RPM Project - Pace Car/Race Car Part 1

RACE CAR PROJECT PACE CAR CAR

In this issue of RPM

we’re introducing a new project; Pace Car Race Car (PCRC).

PART 1: HOW DID WE GET HERE?

It’s more of a mini project considering it is an existing finished car that needed some serious attention after a year of trying to “make things work.”

A number of our RPM projects are street/ strip, however, PCRC will be a street car styled race-only ride.

The Pace Car Race Car will be a basic deal: avoid overkill,

know the goal, and stick to it. Research and purchase parts that have a great track record and reputation. Spend a bit more on what matters and budget for parts that will work and last for the purpose. Nobody wants to fall into the money and time pit and end up with a car sitting in the garage they can’t afford to enjoy.

The catch is that we plan to run this car in some type of pure heads-up class, eventually, and that doesn’t usually go hand in hand with any type

of “budget build.” Instead, it usually sends images of dollar signs hovering above our heads. So how does the average working man or woman run one? Scrimp, save, eat a lot of mac & cheese—in other words, it takes sacrifice.

Many will choose Index-style drag racing over heads-up for this very reason, but we’re hoping for heads-up racing here, so it would have to be a fully ruled class as opposed to outlaw or grudge/no-time stuff.

The fact is that any type of motorsports

is expensive and gives back in satisfaction, the rush, the camaraderie, and shear fun far more than any type of monetary return.

In the case of the Pace Car Race Car it took a bunch of likeminded guys who just wanted to race to pool their parts and dollars in an effort to try to get into entry level heads-up action.

Let’s recap what heads-up drag racing is. Quite simply, it is side by side first to the finishline eighth or quarter-mile racing. Both cars leave the starting line at the

story and photos by TIM Biro

introduction by GEORGE Pich

same time and whoever trips the finish beams first takes the win. There’s no headstarts or handicaps. This is a game of power and skill. The quickest car may not always win, though, as things like starting line reaction, control of your car, and the ability to “play the game” with your opponent often affect the outcome of a race.

Now let’s look at what heads-up drag racing is not That short answer is cheap! Many times the biggest pockets win. Sometimes, however, hard work, driver skill and team ingenuity can prevail, but then after a while the money factor usually seems to come back into the equation and the snowball begins, again. The class gets faster and quicker which means you have to spend more to keep up.

Heads-up drags are also not to be confused with roll racing or timed drags on tour style-events where the quickest average ET wins.

Why is money the decider? Aside from well-de-

signed, more heavily ruled classes like those in the NMCA (National Muscle Car Association), many of today’s more “outlaw” heads-up classes (often labeled outlaw, street, no-time, or grudge), involve very little rules. With minimal rules, the door is left wide open for different types of exotic power, not to mention interpretation of the rules. That being said, what we often see at large events with big payouts is 30 cars show up to race and maybe a dozen of them actually have a legit shot at winning for no other reason than budget.

So how does the average budget compete in this insane game? First, you need to find a class and build the car to that class and be sure that it will fit other classes with minimal changes. There’s nothing worse than building a car for a specific class then having that class fail or cease to exist. The only ones that suffer are the racers who have invested time and money into their cars.

For a budget team, stay

away from minimal ruled more open classes and look for something with, at the very least, a tire, rear suspension, vehicle chassis, and body panel rules. Weight restrictions and even some engine (mainly cylinder head and induction) or power adder restrictions are also things to look for. The problem is that many promoters don’t want to restrict classes too much as it does involve more class tech inspection both before and after racing, especially if there are engine component and weight rules involved.

Study the class power combinations and performance to see if you can realistically fit in. You don’t want to show up to the gunfight with your pocket knife.

Also, competing at a more local level, at least to start, is a good idea until you get a handle on your car and where it can fit in. And always follow the golden rule of competitive motorsports: “test on test day and race on race day”…in short, do not

show up to an event with an untested car or you are just asking to spend more money.

