I used to drag race my old W-41 against several 5.0 Mustangs in the 90's. I never lost a race against one, even lightly modified ones. Well, That was a really long time ago and I am rusty. To top that off, this car has skinnier tires on it that it should have and they replaced the cat with a muffler and also have the wrong muffler on the back. The primary reason for the loss is the fact I hit the rev limiter on wheel spin and for some stupid reason decided to shift to 2nd gear instead of lifting slightly. I shifted and the RPM's dropped to just under 3000 and no way I was recovering from that enormous mistake. These cars need to stay between 4500 and 7400 RPM while drag racing. He got me by roughly a car length. it is clear in the video when I made the mistake. Still, for a first time in over 20 years I had fun. We will have a rematch this Fall.

This can only be viewed by this link. It is not public.

 

Still on the street chasing it. You will get there. Practice practice.

 

Well you already realize an issue was upshifting instead of lifting, so you’re already on the way to a better run. Keep at it and all your previous experience will come back to mind and you’ll get it right!

 

Practice , Practice, Practice. Its the only way to train the brain to lift.

I would also think that 90% of the Mustangs on Earth have some sort of modifications

 

Man, I just had a flashback! Nice work!

 

Another big problem I have is using hearing to shift instead of RPM. I am a former MX racer and sound is a MAJOR part of racing. When I pulled slightly ahead all I could hear was his engine right outside my open window. I think it was many things put together as to why my head said shift and not lift.

 

A good shift light(adjustable) is all you need, you can mount it kinda stealth like on your column. I used to have a cover over my lense if I was just cruising, but if someone challenged me, Id pop that cover off, and send it. You dont even have to look at it, you'll see it as soon as it comes one.. Set it to flash 300-400 rpm lower than your shift point. It takes a bit for you to react

You can get a good one for $50 or less

 

I thought about that but I am not going to race much at all. My next race will be the same place but in August. I would actually like to put a dump on my exhaust also, lol. My exhaust is not right at all on this car but think it would be funny to have a dump on it.

 

Sounds like fun! I know when I drag raced in was amazing how exciting it can be, even in a 21 second Dodge Coronet 4 door slant six! It's just a rush! Keep us informed on your next try. Good stuff...

 

The best bracket car I ever had was a 78 Grand Prix. I bought it as a roller for 25 bucks (and should have talked them down in price!) I swapped in a worn out 425 Olds and a TH350 I built with used parts. The 425 was so worn out every full throttle run it pushed the oil fill cap out onto the intake.

My local track is 1/8 mile. With the 2.41 gears that car had, you could run the entire 1/8 mile in first gear. It was embarrassing slow, but consistent. As long as you could cut a decent light, the car would run the same number time after time.

I sold the engine when it finally broke a piston and really started smoking. I scrapped the car after stripping what was good from it. I had a lot of fun with that car.

 

I have my shift light mounted in the spot for the ashtray. Close the ash tray lid, you never see it.