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Done trying to slow the car down, ordered an 8-point

2K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  wax50 
#1 ·
Weeks ago, I did a converter swap and the car ran 11.37 and 11.35 at my local track (bracket racing). Dialed it in to 11.50 and fender raced for 2 rounds of eliminations as I do not have the safety requirements installed at this time to go 11.49 or faster-- no bar, harness, & jacket. **Believe it or not, no tech guys have said ANYTHING to me and I have made a handful of "illegal" runs.

After a couple rain outs, we prepared to race this past Sunday, the 7th. On Saturday afternoon, I figured adding weight and pulling timing would slow the car some 2 tenths so I can make some "full" passes without sandbagging.

Checked the dizzy - 39 degrees. Moved it back 5 to 34 degrees. Installed the passenger seat (40 lbs) and a 75lb lead weight bar in the truck. (115lbs total). Took it down the road and it didn't like the timing change, stumbled from a stop.

The Holey 750 DP had 75 and 80 jets in it out of the box. I had previously replaced the fronts with 70s and left the power valve in. With this stumble, I decided to remove the power valve and replace it with a block off, square it with 80 jets all the way around, and install jet extensions.

Took it down the road and it came out perfect.

Ran the car Sunday. First pass it went 11.37 @ 117 - like I had done nothing. LOL I guess the carb work helped it and the weight was just carried along. No gain in the 60 ft time, so placement of the weight bar over the rear axle did not assist.

Decided to remove the mechanical secondary linkage and run the carb as a 2-barrel. (Removed timing previously and removed fuel by doing this).

The car actually ran okay. Lost a number or two all the way down -- went 11.55 @ 115. I was happy with that. Got edged out first round by .016 - lost it on the tree as we both were .01 over. What can you do?

So, I sat here yesterday thinking about it.. frustrated. I'm not going to run the entire damn season choking down the old 302 with less fuel and timing. Tired of messing with it. Just thought I would update everyone -- ordered an S&W Chromoly 8-point yesterday. Doing a G-force belt and jacket. I already have an SFI approved balancer, flexplate, and bellhousing... axles, driveshaft loop, etc. Looking forward to END of the season when the cool air comes back. I think the car has the potential of running 11.0s @ 118

If the shortblock doesn't come apart... :blam:
 
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#2 ·
Im in the same boat too. First pass ever with a blower, short shifting, when 11.39. i have a jacket, but no cage or harness either. i pulled 3 degrees of timing and went 11.41, guess is hould pull 1 or 2 more. I have 2 kids that ride in the car, so i really need to slow it down, dont want to cage the car yet.
 
#5 ·
Sad thing is that when i put the 100 Lbs worth of cage & harness & extinguisher etc. in the car it added enough weight to kill the ET by 1 full tenth.. Long story short, dont be surprised if you slow down with all the equipment added..
 
#7 · (Edited)
dy85merc -- Per my sig - '94 Cobra - 2950 lbs this past Sunday (little less fuel in the cell and removed the foam FINALLY)

BradleyRJ -- Yes, 11.37 to a 11.55 by unhooked the back of the carb and removing 70 lbs of weight. So, generally speaking, the back 2 barrels are worth about 2 and a half tenths. (70 lbs = 7 hundredths)

03AV8R -- The 8-point is 65 lbs. The belt may be a few lbs heavier than the stock setup. The seat is 40 lbs but I plan on replacing it with a 12 lb Kirkey (later). The car comes out a look crooked and goes to the right. Chassis flex should be minimized slightly with the cage. But there will be a little weight added (naturally). I'll post new numbers when I get it on the scales again in a week or two.

virgil -- I've got a tubing bender and a notcher in my shop. Truth is, with how much materials are and the amount of labor involved in bending the bars, I thought buying a pre-fabbed kit would make the turn around time quicker. Simply put, I bracket race the car weekly and would like to have the bar installed in some 6 days. I do not believe they will come notched. But I've got the man on the job for TIG welding (my Dad) ready, willing, and labor FREE. LOL I went through my uncle (S&W vendor) and got a little break on the $. $333 shipped. They have them listed for $399 + shipping on their site. Fits 94-04 cars. Pretty cheap for Chromoly, IMO.
 
#16 ·
03AV8R -- The car comes out a look crooked and goes to the right. Chassis flex should be minimized slightly with the cage. But there will be a little weight added (naturally). I'll post new numbers when I get it on the scales again in a week or two.

.
Do you have your tires screwed to the rims?? Mine does that only when the wheels are slippin on the rim ;)
 
#8 ·
OP...check out Southern Outlaw Shop's cages as well. They come notched and the price is pretty good. I hear the fit is excellent, I plan on ordering from them when the time comes.
 
