Tonight was test and tune night at Beech Bend. I spent the morning and afternoon getting the car ready. Little things needed to be taken care of. Tach hooked up. Line lock hooked up. I got some Dynomax bullet mufflers and had them welded to some collector extensions. Quieted things down a little.

So on my first pass I wanted to take it easy just in case the rear was going to fall out. No burn out, holding the RPMs at 3000. Popped the clutch, the car bogged a little then took off.

1.88 60 foot
11.38 @ 124.69

Not bad...and oops...forgot to take it easy...

I let the car cool down a little bit and lowered the pressure in my ET Streets to 16psi. I also got under the car and looked at the rear with a flashlight. Looking for any signs of funkyness. I didn't see anything out of place. Everything was tight and and no signs of movement or flexing.

Did a short burnout, mostly due to the fact that the car started going sideways. I think I need to bleed the brakes a little bit more.

Staged. RPM at 5000. Popped the clutch. Spun the tires a little. No bog.

Just as I crossed the finish line my windshield was covered with antifreeze (I wasn't running a hood). So al of a sudden I am going 125 mph and I can't see shit. I knew that Beech Bend has a long run off. So I looked out the side window to make sure I was not going to tag the wall and gently applied the brakes. Little dramatic, but safe and sound.

Stopped the car in the grass on the side of the return road. Started looking over the engine to see where the coolant was coming from. Nothing obvious was jumping out. Decided to walk to the timing booth and get my slip.

1.70 60 foot
11.10 @ 124.76

Not bad. Best time ever for me. This combo has 10.80s written all over it.

After the car cooled, I drove her back to the trailer. Turns out that my upper radiator hose was just barely touching the edge of the cooling fan. The fan must have turned on as I was going down the track and sliced the hose clean. It wasn't obvious because it was on the bottom of the hose. So that was the end of my night but I am pleased.

The Cobra diff held up awesome. The cradle seems to be working well. Its an amazing feeling being able to apply full power without having to cringe at the thought of something breaking.

More updates to come.

Andrew

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"you were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets."

That's just what I wanted to hear! Good job!

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1988 Mazda RX7 Convertible
2000 LS1 / NX Nitrous System
2004 Cobra IRS rear end (Thanks to andrewb70!)

I forgot to mention a few others things. I didn't notice any weird vibrations at high speeds. This leads me to believe that the driveline angles are pretty good. I already knew that since I double checked them after everything was installed, but it was still good not to feel anything odd. Once the full exhaust is installed I will be able to comment more on any noises.

I can't really think of anything else, but please ask if there are specific questions.

Andrew

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"you were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets."

can you post some pics of the cobra cradle or know where I can see one in an FC??

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10th Anniversary FC TII LS6/T56 Granny's SA rear end

Plenty of pictures here:

FC Cobra Rear Bracket GB

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1988 Mazda RX7 Convertible
2000 LS1 / NX Nitrous System
2004 Cobra IRS rear end (Thanks to andrewb70!)

124? What freakin' cam did you install?

Very nice #'s, Andrew! Very nice!

Jesse

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I am running the big Trick FLow cam. 228/230 .585/.585 112

Andrew

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"you were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets."

I'll bet that sounds pretty killer?

Jesse

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Are you running the 3.55's?: Good to hear I won't be a beta testerMine should be on the road to Atlanta soon. Also, your gal's new "do" is an improvement. berg

It does have the 3.55s in it. I wanted to make sure that I was the beta tester. Hence the rush to get my junk on the road. Next Tuesday will be more track time.

Andrew

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"you were the gun, your voice was the trigger, your bravery was the barrel, your eyes were the bullets."