Looking at selling off my late model Mustang, which is an excellent working 2700lb stock suspension car, and possibly building one of my Mavericks as a race car. Since the car needs to be able to go mid 5's in the eigth and hook on a small tire in some classes, I don't see it as happening on leaf springs. What are my options? Can the leaf spring be made to work down to the 1.2-1.3 sixty foot times, and what would have to be done to relocate them for the larger tires I may run sometime? My usual class runs on 275/60 drag radials and the sixty foots are in the 1.35-1.40 area, but I may do some outlaw 10.5 racing which allows up to a 33x10.50W tire. Is the Mustang II front end my best option up front? What about frame rails? Car will have a 12 point cage in it. Basically depends on if I can do my suspension/cage for anywhere near the same price I can sell my Mustang for... around $7,000 or so. I have 5 Mavericks, but two will be used to build my wife's car.
Sounds like you've got your work "cut out" for you. That's a lot of hp for stock suspension. If you're going to be running that quick, I'd suggest looking into a 4 link.
front end Current Mustang has Aerospace brakes all the way around... main reason I was looking at the Mustang II front end was for engine room. I am not sure how to go about squeezing a big block in the engine bay without doing something similiar. Cody
If I had to do mine again, I'd go with a fabricated front frame using struts rather than a-arms. Struts give you a LOT more clearance, both at the top and down by the pan. Go with a backhalf/4 link on the rear (complete with wheelie bars and anti-roll...also I like a wishbone rather than a diagonal link but that's just me) and struts on the front. And I would also go with a 14 pt funny car cage rather than the traditional 12 pt. that includes the rocker bars as they do add some structural integrity (going to put mine in this winter). You've definitely got a good idea of what to do...but making it happen on a budget is going to be challenging. Ask me how I know.... The big block is going to be a tight fit even with a Mustang 2 front end. A windsor is tight enough as it is...can't imagine fitting a 385 series engine in there. It'll go in no problem but they you get into trans tunnel clearance, headers, pan, etc. There won't be much room to spare. Is there any particular reason you have chosen to go with a big block? Windsors are making 2000+ HP now with a turbo....
Maverick what about a complete strut front end such as the one Art Morrison? http://www.artmorrison.com/2006cat/38.pdf Also, anyone recognize what is done to the front end of this car? http://www.racingjunk.com/post/996088/72-prostreet-maverick.html? Looks like a fabricated deal, don't like the way the sterring rack is done, still has drum brakes... but a good deal on the car from the way it looks! Just needs updated.... Room for the Big block with it? On the other hand, with this much trouble, maybe I should just keep my Mustang as a race car and my wife's Maverick as the only Maverick of the family!
That looks like a Volare front end. I can't tell for sure, but I do believe I spotted a torsion bar instead of a standard coil spring. It would work OK for a mild bracket car, but I don't care for the way it's set up. Especially the rack. I see quite a bit of bump steer....Friend of mine has a '72 Maverick, basically it's a modified M2 front end but the rack is set up like that, way out in front of the crossmember. It does OK but you can literally see the car's wheels change direction when it launches. That is why I like struts. Struts keep the wheels almost 100% straight (when set up correctly) all the way down the track from starting line to finish line. They're lighter too. Some of the higher end stuff is as light as 40 lbs per side, including brakes, struts, control arm, tie rod and balljoint. But they ain't cheap. Lamb struts are probably one of the best out there. Strange is right up there as well. When I re-did mine, I was torn betwen the M2 and the front clip. I think it would have been easier to just go with a front clip (like what you see on Art Morrison's web site) using struts because at that time, I also backhalfed the rear. I could have just welded the 2x3 frame rails all the way up to the front of the car, hung the struts, welded up the cage and been done with it. But I chose to go with the Mustang2 instead using the stock crossmember hung off of the stock frame rails. I went with tubular upper & lower control arms rather than use the strut rods. I like it, it does a good job, but for a 5.50 second car, you're going to want adjustable front shocks for sure. I went with QA1's on mine, love them, but sometimes I wish there was more adjustability. But they do a good job and they're easy to change settings and they were pretty inexpensive.
1988 SSP Mustang, been progressively getting faster over the years. It was an NMCA race car for a while with a injected 408 inch Windsor and C4 with some nitrous. It has been lightened extensively over the years. The last engine was a 368 inch Dart block engine with a 91mm turbo and Glide... made 1205 at the tires. It fits all the stock suspension classes with double adjustable upper control arms and SouthSide machine lowers, also mini-tubed. Tubular K-member and narrowed tubular front control arms, coilovers, Aerospace brakes. Rear is narrowed 4 inches, 33 spline axles/spool, Aerospace brakes. Bogart wheels, Kirkey seats, 10 point cage. With the Windsor, C4, nitrous, and half tank of fuel it weighed 2600lbs.
cody, sorry for the delay. I have been very busy. Email me when you get a chance again please... okibonoe@yahoo.com thanks.
Here's a pic of my setup on the front end, this is a Chris Alston 2x3 tube frame chassis, 4 link on the back end, the cars weight is equally distributed on all 4 corners, if you were so inclined you have enuf room to stick a mountain motor in their if you want. Check out Alston's website...some good How To's and info on their. http://mmb.maverick.to/attachment.php?attachmentid=11071&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1120416711 http://mmb.maverick.to/attachment.php?attachmentid=11056&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1120342659
Mustang After going to the track tonight and talking turkey, I guess I will stick with finishing the Mustang to race and just keep working on my wife's Maverick as a fun street car. The Mustang is an ex-highway patrol car. Notice in lettering on the speedometer above the trip meter reset has the "certified calibration speedometer" labeling. The parachute handle and rear mount are pretty obvious, but if you notice the fuel line tucked up out of the way, that is a #12 fuel line on a fuel injected car that ran 40psi of base fuel pressure! Should let you know the last engine liked fuel... made 1205hp at the wheels if I remember correctly. I'll throw a junk engine in it next year to have some fun, then build a "real motor" to it when my wife get's a little farther in school.
