Gonna Build A Drag Car?...may As Well Crush Them Now.

CarMichael Angelo

my rearend will smell so minty fresh,
15 Year Member
Nov 29, 1999
10,641
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Birmingham, al
It's that time of year again.

Time for gifts to be given, and received.
Time to get together w/ friends and family and celebrate the reason for the season.
Time to look back at the past year, and reflect on how it treated you and yours.....

Time for me to put on my Grinch suit and piss some people off.

I was looking at several threads that detailed the removal from "street duty" of any given car, with the intent to make it a pure purpose drag car. (See, this is not just about a Fox mustang......well, actually it is.)

I read probably about 7-8 threads on 2-3 different web forums, and I get the same end conclusion:

There really isn't any quicker way to doom a car to it's inevitable appointment w/ the crusher than to make it a drag car. (especially a bracket raced, drag car)

I look at all these threads, w/ pics of gutted interiors, single plastic race seats, hacked out rear quarters, coated in tire residue, no electronics, (other than the rudimentary toggle switches to run the basics) mounted on some piece of aluminum screwed where the radio used to live, and cant help but think how many years it has left before it ends up against a guard rail, or on it's roof, or in some salvage yard.

Before you take up arms consider this:

Ever seen a 67 Shelby back halved and drag raced, and wonder why in the hell somebody would do that to a Shelby? Or a 69 Mach1? or a 65 F/B?

or a Fox body?



It's the nature of the hobby,....street mods beget bigger ones,...more power demands more power, each mod makes the car more undrivable, and eventually a thread pops up where dude announces his decision to "retire" the car from street duty due to it's obnoxious street manners and over all un-drivability and makes it into a .........drag car.:eek:

Almost like thoroughbred horse racing, there are those few that end up living a glamorous life,...on, and off the track. But the reality probably is that for every Man-O-War that wins races, gets retired, put out to pasture, and gets to bed a bunch of ho's during "stud status"......Unfortunately, the "less successful" majority end up either broken and destroyed, eventually ending up as dog food.

I know that there are multitudes of gorgeous higher end drag cars out there, that live the life of a thoroughbred,...and unless the car hits the wall,has quite a long career. I also know that there are scores of butt-ugly, hacked up weekend warrior mustangs that are just a matter of seasons from suffering a similar fate as the horse that came in 3rd too many times.
e27d6fb4-91d5-4215-bcd5-e87bb451c41c.grid-6x2.jpg


Aye Carrumba!

If you follow along long enough,..you get to read the part where dude came to his senses, decides he wants his AC back, or his ride less harsh,..or gets tired of putting E85 (that he has to drive out 1/4 of a tank just to go get) so that he can maintain 700 RWHP,..and announces his decision to "retire" the car from race status.

Unfortunately for most though,...that guy is one in a thousand.

Peace on Earth, and to all a goodnight.:rolleyes:
 
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I agree...as I got older my view changes, I try to talk customers in to keeping the ac and creature comforts. You can still have 700+HP and a nice car to drive.

I honestly wish I never 25.5 chassis my own car :( it has so Much cage in it I could never put my kids in it
 
I enjoy watching, and not saying after my motor's done I won't throw on some drag radials and make a few passes. I just realized the pointlessness of trying to drive a full tilt drag car on the street on a regular basis. And to those that do, good on ya, just not for me.
 
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Having a friend with a mustang performance shop, over the last 20 years i've had my chance to see many cars that i knew would meet their demise because of turning it into a race car.

The quarter mile addiction is about as bad for a car as smoking crack is for a person.

Each time i stopped by the shop and saw the guys doing a cage, pulling the seats, ac, power steering, i knew that car's day was over. Kinda depressing.

Competitive racing is fine when you own or work at a shop, i just don't think it's for the average person. Unless your pockets are extremely deep.

I think people can still enjoy the quarter, but it's only impressive when you keep the car's drivability and creature comforts.

What i really think would be impressive would be a 10 second timeslip on road race suspension without stripping any of the car of it's dignity.
 
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My plan is pretty much what 2000 is commenting on. It's not a road race suspension but it is a street suspension. It will be on drag radials. Have a full interior with stereo,heat,and probably a cage with swing out arms. Plan on making a 10sec car. Project to start in earnest this summer. Not every "race" car is destined for the scrap heap. Hack job cars for the weekend bracket racer excluded. Hell 2000xp should be close to a 10 sec car with that terminator and some tires.
 
