73 mustang 2V with ram air maybe.

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jspears

Active member
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Messages
37
Reaction score
9
Location
USA
My Car
73 Mach 1
Been a member for a long time but I never introduced myself.
My car came with a ram air hood (repainted) and had the hood scoops but no vacuum doors or plenum but the holes were there. In addition it has the square sided hood springs.
I bought it in 1990 and over the years rebuilt the Cleveland twice, had a professional builder build a 408 with trick flow top end, (not installed yet).
Converted the ignition to duraspark, then to recurved duraspark dizzy and HEI ignition module.
Redid the suspension in 1996, lowering the upper control arms and using 600lb springs in the front, kit from Mustangs plus.
Car sat in various garages from 2001-2018 and my Son and I got it running again.
Its been a very slow process but its fun to do.
Car now has 17 inch torque thrust 2 wheels. Street or track 13 inch brakes on the front, street or track 12 inch brakes on the back, street or track coilovers and tubular suspension on the front. 6 degrees castor, -1 degree camber and just enough toe in to keep it from being darty.
Car has lares high rate steering box, 2.5 turns lock to lock and can corner at 1.05G.
Future plans are frame connectors, installing the new engine and a 3 link rear suspension from street or track.
The old engine is good for 5.3 seconds 0-60 with a 19 lb flywheel and close ratio T56 magnum with 4.11 rear gears.
It will get 17.5 mpg in the current trim.
Car looks terrible it really needs a paint job but it is an absolute joy to drive.
the theme of my build is I want the car to go as fast as it looks but not look really modified.
I plan to cover up the trick flow stuff with a large custom ram air cleaner maybe.
 
Welcome and howdy from Texas! Sounds like you have got a real fun project to drive and share with your son. You should start a build thread. Many of us would be interested in your suspension and engine mods.
 
Sounds like you need some black steel wheels with the dog dish hubcaps.
its got 17 inch torque thrust 2 with 235 50 ZR17 on it. I like the torque thrust because they are lightweight. I think I need more meat though I will probably go with wider ones. The car oversteers predictably, let off the gas and it straightens out but going to a 3 link rear is supposed to reduce that.
 
You have a very nice sounding pony car. 0-60 in 5.3 seconds is quite respectable for a pony car from that era. My guess is you have a rear axle ration close to or at 3.5:1. But, with 17.5 MPG it may be a little higher (3.0:1 or 3.25:1). It is hard to get those First Generation Mustangs off the line fast enough to get into the 0-60 in about 5 seconds range with tall gears though, unless you are running a torque beast like a 428 CobraJet, or even 429. No matter, I am impressed

In our 73 Mach 11 we have the NACA/NASA hood, but its inlet portsz were blocked off by the factory. I purchased a Ram Air kit with Plenum, Vacuum Motor actuated doors, and an air filter housing designed to work with the plenum and a soft, flexible connector for between the air filter housing and the air scoop plenum under the hood. Well, the air filter housing bottom section did not fit our 750 CFM Holley, and I was not about to mount a 2150 2v carburetor just to get that to fit. Without the aid filter housing designed to fit with the lenum soft connector it made no sense to keep the plenum in place. So, I opted to leave the plenum and vacuum motor actuated doors off, and let cool air come into the engine compartment, similar to the outer hood scoops on our 1969 Shelby, just to get cooler outside air into the engine compartment, expecting some of the cooler air to be pulled in by our 360 degree open/exposed air filter.

I was not too worried about the Ram Air not being sent directly into the air cleaner housing, as realistically it has been shown time and again that adding ram Air really does very little for performance, much less a measurable difference. Further, it is not a substitute for Turbocharging or Supercharging as nothing is being truly forced into the carburetor inlet. Any air that cant get sucked into the carb inlet it essentially blown out the air filter housing inlet snorkel - one of those "hidden secrets" nobody will tell you when they are trying to sell you a Ram Air system of some sort.

