Stinger Performance
is sponsoring this car to showcase what our performance parts can do for a
stock engine. Matt Culpepper from Virginia is the owner.
This car was originally a V8 drag car. It had a healthy 351W with
the usual bolt-on's and a shot of nitrous. After realizing that his
daily driver 2.3T powered car was faster than his V8 "race car",
Matt decided it was time to convert the car to 4 cylinder turbo power.
He contacted me hoping I could help him out with some bolt-on's, the tune,
and the technical details. With very little time before World
Ford Challenge 9,
Matt began the daunting task of ripping out the V8 in favor of 140 cubes
of turbo power. With only 10 days to spare, the car had a fresh coat
of paint and was under turbo power; ready for some 1/8th mile shakedown
runs. With only 3 clean passes under his belt, Matt left for WFC9
with the goal of his first ever 11 second time slip. With nothing
but bolt-on's and some spray, we descended upon WFC9 and Project Bolt-On
was born...
Here is what Matt
had to say about this project: "I
went into the V8 to 2.3 swap looking for something that would stand out,
test the raw potential of these engines and be obtainable for nearly
anyone to duplicate. After having great success with Stinger parts on my
12 sec. 2.3 daily driver, I decided it was the only way to go again.
Within a very short time after envisioning the swap, I made the hardest
launches and the fastest passes of anything to date (including the
V8)."
The fact that the
engine and transmission has over 320,000 miles on it and has never been
rebuilt is testament to the strength of the 2.3 Turbo engines.
Update 10-14-2007: Videos
(some new) are now on YouTube and on our videos page: Click
to View
Update 6-30-2007: Video
of the Launch from behind here: Click
to View
Update 6-24-2007: Video
of the 10.89 @ 124.49 1/4 mile run here: Click
to View
Update 6-15-2007: Matt
is currently in Wilson, KS visiting the area while preparing to move out
here so this project, as well as many others can get moving at a faster
pace. He should be living here by the middle of August.
Update 5-19-2007: We
built a "new" engine that go Crower rods, ARP rodbolts, and some
baffling in the oil pan. Otherwise it was just a freshened up stocker with
stock pistons, crank, etc. We bolted on a fully ported head from Bo-Port
Racing Heads and
shut off the nitrous completely. We also got rid of the stock air meter
and upgraded to a 90mm Lightning Mass-Air meter. On the third pass with
the new setup, while qualifying for Open Comp at World
Ford Challenge X in Indianapolis, Matt
ripped off our first 10 second pass. We began to experience transmission
issues on following runs but from the data we received during those runs,
we believe it can go a few tenths faster before we turn the nitrous back
on. Here is what the timeslip said:
60': 1.536
330: 4.47
1/8: 6.92
mph: 99.41
1000': 9.076
1/4: 10.89
mph: 124.49
Update 12-17-2006: Here is Matt's
Latest trip down the 1/4 mile strip (view
timeslip here):
I left the boost at
17-18 and used the 70 shot, w/ bottle pressure at 1000psi.
On the first run I didn't get the burnout I wanted and it didn't hook
great.
60': 1.685
330: 4.687
1/8: 7.209
mph: 97.73
1000': 9.403
1/4: 11.277
mph: 120.54
So long story short, it's a new 1/4 mile best though it was off the 1/8
mile best by a few tenths/mph and it was done on a 70 shot, not the
100-125 shot we were using before. Plan is to get a new run in late
February with a few small changes. Once it goes 10.xx the new engine and
such will be installed.
Update
12-6-2006: I backed the
timing to 5* base, boost to 16psi and backed up to a 70 shot.
While staging I did a somewhat light dry hop which pulled the wheels about
8-9 inches so I thought I was good to go. I staged up a blew the tires off
on the initial snap. Then as it hooked it started slowly lifting the
drivers wheel and then up again on the 1-2 shift. It laid down a little so
I clicked the nitrous off at the 1000ft mark.....so here's the time slip
running the 70 shot:
60':
1.84
(.27 off pace already)
330: 4.897
1/8: 7.474 (.39 off pace now)
MPH: 95.92 (3.3 mph slower than best)
1000 9.679
1/4: 11.598 (Extremely "dirty" run but
still a new best ET & mph)
MPH: 116.73
So I made another run and got out of it early because it was worse than
the first.
We were running out of time so I figured I was ready to go into kill mode
(with
Stinger on the phone saying..."yeah, go ahead try it now...you may
not get another chance"). I set the timing to 7*, boost to 17psi,
switched to the 125 shot, and let some air out of the tires. Seemed to
hook and A/F was pretty close so we were set. I jump in and as I'm headed
to staging there was a wreck on the track that closed the entire place. A
fox body mustang hit the wall at the 1/8 going an estimated 120mph and
broke/knocked over two sections of interlocking jersey walls......we'll
head to the 1/8th mile track in search of a 6 second pass this weekend,
then head to another 1/4 mile track the next weekend aiming for 10's again
(with the 125 shot this time).
Update
7-6-2006: Playing
around on his local 1/8th mile track, Matt ran a best ever 7.19 sec @
99.20 mph bouncing off the rev limiter about 70 feet before the
lights. That converts to a 11.20 @ 122 mph on a 1/4 mile
track. These runs were made without the new clutch installed (clutch
is still slipping). The only change was the addition of a 2 step to
launch harder and an additional 25hp of nitrous. It did run 7.29 @
97.25 without the additional nitrous. I have a feeling a 10 second
run is very close.
Update
6-26-2006:
Competing
at the Fun Ford event in Richmond, VA, Project Bolt-On was the #1
Qualifier in the 4/6 class with a 12.89 qualifying run.
Battling clutch slipping problems all weekend, Matt still managed to
make a best ever run of 11.84 @ 116mph! We are confident the new 3
puk clutch will get us a solid 11.50 @ 120mph if we can get a clean run.
Old Stats Engine:Stock2.3
Liter with 320k miles (from 88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe)
Head: Stock
un-ported cast iron Cam: Stock
slider with worn down lobes (high mileage)
Induction: Holset HX35 From Cummins Diesel @ 18psi
Power (flywheel): ~445hp,
480 lb-ft
Exhaust:
Stinger Header/Stinger 3" From Turbo To Muffler Transmission:Borg-Warner T5
5-Speed Clutch:Clutchnet 3
Puk Solid Hub, Stock Pressure Plate. Click
for picture
Rear End: 8.8" w/3.55:1
gears
Brakes f/r: Stock Suspension f/r: D&D Tubular K Member, QA1 110lb 12"
Coilovers,/Tubular Control Arms, Airbags-18psi in right-0psi left Struts/Shocks f/r: Koni Reds adjusted full soft/Stock Curb Weight: 2650 lbs
Weight Distribution f/r %: 52/48
Paint:Black with Red/Silver Decals
Performance (Best
1/8 and 1/4 ET/MPH listed, not all in same run)
60 Foot: 1.53 sec 0-60 MPH: 2.30 sec
1/8th Mile: 6.92
@ 99.41 mph (1/8th mile track, no 1/4 mile times for this run)
1/4 Mile: 10.89
@ 124.49 mph Click
to see OLDER Timeslip,
Left lane was a 514ci Aluminum Headed Big Block Mustang
