With wheels up, our shocks were extending to the bump stops, thus we needed a travel limiter kit from Team Z.

427 cubic inches of small-block Ford power rests between the framerails of this car, our Project 666 machine that we’ve been building up over the last three years.  We performed a mad thrash in an attempt to squeeze the car into the 9’s at the end of the season, with a 9.94 at 134 MPH, the result of the hard work we put in with this awesome Team Z Motorsports-equipped rocket.  The mad thrash taught us a few things, however, as you can see from this launch photo from our test sessions.

With those lessons in mind, we went right back to our friend Dave Zimmerman and his group of craftsmen at Team Z Motorsports in Taylor, Michigan.  Zimmerman and his team have built some of the most awesome cars on the heads-up circuit today, and his suspension parts are installed underneath numerous additional NMRA and Outlaw champion vehicles.  Read on to see what he suggested for our project!

Travel Limiter Kit

“When you reach a certain level of performance, you need to start worrying about locking the front end of the car down,” explained Zimmerman. ” What happens is that when the power is applied to the rear suspension, the rotation of the pinion and driveshaft attempt to pick the nose of the car up rather than having the car move forward in one smooth, fluid motion. By installing a set of our front-end limiters, you gain the ability to tune the front half of the suspension just like you can with the rear.”

Zimmerman continued, “When you adjust the rebound on the front struts, you can slow down the rate of rise on the nose, and then when the car reaches the predetermined height of the limiter system, the rest of the car acts as if the nose is dead weight, rather than the sprung weight it has when the front end is not tied down.  This makes it more difficult for the car to lift the front end on launch past that predetermined point [which you need to figure out by testing], and will instead help to move the car forward and lower ET’s, along with making chassis tuning more repeatable.”

On the chassis side of the equation, the frame needs to be cleaned off in order to accept the new Team Z Motorsports limiter tabs. The tabs get tacked into place until their final position is decided upon, then the final welds are laid.

Since we already have a set of Team Z’s front A-arms installed, we were already provided with a great place to mount the arm-side of the limiter brackets. We used the hole that Team Z welds to the arm for the front sway-bar mount, installed their 90-degree bracket, and were in business. The pins are then used at the top-side of the chassis bracket to provide a quick and easy way to adjust front end travel. Now we’re ready to get back out to the track and convert that upward motion into forward motion and decrease our ET’s!

Weld In Radiator Support

While we were adding the front-end limiters to the car, we also decided to take out some weight in the nose of the car and replace our lower radiator support in the process.  It just so happens that Team Z Motorsports offers a nifty weld-in tubular replacement support that comes with optional brackets to capture your stock-style radiator.  The replacement requires that you cut out the old unit using a cut-off wheel or plasma cutter in order to position the new one in the correct support.

This process was very straightforward – we just followed Team Z’s instructions and had the new one fully-welded in and the radiator replaced in a short period of time.  We removed two pounds and ten ounces of weight while cleaning up the underside of our project in the process.

Weld In Fox Body Radiator Support PN# TZM-FOX-RS

• Lightweight tubular construction
• Replaces rusted or damaged lower radiator support
• Can be ordered without radiator tabs
• Weld in design

While our old radiator support wasn’t really damaged in any way, we took this opportunity underneath the car to install one of Team Z’s tubular lower mounts. Our mount came pre-installed with new radiator mounts to accept our Flex-A-Lite fan/radiator combo. Once we finished up with the welding of the radiator support, we re-mounted our radiator and existing parts back into the car. A flawless installation of a quality part – and we were able to lose 2 pounds, 10 ounces of nose weight!

Following the Team Z instructions, we removed the old radiator and set to the task of removing the factory sheet metal. We used our plasma-cutter to make quick work of the old tin, then cleaned up the area and prepared it to receive the new lower radiator support. The old support weighed in at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. Once the old sheetmetal was tossed in the garbage, we set about the task of installing the new piece. It was a straightforward process – we just held it up against the spot where we removed the old one, squared everything up, and tacked it in before final fitment. The new support even came with brackets to re-attach the nose cone of the car.

Mustang Aluminum Race Wing

Mustang Aluminum Race Wing – PN# TZM_WING

• Laser cut from 6061 aluminum
• Application specific wings for Fox, SN95, and New Edge
• Chrome-moly adjustable struts with billet stands
• All stainless steel hardware
• Powder coating optional

We performed the installation of the wing and in the process snapped plenty of photos to show you the install. As with any other aftermarket component that needs to be fit prior to assembly, we suggest that you measure three times before drilling once, because if all of the wing hinges are not in the correct alignment, the wing will not sit properly on the car.

The leading edge of the wing where it rests against the decklid should be even with the trunk surface in order to minimize airflow disruption as the air passes towards the back of the car.  In addition, when you install the struts, make sure to drill enough holes in the support so that you can adjust the wicker (back) side of the wing up or down to add or subtract downforce as necessary.

Team Z Motorsports offers this unique wing design for the Mustang from model year 1979 to 2004. It features a curved wicker area that juts out to the top of the parachute to help airflow inflate the canopy. All hardware is included, and they can even powdercoat the wing to your specifications if you’re looking for a particular color or finish!

As we discussed before, measure three times, drill once! The hinges mount to the decklid on our coupe model, and some clearancing is necessary on the underside of the lid for the hinges to mount flush. The same process takes place on the bottom-side wing mounts. Mock up the wing on the top side with the hinges, measure for your strut mounts, mark the positions, and start drilling. All of the hardware is also supplied for this product, and it’s just a matter of making it all bolt together in the end.

The process of installing the wing can be tedious, and it’s very helpful to have a second set of hands for this portion of the install. Once all of the mounting pad holes are drilled, mount the wing landing pad and then move on to the strut installation process. One thing we found helpful when installing the wing was to bolster the underside of the bumper cover with some wide, flat fender washers. This will help to prevent the bolts from tearing through the urethane bumper cover when under pressure.

Better Front End Control, More Downforce, and Less Weight!

All of Team Z’s parts are made from the best materials and designed to work perfectly for our Project: 666 Fox body Mustang. The installation of all the parts took us one full day, and it will pay off in the end with the additional adjustability we have to tune with. The front end limiter will help with our wheels-up launches while the rear spoiler will make the Mustang more stable throughout the run. 

When we first began on 666, the vision for its final result was one of humble intentions. We aimed to build a wicked Fox body that was right at home on both the street and the strip, incorporating many of the “race” elements into the suspension and drivetrain, while maintaining some level of drivability, as well. But as would be expected from a group of editors with deep roots in drag racing, 666 gradually took on a new form.

The 408ci Small Block Ford that we had in the car gave way to an all-aluminum 427 from Dart, along with TCI’s new C4 transmission, new suspension components, and other changes. Throughout the build, we’ve taken this Pony car from the 13′s to the 12′s, down to the 10′s and finally, after more late nights and busted knuckles than we can keep track of, into the nines. And while the nines were a big mission of ours,  we’re drag racers, and we’d be in defiance of the code of a drag racer if we just stopped there. And so our project matches on, where we turn our attention next to the fuel system. For that, we’ve again teamed with Aeromotive, whose fuel system components can be found front to back on our Project 666.

666′s Current Setup

Regular visitors to StangTV and those following the progress on 666 may know what the current spec sheet looks like on this car, but to get you up to speed, a couple of years back, we installed Aeromotive’s then-new Stealth fuel tank, which satisfied our needs at the time with 800 horsepower potential, compatibility with EFI or a carburetor, and no losses in street-ability or fuel capacity.

The Stealth system featured an OE-designed fuel tank with a fully-contained, sump-style fuel pump and filter located within the tank. Because of its mounting point that drops down two inches from the lowest point on the stock tank, it proved to have ideal fuel pickup on acceleration and an optimum gravity pickup point – something not previously possible with aftermarket fueling options on the Fox body. But as we take more of a full-on race car approach to 666, it was time to take a full-on race approach to our fuel cell.

Aeromotive’s New Stealth Fuel Cell

Aeromotive's new six-gallon Stealth fuel cell, which was originally designed to be standard hardware on the Ford Cobra Jet Mustang, is an aluminum, racing-style cell with an internal A1000 fuel pump.

From The Inside
Aeromotive’s 6-Gallon Stealth fuel cell features an internally-mounted Eliminator or A1000 series fuel pump, with an internal baffling system that keeps a column of fuel t the pickup point to eliminate slosh.

As a race car, the new Stealth fuel cell offers 666 a number of advantages; it’s lightweight, it has a decreased fuel capacity, is designed for drag racing, and carries the option of a couple of Aeromotive’s top-notch race fuel pumps. Constructed of aluminum, the tank holds six gallons of fuel and offers many of the same advantages of the larger 15 and 20 gallon tanks, with the exception of carrying a street-style sending unit. Very much a universal design, the Stealth tank is a sump-style part with Aeromotive’s A1000 fuel pump – or the option of the Eliminator fuel pump – built right into the tank. It also features an integrated baffling system to keep a column of fuel at the pickup point to eliminate fuel slosh issues.

“Right before we began production on the first generation tanks, we began working with Ford on the Cobra Jets, and they said, we want you guys to do the fuel system,”  explained Aeromotive’s Jesse Powell. “We decided it would be best to do an in-tank version, so that you don’t need an externally-mounted fuel pump. The engineers loved it and we collaborated to arrive at the six gallon capacity. This Stealth tank has now been standard on the last two iterations of the Cobra Jet and can also be found on Chevrolet’s COPO Camaro concept.”

The smaller, universal six-gallon capacity of the new aluminum Stealth fuel cell is perfect for our Project 666, which has become a real strip warrior in recent months. The new cell offers many of the advantages found in the larger OE-style tank, but uses an aftermarket sending unit.

Either of the fuel pumps – the A1000 or the Eliminator – can perform in anything from a 300 horsepower carbureted application to an EFI motor making 1,700 horsepower, so all of our bases are covered from a fuel delivery standpoint with this new setup.

