Finally made it to the strip with the Ford Modular powered E85 dragster!

[Towelly]

So, after almost two years the project finally hit the drag strip for the first time! From concept to strip it has been a long process. We have tried a lot of new stuff, for us at least, and I am very proud of the results. Keep in mind that this car has only just come together and this was the first Test and Tune the car has ever been to, so we weren't expecting much. Boy were we pleasantly surprised! We went with the intention of only doing a couple of launch's to figure out the chassis and shake the car down. What occurred was much more, but was bitter sweet. Here are the results of our very first day at the track in the E85 Modular Ford Dragster:

Bolting on the body and making ready for the trip.

In the pits lookin' all purdy.

All hooked up. Ready to add some fuel and testing the datalogging.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gakOdSwc8ok




^Video of the first pass^

Look at that 60' time! Car only went a little over 200 feet on power and was short shifted at 6500 RPM (We will probably set the final limiter to around 7500RPM as we have some pretty wicked cam's and it is making great power.). She is pig rich right now, on purpose, and the driver side valve cover puked a little more oil than we had expected into the exhaust, so we are going to get a vacuum pump run a catch can next season.
Overall it was a great trip. Car shows awesome potential and the data logs showed we are getting very close to what I was commanding. Our test pilot was my cousin Joel and he is a great wheel man. His feedback was just as valuable, if not more-so, than the data in the logs. His description of events matched the logs to a T.

 

[tjm73]

Cool!

 

[kmracer]

very cool.

 

[kmracer]

are those LS1 coils?

 

[tjm73]

By the way...you cannot post pics like those and not post up a bunch more info on what you did. That is just too unique to give so few details. What's the story with this dragster?

4.6 SOHC .... check
Whipple SC .......... check
C4, Power Glide?

 

[Matt D]

Very cool!!! 1.18 sixty foot is nuts

 

[Towelly]

Sorry, wasn't sure if there would be a lot of interest it not being a S197 and me being new here. New ish.....


We started with a chassis, a powerglyde and a idea. We wanted to do a Ford this time around, being that I'm a Ford guy and that we have fielded a Chevy and a Pontiac with success already. The BBC Dragster went 201 MPH this season and we have a front engine original Pontiac powered dragster that is in the 170 MPH range. Neither of which are fuel injected. So I, being very interested in calibrating EFI, volunteered to take on the learning curve and do some reading. After doing as much research as possible I recently decided to step it up and take Greg Banish's Advance Ford EFI training class at SCT in Orlando in August. Rewind back to two summers ago, so we decided on going with a Ford based power plant and EFI. My uncle decided to start researching Ford power plants and we already had the chassis lined up as one of our close friends was selling it and we picked it up. My uncle happened upon this motor on Ebay and called up the owner who was a Ford Engineer. After some negotiating he picked it up for a unreal low amount of cash. We were already familiar with what this motor was capable of in stock form, so it was a no brainer. It was exactly what the previous owner told us it was, which is rare.

We got it back to the shop and tore it down to find out it really was the following: Custom Comp Blower cam's, fully ported and built '02 SOHC Lightning heads, fully forged (not stock) '02 Lightning shortblock bored .040 over with stock stroke. The rest of the setup consists of a built two speed powerglyde, 3.4 liter Whipple twin screw blower, 120lb/hr precision injectors, Mangafuel 750 fuel pump, aftermarket fuel rails (Can't think of the brand right now), electric water pump, LS Coils (COP's wouldn't fit under the fuel rails). The engine is managed by Big Stuff 3 and we use our own mix of E85 fuel consisting of 85% of 100% ethanol and 5% 100 octane aviation fuel.

This car is going to run in either a Sportsman class or Pro Comp if we can wedge it in the field next season.

If you have any other questions about the setup let me know.

We hope to go to the track one more time this season and see if we can't make a full pass. We are ordering a half a dozen Goodyear Gatorback's and going to try some different things with the tires. If and when that happen's expect more video and pictures!

Jake

 

[Towelly]

P.S. I did post about the car in the Pit Stop forum before we hit the track, but I didn't get any feedback.

http://www.s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44290

 

[tjm73]

Whoa! So this is a 5.4?! Awesome. Definitely awesome.

 

[fdjizm]

C&L racer intake ftw! lol

 

[Sinner]

very cool build bro. good luck with it and keep posting the progress. i would love to follow this thread

 

[Towelly]

Whoa! So this is a 5.4?! Awesome. Definitely awesome.

Yes sir. Thanks!

C&L racer intake ftw! lol

It isn't, but it is close.

very cool build bro. good luck with it and keep posting the progress. i would love to follow this thread

Will do! We hope to hit the track the 6th of November, but we aren't set on anything yet. If that doesn't happen it will have to wait till next season.

 

[stkjock]

sounds more like E95 then E85 based on your mixing?

 

[US-1]

You need to remove the breather lines from the engine to the headers. On a forced induction engine all you're doing is blowing oil out of the engine and, from looking at those headers, right into the path of the tires. Just use a puke tank mounted behind the transmission between the rails. Then drain it after a run or two.

 

[topbliss]

VERY cool!!!!! That thing is gonna be sick when its ironed out!!

 

[Towelly]

You need to remove the breather lines from the engine to the headers. On a forced induction engine all you're doing is blowing oil out of the engine and, from looking at those headers, right into the path of the tires. Just use a puke tank mounted behind the transmission between the rails. Then drain it after a run or two.

You're right. Found that out already. I think we are going to run a vacuum pump and a catch can setup. Good thoughts though. The exhaust clears the tires by a good margin, but we don't like it either. We may have to add a bit of pipe to get a cleaner wideband reading as well. So, we have a way to go yet. Keep the feedback coming. I appreciate it.

VERY cool!!!!! That thing is gonna be sick when its ironed out!!

I can't wait to uncork it. I think it is really going to turn heads, as if it doesn't already.

sounds more like E95 then E85 based on your mixing?

I'm sorry. You're right. Have my math screwed up. It is actually E85, not E95. I was rather excited when I was writing all that.

Can't wait to see some vid's of your E85 monster! I am really loving this fuel so far. So much so, my S197 is being switched over this winter and we are going to run pump E85 in it. Can't wait.

 

[stkjock]

so your mixing 8.5 gal of Ethanol and 1.5 gal of 100 oct for every 10gal?

if so that should be a potent mix as pump E85 is mixed with 87 oct.

 

[Towelly]

so your mixing 8.5 gal of Ethanol and 1.5 gal of 100 oct for every 10gal?

if so that should be a potent mix as pump E85 is mixed with 87 oct.

That is correct.

 

[stkjock]

That is correct.

 

[dysan]

I don't know the specifics, but a local guy to me is thinking of doing a mod motor dragster as well and I started talking to him about a vacuum pump and he mentioned something about them not working well with the modular motors. Something about causing the oil to foam up or something.

Maybe it's just the 4.6 block, but I figured I would give you the heads up about what I heard.