Went MIA - and had a BLAST!

[CHP8336]

Originally Posted by 28HopUp

I am active on other Mustang sites. One of them, www.MustangCollective.com, puts on an annual event called the Buckeye Brawl (#6 this year) at Thompson Raceway in Ohio. There was a group from MOCSEM, and members from Texas, Virginia, and other states - over 20 Mustangs together for a weekend of racing and friendship. We had such a great time this year.

Debbie, Jack, and I drove out in Jack's 98 project car, which is a relatively stock 3.8L/5spd. The only go-fast mods are duals, suspension, drag radials, and 3.90:1 gears. Jack recently got his driver's license, and this was his first time running at the track. On the first run with the car, Jack rode along with me and I showed him what to do. Then he solo'd -




Photographs by John Stachlewicz


Jack did great mastering the clutch and line locks, and ended up making 11 passes at the Brawl, with a best ET of 16.5xx. Here's a video of one of Jack's first runs -


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imvqH...ature=youtu.be


The Brawl was the perfect place for him to race at the track for his first time, and he's hooked now for sure! We did slightly injure the car at the track - a broken lower control arm bushing came out from under the car during Jack's last run. But we limped it home without any real issues, other than the rear of the car kicking out left slightly with every shift. We will replace all of the LCA bushings this weekend.

Now Jack is re-thinking his future mods for the car.

Ohhhhh Yaaaaaaaa ....... lol.... Brings back many GREAT memories out at Sears Point! We call it the wed nite drags here. Still going on 30 years later... Keep up the good driving Jack!!

[NoDrama43]

that really looks like a good time !!

[28HopUp]

It really was a GREAT time! Each year the organizers have done a super job putting the event together. Leading up to the weekend, there is some fun-natured smack tack between racers as to who has the quickest car or best reaction time. It's all in good fun. One guy has won the best reaction time twice in battle against one other member with high stakes betting involved - a signed $1 bill! The winner put the two previous dollar bills into a display frame with room for the third bill. He won that bet again this year. In addition to Mustangs, we even had a member with an Eco-Boost Ford Flex who ran a 13.0xx - AMAZING!

Afterwards, most everyone goes back to the nearby Motel 6 (which keeps the cost down) for a pizza & wing banquet and awards ceremony. As a door prize, Jack won a Mothers Car Care bucket filled cleaning supplies. Jack is hoping that next year he can get the award for most improved ET from the previous (2012) year. With the modifications we're considering, he should be able to improve his 16.5xx ET by about 2 or more seconds.

[NoDrama43]

now Bill......you know a 150hp shot of NOS and 4.88 gears will get him more than 2 seconds.....

[28HopUp]

Jim, I would consider a 100 shot on top of the planned ported Windstar/Splitport head/cam swap. The other option would be to sell the parts we have collected and buy a used M90 supercharger from a 3.8L Thunderbird SuperCoupe. Factory HP was around 250 with over 300# of torque (at the crank). That set-up would keep with the low-dollar theme of the car (the full repaint was our only splurge), yet it would not be too powerful for a young driver.

[28HopUp]

Here's what the busted LCA bushing looked like when it was ejected from under the car -




Jack and I had put in new MaximumMotorsports LCA's when we installed the 8.8" rear, but we subsequently learned that the ones we researched and installed ourselves are NOT recommended for use on the dragstrip. We removed the LCA's last night, and saw why -




As I said previously, we drove home from BB6 on that bad LCA, which wasn't a problem if I stayed at the speed limit. I assisted Jack last night in installing the new, better LCA's. Now he's back in good shape, and trying to decide on which way to go with his 3.8L (either a H/C/I splitport swap or a SuperCoupe FI swap). Either way, it will continue to be a great father/son project!