X Pursuit 1987 Mustang Drag and LSR Project

[Beagle]

Filled holes are for show cars. I like the swiss cheese look.

You could eat off a lot of the cars at DW they are so clean. I can see Bill here filling all the ratty looking Fox holes just so he could turn around and swiss cheese it more aesthetically.

[CDMBill]

Aesthetic swiss cheese, I like that. The dis-assembly and learning process continues. I'm close to having everthing removed that needs to be, which is damn near everything and then it'll go to the media blasting place to do the underside, front tub, trunk, floors etc. everything that isn't exterior paint.

The rear bumper under the bumper cover is HEAVY as is the trunk lid with the fancy Saleen wing. I'm still waiting to hear from someone at Hot Rod regarding the DW class implications if I leave it on. Non-stock rear wings push the car into Super Street form Street Race, the most restrictive class. While I like it, I don't like it that much to change classes. Super Street also allows coil overs in the back which is a consideration at the moment although people go way quicker than I will on stock springs in more or less the stock location.

Without the rear lights and covers I'm left with this.

[CDMBill]

This is what the little bastard bolt looks like that held me up on taking apart the dog house. Of the two that were stuck, PD Blaster got me through one but this one just wouldn't budge. I had to pull it out of the plastic nose by turning the fneder upside down, but it's done. I'm going to clean up the threads and re-use it as I doubt I can find these new.

I had four of them do the same thing on the taillight housings so they all be glued back in and reused with new nuts which are easily available. A J/Y run is in order to get some of the little annoying things along with some less ruty interior fasteners and clips.

[CDMBill]

This was the fuel return line that was on the car. It will be upgraded to -10 now. The apature inside the old Aeromtive regulator was even smaller than this, maybe -3? I guess I'm used to bigger stuff now.

[CDMBill]

I plan to use the factory location for the rear bumper struts as the pickup points for the combination parachute mount/ trailer hitch/bumper cover support in back. These are reinforced points on the frame for the bumper impact so I feel they will be sturdy enough and still allow the whole thing to be removable. The factory bolts that anchor the bumper strust are metric with around a 7/16' shank diameter. The plan is similar for the front bumper support. The bumper struts weigh about 17 lbs. each front and rear. The front fiberglass support is maybe 20 lbs. The one on the car was broken at the driver's side mount and fixed with a fiberglass repair kit?

The car was hit while still a CHP car according to my historian Floyd, and the repairs were done by Central Coast Mustang. You can kinda see the copper color under the chipped paint on the nose of the driver side fender. Not much damage apparently beyond the fender and the bumper support.

[CDMBill]

This shows how the back in the day CSA wheels have the lug nut cover with the spin on style lock. These will likely remain as the over the road wheel and tire combo for Drag Week although the BFG Drag Radials and the front tires are well over ten years old.

Floyd tells me the front tires supposedly came off Fess Parker's (TV's Daniel Boone) Mercedes. I met Fess and his wife about 10 years ago at their B&B in Los Olivos CA, great people, great wine too.

I've decided to mini-tub the car so I have more tire choices and not have to 'severly bash in' the inner fenders to get a 325/50 Drag Radial under it with the 15x10 6.5 Back space wheels I already have from the '71. The minitubs will also allow a 315/60 supposedly, but my set with a bunch of air in them wouldn't even clear the lower fender skirts.

[CDMBill]

The Fuel system has to be updated as I mentioned before. The stock tank has a welded on sump whoch somebody used as a jack point at some time on the past. In an ideal world I would upgrade to an Aeromotive Stealth tank with a submerged Eliminator pump set-up but that is a budget buster at the moment so I may keep the stock tank or add an EFI sump to a replacement tank.

I have one I bought for the '71 and never got around to putting in it the new tank on that car. I'm not thrilled about having a sump hanging down but I have learned that having the pump down in the breeze under the car is good for fuel and pump temps in hot conditions. A lot of guys with in trunk fuel cells and pumps have heat and vapor lock issues. See the Roadkill episode with Frieburgers Super Bee and the Crusher Camaro trip to the Midnight Drags for a sobering lesson on that topic.

The picture of the Aeromotive filters and Marine pump is how I have it in the "71. I plan the same for X-Pursuit.

The Aeromotive genric EFI sump is shown here along with some of the instructions and my terrible hand drawn section view of the sump relative to the stock style '71 Mustang tank. The extra one way flapper valves are for a more road course capable set up which won't be necessary for the X-Pursuit. It will just have the two 3/8' holes on either side.

The stock steel tank allows me to keep some semblance of a trunk which is nice for road trips and it helps with fuel temps. The down side is crash safety buts its legal and as it is totally under the metal trunk floor. I like it better that fuel cells which are essentially in the car with you. I will have a metal barrier from the interior to the trunk compartment anyway due to the relocated battery.

