If you were building a budget drag car

[Finn McCool]

I'll try to make this short and simple. I'm planning on buying a foxbody to turn into a weekend drag car. What's the most economical way to do this?

My plan right now is to just find a good body somewhere, maybe a car with no engine/trans and build my own motor/tranny for it. Don't really know where to start with mods, never worked on a Mustang before.

 

[jackchan]

welcome to the addiction!

I'd say start with a 5.0 body to start with if you can. What price range are you into..........how will this car be used? Bracket racing? Heads up?

if your talking bracket racing its fairly cheap to get into. You dont have to be the fastest guy out there........just the most consistant! i raced brackets for a few years before they closed my favorite local track........ just buy an old Fox 83,84,85 GT and put a C-4 in it with a small stall........and foot brake it for awhile. Tune engine, plugs, wires, air filter, till you get the best time you can with it stock. Then throw on a set of cheater slicks (better griping tires) a set of used gears from an old ranger, ford truck etc....and watch those times fall.

I'll be more than happy to help you (with info) to get ya started. Just ask!
good luck
Jack

 

[Michael Yount]

Concentrate on light weight (stripping) and a suspension/tires that work to give you great traction at launch. It doesn't take a whole bunch of HP to go pretty quickly if you don't weigh much and you can put all the power to the ground.

 

[Sicarius428]

A nice notch back if you can find it will give you a great platform to start off of.
Kevin

 

[tjm73]

First the words "budget" and "race car" should never be used together. It's an oxymoron.

That said. How serious of a race car are you thinking of building? There are several things you can do to really make the Foxbody a great racecar that don't cost a lot of money.

Power is great, but the chassis needs to be addressed long before power is introduced.

If I were to build a race car, I'd build it like so.....

1.) Find the cleanest, rust free, 4 cylinder coupe I could.
2.) I'd strip the car to a bare shell.
3.) I'd sell NOTHING off it until I finished building the car. Never know what you might need.
4.) All Foxbody are spot welded together. Grind and strip those seams and stitch weld them up. I would make a jig to hold the car square and level when I did this. Why? You don't want to stitch weld the car crooked. keep it square and flat and it will be easier to make it go straight down the track.
5.) I'd spend $1500 on Race suspension (for example.....the front and rear packages that UPR sells)
6.) Put a roll cage in it that exceed the requirement for your planned fastest ET.
7.) I susbscribe to the thought process of if it doesn't make it go faster, it doesn't need it. Sound deadening, don't need it. Back seat, don't need it. But, of course, consult the rules for the sancioning body you will race under. if you are gonna race just the local track, check them, if you are gonna run NMRA, check with them. They WILL have different rules. NMRA, for example, requires the interior to look stock, while the local track won't likely care.
8.) I wouldn't seriously race with anything less than a 9", so I'd buy one of those too.
9.) Now it's time for an engine. What kind of power do you want? Do you want something that you have to tinker with or something that's reliable and fun and requires minimal maintenance? Sure that custom EFI twin turbo, nitrous 302 sounds like a cool thing to play with, but what's the reliability and maintenance gonna be like? What's the reliability and maintence of a mild 552 big block gonna be like?
10.) Now what kind of transmission do you want? manual or auto?

This is a lot more involved than you may have thought. And if this was gonna be for a job to earn extra income (BWAHH HA HA HA HA.....sorry), it'd be way worse.

 

[darthcual]

Concentrate on light weight (stripping) and a suspension/tires that work to give you great traction at launch. It doesn't take a whole bunch of HP to go pretty quickly if you don't weigh much and you can put all the power to the ground.

There is many, many things you can do to light weight the car. If fact if you google it there is a fella who documented doing this. Also try to find a coupe or lx hatch, as they tend to be the most light weight.

 

[Paul Perreca]

have fun man

 

[jrichker]

First the words "budget" and "race car" should never be used together. It's an oxymoron.
(BWAHH HA HA HA HA.....sorry), it'd be way worse.

Absolute truth... Yoda has spoken...

That said, here's some ways to save some $$$...

On a budget? do the junkyard upgrade...

Gears - 87-88 T-Bird Turbo Coupe rear axle - disc brakes and 3.55 or 3.73 gears in one package for $125-$300. Add another $100-$200 or so to complete the brake upgrade.

94-95 Mustang GT MAF - $40-$100. It is 70 MM instead of the stock 55 MM on regular stangs built prior to 94. It uses a slip on duct on the side that goes to the throttle body and a 4 bolt flange on the other. You need a $25-$35 flange adapter from Pro-M to fit the stock slip on air ducting that goes to the air box. Wiring plugs right in with no changes. *1

95-97 Ford Explorer intake manifold & throttle body $150-$300. The intake manifold flows 220 CFM +, much better than stock. Throttle body is 65 MM, bigger than the 60 MM on stock stangs. I got a 96 with EGR passages that match the stock setup, so my smog gear works just like factory. You’ll need a 65 MM EGR spacer & new gaskets for $65-$90 so you have a place to mount the EGR & throttle linkage.

