performance Summer tires like the Michelin Pilots 4s, which are 300tw. I started with those and they handle very well. They are a huge step up from street radials. If you go the route of new tires then you have to upgrade to either 17" or 18" wheels so you can use tires with a smaller side wall heights.
 
tony-muscle said:
The reason I think brakes are number 1 is because if you get them overheating you will end up off track even if the car is meant for fun at the track. So at the minimum have a good high temp fluid and high temp brake pads. One time I went on track with high performance street pads and had to leave after just two laps with significant brake fading. Granted that some tracks are harder in the brakes than others.
Leaf springs are a disadvantage compared to modern independent or 4-link suspensions but with the proper spring rate, shocks and Panhard bar they can be in the ball park of competitiveness.
If you want to turn faster your biggest gain will be with Ultra High Performance 200tw Summer tires that can be used on the street. You can also use High Performance Summer tires like the Michelin Pilots 4s, which are 300tw. I started with those and they handle very well. They are a huge step up from street radials. If you go the route of new tires then you have to upgrade to either 17" or 18" wheels so you can use tires with a smaller side wall heights.
Click to expand...
The Penhard Bar that connects to the read end, I finally found one that says will work with my 71 but it says with modification what it does not say is how it helps with handling/. I have my stock rear end that I keep which I hold on to all original parts but it has a 3.93 rearend in it now. Which is how I bought and I do not know if it is 8 or 9 onch. bit ill find out either way this link says it fits boths sizes. Do you know the benefits of it Tony?

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Univ...-9-Inch-Rear-Axles,2208.html?sku=91049800-RAW​

 
Milalynne said:
The Penhard Bar that connects to the read end, I finally found one that says will work with my 71 but it says with modification what it does not say is how it helps with handling/. I have my stock rear end that I keep which I hold on to all original parts but it has a 3.93 rearend in it now. Which is how I bought and I do not know if it is 8 or 9 onch. bit ill find out either way this link says it fits boths sizes. Do you know the benefits of it Tony
Click to expand...

Never mind I found info about it. I think they came stock on 79 and new mustangs but not for sure yet.
Panhard bars work to:

  • Keep the rear axle from moving side to side
  • Keep handling consistent
  • Reduce chassis flex/twist
  • Eliminate rear-steer
  • Help with cornering

Milalynne said:

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Univ...-9-Inch-Rear-Axles,2208.html?sku=91049800-RAW​

Click to expand...
 
Milalynne said:
The Penhard Bar that connects to the read end, I finally found one that says will work with my 71 but it says with modification what it does not say is how it helps with handling/. I have my stock rear end that I keep which I hold on to all original parts but it has a 3.93 rearend in it now. Which is how I bought and I do not know if it is 8 or 9 onch. bit ill find out either way this link says it fits boths sizes. Do you know the benefits of it Tony?

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Univ...-9-Inch-Rear-Axles,2208.html?sku=91049800-RAW​

Click to expand...
No.. dont buy that one. I will reply with more time later. Look at Mike Maier's website for a high quality one.
 
tony-muscle said:
No.. dont buy that one. I will reply with more time later. Look at Mike Maier's website for a high quality one.
Click to expand...
Im glad i stopped to read this because it was in my shopping cart and I was minutes awag from buying it, ill wait for your response and thnk you for taking the time to help out a fellow mustang fan
 
The role of the Panhard bar it to take the lateral forces from the leaf springs that are created when turning. Without the Panhard the leaf springs are exposed to the lateral force exerted by the weight of the car when turning. This results on the shackles deflecting. Since the springs are fixed laterally at the front eye, as the shackles deflect the rear wheels are at angle leading to rear steering. The consequence is an unpredictable rear end. The addition of the Panhard reduces oversteer by a significant amount. You can watch Mike's video: https://mikemaierinc.com/products/64-73-mustang/rear-suspension/64-73-mustang-mod-panhard-rod/
His product is one of the best out there. Expensive compared to what you posted but look at the difference. Like the saying, you end up getting what you pay for. Mike's Panhard is very beefy with a cross brace as a reinforcement. His Panhard has a long bar parallel to the ground where it is the most effective.
Mike's Panhard requires welding but it is relatively easy to install if you have the time and follow the instructions.
PS: if you order from Mike make sure that you check if your car has a staggered shock setup and let them know.
 
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