What Ever Happened To...

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Well Nik. From what I read on your build thread you've accomplished what many dream of... Still trying to comprehend the volume of air available to that little 302.

I can say I am one of those who has dreamed about "building" my 89 vert for many years and as we all know life puts our Fox on hold and the stuff available for a now official antique keeps expanding. Which sure defies some laws of physics.

" The Antique Automobile Club of America defines an antique car as 25 years or older. A Classic is defined as 20–49 years old."

How can it be that a Fox draws teenagers and old men to it like no other. Some are DD and some kick butt on Pinks all out. Everyone has their own idea of what it is but hell I just put new LMR headlights in it a few weeks ago, but I come here to get the ideas, advise and dreams of where to take her for the next 25 years. So onto that HCI upgrade its waited patiently and the parts are even better.
 
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Why 40s? If we're dreaming about the perfect DD, why not some nicer parts?
agreed, a nice set of aluminum heads (afr, tfs, edelbrock, w/e) will only add to the experience for not much more $$, and wont really overpower the thing either. not to mention less header/spark plug clearance problems.
 
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agreed, a nice set of aluminum heads (afr, tfs, edelbrock, w/e) will only add to the experience for not much more $$, and wont really overpower the thing either. not to mention less header/spark plug clearance problems.
And they're lighter! 40's are fine but alum heads are way better in every aspect.
 
Well Nik. From what I read on your build thread you've accomplished what many dream of... Still trying to comprehend the volume of air available to that little 302.

I can say I am one of those who has dreamed about "building" my 89 vert for many years and as we all know life puts our Fox on hold and the stuff available for a now official antique keeps expanding. Which sure defies some laws of physics.

" The Antique Automobile Club of America defines an antique car as 25 years or older. A Classic is defined as 20–49 years old."

How can it be that a Fox draws teenagers and old men to it like no other. Some are DD and some kick butt on Pinks all out. Everyone has their own idea of what it is but hell I just put new LMR headlights in it a few weeks ago, but I come here to get the ideas, advise and dreams of where to take her for the next 25 years. So onto that HCI upgrade its waited patiently and the parts are even better.

Haha thanks for the kind words, but the car is still far from what I'd say I "dream of". It's a lot of fun to drive, but IMO, even a "hot" H/C/I Fox is still just not fast enough. Everyone has their own definitions of what makes a good street car, and I'm one of those guys that likes to be just a little scared of the car I'm driving.
 
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Haha thanks for the kind words, but the car is still far from what I'd say I "dream of". It's a lot of fun to drive, but IMO, even a "hot" H/C/I Fox is still just not fast enough. Everyone has their own definitions of what makes a good street car, and I'm one of those guys that likes to be just a little scared of the car I'm driving.

Amen
 
Why 40s? If we're dreaming about the perfect DD, why not some nicer parts?

Cheap, reliable, and there's tons of Explorers in my local salvage yards so parts availability would be great. Anything goes wrong just go down to the local salvage yard and pick up a whole other engine (if I so desired) for at the most 500 bucks.
 
Yessir. I'm trying to do somethin like that w mine. It's a one piece at a time project though.
It'll be cheap, simple, and fun.
Except for my idea of the 4R70w, that won't be too cheap. Only reason I'd go 4R is because I'm not a fan of the AOD, and I'm not a fan of shifting. I'm seriously thinking I'm going to do a 4R70w swap into my car later down the road
 
So definitely TFS or AFR depending on your poison, I think the right cam and a supporting 250cfm top will get most folks there on the street..then you see data like cleanlx on e7s and go damn just about any well coordinated set up works upto 3 xx hp and torque. Then you go stroker or adder or both.

I'm doing 93 Cobra ported intake, Tfs 170s and custom cam. Supporting stuff etc

Maybe it's the sheer volume of options that drive all the questions and chatter. I'm sure it is for me
 
So definitely TFS or AFR depending on your poison, I think the right cam and a supporting 250cfm top will get most folks there on the street..then you see data like cleanlx on e7s and go damn just about any well coordinated set up works upto 3 xx hp and torque. Then you go stroker or adder or both.

