OK, a little background. That 84 Turbo Coupe I made John drag home last year finally has a purpose in life. We're turning it into a race car for the Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge. For those of you not familiar with the Challenge, you have to build the entire car for $2009 or less (and be able to prove it), and it has to compete in a 1/4 mile drag race, a timed auto-cross course, and a judged concourse. Obviously a heavy-butt TBird with a 302 isn't the "hot" setup, but it's what we have, what we're familiar with, and our goal is simply to finish and still have a running car. That being said, we do still want to give it our "best shot" and maybe even eek out at least a Top-10 in the drag race.
OK, so the motor is a roughly 84 vintage 302 CFI with a hydraulic flat-tappet cam that's all of 150HP (maybe...). Obviously a rebuild is in the cards!
So I was at the Portland swap meet today and I picked up a new "regrind" cam for the 302 (for $35!) from a fairly well-known shop. Specs are as follows:
INTAKE:
.439" lift
207* @ .050
258* advertised
EXHAUST
.454" lift
215* @ .050
265* advertised
115* LSA, 36* overlap
And it's a 351 firing order.
So, is this going to meet our needs? The plan is to acquire a set of GT40 (non-P) heads, an RPM Air-Gap intake, and higher-compression pistons for the build. Nitrous is the current plan for a power adder, but we are kicking around the idea of turbo/blower...
Would be a good cam to pull a boat with..
Im doing a similar setup in my 351 and im going to use this cam
http://www.jegs.com/i/Lunati/638/61003LK/10002/-1
1.7 rockers intake 1.6 exhaust. I know it sounds bass ackwards, but I've been doing some research and it seems High lift, short duration intake/lower lift, longer duration exhaust is the way to go with GT-40 heads.
At what height? 0? .050?
Here's the cam card:
Advertised Lift: INT .439 / EX .454
Advertised Duration: INT 258* / EX 265*
Lobe Separation: 115*
Overlap: 36*
Exhaust Opens: 43* BBDC
Exhaust Duration: 215*
Intake Opens: -11* BTDC
Overlap: 19*
Exhaust Closes: -8* ATDC
Intake Duration: 207*
Intake Closes: 38* ABDC
So I assume it's 19* Overlap at .050 and 36* Advertised.
Seems to be about the same as:
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=CCA%2D31%2D416%2D3&autoview=sku
It's too small isn't it? Maybe with ported HO heads it will work, but 300HP might be a stretch for it...
I belive this one is fairly popular and cheap...
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=SUM%2DK3601&autoview=sku
Duration is similar to the Stg 1 Trick Flow roller I run... With 1.7 rockers it would have approx .500 lift and with good springs should pull to 6000...
If your buying pistons, match a cam with them.
That way you get the most bang for the buck.
Are you putting $2009 in motor or everything?
$2009 for EVERYTHING, car included. That's why the budget is so short! :hick:
Mullet budget! I love it :hick:
Mullet Budget = Stolen parts + $5 for PBR?
This is the race I would shoot for with a T-Bird: http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/ Would do pretty well stock. $500 budget (+safety costs including mandatory cage)
Safety costs are not included in that $500 Bux. A cam would be though. It's also a $500 registration fee PLUS $100 per driver. This race IS NOW a true 24 hour event. To do it I would say 6 drivers (4 hours each) so that's $1100 plus a car ($500) plus tires, a rollcage, a harness style seatbelt and GOOD brakes. Truthfully I'd budget at least $4K for that one. It would be a BLAST though.
hence the "+safety costs" :)
Probably.
Jalopnik is running a 302 powered Volvo 244. Someone is even entering a Buick V6 powered Triumph TR7. There is quite an eclectic band of cars at these events (ex: Porcubimmer - the BMW with the pen 15s on the outside for a change :) ) and the themes are quite amusing. Not too mention the fun stuff like the Personal-Injury-Lawyer Anti-Slalom, the Marxist-Valet Parking Challenge, and the Wide Open Throttle Rodthrowapalooza. Plus the prize money is paid in nickles! Lots of fun stuff. When I found out about it, I was hooked and have been reading as much as I can from teams getting their cars ready. I even dreamed of entering lured by the $500 budget...but as you say, costs rise pretty quickly and I'm quite far from any of the race sites.
Anyway, sorry about the thread hijack, I just think the 24 Hours of LeMons is really cool.
They're having a meet in New England in late August....I'm thinking of going as a spectator. Anyone up for it?:hick:
And do you have any update Mike?
We pulled the 2.3 today :hick:
Sold it for $750 on CL a few weeks ago. The ad was up for less then hour!
We have to test the 2.3T I'm building for DW's pace car in the car before dropping in the 5.0 though.
guess ill be looking forward to my 2009 challenge issue then :birdsmily:
one thought though, wouldnt you be better off going with a HO swap? with that you would be one step up from the so non roller motor you currently have, a much better starting point imo.
im sure it could happen, even with a few hopups and still be under budget if the rules havent changed about selling off more than the initial purchase cost.
this is just a thought
I got a Trick flow stage 2 cam for $50 also got a E-cam for $80 so maybe something will show up for sale closer to where you live.
What if someone gave you a cam or would you have to pay for it in order to use it.
Sounds like a fun race i hope you get in the top 10 or so.
It's from a 87/88 Sport - its already roller. I don't remember the mileage, but it may be cheaper to just convert the thing over to HO power levels - which he is already looking to do with the cam swap.
I traded the Sport's roller 302 and EFI setup for the RX-7. This 302 is a roughly 84-spec unit that Jim Miller insisted I take off of his hands. It was originally a CFI motor, and he said it was a Town Car engine (maybe? memory is a little fuzzy...).