Horse Sense: Honesty is the best policy when selecting a cam. Wishful thinking may lead you to believe a long-duration, high-rpm, solid-roller cam is the perfect stick for your daily driven Mustang. The frustration, however, that results from the inability to get anywhere near its 7,000-rpm sweet spot will prove that bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to camshafts for street 'Stangs. A mild hydraulic -roller would have been the better choice.

Although we've done several projects that involve designing and building 5.0-based or 4.6-liter 'Stang engines, we've never taken the time to determine exactly how many various parts go into making a hot pushrod or modular bullet.

The broad-scale answer is a lot. Obviously, there are hundreds of pieces, big and small, that contribute to a Mustang engine's overall makeup, and some components are much more important than others. As such, they require a significant amount of thought before you purchase one or several to eventually install in your 'Stang's engine.

We'd dare to bet that engine builders and hard-core engine enthusiasts will agree that camshafts rank high on the list of critical internal parts for any engine-possibly in the number-one position. Why do cams carry more weight than cylinder heads, a crankshaft, or a block? Well, one of the main reasons is rooted in the layman's definition of an engine that we're all familiar with: An engine is, and always will be, an air pump. Camshafts have the important responsibility in this air-pump system, as they ensure the valves open and close at their proper times throughout the combustion process, thus allowing fast-moving air and fuel to enter, be compressed and burned, and exit the cylinders in an efficient manner as engine speed increases.

Actually, cams can be thought of as the biggest multitaskers in an engine. They're responsible for controlling the opening and closing of the intake and exhaust valves, as well as how much and how long the valves are open, individually and simultaneously. The period where intake/exhaust valves are open concurrently is known as camshaft overlap. It's measured in crankshaft degrees and occurs only at the end of the exhaust stroke. Overlap can be a blessing and a curse. An increase in overlap can improve top-end power, but idle quality and torque down low will suffer.

When asking what's the best camshaft for a particular pushrod or modular engine, it's important to have a good understanding of duration, lobe separation, and lift, from a raw-dog technical standpoint. Duration and lobe-separation angle play big roles in establishing an engine's peak power and usable rpm range.

Duration is basically the amount of time that an intake or exhaust valve remains off its seat during a cam lobe's lifting cycle, measured in degrees of crankshaft rotation. As a rule of thumb, cams with lower/shorter duration (below 250 degrees at 0.050 inch) idle fairly smoothly (some lope, but not a lot) and make power in the low-rpm range. On the other hand, camshafts with higher/longer duration bring on the steam at high rpm and have the aggressive, lopey idle that many of us crave.

Lobe-separation angle determines an engine's torque range and the rpm at which an engine reaches peak torque. It's the distance between the intake centerline and the exhaust centerline when their values are added together and the sum is multiplied by 0.5. The intake centerline is the maximum lift point on a cam's intake lobe, measured in cam degrees after top dead center; the exhaust centerline is the maximum lift point on a cam's exhaust lobe, measured in cam degrees before top dead center.

There are two types of duration that are most commonly referred to when selecting cams: advertised (seat) duration and duration at 0.050 inch.

Advertised duration on a cam card refers to the total time (represented by degrees of crank rotation) that a valve is off of its seat-from the time it opens until it closes. It's recorded when the rocker arm is raised to a predetermined amount-usually 0.004 inch or 0.006 inch-that's set by the cam manufacturer.

Duration at 0.050 inch is the value everyone refers to when discussing cams because it's recognized as the industry standard. It's also measured in crankshaft degrees, from the point when a lifter is 0.050 inch off the cam's base circle on the opening side of the lobe until the time it falls 0.050 inch off the base circle on the closing side of the lobe.

An interesting thing to keep in mind for 5.0 cams is when you're stepping up to a solid-roller from a hydraulic camshaft, duration at 0.050 inch for your new cam must be raised 8-10 degrees in order to achieve the same duration at 0.050 inch.

Lift is the third and final camshaft spec that needs to be understood when selecting a cam. Similar to duration, lift also is referred to in two flavors: lobe lift and valve lift.

Lobe lift is a value that's ground into a camshaft when it's made. It's the cam lobes' overall height above the base circle (measured in thousandths of an inch) and the amount that cam lobes actually raise lifters inside their bores.

Similar to advertised duration, valve lift (also known as gross valve lift) is the cam spec that engine Melvins like to reference most. Valve lift is the product of lobe lift multiplied by the rocker arm ratio you've chosen. The value represents the distance a valve is raised off its seat when a cam lobe is at its highest point.

Cylinder-head characteristics also have a big influence in cam selection. As many of us have discovered while browsing Mustang-related Web sites, cylinder heads' flow numbers is one of the most talked-about subjects in engine-related message forums. Outside cyberspace, most head manufacturers and porters are quick to boast about how well their heads flow at 0.700 inch of lift.

Noted camshaft guru Ed Curtis of FlowTech Induction Systems says, "Massive flow at 0.700 inch is fine, but a cam's lobe is only at 0.700 inch for a short time-if it even really reaches it. When it comes to picking a good performance camshaft for 5.0s or mod motors, head-flow numbers that range between 0.300- to 0.500-inch lift are the values that should be used because cam lobes are in the mid-lift ranges longer."

Here are a few additional technical factors about an engine and a 'Stang itself that should be taken into account when developing a cam profile:
* Total cubic inches and compressionratio
* Naturally aspirated, nitrous oxide, orforced induction (turbo/supercharger)
* Intake (manifold size, plenum, throttle body)
* Exhaust (headers, manifolds)
* Rearend gear ratio
* Tire diameter
* Transmission (automatic/manual)
* Weight
* Altitude engine is normally used at
* Desired idle quality

While this is quite a list, your camshaft's design should be spot-on compatible with all of these factors-and ultimately your specific goals (street-only, street/strip, full-drag, and so forth)-if you want your Mustang's engine to perform at its optimum potential.

We can't detail every granule of hard-core theory that applies to camshaft selection, but we hope you will keep this information in mind when setting out to build a killer bullet for your Pony.

Novice 'Stangbangers who want to step up their performance game should consult with a knowledgeable engine builder or cam specialist for guidance on picking the best cam for their engine combo. Good resources include Ed, Rick Anderson of Anderson Ford Motorsport, or the tech representatives at any of the popular cam manufacturers.

Enthusiasts with more confidence should try Comp Cams' CamQuest 6 cam-selection software. We detailed this cool and helpful program in the Tech Inspection column in our June '07 issue (p. 236). The software requires a user's input of all the key specs for a proposed engine and power adder setup, then searches through Comp's huge database of camshafts and associated hardware, including valvesprings and rocker arms, among other things, to offer suggestions for products that will help your effort. Another cool thing about CamQuest 6 is that it's available as a free download from Comp's Web site (www.compcams.com), so we suggest you add it to your desktop.

We've put together a small sampling of various manufacturers' shelf camshafts that are bolt-on-ready for pushrod and modular engines. While a custom cam has its benefits, we think this assortment of popular, affordable, and proven camshafts will wake up a street 'Stang with increases in power and torque that will make you glad you performed the upgrade.

Anderson Ford Motorsport
AFM's N-41 hydraulic-roller camshaft is a sure bet for waking up a mostly stock (pistons, crank), naturally aspirated, street-driven 5.0 Mustang with a five-speed transmission. According to Rick Anderson, the N-41 has great manners at rpm as low as 2,000; when a set of 3.73 gears is in the rearend, the cam will spin hard up to 6,200 rpm. We recently installed this camshaft in a 5.0-liter stocker with great results. (Details can be found in a future issue.)

If nitrous-snorting stroker engines are more your speed, you may want to try Anderson's N-71 Hi-Rev cam and valvesprings. Rick says 7,000-rpm rev limits aren't a problem with this one, and it also gives a surprisingly acceptable drive on the low side (2,300 rpm).

Comp Cams
Comp's roster of Xtreme Energy hydraulic-roller camshafts for standard EFI 5.0s and 302-based strokers is huge, but we think the following grinds stand out as shelf cams that will easily meet the needs of most street enthusiasts who run their 'Stangs on horsepower alone or with a power adder.

The 35-512-8 is for '86-'88 Speed Density Mustangs. This cam, with 0.480 inches of intake and exhaust lift and 206 (int)/212 (exh) degrees of duration at 0.050 inch, is compatible with a stock EEC-IV engine management and adds more horsepower and torque than the OEM camshafts for those particular years.

Offering a noticeable idle for stock '87-'93 5.0s, the 35-328-8 cam weighs in with 0.513 lift and just squeaks by with piston-to-valve clearance (1.6 rocker arms are required).

Comp's 35-518-8 gives more of a lopey idle, and similar to AFM's N-41, it offers a strong midrange and top-end pull in moderately modified, naturally aspirated, five-speed 'Stangs with 3.73 gears.

The 35-560-8 lopes hard. This cam is for nitrous nuts, but it can also be applied to supercharged engines in 'Stangs that are driven on the street and run hard on the dragstrip. Piston-to-valve clearance should be checked carefully when installing this cam.

Comp also offers an Xtreme Energy compilation of cams for the 4.6- and 5.4-liter Two-Valve engines found in New Edge 'Stangs. While the mod-motor cams are bolt-in ready, upgrading to the company's beehive valvesprings and steel retainers is recommended for each of these profiles, as they all carry lift figures above 0.550 inch.

The 102500s (top photo, at top) are torque monsters. These cams improve low-rpm and midrange grunt while providing a moderate power gain in Two-Valve mods still controlled by stock PCMs. Meanwhile, the 102600 camshafts work great in street-driven modulars with gears (3.55s), intake (manifold, or throttle body/plenum), and exhaust upgrades. Custom tuning is necessary. A dialed-in program will surely bring out a distinctive rumble from this grind, and the cams also work well with power adders.

Street/strip-capable bumpsticks, the 102700s (top photo, at bottom) are for Two-Valve bullets in 'Stangs that are similarly configured (intake, exhaust) to those that shine with the aforementioned 102600 camshafts. However, the increased lift in these cams requires using aftermarket pistons with deep valve reliefs, as well as custom tuning and 3.73 or 4.10 gears. A really aggressive idle is their signature, and they're definitely blower-, turbo-, and nitrous-compliant.

You didn't think Comp would leave Three-Valve 4.6s out of the mix, did you? There's no chance of that happening. The Xtreme Energy series continues all the way through S197 powerplants, with three stages of performance camshafts for trey valves that see daily street usage and hard-core racing abuse.

Stage One 127150s (bottom photo, at top) are good camshafts for daily driven, light-performance street Mustangs. The cams offer a noticeable idle and a torque hike that's definitely noticeable at the lower rpm range.

Stage Two 127300 cams (bottom photo, at middle) thrive with five-speed trannys and 3.73s in naturally aspirated trey valves with additional minor performance mods.

Stage Three 127350s (bottom photo, at bottom), while somewhat streetable, are more race-oriented cams that make a blown, turbocharged, or nitrous-pumped Three-Valve come alive in the upper rpm. Engines with strong bottom ends and high-flowing cylinder heads with beehive springs and steel retainers are required for these cams.

Crane Cams
Crane brings PowerMax cams to the table for '99-'04 Two-Valve 4.6 engines. The forged-steel cams feature a dual-pattern design in which intake and exhaust lobes are individually optimized for better efficiency.

Best-suited for daily use, 379601 camshafts provide a smooth idle and a nice increase in low-end torque.

The 379611 offers a more pronounced idle and great street performance from mod motors that rely on blowers and nitrous for increased oomph.

Great for naturally aspirated street/strip 'Stangs, 379621 cams require some custom tuning, and they yield a fairly distinctive lope.

For harder-core, rough-idle, Two-Valve cams like the 379631, it's best to have a built bottom end and higher-than-stock compression.

Crane recently unveiled its new bumpsticks for Three-Valve mod motors. Similar to ProMax camshafts, the Zcam series features dual-pattern profiles. It requires spring and retainer upgrades as well.

Leading off the collection is the 399501. This grind offers a smooth idle and good daily-driver street performance. The cams are predominately made for naturally aspirated, mostly stock engines, but they can also be used in mild turbo or nitrous applications.

Zcams for S197s with power adders are the 399511. Piston-to-valve clearance may be dicey with these camshafts, so tuning is critical if you decide to use them.

Camshafts are designed for naturally aspirated engines in stick-shifted S197s. The 399521 cams want compression and can make great power with proper PCM tuning.

Ford Racing Performance Parts
Many old-guard 'Stang nuts probably agree that Ford Racing Performance Parts' B-, E-, F-, X-, and Z303 camshafts started it all when it comes to hydraulic-roller bumpstick upgrades for '86-'93 5.0 Mustangs. Everyone knows about FRPP's alphabet soup of cams, either through personal use of one or several of the different grinds, or simply by hearing other enthusiasts talk about the B cam or X cam underhood in their Ponies.

Hydraulic- and Solid-Roller Camshafts
Roller camshafts have been standard equipment in Mustang engines since 1985. The roller nickname for these camshafts, as well as their hydraulic and solid prefixes, are derived from the type of lifters that are used with each of them.

To answer a frequently asked question regarding 5.0 camshafts, the E303 (E cam) is the biggest FRPP cam (0.498-inch intake/0.498-inch exhaust) that can be used in an engine with a stock bottom end. Anything bigger requires piston upgrades to eliminate clearance issues.

Livernois Motorsports
Livernois has been at the forefront of forced-induction Mustang performance for several years. These two samples of its 0.475-inch-lift camshafts for turbocharged and supercharged Three-Valve GTs (right) and Four-Valve Cobra applications (above) will definitely put fire under an '05-'08 'Stang's hood. Although lift values are the same for these cams, their variances in duration at 0.050 inch are key to their ability to generate killer high-rpm power and impressive torque down low.

Hydraulic lifters are self-adjusting and feature a plunger and spring combination that regulates oil pressure inside the lifter body. Solid lifters are one-piece units that don't have oil-regulating plungers or springs. The small wheels at the bottom of both types of lifters are the actual rollers. Rollers reduce cam-to-lifter friction, which helps aggressive cams reach higher speed and lift levels.

When it comes to making a choice between hydraulic-roller cams and solid-roller cams, you need to have a good idea of the usual rpm of your 'Stang's engine.

Hydraulic-roller cams are your best bet for street and moderate race applications. As we've explained in this report, there are plenty of profiles available, and custom grinds can be developed to give a 'Stang's engine a big boost in performance. Other great qualities of hydraulic camshafts are that they are low-maintenance, don't require any adjustment once set, and are quiet. Hydraulic-rollers are perfect for engines that don't see more than 6,500 rpm on a regular basis.

Although there are plenty of solid-roller setups on the street, they're more racebred than hydraulic-rollers since they're intended to support engines that spend most of their running time in the 7,000-plus-rpm range. The hardware associated with a solid-roller cam (lifters/rocker arms) is typically noisier than hydraulics. Because of the way solid cams are designed, the lifters require frequent checking and lash adjustments for proper piston-to-valve clearance, which could become a pain for engines that see a lot of street time.

Camtastic Tools
We had to include a few cool cam-related tools in this story. While there's probably many more specialty items associated with this subject, we think this group of user-friendly equipment offers something for everyone, from do-it-yourself to master-Melvin 'Stangbangers.

Horse Sense: Expect all sorts o of things to work overtime when pumping 700 hp to a Mustang's rear tires. As if synchronized to last only as long as the test, Kenne Bell's prototype mule started slipping its stock clutch at the end of the Mammoth development program. A Centeforce DFX clutch installation was the cure.

Five years ago, Kenne Bell released its stunning '03 Mustang Cobra kit. With little more than swapping the stock Eaton supercharger for the Kenne Bell Twin Screw compressor and minor tweaking of the fuel and spark, the KB kit pumped the Four-Valve Terminator engine into the 620hp neighborhood.

Yes, it took more than 20 pounds of boost and race fuel to reach that much horsepower, but not much more. As amazing as it may seem, the Kenne Bell Terminator got darn near two thirds of 1,000 hp with a stock short-block and cast-iron exhaust manifolds while blowing through the stock cats.

Since then, Jim Bell, the major rotor at Kenne Bell, has introduced larger high-boost-optimized superchargers. He has also pondered his Terminator offering, looking for a way to get even more from it. The combination of Jim's power quest and specialized compressors has now been finalized. That's the kit we're looking at here.

To save you from flipping to the end of this article, the new kit takes the same stone-stock Terminator engine, cast-iron exhaust manifolds, and cats to 704 rwhp, a 101-rwhp improvement with the same pulley as the original 2.2-liter KB Terminator kit.

There's one point that we should emphasize before going any further: The original KB Terminator kit remains available for anyone satisfied with approximately 525 rwhp while running pump gas, or anyone happy with about 700 rwhp with prepped heads, hot-rod cams, and race gas. Why? The original kit is less expensive, and its 2.2-liter and 2.6-liter superchargers are slightly more efficient at lower street boost levels than the larger 2.8-liter compressor used in the new Mammoth kit. The Mammoth is for those wanting great street horsepower and the ability to quickly swap pulleys and gasoline to run hard at the track. It also offers tremendous potential to the cam and heads crowd; with the right supporting pieces, it should post 850 hp to the tires. We also caution that the extra power needs careful throttle manipulation to avoid wheelspin-which isn't such a bad thing if you know what you're doing.

Mammoth Proportions
So, what did Kenne Bell do to come up with its new Mammoth kit? The company began by understanding its 2.8H supercharger was more efficient at high boost levels (15 psi or higher), and it therefore took less power to drive than the 2.2/2.6H blower did at high boost. If that larger compressor could fit into the Terminator engine, it would free up power compared to the 2.2/2.6H blower.

The crew also realized that the inlet-the curved, aluminum intake air casting that sweeps the incoming air into the rear of the supercharger-is restrictive at high boost, even on the 2.2/2.6H supercharger. The deeper-breathing 2.8H compressor would need even more air, so a much larger, much freer-breathing intake casting was developed. Because castings in production volumes are expensive, this wasn't a casual commitment.

With no need for a separate mass air meter, the stock Cobra air meter innards were relocated to a pad on the side of the 4.5-inch tubing. That gives the Mammoth kit a 4.5-inch (114mm) mass air, if you will.

With the new inlet in place, the remainder of the intake air path proved undersized as well. The throttle body, inlet tubing, mass air meter, air filter, and the air path past the Mustang sheetmetal were undermatched to the needs of a 700hp force-fed engine. Therefore, all of those parts had to be redesigned.

Perhaps the most fundamental change was to move the inlet from the passenger side of the engine compartment to the driver side. There simply wasn't enough airflow available on the passenger side due to the air-blocking hardware. However, there was greater airflow on the driver side once the battery was removed. So Ken Christley, Kenne Bell's secret weapon and all-around engineer, relocated the battery to the passenger side, where it belonged in the first place. He put a huge oval air filter in the driver-side fender and connected it to 4.5-inch-diameter metal tubing leading to the supercharger.

Since there was no way the stock twin 57mm throttle body could flow the required air volume, a giant Mammoth throttle body was developed. It's essentially a mechanical version of the throttle body Kenne Bell uses on its drive-by-wire S197 high-output kits and twin 75mm bores. For those of us who cut our teeth on "big" 70mm throttle bodies for 5.0 street cars 20 years ago, the twin 75 seems as though it's off a funny car or something.

Connecting the culvert-like 4.5-inch inlet tubing to the equally massive throttle body was done by pressing the stock rubber intake bellows off the Ford GT into Mustang duty. At its discharge end, the bellow clamps to the new aluminum intake, which bolts to the 2.8H supercharger.

Quantifying the new inlet system's airflow capabilities in cubic-feet-per-minute airflow shows just how impressive an improvement it is over the stock Cobra. Measured on KB's flow bench at 28 inches of water: Put another way, the Mammoth airflow path can flow nearly 2.5 times as much air as the stock Mustang Cobra intake. This illustrates both the huge power potential the Mammoth intake possesses (much more than 1,000 hp), as well as its low restriction on the naturally aspirated (suction) side of the supercharger.

Bolting the supercharger onto the engine required a new mounting plate, because the slightly longer supercharger and much larger inlet casting required more firewall clearance. Ken used a two-piece mounting plate with Z-shaped registers for the job. This arrangement is considerably easier to install than the standard Terminator kit and is self-locating (registering), so it requires no more alignment than simply bolting on the lower plate, then sliding the top plate/supercharger assembly into position and installing the capscrews.

As for the name, during development of the immense intake, the word mammoth surprisingly came to mind and stuck. Thus was born the nickname and woolly mammoth caricature whittled into the identification plate recessed into the huge inlet.

System Requirements
Changes to the basic Cobra engine weren't needed to reach 704 rwhp, but at the elevated power levels for which this kit is optimized, a freer-flowing after-cat exhaust system proved necessary.

The stock exhaust was run until the car reached 660 rwhp. At that point, the after-cat was unbolted and the test maximum of 704 rwhp was obtained. That's fine for track work, but obviously a good exhaust system is required on the street, so KB fitted a 3-inch Bassani aft-cat. Power was an amazing 696 rwhp, a mere 8hp drop from without mufflers or pipes.

Ignition breakdown is a typical problem at high boost, but KB achieved the 704-rwhp figure with nothing more than NGK TR6 sparkplugs gapped to 0.025 inch. This proved right at the limit for the stock ignition, however, and KB recommends its Boost-A-Spark box for 15-pound-or-higher boost applications. It won't show any more power on a dyno unless the engine is misfiring. It will clean up misfires at high boost and helps against the inevitable degradation in spark as the plugs and wires age. The BAS isn't included in the Mammoth kit, so it's an extra cost option at $229.

As for fuel, once again the excellent Cobra twin-pump fuel system proved up to the task, at least with a small current bump from KB's Boost-A-Pump, which is required and part of the Mammoth kit.

No other fuel system modifications are required up to 704 rwhp other than increased octane. Kenne Bell is aggressive on that, preferring to spend money on high-octane specialty fuels for track and dyno work to replace detonated engines. The company points out that 91-octane premium pump gas (the best pump fuel on the West Coast) is good to 565 rwhp with the Mammoth kit at 15 psi; East Coast tuners can squeeze another 30-35 hp with 94-octane pump premium fuel at 17 psi.

