Your list of needed items is good.
Have you made any hi speed runs yet and what are your expectations?
Engine sounds fine so far. With a .62 od you'll need some big tq for real speed.

Have you dyno-d the engine? Whats the tq and at what rpm?
You might run out of road with a 3:00 gear. If possible make a test run with a 3:23. Anything above 7K should give some good numbers above 160. That NOS should come in handy.

I'm running a 347 blue & bal, 11/1 cr, 588/598 w-293/298 dur, 104 center, using FMS Sportsman heads. Crazy wild but no real speed numbers yet. 373 gears.

We're making a trip to Reno soon to look for some dirt.
PM me if I could be of any help.
Good Luck
P.S. Get a Go-Pro Hero 2 for the rest of us. We love video and sound.

 

Alex,

You might want to contact Farra Snook in Oregon. (541) 928-5858 He has a FFR Daytona coupe that went 216MPH at Bonneville. Here is a link to the video:

FIA Mike

 

Suggestion

Hi,
Good luck with it. Some things to consider;

- high volume fuel pump with regulator and return line to fuel cell, you will run out of fuel at full throttle unless your fuel system is overkill.
- lightwieght wheels and at least W rated high speed tires, narrow tires in front.
-You will need to weld in 2 sidebars to the drivers side door.
-external battery cut off switch
-external emergency door handle
-LOWER your RPM to 6200 MAX as hyd roller lifters will float the valves at sustained RPM's.
Perry.

 

Glad to see another Coupe being built for high speed competition. I've only run my car a little over 170 mph, but definately could feel the need for advanced stabilization (steering, chassis and downforce) at anything over 155.....Splittler, diffuser, etc. will all be needed.....We've already developed a competition legal rollbar design for the Coupe, and have an ongoing blog on the other forum with details on our side impact/door and roll bars. Feel free to use any and all info there.....

The guys on this forum and the other have been awesome in their support of our racing efforts....A true braintrust, and lots of good advice and feedback already....Best wishes with your project!

Karen

 

Dart

The Dart SBF block is a better foundation for my money. It is does cost more but it has a deeper cylinder casting; less piston skirt reveal on a 347. Good insurance especially for the long WOT pulls during the Silver State. You can safely do a 363.5 CI with the short deck (8.2") block too.

SHP Ford Small Blocks - Ford Small Blocks - Engine Blocks

You will also need to use a competition quality oil pan that does not hang below the 4" frame rails and provide high G's oil managment.

 

I almost replied two or three times earlier, and now I think I've found a small gold mine for the one area than will likely give the biggest edge.

No doubt there may be limits to how much power can be extracted from a 5.0, the point is that to go twice as fast, you need four times the power - or you need to lose four times the drag.

It's the whole point of the Coupe - Shelby needed the top end speeds on open straightaways to be competitive with Ferrari, and Pete Brock delivered in spades. The design is still leading edge in aerodynamics, even after 48 years, estimated at about .24Cd.

However, the undercar area is easily the least developed, and that is what I've been surfing since the day the OP was posted. Academic links and research is all well and good, this link is more DIY and real world based on actual production cars - some of which should be a lot better than what the factory released: "http://www.autospeed.com/cms/search/index.html?keywords=aerodynamics&x=20&y=10"

What Pete Brock did right - uncompromisingly right - was vent the radiator straight out the hood, keep the air flow attached over the roof, and use the Kamm tail principles to reduce the follow on drag. What could be improved is the use of a front undertray, with front tire deflectors, streamlining the center of the chassis with a pan, and eliminating the excessive drag of the expedient spoiler tacked on the tail for the original wing.

What team mechanics and race circuit designers tack on cars to increase downforce isn't always the best for high speed drag, and since the Mojave Mile is about top speed over a one mile standing start, trading downforce for less drag is a plus. Stability is important, but not at the expense of trap speed if I understand the task.

There's probably a lot more an experienced track aerodynamicist could add - but they charge for their time, and a lot of what race cars do is in a competitive environment. Freely exchanging proprietary info isn't common. What is common enough, tho, is to keep a sharp eye out for what can be reasonably done, and how to actually test it. That can be done with the Magnahelic gauge, as outlined in one of the articles.

For me, more to read. It'd be nice to incorporate some of this from day one in a build.

 

Oh yeah, the front splitter will work if it's simply an air dam that extends flush downward from the face of the radiator opening - not under, back behind near the tires. It needs to extend 90 degrees from the face of the air dam and help channel air up and over the nose of the car, something it can't do if buried under the nose. It will need to be custom made, mounted securely, with reinforcements. Likely if you can stand on the lip, it won't break off at speed - it has to generate a lot of downforce to get a net effect counteracting the natural uplift.

The rear valance on most cars is a air trap under the bumper, what might have some success is something noted as a rear air diffuser - usually incorporated into the design from the beginning. Tacking one on after the fact might be fraught with a low return for the effort, but make that assessment on your own. It's your car and your record.

 

2 things

Try Mark (user T70MK3B). He set up his coupe to run speed runs on asphalt (B52 runways). I am not sure to what extent he has looked at all the areo areas however.

Check into aviation sites and books on drag reduction ("Speed with Economy", etc). The Experimental Aircraft (homebuilt) movement has generated a lot of educational material in this area, and I find the education I attained from building an airplane took my understand, and thus drag reduction and downforce changes, to a much higher level than automotive aerodynamics has shown.

Understand induced drag. And not only parasitic drag, but the implications of the boundary layer and potentially laminar flow, along with the immense drag associated with detached airflow (something this car definitely appears to have along the side after the windshield). Gates/Fences and vortex generators...

As you mentioned, the underside of these cars is an area where you can gain a lot of efficiency. I helped a friend put on a diffuser he had designed and fabricated (he is an aviation mechanic)... but his underside is skinned from the front all the way to the diffuser. This keeps the airflow smooth, reducing drage and also maximizing the effect of the diffuser.

In line with the diffuser, while you may not want a lot of downforce, you definitely don't want lift associated with the shape of the car without a spoiler, the shape being a wing. And it's not just stability - any positive lift generates induced drag.

Then again, it's also a question of how far you want to modify the body and how fast you want to go.

 

Curious if there are any updates on this thread. I am thinking of running the Texas Mile at some point and undercarriage panels and front and rear diffusers are on my hit list.

Anyone with some designs on the rear diffuser would be great.

Thanks, Randy