1/29/05 - I have just completed installation over the past couple weeks: Ed Curtis camshaft and AFR 165 heads, Flowtech long tube headers, Edelbrock Performer intake, and a Pro-M 80mm mass air conversion. Car started on the first try and feels good on the street. I'll try to get to the track in the next couple weeks and get kicked out.

8/27/04 - Back to Firebird. Made 5 motor passes and 5 nitrous passes. No leaks! Yeah! Not much track prep and no improvement on times but reliability is back. Click here for some videos of the runs.

8/21/04 - Took the car to Arizona Dyno Chip (formerly Street Flight) and put the car on the dyno. Click here for the dyno sheet. Best news is zero loss of coolant so I can now try to get back to the track.

3/28/04 - Drove 90 miles one way to Speedworld only to have a freeze plug spring a leak during my first burnout. See the video here of the good burnout and then wave off. The excellent Mike Hudson generously took me to the parts store for an emergency fix. The car made it home no problem. I will now pull the engine to replace all the freeze plugs since they are suspect.

3/16/04 - Installed an Accufab adjustable fuel pressure regulator and will take the car to the track 3/28 for testing.

1/19/04 - Went to Firebird and the car gained nothing. Still high 11s but no coolant out the overflow. But I did have a small leak between the timing cover and block.

12/09/03 - Pulled the heads. Severe gasket failure. Had water going to at least four cylinders. Click here for pictures of the damage.Not sure what I'm going to do yet as I don't want to put money into these E7s but not ready to buy fancy aluminums yet either. Also added a video page here.

11/22/03 - Fun Ford Weekend at Firebird this weekend. I entered the car in Drag Radial as did Mike Byrd and Trent Kendall. Byrd runner-upped. I puked coolant. Again.

05/10/03 - After replacing the thermostat, the car still was losing coolant and the radiator looked suspicious so I got a fancy Ron Davis aluminum from Beau at Mental Addiction Motorsports. Unfortunately, on the first pass at Firebird, the car spewed coolant out the radiator cap going through the traps. I may have a partially blown head gasket so I'm going to pull the heads and see. On the plus side, the car went 11.872 @ 109 on that one pass.

03/08/03 - Went to Speedworld for an event between the Arizona Mustangs and a local F-body club. I only managed a couple low 12s and kept overheating. Wound up going through 4 gallons of water on the trip home due to a sticking thermostat. I have replaced the lifters in hopes of curing the rpm curse but to no avail. I'll try something else when I think of another brilliant idea.

02/16/03 - Another trip to Firebird. Paid $35 this time because there was a Team Firebird event but was assured there was a test & tune also. Got 2 runs in 6 hours. First pass was 11.98 @ 112.7 apparently indicating that my new 70mm throttle body solved my rpm issues. Next pass was 11.96 @ 104.8. On the first pass I was backed out off the starting line twice because the Firebird timing system was acting up. That is a more likely explanation of the trap speed on the first run. But at least I can get consistent 11.9 out of it now.

02/08/03 - Added another page of pictures of my car. Click here to go directly to the thumbnail gallery. They are way too big and need to be re-sized but I haven't done that yet.

01/31/03 - Hot damn! Got an 11 finally! Click here to see the time slip. The other car listed (13) is Mike Byrd's '86 GT convertible that is running again. He is out of practice and Firebird was so disorganized, we only got 2 runs in 3 hours. Thus, Mike's time is off from his potential.

01/19/03 - Made two trips to the dyno at Street Flight. First trip on 12/31/02 resulted in 20 pulls on the motor trying to diagnose a severe lean condition at higher revs. Never got around to doing the exhaust. Best power was 227hp/268ft-lbs. The conclusion was the '86 EEC I still had lacked compatible fuel/timing tables for the E7 heads and Cobra intake so I (Skye actually) scrounged up an EEC from an '88 speed density car. On 01/11/03, I returned to Street Flight and we installed the exhaust. With the new computer, the air/fuel ratio smoothed out and with the new exhaust, the car made 242hp/282ft-lbs. Still have the same high rev stumble though. I've ordered new Crane valve springs that I hope to install before the Arizona Mustangs club event at Speedworld on 01/26/03. No pulls on the nitrous yet. Maybe after sorting out the high rev problem.

