1st couple races with the 90SC DirtTracker!!!

[DirtTrackRacer]

We raced our 1st race with our 90SC. Unfortunately we overheated so we got 10th in the feature.
We put a huge aluminum racing radiator in it and it seems to have solved most of the problems. Last week we were stomping an entire field of Chevys when the right front Hoosier came COMPLETELY off the bead....lol.

We are running a 347stroker with solid cam/lifters...steel crank...289 heads P/P 4:10 gears. The car is completely stock looking. Right down to the rear spoiler and ground effects. I have got to get some pics developed and then I will post them on here. We are the ONLY Ford running in our class....and after this week hopefully running up front! Talk to everyone soon.....also thanks to the guys who bought parts....and apologies to the guys I didn't get back to. I hope
everyone enjoys us representing SC's on the dirt!

[fast Ed]

Dirt track SC ?? We want to see pics !! :)


I'll stick to asphalt racing myself ... not sure who first said "Pavement is for racing, dirt is for potatoes !!" :D :p


cheers
Ed Nicholson
SCCoO

[DirtTrackRacer]

Dirt is for racin', pavement is for getting there.....lol. Yeah its pretty crazy looking compared to all the other cars on the track. Here is the before pic:

[DirtTrackRacer]

Just a little note to the SC fans out there. We were running up front 2 weeks ago and some jacka$$ nailed us in the left rear and bent our upper control arm into the halfshaft. We fabricated a new one the following week but it collapsed under the stress. We are in the process of making a new one as we speak. I would like to add that last week we were running up front again until the control arm committed suicide. Just a matter of time...:cool:

[DirtTrackRacer]

one from the rear....if you notice..the tires stick out quite aways. This is because they do not make IMCA racing wheels to fit the SC bolt pattern. We had to get some fabricated adaptors to use the larger Ford bolt pattern..hence the wide stance.

[DirtTrackRacer]

Next pic i post will hopefully be with the checkered flag!!

[Thomas A]

Wow, that is different. Do you live in Iowa?

Thomas

[Danzajax]

and to think....my car performs like a POS in the snow...whatever possesed you to build a mudbogger out of one of these lead sleads?

[DirtTrackRacer]

It is pretty unique in the dirt racing community. The standard cars are mostly Montes, Malibus and similar body styles to those. The SC actually hooks up better than any of them. In a solid rear axle the left rear tends to want to lift off the ground during hard cornering. Where as the IRS rear-end of the SC keeps it planted and more power gets to the ground.
We have had minor new race car flaws each week that have prevented us from finishing. But before these incidences happened we were running up front everytime. I think its only going to be a matter of time before the SC brings home the checkers!!

[DirtTrackRacer]

you would be surprised how light these cars are once there stripped down to race form. If you have a 11sec car you would easily break into the 10's. That much weight came off. The seats and interior alone weigh a ton. Not to mention all of the trim pieces. We built a full cage for it as you can see in the pics, but it is still much lighter than stock.

[Thomas A]

You wouldn't happen to still have those really nice black leather seats for sale? The ones that I should of bought from you last year? :( Please let me know if you do. I live over here my Lincoln, so I could just come and pick them up. Thanks.

Thomas -- thomasma@alltel.net

[DirtTrackRacer]

Fronts and rear.....and some other interior parts if your interested........email me at triplea@netins.net..........Adam

[Thomas A]

Very cool. I'm definetly interested. I'll shoot you an e-mail later tonite when I get home from work. Talk to you then.

Thomas

[DirtTrackRacer]

Last night we won our 1st heat race....by quite a margin I might add...ha ha. Unfortunately the feature race was not as promising. After leading for 3 laps our driver got a bit overzealous with the car and spun. We are only running 4300-4500rpms. We are going to soften the front springs for next week and maybe go to a 4:88 gear. Thomas..you have mail!!

[Doug Franklin]

Got your mail. Looking forward to some technical pics. I am interested in any suspension changes or bracing front and back and engine mounting and tranny. If you don't mind. I am in the middle of some mods.

Thanks,
Doug

[DirtTrackRacer]

is to take your REAR upper control arms off and beef them up. If you get hit with any amount of force they will buckle. We tried to fabricate new ones for 2 weeks but couldn't get one to last even through a night of racing!

[Doug Franklin]

that had a whole row of T-Bird rear suspension, subframe and all except uprights with hub, and got one from an SC with posi-track and 3.27 for $200. So I have spares with a few extra cars as well. I will be curious how well things hold up for you. Some guys weld or bolt in extra supports. I havn't had to but will with one car. I go to a real smooth track, but we get some high cornering speeds and I worry about the front end. I can sure tear up the internal tire structure on the front right, so switching that.

