Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! September 30, 2012, 02:53:46 PM 2006 was a bad year! I was stationed in Hawaii and had just shipped my racing T-Bird all the way there from the mainland and was going to have a blast showing off. Things went well for a couple of months, then the track closed..... without a racetrack, I decided to take to the streets and drive it around for a few years and bring it back, it just took a little work at the Auto Hobby Shop located two blocks from my house. The US Navy Morale Welfare and Recreation committee decided to axe the auto hobby shop, with my beloved T-Bird locked inside, along with a few other choice rides. It took me 2 Years to get it back to the mainland.While being held hostage inside, a few fine mongoose decided to utilize the A/C drain tube and rubber insulation as an access point and move inside the bird, chewing the wiring harness for the engine and car to shreds while using it as a toilet and breeding ground.I took this as an opportunity to just make the car into a full fledged racer, sine nothing was salvageable from the interior.After a two year tour in Australia, I finally broke my T-Bird out of storage hell jail and towed it all the way to my new duty station in Jacksonville FL. Things went slow, with an immediate deployment and subsequent ships decommissioning, I was feeling a little behind and had no time to work on anything. I did have anew motor built though...A 427 Clevor variant using 4V heads from a small company in Australia called Air Flow Dynamics. It turned out to be a real animal to the tune of 653HP and 597 ft/lbs of torque @ 6200 and 3700 rpm respectively.Last week I finally took some leave and started the project to breath new life into the old girl.Things started with the installation of a UPR K-member, a manual rack, coil over conversion, manual brakes and serious weight reduction in mind. I am shooting straight for the 9's this time and see if I can get it done on a reasonable blue collar budget, since I now have a wife and kids. The goal is for it to run for 15 years in the 9's with basic maintenance and routine repairs. I am still on sea duty so this may sporadically take leaps and then seem to drag for a little while. Let me know what you think. I'Ll stick a few pictures up along the way, so you all can check it out. Btw...it's still going to be EFI, using an EEC-IV computer. Hope to have it finished enough in the spring to make a few passes. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #1 – September 30, 2012, 03:19:00 PM God to know tat she hasn't become one of the many sacrifices that active duty personnel are constantly challenged with. From one old sea dog to another, thank you for your service.Fair Winds and Following Seas. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #2 – September 30, 2012, 09:31:50 PM Wow! A blast from the past! Sounds like you have assembled a real animal of an engine in your time away. Looking forwad to your progress. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #3 – October 01, 2012, 09:06:56 AM Wow Mongoose made a home in your car?! That's crazy! Keep us posted on the progress and if you get time to share pics that would be great as well. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #4 – October 01, 2012, 02:28:25 PM Thanks for all the well wishes and the fair winds. I'll take a few shots of the front end installed. I put it all together and mocked it up, still need to take it apart and, grease it all up, paint a few spots, grind a few and line it all up the best. The tubular K member is ridiculous light compared to the stocker. It must be close to 100 lbs difference in the front end with everything I have done to it. I bought a book on setting up stock and super stock suspensions and will try a few springs to get things ironed out, with less wheel stand and more go. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #5 – October 14, 2012, 07:40:48 PM Got the k member, a arms, coil overs, manual rack and brakes installed. Upr makes some nice stuff and it almost fit correctly. I had to add almost 1/2 inch of steel plate to level it all out with the frame rails. I need to clean the wiring up a little better because it is looking bad besides being close to the headers.I cannot figure out where to post the pics to link them. My Flickr account is no longer working. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #6 – January 31, 2013, 07:03:52 PM got some pics added finally and a couple of videos. My friend decided to only video tape the back of my head for some reason during the dyno pull. The rest are of the engine warming up for the pull.[video]http://s752.beta.photobucket.com/user/WickedChicken/media/MOV06169.mp4.html[/video][video]http://s752.beta.photobucket.com/user/WickedChicken/media/MOV06171.mp4.html[/video] Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #7 – January 31, 2013, 11:42:38 PM Your front end set up is very close to mine. What springs are you using on the front? I bought a used coilover setup that came off a fox mustang and they are 150's. Still in the building stages, so I haven't tried them out yet. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #8 – February 01, 2013, 12:06:05 AM 150 should be good if you want to pull the wheels use 130 lol Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #9 – February 01, 2013, 04:40:52 PM I am using 150's X 14 coils. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #10 – February 02, 2013, 04:32:54 PM Looks good Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #11 – February 17, 2013, 11:17:57 PM Got some work done this weekend. Rear end Rebuilt, Brakes Installed/Operable and Control Arms Mounted. Clevor and the tranny have been stabbed and it sits a bit high. Please let me know what you are thinking.MotorBreath!!Spherical Solid Aluminum Bushings and 1" longer (8.8" T-Bird or 9" in a Mustang) Adjustable Uppers from UPR Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #12 – February 17, 2013, 11:27:29 PM Sweet!!!!!! Any plans for torque box reinforcements .... Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #13 – February 17, 2013, 11:53:54 PM Quote from: STANG8U;409584Sweet!!!!!! Any plans for torque box reinforcements .... I'm kinda Himing and Hawing on that. Car is stripped and will weigh <3000lbs. I hope that I can get it together and down the track a few times before requiring Torque Box Replacements. Quote Selected
Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! Reply #14 – February 18, 2013, 12:20:06 AM It's a major week link at least weld them up once they rip the car is done or a lot of work needs to be done Quote Selected
Topic: Resurrecting the Wicked Chicken! (Read 13369 times)
previous topic - next topic