The Stealth fuel cell sports an A100 Micron stainless steel fuel filter, return line provision, a pair of AN-08 vents with rollover valves for rollover ventilation, and a standard 12-bolt flush mount lid assembly. Internally, the cell design sports a “box” that contains the fuel pickup and filter and also the return that, even when low on fuel, is always overflowing with fuel – much like a garden hose being run into a cup. This maintains a continuous flow of fuel at the pickup at all times.

“With this design, you’re not uncovering the pickup when you’re turning left or right, hard braking, or hard acceleration, and it keeps positive pressure on the inlet to reduce vapor lock problems,” explains Powell.

Aeromotive Stealth 6-Gallon Fuel Cell Features:

Eliminator Fuel Pump (internal) – P/N 11104
• 100 Micron Stainless Steel Fuel Filter
• 6.2 Gallon Capacity
• Return Line Provision
• (2) AN-08 Vents with Rollover Valves
• Standard 12-Bolt Flush Mount Lid Assembly
• Natural Aluminum Finish

Out With The Old, In with The New

As is commonly done with a car such as ours where the original trunk is still fully intact, we’ll be relocating the new Stealth fuel cell to the trunk rather than under the car where the current Aeromotive OE tank resides. But in order to do so, we’ve got a little work to do to make preparations. Before we can get to the installation, however, we need to remove the old tank, which is little more than a process of removing the return and supply lines from the filter and pump, removing the filler neck assembly, disconnecting the sending unit lines, and undoing the straps that hold the tank in place under the car.

We've opted to use the recessed spare tire compartment in the trunk to mount the new fuel cell. With a pair of 3/4-inch square tubing welded parallel into the compartment, we then welded a pair of L-brackets to the opposite sides of the tank, which will rest on the square tubes for mounting.

From there, we turn our attention to the trunk of 666, where we’ll need to fabricate a pair of mounts to firmly place the tank and bolt it down to. Sean, our resident fabricator and mechanical wiz, took a pair of 3/4-inch square tubing, sized them down appropriately, and welded them parallel to one another down into the recessed spare tire compartment in the trunk. Two L-brackets were then welded to the lower edge on each side of the tank with two bolt holes cut through each. The tank could then be placed on the 3/4-inch rails and bolted down.

Then it was matter of modifying our plumbing configuration to reach the tank – now in the trunk – using the supply, return line, and sending unit wire that we already had in place. To accomplish this, a pair of fuel line bulkhead fittings were placed in the floor of the trunk.

Here's the fruit of our labor, with the new lines re-routed through a pair of bulkheads in the trunk floor to the tank and the stock sending unit wire, also re-routed through the tank from the undercarriage of the car. Armed with a pair of rollover vents, we've optioned to seal one off, while routing the other out through the floorboard of the car.

On the supply side, the hose was cut to place a new inline fuel filter on the line, and then both the supply and return lines were connected to one side of the bulkheads, while a new pair of fuel lines were connected to the trunk side of the bulkheads and run up to the new Stealth fuel cell. As mentioned above, we re-used the sending unit wire, and only had to re-route it up through the trunk to the new tank. Lastly, because we only need one of the two rollover vents that come standard on the Stealth fuel cell, we capped one of the AN fittings off, and with a loop in the line as is common, routed it out the floorboard of the car.

While the switch from our previous OE-style fuel tank to this legitimate racing tank from Aeromotive may be a rather small ingredient to the whole picture, the result of our work on this, the brains of the fuel system, brings 666 one step closer to it’s performance potential and true identity as a race car. Along the way, we gained some added performance potential with the awesome A1000 pump, reduced some weight from the car, and improved our level of safety a touch with the optional two rollover vents. Now it’s time to fill up and hit the track!

The battle has been waged for decades—full-frame or unibody? Unibody chassis are lightweight, which makes them a no-brainer for performance, but that lightweight design comes at a cost. Stability in a unibody is less than optimum, hence the need for things like subframe connectors and stiffening bars, where the 79-04 Mustang is no exception in this area. While they are well known for being easy 9-second candidates, to get there you need some suspension work. One key weak spot are the rear torque boxes, which is why we turned to Wild Rides for our Project 666 Fox body Mustang.

Launching on slicks or even drag radials puts an incredible amount of stress on the factory torque box, more than what it was designed for. Eventually, the cracks appear in the fatigued sheet metal and the mounting holes stretch out. Initial signs of torque box damage include separation of the metal panels, broken welds, and distorted sheet metal.

The Advantages of the Wild Rides S-Box

Both upper and lower torque boxes can (and should) be reinforced before bolting on a set of slicks. If your car has already been thrashed at the track, that is OK, the Wild Rides S-box components will repair the damage and prevent it from happening again. In addition to the bulletproof design, the Wild Rides S-box also gives you adjustability; with 3 control arm mounting holes, you can change the instant center of the rear suspension to match your engine/transmission combination.

When paired with the upper S-box kit, you get the same adjustment potential as a true 4-link, while utilizing the stock suspension components for stock classes. “When asked, ‘do I need both the Upper S-Box & Lower S-Box’, the answer will vary depending on how much power and what some ones intentions are with the car,” said Gene Giroud of Wild Rides. “Both boxes give you more structure and adjustability.”

One look under 666 and you will see that it has been beat on. The factory torque boxes have been welded up; each seam fully welded to the body. If you cruise the forums, you will find that one of the most common solutions to the stock torque box problem is to weld up all the seams. Some of the Fox-body “forum experts” suggest seam welding on any car that has not seen any damage; that the welding is good enough.

Prepping for Disassembly

The factory torque boxes are made of fairly thin stamped steel held to the body with a series of spot welds. While suitable for a stock Mustang, this is less than ideal for drag racing. You can see the band-aid fix of welding all the seams. In the end, it just makes more work for you to replace it.

There are a few key areas that you need to address before you start any disassembly. If the stock boxes are in good shape, you should make some reference measurements to ensure the new S-boxes are in the correct locations. This is done by pulling a string across the bottom of the frame rails, even with forward edge of the two 1-inch holes to about 10-inches back from the rear edge of the control arm mount hole in the torque box. Secure the string in position. Next, measure the center of the control arm mounting hole to the string on both sides. This will give you your factory reference point. The same procedure will be used to verify the new S-box location once it is set in position.

Disassembly and Installation

Before cutting out the original box, the mounting hole was measured and notated on the frame for reference.

Next, we used a plasma torch to cut out all the twisted metal. If this had not been welded in, you could use a sawzall and an air-hammer. With the metal cut, the boxes will come right out. There is a fair amount of leftover welds and steel, this has to be ground away.

The Wild Rides S-box is considerably nicer than the stock pieces. The biggest advantage here is adjustable mounting points allowing changes to the instant center. The S-box is a fully-boxed torque box, unlike the stock setup which is just a stamped panel spot welded to the floor. “Our S-boxes are constructed from 1/8” steel base materials and 3/16” steel for the actual bolt holes. Our design of the box and its install procedure has proven itself to be a bullet proof combination,

We spent a fair amount of time cleaning up the torque box location. There is a plate that installs above the S-Box on the interior floor, where the stock seat belt mount is. This needs to be lined up with the seat belt bolt, bolted to the car and then welded in place. The S-box slipped into place and we used an adjustable stand to hold it in place. C-clamps work too. They should be bolted to the car using the seatbelt bolts. We measured the location, using the center mounting point and adjusted the boxes until they matched on both sides to the original measurement. With everything lined up, a few tack welds secured the box

Then we used the MIG to lay down some nice, clean welds. Even thick metal warps when heated, so don’t just weld one big bead, space your welds no more than ¼” at a time 2-3 inches apart until the entire section is welded. We also welded the boxes to the frame rails as well.

With everything finished, we hit the new parts with some fresh paint. This looks so much better than the twisted stock torque boxes.

Finally, we bolted in the control arms using the center bolt to start off. Once we get to the track, this can be changed if needed.

While installing Wild Ride’s S-boxes is not super complicated, it is not a bolt-in procedure. You have cut, grind and weld many of the components in precise locations in order for everything to be square and correct. That means that if your welding skills are not up to the task (would you bet your life and the lives of others around you on them), then get some help from someone who is an experienced welder. By taking your time, checking and re-checking the fit, the end result will provide a serious advantage of an otherwise stock chassis Mustang. Though the advantages of this cost-effective piece will pay off in the long haul, helping us reduce chassis flex and adding adjustability!

When it comes to building an engine that makes gobs of horsepower, you need a spark hot enough to correctly burn that additional fuel and air in the combustion chamber. The racer needs a system that is not only robust and easy to install, but it has to be easy to adjust once installed in the car to allow the racer to change things like rev limits and launch RPM settings at the track.

Among the best-known companies in the racing world is Crane Cams. Crane may be best known for its line of camshafts, but the company has some of the best ignition systems out there. For this tech feature, we are going to be installing a full Crane ignition system into our 666 Mustang Project car. The gear we will be using inside our devilish project car includes:

Our complete Crane ignition system before installing into Project 666

Crane Cams Race Billet distributor for 351W/5.0HO engines PN #1000-1612

• Locked out timing with magnetic trigger
• Stainless steel shaft with billet lower housing
• Large or small cap design available

Crane 8.5mm Sleeved Fire Wire spark plug cables PN #295-2426

• Double-silicone reactive core spark plug wire sets.
• “Silicone-on-silicone” design resists high under hood temperatures and insulation breakdown caused by abrasion.
• Filter out RFI and EMI noise generated by ignition systems
• High performance 550 degree boots

Crane HI-6DSR Box PN #6000-6424

• Dual stage rev limiting from 600 to 9900 RPM
• Multi-spark CD for race or street, up to 14.5:1 compression, nitrous, supercharged or turbo
• Sequential rev limiting stop engine damaging “popping and banging” at rev limit

Crane FireBall LX-92 coil PN #730-0892

• Recommended for maximum performance with Crane HI-6 systems
• Up to 70% higher energy at the spark plug than stock
• E-core design with closed magnetic path reduces leakage

The HI-6DSR Ignition Box

The first part is our HI-6DSR dual stage rev limiter CD ignition box. This little rectangular box measures in at 8″ L x 4.5″ W x 2″ H and it weighs 4.5 pounds. Those small dimensions should make it easy to pack under the hood of a racecar with little room to spare. The HI-6DSR has dual stage rev limiting from 600 to 9900 RPM. The rev limiter adjustments are made using big rotary switches that have click-in detents for adjustment. You don’t need to keep a toolbox full of chips to set the RPM based on track conditions. Crane claims that the HI-6DSR we are using delivers a higher spark-gap current than any other comparable digital CD ignitions.

