I have been trapped at work for the better part of the last 8 months so my posts have been few and mostly in drag racing. I am trapped at home today due to a car (not mine) crashing into my house last night and demolishing my garage door and smacking my wife's Crossfire. So I finally had time to read up on what you all have been up to. There was a thread last month about the Modular engines in our 2v GT's being down on power compared to the LS1. This thread was full of innaccurate information.
I wanted to set the record straight on several issues.
1. Stock Ls1's do not run 8's when dropped into a Fox body, that is simply absurd.
2. No modular has ever put down 400 rwhp n/a! Not! I have personally seen several put down over 540 rwhp n/a and run 10 flat n/a letting out and short shifting to avoid hitting 9's due to not being certified to run faster than 10.00 They were 5.40 4v's, there are 281 4v's running low 10s also without power adders. Ford sells a 425 hp 300 cu in. 4v over the counter.
3. Some new v6's in imports make as much power as a PI 4.6. False they make as much or more peak hp at high rpm but make far less torque and cannot compete with a properly driven stock 99-04 GT. I see them at the track all the time running mid 15's and slower.

The problem with those of you driving slow GT's is you not the car. My car and others I race with have all run into the 12's with 250 - 260 rwhp and minor bolt on's. Our cars are under powered when compared with a LS1 duh! 334 cu inches to 281. You need to read up and talk to others before modding your GT, other wise you will spend your hard earned money on the wrong things. Concentrate on traction, gearing and driving skills and you will find these cars are not so bad afterall.


Things to do

gears 4.10's
exhaust, X pipe and cat back, long tubes not shorties.
Tune, Tune, Tune. SCT and no other brand period. Every fast n/a 2v in the country uses SCT.
cams, keep away from high reving cams with a stock motor you will only spin a bearing.
upper and lower control arms
full length weld in frame supports
drag strus
MT drag radials, don't get low profile Dr's if you plan on drag racing, you need tire sidewall flex, that means a 15" tire.
Beef up the rear end and axles 31 splines or better
Drop off some un-need weight to assist your little 2v.

don'ts
do not swap out the factory mass air meter it is more than enough for a bolt on car.
just say no to 3.73's
Don't expect big dividends from minor parts such as pullies and plenums. Remember they all add up, it's a little here and a little there.

My little 2v daily driver runs great every day and does a decent job at the track. With a completely stock engine (block, rods, pistons, cams, heads) and some bolt on's has run a best of 12.874 at 107.20 that corrected to a 12.60 @ 108.5 at a race weight of 3,400 lbs. and that is with an automatic tranny with only a j-mod and 3500 stall convertor. With a set of comp 262 cams I hope to hit 12.50's this season and that is not too bad for a daily driven car that routinely picks up several hundered pounds of paper for my printing business.

Sorry this was so long but that thread really hacked me off.

 

really nice write-up...i agree 100% with everything you just said. Everyone should read this write-up before modding their cars just to get some background knowledge and a heads up

 

looks like the thought of doing stage 1 N/A cams this summer is a good one!

 

Vt stage one's are a great cam. I have a buddy with them and he pulls me hard above 4,500. His automatic with a few bolt on's runs 12.60's with stage ones.
Comp 262's , stage ones or Crane HR212/515-25-15 are all good street cams.
The problem with the bigger lift cams is they don't do any better than the ones I listed until 5,000 rpm and then it's only 2-4 hp until 6,200 where they make about 7-8 more. The trade off is they are below the milder cams until 4,900 rpm by a bigger margin than they gain above. They would make more power up high but are limited by the intake and bottom end. They also idle worse and make street driving a little less fun.

 

As a side note the reason I know that 3.73's are a waste and an aftermarket mass air sucks is I was a moron and bought these items. I now have a expensive aluminum paper weight courtesy of C&L and set of 3.73's slightly used in a box in the garage attic. I also have a SCT tune that picked up 6-7 tenths in the 1/4 and I trap 107 with a lowly 251 hp. Just think what I could run if I had any power at all, lol.

 

well put dude, i agree with you alot and thakns for posting up about it you even game me some good ideas for what i want to do next

 

Yeah good write up blue02gt, I will be dojng cams this summer also and 410s. I am very impressed with your times especially with an auto, i guess the suto really isnt as bad as people think it is, i really want to do a jmod though how much did you pay for yours? is it really that hard and will speed shops or transmission shops do them?

 

For those that don't know Dean, he has a lot of experience. This si a guy who has been drag racing for more years then most of you have been alive and he has about 400 trips down the track in his 2001, 250 HP GT....a car that runs in the 12's....automatic too.

Dean, holy **** about the crash. Glad no one was hurt. Car just slammed into a firend's house a few weeks ago...took out the fron porch.

 

how do you use the j mod when you list a PA valvebody in your sig? maybe you put that in recently? its been a while since we seen you around these parts of the woods.

 

Blake it shook the house and sounded like an explosion. I thought the house across the street blew up or something. Thankfully it was turning and did not come thru the dining room. He did smack through the garage door and nail the wife's hot rod but only minor damage from what I can tell. The Blue bomb was on the other side of the garage

 

The PA valve body is just a j modded Ford valve body. I was in a hurry and just spent the extra cash to get my car done at the time. All it intails is some drilling, removing a few springs and a replacing a few gaskets. You can do it in an afternoon if you have the parts.