3G alternator from 94-95 Mustangs or other Ford. $20-$120. A must have to make the electrical system work like it should. You’ll need a 4 gauge power wire and a 125-135 amp fuse to go with it about $15- $30.

Lincoln MK VIII electric fan -$40-$160. Free up some HP by not having to drive the stock fan. The 3G alternator upgrade is a must have prerequisite before you do the MK VIII fan. You won’t have enough electrical power if you don’t do the 3G upgrade.



*1.) I got a metal flange adapter from Powered by Ford for $35 and tax. That was over a year ago. Summit Racing may also have one too.

Powered By Ford
1516 South Division Avenue
Orlando, FL 32805
Hours 0800-1800
Phone 407-843-3673
http://www.poweredbyford.com/

 

[tjm73]

There is a book that you should go out and buy if you wanna budget build. It tells you how to build all the stuff and tweek things Unfortunatly I'm retarded at the moment and can not remember the name of it. I'm gonna try to remember and when I do I'll post it. I have the book at home too.

 

[tjm73]

Remembered AND found it. If you do not own this book, you should.

Mustang Performance Handbook 2: Chassis and Suspension Modifications for Street, Drag and Road Racing Use.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557882029/002-0460400-7029634?v=glance

P.S. You should also get this one......

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557881936/002-0460400-7029634?v=glance

 

[darthcual]

Can I say something about the MAF housing please? No, well I'll say it anyways. (Not to hijack) The maf housing out of a mecury cougar is a direct replacement for the stock. It is made of aluminum, and is 65mm from one side to the other all you need is your sensor and this piece. I believe it is a late 90's cougar with the 3.8 that i took it out of. Everyone seems to mention the 94-95 with the adapter. But I got this one out of j/y for 5 bucks. Now that IS cheap.

 

[Michael Yount]

darthcual - do you know for a fact that the transfer function on that V6 maf with the 5.0 electrics in it is the same as the one the HO ecu is expecting? When it comes to maf's, just because it will bolt in and plug up doesn't necessarily mean it's a 'direct replacement for the stock'.

 

[Lyncher]

IMO you definatly want to start with a 4cul notch...its the lightest fox and you can get 1 for around 1,000 to 2,000 ...around here anyway

 

[Finn McCool]

Thanks for the tips.

tjm73- I see no reason why one can't budget themselves when building a car. I have X amount of dollars and I don't want to spend more than that. How fast can I go for that money? Etc

It's just going to be a weekend car to take to the track, nothing special. Just a toy more than anything else really.

 

[jackchan]

PM me with the X amount that your wanting to get by with and I'll gladly outline you a good plan and mail it back. (I just like that sorta thing ).

 

[90mustangGT]

For a full race car, it will cost a lot of money. What is your mechanical ability. The level can determine a lot. For a beginer or regular shadetree mechanic, there is going to be a lot of frustration getting things right if you are going to try to start from scratch. The best thing to do is get a clean, straight, good working order 5.0 fox and go from there. You can get a 5.0 fox pretty quick for pretty cheap. Some slicks (26x10.5) on stock 10 holes and a 125 shot and some weight reductions could get the car some pretty impressive times. This considering everything else is in proper working order.

 

[mattkimsey]

Thanks for the tips.

tjm73- I see no reason why one can't budget themselves when building a car. I have X amount of dollars and I don't want to spend more than that. How fast can I go for that money? Etc

It's just going to be a weekend car to take to the track, nothing special. Just a toy more than anything else really.

Wow, some people are throwin' out some big $$$$ plans with yo' money

I would start well a fox in good condition with a motor in it..no shells, that's a lot of headache for a fun car. With <$2,500 added to the cost of the car you can have a weekend warrior that is fast. Jrichker gave some good tips to get you goin'. Add a set of gt40p heads ($450) plus a cam and you'll be doin' pretty good. Also gonna need headers($100 used), fuel pump. Ditch any extra weight and do the free mods. Spray a 100shot on top of this and you could see 11.xx.

This is one way to go that is rather inexpensive....what's your budget?

 

[mattkimsey]

Some slicks (26x10.5) on stock 10 holes and a 125 shot and some weight reductions could get the car some pretty impressive times. This considering everything else is in proper working order.

 

[jackchan]

Some slicks (26x10.5) on stock 10 holes

26 x 8 1/2's work very well and will fit the 10 holes much better. Just an observation!
good luck!

 

[90mustangGT]

26 x 8 1/2's work very well and will fit the 10 holes much better. Just an observation!
good luck!

Good to point that out, stuffing a wheel with a oversized tire will hurt traction. I have heard that ET Drags run larger than ET Streets, so a 26x10.5 ET Street is about the same as a 26x8.5 ET Drag, is this true? I don't have any personal experience... yet.