Above the mid-500-rwhp mark, KB uses race gas. The Mammoth kit was developed using MS109 gasoline, with the highest boost levels augmented by a couple of gallons of 116 octane C16 race gas. Admittedly these octanes are overkill, but it's definitely the smart way to go when doing development work. Some KB customers report getting away with nail-biting stunts such as 650 rwhp on 94 octane, but we and KB can only caution that this is begging to pay for a new long-block. A safer octane strategy is to limit boost to 17 pounds or less on 93/94 octane. That will net 600 rwhp.

Getting back to the hardware, for power outputs in excess of 700 rwhp, the Mustang Cobra's fuel system needs considerably more help than a Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump. See the Fuel System Upgrade sidebar for details.

Don't Get Stepped On
In the '60s, the Chrysler Hemi was known as the Elephant, and the saying was "Don't get stepped on." While mammoths and elephants are different animals, today Kenne Bell could redirect the same thoughts of over-powering thrust to its Mammoth Terminator kit.

Besides the obviously stupendous thrust of its 700hp potential, the Mammoth prototype kit we briefly sampled on the side streets around Kenne Bell's shop drove nicely and would easily serve as a daily driver. The installation was set at a 91-octane tune with 3.500-inch blower and 6.5-inch crank pulleys (565 rwhp) during our drive, so it was breathing easily. The torque-bulging power was immediate and abundant. Blower whine was muted through the long intake snorkel at full throttle, but it was still there to be enjoyed when hammering away and nonexistent at plunking around speeds. Much more power would only result in wheelspin, as we found with the 800-rwhp tune on Kenne Bell's all-out GT 500 months ago. Lazy as we are in our old age, even the street tune was impressive.

So, it boils down to if you can use the extra power the Mammoth kit delivers. For purely street-driven Cobras, we say not really. The standard kit roasts the tires hard and is even more or equally efficient at low to mid rpm. Moving to the Mammoth gives an incremental bump in power with pump gasoline, be it either West Coast 91-octane or 93/94-octane East Coast fare. With the standard kit putting out 525 rwhp on 91 octane and the Mammoth delivering 40 rwhp more on the same fuel thanks to its more-efficient-at-higher-boost blower, it's tough to justify the additional $2,300 cost if sticking with a typical 15 pounds of boost and pump gas combination. That's why Kenne Bell offers both kits.

When moving on to race gasoline and smaller pulleys, the Mammoth is a no-excuses winner. The power goes up a staggering 101-plus rwhp over the standard kit-about 220 hp over stock-so that's definitely worth the price of entry. Plus, everyone becomes power jaded, so starting with a Mammoth in street tune and eventually moving to the track is a good way of prolonging a Cobra love affair.

Ultimately, teaming a Mammoth with a cammed and ported Terminator engine seems a standout idea. The resulting power would be terrifying, and for those thinking big, a combination of a built Terminator, Mammoth blower, and fuel system upgrade kit has 1,000 hp written all over it. That's mad power built mainly from kits.

If you're ready for the Mammoth, Kenne Bell has them in stock now. Pricing is $5,750 with a satin finish, as seen in our photos, or $6,400 for a polished blower. Tuning is optional-at this level, most owners have custom tuning done locally. However, Kenne Bell offers its tune for $249.

For comparison, the standard KB kit for '03-'04 Cobras uses the smaller 2.6H compressor and is $3,349. It too is supplied without tuning, so add $249 for the KB tune. It's also recommended that the $249 Boost-A-Pump be used.

For either kit, a dual-tune Switch Chip is optional at $299, additional pulleys are available for $69, and the rapid-fire pulley-changing wrench costs $25.

Finally, for those who haven't pedaled a 700hp Mustang on street tires but fancy the idea, be advised that it's a different experience than moving from 300 to 500 hp. Big-power street cars demand restraint, understanding, and occasionally real skill from the driver, and strangely enough, can be slower than the typical 400hp bolt-on Mustang in most casual street situations. The big-power car's limitation is traction, and with so much power, it's laughably easy to blow off the rear tires. At the least, this can be bothersome to work around every time you want a nice squirt of power. If you're a sporting sort, it can be embarrassing when a bolt-on car walks away from your tire-spinning power-wagon. At its worst, mega-power can mean losing control over bumps, sand, rain, or other traction stealers, so plan on being fully engaged with your car if opting for the big power figures on the street.

We won't advise you to have fun. That part comes automatically.

Fuel System Upgrade
OK, 700 rwhp is nice, but hey-you want it all. In that case, you need the fuel system upgrade developed by Kenne Bell in conjunction with and sold by D'Agostino Racing . It supplies the big box of hardware and software needed to move the Terminator past 700 rwhp and into four digits.

Beginning with the nuts and bolts, the Cobra's stock fuel pumps are replaced by high-output Ford GT units. The GT fuel pumps are fitted to a stout billet "hat," or bracket, that simplifies installation considerably and provides positive O-ring sealing compared to shoehorning the GT pumps into the stock pressed-metal bracket.

In the kits, a second fuel pump driver module is added, along with supporting wiring and a relay. To drive the second FPDM, a Kenne Bell dual Boost-A-Pump is required; it's supplied in a single box with two BAPs inside.

The Cobra's 5/16-inch fuel line tubing is upgraded to a 3/8-inch hose. New fuel rails are used at the engine-not because the stock rails are undersized, but because it's the easiest method of attaching the new fuel line. Larger 62-lb/hr fuel injectors, naturally, and jumper wiring harnesses are must-haves as well. On the spark side, a Boost-A-Spark box pumps up the current.

Most vexing to tuners, however, isn't getting the fuel to the engine, but handling the electronics in a realm far past where Ford ever designed the Cobra's computer to run. Simply put, when making 800-odd horsepower, there isn't any computer code to handle the necessary calculations-that, and the stock mass air meter flatlined hundreds of horsepower ago.

In the standard KB Terminator kit, the stock mass air meter flatlines around 500 rwhp. Ramping up the fuel pressure takes care of that problem up to the mid-500hp level. In the Mammoth kit, the larger intake tubing helps the air meter read more volume. The real breakthrough came when Jerry Wroblewski showed how to rig the SuperChips Custom Tuning software Kenne Bell tunes with to double the mass air range by halving its resolution. Bingo! With that tuning sleight-of-hand, the stock mass air electronics in the big intake tube could handle up to 700 rwhp. Special thanks to Jerry from Kenne Bell and the rest of us for providing a key strategy to making the Mammoth work at an affordable price.

The D'Agostino fuel system upgrade surpasses even that trick's usefulness, so a DiabloSport MAFia mass air extender is required to tune higher yet. Kenne Bell was just able to avoid having to fit the $150 MAFia to the Mammoth kit, but it is a must when stepping up with the fuel upgrade, so it's included.

Summing up the situation, we see the two fuel systems potentials:

Mammoth:/
Two stock Cobra fuel pumps at 119 lph (20 psi) w/BAP = 378 lph for 704 rwhp

Fuel Upgrade:
Two Ford GT fuel pumps at 212 lph (20 psi) w/BAP = 600 lph for 1,100 rwhp

Clearly the D'Agostino fuel upgrade kit quells any normal questions regarding fuel delivery. Just as clearly, it's something for high-achieving, more than 700-rwhp Cobras and isn't necessary for strictly street cars.

Kenne Bell developed the Mammoth kit in its usual time-intensive fashion of strapping the car to the in-house Dynojet, wiring it to log every imaginable temperature and pressure, locking the ignition timing to reduce variable, and then testing. Such dyno mules may spend up to four months on the roller before coming off for part-throttle driveability tuning.

On The Dyno

Four dyno runs of interest from the Mammoth development are presented here. The first is the stone-stock Mustang Cobra; the second is the baseline Mammoth installation where the complete Mammoth kit was installed and run on 91-octane pump gas; the third run documents the Mammoth kit tuned with race gas, 20.5 pounds of boost, and the after-cat unbolted. This is the 704hp peak power run; our 200-rpm-resolution dyno charts didn't capture this peak (maddeningly so, but that's always the way it seems to go). The last test is identical to the third, but with the 3-inch Bassani aft-cat installed. All runs were made on Kenne Bell's Dynojet with SAE correction.

Horse Sense: It's amazing how carpet in a Mustang is so easily overlooked. Aside from the front-row footwells, only the rear hump over the driveshaft tunnel and a bit of the rocker panels is in plain view. However, spill some oil on it, and you'll be spotting the damage from 50 feet at night.

By this point, nearly every Fox Mustang can use new carpet. Thousands of heel scuffs and a few hundred missing French fries have seen to that. The only real question is when you'll get around to it.

For us, time ran out when we eyed the bombed-out seat upholstery in our '91 hatchback. We knew we had to do something about it and realized the only real solution was a nearly complete interior makeover.

Freshened carpet was clearly going to be part of any interior redo, and as we investigated our options, three choices materialized.

Assuming the carpet isn't torn or threadbare and hasn't seen too much damage or soiling, cleaning the original carpet might be viable. By cleaning, we mean a serious effort, where the interior is mainly stripped, and a steam cleaner is rented and brought to bear. Obviously, this is the way to go when restoring as close to stock as possible.

The second option is a stock-type replacement carpet. Ford doesn't service Fox Mustang carpet, so we turned to the nicely priced replacement kits that are so widely available.

For the vast majority of Fox restorations, this is the way to go. The aftermarket carpet, which is molded like the original, is inexpensive and simple to install. Take out the old, slide in the new, and put the center console and seats back in.

One downside to the usual aftermarket option is that the carpet is a lighter-weight material than Ford's, so if you're looking for a concours restoration or the plushest carpet possible, you'll probably want to hunt down some good original carpet. Good luck. On the other hand, if you're making a fun street machine, the aftermarket carpet's noticeably lighter weight is a crafty way of gliding over the scales. That's a great thing for most of us reading this magazine.

The third option comes to us courtesy of Joe Gosinski at Chicane Autosport Tuning in Torrance, California. Chicane has long had its own unique place in the Mustang firmament. It's a combination of performance and flash, offering a variety of specialized Mustang and Saleen hop-up and customizing parts. These can result in stunning cars-witness Joe's own Fox Rod on our March '06 cover.

For Fox carpet, Chicane is working the kinks out of a nonmolded, multi-piece carpet kit. The idea isn't to replicate the stock carpet, but to move up-market with low-nap, high-quality material, then cut and hem it into a new style. The result is subtle; one of those pieces that gives the interior a classy appearance without standing out in the process. We decided to give it a try.

While stock Ford carpet is molded, the Chicane kit is made up of several pieces of sound-deadening underlayment, along with six pieces of carpet. Where the carpet pieces visibly overlap, they're trimmed with a hem. The technique and look is similar to the traditional European sports-car practice familiar to early Porsche fans.

Because the Chicane carpet is multi-piece, it doesn't rely on the seats, center console, thresholds, and other interior pieces to hold it in place, as with Ford's molded one-piece carpet. The Chicane carpet, as installed in our car, glues the underlayment to the chassis, then glues the carpet to the underlayment. Next, the seats and such are reinstalled, further locking the carpet in place.

Since our prototype install, Chicane has opted to deliver the carpet with the underlayment already glued to the carpet. That saves one gluing step and makes it easier to avoid wrinkles in the finished job.

We must also caution that successfully installing multi-piece carpet, such as Chicane's, requires technique. In contrast, Ford or aftermarket one-piece molded carpet is a breeze to lay. You basically drag it into position, locate and cut a hole or two, and reinstall the interior furniture. The multi-piece Chicane carpeting needs careful placement, and with several pieces to adjust, check, readjust, recheck and glue, the job can't be rushed. Laying molded carpet might take an hour to lay out flat, with the holes located and cut, but the Chicane install takes almost all day. We started semi-late in the morning and didn't finish this install until almost 11 p.m. (Joe kindly welded together our broken seat rail and support as part of the job, which took an hour or two.)

Furthermore, the Chicane fabric is far less forgiving than Ford's thick pile. It's best to get the underlayment as flat and true as possible (easy enough). You then have to work the Chicane carpet outward from the center, or at least from one end to the other, to avoid wrinkling (not so easy). We found the Chicane carpet almost eager to bump and fold according to what was beneath it. If an ultra-high-end job is desired, we suggest taking the time to reroute the wiring harnesses and other bumps that disappear beneath Ford's near-shag fabric but will show with this lower-nap material. In any case, you'll likely find it necessary to fit underlayment here and there to make the carpet installation wrinkle-free.

Look at the photos and captions for the installation details: The process is essentially removing the seats, center console, parking brake mechanism, a few brackets, seatbelt anchors, and such, then pulling out the old carpet.

Fitting the Chicane carpet is a job of logic, with the under-seat and rocker-sill pieces going on first, then the major floor panels so that their trimmed edges lay atop the first pieces. Still, corners can be lifted and edges slid under if your results are less than optimal. Refitting the seats and such finishes the job.

We suggest a professional installation, unless you've done carpet or upholstery work before. Because we installed a prototype kit, there wasn't an instruction manual to review, and even if there was, experience with fabric wouldn't hurt.

The Chicane kit will set you back $389.99. When we did our install, there wasn't matching carpet for the rear hatchback area, but this is forthcoming. Chicane produces these kits on a semi-custom basis, and spooling up the simple, flat seatback and luggage-floor carpet won't be challenging.

Chicane is offering its carpet in the two stock 5.0 carpet colors: gray and black. It's also offered in pieces should you have something special in mind. Since the carpet pieces are so much easier to handle and work with, they're ideal for custom embroidery, if that suits your needs. Finally, hatchback, convertible, and coupe carpet is all the same in the cabin, so there aren't any complications there, nor does it matter if the car has manual or automatic transmission.

We like the low-nap look, so if you want to personalize your Fox Rod rebuild with an eye to classy street performance, the Chicane carpet can be a real help.

Horse Sense: The steady progress we've made with our project car's rear-wheel horsepower/torque certainly has been amazing. In our quest for more performance, we've gained a greater appreciation for the enthusiasts we've endearingly chastised for racing the dyno instead of racing their 'Stangs on the dragstrip. While blasting 'Stangs down the quarter-mile will always be our favorite performance evaluator, the work we've done on the dyno has given us a better understanding of just how good it feels when an engine in a dyno-tested 'Stang goes to full scream, the rollers spin furiously, and the graph shows more power than originally thought possible.

Although Editor Turner's feature story on our '86 T-top coupe LX (Top This," Jan. '08, p. 102) gives the impression that we've reached a closing point for a wonderful project, the saga of our latest flagship 'Stang continues.

To tell you the truth, we really don't know exactly when we'll stop reporting on our exploits with the project ride, as it seems there are countless modifications that can still be made, including the project we're embarking on in this report. There are other upgrades on the horizon to further solidify our T-top coupe's status as one of the baddest Fox-Rod project Mustangs in history.

One thing we're learning as we continue using the dyno to fine-tune the 'Stang's engine is that there's definitely a mountain of difference between a combination's actual power output and something we call theoretical horsepower. That's horsepower that gearheads believe their Mustang's bullet should make based on its internal components, power adders, and so on.

For example, based on an assessment of its parts, we originally forecasted (hoped) the supercharged 347 stroker in our coupe would throw down 600 to 650 rwhp; all the parts to accomplish this goal were in place. However, we didn't reach the milestone with the original bullet due to its unfortunate early demise (Full-Throttle Meltdown," Jan. '08, p. 68) during a dragstrip test. The best horsepower/torque achieved with the 347 was 473.34 hp/476.51 lb-ft at 5,000 rpm, with the torque converter locked, barely 8 psi of boost (thanks to a slipping blower belt), and 91-octane pump gas.

A freshened 350ci bullet now rests between the fenders of the project 'Stang. With the corrections we've made in the blower department (a larger-diameter main idler pulley and the addition of a second idler pulley for improved belt tension to create 20 psi of boost), the addition of higher-octane fuel (VP Racing Fuel's MS 109E instead of 91-octane pump gas), an Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump, and spot-on FAST XFI tuning by Harv of HMS Performance, the coupe stands high and mighty with 811.28 horses and 700.25 lb-ft of torque available at the back tires.

One interesting but completely unscientific theory on horsepower is that it always seeks and usually finds the weakest link in an engine or drivetrain. While there may be some truth to this idea, the real deal is that a high-performance Mustang should be outfitted with parts that are designed and manufactured to make, or support, a specified amount of power.

This became blatantly clear for us during our last dyno session, when we discovered our original engine's 650cc (approximately 65-lb/hr) fuel injectors are far from capable of supporting the 800-plus horsepower that the rebuilt bullet produces.

While injectors typically run at and should not exceed 80- to 85-percent duty cycle (0.80/0.85) at 60.5 psi of brake specific fuel consumption in a supercharged application, we're now experiencing 100 percent duty cycle at 5,500 rpm (762.33 hp). Duty cycle refers to the amount of time the injectors must remain open and flowing in order to feed the engine its required amount of fuel. With the injectors maxing out so soon, we're asking for serious trouble if we continue trying to eke more performance from our engine. The blown stroker gives every indication that once it has fuel, it will put up even bigger numbers.

Correcting our fuel-injector problem is mandatory. However, in our tests, we've also noticed that air, more specifically hot air, has also hindered the overall performance of our Mustang. The inlet-air system for the coupe's stroker/blower package doesn't include an intercooler or a heat exchanger, and thus, air-charge temperatures have been measured at approximately 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

To correct both problems, we're installing Ford Racing Performance Parts' 150-lb/hr fuel injectors (PN M-9593-E303) and the all-new Stage-3G Boost Cooler system (PN 20050; $599) from the water-methanol-injection lords at Snow Performance.

The Stage-3G setup is the center of attention in this tech effort, mostly due to interesting new technology called True 2d Injection Control. It definitely sets this version apart from previous iterations of the Boost Cooler.

Unlike the Stage 1 (fixed shot) and Stage 2 (variable shot) boost coolers, which are triggered by boost or are mass air-voltage referenced, Snow's Stage 3G water-meth system is a self-tuning, variable-flow unit that uses fuel-injector duty cycle and a blower or turbocharger's boost signal to control injection.

Once the injectors are swapped and the boost cooler kit is installed, we'll connect our coupe to the Dynapack Evolution 4000 chassis dyno at Extreme Automotive in Canoga Park, California, where Harv will tickle the laptop's keyboard and dial in an XFI tune for maximum power with the new injectors, and then establish a calibration for the engine when it's under the influence of Snow's Boost Juice water-meth mixture.

For our application, we're not expecting a gargantuan increase in horsepower and torque when the spray is applied, because our blown 350 is run with VP's MS 109 E race gas as opposed to 91-octane fuel. Impressive power gains are usually achieved when water-methanol injection is introduced to boost-induced engines that run on pump gas, as we learned in our study on Snow's Shelby GT 500 system (Gorilla in the Mist," Dec. '07, p. 152).

In this exercise, we're installing the Boost Cooler with hopes that it will drop our engine's intake-air-charge temperature significantly lower than the 200-degree temps we saw in our last dyno session without negatively affecting the blown beast's horsepower and torque.

Speaking of horsepower and torque, keep in mind that our T-top coupe is a registered, insured, street-driven 'Stang. We're proud of the car, but we have to admit that with more than 800 horses, it's a handful on the street, despite the fact it sits on Drag Radial tires. Quite frankly, monster performance in a street car is a bittersweet thing. We love the feeling of being pushed back in the seat by power and torque, but losing traction and control of the car on a neighborhood street or highway (even the deserted ones) or being nailed for speeding are possible negatives for mega-powered street cars that aren't cool at all.

Fear not, the only disaster we've suffered thus far was the engine mishap previously detailed. The coupe's sleeper appearance makes the police drive right by, and its panels are straight. The plan is to keep things that way by driving the 'Stang with respect to the horsepower it's throwing down when we're cruising, and saving the opportunities to cut it completely loose for the dragstrip only.

Extreme's Saul The Surgeon" Gutierrez is taking care of the injector swap and installing the Stage 3G Boost Cooler's hardware, and your tech editor is responsible for doing the simple math required for dialing in gain for the water-meth shot. Harv has XFI tuning covered, so you're left with reading on through the following photos and captions to see how this project pans out.

We disconnected the negative battery cable, and Saul routed the wires from the controller's harness into the 'Stang's cockpit. Wiring is simple, as it's only a matter of connecting five color-coded wires from the harness to their corresponding components (red/switched 12V, yellow/any negative fuel-injector harness wire, green/Boost Cooler pump, black/ground, and gray/Boost Cooler touch-screen display). Four additional wires extend from the other side of the controller and allow optional components such as a fluid-level switch, auxiliary 12V output, SafeInjection trigger, and flow-signal output. Unfortunately, time constraints forced us to hastily plumb and wire the system for basic operation in this tech exercise, but we've cleaned things up considerably since this photo was taken.

These photos depict the bread and butter of the Stage 3G Boost Cooler system's True 2d Injection Control, which uses engine fueling and boost pressure to ensure accurate injection of water-methanol. We used this vacuum T-fitting to tap into a boost source and spliced the controller's Yellow wire into the negative/ground side of the injector harness (also a yellow wire on our XFI harness) at the number-one cylinder.

The kit includes wire-splice connectors for this task, but we recommend directly splicing it into the injector harness and securing the connection with solder. Protect it with shrink tubing to reduce the chances of grounding the circuit, which could cause an injector to hang open and possibly damage the engine.

The first step in dialing in the water-meth system is selecting the setup mode on the LCD touch-screen controller and entering information the controller requires (boost psi to start injection, flywheel horsepower, nozzle size, and pump size) for programming the injection's amount and rate. With the setup data entered, we made a series of dyno runs with the system in peak-and-hold mode to determine the peak duty cycle for our new fuel injectors. Stage 3G's injection control algorithm is based on 85 percent duty cycle, which our 150-lb/hr injectors are below. Once injector duty cycle has been confirmed (48 percent), we subtracted that amount from 85 and entered the remainder (37) as the amount of gain (fine-tuning percentage) to the injection curve.