[CDMBill]

This is the funky little inlet filter that came on the car. The issue with these is that they don't flow enough fuel to keep up with the pump resulting in cavitation which is a pump killer. They also have inadequate filters, just little discs really.

The old A1000 was in the spare tire well along with the correct sized post pump filter, typically 10 micron paper. I haven't opened it up yet. The plan is to reuse the pump and large filter and add a pre filter of the same size with a 100 micron element. All under the car, not in the spare tire well.

The black box you see in the trunk is an industrial unit they used as a fuel pump controller. It was wired into the tail light wiring?

I've read quite a lot of build stories and cutting out the spare tire well and adding a flat floor doesn't save weight apparently and again I want the space. I may use some of that space for this little guy. It's a five gallon cell for the N20 set-up. If I need it. SR/PA Big Block here I might come.

To paraphrase Stroker McGurk: If it don't go spray it.

This also shows the inside of the EFI sump I forgot on the last post.

[Scott Liggett]

What's the Aeromotive marine pump you are using? Fuel system upgrades are something I will need to do in the future. I have an A1000, but it needs upgrading. Clarky thinks it's overkill for my buildup plans.

[CDMBill]

The marine pump is a version of the A1000. I bought it years ago when the MTBE fuels in Cali and high alcohol fuels elsewhere were causing issues with pumps including my first A1000 which they fixed no charge. I used their fuel pump controller for years which is supposed to help with heating issues by running the pump in a pulsed mode. I bypassed it almost two years ago chasing a fuel pressure fluctuation that showed up in the datalogs. I never had an actual on track issue. I'll reconnect it when the 71 goes back together.

Whether it's bigger than you need kinda depends on where you might end up. Turbo, carb or EFI on the 383, yeah it might be a bit big so run a larger return line. They have been really reliable and you can get spares everywhere. Something I always think about given how tight stuff is to change under the car after it's plumbed. The regulator is at least as important maybe more so with boosted or EFI applications.

[Scott Liggett]

I already have an Aeromotive regulator that will go from carb to efi with a spring change. I didn't go cheap there. I have a plan to build a forged 406 with lower compression to get a few more ponies under the hood with the turbos and low boost. I may turbo the old 383 for now to set it up while building the 406....slowly. Clark wants me to efi it, but that isn't happening until I rewire the car.

[CDMBill]

406 is that much bigger, so I think you are in range for the A1000. There are certainly other good quality pumps out there in the price range, the new Holley's look good and Weldon' s have a great reputation. Very interesting EFI/pump story in the new Car Craft. It reinforces my thoughts on the in tank deals, but I have paid for stuff that works.

Drag Week and True Street events are my crucible so the A1000 is still the choice for me if for no other reason than availability of spares. I've learned the that'd way about having unique parts when you're out on the road.

[milner351]

Bill - I would lose the saleen rear wing - especially if you can find a 'glass or steel trunk lid in stock condition.

The stud spinning in the front fascia is par for the course, even with stock urethane front bumpers. Epoxy is your friend in these cases, and grease or never seize on re-assembly.

Aftermarket wiring has come down so far from the painless prices that I'd start from scratch with the wiring, maybe re - use the factory EFI wiring as much as possible if it's in good shape - are you going to use a Megasquirt to run the EFI? I believe they make a "plug and play" control module for the fox mustangs that uses the factory wiring.

I really hope you don't re-use the center-force clutch set up - way too many horror stories with those!

You'll find that instead of searching for any aftermarket support as with building your '71 that you'll have the opposite problem with the fox - too many choices to choose from in aftermarket parts to build this notch.

[CDMBill]

I half to run a steel trunk lid for Street Race classes at Drag Week, so it stays even if the Saleen Wing goes. As for wrining I may look at an aftermarket clean sheet. I run the Megasquirt MS3X and it will not interface wth the factory wiring at all. I want the factory stuff just for the basics, headlights, taillights wipers etc.

At this point it looks like I'll be back in the Big Block class again with the notch, just a matter of whether to spray it or not. I have the manifold set up for the fogger system already.

[dieselgeek]

I half to run a steel trunk lid for Street Race classes at Drag Week, so it stays even if the Saleen Wing goes. As for wrining I may look at an aftermarket clean sheet. I run the Megasquirt MS3X and it will not interface wth the factory wiring at all. I want the factory stuff just for the basics, headlights, taillights wipers etc.

At this point it looks like I'll be back in the Big Block class again with the notch, just a matter of whether to spray it or not. I have the manifold set up for the fogger system already.

Don't forget O2 bungs in the headers. We can do the individual cylinder tuning at Irwindale... or the Corona Del Mar test facility