A lot of the more avid readers of this site out there are probably a lot like me.  You grew up reading car mags of every size, shape, and kind.  This was in the pre-internet age, when the printed word was King!  There were your car-focused magazines, like Car Craft, Hot Rod, and others, as well as the more general technology magazines like Popular Mechanics and Science.  But the one thing they all had in common were STATS.  We lived for the STATS!  Curb weight, horsepower, suspension type, braking distance, track, wheelbase, steering lock-to-lock...just about any way to qualify and quantify a car, they had figured out, and it made for interesting readings and comparisons- not to menion raising all sorts of questions and critical thinking.  Is 110 HP at 4500 RPM better than 125 HP at 4900 RPM?  Is a double wishbone suspension worth the extra cost over MacPherson struts?  Do antilock brakes make for shorter stopping distances in real life?

The point of all of this is, I got to thinking recently that maybe the astute reder would like a rundown of exactly what's going on inside our LTD Landau race car, how it differs from stock, etc.  Where things have been modified over stock or left well enough alone, I'll note as such.  So, here you go:  One 1975 Ford LTD Landau 24 Hours of LeMons racing car, Tunachucker-style, in black and white.

Chassis/ Suspension:

  • Base Car: 1975 Ford LTD Landau.
  • Length: about 224", stock.
  • Wheelbase: All of 121", maybe a bit more.
  • Width: 79.5". wide enough to sleep in for most folks.
  • Track: 64", F/R
  • Construction: Body-on-frame
  • Curb weight: Stock, about 4450#.  With weight reduction, and cage installed, estimated about 3900#.
  • Springs: Coil front and rear.  Front springs cut 3", rear springs have two adjacent coils clamped.
  • Front suspension: Upper wishbone, lower pivot arm with drag link
  • Rear suspension: solid axle, trailing arms with center support (3 link) and panhard bar
  • Anti-sway devices: doubled up front anti-sway bars/ Added rear anti-sway bar from 1996 Mustang between left and right trailing arms.
  • Steering: power over-assisted recirculating ball with Pitman arm.  About 25 turns lock-to-lock.  A transmission cooler is used as a Power steering fluid cooler.

Engine:

  • Engine: Stock, 400 cubic inch V8, "400M" engine.  Replaced with 460 cubic inch from 1968 Lincoln.
  • Horsepower: 153 stock (SAE net)/ 365 HP (SAE gross) with larger engine.  Estimated equivalent to 280 SAE net HP.
  • Torque: 276 lb-ft stock/ 485 lb-ft with larger engine
  • Compression: 8.0:1 stock/ 10.5:1 with larger engine
  • Intake: cast iron 2 barrel manifold (stock)/ cast aluminum Weiand dual plane 4 barrel manifold (upgraded)
  • Carburetion: 4 barrel square-bore Edelbrock carburetor, Primary Jets: .101. Secondary Jets: .104 Metering rods: .070x.036, metering rod spring: 6" Hg.
  • Cam: stock FoMoCo cam
  • Timing: double-roller Summit Racing chain set
  • Exhaust: Dual, with stock manifolds, Dynomax mufflers, 2" pipes.
  • Cooling: Stock water pump.  Summit Racing 30" triple row aluminum radiator, clutch fan, plastic fan shroud
  • Oiling: stock pump and oil pan, Mobil1 15W-50 Synthetic oil, Purolator Pure1 filter.
  • Fuel system: 24 gallon fuel cell, running 93 octane pump gas with octane boost.  Stock fuel delivery.

Transmission and rear end:

  • C6 Automatic, stock ratios
  • Shift kit: Trans-go, Stage III fully automatic with kickdown
  • Cooling: 18" auxiliary cooler from a 1992 Dodge 3/4 ton pickup
  • Shifting: stock column shifter.
  • Rear axle: Stock Ford WEP rear, 2.75:1 final drive ratio

Tires and brakes:

  • Front brakes: 12" discs, single piston cast iron calipers with Hawk HP pads (stock-ish)/ Replaced with dual piston aluminum sliding calipers from 2006 Mustang GT and Hawk DC-60 ceramic pads
  • Lines: stock steel lines, upgraded rubber flex hoses to stainless steel
  • Rear brakes: stock 11" drums with stock pads.  Stock proportioning valve.
  • Tires: 225/60R16 Uniroyal, 620 treadwear, all- season radials (plan to upgrade to BF-Goodrich 245/50R16 ~380 treadwear Summer tires for next race)
  • Wheels: 16x8 steel Jeep wheels, 5x5 bolt pattern

Racing/ Safety:

  • Roll cage: 6 point, dual driver's side door bars, single passenger door bar, "Halo" type construction, full main hoop diagonal, dash bar, gusset plates.  Cage mounted to frame, through body.
  • Seat: Kirky-type one-piece aluminum seat with custom seat cover made from a plaid tablecloth
  • Belts: 5 point harness, anti-submarine belt, all mounting points reinforced with 3" diameter load washers.  All hardware Grade 8.
  • Eletrical cut-off switch
  • Simulated oil pump jack mounted on roof, constructed from steel tubing, OSB, lumber, and lot of Liquid Nails.
  • Weight reduction: Entire A/C system removed.  Doors gutted down to shells and side impact beams.  All glass removed except for windshield.  All interior removed.  Front bumper removed and replaced with lightweight front air dam.  Front inner fenders removed.

Now you, too, have the formula to build an awesome LeMons racer!

4 comments

Comment from: Waterwolf [Visitor]
WaterwolfPlato---I lost you at the double wishbone anti-lock dual pain aluminum cask triple clutch plastic shroud from a 1992 stock column shifter with a 2.75 to 1 PE ratio.
03/15/12 @ 19:49
Comment from: Waterwolf [Visitor]
WaterwolfFrom Wickopedia on Plato:
Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science.[3] In the words of A. N. Whitehead:


The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato. I do not mean the systematic scheme of thought which scholars have doubtfully extracted from his writings. I allude to the wealth of general ideas scattered through them.[4]

Plato's sophistication as a writer is evident in his Socratic dialogues; thirty-six dialogues and thirteen letters have been ascribed to him. Plato's writings have been published in several fashions; this has led to several conventions regarding the naming and referencing of Plato's texts.[5] Plato's dialogues have been used to teach a range of subjects, including philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, and mathematics. Now add Lemons Race Cars to the list :).
03/17/12 @ 13:08
Comment from: Kevin [Member] Email
*****
Wow... that's actually pretty sad that a 1975 big-ass 400 V8 only made about 153 HP stock! I guess that makes me feel a bit better about my non-stock 318 V8 in my car that dyno'ed out a couple years ago at 159.9 HP at the wheels! And that's on a totally stock block 318 with just a bolt-on intake manifold and 4 barrel carb with headers.

In any event, definitely seems like a HUGE upgrade to the 460 V8 with 365 HP. Was it like a night and day difference racing it with that much of a HP increase?
03/17/12 @ 22:16
Comment from: volvoclearinghouse [Member] Email
volvoclearinghouseI have no idea what WW is talking about. They didn't teach us Playdough at engineer school.
03/18/12 @ 11:43