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Low buck 429 Fox Coupe

4K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  BigBlockBubba 
#1 ·
I've been wanting to build a drag car for several years. About the time I thought I was well enough off financially to build one, the economy took a dump and my wife was laid off. My job is fairly secure, but who knows these days? So I have decided to build a "low buck" bracket car that would be fast enough to be fun, consistent, and upgradable at a future point should my finances/the economy get better.

First I bought a 93 Fox coupe with 4cyl for $300. It has a good body and actually runs and drives well. The only problem is the paint is severely sun damaged. All suspension and steering is good.

Next I bought a 1970 Mercury 429 and a C-6 from a friend for $400. This engine-trans came out of a grandmothers Marquis that had 30K miles and has been out of car and setting in the garage for about 25 years! I was gonna throw it in and run it as is, but decided to pull heads and look first. The cylinders have very little wear as expected, but one has a little surface rust, probably from an open valve letting in moisture from the air.

Remember, "low buck is my motto". I am going to hone the cylinders to break the glaze then put in new rings and rod bearings. I plan to port the stock D0ve heads and upgrade valve springs. I will use a Summit cam with .503 lift and 218 dur (to work with stock valvetrain) with their lifters and timing set. I could not find any used headers or mounts, so I sprung for D&D swap kit with their 3/4 length headers. (by the way these are very nice headers). I've bought a Performer Rpm intake and a Holley 750 vac off of ebay. I'll use the recurved stock dist with Pertronix elect kit. Since it's strip only, I'll use a stock 5.0 radiator I have and an electric fan from a Taurus that I also have sitting in garage. Stock auto shifter. Modify stock driveshaft and add loop.

I'm gonna freshen the C-6 and add a shift kit, build an 8.8 with some 3.55 gears I already have, then put on drag radials on the stock 10 hole wheels.

I'm shooting for low 13s or high 12s but really have no idea. What do you guys think? I'll add some pics later.
 
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#2 ·
I would'nt touch the bottem end other than a rear main seal that surface rust aint gonna hurt anything and if your gonna do that head work try to find out whats the biggest cam you can use with stock pistons also you said this is a drag car so gutt it to the max for the lightest weight possible. My car is a 84 hatch thats gutted and weighs 2700 with driver and its a mellow combo that runs mid 10's its a 472 with trw dish pistons,stage 2 rods(stockers with good bolts) stock crank and iron ported heads the cam is a comp 292 magnum.And you'll be a lot faster and on a budgit.
 
#4 ·
From what I've learned, the stock valve guides have to be machined for clearance above about .520 lift. If my valves and seats look ok, I'm going to just lap them and reuse them. The summit cam is cheap and I've heard from some guys that had good results with it.

I know I'm cheap. It's kind of turned into a challenge to see how little I can spend to get into the 12s.

I do plan on lightening the car any way possible that doesn't cost money. :)

I don't plan on turning this engine over about 5000 rpm.

Like I said, later if my finances are going good and I don't put a hole in the block, I can build a stroker.
 
#5 ·
make sure to get a front air dam. you should be able to find one at the wreckers. Also a alum. water pump shaves a few pounds. I think you are going to need all the cooling help you can get, even if its only a drag car. I built the basic same thing as you and it weighed 2975 with all heater stuff and bumper gone. but mostly stock interior (except no console) I ran 12.8 at 108 with 3.27 gears through stock exhaust manifolds and glasspaks with a stock torque convertor, wieand stealth, 750 holley and 235 drag radials. good luck and have fun
Brian
 
#7 ·
I'm shooting for low 13s or high 12s but really have no idea. What do you guys think? I'll add some pics later.
I see no reason you can't run low 12's, with traction.
If it's a race car get the weight down as much as possible.
Stiffen the chassi as needed, that's one area where a little added weight to stiffen the chassi is worth it.
Good luck and have fun!
 
#9 ·
.

Next I bought a 1970 Mercury 429 and a C-6 from a friend for $400. This engine-trans came out of a grandmothers Marquis that had 30K miles and has been out of car and setting in the garage for about 25 years!

Since it's strip only, I'll use a stock 5.0 radiator I have and an electric fan from a Taurus that I also have sitting in garage.


QUOTE]

When I did this in an 84 coupe, I went ahead & used the radiator from the 71 Marquis along with its upper mounts. Worked out real good until I was able to buy a Griffin.
 
#10 ·
I used to use a stock turbo coupe radiator in my mustang and never had cooling problems with a ~95 taurus fan on it. I originally had a gutted t-stat and actually had to put a 180 in it just to get it up to temp. The TurboCoupe rad is a 2 row like the mustang but the rows are about half an inch wider total.
 
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