Ready to start driving!

PITT40

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The car still needs to be cleaned up some. That compound is a pain in the ass to remove and it gets EVERYWHERE. It's like sand at the beach in every crevice. But this is a pretty good representation of the car right now. It rips too!!! I more than doubled the horsepower and I think I can feel the car twist when I give it a good shot. Oh well, life and cars were made to be enjoyed. Run it hard til it breaks!!!

Notice that I removed the rear bumper pads and holes along with the rear frame rail holes for the jack. I think it is a much cleaner look. Also, that is my version of an LAT hood with 427 Cobra scoop and exit air scoops from a late model Mustang.
 

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michael-king

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Nice work.. Very agressive stance.

The wheels look great cobra 289fia esque. The cobra classic seats are fun, i have them in my alpine but watch out for belts chaffing the side boulsters .. It would be worth installing belt eyelets if you get the chance.

Surely you dont need those speakers on the parcel shelf ... Just use the volume pedal in the footwell on the right!!! :D
 

HolyCat

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Beautiful Car

Your car looks beautiful. It is nice to see another way to provide fresh air into the engine compartment and get the hot air out in such an artistic way. It would be nice to hear more about how you double the HP. I am sure that there a lot of folks who would love to hear about that and perhaps apply some of your ideas to their car.

Thanks for sharing!
 

Doug C

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543
Very nice

I'd like to also know what was done to increase the HP, what trans and any over heating concerns? Thanks for any replys.
 

PITT40

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531
Thanks for the compliments. I know not everyone likes modified cars. My opinion is, we only live once and if we own it then we should be able to have our way.

The motor is a 347 stroker with Edelbrock aluminum heads that were ported and flowed by a race engine builder. Based on what I told him I wanted, he selected components, built the motor and dyno'd it too. I didn't want a crazy cam with all the HP high in the rpm band and unusable, like a drag motor. So the cam is middle of the road. It is a hydraulic roller. It dyno'd at 466hp @5900 rpm and 463 ft/lb of torque @4400 rpm. It makes 400 ft/lb by 3500 rpm. He said it could have made at least 550hp with the right cam selection.

Oddly enough, I am using the same Griffin radiator as with the 260 that had headers and an aluminum intake only over stock. It always ran at 200deg on the gauge and got to 230-240 in traffic with a stock diameter flex fan and stock shroud. The stock shroud is not shroud, but more of a hand protector. Being open on bottom kills it. I also had an entry duct, horn holes blocked and a sheetmetal shield from radiator bottom to the cross member. And it ran that hot with around 200hp.

Now I have the same rad, same front air duct and horn holes blocked, but I made a custom aluminum fill shroud, have a Dales front end so now I have a 15" diameter flex fan, a Maverick fan pulley and I installed an 11" pusher electric fan with a thermostat for in traffic. I haven't had it in traffic on a hot day yet. But it has not gone over 200 deg on the gauge (which is wrong). My infrared thermometer says the intake or heads are 180-185 when the gauge is close to 200. My thermostat is set for 180 and it doesn't come on until the gauge gets past 195. Is this common?

I also ceramic coated the club headers to get that heat out of the engine bay and I wrapped the H pipe and mid pipe to the mufflers to try to get that heat out of the engine bay through the driver compartment and out the back. I'm sure that the hood with the exit scoops helps matters too. I would be curious who here changed nothing but adding an LAT hood and what that did to engine temps in similar conditions.
 

cobrakidz

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2,289
Love the look - ie.. wheels, lack of bumpers, seats. Great looking car and I bet a blast to drive.
 

CLIFF_MK1

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What trans and clutch are you using. Are you using the stock hydraulic clutch linkage, and how is the clutch pedal pressure (ie, hard , soft?). Cliff
 

PITT40

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531
I have a zoom purple diaphragm style clutch for a Fox Mustang. I'm using a RAM hydraulic throwout bearing and a Tremec T5 with AMC Tailshaft. I may end up needing to replace it with a T56 because I'm making more torque than I originally planned on.

What trans and clutch are you using. Are you using the stock hydraulic clutch linkage, and how is the clutch pedal pressure (ie, hard , soft?). Cliff
 

CLIFF_MK1

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Reason I asked is I have a 11" Centerforce II with a Top loader and stock hydraulic clutch setup, and the clutch it has a very hard pedal push. I wandered if the Ram setup would be any lighter. Cliff
 

67MKII

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117
Cliff,
I doubt the RAM would be lighter than the Centerforce. Every Centerforce clutch I have put my left foot through felt like a knife going through soft butter. Every RAM has felt like a P90 workout.
If you are running a Centerforce and getting that kind of resistance, you should probably recheck your clutch hydraulics and clutch fork for binding.

John
 

CLIFF_MK1

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212
Thanks, John. That's reassuring, and what I thought it would be when I planned the install. It's an unusual flywheel, bellhousing and clutch combination for a Tiger. Back in the early 80's I had a shop convert the 260 to a 289. I never ran it for various reasons. So when I started the restoration project 3 years ago, I discovered that the bellhousing and flywheel were out of a truck or Bronco 164 tooth flywheel and 11m inch clutch. The bell housing was actually one that was made for narrow or wide transmissions. So I decided to keep the combination. So, something is probably wrong but I'am not sure what. The set up is fairly simple, and every thing works, it's just real stiff. Cliff
 

Forrest39

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406
Thanks, John. That's reassuring, and what I thought it would be when I planned the install. It's an unusual flywheel, bellhousing and clutch combination for a Tiger. Back in the early 80's I had a shop convert the 260 to a 289. I never ran it for various reasons. So when I started the restoration project 3 years ago, I discovered that the bellhousing and flywheel were out of a truck or Bronco 164 tooth flywheel and 11m inch clutch. The bell housing was actually one that was made for narrow or wide transmissions. So I decided to keep the combination. So, something is probably wrong but I'am not sure what. The set up is fairly simple, and every thing works, it's just real stiff. Cliff

Hi Cliff,
Can you elaborate on the 260 / 289 conversion? Did you have it bored out to 4.000"? I'm curious because have the original block in my green Tiger that has been bored out and I'm not sure how kosher it is. (I'm thinking it isn't...)
Any info would be welcome!
Cheers, -Kevin
 
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