Harv of HMS Performance is the man when it comes to manipulating FAST's XFI engine management system. While theoretically, our 150-lb/hr fuel-injector upgrade is actually better suited for a 1,100-plus horsepower application, it didn't take Harv long to duplicate the 811 horsepower we saw with maxed-out 650cc injectors, and then extend the engine's performance envelope by finding more than 10 additional horsepower and 22 lb-ft of torque. This thing can easily make more horsepower with an intercooler, but the tune is safe and the engine now makes more than enough horsepower for the street," says Harv. With the big injectors, you'll lose the crack-of-the-key starting that is one of the cooler aspects of fuel-injected, high-horsepower street cars (we now have to give the engine a little throttle for cold starts), but that's about the only thing you give up when you run big injectors. The car's driveability will still be fine."

We checked spark plugs and were happy to see their cocoa brown color return with the changes Harv made in the XFI fuel tables. Initial hits on the dyno with the bigger injectors brought about heavy black smoke that's the telltale mark of a rich mixture, and early inspections of the plugs confirmed it. Harv dialed a good air/fuel burn and smooth idle into our coupe's bullet, and then manipulated timing and decreased fuel to allow water-methanol to make the difference we were looking for in terms of lowering our engine's inlet-air-charge temperature without sacrificing any of the performance we gained during the dyno session.

The monitor screen displays real-time data for injector duty cycle, boost pressure, and water-meth injection rate. The Stage 3G system allows you to fine-tune the injection rate up or down on the fly by simply touching the screen to add or subtract gain.

Our combination of the A.R.E. Performance-rebuilt powerplant and Paxton Novi 2000 supercharger made a brief stop at 670 rwhp when we tested it just prior to leaving for our PINKS All Out experience (Lights, Cameras...Action!," Mar. '08, p. 128). A.R.E. Performance is formerly known as Big Terry's Engine Shop in Simi Valley, California, but still owned by Rocco Acerrio.

Those of you who paid close attention to the story (i.e., read Horse Sense) probably noticed that not long after our return from Las Vegas, our project T-top coupe's blown 350 (enough with the Chevy displacement" comments-it's just the way the math worked out) laid down a impressive, nonintercooled 811 horses (700 lb-ft of torque) on Extreme Automotive's Dynapack Evolution 4000 rear-wheel dyno.

Our goal since we installed the new engine has been to overcome setbacks we've experienced (fuel injectors) and to improve our engine's XFI tune. With Ford Racing Performance Parts' 150-lb/hr fuel injectors in place and Snow Performance's Stage 3G Boost Cooler being employed to bring inlet-air temperature down to a more efficient level for the engine's power and torque range, we're confident that we're now on the right track for achieving a solid and safe tune that will produce great performance.

The dyno chart in this report includes our pre-PINKS performance with 650cc fuel injectors. It also reflects the horsepower/torque positives that were achieved through Harv's mastery of XFI, as well as the larger (safer) tuning window that was created by installing the bigger injectors (duty cycle never topped 50 percent at any time during our dyno session) and using VP MS 109 E fuel. We definitely need to shout out props to A.R.E. Performance for an engine that stood up to 15 consecutive dyno pulls and remained consistent with its middle-800 peak horsepower and 700-plus lb-ft of torque output (with a whopping 830/727 on our first pull after lunch), when test variables (ambient temp, 0-6,000-rpm scale, cool down time, and so on) remained unchanged.

More important in this case is the fact that we learned there's also a lot of good that can be said about cooling supercharged inlet air with water-meth. Snow's new Stage 3G Boost Cooler system was easy to work with and calibrate, and it showed us considerably lower inlet-air temperatures than we previously had. The largest temperature drop we experienced was 44 degrees, from 184 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, and one interesting discovery in our test is the 0.8 psi increase in boost at 3,266 rpm, when we put meth in the mix after the change to 150-lb/hr injectors.

While we realize the temperature decrease doesn't compare with the below-ambient levels that can be achieved with an intercooler (we'd love to have the condensation and all-out frost on the blower's discharge tube that a 'cooler or shot of nitrous can cause), we're impressed and we're fairly certain that deeper cooling can be gained with the addition of a second nozzle for the water-meth injection.

Sometimes, it's all about experimenting when it comes to making a 'Stang better. We plan to continue trying new parts and concepts in our ongoing effort to improve our project T-top coupe, and we'll definitely keep you posted on the results, good and bad, of all our doings.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL DYNO CHART FROM OUR WATER/METHANOL INJECTION TEST

We receive heads-up calls and e-mails about new products all the time. Unfortunately, some parts and accessories don't fit into the Mustang mix too well. Thankfully, most of the cool new gear we hear about does relate to our collective main interest, so you better believe we don't hesitate when it comes to following up on leads.

A few weeks prior to the '07 SEMA show, Nick Woodman and his team at GoPro hipped us to their wickedly cool Motorsports Hero ($179.99)--a wireless, mini digital video camera system for in-car and all-over-the-car images.

With motorsports photography being a key element of our work, we made a point of stopping by the GoPro booth to get a closer look at the Hero. It's also no secret that video of 'Stangs in action on the race track and in the street is becoming more and more popular on the Internet, thanks to Web sites such as Streetfire.net, YouTube, and PowerTV. When we saw the images this rad setup produces, we knew we would be telling you more about it right here.

For the most part, it seems the universal mounting point for video cameras is behind the driver, on the crossbar, or on the main hoop of the rollcage. The vantage point offers a view of what the driver sees when the Mustang is being driven, but because of this unofficial standard camera location, a lot of the motorsports clips we spend hours watching look similar.

This is where GoPro's Motorsports Hero shines. The Hero is a small (2.5x1.5x0.75 inches), 30-frame-per-second, 3-megapixel, digital video/still camera that's designed to capture amazingly cool, first-hand footage from just about anywhere on or in a 'Stang while the car is traveling at any speed. There's no need for duct tape, clamp-style rollcage mounts, or any other form of jury-rigged camera stand. The unit is easy for one person to use, which spares friends from having to ride along with wide-open drivers and attempt to hold a camera steady as a 'Stang is being put through its paces at high speed.

The intent of this particular Tech Inspection is twofold. While we wanted to give the Motorsports Hero a try for our magazine's and Web site's benefit, it's more important that we give you all the 411 here and now, as we realize many racers and enthusiasts are looking for an easy way to capture high-quality video and still images of their 'Stangs in action while they're driving their 'Stangs.

The following collection of photos, captions, and video clips detail our quick installation and testing of GoPro's Motorsports Hero. The kit is all-inclusive, and setting up the camera literally takes 10 minutes.

The Hero isn't a part that will make your 'Stang run faster or handle better, but we definitely think this new camera system's high level of cool makes it an accessory that should be in every 'Stangbanger's ride.

CLICK HERE FOR AN IN-CAR DEMO OF THE GOPRO MOTORSPORTS HERO


CLICK HERE FOR A BUMPER MOUNTED DEMO OF THE GOPRO MOTORSPORTS HERO

Horse Sense: In order to meet the SCCA's minimum requirement for eligibility in its Trans-Am racing series, Ford had to produce 1,000 Boss 302 street Mustangs in 1970. We've heard off-and-on musings about Ford possibly building a new Boss 'Stang (remember, the S197 is scheduled to undergo an appearance makeover in 2010), and while we honestly don't know anything official about a return of the Boss, we can't stop thinking about how bad it would be after more than 30 years of advancement in Mustang performance.

Based on feedback we receive via the Internet (e-mail, message forums, and so on) and in person, we think it's fair to say that many of you get with 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords each month to find out the latest on our various projects-large and small. We truly appreciate your loyalty to our mag, and hope that the broad range of subjects we cover for Fox-thru-S197 Mustangs is informative and encourages you to use the bolt-on parts we install in Mustangs, or the engines, transmissions, and other driveline pieces that we profile.

When it's all said and done, conceptualizing and making bad 'Stangs and pushrod or modular engines of all dimensions and performance levels are the main ideas that spin the revolving door of our cool projects. Our latest engine effort is a prime example.

If you're just joining us, last month we introduced our newest project ("The Comeback," p. 82, Mar. '08): creating a modern-day EFI Boss engine based on Ford Racing Performance Parts' new Boss 302 block. It will feature canted-valve, Cleveland/Boss-style aluminum cylinder heads from Edelbrock and Air Flow Dynamics. Using inline-valve heads has been a longtime standard of sorts for magazine engine builds, but we think the time has come to finally do something different.

What do we mean by "different," you ask? How about employing a radical alternative to inline valve heads on a Mustang powerplant that goes far beyond the accepted norm for 5.0-based street and race engines, and at the same time, pays homage to one of the baddest bullets in Ford-engine history. We realize old-school Boss 302 purists may not take too kindly to what we're doing, but to them we say, "Get over it."

In Part 1 of this series, we focused on the surface details of the engine's makeup and L&R Automotive's meticulous preparation of our FRPP Boss block. In this installment, we take a closer look at the actual hardware that comprises our Boss 340-especially the cylinder heads and intake manifolds, which are above and beyond those found on other 5.0 strokers.

This second leg of our effort took us to Probe Industries in Torrance, California, where our L&R-prepped block was waiting on an engine stand when we arrived. Probe's shop foreman, Shawn Mendenhall, has choreographed a thorough assembly plan for our Boss 340, which we will chronicle right here in these pages.

While we realize Roush now offers Cross-Boss 351R, a fuel-injected, 351ci version of the modern-day Boss engine, we're the first 'Stang mag to build one. So for now, read through the following captions as we forge ahead with this groundbreaking project, preparing our rev-happy engine for dyno flogging and installation in a full-on drag race Mustang sometime in the not-so-distant future.

Before we get into the "new," here's some more of the "old" for you. Sewer-like 2.5-inch intake ports and a canted angle on the 2.19-inch intake valves (1.71 exhaust) are two of the main characteristics that make Cleveland heads so special. Think about this in relation to the 2.08/1.65 valve sizes that have been thought of as "big" for small-block cylinder heads-for about as long as 'Stangmania has existed. The only way to fit valves this large in a cylinder head is by installing them in canted arrangement. OG Boss 302 heads, circa 1969, actually sported gargantuan 2.23-inch intake valves and closed 62cc "quench" combustion chambers, which made the 'Stang a gangster on the street. In 1970, Ford downsized Boss intake valves to 2.19 inches and reduced chamber size to 57cc.

We're closing off our engine with this aluminum Fox Drag Pro Power oil pan kit from Canton. The set features the 9-inch rear-sump pan, which includes an interior steel girdle, a pickup, and a universal dipstick kit.

Pistons are among the many hard engine parts that Probe Industries specializes in. This run of slug stock isn't for Boss 340s, but Shawn Mendenhall says Probe's CNC machines have the capability of quickly producing dozens of flat-top pistons that will work in new Boss engines.

As you already know, our Boss is based on Ford Racing Performance Parts' Boss 302 engine block. The block was bored .100-over by L&R Automotive, and will be loaded with this 3.250-inch forged crankshaft/5.400-inch lightweight I-beam rod combination from Probe Industries.

Shawn uses a proprietary engine-spec program to determine exactly "how big" an engine will be, based on its internal makeup. Our Boss bullet will displace 340 cubes, at 10.5 to 1 compression with the Edelbrock 2V heads and 11.5 to 1 compression with AFD's 4Vs (for those who have always wondered what "2V" and "4V" mean, the numbers 2 and 4 represent the total number of venturis/barrels in a carburetor). With the compression difference and a fuel difference, we hope to see the engine make 450 or so horsepower on pump gas, and just about 600 horsepower when race fuel is flowing through the Boss 340.

Here is a closer look at one of the pistons that will fill the project mill for our Boss application. Probe's Cleveland flat-top will have a 4.100-inch diameter. Shawn is moving the top ring down on our slugs (from 0.320 inch to 0.360 inch) to facilitate our probable use of nitrous as we go about testing the engine.

Fel-Pro gaskets seal the deal for our Boss 340. Shown in this group are the standard-bore 1021 head gaskets. The project engine has a bigger bore and will probably be treated to a dose of nitrous at some point, so stepping up to Fel-Pro's 1134 PermaTorque MLS (4.180 bore size) is required.

Here is a breakdown of the critical data for original steel, canted-valve, Cleveland-style Ford heads and the two flavors of new-school aluminum heads we'll be testing. Small combustion chambers, large ports, and big valve sizes make Cleveland heads a great choice for street or racing applications, which is one of the reasons Clevor or Windcleve engines (Cleveland heads on 9.5-deck, 351W-based short blocks) are so popular among hard-core 'Stangbangers.

Note the info on the Aussie 302C. This head is considered the poor man's substitute for Boss 302 or 4V Cleveland iron heads. Despite their small (but canted) valves and relatively tiny ports (for street efficiency), 302Cs sport 57cc closed quench chambers that significantly boost compression. Before the advent of aluminum heads, the Aussie 302Cs were great bang-for-the-buck alternatives to the big-port 4V pieces. They were relatively inexpensive and worked well enough to jack compression on a stock 351C to the point where using high-octane fuel was a must.

We spent a lot of time studying the cylinder heads that will adorn our Boss 340.

Again, our plan is to use the same short-block and develop two versions-one street and one hard-core strip-of the bullet. Edelbrock's Performer RPM Cleveland 2V cylinder heads and Air Flow Dynamics' SP4V castings are basically the stars of the show.

We can't compare heads, as they're truly night-and-day different in design (with the exception of sharing canted valves), and especially in purpose. When combined with a 0.580 (intake)/0.577 (exhaust) hydraulic-roller camshaft from Comp, our Edelbrock heads should turn our engine into a solid 400hp street player. On the other hand, there's really nothing "street" about AFD's killer hunks of aluminum. Once we mate that head package with Comp's solid-roller camshaft-0.770/0.773-the Boss 340 will almost certainly zing much higher in rpm and pump out close to 600 horses at the flywheel.

We clearly have two types of 351C cylinder heads that will work well for their respective applications. Be sure to stay with this series, 'cause it's definitely gonna be a good one.

Despite their small valve size-by Cleveland's standards (2.05-inch intake/1.60-inch exhaust), Edelbrock's Performer RPM 351C 2V heads feature closed 60cc combustion chambers. We found it interesting that the slight shrouding in the chambers of these heads is more prevalent over the intake valves than the exhaust.

Edelbrock's exhaust ports are square and 90ccs in circumference.

The Air Flow Dynamics SP4Vs have a 62cc closed chamber profile, in which the head surface just slightly shrouds the exhaust valves. Increased quench area allows for a more complete air/fuel burn, and thus, greater torque production with much less timing than required for max power and efficiency with the original Boss or 351 Cleveland engines.

AFD's owner, Dave Webb, says the exhaust ports on his heads are heavily modified (widened and raised 0.080 inch) in order to increase flow throughout the lift range. "On the exhaust side, lower lift flow is actually more important than high-lift flow," Dave says. "Testing various flow levels has proven that low-lift exhaust flow alters the torque curve dramatically. The more that exhaust flows between 0.100 and 0.400 inch, the more the torque curve responds-for the better." Despite the increase in port height, the heads don't require custom or one-off headers-a big plus for our effort.

We're adding this photo to demonstrate an example of open-chamber cylinder heads. This open-chamber, high-output Cleveland head was installed on the optional 277hp, low-compression 351 engine ('72-'73 Mustangs). Notice how the combustion chamber is circle-shaped and doesn't shroud the valves? On a stock engine, this chamber is exactly the same diameter as the cylinder bore.

Here's a comparative look at our Edelbrock Performer RPM Cleveland 2V heads (right; PN 61629; $975/pair) and Air Flow Dynamics' new SP4Vs ($1,250/bare). While both sets of heads are available already assembled (Edelbrock includes stainless valves, 1.540-inch double springs, stud-mount rocker hardware, 7-degree locks, and chrome-moly retainers), our AFD heads were tricked out with Manley Race Master valves and valvetrain components from Comp Cams that include high-bling, 1.650-inch triple valvesprings (PN 947-16); 11/32 super locks (PN 611-16); and 1.625-inch super-lock retainers (PN 739-16).

Check out the night-and-day difference in location and shape for each intake port. Edelbrock uses a rectangular shape and standard location for its 190cc intake runners, which is essentially close to that of a 302C 2V head. On the other hand, we measured and found Air Flow Dynamics' intake port to be approximately 0.575 inch higher than the Edelbrock with a much larger (230cc) circumference. "Air basically flows across the roof of the runner," says Shawn Mendenhall of Probe Industries. "By bringing the floor up, Air Flow Dynamics essentially got rid of all of the dead space at the bottom of the runner that Clevelands typically have. Air has a straight shot into the chamber."

These are the parts that highlight the Comp Cams hydraulic-roller camshaft setup we're using in Phase 1 of the Boss 340 build. The cam (PN 35-000-8; grind number FW 3017F/3038F) weighs in with 0.580 (intake)/0.577 (exhaust) lift and 0.236/0.242 duration at 0.050, with lobe separation measuring 112.0. Pro-Magnum retro-fit hydraulic lifters (PN 8931-16) and a billet timing-chain set (PN 7138) complete the compilation.

On the solid-roller side, we have a huge bumpstick lined up for the AFD-headed version of our Boss. This billet cam, also by Comp (PN 35-000-9; grind number FW 2231F/2233F), features 0.770 (intake)/0.773 (exhaust) lift and 0.270/0.274 duration at 0.050. The lobe separation for this cam is also 112.0. Solid-roller lifters (PN 838-16) will be swapped in, and the same timing-chain set will work in this version.

A set of Probe Industries stud-mount, aluminum 1.6-ratio roller rocker arms will handle opening and closing events for the valves on the Edelbrock-headed Boss...

...and valvetrain stability is maintained with shaft-mount rocker arms when revs spin higher with the AFD setup.

Ultimately, acquiring the correct intake manifolds for our special small-block was the most difficult task in our project plan. Remember, we're building an engine that technically hasn't been done before, so naturally the aftermarket doesn't have an abundance of intakes available for us to choose two that suit our needs. Edelbrock's new Performer RPM E-Boss intake for carbureted 302 engines (PN 7129) using Performer RPM 351 Cleveland 2V or 4V heads was still in development when we started planning our project. However, as of the '07 SEMA show, the intake is now available for those interested in building this type of engine with a carb.

We satisfied our needs by winning an original '69 Boss 302 intake manifold on eBay and seeking the assistance of the professionals at Wilson Manifolds. This type of project is right up Wilson's alley, and Gaby Labiosa and his team answered our call with a masterfully restructured OEM Boss intake for our engine's Edelbrock 351C 2V heads, as well as a new open-plenum, fuel-injected intake for our Air Flow Dynamics 4V heads, which is undeniably one of the most incredible intake manifolds we've ever worked with. Thanks to Cliff Moore of John Kaase Racing for his invaluable assistance with the effort.

One of the main pieces required for this type of puzzle (an 8.2-deck engine w/Cleveland-style heads) is an intake manifold. While pieces that facilitate using the heads down on a 9.5-deck Windsor short block are available, the Boss 302 market is pretty much nil, when it comes to aftermarket manifolds. We lucked out and scored an original, 1969 Boss 302 intake manifold on eBay, and immediately put it on a truck to Oakland Park, Florida, for Cast Manifold Dept Manager, Gaby Labiosa, and his team at Wilson Manifolds to give it an EFI makeover that's sure to make the classic-'Stang Melvins cringe.

The real-deal Boss was unmolested, save for some minor blending in the four-hole plenum area that had been done by the eBay seller. All of the ports were OEM clean and untouched.

The crew at Wilson Manifolds completely did away with the Boss intake's original four-hole setup and crafted this super-clean, true dual-plane plenum area. "We cut out the holes and lowered the bar in the center about 1.25 inches, mainly because the new Edelbrock heads require a lot of air velocity," says Gaby. "We gave it the biggest port job we could without cutting it in half." The plenum was also opened up to match the size of Wilson's tapered intake spacer.

The severe mismatch in port size between the Boss 302 manifold (big) and Edelbrock cylinder heads required many hours of welding, forming, and modifying. Gaby proudly shows off his team's handiwork: the result of completely reconstructing the 4V manifold to work with our 2V cylinder-head application.

While high air velocity is important for the Edelbrock heads, Gaby adds that there actually needs to be a "sweet-spot" for air speed in the plenum area of the modified Boss intake. To regulate the velocity, he added Wilson's 2-inch, tapered, lightweight spacer to increase the distance between the throttle body and plenum floor. By extending the plenum, air is slowed down enough so it can efficiently make turns to the runners.

Wilson's high-flow fuel rails and eight, TIG-welded injector bosses look absolutely insane on the new Boss 340 intake. The manifold setup is crowned with Wilson's 4150, billet throttle body; a carb-style (4-hole) unit that flows 1136 cfm, and looks sexy at the top of our radical intake.

The massive size of our Air Flow Dynamics 4V heads and their advertised flow (330 at 0.700-inch intake lift) made our need for an open-plenum intake critical. Here's a look at the centersection of the new Wilson Boss 302 EFI manifold we'll be using. Many thanks to Gaby and his crew for working with us to develop a new intake for our venture into unexplored territory for small-block Ford performance.

According to Gaby, the manifold's intake ports are all straight shots into the heads. With its perfect port-matching and maximum flow efficiency, Gaby feels the Boss 302 EFI intake will support as much as 700 flywheel horsepower without a problem.

Wilson's Boss 302 EFI intake manifold includes the same features found on our modified original intake (high-flow rails, stanchions, injector bosses, and so on). However, this new 8.2-deck intake for AFD SP4V cylinder heads uses a 1.5-inch tapered spacer over its mega-ported, open plenum.

Horse Sense: In this day of our government, environmentalists and others trying to limit the performance of our "performance vehicles," Ford offering a 50-states-approved, bolt-on that can take a Shelby's horses above the 600 mark, and a factory limited warranty that protects a GT 500 against damage it sustains as a result of the part failing, is huge. But, don't for a moment think warranty coverage is limited to just the 'Stang hierarchy. Ford Racing Performance Parts also offers twin-screw supercharger systems for '05-'08 S197s (PN M-6066-M463V and M-6066-M463V7) that bump their Three-Valve flywheel power level to four hundie, and also fall under a protection program that assures enthusiasts it's really OK to put the hammer down!

