well looks like were going for the cheap and fast route, we fully expect to have LOTS of man hours under the hood building and fixing lol..i added up everything I thought this build needed and it came in just short of 7 grand..that just won't do..all this is is a couple of high schoolers who want to get our feet wet in drag racing and we certainly don't want to spend a nickel of daddy's money..just not how I roll
Fox Budget Drag Car
- Thread starter PakstinN
- Start date
-
Sponsors (?)
Start with what you can. You can add the little extras as you go. I would not put the SVE arms on my car. I know a guy going 10's on stock control arms. Not the smartest or the best, but you can upgrade later.
Joe
Joe
Yeah, almost all the trucks are 31 carrier spline. I know a lot of guys like to go the junkyard and pull Explorer axles. You aren't going to find anything factory with a spool in it, but a stock carrier with decent clutches can handle quite a bit. A mini-spool isn't the best for drag racing.
Kurt
- Mar 2, 2015
- 6,811
- 5,849
- 203
High schoolers.... Don't want to spend dad's money...
Reminds me of my younger days
Man, build that car as cheap as possible and let'er eat.
I really like to see younger people getting into these cars and I'll help you out as much as I can.
Reminds me of my younger days
Man, build that car as cheap as possible and let'er eat.
I really like to see younger people getting into these cars and I'll help you out as much as I can.
High schoolers.... Don't want to spend dad's money...
Reminds me of my younger days
Man, build that car as cheap as possible and let'er eat.
I really like to see younger people getting into these cars and I'll help you out as much as I can.
Thanks for the kind words man!
okay so I now have a somewhat updated build list, hoping revhead347 can help with some of the rear end/suspension setup as you surely seem to have your share of experience on the matter.
Engine-351 (out of an LTD), custom grind cam, 13:1 pistons, VP110 fuel (believe I stated sunoco earlier but that was a typo), Summit racing single plain intake, rebuilt 750 double pumper.
Trans-C4 (out of the same LTD), stock bell housing (really hoping to get by without having to buy all SFI approved stuff), stock flex plate,all stock internals on transmission, transbrake valve body, 4000 stall.
Rear end- mustang 8.8, full spool, richmond 4.30 gears, 31 spline axles (need advice on whether to run the explorer axles or ebay axles...found an off brand set made with 1541H as apposed to the 1550 steel used in strange axles....are the aftermarket axles a necessary evil?!), stock stamped control arms with a thick piece of metal welded in to kind of make them similar to a tubular arm OR budget aftermarket ones (suggestions welcome), stock springs with 1 coil cut or eibach drag springs with passenger airbag.
Car- basically same plan...10 point roll cage added to equation (safety safety safety)...gotta keep the NHRA and my mother happy I suppose..lol
Im hoping to keep all of this under $5k AND run an 11.99 or faster
sorry, that got very long winded.
Engine-351 (out of an LTD), custom grind cam, 13:1 pistons, VP110 fuel (believe I stated sunoco earlier but that was a typo), Summit racing single plain intake, rebuilt 750 double pumper.
Trans-C4 (out of the same LTD), stock bell housing (really hoping to get by without having to buy all SFI approved stuff), stock flex plate,all stock internals on transmission, transbrake valve body, 4000 stall.
Rear end- mustang 8.8, full spool, richmond 4.30 gears, 31 spline axles (need advice on whether to run the explorer axles or ebay axles...found an off brand set made with 1541H as apposed to the 1550 steel used in strange axles....are the aftermarket axles a necessary evil?!), stock stamped control arms with a thick piece of metal welded in to kind of make them similar to a tubular arm OR budget aftermarket ones (suggestions welcome), stock springs with 1 coil cut or eibach drag springs with passenger airbag.
Car- basically same plan...10 point roll cage added to equation (safety safety safety)...gotta keep the NHRA and my mother happy I suppose..lol
Im hoping to keep all of this under $5k AND run an 11.99 or faster
sorry, that got very long winded.
forgot to add to the motor- bbk 1-3/4 (i think) 351w swap headers, 351 swap pan, gt40p heads ported with big valves (flow 239cfm @ .500...the heads are only $400 since I know who builds them), some sort of electric water pump down the road, and probably an electric fan from a taurus.
trans- probably a trans cooler if budget allows
Okay, I'm done talking now i promise
trans- probably a trans cooler if budget allows
Okay, I'm done talking now i promise
Good friend was going mid 1.4's o the juice and mid 1.5's n/a in the 60' with Jegs control arms, stock rear coils, 4cylinder fronts and ran Lakewood 50/50's (rear) and 90/10's(front), ran stock rear sway bar and an air bag in the right rear coil. Car weighed 2600lbs which helped a bunch. There are better setups. That thing would dangle the fronts nearly to the beams, and show daylight on the 1-2 shift. Too much/fast rise in my opinion but it worked for him. It would have been quicker and more consistent with a "better" setup, but, budget always rules.
