Prior to 2018, I had been running a 1964 Galaxie with a 445 FE in it running 11.50 in the 1/4. I always wanted to go faster but at 4,000lbs with driver we would always fight the weight. So, the Dragster was bought used rolling in fall of 2017. That winter we converted it from BBC to FORD FE powered. It took us engineering a few custom made parts and most of the winter to get it together. We chose to use our back-up engine as the break-in mule given we had a "new to dragster" driver and a uncommon combination. The Back-up engine was a 390 Ford FE, stock crank, trw pistons, .602 lift flat tappet cam, stock C4AE heads and a ford dual plane aluminum intake. Best pass first weekend out was 6.12 @111mph. We continued to adjust shift point, tire pressure, carb spacers and after a few weeks had it running around 5.95. Mid 2018, I installed the new trick flow single plane intake and picked up nearly a tenth. Best pass of 2018 was 5.82 @ 116 in optimal conditions. Over this past winter we decided that the dragster would be a perfect platform to gauge the impact of the new Trick flow heads. So over the winter we installed a new set of trick flow heads. Only change we had to made was to mill the rocker stands .200. Everything else stayed constant and our best pass to date is shown below. Our intention originally was to switch to a larger cubic inch motor year 2 but its been fun trying to see what we can squeeze out of our 390 test engine. Plus, in a sea of BBC dragsters its always fun to see people double take that it is in fact a ford, which in itself is odd in a dragster, but also an 390 FE!
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Performance Summary:
1/8 mile ET: 5.612 1/8 mile MPH: 120.56
60 foot time: 1.242
Track: Summit Motorsports Park (Norwalk, OH)
Vehicle Specifications: 2002 Gebhardt Hardtail 225"
Style: Rear Engine Dragster
Engine Details (link to post in Dyno Results board if available: 390 Ford FE, stock crank, trw pistons, .602 lift flat tappet cam, trick flow heads and intake
Transmission: Powerglide
Torque converter details (if automatic): Abruzzi 8"
Rear end type: Ford 9" Spool
Gear Ratio: 5.14
Ready-to-race vehicle weight, including driver:1800 lbs