My plan is pretty much what 2000 is commenting on. It's not a road race suspension but it is a street suspension. It will be on drag radials. Have a full interior with stereo,heat,and probably a cage with swing out arms. Plan on making a 10sec car. Project to start in earnest this summer. Not every "race" car is destined for the scrap heap. Hack job cars for the weekend bracket racer excluded. Hell 2000xp should be close to a 10 sec car with that terminator and some tires.

I do drive around on drag radials (18 inch), unfortunately it's very different having 10 second power and a 10 second time slip.

I'd say currently i'd have a mid 11 timeslip with a high mph. 11.5 and 10.99 are pretty far apart. Unlike 13.5 and 12.9, they are pretty close.

My theory, 11's can be assumed at a certain point, but you run 10's when your timeslip says you run 10's.
 
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I do drive around on drag radials (18 inch), unfortunately it's very different having 10 second power and a 10 second time slip.

I'd say currently i'd have a mid 11 timeslip with a high mph. 11.5 and 10.99 are pretty far apart. Unlike 13.5 and 12.9, they are pretty close.

My theory, 11's can be assumed at a certain point, but you run 10's when your timeslip says you run 10's.

Sounds like you need to get to the strip in the spring! ;)

Joe
 
I guess my pile is junk since the AC is gone....


Although I wish I didn't remove it, it would be a huge undertaking to put it back, not gonna happen.

I say build what you want, who cares what others think.
 
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I understand the point of the thread, and I don't necessarily disagree... but my view is that if the drag car has a clear title (no payments) and it is not a daily driver so it's okay to let it sit in the garage for weeks, months, even years, then there's no harm in officially deeming a car "the drag car". I used to try to make my daily drivers "the drag car" and that was a nightmare. But now I'm used to having at least one Fox sitting in the garage, paid for, that I tinker with and/or race whenever I want. Nothing wrong with that!
 
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It's that time of year again.

Time for gifts to be given, and received.
Time to get together w/ friends and family and celebrate the reason for the season.
Time to look back at the past year, and reflect on how it treated you and yours.....

Time for me to put on my Grinch suit and **** some people off.

I was looking at several threads that detailed the removal from "street duty" of any given car, with the intent to make it a pure purpose drag car. (See, this is not just about a Fox mustang......well, actually it is.)

I read probably about 7-8 threads on 2-3 different web forums, and I get the same end conclusion:

There really isn't any quicker way to doom a car to it's inevitable appointment w/ the crusher than to make it a drag car. (especially a bracket raced, drag car)

I look at all these threads, w/ pics of gutted interiors, single plastic race seats, hacked out rear quarters, coated in tire residue, no electronics, (other than the rudimentary toggle switches to run the basics) mounted on some piece of aluminum screwed where the radio used to live, and cant help but think how many years it has left before it ends up against a guard rail, or on it's roof, or in some salvage yard.

Before you take up arms consider this:

Ever seen a 67 Shelby back halved and drag raced, and wonder why in the hell somebody would do that to a Shelby? Or a 69 Mach1? or a 65 F/B?

or a Fox body?



It's the nature of the hobby,....street mods beget bigger ones,...more power demands more power, each mod makes the car more undrivable, and eventually a thread pops up where dude announces his decision to "retire" the car from street duty due to it's obnoxious street manners and over all un-drivability and makes it into a .........drag car.:eek:

Almost like thoroughbred horse racing, there are those few that end up living a glamorous life,...on, and off the track. But the reality probably is that for every Man-O-War that wins races, gets retired, put out to pasture, and gets to bed a bunch of ho's during "stud status"......Unfortunately, the "less successful" majority end up either broken and destroyed, eventually ending up as dog food.

I know that there are multitudes of gorgeous higher end drag cars out there, that live the life of a thoroughbred,...and unless the car hits the wall,has quite a long career. I also know that there are scores of butt-ugly, hacked up weekend warrior mustangs that are just a matter of seasons from suffering a similar fate as the horse that came in 3rd too many times.
e27d6fb4-91d5-4215-bcd5-e87bb451c41c.grid-6x2.jpg


Aye Carrumba!