Anyways, just posting that^ to show it doesn't take big bucks to make a car get out of the hole.
I just gave away a set of skinny Centerline convo-pros... wish you had this project a bit ago, would have loved to donate to such a project. Search for deals... oh, if you can find space saver aluminum wheels (I think they came on Thunderbirds) they were as light as you are going to find (without going Bogart and such) and will clear your 80's sized calipers. I go down this road because you've not mentioned front runners, and, bias out back and radial up front are reported to get interesting as speed increases.
Anyways, just posting that^ to show it doesn't take big bucks to make a car get out of the hole.
I just gave away a set of skinny Centerline convo-pros... wish you had this project a bit ago, would have loved to donate to such a project. Search for deals... oh, if you can find space saver aluminum wheels (I think they came on Thunderbirds) they were as light as you are going to find (without going Bogart and such) and will clear your 80's sized calipers. I go down this road because you've not mentioned front runners, and, bias out back and radial up front are reported to get interesting as speed increases.
Last edited:
BBK... I would look for a proper 3-bolt flanged header rather than a ball-and-socket deal.
Flowtech (Essentially a Hooker...) have anything?
Since you can weld, and you are doing this yourself, look for through the floor sub-frame connectors. Typically they are cheaper, and, they are much stronger than the "bolt-em-in" types. If I were doing it over... through the floor all the way.
Flowtech (Essentially a Hooker...) have anything?
Since you can weld, and you are doing this yourself, look for through the floor sub-frame connectors. Typically they are cheaper, and, they are much stronger than the "bolt-em-in" types. If I were doing it over... through the floor all the way.
Hell yeah man that would have been sweet. I work in a tire shop and I'm trying to con my boss into "sponsering" is a set of slicks and skinnies..what type of front tire/slicks should I be looking for? Any old slick be okay will any skinny be okay? To add to your comment about the 80s era brakes, we are planning on doing a drilled and slotted rotor with hawk pads and steel braided brake hoses..will that suffice on a budget rather than spending all the money on wilwood drag brakes?
We definitely want to hang some tire if the budget suspension works out. Lol
Will definitely look into flotech, infact I'm running flowtech long tubes on my own gt40p headed car. The only issue header wise I can foresee is finding a 351 swap header thag will ALSO work with P heads. Of course I could always do a little magic to the primaries and fab them enough to make everything clear...will definitely check into the through the floor sfc's. Last question about headers..if flotech offers nothing and we run the bbk headers would it really matter if they had the bell connectors? We're planning on just running open long tubes since it's a race car
okay so I now have a somewhat updated build list, hoping revhead347 can help with some of the rear end/suspension setup as you surely seem to have your share of experience on the matter.
Engine-351 (out of an LTD), custom grind cam, 13:1 pistons, VP110 fuel (believe I stated sunoco earlier but that was a typo), Summit racing single plain intake, rebuilt 750 double pumper.
Trans-C4 (out of the same LTD), stock bell housing (really hoping to get by without having to buy all SFI approved stuff), stock flex plate,all stock internals on transmission, transbrake valve body, 4000 stall.
Rear end- mustang 8.8, full spool, richmond 4.30 gears, 31 spline axles (need advice on whether to run the explorer axles or ebay axles...found an off brand set made with 1541H as apposed to the 1550 steel used in strange axles....are the aftermarket axles a necessary evil?!), stock stamped control arms with a thick piece of metal welded in to kind of make them similar to a tubular arm OR budget aftermarket ones (suggestions welcome), stock springs with 1 coil cut or eibach drag springs with passenger airbag.
Car- basically same plan...10 point roll cage added to equation (safety safety safety)...gotta keep the NHRA and my mother happy I suppose..lol
Im hoping to keep all of this under $5k AND run an 11.99 or faster
sorry, that got very long winded.