If there is still no place to race, one of the best things you can do at a local level is create your own class with others like you. With social media it’s usually not too difficult to find others with similar cars. Get 12 to 16 of them together, develop rules that will keep everyone close on the track, and approach your local promoter or track to include your group in their event.

With the Pace Car Race Car project, given the effects of the global pandemic the past few months, our Techs (most of whom have other fulltime jobs and volunteer their time to this), have had some extra time to spend on it—from six feet or more apart, of course.

So sit back and enjoy our first installment of Project Pace Car Race Car. Maybe we’ve found a few ways to help you get some solid horsepower and results without breaking the bank!

THE BACK STORY

Throughout our lives, we have to make decisions—some good, some bad. Often, these decisions are based on the point at which we are in our lives, and no doubt we have all been in the not-so-envious position of wishing we had made a better decision.

As a car nut, (AKA motorhead, gearhead, horsepower junkie, etc.), my own decisions were/are always (okay, almost always) based upon budget and need, but equally on how they impacted my family life. While sometimes we get carried away with the glitz and glitter, not to mention the power promises of that next part, I would like to think that most of us consider the impact on our finances and family in larger decisions surrounding our cars.

Our Pace Car Race Car story begins with some decisions made by a friend that ended up running a full circle.

Many years ago I owned and operated a speed shop. At that time, a lifelong friend, George Mitchell, owned a 1979 Mustang Pace Car. By necessity, it became his daily driver with a stock 302, automatic transmission, 7.5-inch rearend and two-chamber mufflers. Despite dreams of a big-inch small block with nitrous, sticky tires, and all the go-fast goodies to make a cool fast street car, the financial commitment with that kind of a project made it impossible. So, with a young family, George drove his Pace Car on the street while saving for his dream.

Fast forward 20 years later...and another friend called me up and asked “do you remember that Pace Car your buddy George owned? I think I bought it. Does he want it back?” What are the chances of that? To make a long story short, George bought the car back, albeit in very rough condition.

Time had taken its toll on the old Fox Body, not to mention some interesting modifications along the way. Nonetheless, he and I set a very modest budget and made a plan to resurrect it as a race-only car for all of us and our families to enjoy.

Everyone involved in the project is a working stiff with a family, and if you know how that is you understand that things don’t happen overnight. Instead it’s over years!

Over the course of the next few years we pitched in and stripped the car, built a new chassis with 2x3 inch rectangular tubing (paying close attention to all the weak parts of the Fox Body platform) and we had a solid foundation. We then added the necessary legal roll bar and the project was finally ready for a new bullet, but stalled for a few more years due to budget and family considerations taking precedent.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

At a perfect time, along came another longtime friend, Scott Foster. Scott, after turning his teenage street Mustang into a race car, then turning it back into a street car, driving it for a few short years and then selling it in 2019, was feeling the itch to hit the strip again. So when he approached me looking for a project to partner on, I had the perfect candidate.

Since there’s strength in numbers, the three of us came up with a plan and budget to build the Pace Car to run into the 8-second zone. First on the agenda was body and paint, but our budget wouldn’t permit anything fancy. Enter yet another buddy, Ken Green, who took care of the body and

THIS PONY HAD SEEN BETTER DAYS

1 & 2: The car showed up in winter 2018 at the newest owners house. This would be the third friend to get in on the project.

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

3: Ken Green is another from the longtime circle of friends who stepped up to help with the car by taking on the body and paint. By the time the RPM staff saw the car, it was definitely fit for publication.

paint at his home garage. And before you ask, yes this a real deal 1979 Pace Car. The engine would begin life as an entry level 351 Windsor short block that I had sitting on the bench. Did we want an aftermarket block? Hell yeah, but we don’t have the resources for that just yet. The block was filled with a steel internally balanced crank, and a set of H beam rods. We needed pistons, heads and many more parts to make it a runner. We also made plans to upgrade certain components as more funds came available.

