Engine Factory.Com

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
I have to be careful not to spin my tires when I take off, that is why I had a 11.9 instead of a 11.7. With the hp my car has it will run 11.7's most any day. I had my car weighed at the track and with me in it and 16 gallons of fuel it weighed 3,025 lbs. The car and I need to go on a diet! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 

Ron Earp

Admin
Whoa! That is a fairly high weight for a 40 but you are definitely getting that thing down the track, that is for sure. So, Rick, no personal questions but how much are you contributing there? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
In aust the moroso slide calculator is used by some people to figure out theoretical 1/4 mile times. It shows car weight, tyre size, hp, and terminal mph, (and prob more!) Gives you an indication of what you should/could be running. You still have to take into consideration correct weight transfer, reaction times, and traction problems etc.
I think its horses for courses, ie you don't see many 10 and 11 sec 1/4 mile cars cutting fast laps on a circut.
If I had a gt40 I would't be ditching koni's for pedders 90/10 shocks and pirellie's for MT drag radials!!
Has anyone ever strapped a corrivet [sp?] on a gt40? Would make for some interesting numbers, lateral, accelleration, braking g-forces, etc! Also give quarter mile times, without the pressure of christmas trees, blown big blocks and concrete walls!
 

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
Well... I weigh about 245 with shoes and helmet, which is up about 25 lbs since I got married. The problem is that my wife is a very good cook and I hate to waste good food. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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what's a corrivet (sp)?
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SOunds like a G-Tech.

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Not quite the same as the G-Tech but another in-car horsepower/torque measurement system that I've heard good reports on comes from Dynorad.

Rob
 

Howard Jones

Supporter
You know I was thinking what would be real fun would be for a few of us to go down the El Marage dry lake in southern calif for a SCTA speed run weekend and see how fast these things are in their element. After all they weren't really designed for 1/4 miles were they.

It would be cool to see if any of these cars would run in the high 180s. Gearing would be the problem but I would guess somebody has a real tall set of gears in their car. I am pretty sure mine will go 150 but there really isn't any place to do this on the street. All the freeways around here aren't flat enough.

I have been blasting around with my Audi around 110 or so trying to find a good place a couple of miles long. Believe me, those little humps at 80 are real different at 110 or so. Some of them would kill ya at 150.

Anybody really let one of these cars have its head and run it up to full revs in top gear?
 
Opps, didn't read all the post's before posting! Yeah I think its like a gtech, but more accurate.
 

Ron Earp

Admin
Malcolm, I didn't know you wanted torque so low! If so, the cam in your motor isn't for you. But the one in my garage that you can have for free is a good one for you. It won't do much above 4600 but below that it is all about torque and lots of it from 1500-4500!! Fantastic for a stump puller!
R
 
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You know I was thinking what would be real fun would be for a few of us to go down the El Marage dry lake in southern calif for a SCTA speed run weekend and see how fast these things are in their element. After all they weren't really designed for 1/4 miles were they.

It would be cool to see if any of these cars would run in the high 180s. Gearing would be the problem but I would guess somebody has a real tall set of gears in their car. I am pretty sure mine will go 150 but there really isn't any place to do this on the street. All the freeways around here aren't flat enough.

I have been blasting around with my Audi around 110 or so trying to find a good place a couple of miles long. Believe me, those little humps at 80 are real different at 110 or so. Some of them would kill ya at 150.

Anybody really let one of these cars have its head and run it up to full revs in top gear?


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Howard,

As I recall, at El Mirage you only have one mile to do it in from a standing start. Top speed used to be calculated from the last 1/4 mile run of the mile, and you have 1/3 of a mile to shut it down. Don't know what timing methods they use today (laser perhaps?). Back around '69, ran a fairly stock '67 Corvair Corsa (tubocharged). Ran 131 MPH, and it was still accelerating. Anything over 125 requires an approved roll cage (back in '69). Don't know about today.

If you go, be prepared to get dirty!!

Andy
 
I would guess that Ricks car weight is normal for a GTD that has been modified as much as his. The stock chassis was modified; first to lower the floor,adding extra metal and fiberglass in the tub; second the rear of the frame was modified to accept the Porsche box; third the body was raised slightly to gain head room,adding more weight in material.If you add the extra weight if the beefier gearbox to all of these mods you good easily be talking 200lbs. or more.
 

