I'll let the video tell the story, but it was a glorious day for the Ford Turbo 2.3 fans at Bowling Green, KY on Sat. May 24th.
The O/SA records were set by Marty Buth in his '84 Mustang GT 2.3T and the N/SA records were set in my '85 Turbo Coupe. ( I claimed it as an '85 to fit the N/SA class...it's actually an '86 model)
Here's a little video I pieced together with pics and videos from the event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g1AG7E9QEU
So a Fox Thunderbird Turbo Coupe currently is the quickest and fastest 4 cylinder car in the Nation in NHRA Stock Eliminator. :D
love it
Very cool. Anyone ever thought of running one of these in the Super Stock class?
NICE! Way to go! If you haven't done it already could you give us a run down on the specs of that car with some pics.
Way cool man
I work at a second shop late on certain nights, just got home. Wife LOVES hearing cars ripping down the 1/4 mile on youtube at 10:30 at night, hehehehehe. Love the laptop : )
Nice runs, nice to see a 2.3 turbo getting it done and not some import. Love it!!!!!
Nice. Congrats. That Turbo Coupe is moving.
Your Turbo Coupe is light. 2825 with driver. What have you done as far as weight reduction? My Thunderbird is 3700 with driver (I weigh 150).
Way cool man. Your efforts have really paid off. Not a bad nudge for our cars either.
Now that's pretty cool....I wonder what all the rules are for stock eliminator class is?
Travis
Nice to see this and Greg's car getting some attention....
*EDIT* I KNEW IT!!! Just watched the video again, and the left front tire of that TC definitely leaves the ground at launch. NICE!
Awesome! More videos please!
Thanks guys!
I'll try my best to answer the questions posted.
Yes, now that the N/SA record attempt is over, I plan to install a rollbar and run Super Stock. The roll bar is the only thing preventing me from running SS.
We are not allowed to run intercoolers on the 83-86 2.3T
Stock unmodified intakes
Stock Cylinder head ( E5 casting) valve job only allowed...cannot touch the chamber or runners with a grinder at all.
Stock unmodified throttle body
ATR header
Stock Garrett T3
.396 lift cam with more duration than stock
stock compr. ratio
4.56 rear gears
C-4 man. rev. trans w/ small tight 8 inch convertor (2800 rpm)
30 inch tall slicks
Stock rear upper and lower control arms with the 1986 quad shocks still hooked up
Stock front struts and cut factory springs
Air Shocks in the rear ( yeah, 1960's technology, but they came on the car)
I removed all the sound deadener and carpet underlayment. 65-70 lbs right there
dash heater controls are gone
rewired the car with minimal wiring...30 plus lbs lost there
convert power seat to manual
I still have another 40-50 lbs of stuff to remove ( power brakes, door crash beams, etc.)
The car by itself can get down 2595 because I had 33 lbs in the weightbox to achieve 2825 lbs. plus me with helmet is 190-195.
Travis: I will see if I can copy and paste the Stock Eliminator rules later
The 2 videos you saw are all I have of the runs.
I was lucky to get those.
Got plenty of pics tho:[
URL=http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/tbirdwithetshown_zps0527931a.jpg.html](http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/tbirdwithetshown_zps0527931a.jpg)[/URL]
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/sideshotinthelanesSportsnationalsMay2414_zps08f26e54.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/sideshotinthelanesSportsnationalsMay2414_zps08f26e54.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/staginglanesSportsnationalsMay2414_zpseec83e00.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/staginglanesSportsnationalsMay2414_zpseec83e00.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/cutsprings008_zpscc0a809d.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/cutsprings008_zpscc0a809d.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/cutsprings006_zpsa91a5d59.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/cutsprings006_zpsa91a5d59.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/croppedSportsnationalsMay242014011_zps74eed640.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/croppedSportsnationalsMay242014011_zps74eed640.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/run1finishline_zps497446cc.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/run1finishline_zps497446cc.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/croppedRecordruntimeslipsMay242014_zps7d6dd0aa.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/croppedRecordruntimeslipsMay242014_zps7d6dd0aa.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/croppedSportsnationalsMay242014016_zps0d547c54.jpg) (http://"http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/croppedSportsnationalsMay242014016_zps0d547c54.jpg.html")
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s3/83-88T-BirdGuy/IMG_4866_zps06b31e28.jpg) (http://s148.photobucket.com/user/83-88T-BirdGuy/media/IMG_4866_zps06b31e28.jpg.html)
Nice 60foot times. I got a buddy with a 73 camaro, 355, m21, 12bolt with 4.11's. He'd kill to get into the 11's. Hangs around 12.2 all night long. I gotta tell him about your car. Are you running full slicks or drag radials??? Those are some sweet 60 footers for a stock suspension.
That is impressive considering the limited mods allowed. I have always been amazed at the accomplishments of the stock class racers.