A Powerglide with Neal Chance 5,500 stall converter that we had from a previous car was available, keeping in mind the small tire drag racing for which the car was designed. The rear diff a group effort 8.8 with 9” ends, 33-spline Moser axles and Strange spool. Suspension wise there’s nothing exotic. Out back there’s aftermarket upper and lower control arms and double adjustable coil over shocks. Up front, an aftermarket K-member was installed with Strange single adjustable struts.

FROM SHAME TO SHINE

5, 6, 7, & 8: Ken Green tackled the body and paint, which was no easy task. Ken did a great job, especially considering the amount of repair and prep necessary to correct years of harsh weather and overall neglect. While the starting point was far from a rustfree perfect piece, Ken got it squared away and in great shape before laying down a slick factory-style two tone silver and black basecoat/clearcoat finish. The Mustang has seen all the weather you can imagine and there have been several hands on it over the years. It’s meant to go, but looking good is a bonus.

THE LATEST IS NOT ALWAYS THE GREATEST!

Prior to the iteration you will see in our series of RPM articles, we did finish the car with what we “thought” were the right parts to meet our goals, when in the end they really only cost us more money, time and frustration in trying to get them working the way we were told they were designed to work. After trying to race a few months in 2019, we realized that we needed to cut our losses, regroup and refocus our efforts.

We’re not going to play the name and shame game here, instead we’re gonna suck it up buttercup, take our hits and move on in a positive direction.

Let’s just say that in trying to stay with the times and go with something “new” that also fit our budget, we chose a few key parts based on marketing and assurances. Parts with little to no history or support, with hopes we could help create history and support. This was a mistake. After finishing the car, getting the chassis certification, chassis dyno time,

testing time at the track, and nearing the end of the race season with no satisfaction whatsoever, we tapped out after discovering, and having numerous other knowledgeable enthusiasts confirm, design flaws in a number of items we were trying to run with.

Suffice it to say that we were led down more than one garden path that was not exactly full of roses. Now that I have everyone shaking their heads and saying, “yup, I’ve been there.” Let’s move on.

It’s at this point where RPM entered the mix and the Pace Car officially became the “Pace Car Race Car” (PCRC).

No doubt many people reading this now have been there. They took some advice and bought some parts for their car based on someone else’s information and it just didn’t work out. It’s a lesson learned and we get that at RPM. Our advice is to do your due diligence. Don’t take one person’s word for it. Instead, talk to as many as possible and stay focused on the facts. Racing is a win or lose game and we all want to win. Nothing beats the saying “to be success-

IT’S A STICK UP

9 & 10: Many hands make light work, Scott’s son Tom happens to be a graphics installer and was tapped to install the re-popped Pace Car graphics.

ful, start by doing what successful people do.” Sure, there will always be that “one” person who made something work, but we can guarantee that it didn’t come easy.

OUT SHE COMES!

We rolled the PCRC into the RPM shop and pulled the motor late in 2019. We took stock of what we did and what we didn’t do on the track, and what we needed in order to do what we wanted to do. So we developed a new fresh plan over beverages out on the back deck one warm fall evening.

We decided that our block, crank and rods could (and would have to) do the job, and that those savings would give way to the ability to replace most everything else from pistons and camshaft right through to the cylinder heads, induction, and fuel systems.

Once we had our bullet built, we would obviously have to redo our chassis dyno sessions. Knowing that it takes approximately 850 hp to go high 8-second quarter-mile ETs in a 2900-pound car, we were looking in the 600 rwhp range while respecting the limits of our block. But wait, that’s a bit shy of 850 isn’t it?

Budget wise, it’s no secret that nitrous oxide is the best hit for the buck (I hate saying bang), so we planned on maxing out with a shot around 300 hp or so.

It’s at this point where another part of the equation came to light that has nothing to do with horsepower but everything to do with RPM MAG, so we’ll interrupt our story to add a quick interesting little sidebar.

