69 mach 408w build

[RPM 1,190]

Sounds like one heck of a weekend for both of you. Couple of sharp looking car guys there. You are blessed to have your dad around and in your life. Damn, that is one fine Mustang!

 

I usually visualize what the members here look like based on their cars and posts. I can say you look nothing like what I imagined Buckeye! I sensed you were 6' 250-300 lbs, oops! Sorry bout that BD.

 

Bob

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

I usually visualize what the members here look like based on their cars and posts. I can say you look nothing like what I imagined Buckeye! I sensed you were 6' 250-300 lbs, oops! Sorry bout that BD.

 

Bob

 

i don't think the sum of our weights even add up to 300 lbs. :)

 

we are both over 6' though.

[stangnet33 88]

That's a great pic to cherish for sure. You two and the car look great !!

[Rudolph Schenker 14]

i took a trip back to my hometown this weekend for fathers day. my dad drove it to and from an NMRA event in norwalk ohio. he said his adrenaline is still pumping...

 

 

Great pic!!

 

:001_cool::001_cool:

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i took the car to the dragstrip tonight. i wanted to go to edgewater raceway but that got rained out yesterday so i went to Tri State dragway instead.

 

i wanted to get the first time out of the way and get the nerves settled down with this car.

 

i'm not a fan of that track. it felt like i was driving down a narrow one lane chip and seal road. just like on the street, the tires blow up in third gear once it hits 4000 rpm.

 

nevertheless it was fun to play around.

 

i have a set of et drags to try out next time. however, i'm not sure how hard i want to hit those.

 

i'm car 806 that ran the 14.637 @ 108.68 mph

 

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

friend of mine shot a little video while i was there. i'm not shifting that much, just in and out of the throttle.

 

[TexasEd 188]

beautiful sound

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i mounted up the other set of tires. i got three runs in. it was nice not to have to deal with traction issues.

 

the first run, they stopped me just before picking up the timeslip to tell me i had left suspension parts on the track and i should check it out. i couldn't find any issues so i went to the starting line hoping they had whatever it was. it turned out to be two of the leaf spring anti squeak pads. no big deal.

 

i managed to get a 12.3 @ 115 with a 1.85 60 ft. i have a little more confidence to hit it a little harder next time.

 

 

 

 

[bnickel 10,004]

you should actually probably run a taller front tire for the drags, you get more rollout before the tire breaks the light which should give you a bit better 60' time and help with the reaction times a bit as well, basically you can leave a bit earlier without red-lighting.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

here is a short clip from the first time with slicks with a launch around 2000 rpm. i'm pretty sure i need to get these tires to spin a little so it doesn't bog/lay over like it was (or maybe it's just a tune issue).

 

it seems to be lifting quite a bit in the back. not sure if i need to settle that down by reducing the preload on the cal-tracs or if it's simply i don't have enough rear spring (i'm very reluctant to change those because it rides very nice). the koni's in the rear were set to full firm on the rebound.

 

here is the video:

 

 

this is a still picture from the lift.

 

[mustangstofear 608]

Looks like the other guy really ate your lunch coming off the line.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

Looks like the other guy really ate your lunch coming off the line.

 

i had zero concern for working on my RT or the other lane.

[bnickel 10,004]

Look like you may have the shocks set too firm. Start out on the softest setting and go from there. I remember you trimming your cal-tracs bar front mounts I wonder if that effected anything by doing that? probably didn't but still something to think about. I'd try the shocks on full soft and do a few practice launches on the street near home just to see how it feels.

 

I do know that if you have adjustable shocks in the front those should definitely be set full soft to help with weight transfer to the rear.

 

I wouldn't bother much with any engine tuning unless you have a major bog or something, at least for now. work on getting the suspension working right first, then move on engine tuning, to tweak the combo just right.

 

also you are getting so much separation on the launch I wonder if your shocks aren't hitting the end of their travel and causing a binding situation or something. I'm not talking about the springs binding but the shocks themselves. most of those Koni's are designed more road course racing and not drag racing so much, although they do make a drag race specific shock for the Mustangs.

 

a set of the Calvert 9 ways for the back might be a wise investment if you're going to be doing much drag racing on or off the dragstrip.....

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

the koni's on the front are set up for full soft on the rebound (i.e. they extend the easiest) and the rears were set up for full firm on the rebound (hard to extend). so I'm a little confused why you would say set the shocks full soft given the body separation (unless you are talking about the fronts)?

 

i'm almost certain the rears are hitting full extension and quite possibly the fronts are too.

 

i looked at the calverts for the rears but it had appeared they are only adjustable for rebound like the koni's. i have struggled if they really would be any improvement at all (unless they get even more firm on the rebound)?.

 

i trimmed the bottom hole off the cal-trac. So they are effectively the road race version or low profile. I won't be changing those to add the lower hole (for visual reasons).

[bnickel 10,004]

different cars like different things, so yeah try the rears set softer, all you can gain is information......might even help settle the rear down a bit quicker

 

Still though, I'm pretty sure the rears for sure are hitting full extension right out of the hole, I think that's what that bounce was all about right off the line. The Calvert Shocks were formerly Rancho truck shocks and I believe they have more extension so they shouldn't hit the stops as quickly.

 

I've seen vids of Clavert's old 68.5 CJ car leaving the line and the back came up pretty high like yours but then settled down really quick and basically just squirted off the line, pretty damn cool to watch. I wasn't able to find any of those old vids online but I didn't spend a whole bunch of time looking either

 

 

BTW, most drag shocks are 90/10 in the front and 50/50 in the rear, I'm thinking your rears set at firm are more 30/70....just FYI

Edited July 8, 2014 by bnickel

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

different cars like different things, so yeah try the rears set softer, all you can gain is information......might even help settle the rear down a bit quicker

 

Still though, I'm pretty sure the rears for sure are hitting full extension right out of the hole, I think that's what that bounce was all about right off the line. The Calvert Shocks were formerly Rancho truck shocks and I believe they have more extension so they shouldn't hit the stops as quickly.

