1/8th Mile Time?

93lx308

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Jan 12, 2018
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Hey, new to the forum and new to fox body mustangs. Just bought a 93 lx hatchback 2.3. I just did a 5.0/aod swap and about to get it running. The specs are:
-5.0 fresh factory short block bored .40 over w forged flat top four valve relief pistons.
-out of the box afr165 renegade's with 1.6 scorpion roller rockers.
-comp 35-314-8 hyd roller cam.
-edelbrock performer 289 intake port gasket matched with a 4160 600cfm holley four barrell carb.
-bbk long tube headers o/r x pipe with dynomax bullets dumped.
-aod 3500 stall 4r70w gearset high rev governor shift kit for now plan on going full manual valve body with brake in the future.
-the rear is the stock 7.5 for now with 3.73s and street tires(not gonna bother with slicks until I get an 8.8 lol)
-suspension is all stock for now no connectors or reinforcements yet, waiting for more money to come my way and plan on that asap.
Those are all my major mods got some other stuff like msd dizzy and box and manual steering and no accessories on the serpentine but the water pump and alt. Oh yeah and the car is completely gutted except cutting sheet metal. My question is what do you guys think this thing can do in the 1/8th and I'm hoping it's capable of at least mid 12s in the 1/4. Previously I had this entire drivetrain combo in my 1990 f150. I built the truck and took it to the track once made 3 passes ran a best of 9.33 @ 74 in the 8th. Race weight was 4000lbs. I was on some slicks and only cut a 2.0 60ft due to launching off the foot brake. I'm sure I could've ran at least a 9 in the truck with a driver mod, was my first time ever on a track. It gave me the "bug" and I immediately got on Craigslist and scored my fox body for 700 bucks running and driving. A couple weeks later it was gutted with a 5.0 in it can't wait to get it running and see if I can beat the truck's time on street tires. Thanks for reading!
 
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Is that with or without suspension mods? For the suspension my plan is moroso trick drag springs, Lakewood 50/50 shocks and some tubular rear control arms and maybe some adjustable uppers. Then on the front the stock 4cyl coils Lakewood 90/10 struts and I'll remove the sway bar. This is what I've researched that works pretty well, whatcha think?
 
What do you think it'd take to get it into the 7's? That is my goal for the car eventually with either more power or more converter/tire/gear and launching on the t-brake.
 
What do you think it'd take to get it into the 7's? That is my goal for the car eventually with either more power or more converter/tire/gear and launching on the t-brake.

Tires. I think your mods with 3500 stall and street tires are going to equate to tire smoke. A drag radial will probably work well with the automatic. You say gutted, how light is It?

My car is 3360 and makes somewhere around 360-370 rwhp. It runs 7.4x's just for a reference to mid 7's. I don't think you are making as much horsepower, so you really need to be a lot lighter.

I am not an auto guy, but if this is a drag car only, I think a higher stall and lower gear may be necessary.

Joe
 
I haven't weighed the car yet but it's a hatch and I have gutted everything I can short of cutting up the car. I went as far as pulling the dash and gutting it out, it's basically an empty shell. It'll have some plastic or aluminum jegs seats in it soon. Battery is in the trunk. Under the hood I have no accessories just alt and water pump. Manual steering. From everything I've read online (haven't actually dynoed it myself) it should be good for at least 300 hp to the wheels. My friend guesses it'll weigh 2700 with me? (I'm 220) not sure.

I have a set of 28x10 hoosier slicks laying around that came off my truck but I'm thinking they may not fit the car very easily. I'd like to go with a smaller drag radial like you suggested.
 
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I haven't weighed the car yet but it's a hatch and I have gutted everything I can short of cutting up the car. I went as far as pulling the dash and gutting it out, it's basically an empty shell. It'll have some plastic or aluminum jegs seats in it soon. Battery is in the trunk. Under the hood I have no accessories just alt and water pump. Manual steering. From everything I've read online (haven't actually dynoed it myself) it should be good for at least 300 hp to the wheels. My friend guesses it'll weigh 2700 with me? (I'm 220) not sure.

I have a set of 28x10 hoosier slicks laying around that came off my truck but I'm thinking they may not fit the car very easily. I'd like to go with a smaller drag radial like you suggested.

At 2700 it should be quick, but tires will limit you. I think a higher stall and good tires will get you deep in the 7's.

At 3360lbs it takes 6000rpm launches to make those times and 1.5x 60fts. I think 3500 will spin on street tires and bog with good tires, but someone with more auto experience may chime in.

And a smaller tire will work fine. These are 26X10.5 bias ply, which are 10.5 at the largest section width, only 8.2" of contact rubber versus a true 10.5" slick.
CP6_1678web2-(ZF-10386-84573-1-002).jpg
Joe
 
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At 2700 it should be quick, but tires will limit you. I think a higher stall and good tires will get you deep in the 7's.

