The Official Hot Rod Thread - Part 4: Burnouts for Distance

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  • thunderchicken

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    If you make it up there with him look me up. I'll be one of the only sbf foxbodies lol.

    I have only driven the car once with the seat. 15 minute drive to work wasn't too bad but I wouldn't want to do anything over an hour without some padding. One thing that will be nice for racing is it sits 4"-6" lower. That will make it much nicer taking my helmet on and off.

    Side note, I was getting ready to order a Team Z roll cage for the foxbody then I found out the supercharger on my 2005 Mustang was leaking oil. Pulled it off and took it to a shop for a rebuild. The bearings in the snout went bad, tore up the snout case and the shaft. That was an extra $600 on top of the standard rebuild cost.

    TeamZ makes some fantastic stuff. They're proud of it and their prices reflect that. But, it's quality.

    If I make it up there I will be looking for you
     

    thunderchicken

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    I'm about 6'1 and had to cut the front brace out of my Vert and weld bolts almost directly to the floor pan in order to get the seat low enough to fit me and not be so cocked back that I was uncomfortable.

    I maybe a bit physically disproportional lol. I'm only 5'9" but our aluminum seat is literally bolted to/through the floor pan. But, I sit up tall enough that in the car that when I put my helmet on/off, I have to tuck my head down and kinda roll the helmet into my head. Then the top of it is only about 2" from the roof bars on the funny car cage. My dad is 6'4" and he fits the same way except his legs are longer.
     

    Mounty09

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    Decided to work on the trailer today. A friend had borrowed it and the jack came back bent and tough to use (both of our faults). It wasn't a big deal to me as I have been wanting to put an electric jack on it anyways and this gave me an excuse.

    I understand why manufacturers weld on jacks for time and cost. But it seems like almost every trailer needs a jack replaced. Not only did they weld the jack on the frame, they also welded on a plate that holds the breakaway battery box on top of the jack. Got that all cut off and bolted on the new electric jack.

    Then I added a toolbox and moved the battery box inside the toolbox. Loaded the toolbox with a milk crate full of straps, aluminum floor jack, and a portable winch box. Next I plan to add a larger battery to power the winch and some led lights on the back of the box facing the trailer to help with loading at night.

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    femurphy77

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    Decided to work on the trailer today. A friend had borrowed it and the jack came back bent and tough to use (both of our faults). It wasn't a big deal to me as I have been wanting to put an electric jack on it anyways and this gave me an excuse.

    I understand why manufacturers weld on jacks for time and cost. But it seems like almost every trailer needs a jack replaced. Not only did they weld the jack on the frame, they also welded on a plate that holds the breakaway battery box on top of the jack. Got that all cut off and bolted on the new electric jack.

    Then I added a toolbox and moved the battery box inside the toolbox. Loaded the toolbox with a milk crate full of straps, aluminum floor jack, and a portable winch box. Next I plan to add a larger battery to power the winch and some led lights on the back of the box facing the trailer to help with loading at night.

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    Looks good, I'm in the process of adding a winch to my trailer. I'm trying to decide if the toolbox is worth the trouble. I can mount the winch in such a way that will make it exceedingly difficult to remove even with time and the right tools. I can also add a battery box that will make it exceedingly difficult to steal the battery. My trailer is somewhat larger than yours and doesn't need any additional tongue weight.
     
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    Mounty09

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    Looks good, I'm trying to decide if the toolbox is worth the trouble. I can mount the winch in such a way that will make it exceedingly difficult to remove even with time and the right tools. I can also add a battery box that will make it exceedingly difficult to steal the battery. My trailer is somewhat larger than yours and doesn't need any additional tongue weight.
    While the security part of the toolbox is nice that wasn't the main reason for me. I wanted a place to keep my straps and a few tools that way I wouldn't always have to get them out of the garage. Also if I were to break down somewhere, I could tell my wife to just get the trailer and not worry about her finding straps and such.

    This did add a bit of tongue weight. I use to be able to pick up the tongue, not anymore. Will have to play around again with where to park the car on the trailer.
     

    femurphy77

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    While the security part of the toolbox is nice that wasn't the main reason for me. I wanted a place to keep my straps and a few tools that way I wouldn't always have to get them out of the garage. Also if I were to break down somewhere, I could tell my wife to just get the trailer and not worry about her finding straps and such.

    This did add a bit of tongue weight. I use to be able to pick up the tongue, not anymore. Will have to play around again with where to park the car on the trailer.
    I've got a tilt bed trailer so I just drive the car up on the trailer slowly and when I reach the balance point the trailer rotates down and then I go another 6". I have additional bed space that allows us to haul a golf cart as well but haven't worked that out yet. I hadn't given any thought to strap storage but I did score an aluminum toolbox for cheap a couple of weeks ago and may add it to the mix for strap storage. Always something; that's why I took this week off to get caught up on some of these vehicular projects.
     

    gregkl

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    Not to drift the thread too much but continuing on the trailer storage conversation, I have a small utility trailer that I want to add some storage to.

    Is the tongue box the way to go? What about a truck box? Will it get in the way? Hard questions to answer I know; it's a 6x12 and I do plan on hauling a ZT mower, a couple push mowers and string trimmers, blower, gas cans.

