So I'm a bit dissapointed but I learned some things:
1. It's impossible to get my car to hook with the stock 215 section tires. I spun the tires past the 60 foot mark no matter how I launched. My best runs were when I just stomped it from idle. If I brought up the revs it cost me .1-.2 second because I spun even more. At one point the track announcer actually told some one to give me some slicks so I could actually launch the car :mullet:
2. My AOD sucks balls. It shifts at 4800 rpm with the TV cable set as far as I dare go. It takes forever to shift gears too. The car needs a 2400-2600 stall converter and high rev governor to take advantage of the cam and heads (engine makes power up to 5500 rpm).
3. My T-bird is HEAVY. It weighs 3765 lbs with me in it ( I weigh 165 lbs ;) ).
So while :burnout: may be cool it sucks for drag racing. If I wasn't spinning my 60 foots would be down. With my mph I should be running 14.8-14.9 If I could hook the car. On one run I ran 15.3 seconds with a 94.5 mph trap speed (spinning bad becaused I reved it up before launch). Plus a nice AOD should knock off a few tenths as well. So I'll be back at the track next year with a rebuilt AOD and some bigger tires :evilgrin: .
Wow that makes me feel pretty good about my 15.3 with a shiznit tranny and torque converter. Of course I never spun the tires because the OD band was always applied and the converter was also locked up in all gears.
You definitely need bigger tires and at least a new valvebody.
It aint just the tires. You need to learn how to drive, I ran a 14.794@92.98 , with LESS work done to my car, with it chugging due to fuel slosh, and ON BALD 215 series tires...
Id be embarassed dude. LOL. but at least now you have a baseline. You can only get better from there.
I'm confused on how you're running (significantly) slower times than me...and I have an AOD with a stock HO. But I manual shifted first and second at 5k for my runs, although I doubt that made much difference. Lets compare real quick:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v173/kingcars/QuarterMileTime.jpg)
60ft - about the same.
330 - I go ahead by 2 tenths
1/8 - Another tenth for me
MPH - 5mph faster
1000 - Half a second ahead
1/4 - Half a second ahead
MPH - 1mph ahead
What a strange setup...seems like you were comin on a little right at the end of the track (gained back some mph and didn't lose any more time after 1000ft). I do hope your AOD is the culprit; mine has almost 150k on it, but it works fine.
Yeah I need to learn how to drive it's my first time at the track ;) I don't think the times are too bad for 7 cylinders though :hick: I pulled all the plugs this morning to check 'em because it really didn't feel as fast as usual last night (it was 76* with low baro and humidity). Turns out the porcelin was cracked on the #3 plug. I could spin the whole white part of the plug. Great. It was also blowing some of the spark/combustion mix out of the top of the plug because the white part where the plug wire connects had some burn marks on it. So weather permitting I'm setting off for the track again next Tuesday night. Maybe running on all 8 cylinders will get me a few tenths :mullet:
Yeah my AOD sucks. It's fine for around town but hell the thing takes so long on the 1-2 shift at full throttle that I could take a nap. The more stuff I do to my engine the shiznittier the AOD performs. Looks like rebuild time for next year.
Ever hear of the term back pedaling? if the tires break loose gently ease off til they hook again, and get back on it.
This is your main reason you arent in the mid 14's. You are triing to lauch like you have slicks. you dont "stomp" it when the light goes green with street tires. Bring the revs up on the converter, and drop the brake and feed it more throttle on the last amber light. You should be gently feeding it more and more gas until you are at full throttle. You should be at full throttle half way through first gear, (or maybe alittle sooner, depending on track condition) with a perfect lauch (even with street rubber) you should just get a "CHIRP" from the tires, and be able to hear them squeaking, through first gear on the cusp of wheel spin.
here is my lauch on py 215's with a 5 speed shocking the tires on each shift.
(http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/th_5373c182.jpg) (http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb170/1WLDBRD/?action=view¤t=5373c182.flv)
How many feet above sea level are you guys? the only thing i will ask may have a little something to do with times.
Ah, that spark plug would do it! And idk about WLDBRD, but I always stomp it at the light and rarely get bad wheelspin. Maybe it's my posi rear?
I know I suck at driving as it's my first time :hick: Thanks for the tip though I'll try to be easy on the throttle on launch. Hopefully that will cut my e.t.s as with the 93-94 mph trap speeds it should be in the 14s.
I have a 3.73 Traction-Lok and it's no help as I just spin 'em both. I think mine makes a bit more torque than yours down low;) or you have much grippier 215 section tires than I do. My tires suck as even with the shiznitty stock converter I can leave two nice 20 foot black marks from a stop. Just getting ahead of some one from a stop when a lane merges makes me look like a jack ass:flame:
THAT'S dependant upon track conditions, tire pressure and tire condition. If I was WOT my last time out halfway through first I would have spun all the way to the 330' mark and beyond in the Mustang...As it was I was spinning past 100' while feathering the throttle...
I had too much tire pressure (yup -- forgot to drop it:punchballs: ) AND not enough tire...
Street tires don't need to go down to 12 PSI either, but the 36 I was at didn't do any good...For the track conditions I had I shoulda ran 20-22.
You on the skinnys should likely have ran about the same IMHO.
You need to get one of these modified valve bodies ASAP, before you do any serious running at the strip... Can reuse it when the tranny is rebuilt(which may not be necessary with a modded VB)... You keep running it without the VB and you'll be rebuilding your AOD this year...
A Lentech would be better(have electric OD lock out) but those are almost 3X the price...