Here's a challenge to the older members of the 'Stang Nation-those who have been around since the days when making (at a minimum) 275 horsepower put your 5.0-powered GT or LX in the upper echelon of Mustangs that hit the local cruise spot. Tell us the last time Ford Racing Performance Parts (it was called Ford Motorsport back then) offered any engine-specific, horsepower-improving part that could be bolted on a 5.0 or 4.6, that would cover the part or a Mustang with a limited warranty if the part is installed by a Ford, Lincoln or Mercury dealer?

If you're having a difficult time with your answer, you shouldn't. The simple fact of the matter is, while Ford Motorsport/Ford Racing Performance Parts has offered a host of hi-perf goodies for 'Stangs and other Blue Oval vehicles over the years, there has never been any real "coverage" associated with any of its bolt-ons that unleash the beast in stock engines. Enthusiasts who wished to make serious performance upgrades using Ford parts were basically "on their own," at the mercy of sympathetic dealers (or those they might have a hookup with), or willing to go through a logjam of red tape and bureaucracy if they wanted any kind of retribution if those bolt-on parts failed in any way. Well, times finally have changed when it comes to Ford "showing love," in the form of a factory warranty, to those who upgrade their S197 'Stangs with a few specific parts and performance packages in the FRPP catalog.

We've already shined the spotlight on Ford's performance division's Power (FR1: CAI, mufflers and PCM calibration), Drag (FR2: CAI, short-tube headers, 3.73 gears, short-throw shifter and PCM calibration) and Handling (FR3: lowering springs, shocks and struts, anti-roll bar and strut-tower brace) "Packs" in previous reports. Components in each of these upgrade kits are covered by a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty when installed by the dealer on new GT or Shelby GT 500 'Stangs at the time they're sold, or 12 months/12,000 miles if installed after the date of sale, but before the vehicle's Basic warranty period (3/36) ends (for more info on the Ford Racing Limited Warranty Program, go to www.fordracingparts.com).

The latest FRPP package to be blessed with a warranty is the new, Supercharger Upgrade Kit for '07-'08 Shelby GT 500s (PN M-6066-SGT; $5,600), which also is referred to as the Super Pack. While protection period in this kit's (and blowers for Mustang GTs) warranty is limited to only 12 months or 12,000 miles (whichever comes first), it's monumental nonetheless, and we knew we had to check it out and tell you about it, as it's probably the most-powerful, single bolt-on accessory that Ford has ever offered for any Mustang.

A 2.3- Twin Vortices Series supercharger serves as at the heart of this simple new upgrade. The blower system, engineered by Roush Performance exclusively for Ford Racing Performance Parts, is Eaton's newest Roots-style unit, which uses a pair of four-lobe, 160-degree twist rotors as its motivational force, and is capable of blasting enough air into a Shelby's stock 5.4 to help generate more than 100 horsepower at its crankshaft.

The Shelby Super Pack also includes an open-element cold-air-intake system (with K&N filter) and a voucher form which owners must fill out and return to Ford Racing (online registration also is available), in order to receive a Pro-Cal tool loaded with a calibration program that allows a GT 500's PCM to understand there is a lot more air being pumped into the super car's engine than there was when it sported the factory-installed, 2.0, Eaton M122 supercharger. Although the kit is designed as an upgrade for bone-stock Shelbys, they don't all dance to the same tune. So, since there multiple calibrations available, FRPP restricts registration to individual vehicle ID numbers for the GT 500s that receive the upgrade.

We've been diligent about keeping Shelby owners informed on the latest in go-faster products for their cars. A story in our Nov '07 issue ("Top to Bottom," p.124) highlights the impact that the combination of a cold-air system, smaller blower pulley, exhaust upgrade and custom tune has on a stock Shelby GT 500. With just those upgrades, we saw an increase of 129.68 rear-wheel horsepower and 117.90 lb-ft of torque on Jeff Reason's stocker.

While we'd like to be able to say that our inability to find a bone-stock Shelby for this supercharger project was caused by owners' quick reaction to our reports on upgrades (in all honesty, the project came together in a hurry, so we had to go with a readily available GT 500 that already had been modified with the basic bolt-on goodies), we think it's cool that so many of you are going out and improving your high-dollar Mustangs, with parts that make them run harder or look better than they already do in factory trim.

The FRPP Supercharger Upgrade Kit for '07-'08 Shelby GT 500s definitely is the real deal. As "easy bolt-on projects" go, this one fits the profile by all definitions of the phrase, as we were able to get the stock and new superchargers swapped, and our subject Shelby loaded on Extreme Automotive's chassis dyno in about two hours, using a basic assortment of Snap-on mechanic's tools.

Photos, captions and impressive dyno results await you, so read on and learn more about FRPP's breakthrough blower for Shelby GT 500s.

Our supercharger swap was accomplished in no time and we re-attached the test ride to Extreme's Dynapack Evolution 4000 chassis dyno, to see how much power FRPP's Supercharger Upgrade Kit for '07-'08 Shelby GT 500s brings to the rear wheels.

The gains on both the horsepower, torque and boost sides are impressive, considering the system (especially the PCM calibration) is designed for stock Shelby GT 500s and the car we used is equipped with a larger, aftermarket exhaust system.

With tuning, we're quite confident the upgrade TVS 2.3-liter blower on our test Shelby is capable of supporting huge power. For bone stockers, the upgrade is simple and safe, and sure to bring 600 horses to tires and a broad smile to your face, whenever you give those horses a chance to run.

Click here for the GT 500 blower dyno sheet

The factory recommends at least 91-octane fuel for supercharged 5.4s found under the hood of Shelbys and Ford GT super cars. Although the same minimum-octane level is required for the new blower, we added five gallons of VP MS 103 racing fuel for a little added protection against harmful detonation. Remember, our lab rat has been modified with Bassani's huge long-tube headers and exhaust piping, which FRPP's calibration programming does not compensate for, so be prepared to see a fairly lean air/fuel reading (under high-rpm/high-boost loads) from your similarly modified Shelby, until the mixture can be straightened out with 91-octane and more-detailed dyno tuning.

Horse Sense: Since Editor Turner's Fox 500 being built by Paul's High Performance will probably make around 500 hp to the wheels, we're shooting for 650 hp on MV Performance's Mustang Dynamometer for Project Roadkill.

We're making progress with our much-maligned Project Roadkill Mustang LX. The progress has been slow since the car stays in the Atlanta area at MV Performance, and our offices are located in Tampa. That means we have to take off work, travel to MV, and hope Tim Matherly and the crew have time to work on it while we're there. That has been a big problem in the car's build since Tim stays busy winning in the NMRA Real Street class, not to mention keeping the shop going at the same time. The day-to-day repair and installations get attention over Project Roadkill, which languishes either in the shop corner or-gasp-outside in the sometimes inclement Georgia weather.

We're closer to taking Project Roadkill back home to Florida, and this latest installment shows how close we are to lighting this candle.

Here's how we left Project Roadkill the last time we visited MV Performance. The MV-built Four-Valve with Fox Lake Power Products-massaged heads was safely snuggled into an engine bay that once played host to a four-banger. Suffice it to say, this powerplant should make more power than the original. As you can see, a Vortech supercharger hangs off the side to make that happen. Specifically, a Vortech T-Trim supercharger with an aftercooler will send boost through a cleaned-up stock intake, and then through the aforementioned Fox Lake heads. We'll be utilizing stock cams, but we're not ruling out the possibility of some aftermarket grinds should the desire arise. We have to make more power than Editor Turner's Fox 500, so we may resort to covert activities to make that happen. Something else you can see in these photos is the color we plan on using. It's LeMans Sunset Metallic from Nissan's 350Z. We wanted something different, and that color fits the bill. We'll look to Carnes Customs to add tribal-style flames to complete the exterior package.

From the underside you can see the Bassani Xhaust system, the Currie 9-inch rear with the company's upper and lower control arms, and a Behind Bars Race Cars sumped sheetmetal fuel tank. The Currie 9-inch boasts a stout 4.30 gear, but we have a Tremec T56 with a Ram clutch and flywheel in the tunnel to keep things streetable. The Bassani system uses mid-length headers, an X-shape crossover with high-flow converters, and a 2 1/2-inch after-cat.

Project Roadkill's fuel system consists of components from Weldon Racing Products, UPR Products, and Precision Turbo, along with the aforementioned Behind Bars Race Cars sumped fuel tank. The Weldon system we chose is its SS combo, which includes a 2025 fuel pump, regulator, and fuel-pump controller. The pump should easily handle any horsepower level we throw at it with this car, while the controller will enable the pump to run quieter and keep the fuel cooler.

We had to make a custom bracket for the Weldon 2025 fuel pump to feed the UPR Products' fuel rails and Precision 72-lb/hr injectors. Weldon provided the braided fuel lines and the appropriate fittings, but we had to order a couple fittings from Summit Racing to complete the fuel system.

Our UPR Products' fuel rails and Precision Turbo injectors wait patiently for fuel to come their way via the Weldon fuel system. The injectors we're using are of the 72-lb/hr low-impedance variety. They should provide plenty of flow for our application.

Even if we step up in power output, we'll still have enough injector to meet those needs and enjoy everyday driveability. Likewise, the UPR fuel rails we've chosen follow right in line with the flow we'll need to feed our supercharged Four-Valve.

MV's Johnny Riddling mounted the Weldon fuel pressure regulator on the passenger-side inner fender apron. This area is common for regulator mounting, and with all that's going on underhood of Project Roadkill, this was about the only free real estate anyway. This mounting position also makes fuel pressure adjustments a breeze.

Johnny's chosen mounting point for the fuel system's Y-block is on the backside of the passenger-side shock tower. The main fuel feed line from the Weldon fuel pump is routed into the engine compartment and into this Y-block. The two fuel lines coming out feed the fuel rails. The lines coming out of the rails are routed to the fuel pressure regulator, and a return line is routed back to the tank from the regulator.

The engine management system we've chosen to go with is Electromotive Incorporated's TEC GT unit. This is a PC-controllable engine control system that hasn't really enjoyed the following of other systems on the market, which is the main reason why we chose it. We've always wanted to get a closer look at the TEC GT system, and we'll get this opportunity with Project Roadkill. The system is as complete as any other engine management system on the market. We'll go through its features when we begin tuning the car. As you can see, the TEC GT comes with an ECU, Direct Fire Unit coil packs, and a timing trigger wheel to be installed on our Innovators West dampener. The Electromotive ECU will be mounted in the stock computer's location, and the wires fed through the factory firewall hole to connect to vital sensors and ignition system.

Johnny mounts the coil packs on the firewall to ease spark-plug wire installation, and to provide a cool area for the coil packs.

To get the fire from the Electromotive Direct Fire Units to the spark plugs, we chose MSD Ignition's spark plug wires for a '96-'98 Four-Valve engine. They don't come assembled so they can be cut to custom lengths, which is exactly what we needed. Johnny measured the wires, cut them to length, and assembled them for use on Roadkill. If we have ignition issues, little Johnny will get a smack upside the head. To tidy up the cam covers, we'll need to decide on which coil covers to use on the car.

Even though we're not using a coil-on-plug ignition system, we're using COP cam covers. MV had these from another project so we jumped on them like Tech Editor Jones into a pair of Dickies shorts.

As a basis for our accessory drive, we chose an Innovators West 10-percent overdrive, eight-rib dampener. The overdrive feature spins the blower faster, provides increased belt wrap, and its eight-rib layout provides 40 percent more contact area. With the dampener, we get more blower speed, which means more boost, thanks to its overdrive feature and eight-rib layout.

As you can see, the Electromotive timing trigger wheel had to be mounted to our Innovators West damper before installing it on the crank snout.

To cool our Four-Valve beast, we're using the combination of a Fluidyne radiator, a Flex-a-lite electric fan, and a Canton Racing Products coolant expansion/fill tank. For the radiator and coolant expansion/fill tank, we chose to use '96 Mustang Cobra applications so some custom fabrication will be needed to mate with our Fox LX's front structure. The Flex-a-lite fan we're using is its X-treme puller fan designed for Fox Mustangs, but it will fit perfectly with our Fluidyne radiator. You should know by now that an aluminum radiator will dissipate heat better than other metals. Generally speaking, Fluidyne says its aluminum radiators offer a 20- to 25-percent increase in cooling ability, which we'll need with our supercharged Four-Valve.

Our Fluidyne radiator mounts perfectly in the factory location. It's a tad wider, and Johnny had to make custom brackets, but he made quick work of them. They don't detract from the overall look, either.

As nice as the radiator brackets look, we can't really say the same for the center bracket Johnny made for the Canton coolant expansion/fill tank, but we'll have to go with it until we find a suitable replacement.

Our Flex-a-lite X-treme electric fan includes mounts at the bottom and top of the radiator, but Johnny had to get out his fabrication wand out once again and whip up a bracket for the top mount. The X-treme puller fan features a 16-inch fan diameter, an adjustable thermostat, and the capability to move 3,300 cfm. That's it for this Project Roadkill installment. Stay tuned to see us finally light this candle, and see what it's worth.

Horse Sense: The best way to comprehend the inefficiency of a heat-soaked supercharger is to imagine trying to move a ship's anchor that's stuck 100 feet below the ocean floor. Basically, hot air has the opposite effect on an engine than that of cold air-it hurts performance. In this case, heat inside the blower and the air charge it generates all but extinguishes an engine's ability to make good power.

Cool, crisp inlet-air temperature is a friend to all internal combustion engines. To put it in better perspective, cold air, as inlet air is commonly called in most high-performance circles, makes horsepower. We have no argument for that sentiment. We're always looking for and trying out new methods of increasing or improving the air that a naturally aspirated or power-adder-assisted Mustang engine takes in.

Air enhancement for S197s has been the hot ticket lately. The cars are super popular, and the aftermarket has seen to it that all types of cold-air intake systems, superchargers, turbos, and nitrous sets are readily available for the new '05-'08 'Stangs. For this exercise, we're looking at Steeda's new high-capacity heat exchanger (PN 555-3706; $449.95) for factory-supercharged Shelby GT 500s and S197 GTs that get additional oomph from positive-displacement blower offerings of Roush and Magnacharger.

Air-to-water intercooling is the primary method of lowering air temperature in supercharged '05-'08 Mustangs equipped with these types of superchargers. Blower-mounted intercoolers for both systems use engine coolant that passes through their cores to lower charged air's temperature just before it enters the engine.

Often, especially when additional mods are made to increase horsepower, a Shelby's stock intercooler (or one included with a Roush or Magnacharger unit) loses its ability to disperse heat and maintain efficiency, despite the presence of radiator-style heat exchangers mounted behind the front bumper that serve as additional independent cooling systems for the blowers.

The root of the situation is, stock-type heat exchangers are too small, and they can't keep up with the amount of heat a supercharger generates and stores once a supercharged 4.6 or 5.4 makes serious steam.

The new Steeda heat exchanger we're installing is much bigger than the OEM Shelby GT 500 or those included with aftermarket units. It will increase superchargers' cooling by more than 160 percent, as flowing coolant will experience huge reductions in temperature, thanks to its increased size.

David and Tedd Siegel of Total Mustang Supply spotted us their lightly modded (CAI, pulley, and tune) Shelby GT 500 to use as the subject 'Stang in this effort, and Steeda's Steve Chichisola is our installer. Bolt-in time for this deal is approximately two and a half hours-it may take longer on Mustang GTs, as a few minor modifications are required. We feel the installation should be performed by 'Stang techs in a fully equipped shop. However, any mechanically adept Shelby owner probably will be able to take care of this install in the driveway, as long as a buddy or two is around to lend a hand.

While we were at Steeda, we decided to check out the company's upgraded cold-air kit (555-3135; $370.45) on another GT 500.

The new system includes many of the same components found in Steeda's original CAI for Shelbys, but the major difference is that this new deal features an advanced inlet elbow that further streamlines intake airflow and clears a Shelby GT 500's strut-tower brace without compromising any of that improved airflow. We're told it has, by itself, produced an extra 12 rwhp on a Shelby).

Having 12 more horses is nice, but most of us are looking for the bigger numbers. When combined with an SCT tune (which Steeda says is now mandatory, by the way), the improved Steeda cold-air kit has shown power gains of as much as 97 hp at the back tires. Throw one of the company's blower pulleys in the mix and the potential is there for more than 140 extra charging ponies without sacrificing vital frontend stability that definitely will be needed.

Performance-enhancing bolt-on parts are the products we tend to focus on in many of our Tech Inspection reports. We acknowledge that making more power is largely considered the ultimate goal for most hard-core Mustang heads, and that's one of the main reasons we like to showcase parts and systems that alter a 'Stang's attitude

Every once in a while, though, it's important to shine some of the spotlight that we dedicate to horsepower on the pieces that support blowers, turbos, and nitrous systems.

We learned of eXtreme Performance & Innovation's new TimingLock through one of our regular journeys on the Web, hunting around for new Mustang-specific products that aren't on our radar. The TimingLock is for '88-'95 Mustangs with TFI-IV/ SPOUT distributors.

As many of you know, advancing (increasing) timing is a prerequisite for pouring on the oats in a 'Stang's engine. Unless you're using a standalone or piggyback engine management system, manually turning the distributor counterclockwise is the only other method of adding timing, or more specifically, locking out timing at an optimum advance setting for a particular combination. According to XPI's owner, Eric Hughes, the TimingLock ($149) makes this type of adjustment easy, as it allows enthusiasts to advance/lock-out timing on the fly by pressing a few buttons to achieve a desired setting. The other alternative is to deal with constant locked-out timing and the low-rpm nuances that go along with it, including surging idle, poor driveability, and low fuel mileage.

This type of set-it-and-forget-it flexibility is especially beneficial to those who use turbos, blowers, or nitrous and wish to run stock timing for normal driving, and then step up to pinpoint, locked-out timing whenever the wick is turned up. For drag racers, the unit features a built-in, two-step rev limiter (blue wire) that requires a separate switch for activation. We didn't connect it, but it's cool nonetheless.

We gave the TimingLock a try on a '93 'Stang that sports Vortech's S-Trim supercharger on the 302ci bullet underhood, and we put the install in the capable hands of B&D Racing's lead tech, Mason "Mase" Rowland. The operation requires simple handtools, such as sockets, a ratchet, a wire cutter/crimping tool, "tap" connectors, a toggle-type switch, and wire. The job can be performed in your driveway in about 45 minutes.

With base timing dialed at 10 degrees advanced, Mase hit the road after installing XPI's TimingLock to evaluate seat-of-the-pants performance, first with the unit turned off, and then on. "The car is smooth with stock timing, and it seems easier to cruise around than when the distributor is full-time locked at 14 degrees," says Mase. "When I activated the TimingLock and gave it a few blasts, the car performed exactly as it did when timing was manually locked. There was no pinging or other abnormalities. It just basically took off, like it usually does, and all I had to do was press a few buttons to make it happen."

Horse Sense: Factory S197 aluminum block castings have such wickedly sharp edges and casting flash that factory line workers are issued special gloves to handle them.

It didn't take long for the power merchants of the aftermarket to send forth an army of performance enhancements for the S197 GT's Three-Valve modular, with positive-displacement and centrifugal superchargers, along with turbos, leading the charge (pun intended). As of late, with the benefit of intercooling, as well as the increasing finesse and sophistication of tuning solutions, we're also seeing ever-higher levels of boost. Where just a while back 10 psi was considered impressive, now 15, 20, or even 30 pounds of boost are threatening to become the norm, with correspondingly nutty increases in horsepower and torque. It's now possible to attain 800, 1,000, or more pressurized ponies.

Of course, all this boost means huge increases in cylinder pressures, and an enormous strain is being put on factory reciprocating and rotating assemblies-stuff that was engineered for 350 or 400 ponies at most. Then there's the separate matter of the modular's relatively puny 281ci displacement.

In one fell swoop, Livernois Motorsports has addressed both bottom-end strength and the need for increased swept cylinder volume with its Three-Valve stroker packages, so we ambled over to the company's Dearborn Heights, Michigan, headquarters for a closer look. Livernois is certainly not alone in building modular strokers, but after hearing of the depth of R&D and witnessing the attention to detail that go into these stout short-blocks, we came away duly impressed.

Truthfully, Livernois will build a custom short-block to suit virtually any customer's needs, but the company offers two "regular" S197 stroker packages on its Web site-one built to handle ludicrous levels of boost and horsepower (up to 29 psi or 1,000 hp) and yet another for those approaching the internal-combustion insanity of 30-plus psi or 1,500 hp.

What separates Livernois from many other purveyors of stroker combos is the level of research and testing, along with the resulting specification of custom reciprocating and rotating hardware. The company doesn't throw together unrelated, off-the-shelf components. Let's take a closer look.

Though others can be substituted, Livernois bases its Three-Valve modular stroker assemblies on the S197's factory aluminum block, having found its four-bolt bottom end to be rigid and durable, provided certain measures are taken to address the possibility of stress risers. Those measures include deburring and radiusing any and all of the factory block's sharp edges or corners-and there are many of them-in the pan rail, main web/bulkhead, and other areas. Why? These sharp edges or corners are stress focal points and can fall victim to cracks, and ultimately, structural failures that will reverberate directly through your wallet.

This hand grinding continues in the oil passages, specifically within the inlets from the oil pump and the oil-filter adapter, as well as in the main-bearing area. The idea here is to radius sharp corners to improve flow. Front and rear press-in oil-galley plugs are removed, and their holes are drilled and tapped for screw-in pipe plugs to ensure the integrity of galley seals.

The factory cylinder-bore diameter remains essentially untouched, save for a 0.002-inch honing to establish the surface pattern desired for the new ring package. The blocks are then align-bored, but not until certain engine accessories, including an oil pump and starter motor, are temporarily bolted on. This accounts for the small but significant distortion of the block caused by torquing these accessories in place. The idea is to make the main bore utterly true in "as-installed" conditions, whereas the factory, for reasons of cost effectiveness, simply aligns the crank bore with only the main caps attached.

