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Author Topic:   Old Ford Racing History Part 1
Thumper
Journeyman

Posts: 10
From: Moxee WA USA
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 08-24-2004 02:35 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Thumper   Click Here to Email Thumper     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The following is true to my best recollection. I have pruposly left most of the names out.

In 1973, we needed a race car. We had competed a small block Ford in the lower SS classes for two seasons, but NHRA decided to cut these classes off, so our car was obsolete. We looked at the specs NHRA had for Ford engines. The 427 and 428��s were just too expensive and if you didn��t have the SK or Canadian heads, you were fighting an uphill battle. We wanted a combination that had a moderate horsepower rating that we could afford to build and campaign. Ford tended to place very high horsepower rating on their engines, making most of them uncompetitive. One combination showed promise. We were gluttons for punishment, I guess.

That combination was the 1964 250 H.P. 352. (An engine that was never known for power, better suited to run irrigation pumps, as stated by one of our Ford competitors) The engine specs were: 4.0 bore, 3.5 stroke, same as a 350 Chevrolet. The Chevrolet used a 5.4 C-to-C rod, while the Ford used a 6.540 rod. Rod length to stroke ratio along the lines of the 302 Chev. The cylinder heads had big ports and valves, but were feeding a lot fewer cubic inches than the 428��s. Compression ratio was a little light at 9:1. It used the Autolite 4100 carburetor, around 600 CFM. On paper, this combination looked excellent to us. It��s chief competition would be the 250 H.P. 327, which carried a HP factor, and the 220 H.P. 283. We figured it could handle both. The only challenges were actually making power, and keeping it alive. (The 352 connecting rod was nowhere near the strength of the 390 rod). Since nobody ever won a race on paper, we went for it. Car was a 1964 two door sedan Custom, 15.05 Lbs per Horsepower. 3762 lbs.

Treating the 352 like a miniature 428 was a giant mistake. Especially in the intake manifold. We took what worked at the time on a ��28, a 427 Sidewinder and ported it to match the cylinder heads. The long rods, and low piston speed, coupled with a 9:1 compression made for an extremely slow air charge. The class index at the time was 12.80. We ran 13.2 at the Winternationals. Expected this to improve, multiple camshafts and converters were tried. We fought the combination for whole season and never went any faster.

We had always raced with four speeds, and really didn��t know the finer points of racing a car with an automatic. Using the original, cast iron case Cruise-O-Matic didn��t help either. We figured a season for on-the-job training. We were convinced the automatic transmission was at fault.

For the next season, we put a four speed together. First time out, car still went 13.20. We were absolutely devastated. We had one guy already bail out, saying the car would never run.

Edelbrock had just released the Streetmaster intake and we got one. Out of the box, the ports were very small, about the same size as the small block intake. Since the car was an absolute pig, we figured we had nothing to lose and bolted it on. Expecting nothing we took to the local Super Stock meet, now running on a 12.60 class index. As usual, we would make a warm up pass, minimum heating the tires, low shift points. I remember thinking the engine sounded a lot different, louder and crisper. To say we were surprised when the car went 12.70 on that pass is an understatement. It was the intake all along.

The car was now competitive. I think it ran 12.40��s with the unmodified intake. We steadily dialed it in, porting the manifold in steps and seeing a performance improvement with each step. The engine really liked RPM. 8200 on the starting line, shift points in the 7200 range. We found that the connecting rods needed pins to hold the bearings. The rods were forged steel, we had them heat treated, shot peened and stress relieved. They were quite strong, and we never broke one, but they tended to spin the rod bearings at 8000 RPM without the pins.

We suffered our share of problems. Not the least of which was quite a bit of static from our fellow racers. The first season, when the car was uncompetitive, the Chevy, Mopar and Ford guys couldn��t be friendlier. (They especially enjoyed racing us. First Round Dog Food, I think was the term;>) That all changed when the car started running fast. Now, we were ��persona-non-grata�� This was no surprise, we had previously raced a 260 in SS/X so we knew how ugly things could get. One of our biggest detractors was a fellow Ford racer.

We raced the car in the Northwest from 1973 to about 1988. We won a couple of WCS meets, qualified for the World Finals in 1977 when you had to be in the top five in points in our division to be eligible. We held the NHRA SS/N national record at 12.05 for the better part of a year. Car ran a best of 11.60. When Kip Martin won Super Stock Eliminator at the Winternationals with the same combination, NHRA factored it five horsepower. This effectively killed Kip��s car, but we just added the weight and kept on. We were in the process of putting everything in a Mustang to run GT class, but family things and 15 years got in the way. We gave the car to a local guy who races it with a 427. It took him a couple of years to go as fast as it did with the 352.
I��ll dig up some photos and post them
Bill Heinson

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JCQuinn@work
Gearhead

Posts: 826
From: Lakewood, CO, USA
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 08-24-2004 06:27 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for JCQuinn@work   Click Here to Email JCQuinn@work     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great story, thanks for posting it.