We needed an ignition system that was going to be able to keep up with our 13:1 compression ratio in our 427, and Crane boasts that the multi-spark CD is for race and street applications up to 14.5:1 compression ratio with nitrous, turbos, or superchargers. The ignition promises more horsepower, torque, and crisper throttle response.

A fabricated aluminum plate installed in the front right fender would house both our new Crane ignition box and coil.

Virtually every car you hear at the track creates some sort of backfire through the exhaust when up on the rev limiter. Cranes sequential rev limiting is a nice feature that keeps that from happening by firing each of the cylinders evenly during a rev limit situation. The HI-6DSR includes the adapter harness and is surface mountable with fully digital components. It also has potted soft urethane feet to resist heat, dirt, and to offer moisture protection. One of the most important things about the HI-6DSR for those living in a CARB state like California is that the HI-6DSR has a CARB number with E.O., D-225-63, though we have no plans to take our Mustang on the street any longer.

No more pills here; all rev limits are set with a dial knob that will click in place to ensure that the proper RPM point has been selected.

The HI-6DSR operates on 6 to 18 volts, so regardless if you have either a 12 volt or 16 volt system, this box is works perfectly. It draws seven amps max at 10,000 RPM, and the RPM limiter accuracy is plus or minus 30 RPM.

The timing accuracy is plus or minus 0.5 degrees from 500 to 9,900 RPM. Primary voltage output is 450 volts and primary energy output is 1200 millijoules/sequence. Though when used with our LX 92 coil, the system has a peak spark gap current of 510 milliamps.

Wiring the ignition system couldn't be easier. When coupled with a complete Crane ignition system, the components utilize color coded and matching weather pack connectors for a headache-free install.

Crane’s LX 92 Ignition Coil

The next component of the system that is going to ensure we receive the strongest possible spark is the LX 92 FireBall coil. This coil promises 70% higher energy at the spark plug than a stock coil, while its E-core design uses a closed magnetic path to reduce leakage and improve energy transfer. Though life should be pretty simple on the fender panel, the LX92 is designed to resist harsh vibrations with a solid epoxy-encapsulated design. The coil is also designed to be very safe with no exposed high voltage primary terminals.

Crane Billet Race Distributor and 8.5mm Plug Wires

After the LX92 coil, the next part that we will be installing into Project 666 is the Crane Cams Race Billet distributor. Crane makes these distributors to fit just about anything you can imagine and the model we settled on for our project is the large cap 1000-1612 for the Ford 5.0HO and 351W. The distributor uses an analog design with locked out timing, and it has a stainless steel shaft with a billet lower housing. Crane promises no maintenance and this distributor is aimed at drag racers and circle track racers. To set ignition timing, the distributor rotates counterclockwise and uses a male/HEI cap style.

Before we installed the new distributor, the rotor was set back to the number one firing location to eliminate firing headaches when the 427 is ready to fire back up again.

When you are building up a racecar, it can be easy to overlook some of the details that can hurt your performance on the track. Things like your spark plug wires for instance. For Project 666 we are also using the Crane 8.5 mm Sleeved FireWire spark plug cables. These cables are some of the toughest that you will find on the market today. They are designed specifically for racing with braided fiberglass sleeving for an extra barrier against damage.

That design allows the cables to resist abrasion and extreme heat up to 1200-degrees F. These wires are aimed at the racer, but can be used on the street as well.  They have an exclusive Reactive-Core design that filters RFI noise for the highest output electronic ignition systems, the braided fiberglass mesh is also Kevlar reinforced, and they have a pure silicone outer jacket.

There has been a lot of knuckle-busting in the shop on Project 666 recently – some good and some bad.  We have been preparing the car to compete in a few PSCA races this season.  Getting our Fox ready has been a blast, but there has been a little cocktail of drama and headaches involved as well. This is our tear-jerking story of our hunt for the 9′s.

Our Mustang started out last year with a 408ci that made about 575 hp to the crank. With the Windsor in place of our tired 302, we were able to muster mid 10-second quarter mile times with stout 1.46 60-foot times. This is not nearly fast enough to be competitive in the PSCA, let alone get us an NHRA license for the season. Thus, we realized it was time to install our hidden-bullet: a Dart all-aluminum 427.

We started by pulling our Dart 427 out of the storage room where it has sat for nearly two years. Just in case you don’t remember this one, the block is Dart’s lightweight aluminum 9.500 deck small block Ford.  It utilizes a Lunati Pro Series crank, Lunati 4340 Superlight rods, and JE custom 4.125 bore dome pistons for a total compression ratio of 13:1.

The short block was capped off with a set of Trick Flow’s bad ass CNC heads that flowed 333 cfm intake and 255 cfm on the exhaust. The heads came with 58cc chambers, bronze valve guides, interlocking ductile iron seats, and huge 225cc intake runners. These heads are completely assembled with 2.080” and 1.600” stainless steel valves and 1.560” roller springs with 240lbs of seat pressure and 600lbs open pressure which is perfect for the custom Comp Cam sitting in the block. Speaking of valvetrain, we completed the assembly with Comp Cams’ Ultra Gold aluminum rocker arms in a 1.6 ratio that was supported by a 5/16″ one piece chrome moly push rod.

To learn more about the short block click here.
To learn more about the long block click here.

Before installing the engine and transmission in 666, we needed to change our TCI flexplate. The 408 was an externally balanced crankshaft and the new 427 was internal balance.TCI's #529615 flexplate is SFI 29.1 approved and built with extra-thick welds on both sides of the ring gear.

We had a fully race ported Wilson 9.500 deck Edelbrock Super Victor intake manifold from an older project. Though destined for use as a fuel injected application, we needed to make home made injector bung plugs. These consisted of machined down bolts with o-rings and flat bar stock to secure them

So this should be a direct swap from one Windsor to another, right?  Well, our 408ci motor utilized a post 1971 block, matching the 9.500 deck height of our Dart block, but due to the slightly raised runners featured on our TFS Street Heat heads, this made for more work than we anticipated. Project 666 was starting to live up to its name.

The first task was to finish assembling the motor, which went relatively smooth until we realized that our Edelbrock Super Victor intake manifold was built for fuel injection and has the injector ports. Now we could change intakes, but this intake has been meticulously CNC ported by induction gurus Wilson Manifolds. Though this was an easy fix with a couple of new bolts from the bin. Next, the header flanges had to be ported to match the shape of our Trick Flow heads to insure maximum exhaust flow on the hot-side of the motor.

The headers were hitting the transmission's bell housing. The exhaust ports on these awesome Trick Flow heads are a touch higher then on our previous heads. A little grinding later and we are all set to go.

One of the new pieces we put on our 427 is Canton’s 351W Fox Body Drag Power Pan.  Designed to be used in two or four bolt main configuration, it also accepts a 164 or 157 tooth flywheel.  It has a massive 9-inch deep sump that will accept seven quarts of oil.  The large recovery pouch requires that the right side mounting bolts to be accessed through plugs in the bottom of the pan.  We simply applied a little Teflon tape to each of these plugs to ensure a leak-free seal. This is one of the most popular Ford drag racing pans on the market.

Canton 13-672SV 351W Drag Pan

• Pro Style Oil Recovery Pouch
• Slosh Baffle
• Provision For Our Pan Mounted Dipstick
• Magnetic Drain Plug
• Seven Quart Capacity

In addition to the Canton oil pan, we turned to Optima for a fresh Red Top battery.  The Red Tops are some of the most well known performance batteries used for automobiles.  They can live up to twice as long as a typical battery and can pack up to 15x more vibration resistance as well.  Vibration resistance is critical in race cars that don’t feature the same soft bushings that typically dampen that vibration in a normal street car.  Another great aspect is that they are completely spill proof, so if your race car ends up on the roof, leaky battery acid will be the least of your concerns.

After fitting the headers on the motor to ensure their fitment, we were ready to install the engine. That is until we realized the new Canton drag race oil pan is too wide to fit in between our motor mount plates on our K-member. So we needed to move both the lower points of the motor mount plates an inch on each side.  Next, the headers were hitting the transmission’s bell housing. Our dreams (nightmares..?) came back to bite us as we started to realize we had to fabricate two new header tubes.  Welcome to race cars – right?

With the motor in, we fill it with fluids in preparation to fire it. Red Line recommends using their break in additive with conventional oil for a few hundred miles

A final check of the valve lash was among the last things to do on our check list. Also on top is Pro Systems 4150 carburetor.

666′s Milk Shake Brings Tears to the Dyno

Needless to say that a fair amount of the office was excited to see Project 666 on the dyno to see if it could get close to its power goals that marked its naming. But it wouldn’t even get through a run on the dyno before our AutoMeter oil pressure gauge dropped to zero.  Immediately we pulled out the dipstick to see what was going on and we were greeted with a beautiful shade of frothy brown – an unwanted interaction between oil and water. Yes, oil and water; this is never a good sign with a new setup, but it brings up the point that every possible aspect of failure must be examined before pulling out one’s hair in frustration.

At the sight of the Starbucks foo-foo coffee drink colored liquid the first thought that comes to mind is the head gaskets. Like any normal person the logical first step to methodically disassemble the engine and look for clues that led to the source of the problem.  Starting with the intake manifold, we saw what could be a problem with the gasket sealing between the water jackets, lifter valley, and intake ports.

With oil in the intake runners, we very well could have found our problem. This gasket problem could very easily be causing a sealing problem around the water jacket as well.

To save you a lot of reading and condense three days worth of work, we tried resealing the intake manifold two different times with no success.  There was even the thought that the manifold might have been milled for its previous designated engine combination, so we purchased a virgin Super Victor manifold and still the milk shake was there.

