JMortensen Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 My father-in-law has this dream of doing a land speed car. He just inherited a T-Bird Super Coupe with the 2.3 turbo (my grandmother-in-law just passed away), and he mentioned it again. I think he might just have a car that is suited for this type of racing. The thing was in PRISTINE condition until about a week before her death. She backed out of her driveway and some idiot going about 30 mph in the trailer park she lives in hit the car in the rear corner. Don't know the extent of the damage or whether or not insurance will still fix it now that she has passed away. Anyway my father-in-law started talking about a cage and that sort of thing. I don't know how serious he is about this, but I might just be helping him build this thing if everything works out. Still in the extremely preliminary stages right now, but what I'm looking for are links to sites that might have info on the car or the engine, and links for sites that might have info about prepping the car for competition. I looked at some sites before and couldn't find ANY info about tech or safety regs. Also if anyone has any direct experience with this car or with land speed racing, feel free to jump in. This would be a budget type build most likely. Right now I'm just concerned with what it would take to make the car safe and techable at this point. We won't be pushing for 200 mph either. Going to start slow and work up if it happens at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 goto groups.yahoo.com and look for the 16v turbo coupe group. There is a whole bunch of peole that put a volvo DOHC head onto the turbo coupe bottem end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 Oh yeah, I think Tim240z was looking into that for his Opel for a while. I don't yet know a whole hell of a lot about these engines, but I think we can stick to the KISS credo for awhile at least. Just get it set up and run it and see what it does would probably be the first priority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 I used to have a friend that had both a T-coupe AND a merkur XR4-Ti at the same time, but I've lost touch with him over the years. He always said that even though they had the same engine, for some reason the T-coupe was so much more reliable. He had a big nasty t-04 with a 4inch dump tube for an exhaust. There has got to be some info on racing these cars on the web somewhere...if I come across anything I'll be sure to shoot it your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Thunderbird Sorry Jon, couldn't resist! Here is the racing section of a ford forum, haven't been through the posts yet, but it had a disclaimer saying it was for hard core race mods that you have actually done only... http://www.turboford.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 Looks like S&W makes a 10 point DOM cage for $499. Apparently the T-Bird shares the Fox body platform. This might not be too hard to get going after all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 well there's already a land speed racer based on the merkur XR4-Ti but I don't know if I could find a link for it again. They were using the stock motor (wich tons of modifications of course) with the volvo head. If it shares the fox platform then it should be nice and "rigid" Well, I hope the project goes well. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datsun350Z Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 So, is it a turbo coupe? or is it a super coupe with a turbo coupe motor? Either way... Racer Walsh has a good selection of ford 2.3 turbo parts. http://racerwalsh.zoovy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 I think I had my terminology mixed up. It is a Turbo Coupe with the 2.3L. I realize now that there was a supercharged T-bird called the Super Coupe, maybe the later style??? Not a Ford guy in general, but I'd really like to help my father-in-law realize his dream of going to Bonneville. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datsun350Z Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Correct. The newer platform t-birds were called super coupes with the supercharged engine. The turbo coupes were awesome machines for their time. They had some cool features too... Electronically controlled suspension that was controlled from inside the cabin. Auto-dimming brights (controlled by a light sensor on the mirror). And a few other things i'm forgetting since being in awe over my friends father's years ago. Good luck with the project. Edit: Sorry about your grandmother also. I read through the post a little closer and realized how this project came to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 Lots and lots of performance parts for the NA 2.3L engine. Circle track guys run 'em. Here's where you start your research on classing and records but the very first thing you should do is buy the rule book: http://scta-bni.org/ You'll most likely run the car in Production Coupe/Sedan (/PRO) or Production Coupe/Sedan Supercharged (/PS). