Got my Futura home

[Dr. Matt]

Arrived yesterday on the barge to Alaska, so I was able to pick it up this morning. Drove it home and emptied the trunk, then to work. Car is pretty dirty but had to snap a couple welcome home pictures.



This weekend I'll get it cleaned up and start figuring out what to do about the battery mount and disconnect switch so it will pass tech. Hoope to make some passes at the track on July 4th weekend to see where it is at this time.

Any closest guess to my ET is and awesome internet racer! CAr should be about 3500#'s at the starting line, has a stock 1992 Mustang SEFI motor, T-5 with a Hurst shifter, and a 9" rear with 3.73's. Not very sticky 225-60 14 rear tires, but a good driver.

[sowaxeman]

Is this the car with the paint damage from the cover? If so, how does it look in person?

[Dr. Matt]

Yep, same car. Paint is garbage. Whole car will have to be stripped and painted. Have not decided on a color yet. It's either going to be something like Ford's new Deep Impact Blue, or a bright silver.

[brianj]

2.0-ish 60', 14.5-15.0 in the quarter, 98 to 101 mph. Hooking up will be, shall we say, a challenge.

[Dr. Matt]

OK, we have a first guess and I think you are in the right range, but if we are going to have a winner we need a single number, not a range.

[droopie85gt]

14.91 100.8mph

[Dr. Matt]

Almost 1,000 HP. Only 975 sitting there in only the two coups. The Fairmont needs to start pulling more load as it's paltry 225 isn't really doing its share of work....

[Boxtop78]

My guess is 14.5 @ 102 mph

[Dr. Matt]

Alright, keep the guesses coming. I'm thinking right around 15.0 at 95, but I'll get it down the track as fast as I can. I usually have a few Mustang guys hanging out in my pit spaces borrowing tools, eating my food, enjoying my beer and camp fire after the racing ends, so I'm thinking I may be able to borrow some slicks and skinnies for at least a pass or two. Not planning to compete with it as I'll be shooting for a new PB in my Mercedes. (previous best is a 10.73@12 The CL65 is pretty consistent so I'll keep bracket racing it while I try to make the Fairmont fast enough to be a little more exciting.

I checked while working on the car today and found out it has aluminum bumpers. Gotta love lightweight factory parts! Yay!

I also had time to get started working on the Fairmont today. After all, I picked it up from the shipping company yesterday morning so it's about time to tear it apart and start modding right? Started by changing the oil, and while under it I found the front valance was cracked, one bracket bent, and missing some bolts. Any touch and it squeaked terribly so I fixed that while the oil drained. Also washed it as it really needed a bath.

The battery was relocated to the trunk before I got the car. IHRA rules say any relocated battery has to be held down by a minimum of two 3/8" bolts so the cracked & hacked plastic tray and ratchet strap it was mounted with was not going to pass tech. Rules also require a cutoff switch outside on the back of the car that shuts down all power and kills the engine, so to be able to run it at the track the battery has to be mounted properly and have a power cut off switch installed. I took out the hacked up plastic box, blocks of wood, and ratchet strap battery tie down that had the battery in a terrible location and built a battery box out of 1/8" angle steel and welded 3/8' all thread to the tray to bolt down a top plate. I bolted the new tray through the floor with four 3/8" stainless bolts, nylock nuts and fender washers. Got it fit & mounted, then removed the tray and painted it and the holes I drilled with POR 15. I'll second coat it tomorrow and be one step closer.

I think I'll mount the cutoff switch at the back near the center and run the pole through the lower right hand license plate mounting hole. I can remove the rod when driving on the street so no one messes with it, not that that is likely but I will anyway. Then I just need to route the charging wire from the alternator all the way to the battery so when the switch is pushed the engine and all power dies.

Looks like I'm definitely going to be ready to run it for sure July 4th weekend at this rate!

[droopie85gt]

Almost 1,000 HP. Only 975 sitting there in only the two coups. The Fairmont needs to start pulling more load as it's paltry 225 isn't really doing its share of work....

Sounds like an engine swap! And some artificial atmosphere! The Fairmont does have a good looking stance to it!

[ZephyrEFI]

Yep, same car. Paint is garbage. Whole car will have to be stripped and painted. Have not decided on a color yet. It's either going to be something like Ford's new Deep Impact Blue, or a bright silver.

Congrats on getting the car home!

Word of warning about Deep Impact Blue though, my Transit Connect is that color and it shows dirt just like black. But it is gorgeous when clean in the sun!

[Hammer Down]

The benz has 750hp?

[Dr. Matt]

Sounds like an engine swap! And some artificial atmosphere! The Fairmont does have a good looking stance to it!

Oh yeah, there is a swap and twin turbos in the Fairmonts future for sure.

Congrats on getting the car home!

Word of warning about Deep Impact Blue though, my Transit Connect is that color and it shows dirt just like black. But it is gorgeous when clean in the sun!

Thanks for the advice about the deep impact blue. It is such an awesome blue, but I am starting to lean more towards silver. Had a Sonic Blue Lightning in the past and it showed the dirt some but wasn't as bad as you describe.

The benz has 750hp?