After removing the cylinder heads, further oil was observed in places where it should not be found.  With the visual evidence, the head gaskets seemed the likely culprit; but upon further investigation the head gaskets were not the source of the attempts at blending oil and water. As the tear down process continued, it became routine to question every possible component that could have been the cause of this issue.

Once the engine was disassembled the problem became apparent; like the Titanic the cylinders sleeves had sunk in the aluminum block. Not a dramatic James Cameron way, but just enough to wreak oily-watery havoc. Even the miniscule amount that the sleeves had sunk was enough to be problematic. This is nothing Dart did; but it was something that probably happened during engine block machining and prep. You are supposed to fully seat the sleeves prior to machining. Our 427′s sleeves just weren’t fully seated. Basically, the uneven surface was the cause of the mess and resulted in multiple head gasket changes.

If you look at the top edge of where the sleeve meets the block, you can easily see the block sits slightly higher.

With the mystery solved, the uneven surface had to be dealt with or proper sealing would never be achieved. When looking at the picture of the piston, it is hard not to notice the oil build up and the slight gap between the face of the block and the sleeves, which prevented the gasket to do its job in a proper fashion. It is virtually impossible for the gasket to perform corrected while it is being sucked into the combustion chamber, which explains how the water managed to sneak it’s way into the mix.

Being mentally exhausted from the 427 debacle and wanting a second opinion on the matter, we shipped our zero mile old 427 up to L&R Automotive for a rebuild.  There were a couple of parts we knew we were going to want changed out to elevate any potential problems – new gaskets from Fel-Pro, PermaTorque MLS Head Gaskets (PN #1134) which are .041-inch thick and have a stainless steel armor ring – perfect for our high compression 427. Also, we utilized a Fel Pro Front Cover Gasket and Rear Main Seal gasket. New rings from Total Seal got the call because we pulled the pistons as part of our rebuild.

We also needed a new Mellings Pump, but we needed a new pump not related to a direct failure, but in an unknown instance, the adjustable pressure screw had been tightened down so tight that it bottomed out on the relief, forcing the pump to relieve the pressure it was trying to produce. So it was time for a new Melling pump.

Additionally, we did not have a failure with the Comp Cams Endure-X lifters in the motor, however L&R discovered that simply the wrong height lifters were installed.  This was causing some of our oil pressure issues. You see, Dart’s blocks feature .300-inch taller lifter bosses that allow a wider range of camshaft lift applications and we simply had the standard height lifters in the motor and were bottoming out and not being properly oiled.

Rebuilding our Brand New Engine at L&R Automotive

We chose Total Seal "CML Premium Rings" which are part number CML-9010-5; which are 4.125-inch bore, .043-inch top and second ring, and 3mm oil rings. They are a ductile iron top ring which is great for our race application.

L&R installed new Comp Cams Endure-X Solid Roller Lifters (PN 838-16) because the lifters we had previously were too short for the Dart block's raised lifter bores. These have a custom link bar assembly that combines the benefits of a removable link bar with the safety of a captured link bar. They are .300-inch taller for Dart Ford blocks.

A final lash adjustment and the resealing of the Edelbrock Super Victor intake manifold completed our engine build. Now it was time to get the motor back into the Mustang and hit the dyno.

Reinstalling the 427ci into 666

With everything squared away in the engine bay from the previous installation attempt, 666′s 427 slid back onto the engine mounts with ease.  Fingers were crossed as Sean fired the car up for the first time.  We let the Mustang idle for about 15 minutes straight, and we were greeted with stable oil pressure.  A close inspection of the engine’s oil and all was well.  It was time to get 666 on the Dynojet rollers and tune up our Pro Systems 4150 carburetor.

With our new engine... freshly rebuilt... we were eager to get it reinstalled and onto the dyno.

While the engine was being over hauled, we also installed a new Crane ignition system. The gear we are using inside our devilish project car includes the Crane Cams #1000-1612 Race Billet distributor, Crane 8.5mm Sleeved Fire Wire spark plug cables part number 295-2426, Crane HI-6DSR Box part number 6000-6424, and the Crane FireBall LX-92 coil part number 730-0892.

The 408 lived just fine on a stock-style starter, but due to the 427's high compression setup, we needed to beef up our starting capacity. The Powermaster XS Torque features 200 lb/ft of torque of starting power. It weighs in at 8.5 pounds, clears our headers and oil pan, plus work with engines up to 18:1 compression!

After about a dozen hits on the dyno we were able to get the motor flat lined at a stable 12.7:1 air/fuel ratio. Even equipped with VP's C14 high octane leaded race fuel, we kept the ignition timing conservative at 34 degrees total, leaving plenty more horsepower to be had. Click on the graph for a larger version.

When we first dynoed 666 we didn’t have any proper wheels for it.  We had just upgraded our tire size from a 26×10 to a 28×10.5 and we had fender rubbing issues that we needed to deal with. Not wanting to what any longer to see what the new 427 was going to put out for power numbers, we found a spare set of our old dirt track car’s wheels and tires that fit perfectly onto the Mustang.  While it might have all fit properly, traction wasn’t all that great and we could watch the tires smoke on the dyno at the end of the run while only producing about 515hp.  With the rubbing fixed and the slicks in place for a few test pulls (it’s not a good idea to make a bunch of runs with slicks on a dyno) we managed to make 549 hp and 447 lb/ft of torque, which made us happy campers.

Even though Project 666 is old enough to drink, it still needs to have a diaper to capture any potential escaping (engine pieces) fluids...and so we don't angry fellow competitors by oiling down the track during a run. To be PSCA legal we needed an engine diaper.

DJ Safety manufacturers NHRA approved SFI 7.2 diapers for most Fox body block/oil pan configurations, including modular blocks. These high quality units offer superb fit and feature header bolt mounted straps with cam buckles for easy installation and removal. This particular unit utilizes Kevlar construction with an aluminized outer cover for improved heat resistance. Other upgrades include Kevlar straps for further improved heat resistance and rear strap to tighten the unit around pan that helps with tight clearances and provides a better fit.

Off the Dyno and to the Track

Our mission with taking Project 666 to the track was two-fold. First, just to get the darn Mustang to make some sub 10-seecond laps without the satanic 5-liter Fox exploding, catching fire, losing oil pressure, or shooting parts in the air. Second, we wanted to get driver James Lawrence his NHRA license that he had desired since he first starting drag racing 15 years ago. We traveled to the PSCA event at California Speedway in order to put all of this together! It was hot – scorching hot – to the tune of 100 degrees and high humidity. Since 666′s 427 makes about 675-700 horsepower when fully tuned up, unfortuntely we knew that we were barely going to make the 9-second range in those conditions. But that didn’t stop us.

We set up at Fontana with two goals: 9 second runs and an NHRA license.

When you are getting your NHRA license, the process includes making 6 runs.. 2 “moderate runs” – 2 “half runs” and 2 “full runs”. The full runs must be 9.99 or faster. We started out the day on Friday with the desire to make all 6 hits; get our NHRA license, and be merry. On our first few passes, we were golden. We set the 2-step at about 4,000 RPM; and made 2 60-foot runs and moderate passes; and then 1 half track pass. The half-track run was in the low 10s (10.20 to be exact). Then it was time for run 4. As we pulled up, we saw some fluid leaking from the bottom of 666. We were hoping… praying… (probably a bad idea with a car named 666).. that it was a simple fluid leak.

But that wasn’t to be. After our first 3 runs, we managed to damage the C4 transmission when a gasket failed in the transmission. Honestly – it was probably.. and likely.. our fault; we had an engine vibration issue and had run the car on the dyno about 10 times with that vibration. Most likely, the vibration in the engine caused the gasket failure. But it meant a trip back to the shop to take apart and R&R the transmission. We were tired, it was 7 PM, and it was brutally hot, but it was time to get busy. This is when your hard work pays off. We wanted the 9s, and we wanted our license.

We didn't exactly have the transmission stand we needed to replace the pump gasket. No problem. A bucket and wood, and a couple of straps will work just fine in the heat of the moment!

Changing the pump gasket on our C4. You can see how the gasket broke. According to C4 experts, this area of the C4 is pretty vulnerable. We probably broke ours when we had some engine vibration problems that we ignored for far too long. Not where we wanted to be, but the good news was that we found a small transmission shop with the C4 pump gasket we needed; and we had an awesome crew. Big props to Sean and Dean for thrashing the gasket and C4 in and out in miserable conditions.

Back to the Track, Saturday

We rolled back in California Speedway exhausted but energized. We were lacking of sleep, but high on enthusiasm. We were confident the C4 problem was resolved; and we knew what we needed to do to get that NHRA license and put the Project 666 Mustang into the record-books as a real 9-second player. There aren’t a lot of 9-second built project cars in magazine land, so we wanted to add that to our resume. On the first run, our plan was to take it easy, with a part throttle launch just to make sure the transmission gasket was going to work ok and not soil itself. A 1.59 60-foot and 10.45 were the result of the easy run, and the great news was everything was dry – no ATF on the ground and it seemed our problems were fixed.

Now we just had to take care of business – two 9-second runs – and magazine glory and an NHRA license would be our reward.

James before the first run on Saturday. That's what a lack of sleep looks like on a race driver. The first pass would prove to be an easy shake down in the 10.40s.

Before the final two runs, we needed a top off of VP C14. That's our fuel of choice for Project 666 and all of the powerTV project cars. We've had a ton of success with VP and run it exclusively on our dyno. Works great with our 13.5:1 compression 427

It was a little past noon when it became time to line up for our first “would-be” 9-second run. It was freakishly hot, about 101 degrees right before we pulled out on the track. To say there weren’t doubters – that would be a lie. Quite a few of the crew doubted 666 would lay down a 9-second run in these oppressive conditions, especially with a rookie driver. Working in our favor was the track seemed to be hooking quite well. After a very healthy burnout, James pulled to the line. We had raised the launch RPM to 5,200 RPM so we were expecting an improvement in 60-foot. James engaged the 2-step, put the throttle to the wood, and got his hand ready on the TCI shifter to slam second gear right past the 60-foot marks.

666 left the line wheels skying in the air – we’re talking it carried the wheels for a good 50 feet, and tripped the 60-foot beams with a stunning 1.38 60-foot. James shifted crisply through 3 gears, and the scoreboard showed the results. 9.94 at 134 mph. Boo-ya. One in the books, one to go.

