[CobraGreen]

Alright, I am getting the T5 in the cobra next weekend. The 18th. After the 5 speed is in, i am going to put on the 289 heads, and stock 89 shorties (for now) along with a 2.5 inch off road h-pipe. Right now I have 351 manifolds, going to a custom 2.25 stock h-pipe with 2 cats removed, and a flowmaster cat back. So will the shorties and 2.5 exhaust help me any? I dont mind if not, i want it for the bolt in capablilty, so if i upgrade to new cat back, or new shorties, they bolt right in. Also, after the 5 speed, heads and exhaust, Im going to save for a 150 shot of NOS. Then I will paint it, and have a final car. (for now at least) nothings ever finished. But for the next few years, that'll do it. What do you guys think? Any tips or suggestions?

 

[TommyN]

I would just do one thing at at time. I guess that Tremec swap for your C4 is off. Are you still getting an 8.8? One of your last posts mentioned your dragstrip experience. You mentioned your car had one wheel peel and had no traction if I remember correctly. If I had your car, I would get sticky tires like the G6015 American Racers. Fix the annoying things that are wrong with the car like the speedo that reads too fast. Why do you want to swap out your fresh c4? You spent all that money on it. Maybe upgrade other areas and if you still don't like the c4, swap it out then. If you want a cheap exhaust system, I like my Summit long tubes and Flow-Tech offroad H. The headers are like $80 and the H is about $130. They will make more power than shorties and still allow you to run a standard cat back. You can save your 351 manifolds and modified H for the next smog test. I would not run nitrous on the motor just yet. You can get it in the 13s and even the 12s on the motor alone with tuning and the right selection of parts. If you plan on running the 289 heads, you might want to have them ported first. There is a guy named Thumper460 on stangnet that ports heads and does a 5 angle valve job on them. He charges about $500 shipped for E7s. He could probably do your heads. You could also check for local head porters by asking around at the track. You might want to change the cam when you install the ported heads. The head porter would likely give a good recommendation and let you know what valve springs to run. I would put a TurboCoupe 3.55 axle under the car. Are you still getting a Performer RPM? I think the car could run mid to high 12s with the parts mentioned. Good luck. Tom

 

[CobraGreen]

Ok, new update. The T5 goes in saturday. Along with the 289 heads and new speedo gear. The next time I have money, The axel will go in, along with the intake. The reason im going to put the 5 speed in, is because i live 30 minutes from school and work, and I dont like not having over drive. It bugs me, and I cannot afford gas. So i just need the overdrive. And ya, i'm fixing the little things as I go. But for sure the 5 speed and heads are going on this weekend. Where do i get the american racer tires? Soo...with that 8.8 3.55's, and tires, and the heads (pretty stock) and that performer RPM, you think I can get 12's with some tuning? The exhaust will come some time soon, maybe before, maybe after the rear end. We'll see. All i wanted was 12's my whole life, thats why i was gonna use NOS, but if you think i can get there N/A I'll shot for that as my goal. Thanks for all the help, Adam

 

[TommyN]

CobraGreen

The stick will be more fun to drive, but I am sorry to see you wasted your money on the C4. I hope you can sell it and get back some of your investment. You might be able to sell the 351W heads too and the 289 heads if you decide not to use them.

My car runs in the high 12s and I think yours could too with not too much effort. It would be a good idea to have a total package that is matched up well. I did my car in stages.

Your car needs to be able to put the power to the ground. This is why I recommended tires. This is a link to where I bought my recent pair of G6015 American Racers. Enter the word tire in the search box and it will direct you to these tires. They cost less from this vender than from Powered by Ford where I bought my first set. I think shipping was less expensive too. This is the link: http://www.parts123.com/PartFrame.a...stmotorsportsinc.com&TITLE=Midwest_Motorsport

I think that your engine with proper heads, cam, intake, exhaust and gears could run better than my car, especially since your car is carburated and probably weighs less than mine.

What year t5 are you putting in the car? My car was a 90 and has an 8 tooth drive gear on the output shaft of the trans. If your trans is an 89 or earlier you have a 7 tooth gear. The Ford Motorsport catalog lists the correct speedo gears for different ratios. A red driven gear on the 8 tooth drive gear is accurate for 3.27 gears. A red gear on the 7 tooth drive gear is accurate for 3.73 gears. Ford also sells a six tooth drive gear which would be handy if you are running 3.90, 4.10, or 4.30 gears.

I bought my Summit long tubes because they are affordable and I beleive they make more power than a shorty header.

I think your 80 could run 12s if you put on ported 289 heads or ported GT40s or stock aluminum heads, a larger hydraulic cam like the Comp Cam Extreme Energy XE268H or XE274H, a performer RPM, the Summit long tubes, and a 3.55 or 3.73 TurboCoupe rear end with the G6015 American Racer tires. It might go 12s with unported 289 heads or unported GT40ps or GT40s, but porting would be better. Some guys put Chevy 1.94 /1.60 valves in the 289 heads. A set of GT40ps might be cheaper than modifying your 289 heads. Here is a link about 1/2 way down page to some assembled GT40ps that are ported on the exhaust side: http://www.foxlakesale.quartermilemuscle.com/
You might need to check piston to valve clearance if you run larger valves. It is up to you if you think it is worth putting money in the 289 heads. I bought my complete "stage 2 ported" iron GT40 iron heads with 1.6 rockers for $600 used. I think it might cost more than that to do you 289 heads unless you can get a deal on the machine work. I don't have flow numbers from the stage 2 porting, but the bowls are ported and both the intake and exhaust ports are opened up to match gaskets. Good luck and keep us informed. Tom