12/27/02 - Haven't updated in a while because I have only made a few trips to the track this year with no improvement in performance. I did install some 1.7:1 roller rockers in October but due to moving to a new house along with working a night shift 6 days/week, I just haven't been getting to the track as much as I wanted. I'm scheduled (12/31/02) to go to Street Flight to spend some time replacing all my 2-1/4" convertor exhaust bits with some new 2-1/2" pieces and then dynoing the car to hopefully diagnose the high rpm rev issue. At least I'll have some dyno graphs to post here.

1/4/02 - Car ran new best of 12.14 @ 105.7. This shifting thing is fun. Car cut a 1.73 60' on the new BFG Drag Radials. These seem to have more bite than the Nittos. We'll see how they do with some more practice.

10/19/01 - Firebird again. Made only 3 passes but had one successful run at a 12.265 @ 104.9. It's possible mathematically that the car could sneak into the 11's. Managed a 1.77 60' on that pass.

10/5/01 - Back to Firebird. Had hardly any nitrous so it just stuttered the times I tried to use it. Good news is on the motor the car went 13.69 @ 98.2 which is much faster than the previous 14.4. Being able to shift makes a big difference.

3/16/01 - Out to Firebird for another Hot Teams match up. This time racing the good guys in the Mopar team. I was paired against a Dakota with nitrous (Bob if I remember correctly). Ran a few practice passes but the old trans was being a pain so I got a string of 13.0s. In the race with the Dakota, managed to do a little better with 12.80 @ 107.6. Nothing new to mention.

2/9/01 - Installed new valve springs in the hopes of getting the engine to rev higher. No luck on increased rpm but car improved to a 12.65 @ 108.1. Raced my buddy Seth Brody in his T-Type for the Hot Teams race. He smeared me. He tree'd me bad, he ran 12.35 and I missed 3rd. Congrats to Seth. It was fun. On another note, Seth's partner Chris managed to get his '89 Anniversery Turbo Trans Am to 11.00.

1/5/01 - A trip to Firebird resulted in another improvement. Car went 12.84 @ 107.9 for a new best. Woohoo.

1/1/01 - Added Arizona Mustangs and Trent Kendall's links to the links page. Added pictures of my 12 second time slip and trip to Speedworld.

12/31/00 - Updated picture pages to be more consistent. Added Four Eyed Pride to the links.

12/30/00 - Went to Speedworld and finally cracked a 12. Managed a 12.934 @ 108.5 with a 1.95 60'. Bottle pressure was around 1000psi, tire presure in the Nitto DRs was about 10psi. Best 60' was 1.86 but I blew a shift and wasted the run. Time to buy a driveshaft loop. But I'm a happy camper for now. Trent went 12.85 @ 108.8 with his new 331 stroker. We had a good day.

12/18/00 - Added Capri World to links page.

11/17/00 - Installed Mike Byrd's Cobra intake on my car to see if we could get a few more rpm from the engine under the juice. Firebird was crowded and I don't have a bottle heater. Result was 3 passes in 3 hours with 700psi bottle pressure. Trap speed was up slightly despite the low pressure at 107.2 and ET was still 13.2 with 2.01 60'. Still in desperate need of a transmission. May go to Firebrid on Dec 1 if I can figure out a bottle warmer.

11/1/00- Mike Bryd had a catastrophic engine failure. Click here to see the pics of the damage.

10/22/00- Rain never stopped. Event cancelled (again!). Returned to Speedworld to get Jeff's Cobra. Hopefully next year.

