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Original Message
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| RE: I concur.. |
| By McQ - 10/30/2003 6:50:18 PM; IP 209.19.180.126 |
Your 14.78/97mph is excellent for a 3,900 lb. + drop-top. And with the original -S- iron intake!
That correlates closely to my '66 GTA when it was bone stock. I ran it nearly brand new at what was then called Kent Pacific Raceways(I think it's Seattle International Raceway now) and it turned a 15.00/97 or 98 mph. This was on very skinny 7.75 x 14" Goodyear Power Cushion bia plys which were the original tires. It was a big day for me. The Fairlane had under 2,000 miles on it. My first run was against a '65 442. Easy win. Second run was another 442 but a '66. Another easy win. Oh this was in a Pure Stock class which was packed that day with at least twenty cars, all of which were '65 - '66 mid size/big blocks. We weren't calling them "Muscle Cars" yet. My 3rd run was against a '65 Goat with tri power/4 speed. In pure stock they lumped sticks and automatics together. I had the Poncho out of the hole but at about 1/8 of the qaurter he pulled up and away. His 360 horses of tri powered 389 was too much for my 390GT.
But there was another 390GT Fairlane there that summer day of '66. I remember it well. Black with Cali plates. Driven in. Four or Five guys in the car. A little prep work in the pits disconnecting the headers that I think were Belanger, and it was a 4 speed too. Slicks on wheels out of the trunk. Bumper jacked up and that switch was made. This car ran very well in the low 13's/low low 100s. He made it all the way to the final trophy round against Pete Kost's '66 tri powered 442. Kost is a Nortwest Oldsmobile legend. Pete's Olds put the 'lane away that day.
As I'm clicking this out I start to remember why I bought a '66 GTA in the first place. It was Yakima< WA's Jerry Pruitt running a very well prepped '66 GTA for Valley Ford Sales. Jerry cc'd the heads, did some bearing clearance work, Belanger headers, 4.56s, deleted radio, heater and as much under carpet insulation as possible. He actually broke into the high 12's with this car.
It was Jerry's tuning work on my Holley 600 and some re curving of the distributor that allowed my GTA to dip into a 14.9 range. I was elated with 14.9s at that time.
So here's my personal summary: The 390GT is a good all around package. We Ford guys needed just one reasonable option up Performance wise. I'd say the '61/'62 tri power package with a little hotter cam would have done the trick.
The CJ 428 was the blessing we'd been waiting for. The Tasca Ford guys showed Ford how to do it with existing parts. It was reasonably inexpensive to produce so it could be sold competitively. The 427 just could not be sold competitively and make any money.
Again I hate to agree but GM really had it engineered with the LS6. They are just plain brutal. They can be beaten but it takes a lot of detail preparation and a great driver. And an inexperienced poor driver going sideways or up-in-smoke in the LS6.
Thanks guys for allowing me to go on with this. When it comes to sticking up for the FE I can get going way too long. |
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