Do you still have the engine? Fox Mustangs are getting pretty cheap.

John

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Thumper
Journeyman

Posts: 10
From: Moxee WA USA
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 08-24-2004 07:40 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Thumper   Click Here to Email Thumper     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by JCQuinn@work:
Great story, thanks for posting it.

Do you still have the engine? Fox Mustangs are getting pretty cheap.

John


I don't think we have much left. With the technology available today, you would be better off building a current engine. It wouldn't be difficult. We had a pretty bad time with the valve train. Camshafts that really made horsepower were in the .800 lift range and required 250lbs on the seat. In those days, there wasn't too much available for these kinds of loads.

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SteveLaRiviere
Administrator

Posts: 43152
From: Saco, Maine
Registered: May 99

posted 08-24-2004 07:44 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for SteveLaRiviere   Click Here to Email SteveLaRiviere     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Cool story!

Welcome to M&M, Bill!

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 351C 4V/FMX/3.25 Open
'70 Mustang Convertible 250 I6/3 speed/2.79 Open
'72 Mustang Sprint Hardtop 351C 4V/FMX/4.30 Trac Loc
'94 F-150 XL 5.8L/E4OD/3.55 Limited Slip

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Fastymz
Moderator

Posts: 18703
From: Reno Nv USA MEM#1240
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 08-24-2004 07:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fastymz   Click Here to Email Fastymz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Now that was some great reading.

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SCOOP

oddly obsessed with big scoops on little Mustangs

65 coupe,351w,C4,Big Boss 429 hood scoop,8" 3.40 TracLoc.

My Pics

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bluestreek
Gearhead

Posts: 1724
From: Athens,GA
Registered: Jul 2001

posted 08-25-2004 12:02 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for bluestreek   Click Here to Email bluestreek     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed it.

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1966 Mustang Coupe: Custom glass hood and BIG scoop sits atop a 289 stroked to 331 c.i., Steel crank, rods and girdle, TFS alum. heads, Stealth 8020 intake, Xtreme 268 Solid Roller, Holley 750 HP, long tubes, 4speed, 9" 3.50 posi.
11.86 @ 116 mph (7.62 @ 93 mph)daily driver!
DanH

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steve'66
Gearhead

Posts: 8826
From: Sonoma,CA,USA
Registered: Mar 2000

posted 08-25-2004 12:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for steve'66   Click Here to Email steve'66     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Yes,
thanks Bill. Very cool stuff.

SteveW

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TomP
Gearhead

Posts: 5761
From: Delta BC Canada
Registered: Dec 99

posted 08-25-2004 01:37 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for TomP   Click Here to Email TomP     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Cool story Bill. I think the combination would still be a good one today. Maybe an '05 Mustang with a 352?

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Rory McNeil
Gearhead

Posts: 1542
From: Surrey, B.C. Canada
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 08-25-2004 02:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rory McNeil   Click Here to Email Rory McNeil     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I remember that car!! Big red 64, big launch, 1-2 shift at about 20 foot out. Seem to remember it at Mission points meet (1976 or?)in an all Ford 4 speed final with Van Cleve`s 427 Fairlane.I recall that Jerry Pruitt ran a 83? or so Mustang with a 352 4 speed in GT/G ome years ago, pretty much put it on the rear bumper at the Seattle Nat`l event in the mid-late 80`s. I remember Jerry Valentine telling Jerry Pruitt that the Pinto flex sterring column wasn`t legal, haven`t seen Jerry or the car since.

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78 Fairmont 428 4 speed 10.20@130mph
80 Fairmont 302 5 speed 12.8@105mph
85 Mustang NHRA M/Stock 302 5speed. [email protected]
59 Meteor (Canadian Ford) 2 dr sedan 332, auto
74 F350 ramp truck 390 4spd

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Thumper
Journeyman

Posts: 10
From: Moxee WA USA
Registered: Jul 2004

posted 08-25-2004 11:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Thumper   Click Here to Email Thumper     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Rory McNeil:
I remember that car!! Big red 64, big launch, 1-2 shift at about 20 foot out. Seem to remember it at Mission points meet (1976 or?)in an all Ford 4 speed final with Van Cleve`s 427 Fairlane.I recall that Jerry Pruitt ran a 83? or so Mustang with a 352 4 speed in GT/G ome years ago, pretty much put it on the rear bumper at the Seattle Nat`l event in the mid-late 80`s. I remember Jerry Valentine telling Jerry Pruitt that the Pinto flex sterring column wasn`t legal, haven`t seen Jerry or the car since.


Yea,Rory, you got it. Lot of water under the bridge over that Mission deal. Jerry did replace the steering on the Mustang, but he never did get back to racing. You still have your Fairmont? We actually had one bought for GT. I don't remember why we didn't build it, always thought it would make a great SS car.
Bill

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gunrocker
Gearhead

Posts: 473
From: Colliers, WV,USA
Registered: Mar 2004

posted 08-25-2004 12:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for gunrocker     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Great read!!!

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