[MikeLTDLX]

That makes me completely thrilled with this project - 600 fwhp @ 5,400 rpm and 640 fwtq @ 3,300 rpm. From a little 306 with an Eaton blower. In a 2,800lb mustang setup for drag racing with a C4, we're talking 9 second power.

How about a sub-2600 pound Fairmont wagon? Much better home for that sweet little mill than that battleship grey turd.

She is home, and CHALLENGE ACCEPTED f*cker.

Mike

 

[AlexLTDLX]

The money line that sums it all up is at 6:18:

"A month from now would have been perfect for you. But then I get bigger too."

You are Ferrigno to my Schwarzenegger.

 

[MikeLTDLX]

The money line that sums it all up is at 6:18:

MY LORD Arnold Schwarzenegger's PUMPING IRON - Part 6 - YouTube

"A month from now would have been perfect for you. But then I get bigger too."

You are Ferrigno to my Schwarzenegger.

Well, you should take a look at Ferrigno these days, compared to Arnold. :rofl:

Thing is, I have a clean slate...while you have to make due with that girly man motor. You want to pump iron? I can roid the f*ck up...like 500+ cubes of 'roid rage. Hell, I may even throw a slush box in there to make it even.....

Mike

 

[AlexLTDLX]

LOL... bring it, homey. Remember: I've got one more trick up my sleeve good for at least two tenths if all else fails. It's called Cecil. Game on.

 

[AlexLTDLX]

Just got back from the track with some more interesting data. Will post up tomorrow. No new best ET, but a best mph, by quite a bit. Also found out how much fuel I need to run and something weird about 60' times.

But here's the important numbers: 10.77 @ 127.81.

 

[87coupe50]

Finally found your thread and spent the last couple days reading thru it. Getting faster and faster! That thing must be a freak or on some special sauce for a low compression 306 (H,C,I) to put out ~500RwTq on 7.3lbs of boost, thru an AOD, no less.

Guess I'm gonna have to get back to the track with some slicks and work on shifting this thing a lot quicker! I feel mine should definately be in the mid 11s, but 10s is a far cry from where I'm at now.

Was wondering about your timing... I don't remember what you said Base and Total were set to (18,24?) Does it provide more timing at idle (more vacuum) and less timing at WOT (no vacuum)? How does that work?

 

[AlexLTDLX]

Lol - the "secret sauce" is all in the little tweaks and refinement. No magic juju here. Or it's just ketchup (catsup?) and mayo mixed together. Which is gross.

I'm running a duraspark distributor that I re-curved. It's only got 4 degrees of mechanical advance with a relatively slow curve - all in by 4,000 rpm. Timing is set to 18.5* initial, 22.5* total. I am running a vacuum advance, but I suspect it's hurting my 60' times a little (sudden loss of timing at the transition to WOT). I'll try unplugging it next time I go out to the track - probably not for another few months, by the look of things.

I've also been further refining the combo. It's so close to 130 mph in the quarter, it'd be a shame not to hit that mark. I'm trying to find the time to do a proper update post...

 

[AlexLTDLX]

So here we are (again). I think this sums things up nicely - at 1:12 into the clip:

This is one of my favorite films. William S. Burroughs was the original rockstar. He makes Keith Richards look like a teetotaling wuss.

Bill: "I thought you were finished doing weird sh**."
Bill's Wife: "I though I was too. But I guess I'm not."
Then he shoots her. By accident. In the head.

This book (and movie) is Burroughs' autobiography - I told you. Rockstar. If you've never seen it, rent it and watch it alone, at night and for the love of god don't be under the influence of ANYTHING. Otherwise, you'll end up in therapy for the rest of your life. And if you think the movie is no big whoop; read the book. I dare you. I've never made it all the way through.

Anywho - I thought I was done. I guess not. 10.77 at 127.81. The mph speaks of a low 10 second pass. And 127.81 is sooo close to 130. So, as Quickstrike predicted, here we go again.

More power is not a feasible (read: safe) option. So let's go tweak.

First up - I felt the need to check out this Autozone Spectra Radiator everyone's talking about. My old three-core copper brass deal wasn't leaking, but it was rather old and crusty. And the single-core Spectra was bound to be a good deal lighter. Here it is, sporting my tranny cooler:

This thing weighs 10 lbs. The triple-core copper brass one weighed 19 lbs. 9 lbs, plus the weight difference of less coolant. Let's call it 15 lbs right off the nose. And the good news: it actually keeps the car cooler than the old one by about 10-15 degrees. In 70 degree weather, with the cooling fan on, the coolant temps topped out at 156 degrees. Today, in mid 80 degree heat, it topped out at 176. On a 100 degree day, it might tickle 190. Sweet. And for $88, well worth it. I also got rid of those ugly hold-downs, made some mods to the lower mounts, and used exiting holes in the core support for zip-ties. Yep, I'm using zip ties. The radiator's in there firmly, rubber cushioned and there's no chance it's going anywhere. Surprisingly, doesn't look awful, either:

Zip ties. Your friend and mine.