THE BACK STORY OF THE BACK STORY

As we were writing this article RPM Magazine Editor In Chief Chris Biro messaged me wondering if this car could have possibly been a Pace Car that he owned in the early ’90s. After a number of calls and fact finding, everything checked out and sure enough, yes, this was indeed Chris’ car back when he was in his twenties! Imagine that!

“So these are the original pics around 92/93,” explained two-time previous owner George Mitchell. “Chris swapped a set of wheels worth $750 for the car back then. I rewired his yellow tubbed Capri and then gave him $250 for the car. 5.0 Depot with Larry Rook Installed a custom 6-point cage and around 1995 the car had body and paint by Ken Baker for a trade of an alarm system for his shop, as that is what I did for living. Tim was able to get a guy to copy the decals as the originals were expensive and rare. I did find the original wheels but the metric tires were so expensive I put a set of stars on it. Due to a job change in 1996 to 98 I had to use the car as a daily driver year round for my family, dropping my daughter at school with her squeezing over the roll cage side bar. My wife also didn’t really appreciate having to maneuver over the side bar as she got in and out of it, especially when she wore a skirt. I sold the car around 2000. About 12 years later, Tim called me to say that some guy might have my old car. It was a tough gutted shell but I bought it for $900 and brought it home. Tim and I slowly, slowly worked on the car. We did get an engine and tranny and assorted parts but I never got it running, although very close. Then Scott Foster took the car in 2018.”

Ok, now we’ve got the whole story, so let’s start talking turkey…

Throughout Eastern Canada

11:

STEP BY STEP

Hardcore enthusiasts know what it takes to make a solid attempt to get a car built, certified and raced successfully. In our Pace Car Race Car series of articles we will be exploring the trials and tribulations we all experience to pursue that dream. Thanks to Comp Cams, Powerhouse Products, Trick Flow Specialties, and Wiseco pistons, we’ll be using parts from some of the top names in quality and longevity in the industry and our RPM Certified Red Seal technical staff will be assembling and installing every part of this project at our own facility. I’ll do my best to provide as much info and tech throughout the process, but as you know RPM MAG has an open door policy, so please feel free to email me anytime

regarding this project at rpmtech.tim@ rpmmag.com

We’ll cover this engine program restructuring one step at a time, starting with one of the biggest decisions when making horsepower: the choice of cylinder heads. I had a couple sets of tried and tested used heads on the shelf, but they were well—no wait—very well used, so we decided to go new.

This time around, though, we are making parts decisions based on our own history and the mounds of information available through our peers in the industry, instead of trying re-invent the wheel. We chose the Trick Flow Twisted Wedge R, 225, CNC Race Port cylinder head for the Pace Car Race Car.

The SBF cylinder head market has

12 & 13: The exhaust port is fully CNC ported to 100cc’s and is located .500” higher than the factory port to promote optimum exhaust flow. This TFS exhaust port flows 116 cfm at .200” lift to 271 cfm at .700” lift. The finished combustion chamber is CNC-profiled to 65cc’s.

PEGASUS: THE WINGED HORSE

The team would fab a rear wing in 2019 for the pace car.

CYLINDER HEAD SPEC SHEET: TRICK FLOW SPECIALTIES

SBF TFS Trick Flow® Twisted Wedge® Race 225 Cylinder Heads for Small Block Ford Part Number-TFS-5241T005-C01

“Trick Flow’s Twisted Wedge® Race 225 heads feature fully CNC-profiled Twisted Wedge combustion chambers and valve arrangement with port-to-valve seat blending (bowl blending), plus .500” raised exhaust runners and raised valve cover rails. Top-of-the-line CNC Competition Ported runners with a high resolution surface finish provides maximum airflow and power over the entire powerband.”

“Twisted Wedge Race heads also have additional material for porting, thick decks and chamber walls for durability, stud mounts for roller rocker arms, and huge valve spring pockets.”

The Race 225 heads boast a 65cc Combustion Chamber Volume, 225cc Intake Runner Volume, 100cc Exhaust Runner Volume. Intake valves are 2.080 in. diameter and Exhaust are 1.600 in. Double valve springs with damper are included along with titanium retainers and associated hardware.

