Skip to main content
Topic: Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow! (Read 3193 times) previous topic - next topic

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Who's coming with me?? Surely there are a FEW racers in Oregon on this board.

Woodburn Dragstrip Friday the 24th 3pm to sundown as far as I know.

You know, if no one shows up, I'll be "Forced" to put a sticker in my window that reads  "Oregon's Fastest V6 Thunderbird"....:D
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #1
I don't trust my 7.5" rearend for any drag racing. Woodburn's got a dragstrip? :p

I've got a question though - how does that '03 v6 run?! I stole the transmission from behind one but the motor actually looked quite interesting (had to take it too, sold it). I haven't got a clue why I never noticed you on here, being local and all. If I had read this yesterday, I would have head down there just for a more interesting evening.
1988 Thunderbird Sport

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #2
What kind of motor is in yours? I made 7 passes, and things I thought were the weak links were the trans(Not enough gears), and the Driveshaft(High speed vibration, I am assuming it's out of balance)

I am definitely going to be looking hard at a 5 speed swap, and possibly 3.73 rear gears or thereabouts, but traction is not a problem at this point. :(

The motor runs real strong, but I think it needs more gears to play with :D
The only problem I had today with the motor was 1) She seemed to get a little warm, and 2)She was pinging on premium at the top end. But I figured I should have dialed back the timing, and I'm leaning towards a new radiator.

Well, I've mostly been lurking until I got this swap finished. I wish you had seen it sooner, because it was pretty dull. Apparently the Pontiac guys had a club day going, so there were a few Bonneville's and grand prix's (sp?) there. I remember a couple years ago seeing 1 or 2 80's Thunderbird's there, but 1 definitely wasn't a daily driver.

Yes, Woodburn has a full 1/4 mile track. Apparently PIR only runs 1/8th mile.
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #3
What did she run?
88 Cougar LS 5.0 .030 over, ported E7s with GT40 valves & trickflow springs, Proform roller rockers, HO cam, removed air silencer, K&N filter, smog pump delete, 2.25" dual flowmasters, Pacestter H-pipe & headers, HO computer, 65mm TB, Explorer intake, 19# injecters, 3.45s, rebuilt posi, and TCI shift kit.

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #4
yeah wtf you ran it and didnt even say what it ran lol
93 Festiva L, 193k miles, BP+T/G25MR swap, T3 50trim .48/.42, SRT FMIC, Capri electronics/Rocketchip, 2.5" exhaust
bests: ET 12.86, MPH 110.25, 1.92 short
02 Subaru Impreza WRX, 129k miles
97 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, 236k miles

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #5
That's because it's embarrassing  :D

But my first run was 17.87 @ 78.24, and my fastest was 17.595 @ 80.09.
Also, temp at the track was 87*, no relative humidity.

So, since I can't find the Time Slip section, I guess I'm still Oregon's Fastest V6 Thunderbird.

And those times represent a c-5 Three speed. I can almost guarantee that a 5 Speed would get me the time I want.

As far as her getting warm, I just read the specs in the manual and apparently the thermostat starts opening around 193*, and is full open at 221*, which is representative of what I saw on my gauge yesterday, but I'm wondering if maybe a 160* Therm would work better for carb'd.
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #6
Quote from: jrad235;283694
Yes, Woodburn has a full 1/4 mile track. Apparently PIR only runs 1/8th mile.

Says who? I doubt they'd let a dragster run on the dragstrip if it were only 1/8 mile (they do only let them run 1/8 of it due to speed though). Anyways, it is full 1/4 - don't know much about the road course though.

Mine's not an I4 or V6 so I doubt it'd be as enjoyable but it's a Thunderbird nonetheless. 19lb injectors that are still in there are running 99% at 4500 rpm's.

The quick rundown:




1988 Thunderbird Sport

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #7
Quote from: jrad235;283725
That's because it's embarrassing  :D

But my first run was 17.87 @ 78.24, and my fastest was 17.595 @ 80.09.
Also, temp at the track was 87*, no relative humidity.


Ouch, my bone stock festiva ran that fast :p
93 Festiva L, 193k miles, BP+T/G25MR swap, T3 50trim .48/.42, SRT FMIC, Capri electronics/Rocketchip, 2.5" exhaust
bests: ET 12.86, MPH 110.25, 1.92 short
02 Subaru Impreza WRX, 129k miles
97 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, 236k miles

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #8
Yeah, but mine weighs twice as much :D

-DID YOU KNOW? The Festiva weighs in at a whooping.... 1600Lbs?

Also, my transmission killed me, since the gearing sucks. I am sure that with a 5-Speed I could trounce a 16.5 Quarter.