So, moving on. Hmm... aluminum driveshaft, anyone? I did some digging and found out that Michael Yount had picked one up at a boneyard some time back that measured 51.5" long (about right) and couldn't use it because it's 3.5" girth would've hurt his Volvo's vulva. But the LTD can take that shaft and like it. So I reached out to him and asked if he still had it. He did, and he sent it to me. I got the bright idea of polishing the shaft to check for any dents by looking at the reflection. I'm glad I did. Here's what I saw:

Clearly, a victim of unwanted forking.

So I rigged up a "lathe" type of affair using the support blocks from the head-porting fiasco and a scrap board. I picked up some roller bearings for a buck each at harbor freight so I could spin the shaft easily. I then screwed a machinist's dial to a block of wood, and used some weights to weight the whole thing down. It worked surprisingly well. And here it is:

Wood. The mark of a precision instrument.

Detail of the bearings, in case you wanna try this at home:

On second thought, you probably don't wanna try this at home.

But here's what I found - Yount's shaft has .047" of runout. Considering max allowable runout is .015", we can all assume that Yount's shaft is bent. I hate to air this kind of personal info on the interwebs, but what're you gonna do? The information is out there. Sorry, Michael.

Here's an opportunity for some "choose-your-own-adventure" humor:

"Insert your own witty, yet crass caption here."

In all fairness, Michael did warn me that the shaft might not be suitable - so no onus is on him. On the bright side, that shaft is tuned to an A sharp. Maybe I'll make a wind chime. Or would that be more a, "wind gong?" In the interests of making this post reasonably tolerable, I'll quickly move on.

I hit up, "Crazy Ray's" junkyard, and found an Explorer shaft with bigger u-joints and a 51" length. I also discovered I'm too old to be crawling around junkyards pulling driveshafts. I also discovered that my stock driveshaft wasn't 51.5" long, but 51.25" (measured from the centerline of the u-joints, btw). Taking into account the 8.8" rear I put in to replace the factory 7.5" rear back in the day (the 8.8 is 3/8" longer - bet you didn't know that. Me neither. Until now.) the stock shaft only had .74" inches of play at the slip yoke; .75 is considered the minimum. But what's .01" between friends? Anyway, with the Explorer shaft, I'm at 1.14" of play. A hair over the 1" considered to be max. But still ok, in my book. After all, AOD output shafts have a unique feature - they stick out a bit past the seal.

Here's a pic that is freakin' un-findable on the net:

Like an excited puppy, the AOD output shaft protrudes just a bit. And that's really freakin' gross.

Specifically, that shaft sticks out 1.1"; with .75" of spline. The total splined length of the output shaft is 3.45". With the Explorer drive shaft in place, and re-using my AOD yoke (with a 5" long barrel), I still have 4.21" of engagement. In other words, the yoke is in there further than the splines of the output shaft. Another reason to feel fine about it. For now. Until it tosses it's cookies at the track. Oh - almost forgot. The stock shaft had .037" of runout (also technically bent - but I never noticed any vibes from it), and the Explorer shaft had .008" of runout - technically, straight. I also discovered that I've been exceeding the stock shaft's critical speed at the track. Oops.

Here's a comparo between the stock and the Explorer shaft:

Shorter. But girthier. And lighter. By 5 pounds, to be precise.

Moving on (again), because I feel this is taking forever - I also weighed all the pros and cons of different rear suspension products to help hook. Ultimately, I decided that Megabite Jr's are (were) the best solution. I won't get into why I feel this way, other than they shouldn't have a detrimental effect on handling, can be setup for autocrossing, and have real bushings. Unfortunately, they're no longer made (someone should start making them again). I was able to locate an, "installed, but never run" set here in the corral classifieds. And here they are:

Git 'er done.

This thing (so far) drives smoother than the Audi. NVH is definitely quite good now. Hard to believe it's a 10 second car. A few more things to do: cut a little more weight out of it (out of the doors, mostly), new track shoes, and replace whatever tie-rod part is a little loose up from (might just do them all). A little tuning on the throttle accel pump (or vacuum advance canister), and we might hit the new target of low tens and a buck thirty. We can only try.

And because I love this thing so much (and you do too), here's a couple of cell phone pics at the parts store ordering the new u-joints:

 

[seijirou]

Also found out ... something weird about 60' times.

 

[MikeLTDLX]

I note the latest install of "OCD Theater" was broadcast by our fearless hot-rodder at 1:52 a.m. For you younger kiddies out there, this is a classic example of why you should wait as long as you can to get married. When and if you do decide to marry, please ask for a full psychological evaluation of your potential spouse before you say "I do." In the minimum, for fun, have her take the MMPI, or the Minnesota Multiphasic Personalty Inventory.

