12's for $1200 is it possible?

[1984rampage]

K, well Im about to buy a shelby charger for a project/race car. It is converted to automatic and has no engine or transmission. I have bugdeted myself $1500 including the car. That leaves $1200 for mods(already have spare engine/transmission). The car will be mostly gutted with just the dash and two race seats. Is it possible to run 12's for this little money? IF so what way do you guys recomend?

[BadAssPerformance]

SDAC-Chicago New Yorker... 12's for $12.99

http://www.badassperformance.com/sdac/newyorker.html



My '87 T2 Shadow... 12's for less than a "G"



Clone build

It has been a consistent driver that has a 100% stock longblock with a couple bolt-ons. Current specs as follows:

DRIVETRAIN
'87 2.2L Turbo I Long Block out of Shelby Lancer (stock)
A-555 Transaxle (3.50:1) with OBX Torque Biasing Differential
FM Steel Underdrive Pulley
BadAssPerformance Solid Front Motor Mount
INDUCTION & EXHAUST
'87 2.2L Turbo II Head, cam, 2-pc intake, exhaust manifold (stock)
'87 2.2L Turbo II Garret T03 Turbo (stock)
52mm Throttle Body (1/8" plastic intake spacer added so intake is NOT machined to match)
BadAssPerformance Smooth Pipe Kit
FM Powerstack Air Filter
'87 Daytona Shelby Z Intercooler (Stock)
BadAssPerformance (Grainger style) Boost Controller
Turbonetics (Bosch) Street Blow Off Valve
Stock 2.25" swingvalve into stock 2.25" downpipe
3" muffler shop bent system from downpipe to rear
3" Dynomax Race Magnum Oval Muffler - stock location
FUEL INJECTION
Mopar Performance 42#/hr Injectors
Dale Motorsports Adjustable Fuel pressure Regulator
ELECTRONICS & IGNITION
Mopar Performance CSX Stage II Computer
Magnecor KV100 Race Ignition Wires
MSD 6-AL Box
MSD Blaster 3 Coil
Chassis & Suspension
Koni Struts & Shocks
Mopar Performance Road Race Springs
Rollers
BFGoodrich Comp TA ZR3 225-50-15
Stock 6.5" wide Shelby Z "crab" rims
***Slicks & Skinnies used for the dragstrip
WEIGHT REDUCTION
Remove Power Steering Pump / Belt / Hoses looped together
Removed A/C components under the hood
BadAssPerformance Modified Alternator Bracket
Removed Spare Tire

Check out the "CSX Clone" T2 Shadow Page for the complete setup

Consistent 13.00's all day long... best time out of it is 12.89 @ 104mph FULL Interior & FULL Exhaust on Slicks/Skinnies & 100 octane

[GLHS592]

Yes. Back when my Shelby Charger was a basic turbo 2 converted car, it ran an 8.79 @ 81.44 mph in the 1/8th mile with a terrible 2.20 60' time on 16 psi. I did nothing to lighten the car. It still had wipers, heater, power steering, and a full interior. Bumping the boost up and getting some traction would have made it a low 8 second 1/8th mile car. Convert that over the 1/4 mile and you have high 12's. Take a bunch of weight out and it might have ran mid 12's.

I bumped it to 19 psi and that was very fun on the street. I put about 3-4 car lengths on an LS1 Vette from 30-90 mph. Too bad I did something stupid and cracked 3 pistons before I got it back to the track.

Now, this was a really "exotic" setup I had. I was running a 1985 turbo 1 engine and turbo with a stock one piece intake manifold. The exhaust was a stock downpipe with 2.5" pipe welded on exiting under the car just after the Walker Bullet muffler with no cat. conv. The intercooler was a stock junkyard Mopar part. The only "high dollar" parts were a GLHS logic module and 4 Mopar Performance +40% injectors turned down to 27 psi.

If I had $500 in purchased parts in that car, I'd be surprised. I gave $1500 for the car in 1995 but it was in excellent rust free condition.