Yeah, it makes a lot more torque though. It weighs 4700#, has 2.65:1 gears in the diff, and runs 10.7's @ 128 mph. It really isn't built for drag racing, but it does it quite well for a big luxury car. Here is a video of a few of my runs at the track. The first was a no prep, 90 octane run so it's a little slow, the rest are some random passes from different days. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KfbVGC_G-zw

[homer302]

Man that track you run at is just simply gorgeous. It really looks beautiful around there. The car is not bad either, LOL

[Dr. Matt]

Thanks! Alaska is a beautiful place to live and Alaska Raceway Park is an awesome track with fantastic scenery.

[xctasy]

Thanks! Alaska is a beautiful place to live and Alaska Raceway Park is an awesome track with fantastic scenery.

But Dude, you still get these really fricken scary earthquakes like we do....

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthqua...6763#executive



My relative (Mr J smith) worked in Alaska, man, what an awesome place.


He brought this little 1985 Ford Tempo tudor back....85 HP of throttle body injected Ford grunt...all the way back to New Zealand from there in 2011.

[Dr. Matt]

Meh, earthquakes... No big deal. We have had less than 6,000 in the past year...

http://earthquaketrack.com/p/united-.../alaska/recent

[xctasy]

I've never felt so small....

http://earthquaketrack.com/p/new-zealand/recent

1.718 million km² verses 268,021 km², 1 /6410 th the size.

If we were your size, Middle Earth would have 148,0697 a year.

I'm glad our cars horsepower ratings aint any different.....

All these comparitive 1/4 mile times are two up with 415 pounds above tare.


For 1979, our Ford Cortina 4.1's made 123 to 126 hp, and did 16.7 second 1/4 miles with a 4 speed Single Rail. 2727 pounds



Mike1157's Glia Monsta 250 engine



Our Ford Fairmont Futura/500 4.9 Cleveland 4bbls made 188 to 207 hp, and did 16.9 seconds with a C4, 3196 - 3452 pounds
Our Ford Fairmont GS/GXL/S pack/ European Sports Pack (ESP) 5.8 Cleveland 4bbls made 200-216 hp, did 15.8 to 16.1 secs with FMX's or with a 4 speed Single Rail, 3452 to 3812 pounds in the Mad Max body type, about 3196 to 3417 pounds in the later body type, .

The De Tomaso 351 Cleveland engines were made in Australias Geelong plant.....





America got its own back......The US import MAF 5.0 used on all our 1992 to 2002 Fords always had in excess of 175 rwhp with a 5 speed. At 3387 pounds or so, it would always secure 15.3 second 1/4 miles without effort, although the 4 liter XR6 was as quick and as fast.

Your 1992 engine



is our 1992 Falcon XR8 E7 headed engine, made in the same factory.

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/ca...con_s_xr8.html

If its 3100 pounds as I think it may be, then it'll do 14.7's at 99 all day.

[Dr. Matt]

We will see! Got the battery mounted, just need to install and wire a cutoff switch to be legal to run the car. Hopefully I get time to install my line lock before July 4th as well. I also ordered a Ford Contour electric fan assembly and adjustable controller, but I will not have it before July 4th so I'll still have the power sucking mechanical fan on it.


Oh yeah, I was planning to make some "before modding" passes, lol...... almost forgot....

I will take a timing light with me to the track as I have not even checked to see where it is set yet.

[vintageracer]

How many hours a year do you get to drive a car like this in Alaska?

[Dr. Matt]

Well, that depends, lol. Some years the snow and ice is gone and the roads are cleared up by April, and then it is great until October or November. We have some rainy summers, some dry, most vary so it depends on how you are about driving in the wet. My Fairmont is not rusty at all, so it is going to be the first "fair weather only " car I've ever owned. That means I should be able to drive it over 100 days/year, but I do have a CL65, so it's hard to leave that in the driveway voluntarily.

[brianj]

Just saw you want a bit more of an accurate guess. I don't know your experience with launching a non traction controlled stick, but I'll guess somewhat limited, and launching that Benz is actually going to have spoiled you. On 14" tires, I'll say a 2.2 sec 60' time. Quarter time of 14.8 for a best time, but trap speed will be up due to having more time to accelerate. So, I'll say, best pass, 2.2 60', 14.9, 100mph even. I'm still screwing the pooch on half of my launches, so i hope you don't beat me right off!

Edit: I'll also bet you have more fun in the Fairmont. It becomes a driver's race, not so much the car. Getting good times due to your own skill, wresting a purely mechanical car, can be more rewarding to me than getting great times due to some skill and great engineering.

[Dr. Matt]

I have a lot of seat time launching in manuals without any traction aids so I "should" be able to squeeze out what it has. The Mercedes is raced in "dyno" mode which means all driving assistance turned off. Lot of passes in other cars/trucks, none with traction control, but never anything as slow as this Fairmont, lol. Also, with the 9" rear axle and low power I'm not afraid to power shift the T-5 with the Hurst shifter which is solid, smooth and really quick to row. Should be fun, can't wait to try it!

What do you run with your mustang that obviously makes a lot more power than my stock 5.0?

[brianj]

12.4 quarter times, around 110mph, although I have not been to the track since i got the ignition squared away. Also, i have only run on generic street all season tires, and i have never gotten under a 2 second 60" time. I really don't know what it will run with at least drag radials and a serious driver mod. The Roots blower I'm running, however, is better for in town than at the strip. It's great to drive around, and I'll never get rid of it, but it's all done by 5500 rpm or so.

[Dr. Matt]

Well..... It ran....