Here is some good, watered down for the masses, reading material to explain the phenomenon portrayed above:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublimation_(psychology)

And for the record, I watched Naked Lunch while under the influence of mild hallucinogens. I have yet to attend therapy as a result. LOL.

Mike

 

[seijirou]

lol that was low. :rofl:

 

[MikeLTDLX]

lol that was low. :rofl:

As Alex's "silent counsel," I am permitted this type of behavior. LOL.

And, I am sure he will chime in with some witty banter about how his "attention to detail," has resulted in his LTD "street car" being a reliable 10 second machine..as opposed to my Wagon, which is officially possessed by demons bent on driving me around the bend.

Mike

 

[badass98svt]

Alex, can you fix the pics in your last post?
Great read btw. Love this thread.

 

[FordFreak300]

The pics in his last post work. I see them just fine. Clear the cache on your computer.

 

[AlexLTDLX]

lol that was low. :rofl:

It's all good. Mike gets a "pass." At least until any of his junk can come within 10 car lengths of the LTD at the track. I should be careful - his wagon will be the first to do it. After all, I did setup his distributor. Now it's got Alex magic. Which beats the fairy dust it had before.

Alas, tonight is gonna be another such night. I fell asleep on the couch earlier - ever since my kid has discovered, "Wipeout," she insists on watching it EVERY night. There's only so many shots to the head one can find amusing. So now I'm awake, and decided to make use of my time by stepping into the home office and getting some work done. So what's the first thing most people do in the office? Screw around on the internet, that's what. I'm no exception. After this post, I'll get to work. Really. Well, probably. Well, whatever.

badass98svt - Thanks; I'm glad people are still tuning in. I've said it before, and it still holds true - encouragement works. Keeps me at it. So thanks.


To address seijirou's rather cryptic post above (the, "What's in the box" thing), I realized I've never addressed the last track outing. I've already done the pics, just never put up the post. So here goes:

Captiol Raceway re-opened under new management. I decided to give it a shot to compare with 75/80. They were certainly putting forth an effort. That effort came in the form of hosing down the first 60' with VHT. That starting line hooked. I had a witty hooker comment at the ready, but find myself not in a "gutter-esque" mood. So we'll stay high(er) brow this evensong.

Anyway, here's what I found - the LTD wouldn't blow off the tires, no matter how hard I hit 'em. In fact, it actually started to bog. Best 60' - 1.56; worst - 1.59. I'd never been in that position. The car could always blow off the slicks if I got a little too aggressive on the launch. I also found, perhaps not surprisingly, the higher up I got on the footbrake, the less aggresive the launch was. Anything over 2,000 rpm, and it would bog. Seems like 1,600-1,900 rpm is the sweet spot. I can only get to about 2,400 before it pushes through the brakes. There's two places to look, because clearly this thing doesn't lack low-end torque. Either I need to tweak the throttle accelerator pumps (I have no idea if they need to be richer or leaner), or I need to disconnect the vacuum advance at the track - the fast loss of timing in the transition from footbrake to WOT may be causing a bit of a bog, only now noticed because of awesome track prep. Only way to find that out, of course, is by doing some good old testing and tuning.

And my adding the megabites into the mix is gonna make things more interesting. Also, I've found the minimum amount of fuel needed to not run out - I made 4 passes that night, and I ran out of fuel on the fourth pass. So the answer is, "over 3/4 of a tank." But that's something I plan to attend to this summer. I've got a plan. It may not be a good plan, but it's a plan. And if it works, I should be able to run at half a tank or less.

First pass was the best, and here's the slips in order:

And there you have it - a new PB with regard to MPH, and tied with my previous best ET. BTW - pass 3 is only half a slip because I ran against some guy known at the track as "Mustang Mike" - an N/T racer who runs a '66 tubbed mustang with a 'chute. I beat him. I also got four offers to sell the LTD.

And yes, MikeLTDLX. It is all in the tweaks, indeed.

PS - I find myself suddenly in the mood for Combos - the pretzel/cheese ones that I usually don't particularly like. Crap. I hope I'm not pregnant.

PPS - And that was your moment of zen. It had to happen.

PPPS - Now, I'm getting to work. Really.

 

[legallyfast]

Very interesting

 

[MikeLTDLX]

I love Combos, and I got my kid hooked on them as well. LOL.

 

[lchauvin88]

oooo combo's..... mmmmm.....

 

[seijirou]

Huh that is strange. Where do you make peak torque again? Did your video show any A/F ratio strangeness launching at higher rpms?

 

[Reverb]

Dude you're famous - type in "riding under the wing of an f14" into google - without the quotes even.