kingcars' 250rwhp/13 second Tbird project (new project brewing 2/6)

[kingcars]

It's been a while since I visited here, so I figured I'd show off some of the recent progress on my car. First of all, I got tired of the old automatic so we swapped it to a 5 speed manual. It's so much more fun to drive now; the driving experience is so much more visceral. Pics:

Hello, lightweight Tremec T5 with B&M ripper shifter

Car jacked up, ready to get started

Got the old auto out

There's the old auto

Ahhh, my interior!

New flywheel, clutch, pressure plate, etc

5 speed goin in!

Starting to come back together

Ahhh, there we go. Real cars have 3 pedals!!

Me likes

Here are a couple of videos from the first day I drove it (so excuse the lame shifting!):





I couldn't imagine buying some new super car and not being able to get a good ol' clutch/stick setup.



Anyways, I did do one more mod to it last week. I finally saved up and splurged on these:

Since the 5 speed weighs a lot less than the automatic did, the car sits high in the front. I have a set of 2002 Mustang GT springs comin, so that should help lower the car some. I'm currently working on a new 5.0 which I plan to put about 250-270hp to the ground. I have a set of GT40Y aluminum heads, Cobra intake, and 1.7 ratio roller rockers. I plan to get a Crower 15511 cam also. The engine block is currently at a shop getting bored .030 over and completely refreshed all around.

Sorry for the pic spam; just have a lot to catch up on!

 

[buickgnx88]

So how hard was it to put in the clutch pedal and such?

 

[kingcars]

Actually, when I was doing the initial research into the swap, everyone was saying that the pedals were really hard to do. We really didn't have too much hassle with it. As you can see, we took out the steering column and front seat, which gave us plenty of room to maneuver. The pedals installed quite smoothly. Just had to slightly move a bracket or two out of the way to slide them in and out.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

I'd drop the nose just a teeny bit (get it back to level) and call it a day for the stance.

Looks really nice though... And keep the old 8-holes for lulling people into traps with the car. It ain't that hard to swap wheels and tires around...

Well, at least get some slicks thrown on two of the old rims.

 

[kingcars]

I'd drop the nose just a teeny bit (get it back to level) and call it a day for the stance.

Looks really nice though... And keep the old 8-holes for lulling people into traps with the car. It ain't that hard to swap wheels and tires around...

Well, at least get some slicks thrown on two of the old rims.

Yeah, I'm hoping the Mustang GT springs do that. I plan to just install the fronts first and see how it sits, and only do the rear springs if necessary.

I am keeping the 8 holes. A couple of days after I first got the 5 speed in, a poor Neon SRT4 (with a LOUD BOV) fell into that trap . He struggled to hang with me from 20-80mph. I went to give him a thumbs up, but he didn't even look over. His gf was in the car too.

 

[ND4SPD]

Awesome project, I'm planning of sticking in a Tremec T5 into my car some day.

 

[JCE]

FREAKING AWSOME! A manual 'bird! Love that car. Drop a Novi on that motor and call it a day.

 

[kingcars]

Yep, Ford never made a V8 manual fox Tbird. Manuals only came in the 4cyl Turbo Coupes. Such a shame.

A supercharged 331 is planned way down the road. Don't have the money for that right now, though. I'm going to keep it N/A, a little under 300hp to the wheels.

 

[kingcars]

My Mustang GT springs came in today. Can't wait to install them! It will probably be the weekend after next.

 

[Perfect Balance]

I liked your old wheels better, but a manual is always a plus.

 

[kingcars]

The new wheels will fit the car a lot better once I get it lowered. Just looks a bit odd right now with the stock ride height. And besides that, the pics do the wheels zero justice...they look worlds better than the old wheels. The old ones were showing their age.

 

[Slick Rick]

Looks good and sounds great so far. If your going to lower it, do the rears first and see what it looks like. I think it would look pretty agressive with the rear low and front still high...

 

[buickgnx88]

 

[Perfect Balance]

The new wheels will fit the car a lot better once I get it lowered. Just looks a bit odd right now with the stock ride height. And besides that, the pics do the wheels zero justice...they look worlds better than the old wheels. The old ones were showing their age.

Maybe so, I just don't like that style of wheel. They don't look like something you would see on a car built for the track. That's what I meant.

Looks good and sounds great so far. If your going to lower it, do the rears first and see what it looks like. I think it would look pretty agressive with the rear low and front still high...

Umm....no.


Maybe having the front low and the rear high, but that way it would just look like those old cars driven by old people who pile a bunch of crap in their trunk until the suspension blows and sags all the time.

It doesn't look aggressive.

 

[kingcars]

Maybe so, I just don't like that style of wheel. They don't look like something you would see on a car built for the track. That's what I meant.

Oh ok, gotcha. My car is mostly a street car anyway. It rarely sees a race track. Down the road when I get more major things done to it, it'll see occasional track days. There aren't any road courses near me. It won't be a track car, but it'll be a street car with track car capabilities, if that makes sense.

Umm....no.

Maybe having the front low and the rear high, but that way it would just look like those old cars driven by old people who pile a bunch of crap in their trunk until the suspension blows and sags all the time.

It doesn't look aggressive.

Hahahaha yeah I agree. I hope he meant it the other way around. The only way my car should be seeing the front end up is during heavy acceleration

 

[Rotary Junkie]

I see his point though, on the old 8-holes or some proper Centerlines or Welds it would look good riding nose-up.