Livernois' stroker cranks are forged by Kellogg-the same source Ford turned to for the Cobra and GT 500. The stroke is 3.750 inches (stock: 3.5433), for a resulting displacement of about 298 ci or just under 4.9 liters. These are custom forgings to Livernois' specs, with a unique crank for each of the two available piston options. Mike Schropp, Livernois' supervisor of engine development, says: "We gave Kellogg specs for different counterweight designs, with thicknesses and bobweight changes that work better with the entire package, versus just taking an off-the-shelf crank and trying to make the rod and piston work around it." In other words, compromises in the reciprocating hardware were avoided by going to the trouble of having new crank profiles created.

Both Livernois stroker packages share a custom Manley H-beam rod in 5.850-inch length, but for those seeking the absolute ultimate in strength-and price-a billet I-beam rod is optional. According to Mike, Ford's factory rod is the weakest link in an S197 modular's OEM bottom end. Unless extreme detonation is the culprit, the factory rod will almost invariably fail before a piston. Of course, once a rod lets go, short-block disaster soon follows.

Once again, these Manley rods aren't off-the-shelf pieces. For instance, at the piston-pin end, the rods are narrower than usual because the Mahle tool-steel piston pin is shorter than most but beefier in wall thickness. The narrower rod end allows the piston's pin bosses to come further inboard for greater pin support and overall rigidity.

We mentioned that Livernois offers two Three-Valve stroker short-blocks, with the principal difference between them being their piston designs. These pistons are likely the most research-intensive components in the whole project and are made by Mahle to Livernois' specs. They also benefit from constant updates and improvements filtering down from Mahle's world-wide participation in motorsports. All are phosphate-coated to prevent galling or microwelding in the pin-bore and ring-groove areas. All wear Mahle's patented Grafal skirt coating, which acts as a cushion against piston rock-over and also provides a tighter piston/cylinder fit for quieter operation. The most apparent difference between the two levels of piston is in the depth of the top ring land.

A (Mahle) ring package itself is common to both piston designs, though the customer has the option of switching out the plasma/moly top ring in favor of stainless steel, while the second ring can be changed to a race-oriented, hooked-groove (Napier) style. The entire ring package is designed for maximum oil control, as oil getting through into the combustion chamber is a prime cause of detonation.

When it comes to dish volume for compression ratio, Livernois offers several options. While it's accepted that forced induction demands a lower static compression than natural aspiration, Livernois also draws a distinction between the various types of forced induction. The biggest dish/lowest compression is reserved for positive-displacement superchargers and turbos, which develop boost almost off-idle. However, because centrifugal blowers don't really pitch in until higher up on the tach, Livernois suggests a higher-compression piston to generate power and efficiency down low. The specific compression ratio is usually determined after consultation with the customer on his specific combo/application.

As of this writing, the standard Livernois Three-Valve stroker short-block is priced at $3,995, while the extreme-boost version goes for $4,195 (plus a $1,000 core charge in the absence of a customer-supplied block). While there are probably less expensive modular strokers available, Mike explains why the Livernois versions are worth their asking prices: "First off is the amount of custom labor that goes into them as far as block prep work, machine-prep time, final assembly practices, and quality control procedures. We use a lot of higher-end race-engine building procedures that are adapted down to a more general build, which simply takes us a lot more time. Also, we don't just purchase an off-the-shelf rotating assembly, stick it in a block and call it a stroker short-block. We go through an almost OEM-level of testing to come up with the parts that go in our short-blocks. We've purchased off-the-shelf parts and tested them, and they've failed at different power levels for different reasons, so we went about designing our own parts with different manufacturers."

We at 5.0&SF have little doubt that Livernois is crafting some stout strokers, and we know the welcome bump in displacement will certainly swell the modular power curve-in particular, adding some much needed torque at lower revs. At the moment, we can't tell you exactly how much additional horsepower and torque they'll produce over a stock 4.6. Like anything else, the block-to-block power delta will depend upon the overall combination.

That said, one of the high-boost short-blocks being assembled during our visit is destined to end up under the hood of Livernois' in-house Whipple-blown '07 GT. We plan to feature that car in an upcoming issue, and we'll include Livernois' dyno documentation of all the stuff the company is installing on that project, short-block included. When we know, you'll know.

If a short-block's good, then a long-block's better, right? If you're planning a whopping power adder, you may as well bolt on some heads capable of keeping up with the flow. Livernois has the S197 market covered with three stages of CNC-machined Three-Valve heads. We discussed the company's initial Three-Valve head offering in great detail a while back ("Triple Threat," May '06, p. 210), but the range has expanded since then to three stages:

Stage 1 uses the same port/chamber CNC program we outlined in our earlier article, but it now retains stock valves (and valve job), springs, and guides. These or Stage 2 are great for normally aspirated or relatively low-boost applications.

Stage 2 excavates larger ports via its revised CNC program and brings along a valve job with revised angles for better flow. Stock valves are utilized, though reground to match the valve seats, and are teamed with upgraded springs and bronze guides.

Stage 3 is treated to the CNC program with an even larger port volume. It dispenses with the stock valves for stainless steel intake valves and high-temp Inconel versions on the exhaust side, both 1mm larger than factory (the valve job is modified accordingly). These are the breathers you want for those megaboost applications.

Horse Sense: Four-Valve upgrades are what Performance Solutions Racing does best, as evidenced by the '03-'04 Cobras and Mach 1s in the shop for upgrades while we were there. Owner Dan Boardman's turbocharged, low-9-second Terminator is the baddest in the fleet. We think Dan should consider changing his shop's name to "The Snakepit," as it's a fitting moniker for a shop with that kind of SVT clientele.

Living by the clich "Necessity is the mother of invention," we constantly evaluate new concepts for late-model Mustangs that fully support this notion. We do our best to provide details on new products as soon as we get the chance.

While many of the aftermarket parts we tell you about are produced by huge conglomerates, we really dig it when 'Stangbangers take it upon themselves to make various bolt-ons for their cars and others like them, especially when the need for a part is critical and supply can't support demand.

Performance Solutions Racing's owner Dan Boardman experienced the supply-versus-demand debacle last year: New Edge ('99-'04) K-members that are normally readily available to his Phoenix-based installation/dyno facility were suddenly impossible to get.

"We found ourselves in an unusual position," Dan says. "We were unable to get K-members from anywhere, and we needed to finish several cars in the shop for suspension upgrades. Although I had orders out for three K-members each from anyone and everyone who builds them, I consulted with an engineer for information on how we could make our own so we wouldn't be caught in the same situation ever again."

K-members did eventually arrive from various manufacturers, and the crisis ended. However, Dan decided to move forward with making a PSR version of a mod-motor cradle. "I took all of the different K-members to the engineer and had him blueprint each one," Dan says. "We then overlaid the blueprints and saw several variances between most aftermarket K-members. "While the differences are fine-and expected to an extent, we took our research further and installed each K-member back-to-back on the same car, noting what we liked and disliked about each one."

The data gleaned from the testing helped the crew at PSR develop its new Extreme Tube K-member (PN PSR46; $995). It's a lightweight piece that features improvements in design, geometry, and overall construction, which according to Dan, makes them "far more superior to the other mod-motor K-members on the market." The K-member supports Two- and Four-Valve engines in '99-'04 Mustangs.

A recent trip to Phoenix afforded us an opportunity to stop by PSR, where we got a good look at the company's new K-member. We followed along as PSR technicians Shane Baker and Andy Morgan installed one on a stock '03 Mach 1. The car has a nitrous system, but the juice hadn't yet been used before the K-member swap.

Working as a team, Shane and Andy transferred the parts efficiently and added a UPR front coilover spring kit (14-inch/175-pound street/strip) with UPR's three-bolt Shark caster/camber plates before returning the Mach to the ground. After a wheel alignment, which is recommended any time a K-member is replaced, Shane reported the 'Stang's ride is good on the street.

Follow-up dragstrip tests were also performed. With the 'Stang's best 60-foot e.t. in stock trim on street tires recorded as 2.0 seconds, the weight reduction and improved weight transfer brought about by PSR's Extreme Tube K-member improved the Mach 1's short times by one tenth. The car's setup was otherwise unchanged.

We were curious to know the weight difference between a factory New Edge K-member and the PSR Extreme Tube piece.

Prior to installing the new K-member, Dan Boardman checked the weight of both pieces on a scale:

Stock: 107 poundsPSR Extreme Tube: 34 pounds

PSR's new K-member is not only lighter, it's also strong and comes with a free two-year replacement warranty for parts only. "I don't care if you hang the wheels to the moon and slam them back down," says Dan. "If our K-member breaks in two years, we'll replace it with no questions asked."

Horse Sense: This just in: Included in this report are rearwheel horsepower/torque numbers for the Big Terry's-built, Paxton-blown 350ci small-block that now motivates our project 'Stang. At the outset of the project, we hoped the big-bore stroker and supercharger would make 650 rwhp. While the engine's performance with race fuel and a hastily made tune for PINKS All Out gave us the pleasant surprise of being more than we anticipated, a post PINKS and more in-depth tuning and dyno session with "Harv" of HMS Performance left us speechless when 811 horses and 700 lb-ft of torque at 21 psi of boost were recorded at our T-top notchback's back tires. Stay tuned for further developments on this fantastic news.

If you've been keeping track of all things associated with our '86 T-top coupe 'Stang (we know many of you have been diligently following the project and we appreciate all of the positive e-mails and comments we've received), last month we told you all about our successful thrash effort to fully resuscitate the coupe's blown (and we don't mean supercharged) engine, in time to attend a major event that was fast approaching.

Although we've done some track testing, participating in something big with the T-top coupe has long been a desire. Our original intent was to take the 'Stang to Hot Rod's Drag Week in 2006. Unfortunately, time got the best of us and we missed out on attending that event. Schedule conflicts prevented us from giving Drag Week a go in 2007.

So, when we received word that the All Out version of the wildly popular PINKS reality-television program (www.speedtv.com/pinks) was going to be taped at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, we set our sights and efforts on making sure our California-based Mustang would be there.

In the spinoff broadcast, PINKS All Out, the show's creator and host, Rich Christensen, takes his brand of heads-up racing to the next level, as racers flock to dragstrips all over the country to compete for big money, prizes, and best-of-the-best bragging rights that last a lifetime.

While getting to PINKS All Out was a must for us, we also wanted to join the growing fraternity of NMRA racers such as Justin Burcham, Ron Cullember, Troy Hrdlicka, Bobby Sisco, and others who have given PINKS All Out a try. Ron actually made it to the final round of an All-Out event, but lost when his 'Stang's rearend let go.

Before we go any further and contrary to what might be conventional thought, we need to make an important point clear to you all: In our opinion, the 10-grand payout to the winner is not the main reason why PINKS All Out is so popular. Sure, like everyone else, we went to Vegas hoping we would be selected in the Top 16, and of course we were unable to shake the never-ending fantasy of winning it all. While neither of those things happened, our overall experience, the hundreds of smiles we saw, and the positive comments we heard from nearly everyone we came in contact with made it clear that the most important contributor to PINKS All Out's success is the fact that it's probably the most fun a person can have at a drag race.

We relive highlights through the following photos and captions. We encourage you to enter your 'Stang, when PINKS All Out comes to a dragstrip near you.

For those of you who aren't familiar with PINKS All Out, it's a for-money derivative of PINKS, the show in which racers put their cars on the line-competitors square off against each other in a best-three-out-of-five drag-race contest for pink slips-that airs each week on the SPEED network. Vehicle titles are signed over to the show at the start of the event, and the winner assumes ownership of the loser's car at the end.

Unlike the original PINKS event, PINKS All Out is a runoff between a field of 16 cars that in two rounds of qualifying seem to be the most closely matched based on e.t.'s that are within one-tenth (or closer) of each other. For the first round, cars are run in groups of 50, with the first hit run on a 0.400 pro Tree and a timeslip is presented at the end. The second timed run is started by an arm-drop from host Rich Christensen; timeslips aren't provided for that one. As it's television we're talking about, a car's and a driver's on-camera appearance also has at least a small impact on the selection process.

The e.t. range for each event is unknown until after qualifying has ended, which is why all-out racing is a must for each competitor. The idea is to weed out the sandbaggers and go with a group of cars that will consistently run the number and make for four rounds of close, exciting, heads-up races.

The top 16 racers are paired and run heads up, and winners receive $1,000 for advancing. E.t.'s are first verified by the casting director, Nate Pritchett, and his brother, Adam, using each racer's qualifying e.t.'s to ensure games aren't being played. Unfortunately, there's no consolation round for the losers.

Stakes get higher once the field is cut to eight racers. Just before each pair runs, racers are asked if they would like to bet some or all or none of their $1,000 winnings. Round winners keep the wagered money, as well as whatever he keeps in his pocket if he doesn't risk the full amount. For the Las Vegas event, drivers agreed prior to the runoff that the wagers would stand at $1,000 for each round.

The final eliminator is a best-two-out-of-three affair (engines are required to stay running throughout the finals), that's stacked with excitement and drama. In the end, one lucky racer goes home with $10,000 cash. NAPA also sweetens the pot with a cache of mechanic's tools worth about $8,000.

The project car has been a hit at car shows and a total blast to cruise on the street since its completion, but being able to bomb our Fox Rod down the 1,320 on Hot Rod's Drag Week has also been one of our primary intentions for our rejuvenated rare 'Stang. As many of you know by now, Drag Week hasn't happened for us for the past two years.So, as the hard reality that we probably won't ever attend Drag Week becomes more clear, we're now pursuing opportunities for racing the coupe that are in a closer proximity to the Los Angeles area. In all honesty, with the round-trip tow between our project car's Southern California home base and the Midwest start point for Drag Week, and then the five days of the event itself, pursuing the venture actually requires three consecutive weeks on the road, which is more time than we can afford to devote to one event.

As we detailed in "Full-Throttle Meltdown" (Jan. '08, p. 88), Extreme Automotive of Canoga Park, California, and Big Terry's Engine Shop of Simi Valley, California, were the two main forces behind our push to get to PINKS All Out. Thanks to their efforts and the great support from several companies that got us parts, fuel, and everything else we needed in a hurry, we made it to Las Vegas-despite being plagued by several problems of varying magnitude. We got there a day later than we wanted to arrive, but we got there nonetheless.

Upon learning there would be upward of 400 cars on the property at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, all vying for a chance to compete in a Top-16, single-elimination battle under the stars for 10 Grand, we initially thought PINKS All Out would be a mess. To the contrary, what we quickly realized and came to appreciate about PINKS All Out is the fact that organization is the production's strong point. While some of the lines we waited in after arriving at the track (Will Call, Tech/Registration) were fairly long, most of the process went smoothly, and staff members were dialed in with answers to most of the "where-do-I-go/what-do-I-do" questions and issues that participants had.

Don't for one moment think that PINKS All Out is fake. Yes, it is reality TV, which we all know usually seems far from being real. While making the show does involve occasional delays, as is normal for any TV production, the racing action at PINKS All Out is definitely the real deal and it's recorded as it happens. Producers aren't asking, "Hey, can you do that burnout over again for us-smokier this time?" or "Why don't you let the other guy win this one, OK?" There's nothing bogus like that, which is a fact that put us somewhat at ease about being involved.

Although the Weld AlumaStar II and Mickey Thompson ET Street Radial 17-inch wheel and tire combination we've used for drag racing has been a crowd favorite, we believe improved traction for our T-top coupe will be achieved by switching to 15-inch wheels and tires.

The change to first-gen AlumaStars, ET Street, and ET Front drag tires was made just before we left for Las Vegas and proved to be a move in the right direction: We saw our project car's 60-foot e.t. drop to a 1.594 from a previous best of 1.866 with the larger rolling stock.

We're certain the short times will continue to get better as we work on improving other aspects of the launch.

Remember: Lean is mean. A full tank of the good stuff (we're using VP Racing Fuel's Motorsport 109E) or an adjustment or two on our XFI tune would've probably made the difference between detonating and not detonating and averting the disaster that led to our two weeks of thrash madness prior to PINKS All Out.

Race fuel's much-ballyhooed high-octane rating refers to a fuel company's rating for the level at which the fuel resists detonation. Most enthusiasts are familiar with pump octane numbers, which are the numbers on the yellow decal on the gas pump at local stations. The figure represents the average of the fuel's Motor Octane Numbers and Research Octane Numbers.

The MON test method most accurately simulates racing conditions. We found out the hard way that the 91-octane gas in our project car's tank was fine for the cruising and light-boost blasts we made around town, but it was nowhere near capable of handling the Novi's higher boost range (above 15 psi). Detonation (aka "pinging") is to blame for destroying the 'Stang's engine.

Putting it in simple terms, the phenomenon is basically a super violent combustion explosion inside a cylinder. The explosion can cause great damage to an engine.

The race gas we're using is a direct descendant of VP's MS 109 unleaded specialty race fuel. We went with it after speaking with VP's Jay Farnsworth about the problem we had with California's premium blend. Motorsport 109E is oxygenated with ethanol and 50-state legal-including those that restrict the use of MTBE in fuels. We decided on a 54-gallon drum to ensure we'll have a sufficient amount for future dyno testing and street/strip action.

Jay recommended MS 109E based on our intent to run high boost in the revamped stroker, and the fuel's compliance with the high-flow cats and wideband oxygen sensor in the coupe's JBA exhaust system.

MS 109E's MON is 99, and it has a 0.805 specific gravity ratio, which is the ratio between the fuel's mass and the mass of an equal volume of distilled water at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It's the highest for all of VP's oxygenated unleaded race fuels. Race gas also has a higher cooling effect than the pump fuel we buy for predominately street-oriented Mustangs. Cooling effect is another property of fuel that wards off detonation.

According to Jay, the key to selecting the best racing gasoline for an application is going with one that's best suited for the engine, not necessarily whatever fuel has the highest octane. While increasing the octane certainly does produce more horsepower, mainly because spark advance (timing) can be increased, using too-high a grade will slow the fuel's burn rate and cause a noticeable loss of power.

The bottom line? Be sure to pay strict attention to your engine's fuel needs, especially when power adders are used. It makes no difference whether a 'Stang is built for street driving or hard-core racing, having good gas in the tank can make or-as we learned the hard way-break an engine's performance-and a wallet.

Once the engine and drivetrain were back in our coupe, we bolted the Dynapack dyno pods to the car's axles, and dialed in a proper big-boost/wide-open-throttle air/fuel ratio (11.7 at 17 psi of boost), with a lot more confidence because we're using the right fuel for the job.

Please see the dyno chart on the last page for detailed performance information.

Right before we loaded the coupe into the trailer, we plugged our laptop into its XFI braintrust. Josh Deeds of Deeds Performance in Chatsworth, California, created a good, safe tune (11.7 air/fuel at WOT) for our new bullet. With air/fuel being optimum, we put another turn on the blower belt for maximum tightness and let the Novi rip to the tune of 668 rwhp and 650 lb-ft of torque at 17 psi of boost.

Our project car was joined by a host of classic ('60s and '70s), Fox, SN-95, New Edge, and S197 Mustangs at PINKS All Out: Las Vegas.

Racers brought their best in mild and ridiculously wild engine combinations and put everything on the line in their effort to make it to the Top 16. Paul Coroneos' nitrous-injected, 11-second, V-10-powered '97 coupe-a former six-cylinder 'Stang-is one example of Mustang over-the-topness we found while cruising through the pits.

"We like to see Mustangs show up for PINKS All Out," says Casting Director Nate Pritchett. "The Fox-body 'Stangs really are the most popular musclecar of current times and represent an accurate example of our market. There's just more of 'em out there."

While a Bowtie boy ultimately ended up winning the event, we really enjoyed seeing a pair of (Ford-powered) Foxes make it to the Top 16.

Since we weren't selected as a Top 16 finalist, we decided to make the most of our time at PINKS All Out: Las Vegas by visiting the cast's War Room, located in a conference room in the tower at The Strip.

Inside the War Room, we caught up with Casting Director Nate Pritchett and asked him about some of the criteria used in the Top 16 selection process.

"As car guys, we always like to see fast cars go down the track. Unfortunately, it's harder to get a bigger group of fast cars. I don't want to see a bunch of Pro-Mod guys trying to go 9.90s. I'd rather see a field of slower cars with guys that are really pushing it."

The War Room is where the show comes together once qualifying has ended, as it's where Rich Christensen, Nate and his brother, Adam, and other cast members deliberate over which of the hundreds of competitors will be chosen to move on and race heads-up for the money and prizes.

"We do really battle a lot," says Nate of the heated exchanges in the War Room that are a highlight of the television program.

"Rich and I push each other. He hired me to be 'the car guy' and his sounding board, and he's the TV guy, who really didn't know very much about drag racing when he got this thing started, and he's still learning. We bounce this stuff off each other all the time and it's not always pretty, but it's always respectful. Our ultimate goal is to give the right people a shot at winning $10,000."

"At the end of the day, we're looking for the closest, fastest (quickest) group of cars we can find," says PINKS All Out's Casting Director Nate Pritchett (left). "To make a field of 16 cars, my brother and I have to identify cars that, when run all out, are within one-tenth of each other's in e.t. Once you factor reaction time into the equation, our Top 16 is usually within a couple of thousandths of a second, which makes for exciting racing at the stripe."

Horse Sense: A non-Siamese block has water passages in between the cylinder bores. The more rigid Siamese block has nothing but solid metal between the bores.

Lately, the midnight oil has been burning fiercely at Ford Racing Performance Parts, especially in the realm of crate motors and, more to the point, engine blocks. It seems just a short while ago ("It's Good to Be Boss," Jan. '07, p. 104), we were scoping out FRPP's ultra-stout Boss 302 pushrod block, and now we're taking our first look at its modular counterpart, the Boss 5.0.

Displacing-as you likely guessed-an even 5.0 liters, this is much more than a bored 4.6-liter block. In fact, the Boss 5.0 is a new casting that incorporates many strength, cooling, and durability improvements compared to its factory modular counterpart. On a historical side note, it's also among the final series of engine blocks to be poured in FoMoCo's famous Cleve-land casting plant, scheduled to close its doors sometime around the end of 2007.