10/21/00- First day of NMRA at Speedworld. Registered for Bracket 3. Lost in first round to Craig White by .058 secs. Congrats Craig. Mike Byrd lost by .003 secs to his opponent. Rains arrived around 4pm so we packed it in. Jeff Parfenchuck's '97 Cobra ran a best of 12.16 @ 116.

10/20/00- Went out to Speedworld for the NMRA/PSCA event. Got tech'ed in and stayed for test 'n' tune. Car ran 13.24 @ 106 again with a 1.83 60'. Went downhill from there unfortunately. Lots of cool cars.

10/19/00- Fixed the header leak. The tensioner will have to be done a different way using a 44" belt. Heading out to NMRA event at Speedworld this weekend for lots of fun with no rice!

10/13/00- Got everything back together. Engine ran fine. Much thanks to Kim @ The Corral for walking this newbie through the process. Took car to Firebird and ran twice (both 13.3s). Unfortunately, my tensioner modification didn't work and the belt gets tossed too easily. I have to rethink this. Also have a header leak on the passenger side.

9/30/00 - Got the car back from Photofinish. Installed manual rack from Mike Byrd's old '86. While installing new rod bearings, had a rod bolt break. Have to get new rod bolts now. Also, the hydraulic ram on the engine hoist is not working correctly. Have to take it somewhere to have it looked at.

9/25/00 - Made bracket to relocate belt tensioner. When car comes back, power steering and air conditioning will be removed. Hoping to get the car back 9/30/00.

9/23/00 - Took car sans engine down to Photofinish in Tucson to fix core support damaged during tow home on 9/15/00.

9/16/00 - Got engine out. Found lots of gasket material clogging pickup tube and no oil in filter. Based on advice from Kim @ The Corral, I will replace the pump and rod bearings.

9/15/00 - Back to Firebird. Car ran 13.18 @ 106.4 on the first pass with a 1.97 60'. Still massive overheating. Ran three more times with no improvement. On the drive home, gauge showed zero oil pressure. Shut engine off. Upon restart, had lots of clatter. Bad news. Got car towed home but damaged core support near hood latch in process. Will contact Photofinish on Mon.

9/3/00 - Finally completed the installation of the new dash (check here for pictures). Wound up chasing a bad wire in the harness somewhere. Still don't know where it is because I just ran a new wire. Also replaced the water pump, lower radiator hose, bypassed the heater core by removing the hard piping from the lower manifold. I installed a fitting and have the output that went to the pipe going straight to the water pump. I'm hoping to get back the track and make more than one pass.

7/29/00 - My friend Chris at CJ Precision has offered to help me make a better dash for my Autometer gauges (in exchange for some work I did for him). We got most of the machine work done but have a couple hours left.

7/14/00 - Went out to the track. Had to wait 45 minutes for the folks at Firebird to get the lights working.  First pass was 14.44 w/ 1.98 60'. Second pass with bottle, car went 13.31 @ 105.8 and 2.00 60'. By the end of the second run, the engine temp was at 220F and climbing fast. I need to sort out the overheating problem. Very annoying. Packed it up for the night. Will check water pump and maybe radiator.

6/28/00 - Installed the new MSD Digital 6 ignition. Will take the car to Firebird this Fri (6/30) to see how it works. I'm not expecting any power gains. Just the retard on the juice and the peace of mind knowing that I know have an ignition rev limit instead of the factory fuel cutout.

5/26/00 - Back to Firebird with working pressure gauges. Mike and I have been debating how safe my 10 year old 110lph fuel pump is on the juice. The argument is settled since there is no drop in pressure during the run.

No traction at all. Best 60' was 2.000. Did get marginal improvement in ET at 13.45 and mph is up slightly to 105.68. I think these numbers are mostly from me being a little braver and staying in the spray for a few more feet. Still can't shift this old T5. Gotta get a real tranny.

