 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
PROJECT FALCON cont.
September 2002: We changed the rims to a set of Weld Drag Lites and went to a 10" rim on the back with a Hoosier 10" DOT tire. We went to Fun Ford Weekend in Ennis, Texas only to experience clutch tuning problems all weekend. The Falcon would blow the tires off about 5 feet out of the hole so we never made a clean pass. We pulled the clutch at the track while a concerned crowd watched and waited to see what we would find. We found a burnt and heavily glazed flywheel and pressure plate. The weekend ended early for us.
January 2003: The end of 2002 and the beginning of 2003 have been extremely busy in the shop so we have not had any time to spend with the Falcon. The clutch has been reconditioned and we will start tuning again in February.
February 2003: While putting the car back together for this season we noticed the ladder bars had been contacting the floor on both sides during launch. This may explain some of our weight transfer / traction problems. The car is back together and at the local fabrication shop of Ken Skloss to remedy the problem.
March 2003: Now there is plenty of clearance for the ladder bars and drive shaft. We finally took time off to go out to the track on the 15th and made 5 runs. Since we are so busy in the shop and have very limited time with the Falcon we decided to seek professional help to get the chassis sorted out.
We asked Tracy Stapp to come out to the track and see if he could help. Tracy has worked with IHRA Pro Mod cars extensively and has experience with the type of clutch we are using. Tracy is a fellow Ford man and pilots his 66 Fairlane to consistent 8.80's at 150 mph on the motor.
Testing with the Falcon on March 15, 2003, corrected altitude 2100'
| Runs | 60' | 1/8 mile | 1/4 mile | Notes |
| # 1 | 2.05 | 7.55
@ 99.64 |
11.52 @ 123.38 | Moved ladder bars to top hole in the front. Launch at 6200 rpm |
| # 2 | 1.75 | 7.13 @ 99.77 | 11.11 @ 122.74 | lower tire pressure to 10 psi |
| # 3 | 1.6041 | 6.96 @ 98.68 | 10.99 @ 121.26 | lower tire pressure to 8 psi |
| # 4 | 1.6144 | 6.94 @ 100.24 | none | lower launch rpm to 5800 |
| # 5 | 1.6060 | 6.86 @ 101.46 | 11.36 @ 91.24 | coasted from 1/8 mile |
On the last pass of the day David had to lift at the 1/8 because of drivetrain vibration and noise. We could not determine what the problem was at the track and decided to call it a day. The next day we looked things over and found out the ring gear was missing two teeth and one was cracked. A call to Strange Engineering was in order.
Project Page 1 | Project Page 2 | Project Page 4
Project Page 5 | Project Page 6 | Project Page 7 | Project Page 8