The Run

We knew we had to run the number. At least 9.99. 15 years of waiting, and a 9-second magazine project car title lay in the wings. And something conspired against us. Somehow, the temperature kept creeping up. The trailer said 106 degrees. Our hearts fell. 9.94 was barely making it. Another 5 degrees of temperature, and a slightly more sloppy race track meant one thing. Tire spin, and bad, nasty muggy air for the Dart 427. We saw images of 10.01 dancing in our heads. The decision was made to raise the shift RPM to 7,200. The engine would go 7,500, but never had taken it past 7000 on the dyno. So 7,200 it was. Hopefully it was enough.

James pulled 666 to the line with our crew in tow. A crisp burnout followed. On the chip, the anticipation was priceless.

The scoreboard said it better than we ever could.

9.97. 136.

Mission accomplished.

Run #5 - a 9.94 at 134. Hanging the hoops high in the air, the Team Z-suspension equipped 666 ran a 1.38 60-foot. There's more to be had.

Click on the image for a larger version of the slips

Being able to read a wider range of air fuel ratios as the engine is operating is a vital diagnostic tool. Air/fuel logging is often used for dyno tuning, in order to build ideal fuel maps for engine performance, so having the same kind of capability on board your ride can be a useful addition.

Innovate Motorsports is a leader in the market when it comes to delivering this capability and making it fast, accurate and easy to use. These are easy words for anyone to say, but the fact is that how Innovate obtains its data from the sensor is different from what other companies do. Innovate’s DirectDigital technology results in easier calibration, internal drift compensation, fast response time, as well as sensor feedback that verifies the condition of the sensor itself.

Project 666 is our 1986 5.0 Fox-body Mustang which has recently undergone a number of upgrades, including a new 427ci engine, so it made a lot of sense to keep a close eye on things as we're looking to take this car to a few PSCA races this season.

The latest product from Innovate is their MTX-L all in one gauge, which only needs power, ground and a signal from the supplied wideband sensor. “We have taken our wideband technology that is in our LC-1 and integrated inside the gauge,” said Cort Charles of Innovate Motorsports. “That eliminates multiple components to set it up and it also makes the data faster, since the wideband controller is built into the gauge now.” In addition to providing an easy to read, dual analog/digital display, the waterproof gauge allows for connection to data loggers or an electronic engine control system that uses an air fuel ratio signal.

Product Information

Innovate Motorsports’ MTX-L: Wideband Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge

• The only 100% digital wideband air/fuel ratio technology
• Water Resistant 52mm (2 1/16”) round dash-mountable casing
• Built-in Direct Digital™ Wideband Controller simplifies installation
• Wideband O2 Sensor is compatible with all fuel types, including Leaded, Unleaded, Diesel, Methanol, E85
• Ability to calibrate O2 sensor for increased accuracy
• Two 0-5v fully programmable linear analog outputs for use with engine management systems and external dataloggers
• Interchangeable faceplates and bezels
• Large digital readout and programmable needle style gauge
• Datalog using LogWorks on your PC

Installing the Goods

There’s an old saying that goes, “The less you got, the less you got to go wrong,” and the inherent simplicity of the Innovate product goes a long way to making installation a breeze. Particularly when running a competition vehicle, the last thing you want to do is add something that could lead to more headaches.

A one-time calibration of the oxygen sensor is required, but it’s a simple process. It’s probably best to do this before installing the sensor in your exhaust system. Fully explained in the Startup Guide, the process is as simple as powering up the gauge without the sensor connected for 30 seconds, then turning it off. Now, connect the sensor and power up the gauge once more. After about a minute, it will start displaying air fuel ratio values and the calibration is complete.

“We still believe in free air calibration for our meters,” explained Charles. ” The Bosch sensor that is used in this kit (and most competitors kits) can vary up to .5 of an air/fuel ratio point after 1000 hours of use on a factory-type vehicle.  Now, combine that with a high race application, that cuts down the time before that problem surfaces.”  With free air calibration, you have the ability to recalibrate that sensor until it expires. Follow along with us now as Project 666 gets a whole new information source.

When you lay out the pieces, this is what comes with the MTX-L product. The primary components are the gauge itself and the oxygen sensor. Not shown here is the 'bung' that gets welded, if needed, into the exhaust system to accept the oxygen sensor. Interchangeable faceplates, the gauge bezel and cabling with OEM-grade connectors are also supplied.

If the exhaust system in your ride doesn't already have provision for an oxygen sensor, you'll have to drill and weld in the fitting that the sensor will screw into. First, it has to be ahead of any catalytic converters, if installed. Ideally, it should also be in a collector, so that the sensor will read a mix of the individual cylinder variations. "Most people think you need to place a wideband sensor as close to the engine as possible and that is just not true," explained Charles. "Think about how fast that exhaust gas is exiting the engine; we are talking milliseconds it takes for exhaust to travel through the piping. Putting it three feet back or in an X-pipe isn’t going to effect the reading anyway."

Finding a suitable location and mounting the gauge is the next task. The MTX-L uses a standard 2-1/16" mounting hole. The supplied sensor cable is eight feet long, which should be fine for most uses, but there is an optional eighteen foot cable available.

Here's the easy part. Connect the red wire to power and the black wire to ground. The white wire should be spliced into a headlight power wire to enable gauge dimming at night. Unless you're using datalogging or an ECU interface, you're done with the wiring now.

After routing and plugging the sensor cable into the sensor, we're ready to button up this installation.

Conclusion

Innovate Motorsports makes a big deal of their digital technology and it shows through in this application. Wiring is simple, installation is quick and easy, and the chore of calibrating the system is almost trivial. With its ability to provide output signals, even more sophisticated applications are possible, whether datalogging or interfacing to an engine management system. “We understand there are a lot of other performance vehicles out there besides automotive, so that is why we made the MTX-L waterproof so you can even put it on any sort of powersports vehicles,” said Charles.

With its ability to cover all kinds of fuels, including leaded, unleaded, diesel, methanol, E85 and propane, you’re covered for most future possibilities. Air/fuel management is one thing that can help improve both performance and reliability. Getting it all in one package from Innivate Motorsports, for about $200, make this a no-brainer addition to most any high performance vehicle.

If you have been following our Fox body notch project dubbed Project 666, you know that the car is already very fast. So far the car has a new TCI rugged C4 transmission and a 700+ HP Dart 427ci small block. While going fast is fun, we also need to update some of our safety devices. This time around we bolted in a pair of Kirkey’s 41 Series seats into the car with Holcomb seat brackets, a Holcomb bolt-in light weight steering column with quick release, and a Grant steering wheel.

The biggest eye catcher for 666 was shedding those old and very tired OEM seats and steering wheel. You can look at that flat factory seat and tell at a glance that it offered very little in the way of safety and support. This is why we choose the 41 Series Pro-Street Drag seat for our project car. These seats range in price from $175 for a 15-inch seat to $235.50 for a 20-inch seat. For our project, we used 16-inch seats.

Kirkey 41 Series – PN 41500:
• Constructed from MIG welded .100″ thick 5052 grade aluminum
• MIG welded on the inside for added strength
• Offset aluminum extrusion around perimeter of seat for added strength and safety
• Contoured high-density foam bottom provides complete leg and thigh support
• High-density foam on rib supports for added comfort

Kirkey seats plus Holcomb's seat brackets and light weight column were on the plate for this tech article

Kevin Derochi from Kirkey Racing said, “Our Pro Street Drag seat has been one of our most popular seats for the past ten years. It provides the driver with a safe seat that doesn’t break the bank that they can use on the drag strip as well as on the street.” The seats come as an aluminum shell with no cover. Kirkey makes the seats out of MIG welded .100″ thick 5052 grade aluminum. The seats are welded on the inside for additional strength and it has an offset extrusion around the seat perimeter for even more strength and safety. Should 666 ever get into the wall, we want all the protection we can get.

The bottom of the seat is padded with contoured high-density foam for comfort and to provide leg and thigh support. The same foam is put in the rib area as well to pad things a bit. We also opted for a couple of the black cloth seat covers at $110 for each piece. Derochi said, “We build all our seats and covers entirely in-house. The covers are die cut so each one fits the way it was intended. Each seat has been designed and engineered with CAD-CAM and built using the latest in CNC cutting, forming, and welding technologies.”

Holcomb Aluminum Front Seat Bracket – PN HMI60000-AL
• Aluminum construction with multiple mounting points
• Works with most seats except RCI
• Not for street use
• Includes Grade 8 hardware

The larger left bracket is designed for the passenger seat while the left two brackets are designed for the driver.

Holcomb Kirkey Adjustable rear Seat Bracket – PN DRC-60000-K
• Mounts to OEM seat mounting points
• Integral crotch strap attaching point
• Includes seat to roll bar brace

“The Holcomb aluminum seat bracket makes installing poly or aluminum seats in 79-04 Mustangs a straightforward affair,” said Ken Holcomb, owner of Holcomb Motorsports. “Multiple front to back mounting points allow seat placement to fit individual driver requirements. We also recommend a seat-to-roll-bar brace with these mounts, but is not included.”

Kirkey makes seat brackets for their seats, but they are not specifically made for use in Mustangs and we wanted a better bolt-in fit. Mounting the Kirkey seats to our Holcomb brackets is something specifically designed to work for Fox body Stangs like 666 – only requiring a drill, a marker, and measuring tools. For the passenger bracket, we followed along and measured a few times to be sure we had the seats correctly aligned for center before drilling. After marking the spots where we needed to drill to mount the seats to the brackets front and back, we drilled the holes and the preparation of the seats was complete.

The Holcomb brackets are very well made and are for racing use only. Holcomb does not recommend these brackets to be used in a street car. The front brackets have multiple mounting points so you can get the seat into your car perfectly and the hardware used in the bracket is grade 8 for strength and longevity.

When you start running fast, NHRA rules require a five point harness, and the integrated crotch strap allows for easy mounting.

