Shelby stocker

[mike7570]

Took it back out this weekend for ANRA race #2 (cost less than a test n tune)
Corrected rev limiter, new smaller slicks at 13lb air, 3300 rpm in 2step. Car pushed through the beam, no time. Pushing through the beam was my fault, 1st time using a 2step.
Run#2 - dropped 2step rpm to 2,800 and it left good on a so so .052 light. Ran 10.85 in 95 degrees temp. and 3,524 altitude density. not too bad for 4th pass (first full pass) It was .400 under the B-stock index (closer in weight to B than A)
The next morning was cooler and dialed 10.75. The other car had a better light but he ran it way under while I lifted for the cars 1st round win. Next round we were held on the line for a long time while the previous pair had some issues getting off the track. The car was getting hot and I was a little rattled and red lit. i ran it out the back at 10.76 at around 84 degrees and 2,900 altitude density.
I haven’t touch any thing since it was put together so I should be able to whittle down the ET’s with some tuning and practice.

[Stangman]

That’s great Mike.

[hbstang]

that picture of front tires off the ground looks like a perfect alignment to keep them vertical like that.whats the secret to that? most stock suspension mustangs have camber changes are a lot with wheels up.just wondering.

[mike7570]

Most cars running in classes other than stock use travel limiters. See the front suspension pictures of mbrunson427’s car.  In stock I can’t use that type of limiter.  I have the 1” Shelby drop with OpenTracker components, bump stop and shock tower bracing.

[cjshaker]

Mike, this is an assumption, but I'm guessing you had the alignment done with the front lifted to the height it would be at while going down the track? That has always been my understanding on a good alignment for a drag car, and is what I'm planning when I install my new roller front suspension pieces. It might not be ideal for street use, but on a track, stability at speed is much more important, IMO.

[mike7570]

On my car the camber change is not as great as a stock mustang. It goes through smaller change thanks to the Shelby drop and some limited travel. The alignment was done at the anticipated ride height while running down the quarter mile under full power.

[hbstang]

mike,how are the calvert shocks working for you?i was thinking of building a vertical mount on my 68 ,but thats a lot of fabrication and i  would prefer not to do that .

[mike7570]

If you zoom in the picture above look at the wrinkle in the tire sidewall. So far the traction has been very good with the new tires. That was 13 1/2 lb air pressure, I’m going to move it up a little at a time until it starts spinning. The Cal-Tracs are currently set with no load on driver side and 1/4 turn on passenger side with the shocks set in the middle.

[bobb428]

Hope to see you in Vegas at the end of the year!

[mike7570]

Planning on Bakersfield double in Oct.and Vegas divisional to end the year with 3 grade points. One more trip to Bakersfield in Aug. (if it’s not too hot) to try some tuning adjustments. I need about .500 to be satisfied with the build. Right now everything is still where it was set to get it running after assembly.  Hope we can meet in Vegas.

[mike7570]

Went to Bakersfield over the weekend for another ANRA race to get more testing and experience with the car.
I changed the 6 runs expired flexplate with a new unit good until 12/27. I got it running and wanted to make a few tuning adjustments before the race and I know I should only be making one change at a time. I couldn’t help myself and made 4 adjustments.

At the previous races i was having trouble with reading the timing advance with my old Sears light because it seems to be picking up the multiple spark of the MSD. The MSD reverts to single spark at a certain rpm but my advance was kicking in while it was still in a multi spark phase and it caused the mark to jump around and I couldn’t get a good reading of where it was set. This time with some help I brought the motor rpm’s up high enough to get past that and the timing mark settled down to where it was readable.

So I advanced the timing maybe 3 degrees, changed to lighter blue springs on the weights, changed to an open carb spacer and dropped the jets down a size. First pass Saturday kicked me back in the seat and resulted in a 10.26 et at 128 mph. Yeah! There was the 1/2 second I was looking for.  I wanted to try some more but now I’m going to stick to one at a time.

The next pass (leaving it alone) was not good. There was an oil down right before I ran and I had to sit and wait on clean up. My burnout got a little crooked and I lined up about a foot and a half out of the groove. I thought what the heck they just drug the track and sprayed it should be fine. Nope, blew off the tires and had a 2.00+ 60’ time and clicked it off. I heard a little lean pop so I jetted back up a couple of sizes and went up for eliminations. I was distracted when the car seemed to rock getting on the 2step (I pushed though the beam on the up in smoke run.) and I did a quick glance at my dash light for the 2step. It held fine but when I refocused on the tree the yellow that was lit was not the top bulb but the second one and it took my brain a moment to realize I was off one bulb and you could time my leave with a sundial. I ran it down and caught the other car but I knew it was going to go way under. So on the brakes it went 10.27 on a 10.25 dial at only 117.

Already looking forward to the next race and will only try one tuning change at a time, I promise!

[mike7570]

[Heo]

What a beauty

[cjshaker]

It really is a stunning car, Mike.
Congratulations on a good sorting out day. Sounds like you'll be pushing low 10's after things get settled in.
I watch turbo cars when they stage, and some of them rock like a baby's carriage when they bump in. Seems like it would totally throw off the suspension on launch. Some guys have a soft bump though, which is much more stable.

[mike7570]

Added 120lbs to make A weight at Bakersfield scale. Played around with timing and jets and got it back to the same et’s before adding weight. Only about 12 runs on car and there should be more especially with better weather.