I Have A Mustang Problem!!!

[Formula1Wizard]

----I own a 1979 Mercury Capri which i raced against a honda crx and lost, i thought it would have won but it didn't. it has a Mustang 302 V8 small block engine and a 4 Barrel Carter copetition carb, it is a 3 speed automatic, and i recently put 15W-40 in it. How come it couldnt beat the honda? and is there anything i can do to make it go faster????? could it be the timing??? or is it the oil, it used to have 5W and it used to have a 2 barrel, i just put the 4 bar. carter on, should i have used a holly? would that make a difference?

[CassiesMan]

Hondas can be made hella fast for cheap. I mean, he may have just worked that thing up, CRXs aren't called pocket rockets for nothing. I've seen some of them work over some bad ass cars, and as much as I dislike Honda (I blame them for starting the rice craze), I know lots of Hondas that kick ass in racing, so dont feel to bad.

I'd like to help you with your car, but when it comes to old school cars, I dunno dirt from dogshit, but plenty of other people should be able to help.

[Formula1Wizard]

i blamed the transmission, if i put a 5 speed in it i think it would go a hella faster

[GTStang]

Originally Posted by Formula1Wizard

----I own a 1979 Mercury Capri which i raced against a honda crx and lost, i thought it would have won but it didn't. it has a Mustang 302 V8 small block engine and a 4 Barrel Carter copetition carb, it is a 3 speed automatic, and i recently put 15W-40 in it. How come it couldnt beat the honda? and is there anything i can do to make it go faster????? could it be the timing??? or is it the oil, it used to have 5W and it used to have a 2 barrel, i just put the 4 bar. carter on, should i have used a holly? would that make a difference?

A 79 Mercury Capri is not a heavy car but it is definetly heavy when put next to a CRX. Add that to the fact that your 1979 stock 2-barrel motor only made 140hp stock, plus the auto eating up 15-20% of that before it gets to the rear wheels and it's no wonder you got beat.

You want to make some decent power goto a junkyard get a 87-93 5.0 H.O. motor. Take the fuel injection stuff off, throw a good 4-barrel intake and your carb on there and put it in.

Also ditch the single y-pipe exhuast, get a whole dual exhuast(exhuast headers back) of an 87-93 and you'll be set for a while.

[Formula1Wizard]

no no, the capri does have a 4 barrell on it, how much horsepower is that then? it already has dual exhaust

[allthrottlenobottl]

just blame ford

[CivRacer95]

I thought the capri was a chevy. Oh well, honda chalks up another win!!! Wooohhh!! Just kidding man. CRX's as extremely light cars, and when you put enough HP into them, they fly like crazy. Oh well. I'm sure you'll figure something out. Late...

[Zwrangler]

don't feel too bad mate. Crx's are really fast like everyone mentioned, plus there are soooooo many different engines that people put into their crx's. If this crx had an engine anywhere from a B16 to a B18 then its pushing between 160-200hp in stock trim. add that to the light weight and your auto slowing you down and it all makes sense.

[GTStang]

Originally Posted by Formula1Wizard

no no, the capri does have a 4 barrell on it, how much horsepower is that then? it already has dual exhaust

Does it have a 4-barrel intake? What intake did you use?

Honestly not all 302 are created equal through the years. Your 302 just is anemic in the hp department and a slapping a 4-barrel intake and carb , and true dual from stock cast manifolds,is not gonna fix it. Maybe you added 20 horsepower but I doubt it. Your engine has bigger problems.

Your 79 had only 140hp, by 82 the 5.0 H.O. made 157hp with a 2V marine cam, 2Vcarb, alumnium intake and improved head design.

By 83 the 302 H.O. made 175HP, from a Holley 4180C 4-barrel carb, aluminum 4-barrel intake, improved exhuast ports on the heads and a better flowing exhuast set-up.

So your motor has a worse cam, worse heads, maybe a better intake, carb, exhuast. If you were lucky you'd be making 175HP. I had a stock 83 GT 5-speed and it was nothing to right home about performance wise stock. So it's not that there is anything wrong with your 79 capri it's just the way it is.... it's not that fast.

[TRD2000]

you're seriously worried that the oil made you lose?

oh my god.

[DomesticRicer]

Originally Posted by Formula1Wizard

----I Have A Mustang Problem!!!

What Mustang doesn't



[jk]

[-The Stig-]

Just get a Ford Racing 347 crate motor and be done with it. It'd surely haul some ass.

[TRD2000]

haha and cost three or four times as much as a complete CRX, if not more.

get a real car, something that performs.

[-The Stig-]

Originally Posted by TRD2000

haha and cost three or four times as much as a complete CRX, if not more.

get a real car, something that performs.

It will perform with the right tuning. A simple carb and intake swap won't do much other than make it sound better.


a Single plane intake, 600-650cfm 4 barrel mechanical secondaries, aluminum heads, high lift cam and a good set of full length headers will get the motor going good.

Unfortunately, it's low compression will hurt it. So, rebuilding the old motor for a bit high compression or swapping in a crate motor would be ideal.

[TRD2000]

yeah but redneck.... didn't you dump the old iron for some proper performance in your z?