[1984rampage]

Badassperformance: How much boost?

[BadAssPerformance]

Badassperformance: How much boost?

In the Shadow, 19psi... in the NY'er we hit ~25psi

[1984rampage]

Now, this was a really "exotic" setup I had. I was running a 1985 turbo 1 engine and turbo with a stock one piece intake manifold. The exhaust was a stock downpipe with 2.5" pipe welded on exiting under the car just after the Walker Bullet muffler with no cat. conv. The intercooler was a stock junkyard Mopar part. The only "high dollar" parts were a GLHS logic module and 4 Mopar Performance +40% injectors turned down to 27 psi.

How did you have the injectors controlled? Did it run real rich?

[cordes]

JT beat me to it. The 12.99 for $12.99 article is one of the things that made me hip to these cars back when. That and my budget set the stage for me. As others have mentioned, 12.99 should be no problem to attain with 1,200 well spent dollars in a Charger.

[tryingbe]

You're not looking to make a daily driver out of it, right?

[GLHS592]

How did you have the injectors controlled? Did it run real rich?

I forgot to mention my super high dollar homemade adjustable fuel pressure regulator. I turned my base fuel pressure down to 27 psi (set this with the vacuum line to the fpr unplugged) or thereabouts. According to my Autometer A/F gauge, it never ran pig rich. It was on the rich side. I didn't want to get too crazy with just a narrow band O2 sensor and gauge. I wouldn't try to run too much over 18-20 psi like this.

[1984rampage]

You're not looking to make a daily driver out of it, right?

Nope this is strictly a no budget racer. My 85 shelby charger is gonna be my DD but I put good money into that to make it reliable.

[1984rampage]

Anyone else got any cheap speed stories?

[Kevin]

Anyone else got any cheap speed stories?

I tried for 13s in the van for 1k... then a rod bearing let lose.

I've got a crappy --- ebay turbo sitting around with an internal wastegate and a crappy downpipe if you're interested...

[Subliminal]

That New Yorker, if memory serves me right, isn't really '12s for $12.99', as a buttload of parts were donated to it that would have added up to a heckuvalot more if they had to have been purchased.

Not trying to say the car isn't cool as hell, or impressive, but that a normal joe isn't going to go that fast for $13.

[BadAssPerformance]

Actually when the "12's for $12.99" article came out it was still a 13 second car. Mopar Action just did a parody on a previous article they did.

As for how much? The car was free and it went 12's on all stock parts plus donated injectors and an intercooler on borrowed slicks and a lot of TLC

[Clay]

and a lot of TLC

IE a sazall, torch, and some duct tape!

[overlordsshadow]

How is it an SRT4 can't do 12's stock but has twin cams, way more boost and a better stock IC than our cars?

[Turbodave]

How is it an SRT4 can't do 12's stock but has twin cams, way more boost and a better stock IC than our cars?

I've seen a number of SRT-4's that run 12's without too much work. Stock they ran low 14's high 13's.

Our cars were mostly mid 15second cars stock, with the R/T's and GLHS's pulling high 14's.

So stock to stock there is an improvement. The thing is that most SRT-4 owners are still making payments and rely on the car to get them to work, they may not be as apt to turn the boost all the way up til things break.

[overlordsshadow]

Well I must not be tuning quite right if I can't beat a 13.90 SRT with my Shadow at 20 psi.

[BadAssPerformance]

How is it an SRT4 can't do 12's stock but has twin cams, way more boost and a better stock IC than our cars?

SRT-4's weight a ton and the stock wheels are a lot of that extra weight.

Also, like Dave said, they are still 'new' and worth something. I bet with the sawzall TLC mod, we could make one run well into the 11's with a stock drivetrain

[Clay]

I would say there are a LOT of SRTs running 12s with stock engines. Heck, there are a couple here in town I know of, one I know very very well (Ive worked on it) that is a stock engine/turbo/trans, with the stage 1 kit (computer/injectors), running 12.5s, with a better 60' he would be low 12s pretty easily.