At 3360lbs it takes 6000rpm launches to make those times and 1.5x 60fts. I think 3500 will spin on street tires and bog with good tires, but someone with more auto experience may chime in.

And a smaller tire will work fine. These are 26X10.5 bias ply, which are 10.5 at the largest section width, only 8.2" of contact rubber versus a true 10.5" slick.
CP6_1678web2-(ZF-10386-84573-1-002).jpg
Joe
Nice pic Joe looks like you got some air under those front tires! That's another small goal of mine, do a wheelie lol.

I was thinking of going with a better intake/carb setup but I think it might be more worth while to go with more gear for now(I'm thinking 4.56s) and a looser converter a little later. I just got done installing the engine and trans so I'll play with this 3500 stall for now and see what that gets me.
 
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stock springs, 70/30's and 50/50,s pro3i weight Jacker lowers and baseline relocated uppers. front bar removed, rear bar is stock, air bag in the passenger rear, which is all tore up and not functioning...
car has gone 1.62 spinning, so, if I ever get back to the track and get it figured out i believe there are 1.5's in it...
I think Joe is running the same setup... maybe wrong... I know we run the same rear tire too...
 
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weight, from what I have been told, you need to get creative with a sawzall to get down around 2500lbs car weight... again, just from what I've been told.
And, I'm in total agreement with Joe;
tire is going to be your hold up, but, with a 7.5" I get your reasoning.
convertor is tight for a strip car.
 
weight, from what I have been told, you need to get creative with a sawzall to get down around 2500lbs car weight... again, just from what I've been told.
And, I'm in total agreement with Joe;
tire is going to be your hold up, but, with a 7.5" I get your reasoning.
convertor is tight for a strip car.

Forget to mention the 7.5 rear end is temporary, I'll be running it for now on street tires in hopes it holds together. I'll upgrade to an 8.8 before I put drag radials on it. Also I should've mentioned that this is a street/strip car. Not my daily driver, but I will be driving it to work a couple days a week weather permitting (no heat or a.c. lol) but I'm not scared to put in a looser converter. I'm thinking go big or go home, get at least a 4000 or higher?
 
not an automatic guy, so, maybe start a thread just on that or keep researching... open up a dialog with TCi or who ever is making good convertors these days.
typically, to get down handy 2500lbs you'll have to loose wipers/motor, bumper/supports, door crash bars... and sawzall, so, not saying you should do that if you are going to street the car as well. It'll still be a heck of a lot lighter than mine (~3300lbs) but don't be discouraged if it comes in around 2700lbs rather than 2500lbs.
 
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I think I'll do just that appreciate it. A converter manufacturer would be a great place to start. When I got the transmission built I at first only opted for a 2500 stall, which you can barely tell is there vs stock stall. I was worried about street driveability with a loose converter. So I later swapped in the current 3500 stall when I pulled the engine to do the hci. You can tell its there but someone could easily dd a 3500 stall.
 
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For a bit of an update to this thread got the car running and took it for the first drive. First impression it pulls hard when the tires are gripping this engine feels like a whole nother animal in the car. It makes for great tire smoking fun =)

(emphasis needed on the word TIRE she's a one wheeler LOL) the local track opens back up in the next couple months sometime i beleive. Ill post the results here!
 
Been a while but finally got around to taking the car to the track. I have since added the following items:
•8.8 rear 4.56 gears put some new clutches in the lsd
•lmr tubular uppers and lowers, moroso drag springs, Lakewood 50/50s.
• front is stock 4cly springs with no sway bar for now, I have some strange coil overs waiting to go on with upr springs (dont know the specs picked them up from a guy that was running them on his coupe)
• a set of weld drag lites 28x10 Hoosier slicks and front skinnys
The car went a best of 8.39 with a 1.81 60ft. Don't know the mph it didn't show on the slip for some reason. I entered the 8.50 class and made it to the semi finals until the car had a stumble/pop at the tree and had a teribble 1.9 something 60ft. I don't think I let the car warm up enough on that pass that time the water temp was like 130. Overall the car ran very well I left off idle or 1200 to flash up the converter. The car still has a lot of weight to be removed and I can't decide if I want to ditch the aod for a t5 or get a higher stall. I think the car has an 8.0 in it right now with the current setup now that I have the driving technique down I only made two passes during time trials and the best past was my very first, hitting the rev limiter on the 1-2 shift and not my best 60 ft on that pass either. After entering the 8.50 class all my other passes I had to shut her down a bit early to avoid breaking out.
 
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Thanks, will do. I'm thinking of also going with a c4. Can't decide yet but I do wanna ditch the aod. Trying to put a parts list together to see how much it would cost to go t5 vs c4 etc