1968 Mustang

Like that idea, I do need something that flows better.

Just as we are prepping for the Pod the prom requests come flooding in and one is the night before we head to the track. It's a mates kids and I can't say no, there is no money involved just drop them off, what can go wrong ? Nothing during the prom run, everyone queued for the noisy dirty white car rather than the flashy red one. After the prom it was time to load onto the trailer, just as I turned the ignition on the dashboard filled with smoke and my lad dived for the battery cut off switch - bks !
After using my nose to navigate the mess it turns out the new voltage regulator has cooked itself so with a headtorch in the dark I hastily rewire it out of the loom, car starts, drives onto trailer, Pod tomorrow



I borrowed a noise meter as I wondered if it would cut it on a track day, anyway computer says no, it's 112.7dBA on startup and we also entered a sound off competition at one of our track events and that was 129.8dBA when revved a bit (dB meter was on a pole about 3ft from the exhaust). I always text my neighbours an apology if we leave early to any breakfast meets

Thanks man, it looked even better and fits right in at the Pod.



We got there for the Dragstalgia Friday practice sessions, got in a few runs, all high 13's and quite consistent although we red lighted a few times as it was a (new to me) sportman tree which is .4 second countdown not .5 on the pro tree which I have used for the past few years.



Qualifying was intense, it was a 52 car entry and after all those years watching Nostalgia Superstock from the banking we are now actually driving down the pairing lanes totally surrounded by monster Mopar V8's, the noise is off the scale but there is no better sound in the world.



The new drag radials were making the launches really consistent so we set a dial in for 13.77 and OMG in qualifying session 3 we actually ran 13.7709 which put us into no1 qualifier spot (that's just .0009 from the dial in) and not only that the reaction time was .007 seconds. Coming back into the pits my phone was going bonkers, loads of mates were watching the live stream and were telling me it was a bloody amazing run, quite an emotional moment that I won't forget for a long time.



If Q3 wasn't exciting enough, in Q4 I paired up with James Oliver in the Firebird and he only went and ran a 9.2300 on a 9.23 dial in, the EXACT number so he jumped to No1 qualifier. I was actually glad he took the No1 spot as it didn't feel right to be up there as first timers to the event. Anyway I had no time to think about placing because there was a loud banging from the engine bay on the way back to the pits. It turned out one side of the starter motor had worked loose. Luckily loads of fellow crews turned out their nut/bolt bins and we found a bolt with the correct thread which was enough to start the car for the first elimination race the next morning.
There was a pit BBQ & party Saturday night so we had more than a few beers and tried to talk to as many of the NSS guys as possible, it's like one big racing family.



Sunday AM and it's eliminations, basically the qualifying table decides who you race and I get Pete Dodd in the 10 litre Camaro.
I had a chat with Pete in the pairing lanes, lovely guy and he's just telling me to relax but the adrenaline is starting to boil and the nerves are twitching and 50+ of the coolest American V8's are in the queue to the start. There is nothing relaxing about that !
Anyway I gave it my best, it was so close (see pic below), Pete knocked me out. Now I could actually relax and have a beer on the banking and enjoy the racing.



From buying that ratty old car a few years back we are now properly drag racing the Mustang and having the best fun ever !

Cheers the whole thing from buying it to racing it involved a fair bit of luck but the car was made to run.
We actually went straight back to the Pod a week after Dragstalgia as there was another Mustang class race event, this time we got all the way to the final and it was brilliant. Again we ended up against Shaun and despite us running a PB (13.6) in the final, his monster 363ci just edged the win but it was down to the smallest margin. The buzz of going down the track is like a drug when accompanied by a V8 full chat.



So there we are, the decision not to tart it up but to use the money entering events and enjoying it was totally the right one. For only a few quid of tinkering we are running mid 13's.



I tried to keep an idea on what was being spent, parts are easy to source and it's not that expensive to keep classic mustangs running if you have a good base....

Sold the spare 351 block for £300
4 new Cooper Cobra tyres cost £400 but got £100 back as someone bought two of the old BFG's that had some tread left.
Ali radiator £100
Transgo transmission kit £80
B&M convertor £240
Trans cooler £25 (to keep uprated convertor cool)
Axle seal and speedo cogs £74 (needed two as they don't last forever)
Spectra heater core (Rockauto) £40
2x Hoosier rear slicks & Rims £300
Prop loop £50
Longacre battery master kill £70
Securon seatbelts 500/30 £56
Champion plugs £17
Service £150
Decals £50
Colour matched rattle can £20

TOTAL roughly £1270 and that's over about 5 years of ownership. Obviously lots more small bits and bobs but no expensive paint job (yet!)
We have been to quite a few car shows and tend to get positive comments that it's a bit dirty and used, it holds it's own against the garage queens.



Roll on 2023 when we are hoping to get in some more Nostalgia Superstock weekends at the Pod.

It looks like you had a great weekend and are already planning some more!

What did you have done to the box? Did it break?

Yes I broke it, lost two gears, it was a full rebuild but with better clutch plates, bands & mounts and any broken/worn parts replaced. It had been slipping a bit for a while in normal driving anyway so I guess it was due. As for the suspension its pretty much standard springs but the rear is lowered with blocks. CalTracks & adjustable shocks are an option but I don't think I'm there yet....

Do it !

Just finished doing friends prom runs then straight back to the Pod - best results so far at Dragstalgia. It was a monster 72 car entry which is a European record. Qualifying reduced this to a 64 car ladder and we qualified #22 which was a nice safe place to be. In the elmination rounds we got to the last 16 which was a huge buzz as we usually get knocked out in the 1st round. Car was running consistent times and RT were great until E3 when I was too excited and ran a red by .07 seconds.

Absolutely right we had a blast in it this year. Decided to enter the Mopar Euronats which was the 3rd and final round of the NSS lifestyle championship.

But first had to take the 9" diff to Andy Robinson to rebuild as it was slipping badly, turns out it was missing a shim and worn out. It came back nice and tight, back to leaving big 11's everywhere


As usual had some excellent racing, qualified 20th after breaking out in Q2 but we did not run a red light all weekend which was a first.


Back to back 0.06 reaction times in practice, very happy with that but still space for improvement. The 20mph headwind knocked a few mph and a few tenths off the ET, have to remember that for next time. In the end we were eliminated by just .01 seconds - so close !


Just love to be surrounded by cool Mopars !


Regretting mentioning how little it had cost to run the car for the previous 5 years as this seasons gearbox & diff rebuilds have added a couple of grand to the total but it's running so well now it was money well spent. Still excellent value for money, race entry was £41 for the whole weekend (£46 for Dragstalgia) so in theory it's cheaper to race than to spectate.

Great to see it still being used and abused!

Great car and thread, really enjoyed reading about your drag exploits. If you watch American TV you'd think you can't have fun running less than 8 second ETs. This goes to show how wrong they are. Almost imported a lovely 64 mustang when they were super cheap. Wish I had now!