rickyracer, nice historical article recovery work! I don't believe they turned a best time in the 1/4 mile with the front shocks removed and the stabilizer bar disconnected. A car that has had that done to it will bounce continuously all the way down the track. I've seen it. You can't control it. It's good for an immediate ejection by track officials. Removing the shocks and disconnecting the stabilizer bar was probably the driving factor for the pulling the wheels photos but that is where it ends! They never mention lack of Traction Loc. A best of 16.00 @ 87.25 MPH is not very impressive. I wonder how many Comet and Maverick owners ended up modifying the front suspension of their cars after reading this article only to find themselves in a dangerous/costly situation.
Didja notice it went 15.89@88 WITHOUT the A/C? Those boys were serious, pulled compressor. Wonder when dealer noticed it wasn't working? They did reinstall but nothing was said about recharge. Back in day a friend with a '65 Comet & sloppy shocks could pull front tires on launch. It was 4-speed, 3.90 gear with "cheater" slicks. AND this was on street. No wasn't as impressive as '71 in article, but nonetheless it'd usually pinch out a inch of air. Of course the 8" wasn't thrilled about the whole process, eventually spilled it's guts. Pinion ripped completely out of housing.
Maverick Six drivetrain equips the '61 Comet . At first, the 8" 3.80 "posi" rear skipped down the track permanently bending the OEM rear springs. . Addition of 'traction devices' raises whole car on launch with little wheel spin, a little more power would probably lift the light front end. (steady low 16's-1/4, nice 60's) '61 4.1l-Tri Carb Comet w/Maverick 250, 8", spindles, springs, shocks, T5, etc . here's my other car : . have fun
Something you have to remember is most of the tech stuff was "trail and error". Trying to find a good convertor for an auto trans after putting in a bigger cam was, Yeah right. Everything was "mail order" from magazine ads. No UPS, Fedex, etc. all USPS. Useless you lived in a city, dealership performance stuff was about it.
Yeah, in Ford Muscle Parts catalog they reccomend "high slip angle" converter for automatics with aggressive cams. Then step back, saying "non-Ford part". No doubt they didn't want headaches from buyers saying converter wasn't performing as it should.
Would have liked a sequel, where they throw a 4V carb and intake, headers, shift kit, gear swap and tires (on a small budget) to watch it knock off another full second.