 

I've seen vids of Clavert's old 68.5 CJ car leaving the line and the back came up pretty high like yours but then settled down really quick and basically just squirted off the line, pretty damn cool to watch. I wasn't able to find any of those old vids online but I didn't spend a whole bunch of time looking either

 

 

BTW, most drag shocks are 90/10 in the front and 50/50 in the rear, I'm thinking your rears set at firm are more 30/70....just FYI

 

ok thanks for the feedback. i'll consider the recommendations. i believe my first set of changes will simply be to increase the launch rpm another 500 rpm in an attempt to get a little wheelspin. i'm inclined to believe that was the primary source of the bog.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

after the initial trip to the strip and finding how much rubber and trash was flung on the car, i had decided to apply some of the 3M product to the lower quarter the day before installing the slicks and heading to the track again (the slicks actually threw less garbage on the car as compared to the street tires....).

 

i had performed what i would consider a sloppy job of applying it, but i had figured something was better than nothing.

 

i was pleasantly surprised that once it cured, i could barely see it was on the car. the orange peel was very slight and broad (not like the orange peel from spraying to dry...).

 

removal was easy as well, except for where i just didn't spray enough material (on the underside of the quarter at the opposite angle, i just didn't get thick enough coverage).

 

so my lesson learned was simply to ensure adequate thicker coverage everywhere. it peeled like saran wrap.

 

i had originally sprayed it on the front valance just after i had buffed it off the car and it sprayed horribly and i quickly cleaned it off before it had cured. i believe if i would have simply given it time, it would have been just fine.

 

 

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

The Calvert Shocks were formerly Rancho truck shocks and I believe they have more extension so they shouldn't hit the stops as quickly.

 

 

i ordered the rear calverts thinking the ease of adjustability would be nice. firm it up for the track, turn the knob and soften it up for the street.

 

i noticed with the koni's set full soft in the front and full firm in the rear that it wants to rock a bit on the street when hitting bumps.

 

i received them today and noticed that the knob seemed to stiffen up the compression and had no noticeable effect on the extension which was very, very easy to extend (i thought the adjustment was for the rebound and not the compression...).

 

the koni's on the other hand when set to full soft, feel like the compression and extension require about the same force. when set to full firm the compression feels about the same but the extension is very, very difficult to extend.

 

i know it's probably not completely fair since there is an acceleration curve associated with the damping properties, but this surprised me about the calvert's.

 

that aside i would be willing to give them a shot. however i noticed through performing measurements that the suspension would only have about 1.25 to 1.5" of travel before the shocks would bottom out. the axle would never make it to hit the big rubber bumpers.

 

the extension however is well beyond the koni's to the point the rear shackles could potentially hit the rear tie down brackets if the body were to heavily try to separate like it was. based on the very limited travel up, i really don't want to install them. i need to call calvert and verify this is the correct shock (or see if they have a shorter one).

[Klutch 17]

Are you familiar with Shaun at Street or Track? His thing is more road racing, but he's very familiar with suspensions and shock absorbers. I would suggest you send Shaun an email asking about your launch issues. He's very good about getting back to you and offering sound advice. He might have a set of Bilsteins to resolve the problem.

 

I have bought parts from Shaun and talked to him online. He's a good guy who runs a good business.

 

BTW, that 3M stuff is pretty spiffy! Thanks for sharing that.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i made another attempt at edgewater. this track certainly was not prepped the same as kil kare.

 

i did launch this time at 3000 rpm. there was quite a bit of wheelspin here. the car didn't bog this time but it was bouncing really bad (it felt quite a bit more rough than it looks). i had 17 psi in this picture.

 

i did put about a 3/8" gap on the cal trac yesterday (versus the 1/4 turn preload I had been using). I could feel the car not lift like it was when tapping the gas (actually felt like it was squating in the back or maybe the front was just lifting more than the back). so maybe i will try it backed off the next time i get it out to the track.

 

 

[Klutch 17]

And it appears you beat the Corvette handily. Nice.

[RPM 1,190]

Nice pic with major traction! Did you get some air under the front tires?

 

Bob

[1969vert 55]

you are killing the rear tire...see how mashed it is...you need to bump up the air pressure...

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

you are killing the rear tire...see how mashed it is...you need to bump up the air pressure...

 

i didn't notice the tire was mashed.

 

i started with the pressure used at the previous track of 20 psi and was spinning, so i lowered it down in 1 psi increments to 17 psi.

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

i had found that the cr-9 for the 64-66 mustangs was supposedly a little shorter than the offering for the 67-70, so i ordered those.

 

i tried to make a few measurements for reference (probably 1/8" accuracy...).

 

top: CR44130 (for 67-70 mustang)

middle: koni classic

bottom: CR44116 (for 64-66 mustang)

 

when extended, the CR44130 is ~5" longer than the koni.

when extended, the CR44116 is ~2" longer than the koni.

 

when compressed, the CR44130 is ~3" longer than the koni

when compressed, the CR44116 is ~1.5" longer than the koni

 

CR44130 travel: ~8"

CR44116 travel: ~6.25"

Koni travel: 5.75".

 

 

 

 

here is a pic of the CR44130 fully compressed in the car. you can see there wouldn't be very much available suspension travel on the bump (i think my car sits about the factory ride height). for a pure drag car, I can see this would probably be the optimal shock.