The Holcomb Kirkey rear seat bracket is designed for the driver. This bracket has an integrated crotch strap holder provision and mounts into the factory holes on the floor. Holcomb said, “The bracket allows for an up or down adjustment of seat for better driver comfort. The seat-to-roll-bar brace is required by NHRA rules when mounting in an aftermarket seat, which is why it is included in the kit.” The installation of the rear bracket required drilling the aluminum seat shell after copious measuring to be sure we had the seat aligned just right. The rear bracket also includes a roll bar brace that must be used. We welded the rear section of that roll bar brace to our roll cage and attached the other section to our Kirkey seat making our install NHRA legal, not to mention safe.

Shedding Weight with Holcomb’s Column and Grant’s Wheel

Holcomb Lightweight Steering Column – PN DRC7993SC
• Reuses stock lower column connector
• Welding required for install
• One third the weight of factory column
• Includes DRC4000 steering wheel adapter
• Requires quick disconnect wheel

Grant Steering Wheel – PN 633
• Includes top marker
• Combination smooth and diamond vinyl wrap
• Pre-drilled dual 11/16″ switch holes
• Includes plastic plugs for holes

The mammoth stock column weighs in at 12 pounds while the Holcomb piece is only four pounds.

We also went with Holcomb for our lightweight steering column for 79-93 Fox Mustangs. It is topped off with a quick disconnect Grant racing wheel that is 13-inches in diameter and features a 3-spoke silver design with switch holes. The wheel is wrapped in black vinyl and has a top marker. We opted for no horn on our project, but the wheel is made to fit horn kit part number 3289 if you want a horn on a street/strip car.

“The drag race steering column is an easy bolt in replacement for 79-93 Mustangs,” said Holcomb. Our race steering column saves 4-10 pounds over the stock column. It uses a quick release hub and steering wheel adapter to mate up to the Grant drag race wheel, which features pre-drilled holes for mounting a line lock or transbrake switches. The pre-drilled holes mean your switches don’t get tangled and torn like they will on a stock column. We also designed our race column to utilize OEM lower steering shaft or Flaming River shafts for flexibility.”

The steering column install was surprisingly simple. Obviously, you have to remove the factory column first with the two bolts on the C-clamp. Once you get the factory part out, you can bolt the lightweight column into the car. The quick release is designed to bolt the Grant wheel directly to it.

The stock column's end must be cut off, slipped over the Holcomb column, and welded in place. The inner shaft does slide so you can place the steering wheel where you want it before welding.

The rest of the steering linkage bolts right back up after everything is set back to stock

Here is a shot of the completed interior. Not only is our new setup safer, but we also cut about 70 pounds from the car.

It is easy to get bit by the speed bug, but always remember you need to keep up with the safety side of things. With speeds approaching 140 MPH in the quarter mile, having a set of seats that hold us in place in case of an accident is key to minimizing any injuries.  The weight savings over the factory seats plus our new lightweight column and wheel help us go faster as well!

In this installment on Project 666, we’ll take a more in-depth look at the venerable C4 that TCI has redesigned with the power-user in mind, along with the installation of the transmission, torque converter and other related components. As well, the moment we’ve all been waiting for finally comes, as 666 hits the track in Fontana with some impressive results.

Built Ford Tough

A cutaway view of an OEM Ford C4 transmission.

Ford’s longstanding C4 three-speed automatic transmission went into production in 1964 and was the first all-Ford designed and manufactured automatic transmission. And when it comes to strength, the 1970 and newer C4′s are the way to go with their large input shaft. The 26-spline and .839-inch shaft make for a unit that can handle a lot of punishment; sometimes upwards of 600 horsepower when utilizing hardened, aftermarket input shafts and splines. In addition, the cases made after 1970 use a different mounting design from previous versions as the bellhousing bolts up to the case rather than the front pump, equating to an additional level of strength for demanding applications.

The C4 underwent several refinements around 1970 while being employed in a long list of Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles, and to this day is still the simplest and most reliable automatic transmission that Ford has ever produced.

Despite the end of it's production, however, the C4 remains popular with the drag racing and hot rodding communities for it's simplicity and durability, and remains a popular choice today by a multitude of later model Mustang drag racers.

Ford’s C4 was replaced in 1982 by the C5, and despite the end of it’s production, remains popular with the drag racing and hot rodding communities for it’s simplicity and durability. In fact, a multitude of late-model Mustang racers even choose the C4 over GM’s venerable two-speed Power Glide for racing purposes. And so it should come as no surprise why we opted for TCI’s improved and enhanced version of the C4 to help propel our Project 666 Mustang.

Taking The C4 One Step Further

The external transbrake solenoid and bracket are installed on the transmission. By being installed outside of the transmission case, the solenoid is able to cool much quicker than an internal design when; something very important if you're a drag racer in a round-robin situation.

While the Ford C4 is widely regarded as an exceptional transmission with the utmost in durability, it is not, however, generally up to the task of handling a high amount of horsepower or standing the test of grueling racing applications. And that’s where TCI takes a great starting point with the Ford C4 transmission, and conformed their own internal design and components to make this one stellar racing transmission that’s used by racers far and wide.

TCI’s C4 is a standard transbrake, three-speed automatic transmission, sporting the low-drag, six-pinion planetary kit that still uses the stock ratio but has bearings all the way through. A late-model, 26-spline case filled setup, it also has a reinforced forward gear drum, a billet intermediate servo assembly, 300M input shaft, a deep aluminum pan, and Red Eagle clutches. It should be noted that these features are all standard equipment on this model transmission.

The planetary set sports bearings all the way through, decreasing the amount of drag that ultimately robs your engine of horsepower.

This transmission is based upon a factory C4 transmission case, and designed and intended for use in racing applications. “This particular transmission, with many of the features that is incorporates, isn’t something that we’d suggest be driven on the street. It could be done periodically, but it isn’t something you’d want to put in a vehicle that you’re going to drive often,” said Scott Miller of TCI.

The low-drag, six-pinion planetary set is installed in the transmission case. The use of bearings in the gear set creates less drag than the thrust washer design used in the factory C4 transmissions.

The planetary set, which as mentioned, sports bearings all the way through, helps to cut down on drag that robs valuable horsepower; something that is always crucial in keeping at a minimum after spending thousands of dollars to create said horsepower, only to give it away. Explained Miller, “Ford transmissions – the C4 and C6 – are both real power robbers. They draw a lot of horsepower from the motor because the planetaries are heavier and run on thrust washers all the way through. So that creates more drag, pulling horsepower from the motor.”

The C4 – TCI’s Way

TCI has given the internal components of the C4 a complete overhaul, creating a design that promotes less drag and increased durability.

The design that TCI has implemented decreases the amount of drag considerably, pulling in the neighborhood of 18-20 horsepower, down from what is commonly around 30 horsepower in high gear. And being a Ford transmission where it would be commonplace to find it bolted behind a small block engine that on the average doesn’t typically make large amounts of excess horsepower, that 10-12 horsepower becomes quite a difference.

The six-pinion planetaries are created entirely in-house by modifying the factory gear assemblies to add in the extra gears. From the factory, the C4 sports a three-pinion planetary, and thus, is doubled through TCI’s process. The three-pinion planetary setup in the factory transmission is notoriously a weak link, and by increasing it’s size, the overall strength of the planetary assembly is vastly improved.

The deep, crafted aluminum pan outfitted underneath the TCI C4 holds an extra quart of fluid as compared to the factory unit, preventing the chance of fluid starvation, especially in high-RPM applications. The thick, aluminum construction is also much tougher than the OEM pan.

The deep, crafted aluminum pan outfitted underneath the TCI C4 holds an extra quart of fluid as compared to the factory unit, preventing the chance of fluid starvation, especially in high-RPM applications. This is a very common occurrence in higher RPM engine combinations, where the fluid cannot be pumped quick enough to get it back into the pan quick enough to keep the filter submerged in the fluid. And in being constructed with strong, thick, aluminum, it provides some additional strength and rigidity to the case.

The pro-tree style valve body in the C4 uses a reverse pattern setup with an external solenoid, meaning the transbrake must be engaged in reverse in order for the car to back up.

The transbrake valve body is designed and manufactured in-house at TCI and is a pro-tree style unit that uses a reverse pattern setup with an external solenoid. A “pro-tree” valve body means that the transbrake must be engaged in reverse in order for the car to back up.

The entire TCI C4 transmission, like every product that TCI manufactures, goes through a rigorous testing procedure to check for quality and function. This process is done in three separate stages. First, the valve body goes through it’s own special dynamometer, the transmission is then hydraulically tested on another dyno, and finally, the valve body is bolted on and pan installed and the entire unit is put through its paces on yet another dyno that returns results with figures such as the pressures for each gear, the cooler flow in each gear, and other detailed information.

700 Horsepower? No Problem

These improved elements of the trusty C4 by TCI make this a very solid unit for use in higher horsepower applications, and a great fit for our Project 666 Mustang. “This transmission could be put behind a 750 horsepower application with no problems whatsoever. As well, there are some custom things that we could do to increase the pressures to make it handle even more horsepower, if needed. Part-wise, it’s just fine, but when you’re increasing the horsepower, it’s a good idea to bump the line pressure up a little bit more,” says Miller.

In addition to the C4 transmission itself, we will be outfitting our Project 666 with a host of other add-on accessories from TCI to get the best performance and ease of use out of our new drivetrain.

Rounding Out 666’s Driveline

The TCI Transmission Cooler kit is designed specifically for racing applications and is the largest that TCI offers.

First, we have the C4 SFI-certified bell housing, made of a tough 6061 alloy aluminum that will bolt right up to the C4 without any modifications. The C4 transmission doesn’t typically come with a bellhousing included in the kit, because as a detachable component, most people commonly have their own. The bellhousing, along with the Transmission Cooler Kit (Part# 823800) come highly suggested by TCI, but not a mandatory add-on. The Performance Cooler is a 26,000 GVW cooler designed specifically for racing applications, and is the largest that TCI manufactures and it outfitted with a #6 AN female fitting on it.

Unlike other flexplates on the market that have the ring gear welded on one side, TCI has taken the extra step of performing the welds on both sides of this thicker-than-stock piece.