I have been so busy working that I hardly get online anymore. Hopefully I can log on and give you all a hard time more often. After all racing season starts for me this Tuesday night. Alas my car will be no faster than last year due to no time to mod

 

Wow, nice write up. I have to say that I disagree with only one thing. I agree that 4.10's are a great gear. But gears are a very subjective topic. I personally like my 3.27's. I can't get traction in first or second as it is ( I know I know....get the UCA's / LCA's ). Once I get the suspension set up properly I may or may not get gears. Many people have flamed and flamed and flamed about 1 gear ratio being ' the best'. I typically just don't even get into the 'what gear is the best' debates. I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm really surprised to see someone come out and state that 1 gear ratio is ' the best' anymore.

 

I should have said 4.10's are the best for racing a bolt on car. If you have a power adder you most likely wont need that much gear on a street car. I run 4.30's because my car needs all the help it can get. I was responding to a thread about 2v n/a cars so I didn't think about my gear statement, lol. You really don't need 4.10's with your KB equipped car.

here is a link to a thread on the J mod from a site that a few of us started back last August. It's a small site but has very knowledgeable members.http://www.modularmisfits.com/forums...pic.php?t=1417

 

i like the PA tranny i have now. my stocker wasnt keeping its performance so i had to upgrade.

 

Do you have the manual valve body and tranny brake?

 

i wish i had bought that valve body. i would love to have a trans brake. i have the street strip valve body that comes with the street strip AODE.

 

Oh yeah, there's no way I'd do 4.30's in this car. It's a daily driver and I have absolutely no need for that steep of a gear. Once I get the suspension straight, I haven't ruled out 3.55's, but I'm not saying it's a definite either.

 

Kenne Bell says that 3.73's are the perfect gear for your set up but since it's a daily driver you really have the best of both worlds with the instant power of the twin screw and good highway mileage to boot. Did I mention that I hate you, lol.

 

Ditto that. As soon as I retire the 02 from DD duty it gets the tranny brake.

 

I get that a lot these days :banana:

 

How much would upper and lower control arm help my 1/4 ET? H ow much would an SCT help? I have 96 cobra. Sorry to ask questions on somebodys else's thread but there is some great knowledge on tonite! Anything else that would be reasonable low buck that would help my ETs.

 

I think the only way to answer that question is to understand if you have been having a problem. If you are getting wheel hop, if you are sliding to the side, or just having a general problem with traction, then control arms would lower your ET. If you are spinning because of crappy tires, I am not sure if they would help. If your 60 foot is a 1.8X and you dont seem to be having too many issues, then you might not drop it further. If your 60 foot is a 2.4 and you are hopping like mad, then they will help a bunch. Also, if you have plans for a power adder, then you will need them even more.

An SCT tune could drop .5- .7 seconds if you have an auto. Maybe .2 if you have a stick.

 

I think those numbers are a little high for an auto, coming from I with an auto. I havent ran my car at the track, but driving it around I would say .3-.4 more reasonable

 

My tires are good and sticky my my 60 ft was like 2.4-2.6. But i launched a little to hard. I only got to runs in. What is an ideal 60 ft time for a stock 96 cobra? Might be a stupid question, i just looking ways to the ol ET times down. I was throughly impressed with the 02 blue Gt times.

 

Ideal? Most people seem to think that 2.0X is a good target for street tires, but if you can pull a 1.9x or 1.8x you are doing pretty good. If you are in the 2.5 range, that is really bad. Either your tires suck, or you need lots of practice. I am not trying to be harsh, just helpful.

 

you should be hitting 1.8-1.9 if you have sticking tires. you have a manual so its different for you you may be launching too hard. adjustable UCA and LCA will greatly improve your short time.

edit i forgot about tires get better tires or try dropping the pressure. if they are street tires then i wouldnt go lower then 20 psi. if you are using a drag radial 16psi. my 2 cents from my exp.

 

Are sub 2.0 60 ft times reasonable/possible with good street tires with an auto and STOCK stall?

 

i hit 1.8's with the gatorbacks on my car. i dropped the pressure to 20 psi. this was N/A. now i hit 2.0's with wheel spin supercharged.

 

2.0 was the best I ever did on the stock tires and convertor on mine. I think that was due to the gearing,stall speed and lack of torque. I know of many good drivers who were able to hit high 1.8's with a five speed stock set up. They would feather the clutch out and control the spin. I would run my stock tires at 20 psi in back and 45 in front (to reduce rolling resistance).
Uppers and lowers will only help you. A 96 Cobra has a live axle set up just like the GT's. Adjustable drag struts up front are also a big help, I run the Tokico's and they really help the front end come up and transfer the weight to the back. You simply open the hood and set them to whatever setting you wish, takes all of 10 seconds to set up.

A good rule to remember on your sixty foot is for every .1 you can drop off your 60' you will drop .2 off of your et. So if you are running 2.4's and can reduce that to a 2.0 you will drop .8 off of your quarter mile time. That is why I spent the bulk of my time and effort in setting my car up to sixty foot well before I worried much about power.

The things that affect your 60' are traction (duh) gears and power. I have 2 of the 3. My car consisantly cuts 1.82's and occasionally 1.78's. So even though it's on the weak side when it comes to power I can still run 12.8-13.0 all night long.