I'm doing 93 Cobra ported intake, Tfs 170s and custom cam. Supporting stuff etc

Maybe it's the sheer volume of options that drive all the questions and chatter. I'm sure it is for me

Don't be fooled by builds like what @cleanLX has. Guys like him know all the secrets (or have friends that do), and they cross all their "I"s and dot their "T"s, not to mention that he's also got some serious supporting parts in that build. The hard truth is most guys will struggle to make more than 250 RWHP with E7s... Thus why what he's accomplished is so noteworthy.
 
Don't be fooled by builds like what @cleanLX has. Guys like him know all the secrets (or have friends that do), and they cross all their "I"s and dot their "T"s, not to mention that he's also got some serious supporting parts in that build. The hard truth is most guys will struggle to make more than 250 RWHP with E7s... Thus why what he's accomplished is so noteworthy.

Exactly. He's a man on a mission and has been pretty much forever. The average guy will not get results like it.
It's just like 300rwhp gt40p setups. Can it be done? Ya, is it sensible, no.

Fast cars with mediocre parts have been around in the 5 liter world since the beginning, you just have to determine at what point are you spending more money than it's worth.

Part of my thinking with a wise build is buying heads that can be cnc'ed in the future for growth, once you port the hell out of E7's or P's (which will cost more than TW's) they are done there is no possible way they can work on a future stroker engine, you have to start all over.
 
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It'll be cheap, simple, and fun.
Except for my idea of the 4R70w, that won't be too cheap. Only reason I'd go 4R is because I'm not a fan of the AOD, and I'm not a fan of shifting. I'm seriously thinking I'm going to do a 4R70w swap into my car later down the road
Realtive cheap but not cheap enough. I'm gonna stick w the aod w a higher stall converter that I've had sitting in a box for like 2 yrs now and get a shift kit or VB. I hear ya bout aod not being the greatest but my pocketbook can't keep up w the Jones's. Hell, as i type I'm waiting for a phone call from the bank wondering where my direct deposit went that I desperately need
 
The aod should be able to handle that combo no problem with a decent converter and vb. Thats what im planning on doing this spring, and then rebuild it with 4r guts whenever I make some real power, avoids more electronic gremlins that way.
 
The aod should be able to handle that combo no problem with a decent converter and vb. Thats what im planning on doing this spring, and then rebuild it with 4r guts whenever I make some real power, avoids more electronic gremlins that way.
I'd rather have an electronic pressure control solenoid controlling line pressure than the AOD's TV set up. Much more reliable. And trans wiring is simple so not much for gremlins lol
 
Don't be fooled by builds like what @cleanLX has. Guys like him know all the secrets (or have friends that do), and they cross all their "I"s and dot their "T"s, not to mention that he's also got some serious supporting parts in that build. The hard truth is most guys will struggle to make more than 250 RWHP with E7s... Thus why what he's accomplished is so noteworthy.
i agree with this 100%... for what i have into my GT40's i could have put out a few and i mean only a few bucks more (maybe 150 all together) and put a set of holly system max heads rick had and made things a lot easier. BUT what would i learn from that? there is a lot of little things that ive done from grinding the header flanges smooth to blending throttle body way back into the upper intake and way up in the bottom of the upper to the gasket. did it make a ton of power? prob not but id think i picked up a few...

ive learned a lot from the race cars also
 
Take it from someone who is making 250 rwhp on some basic E7s, CleanLXs numbers won't just fall out of the sky. Unless you want E7s, which sadly I do, there's no real point to keep them. GT40s are more or less the same token, out of the box they are better than E7s, but you'll need to drop some money into them to get the better numbers that you most likely read about online. At that price unless you want GT40s why not just get some nice aluminum heads.

Nik, your power levels should be in the 11s with some traction! Looks like a good set of GT40s.
 
Take it from someone who is making 250 rwhp on some basic E7s, CleanLXs numbers won't just fall out of the sky. Unless you want E7s, which sadly I do, there's no real point to keep them. GT40s are more or less the same token, out of the box they are better than E7s, but you'll need to drop some money into them to get the better numbers that you most likely read about online. At that price unless you want GT40s why not just get some nice aluminum heads.

Nik, your power levels should be in the 11s with some traction! Looks like a good set of GT40s.
I didn't know if you just misspoke or what but Nik is running cnc TFS 205cc heads