TCI’s SFI-approved flexplate features extra welds all the way around both sides. Most flexplates on the market have the ring gear that is welded on one side, but TCI has taken the extra step of performing the welds on both sides of this thicker-than-stock piece. 666 will also benefit from the use of a RollStop Solenoid (Part number 861100) to perform burnouts like the professionals. By using the RollStop, you simply pump up the brake pressure, apply the RollStop, and release the brake pedal, which keeps the front brakes applied during the burnout procedure. According to Miller, this unit is universally designed to work with ay type of breaking system, and can withstand pressures of 3,000 psi while only drawing one amp of current.

For our purposes, we chose TCI's Outlaw Shifter that features an integrated two-button handle: one for the transbrake and the other for the line lock.

TCI offers a handful of options for shifters that all comes down to personal preference, and we chose to go with the Outlaw Shifter that features an integrated two-button handle: one for the transbrake and the other for the line lock. For those that prefer to do without the button setup, an Outlaw Shifter minus that feature is also available. Along with the shifter, we’ll be utilizing TCI’s three-speed Rev Pattern Thunder Stick/Outlaw Gate Plate that essentially makes the Outlaw Shifter a reverse pattern setup for the C4 transmission, which uses a reverse pattern valve body.

We’ll be outfitting our C4 with TCI’s SFI-approved Trans-Shield, made from 6061 aluminum that bolts right up without any modifications. Also, we’ll be running our C4 with TCI’s Max Shift ATF fluid, which is available in four different blends to cover most automatic transmissions. Said Miller “it’s not a Dextron-based fluid, but it has additives in it that makes it run a lot cooler than other fluids without breaking down as quickly and easily.”

Converting The C4

Our C4 will be mated up to TCI's eight-inch, steel stator, weld-together C4 converter designed for full race applications, which is good for about 875 to 900 horsepower

And finally, our drivetrain would be virtually useless without a high performance torque converter mated to the C4 transmission to transfer the power to the rear tires. And so we’ve installed TCI’s eight-inch, steel stator, weld-together converter. This converter is designed for full race applications that Miller states is good for a maximum of about 875 to 900 horsepower, as it will stall too high with any more horsepower than that.

Nowadays, racers are going with much larger converters, such as the 9 and 10-inch Pro-X line, because of the amount of horsepower they’re producing. However, for a combination such as ours, the smaller converter is a perfect fit for the level of horsepower that we’re planning to produce, as a larger model would simply bottleneck our engine on the racetrack. Said Miller, “In this type of application, the eight-inch converter is going to perform better, because with the higher horsepower rated converter, it’s going to slip too much on the top end, cutting down on elapsed time and mile per hour.”

TCI redesigned C4, outfitted with stronger and higher performing components from front to back provides the peace of mind that transmission troubles should be the least of our worries with Project 666.

Trip to Fontana with High 10s on the Mind

Our trip to the track began surprising early, with a departure time of six o’clock in the morning, in order to arrive at the track in time for a prime pit spot. As it turned out, we ended up a 1/4 mile from the staging area. We used the two mile asphalt circle track that is parallel to the pit area as a point of reference in measuring the distance. This is the same oval track that NASCAR holds their annual Fontana races on.

A quick check of fluids, tire pressures and window cleaning, and we were set. No sooner than we got James stuffed into the driver’s seat, the call came over the public address system for cars to start moving to the staging area.

Our initial choice to enter in the Sportsman class turned out to be a mistake and we chose to move up into the Pro class. On the first run we left at 3,500 RPM of the trans brake, and our project car rebounded with a 1.49 sixty foot and a 7.17 @ 94.23 mph eighth mile where he lifted and coasted out the rest of the track to a 11.92 @ 87.93 mph. James reported an issue with the shifter possibly being mis-adjusted. One the second pass of the day, 666 carried the wheels with a 1.43 sixty foot and a 7.06 @ 94.35 mph eighth mile time and rounded out the quarter mile with a 11.17 @ 117.70 mph pass. We did notice during the run, each gear change resulted in a loud bang through the exhaust system.

Another five minute walk back to the trailer and our worst fears were confirmed. The pop in the exhaust was substantial and we needed to track down the source. After listening to the engine, we determined that there was a problem with an leaky exhaust gasket that was drawing fresh air into the exhaust flow.

Another five minute walk to the staging area where we met James waiting to move into the burnout box. James drew the left hand lane, where he started on the first run of the day. The car launched much harder than the previous runs and the gears shifted smoothly resulting in a breakout run. We had dialed a 10.80 and ran a 10.56 @ 116.94 mph while on the rev limiter the last 150 feet, due to the lack of rear gear. With the proper gearing and being able to stay in it the entire duration of the track, 10.30s would have been achieved.  The last five minute walk was a bitter sweet feeling because of the nice run but the reality of breaking out and going home meant the end of the day.

Our three time slips throughout the day with car number 7555. Click the picture above for a larger version.

Because our plan for this project was to take the route of an automatic transmission, one of our primary needs and objectives was outfitting the car with a transmission that we knew would stand up to the demands of the horsepower from our venerable 408, and TCI’s C4 is exactly that.

It combines all the great attributes that Ford fanatics have come to know and love, with the increased durability and performance that has made TCI among the leaders in the industry. And coupled with other quality driveline components from their catalog, we rested assured that once we hit the track, transmission troubles would be the least of our worries. With plenty more performance on the table, we’re not quite done with this Fox just yet, so keep it here for more updates as we pound the quarter mile in our pursuit of the mid nine-second zone.

It might have been awhile since you have seen an update on our 666. To quickly recap, our Fox-Body is equipped with a 575 hp 408 Windsor, making about 480 hp to the rear tires.  Though this was going to be the last race we would make with our 408 as we are going to put our 427 Windsor that we had built for 666 sometime ago…we need to make the 666 horsepower goal that we had set to make with the fox body.

The Mustang is going to be used as a temporary race car for the 2011 PSCA racing season.  The class we plan to run is Limited Street, though the Mustang will be there just to gain points while the real car is being built…our ProCharged, LSX powered Project Grandma Malibu.  With that, a few changes have been made to the car.

Wolfe Racecraft 10-Point Cage Add On

We had previously installed a six-point Wolfe Racecraft roll cage years ago.  The kit is designed specifically for a fox body Mustang and each bar is cut to length (and can also be purchased pre-notched), which a decent welder can install in about one day.  Adding onto the six-point cage is Wolfe’s four-point add-on kit.  Along with the six-point kit, this was a built-to-fit application and also came pre-notched.  Sean additionally added a few gusset bars to help reinforce the cage. This week we will have the cage certified to make it all legal.

TCI’s C4 Auto Transmission Swap

You may have remembered that the Mustang was originally equipped with a 5-speed transmission.  In its place is now a TCI C4 automatic, which we installed to help harness the power of our 650+ 427 with consistency and durability.  TCI’s C4 is a standard transbrake, three-speed automatic transmission, sporting the low-drag, six-pinion planetary kit that still uses the stock ratio but has bearings all the way through.

Our C4 features a scatter shield for safety along with an SFI approved bell housing

A late-model, 26-spline case filled setup, it also has a reinforced forward gear drum, a billet intermediate servo assembly, 300M input shaft, a deep aluminum pan, and Red Eagle clutches. It should be noted that these features are all standard equipment on this model transmission. This transmission is based upon a factory C4 transmission case, and designed and intended for use in racing applications.

The design that TCI has implemented decreases the amount of drag considerably, pulling in the neighborhood of 18-20 horsepower, down from what is commonly around 30 horsepower in high gear. And being a Ford transmission where it would be commonplace to find it bolted behind a small block engine that on the average doesn’t typically make large amounts of excess horsepower, that 10-12 horsepower becomes quite a difference.

A deep sump pan holds an quart of additional transmission fluid

The six-pinion planetaries are created entirely in-house by modifying the factory gear assemblies to add in the extra gears. From the factory, the C4 sports a three-pinion planetary, and thus, is doubled through TCI’s process. The three-pinion planetary setup in the factory transmission is notoriously a weak link, and by increasing it’s size, the overall strength of the planetary assembly is vastly improved.

In addition to our TCI transmission, we also installed a eight-inch torque converter. This is TCI’s best selling race torque converter and is suitable for the greatest percentage of drag cars – from bracket racing, to Super Gas and Stock Eliminator.  Most of the models now feature a cast steel stator that is supported by an oversize caged bearing for added reliability.  Current models also feature an improved housing design for less flex or ballooning under the stress of racing, resulting in more consistent times, reactions, and better durability.

AFCO’s Double Adjustable Rear Shock

To help get the rear end planted properly we installed a set of AFCO’s double adjustable, twin tube shocks.  They are compression adjustable from the top side of the shock’s shaft and rebound adjustable via the knob near the lower shock mount.  Having a double adjustable shock allows us to dial in the amount of weight transfer to the rear tires and also how fast the shock will try to recover.

The shock features an outer reserve tube with an inner pressure tube that allows the shock to perform with small body dents. All AFCO R-Series Shocks are 100% dyno tested, rebuildable, and revalvable.

• Compression is adjustable from 1 (softest) to 8 (stiffest), with an infinite number of positions in between (no clicks)
• Rebound is adjustable via a keyhole in the shaft from 1-valve to 12-valve, with an infinite number of positions in between (no clicks)
• Lightweight aluminum design
• Valving is extremely sensitive to change–even a small adjustment can be felt, allowing you to find the “sweet spot” in your setup
• Strong, dependable adjusters will keep your settings until you change them again
• 100 percent dyno-tested to ensure all AFCO drag shocks match in performance
• In-house manufacturing maintains high tolerances
• Can be mounted upside-down for reduced unsprung weight

Red Line Oils Add The Viscosity

With a vast amount of overhauls completed, the need for a fresh set of lubricants.  First off was a bottle of Red Line’s Water Wetter. Unique agent for cooling systems that doubles the wetting ability of water. Also to keep the block and heads free of gunk, rust and corrosion protection allows for use of straight water in racing or reduced antifreeze levels in warm climates.

