Anyone seen this car? NJ area....

[NJ408]

So I went with the Grabber Yellow (correct color for 1971) with the hockey stick stripes and lower body black trim.
I did the hood blackout and added the Mach1 decals even though it's not a real Mach 1.



I stuck with the chrome front bumper and chrome fender/hood trim even though that's also not official.



I decided against rear window louvers, that back window is more like a skylight anyway.
Also no hood locks or ram air / engine size decals (I knew it would probably go to 408 at some point).
There's no ram air system under the hood the hood vents are just open.

They redid the interior and added a big tach and shift light. The rear seat was original (leather?) so we reused that.



With this configuration I got my one (and only) racing trophy at Englishtown.

My Mustang club held an elimination and I came in runner up. I missed the shift to third, which was a common problem for me.
Of course it was a handicapped race (pick your dial in, slower car gets head start and don't breakout).
So its wasn't about speed as much as cutting a good light and being able to run your dial in.

 

[NJ408]

Found my drag strip log from 2000 at Englishtown

Block: 1972 Ford 351 Cleveland, Stock Bore, 2 Bolt Mains
Heads: 1970 Ford 351C 4V Heads, 10.7 compression
Carb: Holley 4 barrel, 750 cfm, electric choke, Vacuum secondaries
Cam: Ford Motorsport # M-6250-A341
.510"/.536" Lift (intake/exhaust)
107/117 degree lobe centers
Overlap is 73 degrees
Lobe separation is 112 degree
Lifters: TRW Hydraulic
Intake: 1970 Ford 351C 4V
Headers: Hooker Competition #6915, 1 3/4" tubes, 2 1/2" collector, ceramic coated
Rear End: Ford 9 inch, Tractionlok, 3.70 gears

Testing at Englishtown showed a drop in power over 5000 RPM.

Dyno testing at Crazy Horse Racing in Clark NJ got to 276.5 HP, 321.0 lb-ft torque at rear wheels. Max HP was around 5100.
This was after adjusting timing and adding secondary metering block and new MSD ignition (6AL) and coil.
Decided to set the shift light to 5000.

Here is the entry from the Mustang Club Elimination.

11/4/00 Garden State Region Mustang Club Eliminations at Englishtown
Well, the dyno time paid off, ran a best of 14.46 and I had lifted so as not to break out (which I did anyway,
but so did the other guy and by more). Previous best was 14.70, so I picked up .24.
I got second place in our mustang club eliminations at Englishtown out of 17 cars.
I lost the final because I missed third (a problem I seem to be having with the toploader), I had .113 on him at the tree.
In fact, I had pretty good lights all night .722 (the other guy red lighted and was leaving 3 seconds before me so I backed off), .523, .570 and .652. **
I was shifting at 5000 (or at least the shift light was set to 5000) and it was pulling fine up till then. Car feels much better on the street too.
Well, that about raps it up for this year. Have to start planning for next years upgrades over the winter (and saving money)!
In '98 my best was 15.13, last year I got to 14.83 and this year 14.46. We'll see what next year brings.

** .500 second is a perfect light since the clock starts on the third yellow which is .5 seconds before green. Less than .500 is a red light.

 

[NJ408]

Next up was a drivetrain upgrade and some safety additions at the Mustang Barn. This was to prepare for an engine upgrade as the final step.

The entire drivetrain was upgraded.

Tremec TKO 5 Speed Transmission (cross member fabricated)
Custom aluminum drive shaft
Strange 9 Inch Third Member with Detroit Locker, 4.30 gears and 31 spline axels
Convert rear brakes to disc.

The 4.30 gears required the transmission to be upgraded to the 5 speed (.68 5th gear) at the same time to allow highway driving.

Safety upgrades include

Scatter shield and drive shaft loop.
Simpson 5 point belts.
6 point roll Bar



They sent the seat covers out to have the openings sewed in for the shoulder and lap belts. Of course they are attached to the roll bar.



The roll bar is attached to the unibody through the trim panels in the back seat.

 

[NJ408]

The plan was always to upgrade the engine next. One day, while returning from Englishtown, I was engaged in some "comparative acceleration" when the engine gave out. One of the valves broke and trashed a piston and the heads. Luckily the block was ok.





One of the members of my local Mustang Club mentioned that L&M Engines in PA had experience building Cleveland engines. And they were close to Glaziers in PA. So the car went back to Glaziers (on a flatbed) with instructions to deliver the engine to L&M.

I decided on a 408 stroker kit. I also had to find another set of closed chamber 4V heads.

 

[NJ408]

Michael at L&M started with the 72 Cleveland Block and 1970 4bbl closed chamber heads.
The block was bored +.030 and drilled for 4 bold main caps.
The heads were machined for roller rockers and ported. They flowed 292 CFM at .600 lift.
The solid roller cam was a custom grind designed by Michael (specs not provided).
Carb was a Holley 850 HP Series w/mods, intake a Holley Strip Dominator single plane.
Exhaust was Hooker Super Comp Headers.

Here are a couple of pics and the parts list.




Pro Gram 4 bolt billet steel main caps
Scat Forged 4340 steel crank 4.000 stroke
Scat Forged 4340 H-Beam Connecting Rods

Wiseco Custom pistons 10.75:1 comp -13cc dome volume
Sealed Power Rings

Crower Stainless roller rockers
Crower stainless steel roller rocker arms 1.73
Crower stainless steel roller rocker arms 1.65

Rocker arm studs Manley 42256
Comp Mech Roller Lifters
Exhaust valves Manley severe duty 1.710 .100
Intake Valves Manley severe duty 2.08 .100
True roller timing chain

 

[NJ408]

My initial target for the engine was 500HP from 408 cubic inches with the stroker kit.

Below is the HP-Torque chart from the engine dyno at L&M.



It made a little over 580HP at 6300 RPM. When I picked up the car at Glaziers and started the engine the first time I thought "holy crap what kind of a monster did I create." It took some getting used to with that much HP and the 4.30 gears.

I never did run the new engine at Englishtown (and they have since stopped drag racing there). Old age and common sense (and how much money I spent) keep my driving in check these days.

Attached is a short video of the car with the new engine.