This past Saturday my roommate bought a '69 Ford Mustang Fastback which he plans on restoring and putting a mildly built 429 into it. That's all good and believable, but here's the thing: he claims that he can run mid10s-low11s with his setup. I pulled the :bs: flag on it right away.

Here's what his plans for the car are: slight overbore, bump the compression a bit but still keep the cast pistons (he says it will be about 10:1), new valves, retainers, etc, mild cam, different carbs, header and exhaust. He is thinking he will make about 400 hp with that setup. I told him to dyno it, so at least he knows how much it makes, and he's not pulling a number out of his ass. I told him that if he were to put down more than 400 on a dyno, I'd pay for it. He wouldn't go for it.

As for the interior, he plans to keep the full interior in the car, so probably around 3500 lbs worth of weight. I told him that there is no way that he will run anywhere near 10s with that setup basically because his power-to-weight ratio is too big. Hyde and Mr. Lous ran 10s, but they each put down well over 500 hp at the wheels. Hyde weighs 2650 pounds, and not sure that Mr Lous is at.

He claims that it's all about the gearing, and that's what will get him there. He also thinks that slicks will help. He also claims that his dad ran mid 10s with a Fairlane that had a 39x engine making about 340 hp. I told him I'll beleive it when I see it. I told him the first time he'll run the car, he'll do a 14.2 @ 95 mph.

Is he being overly optimistic, or do I not know anything about muscle cars?

The way I see it you are both pulling numbers out of your asses. I doubt a full weight car will be running a mid 10, but I could definately see it running in the 11's somewhere if he knew how to drive and had a good suspension set up. That engine has some real power pontential. I would say 95 mile an hour trap speeds are pretty unrealistic. I will bet that he could trap in the ball park of 110. Also why don't you believe 400 hp with that setup? The motor was rated at 370 stock, with a better cam, exhaust and carburator I don't see how it couldn't gain at least 30 hp.

At that weight it will take more than 400HP to pull 10s. Gearing can only do so much. You sacrifice low end for top end. He would run out of steam before the end and still wouldn't make his goal.

He is talking out his ass.

seems to me like he's full of shit. lous is running maybe a low 10 on sea level. i forgot what it was uncorrected. he is also making about 580whp i thought. i say he runs a mid 12. bigger gears will help a bit yes, but mosre than likely he;ll have too much gear before he crosses the line. i stay mid 12s.

530 RWHP
Car weighs 3590 without me.
Takes good power to sniff 10's. And I can't actually claim 10's yet.
IF I were to get a zero DA day...it would barely be in the 10's at this weight on an average launch.

The guy is full of it... it'll be a mid-high 13 second car.

low 12's

end of story. now, nitrous will put him in the 10's b/c a v8 can take a 150-200 shot if it is built for it, and it wouldn't be hard to get it from 12's to 10's with a better cam and bigger carb and nitrous, especially if the setup he wants is going to get him into the lower 12's. weight is going to kill him. but if he can get a low 60 ft. i think and the nitrous, he'll be there or dang close.

yea with crazy gearing and a tough rear i think he can come close to what hes saying.

The engine will not be a Boss 429. He has a 429 block, and he's just going to put in there whatever he can find, and wants to stay under $1500 for the engine. Also, there will be non nitrous. He's staying NA. The cam he's going in there will only be a mild one, so no extreme lift cam. He says he won't be revving it past 6000 rpms.

In order to run mid 10s, you need to be trapping probably 130-140 mph. That means that at 6000 rpms in 4th gear you need to be able to do 140 mph. That kind of limits the gearing as to how low he can go.

He never really talked about the suspension, so I'm not sure he's planning on doing much in that area. I wouldn't be surprised if he left it the way it came. Remember, he's trying to do this as cheap as possible.

When I said 14.2, I was also factoring in two more things: the tracks around here suck balls, there isn't much prep and everyone is complaining about it. AFAIK, he has NEVER ran a car in the 1/4 mile. Sure a pro driver might do 13s with his car, but not him.

I think he will trap 100+ at least though.

I'm telling you guys, it'll be a 13 second car. You folks have to remember that those old school motors and drivetrains aren't very efficient, takes a lot of power to get them moving.

Not to mention those cars aerodynamics are horrible... lots of wind to push at higher speeds.

Has anybody factored in Driver skill? If it's 3-speed automatic, he'll need a highstall converter to get the launch right so it won't bog out, if it's a 4-speed manual he'll need to learn how to launch it with the clutch.

As a reference for us bench racers: In stock form a 69 Boss 429 Stang put out 375 hp and ran 13.60 @ 106mph w/ 4 speed tranny and 3.91 gears.

That's also with a driver who knows what he's doing, and after who knows how many tries.

I have no idea what I am doing.
And mine went 11's.







Once.

80 Z28,3440 wet w/o driver,355, 30 over,10.5:1,pumped gas,large solid stick,gutted,caged,manual valve body,4:56 gear,9.5 in slicks(no tubs) stock axles,stock drive shaft,could go on for a month.10:90's(no way it ways consistant) ran 11:51 to 11:53 everyday of the year.1.64 60 ft.He might not be pullin #'s out of his azz.Only one way to find out.Put out or shut up!

If yo uconsume any sort of solid food, it will result in the defication of solid human fecal matter, so yes, he is full of shit, unless he is a starving ethopian. Now, whats the question?

I don't think he's gonna cut tens like that, but hey, I could be wrong. Tell him to build it up, and lets see if we are right or wrong.

As a reference for us bench racers: In stock form a 69 Boss 429 Stang put out 375 hp and ran 13.60 @ 106mph w/ 4 speed tranny and 3.91 gears.


Thats what I was thinking.

I'm sure he meant a 428 Cobra block. I highly doubt he's gonna put in the exceedingly rare 429 hemi block that Ford made (Boss 429 as I recall). With the setup he has i'm sure he'd see 400whp. I mean the dudes got a pretty big block man. It doesn't take much for him to kick out 400whp with cam/headers/full exhaust. Those engines were stated to have 330hp as I recall, and i've heard that that was underrated.

I do doubt him running 10's. That isn't gonna happen without some serious weight reduction and gears.

the 429 wasnt that rare, heck a guy i know has one in his grain truck. but anyway, the 429 is a helluva good motor. for you guys who go by liters, its about 7.0 or 7.1 liters. so its a big engine. 400hp shouldnt be hard at all. but i dont think hes gonna see tens with 400 hp.... the 429 was used in nascar for a while, it made some pretty crazy horsepower.

even if by chance he meant the 428 block, those were pretty darn good engines too. they were rated at 330 or 335hp and they were drastically underrated, it was said that it was probably closer to 380-400hp range stock.

The Boss 429 wasn't a "Hemi" either. I think that you're confusing it with the Cammer.

The Boss 429 wasn't a "Hemi" either. I think that you're confusing it with the Cammer.

im pretty sure it was a hemi. ive read that myself. now obviously it isnt called that by ford because thats a dodge/chrysler thing and its copy righted. but you know all hemi means is semi-spherical heads. the 429 was definatly not a cammer. the cammer was a special 427 and they made very few of them and it never actually made its way into a production car. the regular pushrod 427 did though. and kinda funny, the ford 427/428/429 are actually all completely different engines.