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob_racing Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 You will have your work cut out for you trying to beat the XR4Ti that currently has a a bunch of door slammer land speed records. The guy that built and drove the car is named Rick Byrnes and I met him a couple of times at a Merkur gathering in Carlisle when I owned my own XR4Ti. He is/was an engineer for Ford and used a lot of trick parts that he either made himself or were Ford Racing pieces. His car ran as fast as 208 MPH at Bonneville with a completely stock body shell. For those that don't know, the XR4Ti has nothing in common with a fox bodied Mustang or T-bird. The car is basically a Ford Sierra from Europe that was rebadged for sale here in the USA with the 2.3 turbo four installed in place of the engines used across the pond. The car had an independent rear end unlike the solid one used on US designed Fox cars. I thought my XR4Ti was one of the best handling cars I've ever owned but it was plagued by all kinds of minor electrical problems and expensive replacement and go fast parts that for the most part had to be imported from the UK once Ford abandoned the Merkur line in 1990. Here's a link to a Centerforce website that has more details about Ricks car: http://www.centerforce.com/sponsored.tpl?subsection=details&cart=11372275522558&title=Rick%20%26%20Jim%20Byrnes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 8, 2006 Author Share Posted August 8, 2006 Thanks John, that link helps a lot. Too bad their online store doesn't work. Rulebook is definitely first on the list of things to do. They do have a pdf file with a tech checklist. Couple of things stuck out like fire suppression in the engine compartment and the cabin for 150+ mph, harnesses, SA 95 or better helmet, and a parachute for over 160 on the lakes (!) Doesn't look too hard, but I definitely want to see the rulebook before diving in. Thanks Datsun350Z, my grandmother-in-law helped my wife and me out a lot when we bought our first house and then again when we moved to WA. She was a great lady. I consider it fortunate that she was healthy right up to about a week before she died, never spent a day in an old folk's home or any of that. Jim, realistically the car isn't going to be a record breaker. We're just excited about the idea of getting it out there and staying in the throttle for so long. I guess the stock vehicle was capable of 145 mph. I assume that was with a stick. I also assume that Grandma's car has an auto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted August 8, 2006 Share Posted August 8, 2006 a xr4 was the tranzam champion for a couple of years hear in the 90,s. Space frame chassis but it still ran the 2.3 motor and had some big grunt. It was running agains 6.0lt v8's putting out over 700 hp and would still pull away from them on the straights. The chassis weights were similar to the v8 cars so that wasnt its advantage. The car ran the 2 valve heads and must have been making close to 800 hp. Guess there might be some potential from that engine! Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbob_racing Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Some of the Trans Am cars were 2.3 turbos and some were 5.0 V8s. Rousch argued that since Ford sold Sierras in South America with V8 engines they should be allowed to run them too. The cars were basic Riley and Scott tube frames with XR4Ti body work on them. As far as I can remember the biggest Merkur sponsors were Mac tools and Strohs beer. And the cars did win the titles a few years running but that's probably due to the fact that Rousch had been running Capris in Trans Am for several years before they went to the XR4Ti bodies and they had some good drivers in Scott Pruett, Wally Dallenbach and Willy T Ribbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I was a member of http://www.tccoa.com/ for a while... (I think I still am) My dad had an 86 t-bird and my friend was modding out an 89. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 I thought my XR4Ti was one of the best handling cars I've ever owned but it was plagued by all kinds of minor electrical problems and expensive replacement and go fast parts that for the most part had to be imported from the UK once Ford abandoned the Merkur line in 1990. Here's a link to a Centerforce website that has more details about Ricks car: http://www.centerforce.com/sponsored.tpl?subsection=details&cart=11372275522558&title=Rick%20%26%20Jim%20Byrnes Electrical wiring has always been fords downside IMO. That won't be a budget build if he's serious about going fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted August 9, 2006 Author Share Posted August 9, 2006 How hard is it to wire a race car? FI, ignition, alternator, starter, brake lights (do you even need brake lights on a land speed car?), parachute. That seems to be about it. Or am I missing something else that's more complicated? As far as fast, I think he wants to go faster than he's ever gone before. If he could hit 170 I think that would do it for him, although we all know how that story goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 Again, check the rule book to see what must be working on the car. That will determine your wiring requirements. One thing to keep in mind: in a LSR car, light weight is not a goal. I think the rule book specifies a maxiumum weight to control aero ballasting and traction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted August 9, 2006 Share Posted August 9, 2006 www.turbotbird.com just googled them up... these guys know about 2.3Ts...they put them in the back of VW bugs and ofroad them...pushing 20+psi boost http://www.vwbaja.net/forum.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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