 

[mafia_boy]

Maybe having the front low and the rear high, but that way it would just look like those old cars driven by old people who pile a bunch of crap in their trunk until the suspension blows and sags all the time.

It doesn't look aggressive.

I disagree. If it's set correctly, any decent street 1/4 mile runner has their front slightly higher than the rear for better weight transfer onto the back and looks mean while stationary. Better suited for old school cars, in saying that if I saw a Silvia done that way with high front/low rear I'd probably laugh.

Kingcars - Have you gone on the 1/4 with the 5spd yet or is that time in your sig with the 5spd??

 

[kingcars]

It's hard to get grip on those 14x7 8 holes though hahaha. After the 5 speed swap, it was just too easy to roast the tires. I felt uncomfortable driving in the rain. Car has way more grip with the 17x8s (and handles awesome!), and just wait, when it gets lowered, it'll really come together nice. I can't wait.

My car will never RIDE nose up. Accelerating down the track nose up? You bet!

@mafia: The time in my sig is with the automatic. With a good driver, I bet she'll run a 14.3-14.4, maybe a little lower. One guy on a forum I go to with an 87 Cougar went from 14.8s to 14.0s with a 5 speed swap and drag radials. So I'm keeping my numbers conservative, just so I don't get disappointed. However, when I went to the track with the automatic, I was aiming for just a 14.9. I never expected to run a 14.6, so that was an awesome surprise.

 

[mafia_boy]

You should get quicker than just a 0.2 drop. The lower ratios of the manual 1st/2nd vs auto 1st/2nd should easily shave those 2 tenths off your 60ft time, let alone the 1/4 itself. 👍

 

[kingcars]

Yeah, like I said, I'm just keeping my numbers conservative for now, because I know I sure as heck wont be able to run that great with my slow noob shifting hahaha. My dad could probably squeeze a lot more out of it.

 

[mafia_boy]

Practice makes perfect grasshopper. And looking at your vids, you're shifting pretty quickly for a T5 user, they're notorious for sloppy shifts!!

Aim for a 13.999 now, whether it's you or your dad driving it doesn't matter.

 

[kingcars]

Yeah, cracking a 13 second pass with the car as it sits now would be simply amazing. It's possible given perfect conditions. I plan to take a trip to the local 1/8th mile for some practice on Thursday night (nearest 1/4mi is over an hour away ). Maybe see if I can get some videos too. I'm a lot quicker at shifting now than I was in those vids; those were from the first day I was driving it .

As for my T5, it actually shifts wonderfully. That B&M ripper shifter is awesome. The Centerforce clutch has a nice feel to it also.

 

[kingcars]

Just a small update; this coming weekend, my dad and I should hopefully be installing the Mustang GT springs I bought a few weeks ago (should lower the car about 2 inches). Also, my engine block has been honed as well, and I'll be calling the machine shop tomorrow for more info on it.

 

[kingcars]

Dad and I worked on fixing a pretty big...well, mostly annoying issue with the Tbird that has popped up after the last couple of changes to it. It sat really high in the front because of how much lighter the T5 manual was than the old AOD. The new wheels amplified the effect. Got a set of 2002 Mustang GT springs installed in the front, which made a HUUUUUGE difference. See for yourselves:

Before:

After:

More pics here:

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v173/kingcars/calendar pics/

 

[Stevisiov]

Wow that is really cool and quite the improvement. Hows the Manual feeling?

 

[kingcars]

Wow that is really cool and quite the improvement. Hows the Manual feeling?

Thanks. It's amazing how much that 1.5in or so of clearance really finished off the car's look.

As for the manual, it's doing great. Likes to grind occasionally on cold mornings when I get hasty, but other than that it goes all day shifting wonderfully. The B&M shifter rocks.

 

[kingcars]

My engine block should be finished next week and I'll be getting some brand new forged pistons (aiming for 9.5-10:1 compression). Currently looking into getting a cam and fuel pump. The project is slowly progressing. It's been almost a year since I first started making plans (January) and first bought the stock 5.0 engine (February).

Some pics of the parts I have for it:

Engine when I first got it home:

Bottom end right after the initial teardown:

Cobra Intake:

GT40Y aluminum heads (a combined 60lbs lighter than my old cast iron heads!!!):

1.7 ratio roller rockers (basically "adding more lift" to the cam, and reducing friction):

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Hate to say it but the nose is coming back up mate.

 

[kingcars]

Haha yep, I had the same exact thought. But now I know what kind of springs I need, and I know the swap procedure so it won't take long at all (45 mins per spring). No big deal. She'll be running strong with all the nice go-fast goodies .

 

[Rotary Junkie]

Actually...

How hard would it be to get your paws on 1996-98 Cobra springs?

I would figure they would be lower than the '02 GT springs by a bit, yet stiffer. Then again they're designed for the DOHC 4.6 which is more than likely heavier than your 5.0 will be with aluminum heads. Soo you may still wind up nose high running them all around... (I say all around because the rear would be massively soft with Cobra springs up front)

I dunno.

Then as for the power mods... Should be nice and fun with what all you're doing even though it's not how I'd go about it. (I feel that the GT40 heads and intake, as well as the Cobra intake, are crap if you really want to make power. An improvement yes, just not as good as it could be while still being streetable)