I was telling the guys at work about the t-bird, the were wondering what kind of HP and Torque your engine is making. Any Idea??
If you go to this site and plug in my weight 2825 lbs and plug in the times from the time slips, it will show the h.p. ( flywheel )
http://www.wallaceracing.com/et-hp-mph.php
11.828 et = 337
110.33 mph = 303 hp
The car is slowing down on the top end because I ran 113 mph at 11.86 back in April at a different track. I am not sure how accurate that track was on the mph because that was the first and only time I have ever been to that track.
both videos are of the same run:
[video=youtube;ilLKFqIQA1I]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilLKFqIQA1I&list=HL1398108740&feature=mh_l olz[/video]
[video=youtube;hHB8fwRv5dU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHB8fwRv5dU[/video]
The Wallace Racing website has some cool stuff on it. Thanks for sharing.
Congrats on the records!
Did you have to modify the wheel wells to fit those slicks?
Do you know if that's flywheel or wheel horsepower? I plugged my GT40P combo numbers into the calculator (weight, trap speed) and it came up with 238hp. I had the car on a dyno with that combo and it made 235 to the wheels through an AOD. If it's wheel HP it's pretty close.
The lip on the inside has been rolled up to help prevent cutting the tire.
The car still has the original quad shocks still hooked up.
Mine is probably flywheel h.p.
I would be amazed if that little 2.3 made that much rear wheel h.p.
Very cool! Congrats!!!!! :bowdown:
I bet the more you get out of the car (ie less wheel spin, better 60' time) the more accurate. If you're cutting a 2.2+ 60' and running on street tires (me) it's probably not as accurate.
^^ True.
The mph in a 1/4 mile run usually is a good indicator of the h.p. the engine makes.
The e.t. is an indicator of how well the h.p. is being laid down.
If you shift any vehicle at the optimum shift points, the mph will tell what h.p. you are making...usually.
My T-Bird Stocker has a fantastic 60 ft. ( for the e.t) and a good 1/8th mile mph, but the 1/4 mile mph is about 2 mph too slow, so there are exceptions.
Fantastic 60 foot times indeed. Makes me want to throw the street slicks in the dumpster and get real wrinkle walls. Insane traction!!
Yeah, what really blows my mind about those 1.51 60 footers on the TC is that the car still has stock 1986 upper and lower control arms ( un-boxed) All that was done is screws were put into the rubber bushings. ( old timer Stock Eliminator trick)
It even still has the factory quad shocks hooked up.
No subframe connectors at all.
I have no idea what the pinion angle is, and right now I have no plan to upgrade the rear suspension. It works so well.
The better you can get a car to hook the more accurate the calculator is. In the case of my Thunderbird I dropped the 60' from 2.3 to 2.1 and picked up .3 seconds of e.t. And 1.4 mph. Did I gain hp? No. I just used the hp I had better.
In any case hp calculators are a guesstimate. The only way to find out how much power your car actually has is to dyno it.
Congratulations man!
Saw that videi being linked on YB, good stuff!
Go get those Super Stockers now! ;)
Just wondering but how much deviation from "stock" is still considered "stock" in your class?
I do not have the NHRA rulebook, so I am going off of memory here.
I can say that the cam lift is limited to the stock lift, however you can run any duration, overlap, or centerline numbers you want. They only check maximum lift.
Compression ratio has to be stock.
Cylinder head has to be 100 % stock except you can have any valve job you want. 2 angle, 3 angle, etc.
Valve head diameter cannot be more than .005 over stock (I believe)
Max. crank stroke limited to .015 over stock
Max. cyl. bore limited to .070 over stock
Pistons must be on the approved NHRA list...in our case that is the TRW 2500F which is a stock dimensions type replacement piston.
Turbo inlet must be stock. They check the inducer opening size.
Completely un-modified intake for the year you are claiming.
Stock throttle body...they check the diameter.
Ignition must be the same configuration as factory installed. In other words, we cannot run a DIS on our cars because it came with a dizzy with rotor and cap, etc.
Any EFI system on the NHRA approved list allowed. I run the SDS.
Any size injectors.
Electric water pump allowed.
Alternator must be hooked up and charging the battery.
Stock steel driveshaft.
Stock type radiator...no lightweight aluminum radiators unless factory equipped.
Any torque convertor.
Must be a 3 speed auto trans or clutch assisted stick trans.
Autos cannot use a transbrake.
Any gear ratios in the rear end and trans.
Rear tire limited to a 30 inch (or shorter) x 9 inch wide tire.
Rear lower control arms cannot have heim ends. Just found that out. Only the uppers can be adjustable.
Any non-electronic shock/strut allowed unless factory equipped. ( as in the 87-88 TC)
Lightweight front and rear brakes allowed.
There is more, but those stand out the most.