Howard Jones

Supporter
So Andy what do you think it will take 3 miles or more to get one of these things going full song? Gonna need at 1/2 mile run out to stop without working the brakes very hard from say 180 or so? Call it 4 miles all together?
 

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
Gary, Next summer I'll find a good road with no traffic, set up the video cam to show the road and dash and make a little run, as they say, "seeing is believing". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Of course I have to be careful who sees it because I don't want to get in trouble with the law like that guy selling a tape on the internet of him driving his car at about 200 on the expressway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I believe that many of the well built and sorted GT-40s can reach 180 mph if the driver is up to it.
 
Going back to the original subject of this thread, here's an up date Re: Engine Factory.
After several informative e-mails from Engine Factory I was surprised to receive a 'phone call from Christian Nelson who is their Ford & Cobra engine specialist.
Having spoken to him I am convinced that this company could be a cheaper alternative to suppliers in the UK. A friend of mine who has a Mustang will be contacting them shortly to place an order for a 400hp unit. Any concerns about having to strip the engine of unwnated or incompatible components (as is the case with some suppliers over here) for installation into a GT40 replica don't really come into the equation as they will build an engine to the customers specification. I also had an interesting discussion with him about importing an engine into the UK & it's costs. (Please contact me personally if you want further info).
So a big thankyou to Christian & Engine Factory for their continued help & interest.
 

Ron Earp

Admin
This company is getting some good reviews on the Cobra Forum. They also do some neat things, like break your engine in on a dyno and send you a viedo of it. Not too shabby, at least you know you have a working motor and no scares in store when you fire up (hopefully not literally).


I wonder if they would be willing to do a "group buy" discount if we got a bunch of us GT$0 folks together. Hmmmm?????? would we have enough interest? We could assign a good convincing spokesman and go for it if we could get a few guys that need engines. I might be willing if we had a good price going.
 
The engine builder, Keith Craft Racing, has provided me good service thus far. They will build to your specification and do a complete dyno tune. My stroker was run 14 pulls with two different carb combinations and various timing and jetting adjustments. All for their normal dyno charge. ~$400.
 
When I was searching for a small block for my '68 Camaro, I ran into a few people running engines from Engine Factory who all seemed pleased with their purchases.

With a 137 mph trap speed, you should definately be able to get into the 11 second zone!

With my Camaro that weighs about 3100 pounds (pretty light for that model) with about a 400 horsepower small block, I'm hoping to push into the 12s somewhere at around 110. Hoping...

Here is a question that might get me flamed a bit... Everyone on this board seems to be running Ford small blocks in their GT40s. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Ford... but I've always been more of a Chevy small block kind of guy. Aside from this possibly being blasphemous and making the car potentially less desirible upon resale, is it possible to use a Chevy engine as opposed to a Ford?

John
 

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
There have been a few GT40 replicas built with Chevy engines. Also, Wayne Presley posted a photo of one with a Maserati engine (later it dawned on me that most likely the Maserati V8 came with a 5DS25 ZF attached to it, so it was more logical than it looked at first).
Well, I suppose you can put any engine you want in your car. And before everyone gets bent out of shape, we're only talking motor vehicles here, not life or death decisions...still, you should consider the following:
-these cars came into existence by the efforts of Ford and the designers and engineers who worked with Ford. Modern GT40 replicas are tributes both to the beauty and functionality of the original design, as well as honoring the efforts and dedication of the Ford teams working under the Total Performance banner. Installing a Chevrolet engine seems odd and wrong to me, almost disrespectful of what the car stands for.
-resale of a GT40 replica is somewhat difficult. The market is limited, and the owner usually loses money. Resale of a GT40 replica with a Chevy engine would be that much harder- you would probably have to pull the engine out and put in a Ford just to sell the car, and sell your Chevy engine separately. Lots of trouble, and more expense.
-essentially power is dictated by engine size and how much trouble and expense the builder goes to in putting the engine together. The name on the valve cover doesn't matter as much. I think you can get just as much power and reliability out of a Ford engine as a Chevy, you'll be ahead on originality, the car will look and sound right, and you won't have to keep answering questions about why you made the choice you did.
Like I said, it's only cars, as much as I love them. But if you want to swim upstream, there are very likely better streams to swim up against the current.
 
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