If you follow along long enough,..you get to read the part where dude came to his senses, decides he wants his AC back, or his ride less harsh,..or gets tired of putting E85 (that he has to drive out 1/4 of a tank just to go get) so that he can maintain 700 RWHP,..and announces his decision to "retire" the car from race status.

Unfortunately for most though,...that guy is one in a thousand.

Peace on Earth, and to all a goodnight.:rolleyes:

Damn Mike, I've warned you about drinking at 8 am and then posting. :rlaugh: j/k

I've come accross to many nice muscle cars that some person gutted to make it a dedicated drag car, then eventually lost interest in, and then it sat in a field for years and eventually either was scrapped or stripped down to a shell. Even worse , there are people who are taking nowadays perfectly fine running street driven Fox body mustangs and parting them out, because they can get more money selling it off in parts. I've seen more rollers in the last two years than ever.

It is indeed a very slippery slope you go on when you buy a Mustang, Camaro, etc. It always goes in phasesas the HP junkie needs bigger fixes to satisfy the need for speed.. bolt ons, then power adder, then full suspenion, then gutting the interior, etc. , then the car goes to dedicated strip car. After dumping $50k in the car you do a WTF happened when you try and sell it and can't get $20k for it.
 
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I understand the point of the thread, and I don't necessarily disagree... but my view is that if the drag car has a clear title (no payments) and it is not a daily driver so it's okay to let it sit in the garage for weeks, months, even years, then there's no harm in officially deeming a car "the drag car". I used to try to make my daily drivers "the drag car" and that was a nightmare. But now I'm used to having at least one Fox sitting in the garage, paid for, that I tinker with and/or race whenever I want. Nothing wrong with that!

I agree. While I will never have the car Sharad has, mine will always be street worthy. I refuse to ditch the AC or power steering. My ultimate goal is to run solid 11 second ETs after driving to the track and doing nothing more then airing the tires down. I get to go to the strip 2 or 3 times a year. If I can't enjoy it more than that, then there is no point in having it around.

Joe
 
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I'm just into street cars. I will never have the time for a dedicated drag car. To each their own. If you are the type that spends every other weekend at the drag strip, then I think it's worth it. I do enjoy trailering my car to the track when I do go drag racing.

Kurt
 
DAAAYMMM!! This one really woke up the congregation.

For the record:
@GroverDill: I did indirectly cite your decision to downgrade your power level so that you could stop "driving to put gas in your car". I did not mean however that your car specifically was one of the cars headed for the crusher. I was just using your already voiced frustration as an example. I think your car is beautiful, and didn't mean to infer otherwise.

@Sharad: Your car would be one example of the drag car I described as a gorgeous highend drag car. I'm sure that @srtthis' car & @Rick 91GT 's car fit the description as well. Hell,I've even had one myself.
(This is the pot, calling the kettle black part)
enginecompartment016sj4.jpg

enginecompartment014dr8.jpg

** Sorry about the weak assed tails,...I'm so........ashamed:oops:

That is about 40k in parts sitting there, and who knows how many Mike-man hours to get it that way. It was the one example I cited above that got it's quarters hacked (at the track w/ a battery powered sawzall, because the 295 DR's grew into the quarters). It didn't change the fact that after the engine failed, and the car got sold, (for a fraction of what was in it) It ended up in the hands of a PA bracket racer powered by a BBC. Who knows what it looks like today, or whether or not it hasn't already had an appointment with the wall yet.
The one good thing about a car like this, and despite the fact that it had a full F/C caged roll cage cert'd to 8.90(needed even more bars for 7.90 cert.), is that had I decided to return the car to street driver status instead of selling it (something I wish I had done), all it woulda took to get that started was a sawzall, and a grinder. (Then I coulda posted my own "Returning my race car to street duty thread")
Bottom line to what Sharad said is: Instead of getting to drive a car of this caliber EVERY DAY,...... it sat for a week(s) until the one day I took it to the track so that it could break more sh it, and then it got to sit for a month/months after that. When it did run, and I could drive it, I got to sit in a -20 fire suit (think snow mobile suit) on a 145 degree track temp day in late July.

And how much fun is that?

The point of the thread wasn't me trying to tell anybody that they couldn't do it if they wanted to, just to expect the other when they did.
 
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