    I'm also rigging up a mount for an electric winch. I will make it so I can slip the winch into a receiver(which will be more or less permanently attached to the trailer) and will use a portable power supply to power it so I won't need a battery. This will get used very little; only when I have a "dead" mower so I don't have to try and push it onto the trailer.
     

    Mounty09

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    Not to drift the thread too much but continuing on the trailer storage conversation, I have a small utility trailer that I want to add some storage to.

    Is the tongue box the way to go? What about a truck box? Will it get in the way? Hard questions to answer I know; it's a 6x12 and I do plan on hauling a ZT mower, a couple push mowers and string trimmers, blower, gas cans.

    I'm also rigging up a mount for an electric winch. I will make it so I can slip the winch into a receiver(which will be more or less permanently attached to the trailer) and will use a portable power supply to power it so I won't need a battery. This will get used very little; only when I have a "dead" mower so I don't have to try and push it onto the trailer.
    I didn't want to take up deck space on the trailer is why I put it on the tongue. The box I got is 46" wide, much wider and I would have to be extremely careful while turning.

    The receiver idea is good. That way you can keep the winch out of the weather. I also hope to use the winch very little. If I have to use it for the car, it is a bad day.
     

    Mounty09

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    Went out to Muncie last night for some testing. Had some major traction issues that I'm hoping a spool will help with. Still accumulating parts for the axle upgrades I'm wanting to do.

    Best time of the night was a 11.28@124. Last time out I went a 11.03@121. So picked up 3mph but lost .25 due to spinning. I had been leaving the line at 3100RPM at the track rental (much better prep), by the end of last night I could only leave on 2600RPM. I was able to bring nitrous off time between shifts down to less that 0.5s compared to 1.5s before. Between taking 90lbs out of the car and the nitrous off time is where the 3mph came from.

    I did run 2 NA runs. One was a 12.22 which should be good for the 12.20 index class I am planning on running Saturday.

    While I was happy there weren't many cars (maybe 30) there it kind of scares me. I only had to wait in the staging lanes once and that was for 1 par of cars. The rest of the time I pulled right into the lanes. In previous years you were waiting in the lanes for 30-60 minutes. Maybe that is why Muncie is only doing 1-2 TNT nights a month.

    At the end of the night I wasn't as happy as I wanted to be but the car drove back on the trailer and had zero issues so it was a good evening!
     

    femurphy77

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    Anyone heading out to the vintage races at IMS this weekend? The wife and I are going in the morning to catch the Trans Am race and some of the other periphery. Sunday we're heading up to Grissom, there's supposed to be a Divisional SCCA Autocross there. Hopefully get to see the CP cars run and perhaps run into some old acquaintances.
     

    jeffsqartan

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    Negatory on both. I'd like to run some more autocross, but after last weekend I decided that I need to make changes on the car before I bother going back out there. I end up doing the same thing every time - place middle of the pack in RAW times, get beaten by just about anyone else in CAM-T cause they all have hilariously modified muscle cars. It's still fun, but doing the same thing and getting the same results every time is just kinda boring.
    Oh, if anyone has a factory Foxbody swaybar they'd be willing to let go for cheap, I'd LOVE to meet up for it.

    Video from last week's Autocross.
     

    thunderchicken

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    Went out to Muncie last night for some testing. Had some major traction issues that I'm hoping a spool will help with. Still accumulating parts for the axle upgrades I'm wanting to do.

    Best time of the night was a 11.28@124. Last time out I went a 11.03@121. So picked up 3mph but lost .25 due to spinning. I had been leaving the line at 3100RPM at the track rental (much better prep), by the end of last night I could only leave on 2600RPM. I was able to bring nitrous off time between shifts down to less that 0.5s compared to 1.5s before. Between taking 90lbs out of the car and the nitrous off time is where the 3mph came from.

    I did run 2 NA runs. One was a 12.22 which should be good for the 12.20 index class I am planning on running Saturday.

    While I was happy there weren't many cars (maybe 30) there it kind of scares me. I only had to wait in the staging lanes once and that was for 1 par of cars. The rest of the time I pulled right into the lanes. In previous years you were waiting in the lanes for 30-60 minutes. Maybe that is why Muncie is only doing 1-2 TNT nights a month.

    At the end of the night I wasn't as happy as I wanted to be but the car drove back on the trailer and had zero issues so it was a good evening!
    I would anticipate the track will be better prep'd on Saturday.
    Really kind of surprised there was such a small turn out, especially given how nice the weather was. I haven't heard how the turn out was at IRP Wed night.
     

    thunderchicken

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    Negatory on both. I'd like to run some more autocross, but after last weekend I decided that I need to make changes on the car before I bother going back out there. I end up doing the same thing every time - place middle of the pack in RAW times, get beaten by just about anyone else in CAM-T cause they all have hilariously modified muscle cars. It's still fun, but doing the same thing and getting the same results every time is just kinda boring.
    Oh, if anyone has a factory Foxbody swaybar they'd be willing to let go for cheap, I'd LOVE to meet up for it.

    Video from last week's Autocross.

    What kind of changes you think it needs?
    Looks pretty fun to me
     

    thunderchicken

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    Believe it or not, I have yet to even get out to a race track so far this year.
    Engine shop has been super busy, have had to wait for some parts and they had to do some work on the block. But, we've been told all the parts are there now and it should be just a matter of getting through the line and into the assembly room. Then we will schedule a dyno session before we bring it home and get it back into the car.
     
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