I'm still chasing the elusive performance index with my 200 powered '72 Maverick. Having fun in the process and learning lots by trial & error...no breakage yet!! Any recommendations for squeezing legal power from this engine? The rules are very restrictive and by admission, I know very little about parts availability and interchangeability. I need to pick-up about 1/2 second in et and approximately 5 mph. The car has a C4 trans and weighs 2700 lb with the driver. Rearend is an 8" with 4.62 gears and 26" tire. I can explain any of the rules restrictions to those unfamiliar with the IHRA. Best performance to date is 16.29 sec @ 83mph. Keep in mind that the camshaft must be stock lift (.370/.370) but can have any lobe design otherwise.
Drag Race Maverick
- Thread starter cometguy
- Start date
I'd guess that you need a IHRA specific camshaft. Any of the name grinders will do a special for you if you know what you want, several of them are especially good at helping you find what you want. Talk with Crower and with Clay Smith for starters, they both have a skunk-works where they can make anything.
SR is right on the money, the cam is where you will find power. I have seen lift rule cams with lobes you can balence a lifer on top of the lobe. Just match up your RPM, converter, and compression.
If you make a big improvment in power the rpm will be higher than before.
So watch out for that.
If you make a big improvment in power the rpm will be higher than before.
So watch out for that.
A
Anonymous
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are you allowed to use lifters with a larger base?
If you don't have one already, pick up one of FSPP's timing sets. The adjustable gears and double roller chain can be used to optimize your limited cam selection.
What are you using for ignition?
What are you using for ignition?
Thanks for all the feedback!!
The ignition is a first gen Ford electronic with a MSD 6AL and 2-step module. I bought this car as a turn-key operation and it already has one of those "flat nose" cams from Lunati. It just seems to run out of power at around 5200 rpm and the the torque curve based on one session on a chassis dyno is very flat. The previous owner had been using Rhoads lifters and I'm not sold on their characteristics for this purpose. The rules allow for trick lifters as long as the lifter bore remains stock i.d. Not sure if I mentioned in my post that the rocker arms are stock Ford adjustables. In its previous life, the car ran at a heavier weight and fit in an obsolete IHRA factor. It held the record in a couple of categories 4 or 5 years ago.
The ignition is a first gen Ford electronic with a MSD 6AL and 2-step module. I bought this car as a turn-key operation and it already has one of those "flat nose" cams from Lunati. It just seems to run out of power at around 5200 rpm and the the torque curve based on one session on a chassis dyno is very flat. The previous owner had been using Rhoads lifters and I'm not sold on their characteristics for this purpose. The rules allow for trick lifters as long as the lifter bore remains stock i.d. Not sure if I mentioned in my post that the rocker arms are stock Ford adjustables. In its previous life, the car ran at a heavier weight and fit in an obsolete IHRA factor. It held the record in a couple of categories 4 or 5 years ago.
The goal is two lights on the Christmas tree, man!
I'd forget about pulling more revs to get more power. Everyone looks at trying to punch through the Rev barrier, thinking power is rpm times some factor of torque. Power is brake mean effective pressure, and running any thing that improves PLAN will gain power.
PLAN to make power!
P is Pressure, BEMP
L is length of stroke
A is Area of the piston
N is the number of cycles, rpm
Always, always look at The P first!. Efficiency by reduced friction, better head flow, thighter tollerances (can you deck the block or run a 22 thou head gasket or a less tha 5.5 cc piston or reduced the ring tension flutter and control crankcase pressure or vent it)
Basic calcs show 5200 rpm is 85 mph at the end of the trap.
Since you are going to have to make it quicker, you'll have to work go righ to a taller diff. Then experiment with legal mods which allow the car to produce more power. Check on the data at which Fords bigger log intkae cae out on the Maverick. Find the maximum legal size of the carb venturi and the actual head casting number you have to use. Without doubt, I'd be looking at the later log manifold used on 250's since 1970, and 200's since 1972, if its legal.
Are the rockers within the normal production tollerances? There might be a few thou lift on a set of 1.53:1 stock factory lifters. The Rhoads lifters are desined to run as solid at full rpm, but I'd look at stock lifters which Lunati might recomend, and then find the lightest spring you can use to avoid valve float at 5200 rpm. If you gear up the car, and make it work harder withion the rules, then you can gain power by using a weaker spring that isn't seeing more than 5200 rpm. Big suspension springs don't again power, they just allow an engineer to sleep at night.
The plugs need to be indexed, if a scatter pattern cam can be used, there is heaps more power to be had. Is your engine a four bearing 200? I read somewhere that it wasn't until 1973 that Mavericls ran the 5 hp more 200 seven bearing engine. The four bearing crank and block will have less drag on it, and be just that much quicker than one without another 3 bearings sapping power.
The stall ratio could be changed to 2350 rpm within the rules.