#9 ·
Too late. S&W is bending my bars now and getting ready to ship them. PA to DE = next day with Ground shipping, so I might have this for the weekend.

http://thesouthernoutlawshop.com/cart/viewitem.php?groupid=0&productid=5

Appears that they offer a 10-point for $710 + shipping. Nice looking pieces but I wonder if it really is "hold & weld". IMO, nothing ever fits like it should, lol. I'm expecting to modify this S&W setup, but once again, I have the equipment for bending and notching available. 10-points aren't needed until 9.99 with an OEM floor and firewall, anyhow.
 
#10 ·
do you have subframe connectors, when we caged my friends car we notdhed the floor and ran 2x3 tubing tieing the front and rear togther, and then welded the floor back to the tubing.

we also installed 2x3 outriggers to mount the cage to instead of welding plates to the floor. also don't forget a driveshaft loop if you don't have one already
 
#12 ·
"Through the floor" subframe connectors.. I'm not sure if this would be considered as a "modified floor". If so, NHRA would deem an 8-point cage ILLEGAL for any 10-second passes?

A driveshaft loop has been on the car since a week after I bought it, lol.
 
#11 ·
I'm in the same boat....11.30's at 126 on a radial tire. I don't want the cage nor the weight of it...but I don't have much of a choice at this point.

I was looking at Wild Rides stuff....they advertise a "hold and weld" cage that I can go pick up to save the shipping...
 
#13 ·
for all us sn95 guys do you think you could try it without modifications to see how it fits stock ,pics etc. i see alot of guys looking for cages but dont see too many order s&w they buy the big dollar kits. i dont have money know to do it but down the road id like to get a cage. any info will thanks
 
#15 ·
Just think about the safety of having a bar/cage in your car. I'd rather have that in there and find some more to take out elsewheres for weight issues.

In case of a wreck, i'd like to beable to get out and stand there saying, %#$% look at my car, than being rushed to the ER.
 
#18 ·
Just ordered some more goodies.. Autometer voltmeter, G-Force harness, G-Force single-layer jacket, Kirkey roll bar padding, and a Holcolmb aluminum seat bracket. I think my lady is picking up a Kirkey seat and cover for me as a birthday present! lol ;)
 
#22 ·
Well, the car is loaded and I'm leaving to head down to the track in a couple hours. I'll mark the wheel / tire and test your theory. I bracket race the car every single weekend. I wonder if the tires were moving on the wheels with the old setup? You'd think 5500 clutch drops would hit harder than 2300 converter flashes. Still over a tenth improvement between the combos, so I guess you're right. The 60 fts have been fairly consistent regardless. I'm debating on running the car as-is until later this season, then drilling the wheels and putting new slicks on at the same time. These tires are a season and a half old. Maybe 150 runs? lol
 
#24 ·
UPDATE: The S&W bar was delivered via FedEx on Friday, the 12th. Looking to disassemble the interior this week and start prepping the bars. Racing the car again on the 19th and then going head first into the install on the 20th.

Ran the car Friday night. Marked the tire at the valve stem. During the time runs, both tires did not show any evidence of moving on the rims. However, after I came back from first round, they had moved approx. 1 inch. And this was with just a 1.56 short time. I'll keep an eye on this and if it ends up moving this much or more on a weekly basis, I'll buy some screws and drill the wheels. Good advice, 03AV8R.
 
#26 ·
Started prepping last night. Got a few pieces welded up today. Here are a few pictures. Should have completed shots later this week.

The fitment is excellent, thus far. The pieces came notched, but naturally required additional prep before welding. The main hoop and cross bar (harness brace) came very close. The other bars are longer than required, depending on how you decide to weld it all together. I decided to cut holes in the seat delete and run the back bars through it. To gain access to welding the tops, we cut holes in the floorboard. One picture here shows the main hoop dropped to the floor and the back bars going through the seat delete. Very nice kit from S&W for the money. I'm very impressed.

Let me tell you... the prep work is what takes forever. I've spent hours with a scraper and a torch, trying to clean the metal from all the damn sound deadening. lol




 
#27 ·
so how was the fitment would you recomened this kit over the other big companies .does it snug the body good. can the rear bars go over the seat rather than threw it. did you add out riggeres to tie the main hoop into the frame
 
#28 ·
Well the good news is that the car won't slow down much with the cage there. U have proven that with the weight u added. I'm in the same boat. I get one pass they warn me. Then I go up again before I'm ready to leave. They stop me after the burnout and say don't run 10s again or ur gone. I say that's cool I'm running the 1/8th. Then I blast a full pass and roll out the gates. I'm not going to cage a na 347 that I take my kids for icecream in. I don even wear a helmet. If it's your time. No cage will save your life. My best is a 10.71 at 129 on drag radials. I don't think they would like slicks at all.
 
#30 ·
Just added an 8 point to mine also, and I went cheap and bought the Competition Enginering kit and I got what I paid for. It took a lot of work to make it fit right and alot of fabbing. The main hoop was bowed in and had to get that figured out and once that was done it wasnt real bad.
 
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