MUSTANG 2.3l HELP!!!!

[ndavidson]

What are common mods to help be competitive in the Itb class.

[Knestis]

You are limited to precisely what the IT rules allow - which isn't much, frankly. Don't buy ANY part or make ANY modification until you fully understand what is specifically allowed. There are lots of common street performance mods that aren't an option in IT.

K

[TomL]

IT is a class which allows almost no engine modifications and allows a moderate amount of suspension modification. About all you can do with the engine is a basic blueprint (and even that is circumscribed), remove the emissions controls and install a header. Changing carburetor jets and/or modifying the ECU is permitted (again, within limits). Otherwise, there isn't much you can do to the engine.

Allowed suspension mods include changing springs, shocks, sway bars and wheels. There a handful of other things allowed, but again, IT is quite limited in what you can do.

If you want to do more mods, there are other classes which the Mustang could compete in with more mods. E Production, GT3 and STU come to mind. However, those classes generally cost a lot more to prepare a competitive car, and even if you had unlimited money, your Mustang wouldn't be a particularly good choice to run in those classes.

If you want to run your Mustang, ITB would definitely be the best class, as we have some quite competitive ITB Mustangs around.

As everyone else has said, read the rules and you'll have a fairly good idea of what you can (and more importantly, can't) do. If you have questions on what some specific part of the GCR actually means, just ask. We're good at arguing about that.

[ndavidson]

If I were to sell this car what other car would be a great starter car?

[RacerBill]

Check the classified section of this forum, there are a number of cars that are for sale that would be good starter cars, ready to race, and fairly well developed.

[Eagle7]

If I were to sell this car what other car would be a great starter car?

Glad to see you thinking along these lines. I have no issues for or against the Mustang, but keep in mind that your likelihood of actually making it onto the track is much higher if you buy a race car than if you attempt to build one. AND you'd save money in the process.

[Knestis]

If I were to sell this car what other car would be a great starter car?

Where are you located? We could probably put you in touch with someone local to help out, too. There are some make/model options that would be a challenge but even knowing what choices are good ones, you can get burned if you don't know what you're looking for in a used car. And if you end up shopping long distance, you might well be able to locate someone who knows the category who can check out interesting possibilities.

K

[spawpoet]

If I were to sell this car what other car would be a great starter car?

If you're ok with FWD the VW's seem to be available already built and reasonably competitive (meaning mid-pack) in the $4k range. If you have to have RWD (like me!) a 1st gen RX-7 for IT-7 would be a cheap car to start with. It is a GREAT time to by a used race car. You'll pay 60-70 cents on the dollar vs what it would have cost five years ago.

[Rabbit07]

What are common mods to help be competitive in the Itb class.

To start;

Balance and blue print engine, header, Carb engine with 32/36 Weber carb, 5 speed box, 4.10:1 or 4.56:1 final drive with ford trac-loc LSD.

750-950 Front Springs, 250-350 rear springs, weight jacks for ride height adjustment

Mustang GT front bar and an asortment of rear bars to tune with.

Must have five link rear to make work well.

I think the 85 front K-member yeilds the best roll center height and anti?

OH, almost forgot 225 Hoosier A compounds.

Happy racing!

[billf]

Building a new car is a lot of fun...coupled with a lot, lot, lot...of work. How long it will take will depend on how serious a car you want to build. I've done a few, and am working on No. 5 now (No. three Mustang). If you decide to go ahead with it, try to acquire the book titled, "Mustang Performance Handbook 2" by William R. Mathis published by HP Books. Keep in mind the old expression, "Making a silk purse out of a sow's ear", when planning the build of a Mustang. It ain't made for that kind of spirited driving.

Its contents will give you a valuable insight into the warts of the Fox (and by geniology), the SN95 chassis and suspension. Much of the book is devoted to the fabricated solutions to the problems, almost all of which we are not allowed to do.