Despite its eight bigger holes-3.700 inches in diameter versus a 4.6's 3.552-inch bore dimension-the Boss packs about 10 pounds more muscle than the OEM iron casting, most of which can be found in the main web/bulkhead areas. Stiffening this area surrounding and supporting the crankshaft is a huge ingredient in the recipe required to contain the ludicrous amounts of power we're producing these days. That explains the rationale for casting the Boss 5.0 in iron instead of lighter aluminum.

Road racers may shun this block in favor of aluminum to get the lighter nose weight-and that's OK because they're normally not running more than 500 hp. As power levels increase beyond that, aluminum blocks have a tendency to develop more flexibility or "walk" in the bottom end, which, among other things, adversely affects piston ring seal. When the rings aren't sealing, power is leaking away, as is durability. "At as low as 500 hp, you'll make more power with an iron-block than an aluminum block because the rings will seal and last longer," says FRPP's Jesse Kershaw. One obvious application we see for the Boss 5.0 is on '03-'04 Terminators, many of which now routinely pound out 700 or more high-boost, rear-wheel ponies. As those bottom ends wear-and they will-the Boss is the ideal replacement, one that also brings along the obvious benefit of additional displacement at a stock 4.6-liter deck height.

Still on the topic of crankcase, the Boss 5.0 main caps are machined so they can easily be drilled for an additional pair of bolts, but it seems the power threshold necessary to require such additional clamping measures is high. How much power can this block handle as issued with its two-bolt caps and cross-bolts? "I think we're talking 1,000-1,100 or more horsepower," Jesse says. "The Sutton drag car is currently making more than 1,000 hp, and they've been running this block all season long. They actually set the EFI Renegade record for e.t. and mph in the NMRA without any issue, and that's with the two-bolt mains." So yes, this is a stout chunk of iron. "For a street car, I think this is the last block you'll ever have to buy."

Aside from its brawn, the Boss 5.0 casting also addresses a slight cooling imbalance evident between the left and right cylinder banks on factory 4.6-liter blocks. Due to coolant routing, a factory modular has better cooling of its driver-side bank than the passenger side. Under extreme conditions, this can impact head-gasket life on the passenger-side bank. The Boss features revised passages that provide a 50/50 coolant split between the banks. Speaking of which, in order to achieve the 3.700-inch bore, the Boss 5.0 is of Siamese-bore design, eliminating the water jackets surrounding the cylinders.

While some might wonder about running Siamese bores on the street, Jesse says, "We've had one of these blocks in Mike Tymensky's street car for more than 30,000 miles, including a trip to Florida and back, so we have a high level of confidence in the block's street application."

FRPP's warehouse has a good supply of Boss 5.0 blocks ready to ship. Cleveland has cast about 1,500 of them, and they're being machined in batches by Roush Industries (see sidebar, The Boss Goes to Finishing School.) If we get a chance to use one for a block-swap tech project, we'll be sure to fill you in on how it does. In the meantime, we give you the details on how this new modular monster earns the honored Boss moniker.

The Sutton High Performance crew out of Illinois ran a prototype Boss 5.0 iron-block in its e.t. and mph record-setting EFI Renegade S197 during the '07 NMRA season. Previously, they had campaigned both wet- and dry-sleeved 3.700-bore aluminum blocks. Some good reasons for the switch, according to Sutton engine-builder Jerry VanDerLinde, include: "Two different times we actually broke the main webbing out of the aluminum block. No matter which sleeve system we used, they would egg-shape or distort under the power we gave them. We'd then lose compression and power."

But heads-up racers like low weight, right? "The iron-block is 60-70 pounds heavier, but it was more than worth the weight for how much durability we got out of it. The cylinders stayed round all year; the main webbing and the oil pressure were perfect. We've literally had to do no maintenance to the block this year, and we put about 1,240 hp to the crank."

And that's using the two-bolt main caps as issued with the block. Jerry, in fact, opines that this may in fact be stronger than drilling for a four-bolt setup, since that drilling would take structural material from the caps. "The revised cooling system has been a huge improvement to us as well," he says. "There has always been an issue with uneven cooling in the modular motor, and this block addresses that uneven cooling."

Jerry's summation: "If you want to make serious modular-motor power, you absolutely have to use this block."

When the trucks started leaving the Cleveland casting plant bearing palettes of Boss 5.0 blocks headed for FRPP, they made an interim stop at one of Roush Industries many Detroit-area facilities. Here, the as-cast lumps of painted iron are given all the critical machining necessary to turn them into functioning modular foundations. To the uninitiated (like me), this Roush machining line is amazingly automated, with a trio of five-axis Makino A81 machining stations doing all the finish work, served by a computer-commanded conveyor system that methodically moves the blocks from station to station. It's great for consistency, and no back-breaking manual lifting is required.

The main caps are received as clumps of cast iron. At a separate station, they're converted into fully finished, drilled, and tapped caps with precise tolerances. The caps are then bolted to the blocks before the final crank boring is completed.

While we would like to have shown more meaningful photos of this facility, a lot of the procedures are proprietary and some of the ongoing projects are secret, so we were asked to limit ourselves to the task at hand.

We're going to (hopefully safely) assume that Mustang enthusiasts who follow our tech content on a regular basis are familiar with the term air/fuel ratio by now, as it's something we often discuss when projects involve tuning an engine on the dyno. Don't worry-there won't be a quiz at the end of this report, but before we go further, it's important that we give a layman's definition of what an engine's A/F ratio is for those who may have wondered for a long time but were afraid to ask.

Correct air/fuel levels for almost all 5.0, 4.6, and 5.4 EFI engines in late-model Mustangs are dependent on oxygen sensors, which measure the composition of the engine's exhaust gas. The data output of each sensor is processed by the PCM, which then triggers the fuel injectors to disperse the correct volume of fuel into the intake stream

So, for the uninitiated, air/fuel is the ratio between air's mass and fuel's mass in the mixture of the two elements inside a 'Stang's engine. The ratio is a major contributor to the combustion process and ultimately to the engine's efficiency at idle and wide-open throttle.

Air/fuel does have a point of perfection, so to speak. The zen point of 14.7 A/F is called the stoichiometric mixture. It's the precise amount of oxygen atoms necessary to completely burn fuel in an air/fuel mixture while the engine is idling. Ratios lower than 14.7 are con-sidered rich. On the other hand, when A/F numbers are greater than stoich, a mixture is referred to as lean. Rich and lean air/fuel mixtures produce less power and fuel efficiency than the stoichiometric mixture.

For most stock, naturally aspirated Mustangs, knowledge or awareness of the engine's normal air/fuel ratio (12.5-13.3) and what the O2 sensors are reading isn't really necessary, as the PCM does a fine job of handling any changes that warrant adjustment in the engine's tune. The need to know exactly what the A/F ratio is becomes more important when a 'Stang's game is stepped up with the addition of high-performance bolt-ons (heads, cams, cold-air intake, exhaust), a power adder (11.3-12.1), and once the dyno and tuning software are used to dial-in maximum performance for a combination.

The best way to monitor air/fuel ratio (other than via the oxygen sensor on a dyno) is by using a wideband oxygen sensor and a good air/fuel gauge. In this exercise, we're installing and checking out the fit and function of the latest air/fuel ratio gauge by Innovate Technology. The company's new G2 gauge kit (PN 3801; $289) is highlighted by a stylish silver, 2 1/16-inch analog A/F gauge.

The gauge itself boasts a high-speed stepper motor for quick, smooth sweeps across the dial, as well as through-dial backlighting and an illuminated pointer for easy at-a-glance reading in darker light. The package we're testing also features a wideband oxygen sensor, an LC-1 Lambda Cable wideband controller, and Innovate's LogWorks 2.0 engine-tuning software

Here are the highlights of a recent Innovate G2 installation we witnessed. Extreme Automotive's Saul "The Surgeon" Gutierrez handled the setup chores on an '04 GT, sporting an aftercooled Vortech S-Trim, as well as SLP long-tube headers and exhaust.

Naturally, all the upgrades have an effect on WOT air/fuel, but the supercharger's boost (or boost of a turbocharger or nitrous shot, for that matter) creates the biggest need for keeping a close eye on air/fuel info. Check it!

Most tuners and hard-core Mustang racers consider wideband oxygen sensors must-have tools for collecting data that's crucial to perfecting an engine's tune.

Widebands provide a precise indication of the exact air/fuel ratios across a broad range, as they're capable of compensating for changes in temperature, altitude, and even the condition of the sensor itself

By contrast, the output of a narrowband O2 more closely resembles an approximate relationship to an engine's true A/F mixture.

Wideband oxygen sensors alone can be expensive, so Innovate's total package (A/F gauge, O2 sensor, and Lambda Cable controller) is a good deal if you upgrade to a turbo, blower, or nitrous or want to tune any combo for max performance.

Horse Sense: Our esteemed editor, Steve Turner, says a project car is never really finished until it's sold. Fear not! The Fox-Rodded '86 T-top coupe that has been one of this magazine's main attractions for the last year won't be going to the highest bidder any time soon. We'll continue to make cutting-edge street/strip mods on it and bring you all the details right here.

Now that we're a few issues beyond the report on our T-top coupe's street and dragstrip debut ("Final Exam," Aug. '07, p. 164), some people may be under the impression we've exhausted all the story possibilities for this Fox-Rodded project.

Not a chance.

The saga of our T-top coupe isn't finished yet. While stories focusing on the car's future upgrades and mods may be more infrequent than the monthly installments we gave you during its build period, it's important that you know we're still adding to and using this rare 'Stang to install, test, and showcase hard-core street/strip equipment for '79-'93 Foxes.

If you're scratching your head trying to figure out what we're talking about, for the past year, we've been deep in the throes of putting together a rare '86 Mustang LX coupe with T-tops. We acquired this special 'Stang in October 2005, and in a timeframe of just shy of a year, proceeded to resurrect our find, transforming it from near hopeless to an award-winning street cruiser/dragstrip brawler that came together on the pages of 5.0&SF.

At the outset of the project, we stated our intent to build a 'Stang that represents the old and new, as '86 Mustangs are considered by many enthusiasts to be the Ponies that started 'Stangbanging madness as we know it. We also wanted the car to be capable of driving on local streets and freeways and quick enough to click off 10-second e.t.'s on pump fuel whenever we were in the mood to do so. The project car serves as a live model for development of items that represent new-school technology for '79-'93 Mustangs. It features parts and improved accessories that were unheard of years ago.

While we enjoy cruising the streets of SoCal, hearing the sweet sound of the coupe's Rocco Accerio 350 and whistle of its Paxton Novi 2000 supercharger, we're of broad-enough scope to acknowledge the fact that street cars aren't made of muscle alone. The way we see it, a good street 'Stang's total package includes a killer exterior appearance and a clean interior that features either a fair share of cool, custom personalization or is bone-stock and unblemished to the point of absurdness. Acceptable ride quality is also important, although it's understandable that drag-inspired cars may not ride as smoothly as other street 'Stangs.

Based on reader feedback, we think the bases are covered fairly well with our T-top coupe. However, one piece of this Mustang's puzzle has been missing for a while and it's finally time to add it. As promised, we're installing Sony's MEX-1GP Giga-Panel head unit and a full array of Scoshe's eFX Hyper-Drive amps, speakers, wires, and accessories to the coupe's cockpit-and more importantly, the trunk. The project car originally came to us void of any stereo equipment, although there were signs that some sort of audio components were once installed. It's only right that we treat it to a killer audio system that features the latest in cutting-edge hardware, for our listening pleasure when we're getting our cruise on or to pump the latest psyche sounds while we're waiting in the lanes to make another blast down the dragstrip.

Naturally, when a boatload of cash has been spent on equipment that's light years beyond the Ford Premium Sound or Mach Audio that 'Stangs are equipped with from the factory, each piece should certainly look good and function well. To ensure our 'Stang's audioworks won't have any appearance or operational issues, we're fortunate enough to have the installation expertise of Keith Doughty of K Dezines Audio in Tucson, Arizona. If the company's name sounds familiar, it's probably because of our Tech Inspection review of the company's rear-seat-delete system (Aug. '06, p. 212), which we installed on a Fox 'Stang.

Keith is the braintrust behind the popular bolt-in back-seat eliminator kits for Fox, SN-95, and S197 Mustangs; a New Edge seat delete is currently in the works. His creative wizardry has also been applied to the design and layout of award-winning stereo systems found in numerous 'Stangs throughout the course of his 20-year career. K Dezines created the stereo system in Dan Nicholson's '92 GT, which is featured elsewhere in this issue ("Street Fightin' Man").

With this report, we're taking a deeper look at an ultra-specialized area of the Mustang hobby that we're not too familiar with by following along as Keith installs our T-top coupe's new stereo system (well, Editor Turner keeps tabs on the latest happenings in car audio, but that's because he's a confessed electronics geek).

As shown in the photos and captions during the five days Keith used to design and install the T-top coupe's audio setup, we learned there's a huge amount of planning, fabricating, and painstaking trial-and-error that goes into outfitting a 'Stang with a great-looking, sinister-sounding audio setup. "Anybody can say they do stereos, but it really takes time to do it properly," says Keith. We wholeheartedly agree. That said, let the music play.

A lot of behind-the-scenes preparation went into our new Sony/Scosche/K Dezines audio system. With our project car based on a dual-purpose theme (street/strip), we really want a stereo that looks and sounds similar to audio systems found in magazine features and show-quality street cars without compromising any of the 'Stang's drag-race treatments in the interior.

One of our first preparatory actions is to take measurements in the trunk and in the rear-window's package-tray area on the inside of our coupe. Keith Doughty is using our data to construct the box for twin 10-inch speakers, a rack for two amplifiers and distribution block, and finishing panels for the trunk. Our intent is to have all the stereo equipment fit and look as natural as possible, despite the presence of rollcage tubes passing through the package tray and trunk.

Since the stereo will pump the high and low notes at levels that are far beyond that of a stock non-subwoofered/non-amplified stereo system, we want to be sure our sound isn't contaminated by outside noises (road, wind, engine, and so on) or excess vibration from the T-top coupe itself.

To guarantee the coupe will be tight and our sound will be right, we removed the front and rear seats and all the trunk's contents. We then applied HushMat's Ultra vibration-dampening material to the coupe's entire trunk section, as well as to areas inside we didn't cover when we gave the project car an initial treatment of dampening material prior to installing its interior.

Keith believes wires are the weakest links in any stereo system. "If the stereo sounds bad, the problem is more than likely due to using cheap wires in the system. On several occasions, all I've done is rewire a stereo system with higher-quality wire, and it sounded a lot better."

With assistance from his wife, Holly, Keith begins our installation by routing all the power and speaker wires of our coupe's audio system from the trunk to the back of the dash. They then go through the radio opening for safe-keeping until it's time to make final connections.

Scosche's eFX 14- and 18-gauge speaker wires and three two-channel, twisted RCA cables (wiring that connects the radio to the amplifiers) are used for this area of the installation, as well as 4-gauge wire for the amplifiers and ridiculously thick One-Ott cable for the system's main power.

K Dezines creates custom speaker cabinets and packages for Mustangs of all years and styles.

For our coupe, Keith conferred with Trevor Kaplan of Scoshe Electonics and decided to use pairs of Scosche's 10-inch subwoofers (PN HDW1004), 511/44-inch rear-ledge midrange speakers (PN HDX52), and 611/42-inch door midrange speakers (PN HDX67). Each midrange speaker includes a 111/42-inch tweeter horn.

Solid speaker fitment is important for any stereo system. High wattage, road vibration, and the opening/shutting of a 'Stang's doors are all variables that can cause ill-fitting speakers to fail.

It's common for custom stereo installations to require fabrication of application-specific pieces to secure speakers, and our project is definitely a testament to this. Prior to our installation date and based on measurements we e-mailed in advance, Keith spent nearly a week to develop a subwoofer cabinet that won't conflict with rollcage tubes inside the coupe's trunk.

According to Keith, subwoofers perform better when they're facing toward the back of a vehicle. "The wavelength of the speaker is increased," he says. "When you combine increased wavelength with the deflection of the trunk, the sound from this system's subs will be awesome with the cabinet mounted rearward."

We also made an 11th-hour discovery of how speaker installation is affected by a difference between window-track mounting locations in the doors of T-top and hatchback 'Stangs. This had Keith creating new brackets for the window tracks to prevent a major setback for the project.

Next to speakers, amplifiers are the heart and soul of a killer stereo unit.

Keith set up the T-top coupe with Scosche's HD4300 (stereo/four-channel for right/left and front/rear speakers) and HD 1400 amplifiers. While the HD 1400 unit is stereo/two-channel, we're using it as a mono/one-channel amp for subwoofers.

The amps throw down about 650 total watts, which is more than enough for the cozy confines of our project car.

Our history with Sony's Giga-Panel AM/FM/CD/MP3 head unit dates back to the '05 SEMA show and Andrew Sivori's (Sony Senior Marketing Manager) demonstration of the seriously cool feature. It makes this unit a must-have for those who can appreciate listening to a personalized playlist while they're cruising.

How is this possible without patching an iPod or similar device into the stereo system? It's simple with the Giga Panel: The head unit features a built-in 1GB flash memory, allowing enthusiasts to drag and drop their favorite songs from any computer directly into its memory via a high-speed USB 2.0 link.

This radio is a testament to the new technology we think adds a certain level of cool to 'Stangs that are getting on in years, such as ours. While there are hundreds of cool radios on the market, we're happy with our choice.

Installing high-end stereo equipment is one thing, and dialing it all in for optimum sound quality is another.

Keith tunes the system by setting the volume on the Sony Giga-Panel head unit at 29, then plugging in and setting gain and bass boost levels on each amplifier individually.

While the system pumps out a collective 650 watts, Keith feels 29 is probably the highest comfortable sound level for the compact surroundings inside our T-top coupe. The process is somewhat similar to basic nitrous tuning, as gain is adjusted in a similar manner as timing is set for nitrous. Keith adds gain and bass boost for each amplifier until he hears the slightest tinge of distortion in the sound, then backs off in quarter-turn increments until the audio signals from all 10 speakers (two subwoofers, four midrange and four tweeters) sound solid and clear.

Horse Sense: Here's a toast to the shops around the country and the owners, technicians, and Mustang enthusiasts who have vision and the wherewithal to build project Mustangs.

As Editor Steve Turner explains in "Recipe or Random" (Bench Racer, July '07, p. 13), planning a Mustang project before getting started is one of the most important things an enthusiast can do-especially for an extensive Fox-Rod deal, similar to Steve's Fox 500 T-top LX full-build.

Naturally, the project's road map should be as thorough as possible and include immdiate alternatives in the event of a problem with the original idea.

Steve's right: Having and sticking to a good plan is one of the keys to building a great 'Stang. Of course, budget is another critical element. Although building a hard-hitting Mustang within the parameters of a logical budget is possible, it's not easy.

The combination of a good plan and parts-selecting/buying savvy makes managing a project's budget less nerve wracking, as we learned after speaking with Mason "Mase" Rowland of B&D Racing in Canoga Park, California. Mase is in the process of revitalizing a horribly neglected '93 Cobra to use on the dragstrip in a project he calls "Project 9s-for-10." Sure, Mase is aware that snakes of this vintage rank high on the collectible list and are appreciated more in their original trim, but that's where Steve's suggestion of making a plan and sticking to it comes into play.

"A lot of people wonder why in the world I'm making this '93 Cobra a drag car," Mase says. "The main reason is because it's mine, and because I know I can do it without going broke in the process. Mustang enthusiasts know B&D Racing for the 'Stangs we develop for street and road courses. There has been word going around that our shop can't build good drag cars. My plan is to show the doubters what we're capable of by building this Cobra to run in the 9s on a total budget of $10,000."

We like seeing projects come together according to plan, especially on the cheap. In the same vein, our own recently completed street/strip coupe showed how expensive the hobby can be. Ten Gs is an aggressive bottom line for Mase's project. Despite our reservations, we're intrigued by the 9s-for-10 idea. We caught up with Mase as he performed the first task of his plan: addressing the Cobra's dilapidated under structure using UPR's complete front and rear drag-race suspension systems.

We would love to detail every step of this clapped-out Mustang's overall resurrection, but we have the Fox 500 and many of our own tech projects that prevent us from focusing solely on this deal. But from time to time, we'll see how things are coming along as Mase gets deeper into creating a budget-built racer, which we hope will ultimately reward him with a 9-second timeslip for his dream and his efforts.

At the risk of sounding like a corrupted MP3 (it's 2008, fellas-broken records are a thing of the past), we've been nothing but impressed by the amount of love Mustang enthusiasts and aftermarket companies have given '05-to-present S197s during the last three years. New 'Stangs are still selling like hotcakes, and the river of bolt-on performance parts for Three-Valve GTs and Shelby GT 500s continues its steady flow.

Unlike owning a new Mustang, which we know is a sure bet, introducing new parts for S197s is a big gamble-especially for small businesses, and especially if the part is something the '05-and-up-'Stang market has been crowded with since day one. While a lot of new parts are similar in composition and purpose, we like to see something different in a breakthrough bolt-on. Different includes any quality that sets a component, kit, or system apart from others in its category.

Dwayne "Big Daddy" Gutridge has found that something different we're talking about and incorporated it into his new cold-air induction system for '05-'08 Mustang GTs.

As we've demonstrated in previous tech reports that include CAI for new Mustangs, while their improved airflow is a power enhancer, many systems require recalibrating the PCM to reestablish the proper air/fuel ratio to achieve optimum performance.

What's the difference between the Big Daddy Performance No-Tune Power Induction cold-air system ($599) and most of the others that are out there, you ask? Similar to cold-air kits for Fox and SN-95 'Stangs, "install and go" is the endearing quality of Big Daddy's CAI setup for new Mustang GTs. "Back then, all you had to do was add the bigger tube and a bigger meter that was properly calibrated," Big Daddy says. "In 15 minutes, you could bolt on more power. With the S197s, trying to do the same thing with most of the available cold-air kits results in an engine that won't start, a wrench light glowing in your face, or fuel trims that are completely maxed out."