AIRFLOW RESULTS

Tests conducted at 28” of water (pressure). Bore size: 4.125”; exhaust with 2” pipe.

14 & 15: The 225 designation relates to the full 225cc CNC competition intake port. Looking down each port of our actual heads you are able to see the high quality workmanship and design that TFS puts into every casting they manufacture. This port starts flowing 141 cfm at .200” lift and flows over 340 cfm at .700” lift!

grown leaps and bounds and there is a head for every power level, but anyone who has built a hot street car engine or competed in any style of racing will recognize the TFS name. In fact, the SBF 20 degree TFS High Port cylinder head was one of the first real Ford-style racing cylinder heads used by many successful drag racers back when 5.0L Mustang Fox Body racing began.

I, personally, have had success with the TFS “R” cylinder head when it debuted in the late ’90s. During my time with the speed shop, we had sold the heck out of the TFS Twisted Wedge 170cc cylinder heads. TFS makes cylinder heads for every popular engine and combination and their heads flat out make horsepower. You can buy cylinder heads already CNC ported complete ready to bolt on, or bare castings “fast as cast.” Each pair of cylinder heads has a detailed specification and instruction sheet included. Plus, TFS has a great library of data based on real-world applications and solid support system for their product via their online service or by just picking up the phone and talking to one of their knowledgeable salespersons or technicians.

16: As mentioned, the TFS R-Series heads (ordered complete as TFS-5241T005-C01 ) come with very capable 1.560 O.D. double valve springs with damper good for .720 lift, titanium retainers and top quality associated hardware. When we originally ordered the heads there was a different camshaft and power plan, though, so when we changed to our final choice of COMP camshaft Part # 35-782-9, that meant that we needed to change-out to the recommended springs and hardware to go with it.

Landed Cost shipping includes all duties, taxes, and clearance fees. In-stock parts are shipped FAST, delivered to your door with no unexpected fees.

Questions?

1-800-230-3030

18: Before final assembly of the cylinder heads we needed to obtain the correct valve spring installed height, our springs call for 2.050’’ install height netting us 300 pounds on the seat. Powerhouse Products valve spring height micrometer is the perfect tool for this job. They offer several different part numbers to suit any diameter retainer and valve spring height combination.

17: Behold...the TFS R-Series cylinder head!

19: Checking our valve spring pressure is a cinch with this slick Powerhouse Products Mini Valve Spring Tester (#5314). We are able to check our spring pressure at the valve spring installed height, and at camshaft lift and then finally measured height at spring bind. An old trick I acquired many years ago, is to compress and relax the new spring a couple times to get your final pressure readings.

½" SOCKET HEAD WHEEL STUD WITH BULLET NOSE

NUT AND BOLT

20: The COMP 947-16 triple springs’ larger diameter meant that we had to slightly machine the cylinder head spring pockets. These springs spec out as follows:

Max Lift:0.845

Installed Height: 2.05

Coil Bind Height:1.145

O.D. of Outer: 1.66

Spring Rate: 681

Seat Pressure: 304

21, & 22: Here you see the COMP 947-16 triple springs with 722-16 & 725-16 retainers, 611-16 & 630-16 locks, 4708 and 4786 spring cups, installed using the COMP 4756 shim kit.

23: Here’s our shipment of COMP Parts as we unboxed them. We’ll discuss our bottom end parts in more details in the next installment of project PACE CAR RACE CAR.

24: Just as we went live with this issue of RPM our short block was completed and we set our Trick Flow Specialties aluminum heads in place.

Be sure to join us next time as we run through more of our Pace Car Race Car engine program assembly including choice of pistons,

camshaft, and lifters all the way up to pushrods, rocker arms, and stud girdle. We will walk you through all the steps, tips, and tricks we’ve

picked up along the way. Until then, we managed to snap a sneak peek pic of the TFS heads sitting on the assembled block.