That is a hell of a nice looking car Seek. Did you repaint it? BTW, nice Trans dipstick, is that a factory option?:)

Yes I know the car in my sig looks great, that's because I had just bought it, three or so years ago. :D
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #9
That funnel is a few inches away from the transmission fill tube - I was using it to fill the aluminum radiator when I installed it that day. Things tuck away nicely back there.

It WAS repainted but with poorly drying urethane so we roughed it up smooth and sprayed some enamel over it. It will get re-repainted likely in the next 13 months (not sure if this summer, likely next as I'm not in the mood to do all that sanding that's needed). The header panel and drivers side fender both need to be replaced due to damage from my dad's...belly weight and clipping the fender with his work truck's bed tool chests when I was visiting him.

I don't mind the '03 Mustang's automatic transmission, being able to adjust it electronically and everything. The lower gearing in 1st and 2nd over the AOD is great, along with the improvements all around. It's near impossible to get a smooth shift anywhere though - I've got the pressure raised a bit more than stock EEC's do for them (using a Baumannator TCS). Once I do the rear end with the 8.8 3.55 I have up in Seattle at my dad's, it will be done with suspension, brakes, steering, and drivetrain. I fear the highway economy drop though as I do 32.5mpg with the mechanical fan with stock 2.73's and stockish (for now) tune.
1988 Thunderbird Sport

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #10
Heh, I've actually driven around with tools sitting on the cowling. :o

Yeah, I know what you mean by all the sanding, it's just a nightmare, plus mine needs a little bondo in a couple places.

So which transmission is that exactly? And about how much did the controller cost? I actually prefer the snappy shifts. When I had the C5 redone, they installed a shift kit, but I think it was only a stage 1, so, the 1-2 shift is a little sluggish for my liking.

BTW, that is a really impressive MPG, what does she do around town?
1983 Tbird with '03 Split Port V6 motor swap done! Headers, dual exhaust, 500CFM Edelbrock, 3G upgrade, Electric fan. 3.73 Gears and an FRPP Limited Slip. Five lug complete! 5-Speed conversion complete! Standalone Fuel Injection in progress...

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #11
Quote from: jrad235;283801
Yeah, but mine weighs twice as much :D

-DID YOU KNOW? The Festiva weighs in at a whooping.... 1600Lbs?

Also, my transmission killed me, since the gearing sucks. I am sure that with a 5-Speed I could trounce a 16.5 Quarter.


Actually thats metros that weigh 1600, festivas weigh 1800-1900 :p.

I would hope for high 15's with that v6. The mustangs ran low 16's I think. Im hoping for 13's with the festiva after the turbo engine is in it :p
93 Festiva L, 193k miles, BP+T/G25MR swap, T3 50trim .48/.42, SRT FMIC, Capri electronics/Rocketchip, 2.5" exhaust
bests: ET 12.86, MPH 110.25, 1.92 short
02 Subaru Impreza WRX, 129k miles
97 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, 236k miles

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #12
Quote from: jrad235;283822

So which transmission is that exactly? And about how much did the controller cost?

BTW, that is a really impressive MPG, what does she do around town?


4r70w - the controller with wiring was $550. The transmission itself came out free after selling off the motor - with 13,000 miles on it. It does somewhere around 20/32. I was hoping for 34mpg with the electric fan back in there but it appears that it isn't as big a help as I had seen on the stock motor. I'll put it back in and get some solid numbers on longer drives when I work out a lower fan mount solution. Making multiple test drives up and down I-5 with cruise control set and within each drive within an hour of one another, there was no increase going north but 1.5mpg higher coming back down the elevation (Washington's segment of I-5).

With a lot of idling either in traffic or working on the car (like when I was working on the a/c), I only get ~15mpg on a tank. I can never get more than ~16.1 gallons in the tank from 30 miles into the "low fuel" light to topped off. No idea where those 22 gallon figures, some people claiming to fit 20 gallons in, come from!
1988 Thunderbird Sport

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #13
I put 17 gallons in my car yesterday with 6 gallons in it according to the digi dash. I have put over 22 gallons in the car before. I heard that some of the 83-86 cars used a 17 or 18 gallon tank. Like the XR7's and TC's.
Quote from: jcassity
I honestly dont think you could exceed the cost of a new car buy installing new *stock* parts everywhere in your coug our tbird. Its just plain impossible. You could revamp the entire drivetrain/engine/suspenstion and still come out ahead.
Hooligans! 
1988 Crown Vic wagon. 120K California car. Wifes grocery getter. (junked)
1987 Ford Thunderbird LX. 5.0. s.o., sn-95 t-5 and an f-150 clutch. Driven daily and going strong.
1986 cougar.
lilsammywasapunkrocker@yahoo.com

Whoo! Goin' to the drags tomorrow!

Reply #14
True but unless this car had its tank replaced in the first 2 years of its existence, it hasn't been replaced so I have no clue what its problem is...
1988 Thunderbird Sport