If you could find a set of 4.4:1 gears, and cencentrate of optimising what happens below 5200 rpm, that's where the time savings are.
Can you soften the shocks and reduce the front sway bar to improve weight transfer? Can you firm up the transmission shifts by running a better servo piston or more aggressive shift kit?
I'd forget about pulling more revs to get more power. Everyone looks at trying to punch through the Rev barrier, thinking power is rpm times some factor of torque. Power is brake mean effective pressure, and running any thing that improves PLAN will gain power.
PLAN to make power!
P is Pressure, BEMP
L is length of stroke
A is Area of the piston
N is the number of cycles, rpm
Always, always look at The P first!. Efficiency by reduced friction, better head flow, thighter tollerances (can you deck the block or run a 22 thou head gasket or a less tha 5.5 cc piston or reduced the ring tension flutter and control crankcase pressure or vent it)
Basic calcs show 5200 rpm is 85 mph at the end of the trap.
Since you are going to have to make it quicker, you'll have to work go righ to a taller diff. Then experiment with legal mods which allow the car to produce more power. Check on the data at which Fords bigger log intkae cae out on the Maverick. Find the maximum legal size of the carb venturi and the actual head casting number you have to use. Without doubt, I'd be looking at the later log manifold used on 250's since 1970, and 200's since 1972, if its legal.
Are the rockers within the normal production tollerances? There might be a few thou lift on a set of 1.53:1 stock factory lifters. The Rhoads lifters are desined to run as solid at full rpm, but I'd look at stock lifters which Lunati might recomend, and then find the lightest spring you can use to avoid valve float at 5200 rpm. If you gear up the car, and make it work harder withion the rules, then you can gain power by using a weaker spring that isn't seeing more than 5200 rpm. Big suspension springs don't again power, they just allow an engineer to sleep at night.
The plugs need to be indexed, if a scatter pattern cam can be used, there is heaps more power to be had. Is your engine a four bearing 200? I read somewhere that it wasn't until 1973 that Mavericls ran the 5 hp more 200 seven bearing engine. The four bearing crank and block will have less drag on it, and be just that much quicker than one without another 3 bearings sapping power.
The stall ratio could be changed to 2350 rpm within the rules.
If you could find a set of 4.4:1 gears, and cencentrate of optimising what happens below 5200 rpm, that's where the time savings are.
Can you soften the shocks and reduce the front sway bar to improve weight transfer? Can you firm up the transmission shifts by running a better servo piston or more aggressive shift kit?
I have seen lots of small tricks to gain a little here and there. I was looking at a Pinto wagon a buddy bought and when we were trying to figure what all the switches were for, one of them made the alt light come on. The alt must work for tech but turn it off while making a pass? I had one customer who ran his slicks tubeless. The weight savings on the tubes and liners was huge. He would put a half of a bottle of dishwashing liquid in each one and rub it all around inside the tire. He had a dragster 7.50 @ 185mph. After rubbing it in you must remove the excess or the imbalance will shake the car appart. 
You said the car use to hold records, does the motor need to be freshened? The super stockers that I have delt with were fanatical over the cylinders being round and straight. Howard Stanfield insisted on all cyl being the same down to .0001. Check/verifi every rocker ratio again as close to exactly the same as possible. A bucket of Chevy rockers are a dime a dozen. This isn't as easy to do on a Ford. Pay special attention to the ring pack. One of my customers use to order his Manley pistons with a tight ring pack. The rings had to be fitted to the ring lands by sanding the thickness of the rings to fit the ring lands. (my fingertips still ooze blood when I think of this) Some companies use to make shims to go behind the rings to bring this clearence to a min. In the world of class cars it is a matter of how dedicated you are. The guy willing to go after that little bit no one else wants to mess with will usually win.
Do you really need to circulate that much water during a pass? Maybe less lobes the water pump impeller? Kinda the same as changing the pulley dia.
I have seen other methods for pulling a fast one on the tech guy. Reproduced inner fender wells from aluminum. Not possible with a Ford
I know of a dirt racer that will cut every exposed bolt thread off. It ian't much but he is fanatical about every thing he can improve and it lets him get the weight dist. a little more where he wants it.
You said the car use to hold records, does the motor need to be freshened? The super stockers that I have delt with were fanatical over the cylinders being round and straight. Howard Stanfield insisted on all cyl being the same down to .0001. Check/verifi every rocker ratio again as close to exactly the same as possible. A bucket of Chevy rockers are a dime a dozen. This isn't as easy to do on a Ford. Pay special attention to the ring pack. One of my customers use to order his Manley pistons with a tight ring pack. The rings had to be fitted to the ring lands by sanding the thickness of the rings to fit the ring lands. (my fingertips still ooze blood when I think of this) Some companies use to make shims to go behind the rings to bring this clearence to a min. In the world of class cars it is a matter of how dedicated you are. The guy willing to go after that little bit no one else wants to mess with will usually win.