Usually I am all about chassis and tune, and less about engine, but the GT40p heads aren't going to yield much. Unless you just shoot an ass ton of nitrous in there. The GT40p heads are 13 second execution on an 11 second goal.
Good control arms are relatively cheap now. There is no point modifying the stock control arms, because a complete aftermarket control arm setup is pretty affordable. The soft spot starts in the bushings, not the actual control arm itself. The old bushings usually have to be drilled, then burned, then polished with a wire wheel. It's a huge PITA. A good drag car has an anti-roll bar. They are expensive up front, but it will save you a ton of time trying to figure out why the car isn't launching straight down the line.
Aftermarket forged axles are unfortunately a necessary evil. Factory axles are known to make multiple passes before failing. Unfortunately, when they fail, they tend to do serious damage to the car and your ego. It's better to just get this out of the way up front.
The rest of your plan sounds as good as anything I can come up with.
Kurt
Thanks for the info. So your are saying scrap the P head idea in favor of what? Maybe a set of 11r 195s? Maybe renegade 205s? Or maybe go smaller like a 170? I don't want to have to spin the thing at 9,000 rpm to make power. I just have a bad feeling that's exactly how you break ####
Would those axles made with the 1541h steel and long wheel studs do me just fine for what I need done?
What kind of control arms should I be running and what anti-roll bar?
And is there any place in particular that o could go to find those good heads used? Going with a new set of high dollar heads would eat up a LOT of the budget. If it goes a little over budget I'd probably let it ride but I can't be thousands upon thousands over, know what I mean?
Kurt usually offers spot on info, and while I agree that p heads are in the bottom of the barrel, you can easily get them into the 11's. Heck, I had regular 40's in the 12.8x range when I couldn't 60 ft better than 1.8x. This was in a full weight car with a.c., ps, no weight reduction, and drag radials. With my suspension like it is now, I bet it would have gone 12.4x easily, and if it weighed 2800lbs vs the 3400lbs it weighed, easily in the 11's.
This isn't a DD, I say go for it and do more with less!
Joe
302 with gt40p heads, afm n51 cam, single plane intake, all home built and ported. 6.84 1/8th mile. That's high 10's territory.
Joe
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5XERywKqeo
Joe
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S5XERywKqeo
Just seen a set of edelbrock performer rpm (I think) heads..190s...on summit for $730. I think for the extra $330 I would have into the motor there's no way in he## I would be messing with a cast head. Unless they there is a severe flaw in edelbrock heads I don't know about
Well, you won't be spinning it to 9000rpms, that's for sure. A 9000rpm pushdrod Ford engine is in the $30,000+ range. I have heard great stuff about all the of the 11Rs. For the best combination information, I would consult an engine builder. This is the internet, and you get what you pay for with free advice unfortunately. We can pass on decent advice, but at the end of the day, you're going to want to talk to someone with a lot of experience to hammer out the details, like exactly which cam to run, how big of a head, how much compression, etc. I would personally recommend budgeting for an aluminum head. As for where to find used stuff, it's actually more a time factor than a location. Yes, there are always people looking to upgrade and sell off their old stuff. If you have a lot of time, you will get the deal you want. If you need something in a short time frame, you are probably not going to find a good deal. You have to be religious about checking the swap boards on stangnet and other websites. Time is tight for everyone, suggest doggie style to your partner, so you can rest your laptop on his or her back if you have to. Don't forget ebay, letgo, etc. There are tons of facebook groups dedicated to used racecar parts as well.
There are multiple Mustang suspension companies. This is probably going to be the easy part. Almost everyone sells an anti-roll bar, Steeda, UPR, wildrides, you name it. Which one is the best, I have no idea. I would gather that they all function about the same. It's about $400 for one, and the installation is pretty involved. Same goes for control arms. I haven't been involved in a dedicated drag race car in over a decade, and a lot has changed since then. I think I will let someone with more recent experience recommend control arms.
Kurt
No doubt you can push those heads hard. I just wouldn't recommend them to anyone who is starting with a 351 block. If your plan is a 302 top end, don't spend money on a 351 bottom end. You represent a dangerous element on the internet. People see something on the internet, and instantly think they can replicate it. For every one person that runs a 12 on P heads, there are 50 who are stuck in the 13s, and another 150 stuck in the 14s; all wondering how you did it.
Kurt
Similar threads
