Speedometer Spot-On!

Not far from my house there is a stretch of road with a 35 mph limit and a radar sign that shows big numbers and says "Your Speed Is ... ".

A couple of years ago I noticed that when my speedometer said 36 mph, the sign said that I was doing 39 mph.

I finally got around to correcting it. For my speedometer to read slow meant that I needed a gear with fewer teeth. That would spin the gear faster would send a faster signal to the speedometer. I looked at the Mac's Auto Parts site and they listed a 17-tooth speedometer gear with part number C3DZ-17271-C. An article about how to read Ford part numbers explained that C3 meant 1963, D meant Falcon, and 17271 meant speedometer. That sounded like just what I needed. Someone on e-bay was selling that part for $6.49 with postage included. Cool! I ordered one and installed it this morning.

New Gear:
Attachment 4789

The old gear was tan and had 19 teeth. The new gear is white and has 17 teeth.

Attachment 4790

Going from 19 to 17 teeth makes the speedometer and odometer go faster. This will multiply the speedometer, odometer, and indicated gas mileage by 19/17 = 1.118, or 12%. Before, my speedometer said 36 mp when it should have said 39 mph. With the correction 1.118 * 36 mph should read 40 mph.

My wife and I drove to where I work and the odometer registered 12.7 miles where it had previously measured about 11 miles. Then we drove to the radar site and made three passes at 38 mph, 24 mph, and 50 mph. The speedometer compared near spot-on to the radar. When I made the pass with 50 mph on the speedometer, the radar read 49 mph. Yay!

This means that when I thought that the car was maxing out at 88 mph, it was actually hitting 98 mph! (Don't tell my wife!)
And my gas mileage is better than what I had thought!

Yay! I'm doing the happy bannana dance! :banana:

Not sure what my speedometer says, but every time I pass one of those "your speed is" signs it just says. "DAMN"

You can see the proof next to my name badbird.

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Originally Posted by BadBird

Not sure what my speedometer says, but every time I pass one of those "your speed is" signs it just says. "DAMN"

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Hey, Larry.

If the sign had more letters it would day: "Holy Cow! That BadBird is Quick!"

We have a couple of local speedways that I have been meaning to visit and see what they have going on.

Attachment 4792

I have been told that the ShowTime Speedway in Clearwater has a "Calibration Night" on Wednesday nights where you pay a fee and can run a street car on a timed quarter mile. I have got to do that. Just the experience of revving up the motor, waiting for the signal, and then nailing it would be a blast. It would let me see how close my car compares to what it was supposed to do when it was new.

See: http://showtimespeedway.us/about/

Dennis.

Dennis, do it, do it, do it. Drag racing brings an adrenaline high that is hard to get in other places. Carol and I spent a lot of evenings back in the mid 60's street racing after school and then weekends drag racing. I had the best looking and fastest 57 Chevy in Wichita. It was black, white rolled and pleated interior. It was a blast to drive and that led to other drag racers later. In 1967 we bought a new Olds 442 that had the 1968 455 engine and 425 horsepower. It was only made for drag racing, no car mats, no radio, no power steering or power brakes. Just a phenomenal racer. There were only a few available and now are worth huge dollars.
I will one day get this Falcon on the track just to see what it will do. Hope you do also, and soon. Let me know how it goes and best of luck with your beautiful Falcon. Larry

Hello, Larry.

This is the reference that I was looking for. They call it "Test and Tune" on the Showtime Dragstrip. See: http://showtimedragstrip.us/

15 April 2015
Test and Tune Gates open 5pm
$10 Admission $10 Tech card for Test and Tune
6pm till 10pm

This would be a good reason to take a Wednesday off from work.

I just sent them a message saying:

"Hello,

I have a stock 1963 Ford Falcon.

What requirements do I need to meet in order to try it out on the quarter mile track?

Thanks, Dennis."

PS: My new speedometer gear indicated that it was 12.7 miles from my house to work. I drove my Honda CRV to work today and its odometer also indicated ....... 12.7 miles!

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Originally Posted by ew1usnr

I have a stock 1963 Ford Falcon.
What requirements do I need to meet in order to try it out on the quarter mile track?

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Robert Yoho from Showtime Dragstrip sent me this somewhat cryptic reply:
"just bring it out and if you are too fast you must put on a helmet. all goes by your time."

I sent him the following query:

"Hello, Robert.

Thank you for your quick reply.

This is the first time that I have done anything like this.

How fast is "Too Fast"?

These were the statistics when new for a car similar to mine, except that I have a two-speed automatic rather than a four speed manual:

Ford Falcon 1963 ½ Convertible (3,076 lbs) 260 V-8, 14 – 20 mpg
Top speed: 107 mph @ 5000 rpm.
4-speed: 0 – 60 mph in 12.1 seconds and 18.0 for the ¼ mile @ 73 mph with a 3.25:1 differential "

Robert Yoho filmed the following clip. My Falcon tends to keep its nose further down during takeoff than does the featured vehicle.
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mz3gCRqON8

Attachment 4793

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ew1usnr

Robert Yoho from Showtime Dragstrip sent me this somewhat cryptic reply: "just bring it out and if you are too fast you must put on a helmet. all goes by your time."