You can also go with a shift kit, but the Trans-Go I have in mine is over a $100 and requires 3-4 hours to install for first timers...
http://www.jegs.com/i/Performance%20Automatic/732/PA53301/10002/-1
I've got a broader valvebody in my AOD and it shifts 1 2 3/4, not sure what the performance automatic's shift pattern is in jegs, but I would definitely get a VB that shifts 123 so you can manually shift it.
:burnout: That way you can have it set up to shift somewhat sedately when you're just cruising around, and can shift it at any rpm you want when you're hot roddin it. Broader's is 215 bucks shipped and the basic lentech valvebody is 450 w/ around 50 bucks shipping.
Of course don't ask me how well the broader works in my aod, the tranny doesn't work so well when the engine is in pieces at the machine shop.
But as soon as it's running I'll let you know, if you can wait that long to order a valvebody.
a wide ratio kit, and a smaller converter, too. :D
With my AOD (stock), I can shift into 2nd and 3rd manually...what do the valve bodies do differently?
The factory AOD VB has no way to shift 1-2-3, as did the older non O/D trannys... Remember the quadrant is P R N OD D 1, it has no 2nd gear hold... It is possible to start in first, shift to D then back to 1 which will hold second... BUT the reverse clutch applies for a instant when doing this, so it does cause premature wear... Most VBs do not address this issue, but do increase the shift points in D so manual shifting isn't necessary...
The Lentech valve body is modified for 1-2-3 and OD is controlled by a switch similar in operation to the AODE/4R70W... The Broader valve body mentioned(a link would have been nice) appears to be similar to the PA unit I mentioned in my first post...
I have a modified(by me) VB in mine that was performed using instructions from a early Lentech mod(in addition to the Trans-Go kit)... It no longer has a "D" position but instead is 2nd(basically it will shift from 1st to 2nd and no farther)... Only issue is I have no O/D lockout(except WOT), but with 3.73 gears I'm yet to see it as a problem... It's scooted through the mountains in PA & WV with no issue at all...
http://www.broaderperformance.com/aod%20transmissions%20and%20parts-A.htm (http://"http://www.broaderperformance.com/aod%20transmissions%20and%20parts-A.htm")
Sorry bout that. Anyway the Broader Valvebody is identical to what you have now Turbocoupe50, hence why it is 200 dollars vs 450 for the lentech.
Your car has serious potential to run faster. I would install a shift kit (I have Transgo kit and like it), and install the HI-Rev governor to really use the HP potential of those GT40 heads. 4800 rpm shift is to early before your engine gets into its power range. I would even bet that down low the E7's make more torque than the GT40s, but once up in the RPM's the GT40's should really scream.
Ah ok. I rarely hold 1st and 2nd since I do know that it wears the tranny. I've only done it on my 3 1/4 mile passes and the rest of the times I can count with my fingers.
So I did some testing late last night and found that if I lower the rear tire pressure to 24 lbs (instead of 30-31 ish) that:
1. When leaving from idle easing into the throttle the car will grab and not spin if I go to full throttle between 15-20 mph
2. If I bring the revs up to 1800 (the most it will do before spinning the tires) and ease into it the tires will just chirp.
3. When I ran Tuesday I had 19 gallons of gas in the tank. I found I can launch with a minimum of 13 gallons before I get that fuel slosh buck. So those 6 gallons should save what 36ish lbs of weight?
As long as the weather holds I'm headed back to the track Tuesday. It's supposed to be sunny and 78* Tuesday. As long as I get into the 14s this will be my last trip to the track this year as I don't want to rebuild the tranny till next year ;)
I've thought about bumping the timing from 14*-16* as well but that's only what 2-3 hp? I don't think it's worth the detonation risk (even though I am running 93 octane).
Leave the timing alone for now at least.
Sounds like your on track with the tires. If you can leave the slightest test patch on the ground while chirping the tires to make sure you have full contact and that the tire tread pattern is even.
I figured going from 14* to 16* wouldn't make much of a difference.
I'm going to try a small "burn out" to check the contact of the rear tires before going back to the strip. I'll have to do it in an isolated area so I don't get in trouble ;)
So I went back on Tuesday and got 6 runs in 2.5 hours. Weather was kinda shiznitty (83* with 65% humidity). My firts run after a 50 minute, 40 mile highway drive (no cool down time) was 15.2 @93 mph. I aired the rear tires down to 20 psi and made a few more passes and ended up the night with a best pass of 15.01 @ 93 mph (still with wheel spin). I have no doubt that if I had stayed later ( I left at 7ish because I had work the nest morning but the track is open till 10) I would have learned how to hook the thing and finally gotten into the 14s (which I know is where I should be if I could drive, give me a break this is only my second time drag racing :hick: ).
My plans for my nest trip (in about a month) include a lenghty cool down time after the 75-80 mph highway drive. I probably get to the track, make a couple of runs to get a base time, then park the car and let it cool off for about two hours. Plus I plan on staying till the track closes to take advantage of some nice cool night air.
I was also taking to a couple of 5.0 Mustang guys and they agree that I should be running about a 14.6 or so et with my mph. One of the guys was having trouble with the humid air like I was. Last week he was turning in consistant 14.7 ets but was being slowed down to 14.9-15.0 buy the py weather. Hell there was a 12.8 second Cobra that could only do 13.2s because of the humidity.
Oh and some photos shot by the track photographer:
(http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/images/photo/full_TestTune6-24021.jpg)
(http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/images/photo/full_TestTune6-24040.jpg)
The album:http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi/rt66_photos_archive.html?SESSION=pfyWmbCeW&N=&event_id=2073&Offset=0