The quest for a 9 second street car

LStangX

Member
Jul 30, 2020
15
3
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Exeter, Pa
New to the mustang world. Building a 2002 new edge with a 5.3 th400 combo. I know its sacrilegious but its what i have. Oh and she will have a big ol s475 t6 strapped on as well. Now to figure out where all these pieces go lol.
 
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Well if you are putting it in a t bucket hang on when you hit the 'go' peddle. Really it won't matter what you put it in that's under 4500 lbs, you will still need to hang on.
Now if you are stuffing that into a mustang, and that is what I am going to guess since this is a mustang forum, and judging by the title it appears you are baiting the members here to get into a 'hating' match, I would advise not to go there,
You can't find a 'I put a LS in a mustang' forum?
Spend a little time searching the threads here to see how many LS swaps we have.
I can remember 1. The build is/was a serious drag car but not heard from him in a while.
I would suggest changing the title to something a little less combative and show us your skills as a builder.
Remember this is a Mustang forum but we like most any well built cars.
JMO
 
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Your right. I grew up bowtie, but realized the mustang is a much better and able platform. Not a fan of mod motors and coyotes are nice, but expensive and cannot handle the power of an iron ls. I know that may make some people mad but facts are facts. I will try to show as much progress as i can.
 
Fact is I can take a JY 351 with a cast piston, add cheap 900 ebay heads and pretty much any blower cam.. injectors ect and a cheap On3 turbo kit with a 76/78mm turbo and get to your goal in under 2hours of tuning. I have actually done it twice now.
The turbo is done around 23psi.

Now with a 5.3 [I like the 4.8 better for this personally] you should easily be able to find a 9s pass anywhere above 16psi.

Lets see some pictures of what you are working with
 
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I will post some later today. Basically did a gen 3 5.3 i got for 200 bucks, added some ls2 rods (gen4), gen4 stock pistons, gapped rings and slapped together with a sloppy stage 2 cam, 228/230. ARP rod bolts and china head studs. Pac springs. Thats basically it. I think im under 800 bucks for the motor. Trying to do this on an Army salary with a dad of three budget lol. I had a gen 4 camaro but IMO GM screwed that design up for budget builds. So i switched to a lighter more capable platform with the same power level in mind. I know SBF’s can run and if i change out this setup i may do a ford motor next.
 
I know that you are talking engine bay on this Stang............

Lets speak of the Rear end and the Suspension a little. Without a Picture I am assuming that the car is set up already as a stock V8 and can handle roughly about 350 to the rear wheels.

Before you turn that key let us in on what the upgrades are to keep you planted and straight down the track
 
well it does have an eibach pro kit on it currently with sway bars etc. does have upgraded upper and lower control arms. rear end has been done. currently has 4.10s in it but thats much too high for my setup. 350 is a little low for a ford 8.8... the crappy GM 7.5 can handle more than that in an automatic. there are plenty of people out there running 9's on stock 31 spline ford 8.8s. i know these came 28 spline so i need to make sure the PO did the right thing with the rear when he had it built. he was doing a coyote swap and did not spare any expenses. i do plan on safely raising the power levels before i do a full send. i have sub frame connectors to be installed and eventually a 8 pt cage for safety. i plan to mostly street the car with an occasional track rental day here and there. i will try and keep updates coming through as i make them. i have to first get the last project out of my garage so i can seriously start building this one.
 
Sounds like it is headed in the right direction. I have seen many come and go who put the power into the engine bay but not the foundation to handle what comes out the rear end. I am the opposite, I have built my V6 Vert to handle 400 (8.8 with 3.27:1 on 28 spline) to the rear but probably will never produce that number in its life cycle. I feel that going more on the foundation will never be a wrong investment.
 
Heres a picture of what im working with
F83713B4-FFC0-43AD-BEAF-E79D97175942.jpeg
3814DC71-366B-4EC4-B703-18FB642AD92D.jpeg

i dont know why they loaded upside down...
 
Is this a preview of what will happen when the front wheels catch too much sir at the track? Safety equipment will negate the bad omen.
So how is a Mustsng better than a Camaro for this project? Is it the cowl that’s hangs over the engine bay?

Heres a picture of what im working with
F83713B4-FFC0-43AD-BEAF-E79D97175942.jpeg
3814DC71-366B-4EC4-B703-18FB642AD92D.jpeg

i dont know why they loaded upside down...
 
Is this a preview of what will happen when the front wheels catch too much sir at the track? Safety equipment will negate the bad omen.
So how is a Mustsng better than a Camaro for this project? Is it the cowl that’s hangs over the engine bay?

the cowl was a pain in the ass due to having to put the body over the engine. serious drag cars just cut that out to make it easier to remove and replace it. the biggest things IMO are the rear end and suspension set ups from the factory. the 7.5 GM 10 bolt in the camaro is a V6 rear end that gets shredded under stock power levels. when gm has a 8.5 rear end they use in Chevy S10 trucks and full sized cars, there is no excuse to use a smaller one in their Muscle car. the Ford 8.8 is much beefier in stock form and almost a direct copy off of the old GM 12 bolt they used in their muscle car days. the suspension set up in a camaro is a torque arm... there are plenty of cars running 9's with these set ups but again they are expensive as hell to beef up. a good brand name torque arm will run you easy 600+dollars. this also makes it very difficult to change out the rear end without buying a rear made for that set up. i prefer a 4 link, especially for a drag car. again its all personal preference, but when your a father of 3 and on a military salary, i like the easier cost effective platform. those are just the biggest factors, there are many more.
 
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