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Robert e-mailed me back and said to bring a helmet. I need to find a helmet.

The Showtime Dragstrip is a 1/8 mile track, meaning that it is only 660 feet long.

I did some calculations and figure that I might be able to hit 60 mph in that distance. What is interesting about the Fordomatic / 260 engine combination is that the transmission has a stall speed of about 1900 rpm and the engine develops its maximum 258 lb-ft of torque at 2200 rpm. That means that you would be at peak torque and maximum acceleration almost immediately off the line. Plus, the torque converter delivers its instantaneous maximum torque multiplication of 2.05 when the turbine is stalled providing a maximum overall reduction of 3.73 when the throttle is hit hard at takeoff. That is a lot lower effective gear than the 2.73 reduction provided by the first gear of a four-speed manual transmission on a Falcon Sprint. What would limit me is that one of my skinny P175/80/R13 tires would spin way before maximum torque.

Plus, if you hold the throttle all the way down the Fordomatic will run up to 50 - 55 mph without shifting. The car reaches 53 mph in first gear at 4400 rpm which is also where the car generates its maximum 164 horsepower.

So, in a strictly stock configuration the car will generate near-max torque at takeoff and hit maximum horsepower within 660 feet and do all of this without having to lose time while shifting gears.

Attachment 4798

I am impressed. This is all theory, of course. Actual results may vary.

Dennis I'm on the same page with you. I'm taking mine out to west end thunder this year. I was worried because I shaved my door handles but the safety crew said no problem but I should know that if I get in trouble they will bust out windows. :WHATTHE:
My response: if I'm in trouble bust them all out, get me the hell out!! My date isn't for another month or so but I hope to video it. I'll post it if it turns out so I hope you do too. Good luck and have fun!![thumb]

Dennis, I am on the same page as you about racing, but LOL I got lost in your last post on the 1st line. You have all this figured with degrees and angles.
All I know how to do is stomp the pedal through the firewall and hang on for dear life. You have to be an engineer or something? Not making fun of you, just trying to catch some of that information that flew about 10 feet over my head. As you can tell, I am not good at figuring this stuff out.
Roger, Pat and some of the others are probably saying what is so difficult Larry???
Now, just floor the sucker, have fun, don't worry about speed, times or anything and I hope you have a ball then tell us all about it. Pictures I hope. Larry

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadBird

...just trying to catch some of that information that flew about 10 feet over my head.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by BadBird

Roger, Pat and some of the others are probably saying what is so difficult Larry???

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Nope - was at least 5 feet above my head. Far higher than what I'd even care to try and figure out.

But it sounded very believable and that's 99.14534% of it! [BOW]

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Originally Posted by BadBird

[SIZE=4]Dennis, I am on the same page as you about racing, but LOL I got lost in your last post on the 1st line. You have all this figured with degrees and angles. You have to be an engineer or something?

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Hey, Larry!
Don't sell yourself short. You have been playing with this stuff for a long time I am sure without a doubt that you understand it all way better than I do.

Hah! You have me pegged correctly. Was it that obvious? I plead guilty to being an environmental engineer who is working as a mining engineer. I tend to turn gear ratios, speed, and rpms and such into spread sheet equations.

I have been working on this little car for almost three years now and along the way I have been reading about carburetors, cam shafts, torque converters, and what the trade offs are if you do this instead of that. It left me really appreciative of the package that the Ford engineers put together. They provided both performance and economy along with pleasant looks, a comfortable ride, and an inexpensive purchase price.

I bought a lot of parts off e-bay and put everything back to the way it was supposed to be, and Wow! The engine idles and runs smooth. It even sounds good. The transmission shifts smooth. The car rides smooth. It handles lightly. What a nice little car.

And now I am thinking about trying it out on drag strip. I have been reading about launching techniques and watching you-tube videos about how the signal tree lights work. Oooh, this will be fun.

Question for Steve or Larry: When you are driving the car at the drag strip, can you have your windows down or are they supposed to be rolled up?

You can definitely have your windows open.
In Kansas in the middle of summer and drag racing it's the only air conditioning my cars had. In Washington I rolled them up to keep from freezing. In Florida, I would assume you will have them down and won't use your air conditioner while racing. Takes away power. Now, don't you dare send me algebraic equations showing the amount of power lost if you use the air conditioner. LOL
It wasn't hard to race in the 60's and 70's. Today it's a little different with rules about no antifreeze, drive shaft loops, etc. There are others that have a lot more experience than me about racing with todays requirements. Good luck and let me know how it goes. Larry

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Originally Posted by BadBird

You can definitely have your windows open. In Kansas in the middle of summer and drag racing it's the only air conditioning my cars had.

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Hey, Larry.

I have no air conditioning! That is why I wondered about the windows. I do have a coolant expansion bottle.

I had never had a black car before this one and I wondered if it would make it hotter inside. It actually does not make much of a difference when the windows are kept rolled down. The air blowing through the car will be whatever the outside temperature is and that will not be changed by the color of the car.

Driving the car in hot weather without air conditioning does not bother me as long as I am moving. The roof provides shade from the direct sun and that keeps things tolerable. That is why I would not want a convertible in Central Florida. If you put the top down the hot sun will fry you like an egg.