230 MPH

Joe_J · Aug 26, 2022

I have a 79 Hatch that is a slightly different animal. 4400 lbs, 351Cleveland. 700 HP single 950 holley, no power adders. 4 speed toploader, Gear Vendors O/D and 3.73 8.8 with a spool. I run a production body class in the SCTA. Car still has the horn, wiper motor, dash. lights, etc. I am allowed an air dam in the front and nearly any hood scoop within reason. In August 2021, I ran 214 mph at Bonneville. Car went 204 at Arkansas mile. 174 at 1/2 mile (@3600 #). I will be going back to the Salt (Bonneville Utah) in 2023 attempting to set a class record . Current record is 228, held by a Chevy Monza. I may be able to tweak another 20 or 30 HP from my engine but I need to work on the Aero. I cant change the body panels, tape the gaps. block headlights or grill. I cant alter the body, cover holes or smooth any gaps. They will put you in the altered class (246 record) if you have flattened radiator fins! I know there haven't been a lot of foxes with no wings running above 200 but I will be looking here and elsewhere for hints or tips and possibly a steel hood that I can customize a bit.

General karthief · Aug 26, 2022

Shorts and flip flops
Reminds me of Gray Baskerville (yer ol' dad) on the salt from Hot Rod mag
Welcome to stangnet

mustystang · Aug 26, 2022

Did you play around with the tires at all? Or is that the ideal for those conditions

Joe_J · Aug 27, 2022

Running 4" tires on rear is typical. Less drag. The tires in pic ere 27" Goodyear Eagle front runners. We put my 26.2" x 10 Kuhmo tires on and the car went from 208 to 214. Tire spin above 200 was greatly reduced, and the gearing change seemed to help a bit too. We are going to try a 28" tire next year with a rear gear change. Aero improvements are the key. Just have to figure out how to do that within the rules!

General karthief · Aug 27, 2022

Geez, get on over to the fox forums and tell us more about running the flats flat out and what you did to run those numbers.

Adieu · Aug 27, 2022

If I were chasing this, I'd run an '87-93 GT nose, or build an '87-93 car if such a swap was a rule-breaker. Ford lowered the drag coefficient dramatically when they put the composite headlights in and eliminated the grille. The smooth LX tail lamps probably wouldn't hurt either.

Do they look under the car? I know years ago they were dimpling the floorpans at the superspeedways in Nascar with ball-peen hammers to help with aero.

This is all outside my expertise, but it's an insanely cool car and I've been fascinated with all forms of motorsport since a very young age.

mustystang · Aug 27, 2022

Have you tried fresh wash, synthetic wax, and removing all those decals?

Mustang5L5 · Aug 27, 2022

Can you swap an 87-93 GT nose on with that air dam? If so, that would smooth out the front end a bit, although you’ll need to consider airflow to the radiator.

Also, 87-93 quarter windows would likely help a tad as well.

Are flat dish covers for the wheels allowed?

Joe_J · Aug 27, 2022

MustangIIMatt said:
If I were chasing this, I'd run an '87-93 GT nose, or build an '87-93 car if such a swap was a rule-breaker. Ford lowered the drag coefficient dramatically when they put the composite headlights in and eliminated the grille. The smooth LX tail lamps probably wouldn't hurt either.

Do they look under the car? I know years ago they were dimpling the floorpans at the superspeedways in Nascar with ball-peen hammers to help with aero.

This is all outside my expertise, but it's an insanely cool car and I've been fascinated with all forms of motorsport since a very young age.

Can't change the nose, Has to be an 81 or older 4 seat passenger car! Also they do check under the car. No mods there either.

Joe_J · Aug 27, 2022

mustystang said:
Have you tried fresh wash, synthetic wax, and removing all those decals?

Its a plasti dip job. A rougher texture paint may be faster than a smooth finish. The class and car numbers have to be on there.

mustystang · Aug 29, 2022

So you have to have all those Left rear stickers that say Tom's, Magna fuel, and Poo on the back window?

And for sure the snow plow is beneficial?

Joe_J · Aug 29, 2022

mustystang said:
So you have to have all those Left rear stickers that say Tom's, Magna fuel, and Poo on the back window?

And for sure the snow plow is beneficial?

The snow plow is beneficial. Car ran 175 in the mile without it and was spooky loose. I put it on and went 186. (C4 auto). Put in 4 speed and lowered rear then went 204. Keeping air out from under the car prevents lift. The air pressure across the back window is so low it pulled the window from the seal so my Points of Otter (POO) sticker is not causing significant drag. The stickers on the side covering the screwed up lexan are staying. If I get to 229.99 I'll pull them off and see if it makes a difference.

rednotch · Aug 29, 2022

4400lbs, how much is ballast and do they have a max allowed? Wow that takes some work to get a fox body to that weight.

General karthief · Aug 29, 2022

Tell us more about the car and what it takes to run in that class in the fox forums, I bet I would not be the only one interested.
Feel free to take us along on your next ride

Joe_J · Aug 29, 2022

rednotch said:
4400lbs, how much is ballast and do they have a max allowed? Wow that takes some work to get a fox body to that weight.

We add weight till the tires stop spinning. Salt is loose and well, its salt. It really feels like trying to accelerate on 4 inches of snow. High power door cars and roadsters are quite often 5 or 6000 lbs. I run about 1240# ballast. I may reduce it a couple hundred pounds and see if I can't get it into high gear sooner. View: https://www.facebook.com/joe.jolly.106/videos/390367939138614

Labora · Aug 29, 2022

Sounds very limited in any changes you can make, the only area that comes to mind is possibly better vending at rear of hood to help air escape but the large cowl is presumably open already on the rear to help?

Can you do anything at all the vent air from behind the tires?

Joe_J · Aug 29, 2022

I cant change anything from production as far as making any new holes in the body. I will take out all the door and hatch seals though to allow pressure in the cabin to bleed off. I am going to make some changes in the hood. I will be looking for a steel hood so I can make my own scoop. right now the air is going through the front and exiting under the car. That will remain the same. The opening of the cowl is actually seeing positive pressure from the windshield. The carb is happy with the current set up. The next one will be a bit of a blow thru hood scoop.

rednotch · Aug 29, 2022

Joe_J said:
We add weight till the tires stop spinning. Salt is loose and well, its salt. It really feels like trying to accelerate on 4 inches of snow. High power door cars and roadsters are quite often 5 or 6000 lbs. I run about 1240# ballast. I may reduce it a couple hundred pounds and see if I can't get it into high gear sooner. View: https://www.facebook.com/joe.jolly.106/videos/390367939138614

Yeah I'm used to nhra stuff where 500lbs was the limit, 1000+ lbs would have me over thinking safety measures if the worst happened.

Joe_J · Aug 29, 2022

rednotch said:
Yeah I'm used to nhra stuff where 500lbs was the limit, 1000+ lbs would have me over thinking safety measures if the worst happened.

Rules say that the ballast has to stay between the axles. We have a a weight box attached to the 2"x 6" frame connector. We put approximately 400 lbs of lead in the frame connectors and rocker panels. There is 225# attached to the roll cage. The weight box and bumpers carry the rest of the weight.

mustystang · Aug 31, 2022

What oil are you running in it?

230 MPH

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