Sometime in the next year or so I want to build a dedicated track-day Mustang for HPDE events and the like. I've got a pretty good idea of what I want to do, but I thought it would be interesting to troll the forum for ideas and round out the build sheet.
The emphasis here is safety first, then reliability, followed by performance. The kind of car that someone without a ton of automotive knowledge can run and maintain. Budget is a big deal as well, and that's the fun part. Let's come up with a build that is as big as possible on "bang for the buck" versus something exotic.
This is a non-street legal car, for the track only (road course).
Here's the general framework, as I envision it so far. Everything is negotiable.
- '67-'68 coupe body (cheap and plentiful)
- totally gutted, everything delete (heater, radio, lights, wipers, etc.)
- sealed firewall
- full roll cage with NASCAR-style door bars
- racing seat and full harness
- fabricated dash panel with full instrumentation and fuse/switch panel
- Ford Racing GT40 302 (reliable, 345 hp is plenty for a car like this)
- Mass-Flo EFI (reliable, low-maint)
- Long tube headers, simple side exhaust
- G-force T-5 (lighter, more compact than TKO?)
- Fuel Safe fuel cell
- some kind of big brakes
So, there's safety (massive cage, seat/harness, fuel cell, brakes) and reliability (EFI, strong tranny, moderate engine), which leaves the fun part -- handling.
Shelby drop/boxed arms/roller perch/neg. wedge? TCP? Maier? Global West? Other? Let's find the best system for reasonable money.
5-leaf front-loaded rear springs w/Panhard bar? AirBar with coilovers? ?? 8" or 9"? Go for the Cobra IRS?
Think that late-model Cobra front brakes are up to the task of all-day repeated racing use, or is something more called for?
I'm picturing manual brakes with a good M/C, driver-adjustable prop valve, and braided flex lines.
Manual R&P steering using the Randall's Rack system.
Throw some ideas out there and let's come up with something!
The emphasis here is safety first, then reliability, followed by performance. The kind of car that someone without a ton of automotive knowledge can run and maintain. Budget is a big deal as well, and that's the fun part. Let's come up with a build that is as big as possible on "bang for the buck" versus something exotic.
This is a non-street legal car, for the track only (road course).
Here's the general framework, as I envision it so far. Everything is negotiable.
- '67-'68 coupe body (cheap and plentiful)
- totally gutted, everything delete (heater, radio, lights, wipers, etc.)
- sealed firewall
- full roll cage with NASCAR-style door bars
- racing seat and full harness
- fabricated dash panel with full instrumentation and fuse/switch panel
- Ford Racing GT40 302 (reliable, 345 hp is plenty for a car like this)
- Mass-Flo EFI (reliable, low-maint)
- Long tube headers, simple side exhaust
- G-force T-5 (lighter, more compact than TKO?)
- Fuel Safe fuel cell
- some kind of big brakes
So, there's safety (massive cage, seat/harness, fuel cell, brakes) and reliability (EFI, strong tranny, moderate engine), which leaves the fun part -- handling.
Shelby drop/boxed arms/roller perch/neg. wedge? TCP? Maier? Global West? Other? Let's find the best system for reasonable money.
5-leaf front-loaded rear springs w/Panhard bar? AirBar with coilovers? ?? 8" or 9"? Go for the Cobra IRS?
Think that late-model Cobra front brakes are up to the task of all-day repeated racing use, or is something more called for?
I'm picturing manual brakes with a good M/C, driver-adjustable prop valve, and braided flex lines.
Manual R&P steering using the Randall's Rack system.
Throw some ideas out there and let's come up with something!