That said, it has a few good points to recommend it, primarily: its availability of wrecking yard parts, robust chassis, indestructible drivetrain, and a faithfull following of Mini-stock racers who frequent many sites. Most of the warts can be reduced to small bumps, and the car will provide many hours of valuable, inexpnsive, track time. It is, however, not cheap...just more reasonable. Some other Fords will do the job better, as in Escorts, but this is the most recent rear-drive chassis from Ford.

Personally, unless you have a lot of experience building race cars, I would advise you to find a built car, with a log book, and spend your time learning the art of driving. It's a lot more fun than spending time in a shop.

I'm available if you are looking for more detailed information, at
[email protected]

Good racing.

Bill

[ndavidson]

Thanks for all your help. I know it would be the smart thing to buy a complete car but I already had this car and I only paid 400 for it. How much a would a preped car cost me?

[jimbbski]

I have seen solid, safe IT preped cars, that is they have all the safety equipement required but not all the mods allowed by IT done to them, going for less then $3000. If you want a competitive car then figure to spend at least $6000-9000 depending on what class it runs in. A ITA or ITS car will normally cost more then an ITC car.

What you should do in investigate what class/group is the largest in your region. In some areas ITB has good size fields, in other areas it's small. Here in the midwest and especially with MCSCC where I race, ITA is the largest group. Mostly this is because we have a large number of Spec Miata's that are allowed to run ITA as well. It's not unusual to have 20+ ITA cars plus ITB & ITA and SS cars thrown making for 30-35 cars in a race group.

I had a friend that raced a Mustang in ITB and then moved to Prod. I also raced a 1993 Cobra R Mustang #58 for a few years just for the hell of it so I know the Fox chassis. I also know some of the legal and illegal ways to make it a better car.

[JLawton]

Thanks for all your help. I know it would be the smart thing to buy a complete car but I already had this car and I only paid 400 for it. How much a would a preped car cost me?

The cost of the shell is minimal compared to the rest of the shell. That's why we say buying is cheaper than building. $2K for a good cage (actually, not sure what the going rate is these days) $1K for coilovers. $500 for seat and harness. $500 for wheels (you don't want to use the stock wheels because the weight will negate any extra HPs you get out of the engine) Engine build $1K-2K. Plus window net, kill switch, sway bars, shock tower brace, header, exhaust plus any labor on things you can't do yourself............

Even if the shell was free it's cheaper to buy.......

[mossaidis]

Even if the shell was free it's cheaper to build.......

You mean cheaper to "buy"?

[JLawton]

You mean cheaper to "buy"?

Yes, thanks. Edited to correct............

[billf]

The cost of the shell is minimal compared to the rest of the shell. That's why we say buying is cheaper than building. $2K for a good cage (actually, not sure what the going rate is these days) $1K for coilovers. $500 for seat and harness. $500 for wheels (you don't want to use the stock wheels because the weight will negate any extra HPs you get out of the engine) Engine build $1K-2K. Plus window net, kill switch, sway bars, shock tower brace, header, exhaust plus any labor on things you can't do yourself............

Even if the shell was free it's cheaper to buy.......

Coilover conversions for the Mustang are illegal. Springs in this Strut Style suspension are on the lower arm.

Bill

[Knestis]

Cost to buy already prepared Car Model X = $4000

Cost to build using exactly the same parts on Car Model X = $8000-10,000

I have some inkling of what Xian spent on his Civic, because it essentially duplicated Pablo's build. I know about what he sold it for. Heck - I have a pretty good idea what I could get for Pablo!

K

New Guy Edit - this is Pablo.

[manny]

i just wanted to add that i for one bought a cheap mustang, did all of the work myself. while learning how to drive i also learned many many things about the mustang. i would'nt do it any different, i love wrenching and building and tweaking on the car. yes the car can be very competitive. just my .02

[joeg]

I'm in Manny's camp.

More fun building and developing a car, albeit more money.