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1968 Getting somewhere!

AADaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Elgin, IL
Still out there plugging away! Hope to be back on the road this coming summer. Just got the 408 and AOD tranny installed along with the Ford Powertrain Applications headers. Fit is a little tight but it works! Just need to do the 9" rear swap and hook everything up.
 

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sam

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
494
Looks good..........are those new shock towers???
Sam
 
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AADaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Elgin, IL
Those are block off plates from Global West. I put in the negative roll coil over setup.
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,322
NICE!! Lentech is the sh_t!!! Love his valve body that allows the tranny to manually shift from 1st to 3rd! The tall deck 351 block sure fills up the engine compartment. 351 Cleveland was even worse.

I see tire smoke in your future!!! YAAAAA BAAAAABBBBBEEEEE!

Rob
 
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AADaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Elgin, IL
You got that right Rob! Just trying to figure out what gears to run in the rear right now. I had the torque converter set up more for road racing/autocross. Thinking 3.70 or 4.11. I see Strange Engineering also has a 3.89. Wondering if that is a good in between the two. I read somewhere with the AOD that 4.11's are more like a 3.73 in the S197 Mustang. That's what I run in my 07 and love it. If you got any thoughts on this feel free to share!
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,322
I am running 3.90 (same as 3.89) gears in a Detroit Tru Trac ,4 pin trac lock style with the aggressive clutch pack with Superior 31 spline axels. The other piece is Mickey Thompson E/T Street drag radials P-275 50R 15 inch tires. These tires are about dead on 25 inch in diameter. The are mounted on Crager 15 X 8 SS wheels that I special ordered with maximum backspacing. The GNS sits very low, but has no tire rub. Val's Fastback is even lower, but it has opened up fender openings.

Val's Fastback has P-295 50R 15 Fire Hawks on 15 X 10 wheels. Both cars are a bit traction challenged. The GNS has Maier subframe connectors and CalTrac traction bars the Fastback has Shelby under rides. I have 90/10 front shocks and 70/30 rear shocks on the GNS.

I had 3.7 gears in the GNS at first, but changed to the 3.9 gears. It runs 70 MPH at around 2,500 RPM with the 3.9's in overdrive. I want to drop from my current 2,800 stall convertor to a 3,500 10 inch version. After that upgrade, I hope to take it to the track this spring and see how fast it will go. I love the Lentech OD lockout feature. May need to put a line lock on it for this spring also.



Rob
 
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AADaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Elgin, IL
Thanks for the info! Those are sweet cars! Wish my 68 looked that nice! Hope to get it painted next year. From what I am reading it seems like a 3.89 gear is the way to go. I'm going to pick up the parts from Strange Engineering since they are local for me. I will say I might have to steel your oval exhaust tip idea when I get to the exhaust! It's really cool.
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,322
To stay in the RPM range, couple the 3.9's to 25 tall tires. And you are gonna need some TIRES to launch that beast! Strange is great stuff!

Gosh another high performance guy!!! This is great. What carb are you thinking about?

Exhaust tips are in the below link. You need to do some "dimpling" at the rear shackle for the leafs if you tuck them back to one inch out of the valance cutouts. But it is under the car and unseen. I am extremely fussy about my exhaust tip location! I have Ford Powertrain headers on both my cars! They are awesome and have great ground clearance! Stan Johnson and I go way back. He is a bit dry to at first, but his quality is second to none!

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/flo-15382/overview/

Rob
 
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AADaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Elgin, IL
I picked up an Edelbrock Thunder Series 800 CFM carb for the motor. We'll see how that runs. My engine builder recommended a Pro-Systems Carb for the motor. They are Holley based carbs that this guy reworks to his own specs. Could never get the guy to call me back so I went with an off the shelf. Down the road I might look into one of those EFI systems made by Fast.

I'm very excited to hit the road once the snow clears so I can finally see what this thing will do. I've actually only drove the car on the road twice since I bought it. I'm really curious to see how it does compared to my 07 GT that I have supercharged. While that car has more power the, the HP to weight ratio is about the same, possible more in favor of the 68. Traction will be interesting though. The 17" wheels I am running Michelin Pilot Sports. On my 07 they hook up fairly well if a launch the car well. So I'm hoping for similar results. I originally wanted to make this an auto cross car but changed my plans a little. Just picked up an 85 1/2 SVO that I am going to build as a track beast when I'm done with the 68. Need a bigger garage!
 

robert campbell

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
4,322
In the 80's I would have said to stay with Holley due to the availability of parts to tune them to a high HP application. I have done some tuning with the Edelbrocks and they respond well to the changes and parts to tune are plentiful. The power valve system seems to always come into play with large cams. Not sure what you are running for a cam? I have had great luck with high HP motors by cracking the secondary stop screw open a bit. This allows the primary side to close a bit and get the primary throttle plates to align with the transfer slots and make the air screws effective again. Basically smooth out the idle and reduce the gas smell. Normally for cams that require 900 or more curb idle and have poor vacuum at idle.

I want to try the Fast or other carb body systems on my supercharged GNS. They have come along way.

I have looked at a couple 85/86 SVO's! I think they would be a hoot to drive for a daily driver well taken care of and garaged!! Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Rob
 
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AADaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
172
Location
Elgin, IL
Thanks for the tip on the EBrock. The thing I like about them is that they run great out of the box, not to mention they are still American made. My Cam is a bit of a mystery I hate to admit. I told the engine builder what I wanted to do with the car and he had a comp cam made based on that. I didn't want a super aggressive cam but not too mild. He set me up based on that. Need to get the final specs. I had the motor dynoed which was interesting. The dyno guy asked me what I was looking for out of the motor. He then did 4 pulls on the motor all at differnt HP and Torque ratings. I didn't realize they could vary so much based on the dyno operator and what they wanted to do. On the high pull it was about 600hp, the conservative number was 460hp with 500 torque. I now look at Dyno numbers as a tad of BS! Ha!

SVO's are cool cars. I found this one for $2500 sitting in a farm field in Wisconsin. It's got some minor rust, nothing too bad that can't be fixed easily. The important thing is that all the parts were there except the fog lights. Much like our beloved GTCS there are many parts unique to the SVO not made anymore and expensive to find/replace. I found a good deal on a pair of Marchal Fog lights for the car last night that are brand new in the box. Excited to get those in my hands. I think the SVO's are going to be very collectible as some point. Prices have been going up on them so I wanted to get one now before they are out of reach. However, I promised my wife I wouldn't tear that car apart until I finished the GTCS!
 
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