4/29/00 - Mike Byrd gave me the pieces he ordered from NOS with the gift certificate he "won" at the NMRA event at Firebird in Sept '99. I now have a purge valve and pressure gauges for fuel and nitrous. I fabbed up a plate and got the plumbing from Loper's in Mesa. Nitrous lines are done and need to finish the fuel lines. Also, these gauges have no provision for lighting so I need to figure something out.

4/21/00 - Got the car back from Photofinsh. Seth and Chris are gods. The paint match is great and there's no evidence of my previous stupidity (at least in the air dam). Took longer than expected due to the difficulty in finding a replacement side marker light moulding. I was able to locate one from an '85 Capri but it turned out to not match. This delayed everything by about 4 weeks.

3/11/00 - Took the car to Photofinish in Tucson to have Seth and Chris fix my trashed air dam. Should have it done in 2-3 weeks.

3/10/00 - Back to Firebird. Car ran 14.42 @ 94.0 on the motor. On the squeeze, I got a 13.47 @ 104.3. Same problem as before on the juice as the motor won't rev very high. I think the next step for increased breathing is the intake. The car could really use a Tremec first though. Can't shift this old T-5 too well.

2/18/00 - Firebird was packed so I only got in 4 runs. First try the car went 14.46 @ 94.2. Definitely an improvement. 60' still around 1.9x. Plug gap was set too big to use juice. Following weekend is the NHRA national event.

2/17/00 - Did a mad thrash Thursday night to get the car back together. Had to use some used plugs to get the car running. Finished around 4:30am. Went to work 7:00am. Boy I'm not too bright.

2/11/00 - Got the heads back from S&S. For a valve job, 4 new intake valves, and milling the total was $190. I'm hoping the E7 castings are worth 15-20hp over my '86 heads. Also figuring that my engine is down 5hp from a tired timing chain and worn valve seats. Plus the light exhaust port work I managed. So I'm shooting for 30hp over the stock '86 heads. Seems reasonable but it doesn't mean squat until it's on the car. Now I just need to scare up a timing chain and I'll toss these things on.

Also went to the track. Managed to get 8 runs in with a best of 14.60 @ 93. This is without the bottle. Car ran consistent 14.6-14.7 with 1.9x 60's. I think I'm getting the hang of these. Some guy named Ron Capps was there. He cut a 4.99 @ 268. Not bad for a Friday night car:)

2/4/00 - Went out to Firebird with the new Nitto RDs. Place was jammed so I only got 4 runs. Best 60' was 1.88 but the clutch was dragging so the car would creep through the lights and I couldn't shift except like a dying grandma. I won't mention the times since the shifting was so bad I don't want to embarass myself further.

2/1/00 - Dropped off the heads at S&S Machine in Mesa, AZ. The exhaust ports have been opened up using the gasket as a template. I'm no pro at this so I'm not sure how it will turn out. Heads are projected to be done around 2/10/00. I'm expecting some gain from the differences between the '86 and later heads, some improvement from a fresh valve job, some from the light port work, and some from a decent timing chain. If the car picks up 4-6mph, I'll be happy.

1/31/00 - Just got some Nitto 555 Extreme Drag Radials for the 17" wheels. They are 275/40/17 but look much smaller than the BFG Comp T/A ZR's they replaced. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to matter. At the local test track (located on a side street), I was able to launch at 4500rpm with only a little wheelspin. At the dragstrip with a proper burnout, they should hook well.

12/31/99 - So far the car has gone 15.02 @ 92 mph on the motor and 13.91 @ 102.6 mph on the squeeze. These times are from Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, AZ. Biggest problem at the moment is the stock '86 motor doesn't want to rev past 5K rpm. With the 4.10 gears and shorter tires, the bottle proves to be the only source of power past 5K. I actually am getting off the button about 100' before the traps. I need a higher revving engine and/or taller tires. To that end, I now have a set of E7 casting heads that I'll do some home porting on and get installed with a fresh timing chain. Should pick up a few mph and let the bottle really do it's stuff.