By using basic carburetor-induction theory (intake, carb, and matching jets, for example), Big Daddy has created a cold-air kit that's ready to use immediately upon installation and doesn't require a plug-in or dyno tuning, thanks to the specially calibrated mass air meter he developed.

"I sent the entire stock airbox assembly to an engineer and had it flowed," says Big Daddy. "We got the flow numbers, and since we know that engines in S197s use 23-lb/hr injectors, we figured out that the stock piece moves x amount of air overall. Although we increased the size of the mass air tube to 95 mm with our cold-air system, we were able to use the PCM's provision for small corrections, enabling us to maintain the stock fuel transfer functions. That eliminates a need for tuning regardless of elevation changes, among other things. With our cold-air system, the engine idles, cruises, and performs under the factory's fuel calibrations, yet we're able to produce more horsepower."

We dropped in on Big Daddy's new Lakewood, New Jersey, installation and dyno facility during our late-summer visit to the East Coast to check out the latest breakthrough in S197 cold-air technology. Our testing was done on a five-speed '08 'Stang that was fresh from the dealership and loaded with 87-octane pump fuel.

Read on and take a look at the graph at the end of this report. While the gains are modest, they're gains nonetheless. The neat thing about this performance bump is that it's achieved at minimal cost and doesn't require manipulating a 'Stang's PCM in order to see and feel a difference. Check it out.

Horse Sense: Prices are an interesting issue withShelby parts. On one hand, once you look at MSRPs, you realize there arebetter deals on the Internet and through wholesale performance outlets,such as Summit Racing (www.summitracing.com). On the other hand, pricesare irrelevant for those who can afford a GT 500.

Sometimes even we, the staff of 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords, are amazed bythe effect hype has on 'Stang enthusiasts. In a nutshell, it sometimesmakes 'Stangbangers go absolutely nutty. Sure, we do a fair amount ofboasting about cars or parts that truly impress us. When we're reportingon solid-gold winners, and even the one-hit wonders, our main objectiveis to keep the information real and present to you the facts--especiallywhen we experience them firsthand.

Hype certainly played a big role in the immediate success of Ford's '07Mustang Shelby GT 500. From the moment 'Stang nuts first heard rumorsthat Ford might build and offer a supercharged S197 to the car'sofficial announcement, production, and eventual rollout in fall 2006,energy for Shelby coupes and convertibles has remained high. While thenear $100,000 markup prices for new Shelbys have come down considerably,the cost of a new GT 500 still ranges between $50,000-$60,000.

The Shelby's Eaton-blown 5.4 engine and its advertised 500 hp sits highon the car's hype ladder. For the enthusiasts lucky enough to own onebut don't really understand the difference between flywheel andrear-wheel performance, boasting about its 500 ponies comes naturally.The pride owners have in their investment is certainly understandable.

We hard-core 'Stangbangers know that when it comes to claiminghorsepower that's worth bragging about, all bets cancel at the rearwheels--not the flywheel. At this point, it's widely known that the"500" in a Shelby GT's name represents 500 hp. Since the number is oftenmisunderstood as being rear-wheel horses, we thought we'd try to clearthings up by installing and dyno-testing a few Shelby-specific bolt-onsthat should make Ford's super 'Stang live up to its name, and moreimportantly, its lofty power claim.

The parts assortment, installed by Saul "The Surgeon" Gutierrez ofExtreme Automotive in Canoga Park, California, consists of Gibson's newcatless, 21/2-inch X-shape crossover (PN 619008; $226.65/aluminized,$346.65/stainless steel) and exhaust system (PN 619006; $652.35), K&N'sShelby GT 500 AirCharger cold-air intake kit (PN 63-2571; $449.00), anda 2.6-inch supercharger pulley with 90mm tensioner pulley/160-degreethermostat/custom-SCT-tune package (a.k.a. Pulley Pack PN 900045;$599.00) from Paul's High Performance of Jackson, Michigan.

If this parts list seems familiar, it's probably because these are thesame entry-level upgrade parts you've read about in our similar testsfor Fox, SN-95, New Edge, and Three-Valve S197 'Stangs.

Kevin Booth was kind enough to lend us his Shelby 'Stang for a day ofinstallation and dyno evaluation at Extreme. All tests were done withengine temp constant at 170 degrees, but we noticed that the GT 500'siron-blocked engine doesn't dissipate heat well. Since heat rises, theblower remains heat soaked for quite a while after the engine has beenrun hard.

As usual, our testing is done with California's 91-octane pump gas,which with proper tuning, we feel can be used up to a 550hp limit onShelbys. Naturally, race fuel permits making more power, but keep inmind the connecting rods in Shelby engines aren't forged and are likelythe first parts to go when they're taken to the limit.

As you'll see when you read further, there are individual and collectivemerits for all these simple Shelby bolt-ons, making them smart choicesas first-step upgrades for enthusiasts who like to boast.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DYNO SHEET ON ALL THE PARTS USED IN THIS INSTALL

Gibson Exhaust

Swapping crossovers and bolting on Gibson Performance's after-catexhaust system is the first leg of our Shelby upgrade journey.

Unlike exhaust on its Fox, SN-95, and New Edge predecessors, there's nocutting necessary when removing exhaust systems on S197 Mustangs, sotaking the tubes off our test car is a quick and easy deal. Installingthe Gibson X-shape crossover is a drama-free experience, and each pieceof the kit's exhaust piping fits without any modifications.

The sound created by a blown 5.4 with no cats is different, and quitefrankly, it takes getting used to. Decibel levels jumpdramatically--both at idle and especially when the hammer is dropped--asthe engine takes on a much louder, deeper, and raspier note. The soundis completely different than the stock exhaust, which seemswhisper-quiet in comparison.

Without tuning, the exhaust swap showed us a nice power bump and anearly identical gain on the torque side. Going catless with a Shelby'sexhaust is a good first move, as it will ultimately benefit from all theengine-performance upgrades an owner will make as time goes on.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DYNO SHEET ON ALL THE PARTS USED IN THIS INSTALL

K&N AirCharger

We've been itching to give K&N's Shelby GT 500 cold-air system a try fora long time. We learned about the AirCharger and itspower-increasing-potential for GT 500s in January 2007 after meetingwith representatives from the company to discuss products and projectopportunities.

For the Shelby 'Stangs, K&N eliminates the super-restrictive, factoryair inlet and airbox assembly and employs a large, conical, high-flowair filter and straight-shot inlet tube. The tube fits cleanly into theengine compartment using the included factory silicone couplers and asingle anchoring bracket.

The AirCharger definitely adds insane rear-wheel power, even with thenew exhaust's gains taken out of the equation. We inspected the sparkplugs after our final dyno run and discovered that the horses come at apotentially huge expense. Ashen-white spark plugs tell us the systemwill be better served by a custom tune. With that, we move on to thefinal stage of our testing.

PHP Pulley and Tune

While its 5.4 bullet speaks volumes about the uniqueness of a Shelby GT500, the Eaton Roots-style supercharger that sits atop the engine isdefinitely its piece de resistance.

In stock trim, we've seen as many as 8 psi of boost pump through a GT500's powerplant and make its bone-stock horsepower a respectable 440 to448 at the tires. That's not quite the hard 500 horses that themisinformed believe are hitting the ground.

Our test Shelby fell within the proven stock parameters, but as ourfinal tests confirm, there's always room for improvement.

To close out our research, we called Paul Svinicki of Paul's HighPerformance and ordered his company's 2.6-inch blower pulley and 90mmtensioner package, as increasing boost by speeding up the superchargeris the best plan of action with stock Shelbys.

At this juncture, remapping the PCM is a must, due to the radicalchanges the smaller pulley makes on the engine's air/fuel mixture andthe other modifications we've made.

Custom-tuning on the dyno is the best way to get the most out of anyperformance enhancement for EFI 'Stangs. Paul is top-notch when it comesto using SCT's tuning software to dial in a modular engine.

Because we know you're asking, no, Paul didn't come to California toassist us. The tune for our test ride was set up at PHP in Michigan on asimilarly configured Shelby. It was loaded into SCT's XCalibrator 2handheld flash tuner. Once the plugs were installed and gapped down to0.028-inch and PHP's 160-degree thermostat was in place, Saul loaded thePHP calibration into the Shelby's PCM. It was time to hit the dyno for afinal look at the overall effect these simple performance upgrades haveon Kevin's once-stock Shelby.

To give you an idea of how things worked with the cross-country tuning,Paul's tune was almost spot-on for air/fuel (his test Shelby still hadcats in place), and the rev window for the blown 'Stang increased andnetted 10 psi of boost, thanks to the PCM update. All we added wasapproximately 4 percent more fuel to the tune and finished up withreally impressive overall results.

Times Table

With the exception of dyno testing--unless you have a chassis dyno inyour garage--all the parts can be installed in do-it-yourself fashion,provided you have basic sockets, ratchets, and wrenches; air tools arehelpful but not required. The supercharger pulley requires a specialtool to extract it, and we recommend you check with Paul's HighPerformance to find out more about acquiring one.

Here's an at-a-glance look at the approximate amount of time you'llspend installing the bolt-ons yourself:

Gibson exhaust: 45 minutes

K&N AirCharger: 20 minutes

PHP 2.6-inch pulley and 90mm tensioner wheel: 40 minutes

PHP 160-degree thermostat: 10 min

CLICK HERE FOR THE DYNO SHEET ON ALL THE PARTS USED IN THIS INSTALL

Horse Sense: Granatelli Motorsports also offers more aggressive bolt-on power in the form of an intercooled turbo kit for the S197 Mustang (PN GM-STK0507). The kit promises up to 500 rwhp on a stock S197 GT running 93 octane.

Many Mustang enthusiasts make collecting, altering, and racing their cars a lifelong journey, one that has weathered marriage and raising a family. They buy a new Mustang and the ride is phenomenally quiet and smooth, the gearshifts are effortless, and the clutch pedal is as free-traveling as the gas pedal, which is just the way the wife likes it.

However, men tend to want more power, a solid shifter, and enough clutch to hold a 5,000-rpm clutch dump with good set of sticky tires. The car is all hers until the mods make it unbearable for her to drive anymore, then it finally becomes ours. In this story, we add just enough mods to put a smile on your mug without sacrificing your lady's satisfaction with her new steed.

Just as with every 'Stang from the last 25 years, the new model is quicker, more solid, and more refined than its predecessor. The main issue we see with the S197 is its tendency to wheelhop, sometimes violently, especially in the rain.

Our anxious patient is an '06 GT stick-shift car with about 15,000 break-in miles. It clicks off consistent 13.70 e.t.'s with an occasional dip in the 0.60s in favorable atmospheric and track conditions. The goal is to not only address the wheelhop, but also add a few ponies in the process. We requested the advice of Granatelli Motorsports, long known for its induction and suspension goodies. The company now offers go-fast parts to pacify anyone from the dragstrip junkie to the corner-hugging Saturday night cruiser.

Proprietor J.R. Granatelli says, "Replacing the spongy bushing hosting rear control arms and Panhard rod while beefing up the chassis will alleviate the wheelhop." Installing a driveshaft loop is done in compliance with NHRA safety requirements when running slicks or street tires, and the guys at Granatelli have an ingenious driveshaft loop design that adds safety and frame rigidity without any welding or hole drilling.

We have to add power to take advantage of the newfound traction, so we tap a Granatelli cold-air kit, a Fuego flash programmable tuner, and a GMS after-axle exhaust to separate us from the stockers.

We don't have the space to cover a complete and thorough installation of each of our featured products. Instead, we highlight a couple of the main steps, along with some tricks we noticed on the way. Always read the manual front to back before starting the project, no matter how basic installation may seem. Kevin Shine and the guys at PUR Performance in St. Charles, Missouri, helped out on this one.

Horse Sense: Although we're using our Project Real Street '89 LX coupe as the subject of this test, please understand that use of shaft-mount rocker arms is strictly prohibited in our 5.0 Mustang & Super Fords Real Street class. While it doesn't happen often, we always chuckle when Editor Turner shows us his wild side-which sometimes has him marching to the beat of an unconventional drum-and makes decisions such as using the class' flagship 'Stang for non-rules-compliant tech efforts. In all seriousness, the irony is a matter of convenience. March on, Turner, march on.

The 5.0 small-block has long been this magazine's engine of choice for street/strip/road-race Mustangs. Don't get us wrong-modular power is where it's at today, but there's something special about strong pushrod bullets.

There have been more than a few articles published that explain in detail the purpose and function of a four-stroke, internal-combustion engine's valvetrain components-from camshafts to pushrods in 5.0 and 351W engines, as well as lifters, springs, rocker arms, and such.

When we discuss a specific 5.0 valvetrain piece, our main intent is to give readers information about the installation, functionality, and overall influence of the part on the engine's performance. An example of this is Uncle Robin Lawrence's study of an NMRA Real Street engine's valvetrain as it was being evaluated under the high-rev influence of a SpinTron.

Robin's report ("Spin Control," Aug. '06, p. 150) focuses on using a SpinTron to track all the deep, internal goings-on in an engine's valvetrain during cam-lobe cycles. Based on data, changes are made to determine the best combination of pushrods and springs, which controls the havoc that breaks loose at high rpm.

A camshaft lobe triggers the up/down movement of the rockers by way of lifters and pushrods, and thus controls the opening and closing of valves. When a cam lobe raises the outside/butt of a rocker, the inside/tip is pressed against the valve stem, opening the valve. Conversely, when the cam's rotation lowers the butt side of the arm, a rocker's tip lifts and allows the valvespring to close the valve.

Rocker arms play a major role in camshaft/ pushrod/valvespring harmony. In the case of stud-mount roller rockers common to supercharged and nitrous-injected Real Street bullets and pushrod engines, the arms act on a needle-bearing-and-trunnion-style pivot in the center of their housings.

Our '89 Real Street LX notchback is motivated by a D.S.S.-built 306 short-block, stuffed with flat-top pistons and topped with Trick Flow's veritable Twisted Wedge cylinder heads. Per class rules, our bullet's camshaft is OEM stock, so D.S.S. took extra care to pay close attention to piston-to-valve clearance. We went with 1.7 rockers with 7/16 studs, as opposed to factory-spec 1.6 arms, in order to achieve as much total valve lift as possible. Note that rocker-arm ratio represents the number of times a rocker arm moves a valve in relation to the total advertised amount of cam-lobe lift. When multiplying the rocker ratio by cam-lift specs, we're able to determine the total amount an intake or exhaust valve moves from its seat during a cam cycle.

A rocker-ratio upgrade (1.6 to 1.7) is one of the oldest valvetrain-related tricks in the book of Mustang performance, as is installing stud-mount rocker arms as replacements for pedestal-mount pieces. The latter modification is done in the name of strength and stability. Rocker arms move at a blindingly quick rate when the engine's rpm is high; maintaining tip contact with pushrods and valve stems with minimal friction and deflection is critical to their efficiency. Deflection is the degree to which the rockers are displaced at high rpm.

Theoretically, because of their design, pivot-ball-style, stud-mount rockers aren't as efficient at reducing friction as rocker arms that utilize the needle-bearing-and-trunnion setup as their pivot source, mainly because the balls have a greater tendency to move around (deflect) as rpm increases. The needle-bearing-and-trunnion centers are dramatically better. The best method for knocking out excessive deflection is by installing shaft-mount rocker arms.

We selected the Pro-Series shaft mounts for this project. Its rocker bodies are made of 2024 billet aluminum. They're shot-peened for extra strength, and each stand is machined from billet steel or heat-treated aluminum stock for strength and durability. Crane's Tony Vigo tells us that for drag racing, the offset arms we're using will stand up to a SpinTron-tested minimum 800 pounds of open-spring pressure, which is light years beyond anything we'll experience with Real Street's engine. We're using 0.345 intake/ 0.265 exhaust offsets to ensure the rockers' tips will remain centered over the valve stems during opening/closing. We should be in great shape if we turn up the wick on our project car.

Our former tech editor, Mark Houlahan, stepped in to bolt on the new rocker system. Although our Twisted Wedge heads used studs initially, the new shaft-mount system is designed to bolt directly onto the heads. There's no need to modify or remove them from the engine to install the rocker arms.

We feel compelled to reiterate the message to NMRA Real Street racers that Crane's Pro-Series, shaft-mount rocker arms aren't legal for the class, so don't get any crazy ideas about trying to bend the rules. You never know when you'll be asked to remove a valve cover so tech officials can take a closer look at your rocker arms. If you want to run a Real Street-style combo in your street/strip 'Stang, anything goes.

Crane's new Quick Lift rocker-body design provides an initial valve-opening rate at least 0.100 inch higher than the advertised ratio. It then decreases through the first 0.300 inch of net valve lift until the advertised ratio is achieved. It's maintained until the valve is within 0.300 inch of the seat, where the ratio then goes back to 0.100 inch more than advertised.

This varying ratio is a result of the pushrod seats' location in the bottom of the rocker bodies. Quick Lift aluminum bodies have a lower pushrod-seat location compared to other rocker-arm bodies, causing pushrod tips to contact the rocker bodies at lower points in the pushrod seats' operating arc.

This change in effective rocker-arm ratio has been proven to produce horsepower and enhance throttle response.

Intake/exhaust rocker-arm tandems are mounted on 5/8-inch shafts. The rockers' retaining snap ring is placed in a groove machined into the middle of the shaft, and thrust washers are placed on both sides of each arm (0.015-inch/intake and 0.031-inch/exhaust). Make sure you have four individual thrust washers before installing them; they have a tendency to stick together and give the impression there are fewer than four. Don't be stingy with the assembly lube during this process. Mark uses an Allen wrench to fully seat the pushrod-adjustment set screw, and then backs it out one full turn. This ensures that the internal oil passages in the adjusters align with the rockers' oil passages, eliminating any chance of binding the pushrods when the rockers are installed.

Each shaft is mounted to its stand using 1.25-inch, 5/16 Allen-head bolts on the outside, to the right and left of the intake and exhaust rockers, respectively. A shorter 5/16 bolt (1.00-inch) goes in the area between both rocker arms.

The long and short shaft bolts are torqued to 28 lb-ft.

Mark confirms we have correct intake and exhaust-pushrod length by preloading the lifters. This process is no different than the way it's done with stud-mount roller rockers. Here, he uses the wiggle technique on the rocker arm while turning the pushrod-adjustment set screw. When proper setting is achieved for each of them, 7/16 adjustment-screw jam nuts are torqued to 24 lb-ft.

The blinging brightness comes from the Mikronite finishing process that each Pro-Series rocker arm undergoes for strength and smoothness. The Mikronite improves durability and impact resistance on each rocker arm while reducing friction, resistance, and corrosion. With Robin's SpinTron data as our confirmation for now-Real Street's engine wasn't in dyno-test condition when the swap was performed-we're sure the new Pro-Series shaft-mount rockers will do a better job of keeping our valves under control as rpm increases. With the Quick-Lift geometry in Crane's new arms (see sidebar), we wouldn't bet against Real Street's 306 gaining a few additional horsepower.

We experienced a clearance problem with the OEM valve covers, as well as several others we thought might work. This is the pile of failed attempts.

Our friend Mark Lambacher turned us on to this set of Trick Flow's tall covers (PN TFS-51400802; $122.95). They fit without any clearance issues. Trick Flow's 1-inch intake spacer kit is required for clearance between the covers and our Track Heat intake manifold; an optional oil fill/breather tube is available for the Trick Flow covers. Drilling a 1 1/4-inch hole in the passenger-side cover is necessary for installing any breather system.

Horse Sense: As popular as the 351W-in-a-Mustang swap is, Ford waited until the last year of the Mustang's pushrod engine to offer a production Mustang with a 351. Only 250 units of the '95 Mustang Cobra R were produced with the 351. That R's engine produced 300 hp at 4,800 rpm and 365 lb-ft of torque at 3,750 rpm.

Cubic inches are like money. Having enough to be comfortable is nice, but having a lot is better, and having more than you know what to do with is just right. The 5.0 is a potent engine--just ask any 5.7 Camaro owner--but when it's time to rebuild or you just want that competitive edge, some extra cubes are in order. Yes, there are numerous 302 stroker kits on the market, and they have their advantages (which we'll talk about later). But if you really want to go for the gusto, then you should consider moving to a 351W. It has more cubes in its stock form than you can comfortably--or affordably--extract from a 302-based engine, and you can stroke it well beyond 400 cubes should the need arise.

If you've been thinking about a 351W swap but didn't know where to start, you're in luck. We talked to some of the leading swap experts in the industry.

In the following pages, we'll discusss 351W/Fox chassis swaps and their advantages/disadvantages versus a 302-based build. We'll also clue you in to all the parts necessary to get the job done right--from the oil pan to the top of the intake manifold. Now let's get rich!

As swaps go, the 351W/Fox chassis swap is relatively simple, with no fabrication or butchering required (the same is true with SN-95 cars). The stock motor mounts will work, as will the front cover, the radiator (if you plan to build a mild 351), the shroud, the water pump, the pulleys, and all of your accessories when the proper brackets are used (more on that later). Unfortunately, just about everything else needs to be replaced, which will add to the cost of your project.

Beginning with the bottom of the engine, the first thing you'll need is a different oil pan. The 302 uses a rear-sump pan, while the 351W uses a front-sump oil pan, which necessitates a new pickup. If you're going to limit your driving to the street, FRPP offers a complete oil-pan kit (PN M-6675-A58) that includes a 5-quart (stock capacity) rear-sump pan, a dipstick, a tube, and a pickup. The oil pump and drive are not included, so you'll have to purchase these items separately. For a street application, FRPP recommends a stock-replacement oil pump (available through Melling), while a street/strip engine with looser bearing clearances (0.0025-inch) can use an FRPP M-6600-B3 pump. An FRPP M-6605-A341 driveshaft will work in either instance.

For street/strip applications, Canton offers a rear-sump, 7-quart oil pan (PN 15-670, with a pickup sold separately under PN 15-671). Moroso also offers a 7-quart oil pan (PN 20520) with a built-in windage tray and scraper that fits '81-'97 Mustangs, '81-'88 T-birds, and '81-'86 Capris (pickup sold separately under PN 24514).