But, there is one nice thing about having a Ram Air system, actually two. For those who do not understand how they really (don't) work, it gives you bragging rights, and sounds bad ass when describing the car, so you get that benefit And, even more importantly, as the carburetor begins to open up you will hear more of a roar from the intake as opposed to the sound from the air inlet when a closed housing air filter system is in place - and although it unto itself make the car go faster, it does sound awesome. And, perhaps a third benefit is the cool air coming into the engine compartment with a setup like mine brings in cool air and flushes out hot air from the engine compartment. That potential benefit may be negated if the underhood air is essentially trapped in front of the firewall, with nothing forcing the hot air our, or pulling the hot air down and behid the engine bat. But, even a little hot air scavenging is better than none. Perhaps I will gt some thermocouples and try measuring underhood temps at 50 MPH with the air inlets open, and with them closed off, just to see what differences there are at certain points under the hood. That sounds like a fun project for next Car Season. Today we have been prepping the pony cars for Winter Hibernation. No matter, having the air scoop inlets open, and having the hood scoop Call Outs declaring, "351 RAM AIR," is pretty bitchin' and awesome to see. And the menacing rumble from the street/strip built 351 makes it pretty well known our Mach 1 can hold its own. I have not been challenged to a race yet, and were I even inclined to race (I am not so inclined) it would have to be at a sanctioned race track.. My days of street racing are decades in my past, never to return. That said, if anyone were inclined to race I would likely pit our 69 Shelby GT500 or 2020 Shelby GT500 against whatever I am challenged with. Anyone in their right mind would be very considerate of any of those cars, but the Shelbys especially.

 

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You have a very nice sounding pony car. 0-60 in 5.3 seconds is quite respectable for a pony car from that era. My guess is you have a rear axle ration close to or at 3.5:1. But, with 17.5 MPG it may be a little higher (3.0:1 or 3.25:1). It is hard to get those First Generation Mustangs off the line fast enough to get into the 0-60 in about 5 seconds range with tall gears though, unless you are running a torque beast like a 428 CobraJet, or even 429. No matter, I am impressed

In our 73 Mach 11 we have the NACA/NASA hood, but its inlet portsz were blocked off by the factory. I purchased a Ram Air kit with Plenum, Vacuum Motor actuated doors, and an air filter housing designed to work with the plenum and a soft, flexible connector for between the air filter housing and the air scoop plenum under the hood. Well, the air filter housing bottom section did not fit our 750 CFM Holley, and I was not about to mount a 2150 2v carburetor just to get that to fit. Without the aid filter housing designed to fit with the lenum soft connector it made no sense to keep the plenum in place. So, I opted to leave the plenum and vacuum motor actuated doors off, and let cool air come into the engine compartment, similar to the outer hood scoops on our 1969 Shelby, just to get cooler outside air into the engine compartment, expecting some of the cooler air to be pulled in by our 360 degree open/exposed air filter.

I was not too worried about the Ram Air not being sent directly into the air cleaner housing, as realistically it has been shown time and again that adding ram Air really does very little for performance, much less a measurable difference. Further, it is not a substitute for Turbocharging or Supercharging as nothing is being truly forced into the carburetor inlet. Any air that cant get sucked into the carb inlet it essentially blown out the air filter housing inlet snorkel - one of those "hidden secrets" nobody will tell you when they are trying to sell you a Ram Air system of some sort.

But, there is one nice thing about having a Ram Air system, actually two. For those who do not understand how they really (don't) work, it gives you bragging rights, and sounds bad ass when describing the car, so you get that benefit And, even more importantly, as the carburetor begins to open up you will hear more of a roar from the intake as opposed to the sound from the air inlet when a closed housing air filter system is in place - and although it unto itself make the car go faster, it does sound awesome. And, perhaps a third benefit is the cool air coming into the engine compartment with a setup like mine brings in cool air and flushes out hot air from the engine compartment. That potential benefit may be negated if the underhood air is essentially trapped in front of the firewall, with nothing forcing the hot air our, or pulling the hot air down and behid the engine bat. But, even a little hot air scavenging is better than none. Perhaps I will gt some thermocouples and try measuring underhood temps at 50 MPH with the air inlets open, and with them closed off, just to see what differences there are at certain points under the hood. That sounds like a fun project for next Car Season. Today we have been prepping the pony cars for Winter Hibernation. No matter, having the air scoop inlets open, and having the hood scoop Call Outs declaring, "351 RAM AIR," is pretty bitchin' and awesome to see. And the menacing rumble from the street/strip built 351 makes it pretty well known our Mach 1 can hold its own. I have not been challenged to a race yet, and were I even inclined to race (I am not so inclined) it would have to be at a sanctioned race track.. My days of street racing are decades in my past, never to return. That said, if anyone were inclined to race I would likely pit our 69 Shelby GT500 or 2020 Shelby GT500 against whatever I am challenged with. Anyone in their right mind would be very considerate of any of those cars, but the Shelbys especially.


Mach I Pony
The ram air I added to my 73 MACH I 351C FMX definitely made a different in performance. If I'm not curiously paying attention to my speed the car will curse at 80MPH. if I punch it I doing 100MPH in no time with that push you back in the seat feeling. It also gives 18MPG across the range. All this with a Motorcraft 2100D Carburetor. It didn't have this PEP before.
 

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