[dode]

Whoa..just so happens I am working on building a dirt track bird as well. I would LOVE to compare some notes with you. I have some ideas, but not sure how they would work out. I have raced dirt track for two years now with chevy's and I am ready to give the bird a shot. I have an 89 SC parts car totally stripped except for the engine bay and ready to go. What kind of class do you race in, like a street stock? I assume you tied the front and rear subframes together? What kind of percentages does it run weight wise? What do you run for shocks and springs? I am very curious to talk more about it. Did you put your own roll cage in? I have done several cages in cars but I think this one might be a challenge. What are you running for a transmission? Yeah, I know lots of questions but I am glad to finally find someone with one of these that is actually running!!

John

[DirtTrackRacer]

We have been finishing decent in heats and seem to fall apart in the mains. motor still running strong.....4:10's seem to be doing the trick. Our driver is still on a bit of a learning curve. Its pretty funny watching them race. All of the cars come sliding quite a bit sideways around the turns and our car doesn't even hardly slide. The IRS rear is really amazing. We are changing some front spring set-ups to get the front to grab a bit more.
As for getting some technical pics..I will try my hardest to get some taken and post on here for the guys who are interested. I am glad to see that we aren't the only ones who thought a dirt track SC would be cool.....thanks for the support!!!

Just side note....I am going to be drag racing (98 Mustang GT) in Cordova, Illinois the 1st weekend in Sept @ Fun Ford Weekend (if I get my Mustang done) hope to maybe see some of you guys there representing the SC's.
I will also be at the NMRA Nationals at Joilet Route 66 on July 25-27 I think....I'll be lookin for those birds.....lol.

[Doug Franklin]

Couple of us are doing paved road race tracks, and I am sure we can share ideas as well. Y'all make me want to get in the dirt. But I am 3 miles from a paved. Soon as I get further along I will post some pics, as well, of any cage. My son wants to do it but we may job the cage out. We are trying a V8 and a SC engine. Will have 2 track cars and one street track 95. I am thinking LX cut down springs may be used on one, after all the weight pulled out.

"dode" do you have the engine in that 89? Does it run? Are you using it, or going V8?

[DirtTrackRacer]

Unfortunately it was again the heat race. I have a video of it but I don't think my PC is good enough to load it (or maybe I just don't know what I'm doing!!) Anyway, we walked away and I mean WALKED AWAY with the heat win. We are running air shocks on the rear....and I took out ALL THE WEIGHT last night. We changed to some harder compound Hoosiers on the outside and dropped tire pressue almost a full pound.
I need to know if anyone knows a good way to be able to change the bolt pattern on an SC to a big Ford bolt pattern. Whether it be by put different front rear spindles on it or whatever...but as anyone can see our tires stick out WAY to far and have been our downfall more than once.
Last night with having a better than average chance of winning the main we went 3 wide when it was a 2 wide turn. Somebody got hung-up on our left front and snapped the tie-rod end off. Anybody ever try to put a car with a busted tie-rod end on a hauler...jeez what a mess....anyway thats what happened last night......we have a custom ground cam that will go in this week:D

Also Roadrunner..I still have the 3.8 out of our 90SC sitting in the garage. Has 120,000 on it. Has a knock but ran when removed. If your interested.

[Mike8675309]

For the front, pickup a set of hubs off an late model mustang. They'll bolt right on. (You'll need new hub nuts as they are single use design)

For the rear, most people just redrill the rear hub for the pattern and put new studs in. Another set of new hub nuts.

[Doug Franklin]

Dirt Track Racer, Just pulled a 90 SC engine out with a rod knock. No insert in number 3 at all. Shaft pretty rough there. I could buy it cheap if complete I guess. Let me know. But I just picked up 3 more entire cars all running extremly cheap. One wrecked but drives for 200. I am begining to realize I don't want to put so much effort into these engines. Maybe on a couple of them. I always felt the SC should have had a 351. So like my original ideas we are looking at the parts cars getting V8s. Big block MOPAR in at least one and possibly in my son's 91 as well. Have a spare 302 carb engine as well. Sure if you want to unload it send me an email. franklin@cowtown.net My son drives to school in August and could swing by.
Doug

PS: We went to dirt oval races tonight. I was thinking about you, congrads! I can see how traction would be tremendous for you. I was thinking about your wheels, while there tonight odly enough, and wondering how y'all were doing. Please do a search for posts on the hub changes. There are pics and everything you need here on SCCoA/TCCoA/MN12 sites. Even though the bolt pattern changes, what are you going to do about the hub sticking out so far? Do your rules allow a wheel that has the pattern out on the face? Is there a strong wheel made for you if you switch? Please let me know.....DF