The 351W also has a different balance than the 5.0. The 351W requires a 28-inch/ounce unbalance, while the 5.0 uses 50-inch/ounce unbalance. This means you won't be able to reuse your stock 5.0 flywheel or harmonic damper on your 351W. FRPP offers a billet steel, SFI-approved, 157-tooth flywheel (M-6375-A302) that will work. And assuming you wish to use the factory serpentine-belt system, you can use the FRPP steel damper (PN M-6316-C351), along with the M-8510-B351 or C351 spacer, which creates the proper alignment with the serpentine system.

According to Rod Kack at FRPP, you can also use a damper from a '75-'80 302 or 351W engine, but you have to make sure you get the right one. There are two different bolt patterns and three different lengths, measured from the mounting face to the end of the snout: a 3.000-inch with a three-bolt pattern, a 3.400-inch with a four-bolt pattern, and a 3.950-inch with a four-bolt pattern. This last one, according to Rod, is the only one that will suit your needs if you want to retain the serpentine system.

As mentioned earlier, the stock motor mounts--if still in good condition--will work. But, because the 351W is 3 inches taller than the 302 (measured from the bottom of the stock pan to the top of the stock valve covers, the 302 measures 20 3/4 inches, while the 351W measures 23 3/4 inches), you could encounter hood-clearance problems with fuel injection. HP Motorsport offers solid motor mounts, which lower the 351W by 3/4 inch in the engine cradle, improving both hood clearance and center of gravity. According to HP's Paul Brown, you shouldn't encounter any clearance problems down below as long as you're using the FRPP 351 pan, stock crossmember, and rack. Paul also maintains the solid mounts aren't too severe on the street as long as the factory rubber trans mount--or aftermarket polyurethane mount--is used.

In any case, you may still require a cowl hood, so keep this in mind when tallying your expenses. If you're beginning with a car that was originally equipped with a four-cylinder or V-6 engine, or you just want to use stock-type motor mounts, George Klass at Coast High Performance recommends certain Ford motor mounts (PN E7ZZ-6038-E and E7ZZ-6038F). These are factory convertible 5.0 motor mounts that feature more reinforcement and therefore are stronger than standard 5.0 motor mounts.

The front cover from your 5.0 will work, along with the water pump. But if your water pump is original, it's probably not a bad idea to purchase a new unit from FRPP, or aftermarket manufacturers such as Edelbrock, Stewart, or Evans Cooling.

Since we're assuming you've started out with a new or rebuilt 351 short-block, we're not going to talk about camshaft or timing-chain choices, but there is one important detail that bears mentioning. Early 351W blocks are not designed for use with roller hydraulic cams. This leaves you with two choices: Run a flat-tappet cam, or make some changes so you can run a hydraulic roller. "We find that about 50 percent of our customers stick with the flat-tappet cam," George Klass says. "But that limits you to less-aggressive profiles because of the ramp rates ." George says if you want to use a hydraulic-roller cam, you can use stock 5.0 roller lifters as long as you run a small-base-circle cam (also known as a retrofit cam), available through a variety of cam manufacturers.

The next step up the ladder is the cylinder head choice. There's no difference here--in aftermarket heads, that is. Any popular aftermarket head designed for the 302 will also fit the 351W, provided the bolt holes in the heads are stepped and can be drilled out for 1/2-inch fasteners. Using junkyard heads and then porting/rebuilding them is another option, but this won't really save you much money over a set of assembled aftermarket heads unless you do most or all of the work yourself. Junkyard heads also won't flow as well as a pair of aftermarket heads.

Again, because the 351W has taller decks than the 302, this places the cylinder heads further apart, which precludes the usage of a fuel-injected 302 lower manifold or any 302 intake manifold for that matter. If you're going with fuel injection, you have only a few manifold choices, according to Ed Marsh at Windsor-Fox Performance Engineering. You can use the FRPP GT-40 setup used on the Ford Lightning or the Lightning lower and a Cobra upper. Other options include Edelbrock's 351W truck lower (PN 3884) with a 5.0 passenger car upper (Performer PN 3822 or Performer RPM PN 7125), and Trick Flow's 351 EFI Manifold (PN 5150000-4), which includes the upper and lower (also available separately). Yes, the 351W truck upper will bolt up to the engine, but it's not a performance piece and hood clearance problems would be extreme, Ed explains.

For racing purposes, Coast High Performance offers its 351W EFI Spyder intake, which is a four-barrel Victor Jr. manifold with 1/2-inch fuel rails and a 90-degree Power Elbow that accepts up to a 90mm throttle body.

Now that we've talked about what's necessary to bolt the 351W into the engine bay of your Mustang, we'll discuss the stuff you're gonna bolt to the engine--namely the accessories and the exhaust system.

Your stock 302 power-steering and air-conditioning (if so equipped) brackets will not work on the 351W, but there's good news. FRPP offers a 351W Engine Swap Accessory Drive Kit for the '85-'93 Mustang that is available with the power-steering bracket only (M-8511-A351) or with both the power-steering and air-conditioning brackets (M-8511-B351).

Whatever exhaust system you currently have will work, but the headers you have (factory or otherwise) will not, again because the 351W is so much taller. MAC offers short-tube 351W swap headers (PN E358692) that will bolt up to the stock or stock configuration aftermarket H-pipe, as does FRPP (PN M-9430-A58 for '86-'93; PN M-9430 R58 for '94-'95). MAC, Hooker, Hedman, Coast High Performance, and a host of other manufacturers offer long-tube headers.

While the stock fuel system will sustain a stock 351W, odds are the 351W you have planned won't be stock--so the fuel system will likely require some modification. Beginning at the fuel tank, replace the stock pump with a larger unit, such as FRPP 150- or 190-lph pumps. The 150 is good for about 400-plus horsepower; the 190 is good for about 500 using the stock lines and 351W rails. Higher horsepower levels will likely require a custom fuel system with a larger pump, lines, and aftermarket rails.

Choosing the correct injector for the horsepower level you plan to attain is critical. A mildly built 351W can use 24-lb/hr injectors, although it's more likely you'll have to use 30- to 36-lb/hr injectors (36-lb/hr units are no longer available via FRPP). Whether you're building a more normally aspirated engine or a serious supercharged engine, you'll need a mass air meter calibrated for your new injector size, such as those offered by Pro-M and FRPP. Finally, in order to run fuel injection on a 351W, Ed Marsh says you'll have to get a distributor from an EFI 351 truck (5.8L), again because of the difference in deck height. Find one at the junkyard, or buy one new from Ford (PN E7TZ-12127-D). If you're using a later, roller-cam-equipped engine ('93-up), you'll also want to replace the cast-iron distributor gear with a steel gear.

Horsepower makes heat, so even if the 351W you plan to install is next to stock and your original radiator is in good condition, it's likely you're going to need a bigger, better radiator. Again, how much cooling you will need is directly proportional to the amount of horsepower you'll be making.

U.S. Radiator in Los Angeles, California , is a great source for copper/brass radiators, while Fluidyne in Mooresville, North Carolina , or Griffin in Townville, South Carolina , can set you up with the correct aluminum radiator for your application. Using a new or aftermarket water pump is also a good idea.

Rather than bore or confuse you with all the legalese involved with engine swapping, suffice it to say that swapping a 351W into your '86-'95 should be legal in California--or states adopting its emissions guidelines--provided you don't defeat or remove any of the factory emissions equipment. This includes, but is not limited to, the smog pump, the engine-control computer, the original cat H-pipe, and so on.

However, modification is always a touchy subject--even with a 302--so it's important that you carefully map out what you are considering before you do it. Then try to determine if (A) it's legal or (B) it will pass California's rigorous Inspection and Maintenance (IM) program, commonly known among enthusiasts as a "smog test."

Keep in mind that just because the part(s) you plan to install carry an E.O. (executive order) number, it doesn't necessarily mean the car will pass IM. Parts are certified independently, except in the case of certified power packages, so when various emissions-legal parts are mixed and matched, the engine may not pass. Under current guidelines, the owner of the car must do whatever it takes to make the engine pass when it has been modified, regardless of cost. In other words, don't get too carried away when you build your 351W--or any engine for that matter--because you may be forced to dispense with the big injectors, cam, and after- market computer in order to get your car to pass.

In summation, the wisest decision is to contact a referee station in your area, tell them what you have planned, and find out if it's legal. It will save you a lot of time and expense later.

Not surprisingly, the 351W weighs more than the 302--an additional 100 pounds when you're comparing apples to apples. If you're replacing your 302 with a 351W of like configuration (i.e., both have iron heads), the added weight won't adversely affect the handling of your car, and it will drop front ride height only an additional 1/4 inch, according to our experts. However, if you want to gain the muscle and lose the fat, you can use aluminum heads, a tubular K-member, an aluminum radiator, a fiberglass or carbon-fiber hood, and move the battery to the trunk (or any one of the above). These mods will make any weight difference imperceptible.

If you're considering extra cubes, then chances are you're wrestling with a fairly common dilemma: Do you build a 347 out of your 5.0 or step all the way up to a 351? Perhaps the following info will help you decide.

351W: Advantages
* Strength: The 351W block is stronger than the production 5.0 by a long shot. Thicker walls, a 3-inch main, and 2.311-inch rod journals (versus 2.248/2.123 for the 5.0) are contributing factors.

* Taller Deck: The 351W features a deck height of 9.503 inches versus the 5.0's 8.206 inches. This means a longer rod can be used for even more cubes--up to 435 with a production two-bolt block, and 454 cubes with a four-bolt FRPP block, according to George Klass at Coast High Performance.

* Rod-to-Stroke Ratio: In stock configuration, the 351 has a better rod-to-stroke ratio than a 347 (1.70:1 for the 351W versus 1.58:1 for the 347) by virtue of its longer rods (5.956 versus 5.400 for the typical 347 rod). The 351 also features 1/2-inch head bolts instead of the 302 block's 7/16-inch bolts.

351W: Disadvantages
* Size: The 351W is 2.250 inches wider than a 302, necessitating a number of changes (at additional cost) to make the swap possible. Hood clearance can become an issue, and there will be less room to service the plugs.

* Weight: As discussed in the Keep the Muscle, Lose the Fat sidebar, the 351W is beefier and is typically more than 100 pounds heavier than a 302-based engine.

347: Advantages
* 302-Based: The 347 is created when a 302 block is bored 0.030 and fitted with a 3.400-stroke crank and custom rods/pistons. This means a 347 has the extra cubes you desire, yet it can still use the same headers, manifolds, brackets, and so on as a stock 302.

* Weight: The 302-based engine is more than 100 pounds lighter than the 351 in stock form, and it can be made downright feathery with a few aluminum components.

347: Disadvantages (and perceived disadvantages)
* Limited Growth: While 347 ci is certainly a respectable number, it's the practical displacement limit for a two-bolt-main production block.

* Limited Strength: A two-bolt-main production block is typically capable of withstanding up to 600 hp, and that's with a girdle, studded mains, and so on. Even a mildly built 347 with a supercharger can bust that figure. An R302 block will solve the problem, but there goes your budget.

* Poor Rod-to-Stroke Ratio (perceived): There has been a lot of talk about the 347's rod-to-stroke (R/S) ratio. Simply stated, the R/S ratio is the length of the connecting rod (center-to-center) versus stroke of the engine. A higher ratio means the piston stays at top dead center longer, promoting better combustion and, theoretically, more power. Compared to the 351W's 1.70:1 R/S ratio, the typical 347's R/S ratio of 1.58:1 doesn't look good, but it's actually better than a lot of other noted performance engines, including the 454 big-block Chevy (1.53:1) and 400 small-block Chevy (1.48:1). Even the legendary 428 CJ was only marginally better than a 347 at 1.63:1. Unless you're building an engine to compete with Billy Glidden, R/S ratio really doesn't add up to much in an otherwise well-built engine.

* Oil Burner (perceived): Piston design is critical to the success of any 347 kit, according to George Klass at CHP. Trying to improve upon the 347's R/S ratio only moves the pin further up into the piston. If the pin is moved up into the oil ring land, the top of the pin will be located above the oil ring, allowing more oil to get past the oil rings and into the combus- tion chamber. This is how the 347 got a reputation as an oil burner. However, George says, many kits--including CHP's--place the pin below the oil ring, so oil consumption is not a problem.

Cost Factor
The next thing you'd probably like to know is, which would be cheaper, a 347 or a 351W? As discussed, the 351W requires numerous extra parts to accomplish the swap, while the 347 doesn't. However, depending on what 347 kit you purchase, the initial short-block may be more expensive than a 351W. Since we can't know what combo you have planned, the best idea is to add up the cost of a 351W, factor in the extra parts, and then compare that to the cost of the 347, keeping in mind both engines can use the same heads. Our guess is that the 347 will probably be less, but depending on how serious you plan to get, a 351W swap could be equal to, or less than, the cost of a truly serious 347.

Horse Sense: A question that often looms over anowner's head is whether or not to notify his insurance company of anengine change. The insurance company we called said if you want your new5.0 engine insured, it's best to fess up.

There comes a time in every Mustang enthusiast's life when he realizesthe power harnessed by the stock motor is nice, but just not enough.We're all guilty of wanting more and more horsepower as time passes. Thecar we fell in love with, although cool as ever, needs some help to getus over the horsepower hump. A supercharger, some nitrous, and all theother regular bolt-ons seem to do it for most of us. We can go from a225hp car to 350 screaming ponies in a matter of a few weeks.

Those who unwittingly purchased a V-6 Mustang instead of a V-8 start outin a considerable hole. You know who you are. It doesn't matter whetheryou bought the car new or used--you own it now, and you've got to makethe best of it. Admitting your mistake will help you take the first steptoward more power.

That first step is an engine swap. If you've been pondering thepossibilities of swapping your anemic 3.8 V-6 for a potent 5.0 V-8,we're here to show you how. With the help of Ford Racing PerformanceParts and the handy work of Tim Matherly of MV Performance in Statham,Georgia, we'll have your Mustang terrorizing the neighborhood with itsnew set of lungs in no time. Apart from the obvious benefit of increaseddisplacement, swapping to a V-8 engine will enable you to take fulladvantage of the multitude of speed parts designed for injected 5.0s,such as the aforementioned supercharger, nitrous, heads, and other finegoodies.

We compiled all of the necessary parts (see the sidebar The Part NumbersGame) for this conversion, and the following pages will highlight ourengine swap, as well as all the parts needed to make this swap possible.We're giving you a good foundation as to what's involved rather thanstep-by-step instructions. Whenever you deal with a swap that involvesEFI, it requires at least a basic knowledge of Ford electronics. Inother words, don't try to do this by yourself over the weekend, andespecially not on your daily driver. According to Tim, "A project likethis isn't the hardest in the world, but you do have to know what you'redoing."

The Part Numbers Game

Here are all the part numbers you'll need when ordering or locating theparts for your 3.8- to-5.0 swap.

Mass Air Conversion Kit: M-9000-A51 (manual trans) or M-9000-B50 (auto trans)*

Main electrical harness: M-12071-C302*

Sensor and relay package: M-12701-D302*

Universal Safety Clutch Housing: M-6392-C*

Heavy-Duty Clutch: Choice Optional

Smog Equipment**

DUAL-EXHAUST SYSTEM: Choice Optional

Fan Speed Control Module: F4ZF-128577-AA*

* Obtain new from Ford or used from donor car
** Must obtain from donor car

Horse Sense: Longtime readers may recall reading this story before. Swapstories are so popular we decided to rerun several in this issue.However, since we last ran this story, Doug Durham closed his business.The info in the story is still useful, of course.

The obvious question surrounding a V-8 swap into a four-cylinder Mustangis, why would you want to do it? After all, there are plenty of used 5.0Mustangs for sale in the paper and trader mags, so why screw around witha lame four-banger and go to all the effort of performing an engineswap? Well, there are two reasons. The first is obviously price. Lesser'Stangs are much cheaper to buy than comparable 5.0s. In fact, whileshopping for a four-cylinder car to use for a big-block swap, we'vefound acceptable ones as cheap as $200! But, after buying a decent 5.0engine and trans, and all the parts required to perform the swap, thecost factor is almost a push. There must be some other attrac- tion,right?

Here's one you might not have thought about--level of abuse. Becausethey're so much fun to drive hard, 5.0s are driven hard--real hard. Andbecause of that, the torque boxes get torn up, the body flexes andsometimes cracks, and overall, the car just gets beat on. And that'sjust the chassis. It's really a crap shoot whether or not the engine ismortally wounded. Now think about the typical drivers of four- orsix-cylinder Mustangs. They ease away from stoplights, gently slow downfor corners, and never, ever do five-grand clutch drops. Essentially,they never do anything to stress the car. They're wimps, by and large,but that means the basic cars are usually sound (assuming they haven'tcrashed them). And even if they do drive these cars hard, an 88hp 2.3Lis unlikely to hurt the torque boxes or twist anything more sturdy thana cereal box.

Swapping a 5.0 into the space once occupied by a four- or six-cylinderis not a huge deal, but it requires some effort in obtaining all thecorrect parts, especially the little bits you wouldn't normally thinkof. In researching this story, we went to some experienced folks inTexas, including Doug Durham, who built 5.0 motors at Doug's Motors ineast Dallas, and Bill d'Happart, who does the swaps at Blue Oval Racingin Rowlett, Texas.

Once you've found the four- or six-cylinder car, the next chore is tofind the engine, the trans, the 8.8 rearend, the 5.0 wiring harness, theMAP sensor, the computer, the vacuum canister, and a dozen other parts.Normally, the easiest way to do this is to buy a complete wrecked 5.0.Concerning the transmission, this story will show a five-speedapplication; if you want to use an automatic, it's much easier to startwith an automatic car so you don't have to deal with swapping the pedalsand such. As for the rearend, you don't have to get an 8.8 right away,but be aware that the four- and six-cylinder cars have the weak 7.5,which will not live long behind even a stock 5.0.

Computer Compatibility

Crossmember Guide for True Dual Exhaust

The purpose of this story is to show how to install a 5.0 EFI engineinto a '79-'93, four-cylinder Mustang. It's not a step-by- step how-to,but rather shows what parts you'll need and how to find them. Good luck!

For more years than we can remember, welding an 8.8 rearend's axle tubes directly to its differential housing has been the trick to keeping the rear braced and void of flexing under drag-strip launches or other hard acceleration. The practice has certainly become more popular throughout the years, as horsepower and torque levels have increased thanks to the advancement of bolt-on performance parts for post-'86 V-8-powered 'Stangs.

We believe in the theory that power has a way of finding weak links in a driveline. While transmissions, driveshafts, and axles are all vulnerable, an 8.8 rear's axle tubes sometimes draw the short straw among other driveline components when the combination of big power and heavy-duty torque are imposed on the rear as a 'Stang digs in and leaves the starting line. The tubes flex, twist, and ultimately lead to catastrophic failure that can set you back a nice chunk of change.

The aforementioned welded-tubes procedure is easy enough to do yourself if you have welding skills. You can also have it done by a professional, especially when swapping gears or building a new rearend.

For those 'Stangbangers who want the security of welded tubes without the welding, Swarr Auto's Swarr Bar is a bolt-on, mild-steel alternative that may be exactly what your street/strip 'Stang needs.

We decided to put a Swarr Bar through the ultimate real-world test. We wanted to see how simple or difficult it is to install at the track, and make runs with and without the brace to determine whether the bar provides any improvement in 60-foot e.t. and seat-of-the-pants feel, among other things.

Erik Brill's '87 LX is our test ride. The car is clean with the rare Smoke Gray paint and blown with a Vortech T-Trim. It's also street-driven-there's a baby seat on the passenger side for his daughter when Erik cruises the streets of Newbury Park, California.

Read on for photos and info about the install and details of how Erik's Pony performed with and without a Swarr Bar bolted to the 'Stang's 8.8.

This junction between the axle tubes and differential housing is one of the biggest points of resistance in a 'Stang's 8.8 rear, as the tubes are only welded on the inside. Welding around the circumference of this area is a common practice that's aimed at preventing axle tubes from binding and twisting as power hits the pavement. A Swarr Bar provides the same type of support and security without welding. It's also completely removable.

A good set of jackstands is a must for any install operation that requires lifting the front or rear of a Mustang with a jack. After blocking the front wheels, the 'Stang is jacked up by the differential and Erik Brill places stands at solid points on the chassis, forward of the rear wheels.

The brace is mock-fit first, with the plates and hardware installed but only secured to a snug tightness. That establishes a balanced alignment in relation to the differential housing. Some side-to-side movement will probably be necessary, as the goal is sufficient space in each axle-tube-to-housing gusset plate to drill holes for the Swarr Bar's mounting-tab hardware.

After drilling a small pilot hole, we stepped up to a 251/464-inch drill bit to bore through both gusset plates. If you've aligned the bar properly, there should be a significant amount of gusset-plate material around your holes. If they fall too close to the edge of the plates, Eric Swarr recommends you remove your 8.8 and have it checked for straightness.

Our testing consisted of three non-Swarr Bar passes and another three laps with the bar bolted in place.

It was a smoldering day at California Dragway and traction wasn't optimal, so we tried to keep launch-affecting variables such as tire pressure as consistent as possible.

Once Erik completed three passes without the bar, we bolted everything in place and went back at it. The MIG-welded Swarr Bar looks stout attached to this 8.8. Our bolt-on version is powdercoated in high-gloss black. A weld-on Swarr Bar ($109) is also available, but it doesn't include coating.

Our three-and-three test session at the PSCA's West Coast Shootout showed that the Swarr Bar has an effect on a Mustang's launch characteristics. Erik's three-pass average was 1.58 in the first 60 feet of the track without the bar. After installing the brace, the average dropped to 1.55. When you consider the brutal August heat on test day and a track that wasn't giving optimum hook, to pick up even 0.03 in the 60-foot is a good improvement and an indicator that there's more to come for Erik's 'Stang. "That new Swarr Bar works well," Erik says. "The launches are more solid. At first I thought something was wrong since the launch was uneventful compared to usual. The car is a lot smoother downtrack, too. I did heat up my clutch badly for the last three passes, but the 60-foot dropped by 0.03, so I'm happy."