Do you really need to circulate that much water during a pass? Maybe less lobes the water pump impeller? Kinda the same as changing the pulley dia.
I have seen other methods for pulling a fast one on the tech guy. Reproduced inner fender wells from aluminum. Not possible with a Ford
I know of a dirt racer that will cut every exposed bolt thread off. It ian't much but he is fanatical about every thing he can improve and it lets him get the weight dist. a little more where he wants it.
With respect to PLAN, the stroke and piston area are off limits in this class. We can play with compression however; the piston is at zero deck with a FelPro gasket that crushes to .042-.043. The allowable limit is any combination totalling .031. The current valve cover set-up has a sealed pcv and one breather doubling as an oil filler. I will check all the rockers as well.
Anything other than the specified manifold and carb for the year of the car (1972) would be considered illegal but most tech guys would not check dimensions, just casting #'s. The exception would be a post record-run tear down or a protest situation. Very unlikely in my case. The current head casting is D5DE-BA(illegal for '72) and I have an unmolested casting from a '71 Maverick, C9DE-M which is OK by the book.
Are you guys suggesting less gear? The rear end is an 8" and less gear will be easier to source than a higher ratio for certain. The trans has minimal mods; stock servo, reverse pattern manual valve body, shift kit and a converter that will flash to 3900rpm.
Anything other than the specified manifold and carb for the year of the car (1972) would be considered illegal but most tech guys would not check dimensions, just casting #'s. The exception would be a post record-run tear down or a protest situation. Very unlikely in my case. The current head casting is D5DE-BA(illegal for '72) and I have an unmolested casting from a '71 Maverick, C9DE-M which is OK by the book.
Are you guys suggesting less gear? The rear end is an 8" and less gear will be easier to source than a higher ratio for certain. The trans has minimal mods; stock servo, reverse pattern manual valve body, shift kit and a converter that will flash to 3900rpm.
Sorry, I forgot to add that the sway bar has been removed and the front shocks are 3-way adjustable while the rears are 50-50. There are no traction aids on the diff....the car shows little evidence of traction challenges in its current state. The staggered shocks have things under control.
The car came with a Hooker ceramic coated header and I know of the extension trick but have not taken the step. I had the header re-coated as it had deteriorated and put new 12" extensions on the collectors. So far, that's it. One of the racers I talked with who had some experience with 6cyl drag racing told me that he had realized some significant gains by using a 6 into 1 set-up. He was running in Modified Eliminator however.
I think the Brezenski company sells cast letters and numbers. you can have any year head and block you want that way. 
I think Rhodes bleed off too much when used with a low duration cam. You may be giving up something on the bottom end by using them. What are your 60 foot times like? How about other times on the track? Are you gettng 100, 500, or 1000 ft times and speeds?
What are you doing for induction? Can you do something to remove retriction in the carb? Like shaving the throttle shaft, removing the air cleaner holddown, remove the choke, etc? Cold air induction? Can you run a duct ot the front of the car? Could you cut a hole in the cowl and point the air cleaner toward it?
Aero drag reduction? Remove wipers, mirrors, tape up gaps?
What are you doing for induction? Can you do something to remove retriction in the carb? Like shaving the throttle shaft, removing the air cleaner holddown, remove the choke, etc? Cold air induction? Can you run a duct ot the front of the car? Could you cut a hole in the cowl and point the air cleaner toward it?
Aero drag reduction? Remove wipers, mirrors, tape up gaps?
The index in IHRA and NHRA is the same at 15.80. This is a 22lb/hp category. The factored hp for the 200 in '72 is 115, times 22 equals 2530lb minimum weight. They add 170lb for the driver. The Maverick currently weighs 2600 so some more reduction is in order. I believe I can find 40 easy lbs....beyond that? The car ran in Z/SA back in 2000. The index was 17.05 and it was consistently 1/2 sec under. The class no longer exists. At that time the car was run as a '74; big bumpers - heavier weight to horsepower factor.
There is a gain in alt cut off switch and "shaved" waterpump impeller.
What's the rule on deeper oilpan? Windage tray?
Even a crank scraper welded on the inside of a stock pan would free up a horse or two.
Some have fudged the rule with stock size valves and under cut stems.
Valve springs, what is the rule. Could you use the new beehive type. Less pressure, better and more percise valve action.
Then youcould really go nuts and extrude hone a head. :roll:
What's the rule on deeper oilpan? Windage tray?
Even a crank scraper welded on the inside of a stock pan would free up a horse or two.
Some have fudged the rule with stock size valves and under cut stems.
Valve springs, what is the rule. Could you use the new beehive type. Less pressure, better and more percise valve action.
Then youcould really go nuts and extrude hone a head. :roll: