Dyno results - 81 LTD S

[police351]

I mentioned it in my intro post a while back but I've been working on a single turbo setup for my 81 LTD S for a couple years now. Last year has been working with a remote tuner to get it driving like stock. He did an amazing job. Starts with just a turn of the key in all weather. No bad behavior on the street. But you can't really tune WOT with just logs so I took it to a local shop a couple weeks ago to put it on the hub dyno. The remote tune was super safe clocking in at 425 hp at the wheels. I added boost duty cycle to the boost control but it wouldn't go above 15 psi. I actually had my extra wastegate springs with me but I forgot I had them. I added timing to the max load and rpm cells ending up at about an additional 5 degrees before the benefits started to diminish and I got worried about knock. That put it at 541.7 hp at the hubs. Figuring 10% drivetrain loss, that put it at 600 at the crank which was my goal. So we stopped there.

Since then I've built the knock circuit into the Megasquirt and added the controller and sensor. Didn't see any knock at max power so I've turned the boost up another couple psi. I probably need to stop there. Tire spin is an issue in first and second and it chirps pretty good into third. Don't really need more than that. Rather put AC back in it, get the interior done, and paint so I can cruise it around and hit up local car meets.

[gadget73]

Nice! For me the "drives like stock" would be a huge factor. If it makes power but runs like shit if I wanted to just go for a cruise it wouldn't get driven.

[sly]

Hell of a deal. Street roll you would scare some nice sports cars/muscle cars with that beast. Need some wider rear meats on there.

[police351]

Nice! For me the "drives like stock" would be a huge factor. If it makes power but runs like shit if I wanted to just go for a cruise it wouldn't get driven.

That's the whole reason I ponied up the cash for the remote tuner. I got it running and driving on my own but it would surge bad at low speeds in gear and pop out the exhaust and was just not fun to drive. The tuner had it 90% there in one live remote session and then fine tuned it with logs. The only thing that isn't 100% smooth right now is the clutch. Just a tad grabby but still tame for a 600 ft/lb capable disk.

Hell of a deal. Street roll you would scare some nice sports cars/muscle cars with that beast. Need some wider rear meats on there.

That's what the dyno guy said. I'm running a 235 width tire because I'd rather spin tires than break parts. The rear end has a traction lok but stock axles. The trans is a TKOII and only rated to 475 ft/lbs. Plan is 31 spline axles and a TKX or T56 at some point. But also, it's a street car not a dedicated drag car so I'm planning on putting project budget toward interior and paint next. I have to keep saying that or I will turn up the boost until this engine pops.

[sly]

That's what the dyno guy said. I'm running a 235 width tire because I'd rather spin tires than break parts. The rear end has a traction lok but stock axles. The trans is a TKOII and only rated to 475 ft/lbs. Plan is 31 spline axles and a TKX or T56 at some point. But also, it's a street car not a dedicated drag car so I'm planning on putting project budget toward interior and paint next. I have to keep saying that or I will turn up the boost until this engine pops.

Valid. Not breaking things is a good plan. Not the only LTD-S on the forum, but probably the fastest one now.

[Brown_Muscle]

Very impressive! I saw your post on facebook. It'll be a real rocket once you get get some beefier rear tires on there- but always better to spin than break something! It would be awesome to get out two LTD-S's together some day. I've never seen another one in person

[gadget73]

May want to put a girdle in that 8.8 if you haven't already. Last bad explosion I saw with one in a 5 speed Panther, the carrier tried to exit the diff through the rear cover when the carrier bearing cap let go. Pretty sure the axles were still OK.

That was one of pantera77 's cars and I don't think the engine was anywhere near your power level.

[police351]

Very impressive! I saw your post on facebook. It'll be a real rocket once you get get some beefier rear tires on there- but always better to spin than break something! It would be awesome to get out two LTD-S's together some day. I've never seen another one in person

In the 80s all my family had was LTD S cars. My dad bought like 5 from the Texas DPS auction and sold 3 of them in Ohio where the rust free cars went for more money. The other two were my parents cars until 92 or so.

May want to put a girdle in that 8.8 if you haven't already. Last bad explosion I saw with one in a 5 speed Panther, the carrier tried to exit the diff through the rear cover when the carrier bearing cap let go. Pretty sure the axles were still OK.

That was one of pantera77 's cars and I don't think the engine was anywhere near your power level.

Good advice. The 8.8 got a girdle a few months ago. It's only about 1/8" from the rear sway bar but it's in there.

[Tiggie]

This man is out here just casually building what sounds like my dream Panther. Where in the world do you live? I wanna see this machine in person.

[police351]

In Austin, Texas. Not a short drive. I tried to add location to my profile but it just timed out loading.

[87gtVIC]

So cool man. Some driving videos would be real sweet. Nice machine you built.

[sly]

In Austin, Texas. Not a short drive. I tried to add location to my profile but it just timed out loading.

Sorted that for you. Looks like server had stupid load right about noon and wouldn't load for a moment. We are on a shared server, so there's probably some other user on the host that did some heavy process there for a few minutes.

[friskyfrankie]

Sorted that for you. Looks like server had stupid load right about noon and wouldn't load for a moment. We are on a shared server, so there's probably some other user on the host that did some heavy process there for a few minutes.

Yeah there have been some issues since last night continuing today.

[police351]

So cool man. Some driving videos would be real sweet. Nice machine you built.

Here you go. Had some technical difficulties. The phone mic must not pick up the exhaust and tires that well. I try to roll into it in first but it spins some, hard shift to second, and you can just hear the chirp into third. The road has been retextured so it's got some tooth to it. My goal has been to keep the exhaust mellow for sleeper status but in person it has more of a roar at WOT. Video always looks so tame compared to inside the car.

[Tiggie]

Looks like a blast!