New best times w/ a crappy ending...

[jaymac]

So I went back to the track last night and pulled a best of
13.61 @ 98.71
This is down from a previous best of 14.1 @ 98.22
My 60' on that run was 1.9

My best 60' was a 1.89, w/ a 13.72 @ 98.28

I can't seem to break that 98, though! Those times were cut on MT ET Streets.

The crap part came on the last run of the night (incidentally the 13.6).
I blew a head gasket, I believe. I'm going to make a seperate thread about this, but Smoke filled inside the car at the top end of the track, but there was no overheating and it didn't run funny, so I think I attributed it to leftover tire smoke from the nasty burnout
Once I got home (40 minutes later), the temp started slowly rising, until it got to 210* by the time I parked it. Now, I think my fan clutch is broken, so I wasn't TOO worried about it, but I pulled the oil dipstick tube and thought I saw some condenation (water) on it, and some white gunk.

I'm gonna stop talking about it in here cuz I have some questions about repair options, and I want a sepreate thread w/ it's own title, but I'm gonna search first!

So, either way,
13.6 @ 98.71
blown head gasket....

 

[darthcual]

Bah sry to hear bout that jaymac, Why did you run with your fan clutch crapping out on you ??? Well at least you cut into the 13's. Let us know about the h/g.

 

[jaymac]

Cuz I'm stubborn and stupid
It never over-heated all night. Probably some other cause...
I'm starting to disassemble today, and will do the replacement little by little over the next 3 days.

 

[rsw007]

half a second drop is good what was the difference from? tires or converter or what?

12's here you come

 

[slowhatch82]

thats kinda weird, with those mods, you should be hitting at least 100mph, but congrats on the 13.6, great time for that mph! must have been driving like a bat outa hell!

 

[Daniel50]

wow the mph is really bad for those mods. i ran a 13.7@100 on street tires with gears, x-pipe, and pulleys

 

[txstang84]

nice 60ft times though, maybe it's running out of steam on the top end...?

 

[jaymac]

yeah, I'm really stumped on the MPH too!!
I don't get it...
The 14.1 was on street tires, the 13.6 was on ET Streets.
However, I pulled a 2.0 60" on street tires, and got my 13.6 w/ a 1.9 60".
I think the biggest difference was the ambient temp. My first run (6:45) was 13.88, my lat run (9:58) was the 13.6.
Other than that, i pulled the hydraulic jack and the spare, and everything else was the same.
I'm still baffled though by the mph. Anyone have any more ideas to offer?
I did blow headgaskets on that last run - could the reason that I blew the gaskets be the same reason my MPH is so low???
Any takers?

 

[rsw007]

you need to get a dyno tune to make sure your a/f ratio is correct. ive seen a car similar to yours pick up 11hp and 14tq due to a poor tune. also findout the max timing you can run.

 

[jaymac]

yeah, I hve to get an adj. fp reg. first, then I want to get that done...

 

[jaymac]

Also, I have to find out how much my car really weighs. The sticker says "4198", but that's from ford before McLaren modified it, so I have to find out for sure...

 

[jaymac]

Update:

OK, so it's all buttoned up>
Before I took it apart, I drained the oil and put in new oil ( not too much coolant in the oil, though).Than after the swap, I ran the oil briefly, then drained it and put in new oil, then ran for 10 min and drained that, and put in new oil and filter.
There is still an infinitessimle (super-tiny) amount of "condensation" along thetop edge of the dipstick. It almost looks like leftover condensation from inside the dipstick tube. But there is absolutely no water bubbles in the oil itself on the dipstick.
It doesn't appear to be using water (which I will keep a religious eye on anyway!), and the temp is holding steady right above 180*. I am, however, going to replace the fan clutch today, as mine wobbles and might contribute to overheating.

1.) Should I change the oil again to try to get rid of any more possible oil? When?

2.) Do you think lack of a dyno tune for proper a/f ratio could've caused head gasket-blowing conditions?
Beacuse otherwise, it's a low-horsepower, non-boosted, newly-gasketed motor that blew a gasket on a mid-13 sec. pass.
Any way to get some insight as to how it happened so it doesn't happen again? Perhaps the "blow pattern" on the gasket might help diagnose??

 

[Kdubslugga]

Hey 13.6 is great man, and so is your 60 ft. The MPH is just a tad low you should be at least 100mph. The nice thing is it seems your trap speed is very consistant, thats a good sign!!! Are you letting the automatic shift itself?? I know you have a Transgo what is it shifting at?? I hate the 1d1 shuffle but i gained 3mph by doing it, maybe something to try a couple times only at the track!!! Anyways good job, you'll figure it out!

 

[rsw007]

go ahead and put an electric fan off of a 91-95 taurus 3.8, they can be found in junkyards allday for 20-30 bucks. but you need a 130amp alt to run it.

 

[jaymac]

I just paid $100 to replace my alt. today (spun bearings). That sucked. It's prob. only a stock replacement too...

The stock tach is off, I believe, but it's shifting past 5000, I'm pretty sure, and I just put it in D and go!

 

[Kdubslugga]

was your stock alt bad when you went to the track???? i went with a shot alt and it cost me 2 mph believe it or not!

 

[jaymac]

I'm gonna go w/ "yes". The bearings were spun, and it's charging better now, so there might be 2 mph hiding in there! I'm scares to run again until I find out why I blew last time, though!!

 

[rsw007]

get it on a dyno and make sure the a/f is right. then try for as much timming as you can get with out detonation.

 

[jaymac]

Could I just put in an A/F gauge instead? What's involved in those, drilling the manifold or what?

 

[rsw007]

you can get a whole wide band kit there like 400bucks. includes digital gauge and o2 sensor and wiring. you will have to drill hole in h-pipe and weld in a bung for the new sensor.