Would a 13sec Tbird earn your respect?
 

Would a high 13sec Tbird gain your respect on the street? I know high 13's are nothing much for you Mustang owners, so would a 3800lb, auto Tbird do anything for you?
I posted about a week or two ago that I was ready to sell my Tbird and purchase a Mustang. I think I have changed my mind. I have been driving my brothers 99GT lately, and don't find anything about it except its handling, that would make me run and sell my car. The Tbird rides better, has much more room, and is perfect for a sleeper vehicle. Sure the Mustang handles better, weighs less, and looks great, but I personally think the Tbird is very good looking too. So here's my plan: I am going full on into project Tbird in the spring!!!
My Tbird ran consistant 14.9's going into a 10-15 mph headwind. So I know it has 14.8's in it if I go back and race on a calm day. I figure with a PI headswap, 3:73's, aluminum driveshaft, and Jerry modded trans, I'll be damn close to high 13's. I think they should be attainable with traction. I'll also be adding a fiberglass hood that'll drop about 60+ lbs off the front end, and be replacing the 74lb battery with a ~35-40lb Optima and relocating it to the truck. So that'll take about 130lbs off of the front end, and about 40lbs over the rear wheels.
So what do you guys think? I know this is a Mustang board, but I think you guys can appreciate other Ford vehicles. WOuld you respect a 13sec Tbird, or would I be a mustang wannabe?

birds the word man. I definetey think a 13 second t-bird would be awsome. Just throw a blower or nitrous on it and run 12s

P.S. with a car that heavy I would go with 4.11 gears and a 2800 to 3000 stall

Why wouldnt a 13 sec T-Bird get any respect?
 

I'd have respect for a high 13 sec T-Bird. They are often over looked and brushed off as non-performers. I'd give you Mad props for turning 13 second Time slips in a T-Bird. You'd also catch a TON of people by surprise on the street.

I would love to throw a blower on, but my funds are very limited since I am in college. It'll be tough to save for these planned mods, but I am going to get a second job, and I am going to stop partying for a few months. I think I can make those sacrifices for my Tbird, lol.
The reason I plan a headswap over a blower is because I am almost positive that my one headgasket has a pinhole size leak in it already. I used some aluma-seal as a tempory "patch," but its going to need to be changed. So since the heads are coming off anyway, I figured it would be a perfect time to upgrade them.
But for the price of nitrous, that maybe an option I will look into after this round of mods are done. A small 75 shot should really help things along, all while being rather safe.

Actually a blower on a Pre-PI 4.6 pull only a few horse power more than a Non-Forced induction PI 4.6.

The heads are better bang for the buck in that situation. Do some mild porting, see about the possiblity of putting larger valves in and you'd be above a Blown Pre-PI 4.6.

Well thats a blown Pre-PI thats not tuned. Which surprisingly alot of people dont seem to do. I always see guys running 6 PSI boost with stock 19 LB injectors, Stock Mass Air meter, and Stock Computers.

Theres a couple of guys that attend spring/fall nationals at Cecil county dragway that use Allen superchargers in thier Birds that run low 13's and into the 12's. It's impressive when you see a pure street car whisper into the 12 second zone...Good luck

Dude,
a 13 second T-Bird would rock.... great sleeper ;)

Hey Merc, you're the best dude, but your wrong on the HP numbers on blown 4.6s with the early heads...

Right before my "plastic" intake blew with my old heads, my procharger gave me 297 rwhp set at 8lb boost.

Considering that a stock 99-00 GT usually puts out around 225 rwhp.... I'd say that's a decent difference....

Yeah Hammer your right. One thing I didnt consider was the amount of boost being run. 6 psi stuck in my head. I was wrong either way. Sorry about that.

I'd like 297 RWHP. That would make Mercury very happy. :D

I'm just a know it all that dont know crap. :D At least thats what my girl tells me.

Red Mustang Gt 46 - yeah, I know Anthony who attends Cecil and his Tbird goes low 13's w/ the Allen Blower. He has a 99GT engine, and he still needs a tune on it. He is still running the stock 2" exhaust w/ cats, and only going though a 2.5" borla catback. Once he gets a better exhaust, and a tune, he'll be going 12's. Mike s. has the high 12 sec (12.7,) stock motor, allen supercharged bird. Thats very impressive with the stock heads on a car that heavy. An AED kit may be in the future, just not the near future.

Alright. I am glad Mustang owners would think thats cool.
I'll let you guys know how its coming along, and after its done I should have some rwhp #'s and track #'s for ya. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, lol. Its months away.
Thanks for your imput guys.

Not to shoot down your idea but you do realize that with a car that weighs that much your going to end up breaking more parts. Especially when you get into the 12 and 13 second range. Just make sure you have a really strong tranny, and build the rear end up as much as possible.

Bill

91LX, hope to see you at Cecil next time...with your Thunderbird

Nothing but Respect!!!!!
 

A 13sec T-Bird?

Sweet. Sounds like a great project and as mentioned earlier a great sleeper.

Sounds like a great idea to me. Hell yeah it would get respect. And one more thing, MM&FF ran an article this month about changing from pre pi heads to pi heads on a mildly modded (bolt on) 8 psi blown stang and they made 90 more ft lbs and a little over 100 more hp at 5800 and it dropped the boost a little because of the better airflow. Defiantley a good invesment if you don't go blown.

Sounds awesome to me, and a hidden bottle of N20 with a remote opener.

Skyler

Wow, I really appreciate the positive responses and you guys have me pumped about getting this done. All plans are now underway. I picked up a second job, and told my friends they won't see me out for a couple months, lol. Hey, we all have to make sacrifices at some point, right? I am a full time student, so working 40+ hours a week won't be easy, but it'll be cool come next spring when my car has an extra 50 peak HP, hehe.

Good luck with your project,.

Re: Would a 13sec Tbird earn your respect?
 

91LX, I'm right behind you on buildin up your bird. I have an '83 im rebuildin this summer. Good luck man