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Travis Gusso · 08-06-2008, 10:56 AM

My brother, Trent and I have recently built the Super Mod Mustang on the first page of this thread. We are attempting to run E/SM with a 318" wedge-headed piece. The first outing was the Brainerd div 5 race back in May. The car ran a 9.05 on the first pass with the new motor, which is just short of -.10 under the index - not too shabby for a home-built car and a couple of guys who have only ever ran Stock Eliminator. That weekend ended up a bust as we went into the bellhousing and proceeded to slow the car down every pass with our "wise" clutch adjustments! We have done only limited testing locally since and slowly but surely we are sneaking up on the clutch set-up, etc. The motor is far from a "killer" - I think if we get the set-up perfect the combo is good for -.30 or so, probably not much more.

Everyone thinks that the Ford's are too expensive to build campared to the GM stuff. That is a farce! Ford's aren't expensive... Comp is! Call Eaton enterprises and ask them what they get for a new carb-to-pan SB2 Chevy... I guarantee you that a pretty stout Ford can be built on that budget! Where the GM stuff has the clear advantage is in raw numbers... many more cars, engine combos, approved heads, engine builders, etc. The "r&d" field is huge compared to other makes.

For example, a guy goes to Panella for a motor and has a falling out. He then takes that motor to Patterson for freshening. After a fall out with Patterson he takes the motor to Eaton... see the pattern? They have all seen each others stuff and taken the "good stuff" from each. Pretty hard to do that with Ford stuff when there are only a hand-full out there, if that. The other advantage that the GM guys have, specifically in Super Mod, is the number of good heads that GM has made available. You are really limited when looking for a good head (especially a wedge) with a Ford part number. The gap is not quite as wide with the Yates canted/splayed valves stuff, but I do believe that the GM splayed stuff is better than the Yates stuff on average.

We will keep plugging away. A Ford CAN definitely be competitive - it is just a lot steeper of a hill to climb as we are mostly doing it alone. Who knows, maybe I will have to fall inline and be a good little boy with a automatic and a Cobalt - ever seen one of those?!?

-tg

08-06-2008, 10:56 AM	#3
Travis Gusso Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 51 Likes: 0 Liked 10 Times in 7 Posts	Re: Ford in Comp Eliminator????? My brother, Trent and I have recently built the Super Mod Mustang on the first page of this thread. We are attempting to run E/SM with a 318" wedge-headed piece. The first outing was the Brainerd div 5 race back in May. The car ran a 9.05 on the first pass with the new motor, which is just short of -.10 under the index - not too shabby for a home-built car and a couple of guys who have only ever ran Stock Eliminator. That weekend ended up a bust as we went into the bellhousing and proceeded to slow the car down every pass with our "wise" clutch adjustments! We have done only limited testing locally since and slowly but surely we are sneaking up on the clutch set-up, etc. The motor is far from a "killer" - I think if we get the set-up perfect the combo is good for -.30 or so, probably not much more. Everyone thinks that the Ford's are too expensive to build campared to the GM stuff. That is a farce! Ford's aren't expensive... Comp is! Call Eaton enterprises and ask them what they get for a new carb-to-pan SB2 Chevy... I guarantee you that a pretty stout Ford can be built on that budget! Where the GM stuff has the clear advantage is in raw numbers... many more cars, engine combos, approved heads, engine builders, etc. The "r&d" field is huge compared to other makes. For example, a guy goes to Panella for a motor and has a falling out. He then takes that motor to Patterson for freshening. After a fall out with Patterson he takes the motor to Eaton... see the pattern? They have all seen each others stuff and taken the "good stuff" from each. Pretty hard to do that with Ford stuff when there are only a hand-full out there, if that. The other advantage that the GM guys have, specifically in Super Mod, is the number of good heads that GM has made available. You are really limited when looking for a good head (especially a wedge) with a Ford part number. The gap is not quite as wide with the Yates canted/splayed valves stuff, but I do believe that the GM splayed stuff is better than the Yates stuff on average. We will keep plugging away. A Ford CAN definitely be competitive - it is just a lot steeper of a hill to climb as we are mostly doing it alone. Who knows, maybe I will have to fall inline and be a good little boy with a automatic and a Cobalt - ever seen one of those?!? -tg