Next up was six quarts of Red Line’s 5w30 synthetic motor oil.  It features excellent wear protection and friction reduction across a wide range of operating conditions. Als0 superior high temperature stability and oxidation resistance increases lubrication of hot metal compared to other synthetics.

The gear oil of choice was 75w-90 fully synthetic. This is the most popular Red Line gear oil, with thousands of applications for passenger cars, light trucks, and racing vehicles. It contains additional friction modifiers for suitablity with clutch-type limited slip differentials – for most LSDs, no additional friction modifiers are required.

Trip to Fontana with High 10s on the Mind

Our trip to the track began surprising early, with a departure time of six o’clock in the morning, in order to arrive at the track in time for a prime pit spot. As it turned out, we ended up a 1/4 mile from the staging area. We used the two mile asphalt circle track that is parallel to the pit area as a point of reference in measuring the distance. This is the same oval track that NASCAR holds their annual Fontana races on.

A quick check of fluids, tire pressures and window cleaning, and we were set. No sooner than we got James stuffed into the driver’s seat, the call came over the public address system for cars to start moving to the staging area.

Our initial choice to enter in the Sportsman class turned out to be a mistake and we chose to move up into the Pro class. On the first run we left at 3,500 RPM of the trans brake, and our project car rebounded with a 1.497 sixty foot and a 7.179 @ 94.23 mph eighth mile where he lifted and coasted out the rest of the track to a 11.920 @ 87.93 mph. James reported an issue with the shifter possibly being mis-adjusted. One the second pass of the day the car managed to rebound with a 1.432 sixty foot and a 7.069 @ 94.35 mph eighth mile time and rounded out the quarter mile with a 11.177 @ 117.70 mph pass. We did notice during the run, each gear change resulted in a loud bang through the exhaust system.

Another five minute walk back to the trailer and our worst fears were confirmed. The pop in the exhaust was substantial and we needed to track down the source. After listening to the engine, we determined that there was a problem with an leaky exhaust gasket that was drawing fresh air into the exhaust flow.

Another five minute walk to the staging area where we met James waiting to move into the burnout box. James drew the left hand lane, where he started on the first run of the day. The car launched much smoother than the previous runs and the gears shifted smoothly resulting in a breakout run. We had dialed a 10.80 and ran a 10.568 @ 116.94 mph while on the rev limiter the last 150 feet, due to the lack of rear gear. With the proper gearing and being able to stay in it the entire duration of the track, we felt that 10.30s would have been feasible.  The last five minute walk was a bitter sweet feeling because of the nice run but the reality of breaking out and going home meant the end of the day.

Our three time slips throughout the day with car number 7555. Click the picture above for a larger version.

With Project 666, our Fox-body Ford Mustang almost 2 years in the making, this year’s LA Invasion was a day of trials and tribulations. Leading the charge for 666 was shop wizard Sean Goude, trusty wrench and sales guy Tom “Terror” Bobolts, myself, and my pregnant wife Melissa. We were a motley crew.

To quickly recap, our Fox-Body is equipped with a 525 hp 408 Windsor, and we’ve always felt it had the stones to run low 11s or even high 10s. This day served as a test day, so we weren’t expecting any miracles. Mid 11s would have made us happy. The first few passes were slated as easy 1-2 gear runs, just to sort out the suspension and handling characteristics. We also know the motor was solid as we had tuned it on the dyno before making the trailer trip up to Fontana from our Temecula offices. 460 rwhp should get that job done.

Here is our story, pass by pass. Also, there are two videos for your enjoyment. One, a complete series of all 5 of our runs, and the second, 3 runs shot with our hand Go-Pros.

Video: Project 666 Testing:

Pass Number 1:

Plan for the first run was go through the first two gears. I did a nice smokey burnout, and it turned out that I found afterward only the right tire was spinning. Since we had a Detroit Locker, that meant that the locker didn’t lock due to the fact the turn from the lanes to the burnout box was so tight. After the burnout, I rolled up to the line, revved the engine to about 3,500 rpm, and let her fly. The car launched and then bogged, tripping a 1.65 60-foot, but it made a pretty decent move to the left. I hit second gear, I heard a nice bang, and then lifted before I hit third gear and just coasted the rest of the way.

On the return road, there was a distinct scratching noise coming from under the car. Great, I thought. A post race inspection revealed that the one of the wheel weights was rubbing on the brake caliper.. it was totally our fault, as we put some stunning new Weld wheels on literally the day before we left for the track, and just didn’t have the time to check them. Eventually, the wheel weights just came off and were flapping against the caliper. Regarding the move to the left, we decided to reset the Team Z sway bar to neutral, and double check all of the shock settings. The bang? Turns out that we had failed to remove the factory bump stocks on the chassis, and that lovely noise was the rear end slamming into the bump stops on the shifts. Lovely. 60-Foot: 1.65, 1/4 Mile: 13.57 at 108.25 mph

Pass Number Two:

Same routine as last time but I pull into burnout box, straighter this time. Both tires are spinning. Check. Release line lock. Car just sits in burnout box and I lift off the throttle. What the heck. Line lock is stuck engaged. Click it a few times, it releases. Must be some junk in the solenoid. Then I drive out of the water box thinking, I’m sure there is water on the tires. Do two little dry hops to try to shake the water loose. No luck. Launch at 3,500 rpm, the car spins to a 1.70 60-foot, and then revs so fast with slightly wet tires it’s at 6,500 rpm and climbing before I can hit second gear. Hit second, but the car spins badly and I shut it down. At least it went straighter this time. And no more scratching noises coming from the wheel weights. Goes 12.80′s at only 84 mph. Time slip says: 60-foot: 1.708, 1/4 Mile: 12.813 at 84.71 mph

Pass Number Three

We can’t take apart the line lock because we don’t have the right stuff to bleed the brakes. Nor can we likely repair the line-lock at this point. We think there is something stuck inside the line-lock like some debris that is keeping it from holding. On top of that, doing a burnout manually is not happening due to the way our brake bias is setup. That means, essentially, no more serious burnouts for the most part. Pass three was our best, despite a 1.76 60-foot and “granny shifting” to avoid having the car spin badly between gears. The car felt really strong, and we also learned that the car will not shift over 6,500 rpm. This is likely due to the fact that we have a street clutch and a non Pro-shifted stick. And keeping the RPM down between gear changes is pretty challenging with our burnout situation. Overall, it was about 98-degrees during this run at noon, and we went 11.91 at 120.24 mph, with a 1.76 60-foot.

Pass Number Four

As it gets hotter, the track gets more greasy, and our difficulty in the burnout box becomes a bigger liability. We keep our fingers crossed the line lock will stick, but that just didn’t happen. I managed to go a 1.63 60-foot, and we went a 12.11 at 120.17 mph. My style of driving was aggressive and resulted in tire spin and RPM flares between shifts as the tires broke loose, then causing the trans not to want to shift. It was pretty frustrating. So I just literally lifted before second gear this time and then eased it back in gently. Without a nasty burnout, the only way to get 666 down track was a driving style like your old Grandma in her ’78 Malibu.

Pass Number Five:

More of the same. Lots of power, 97 degree weather, and crappy e.t’s. 1.64 60-foot, and a 12.10 at 121.23 was the result. It actually said 98-degrees at one point in the Expedition. I let out of  it almost completely in second gear and got back into it in third again. At this point, we knew we had gotten everything out of her that we were going to. However, Terror Tom wanted to make a few laps in the car to start to get the feeling for a car on slicks, and with advice to “take it very easy” he cruised to some high 12-second runs at 117 mph, with just 1.9 60-foots. He had a blast, and there is no doubt that 666 will find him at the wheel again.

Video: In Car:

Final Thoughts:

We’ve learned a lot, and we’ve got a lot of work to do before we take 666 out again. The biggest change is going to be the fact that we’ve finally realized that Project 666 is a race car that looks like a street car, and not a street/strip car. With a carb’d 408 getting 10 mpg, and another engine even more serious waiting in the wings, it’s just not going to be driven to the track at this point.

So we’re going to get more serious with a race-only setup. That means a spool will be slipped into the rear end, and – gulp – a C4 automatic is going to find it’s way in the trans tunnel. We’ll keep you posted – we hope to have her back on the 1320 within 30 days. And this time, we’ll make sure we can do a nasty burnout.

It will be 10.80s or bust.

One of the easiest horsepower upgrades you can do to your car is to take off the stock exhaust and open it up with aftermarket headers and a full exhaust system. On our pet Fox Body Mustang, more commonly known as “Project 666”, we did just that. Because of the fact that Foxes are possibly the most popular performance cars ever built, there’s an almost limitless variety of exhaust parts and complete systems available straight off the shelf for any combination of chassis, transmission, and engine. Even if you’ve gone insane and built a small-block Chevy powered convertible Fox with a Powerglide, chances are that somebody out there makes headers and pipes that will work. By comparison, our Windsor-powered notch is positively mainstream, so our priorities were quality, performance, and ease of installation.

To find those attributes, we looked no further than Kooks Custom Headers and Flowmaster exhaust. Kooks is best known for their amazing stainless headers, with some of the best quality and fit in the industry. Flowmaster needs no introduction, being synonymous with performance mufflers – they hooked us up with their Delta Force System that sounds as good as it flows. Both of these kits came with everything we needed to easily mount them to our Fox Body Mustang.

“Project 666” has a 550hp 408ci engine that runs on pump gas and is fully street legal. The carbureted 351W-based powerplant sports Edelbrock’s Victor Jr. heads, an assembled short block from Ford Performance Solutions, and Harland Sharp rockers.

The specific Kooks headers we selected were their 2” Custom Headers. These headers came with an adapter plate to fit onto our Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads. Because these long-tube headers put their collector flanges farther back under the car than the stock manifolds, we knew that we’d have to do some minor modifications to mate them up to the Flowmaster X-pipe in the kit we’d selected, but a few minutes with a tape measure showed that by leaving the downtubes off the front of the X-pipe and splicing in a pair of 3-bolt flanges, we’d be all set.

Though we have the luxury of a 4-post lift in our shop, thousands of gearheads have done swaps just like this in their driveways using nothing more than a good set of jackstands.

Kooks Stainless Steel Headers for Victor Jr. Heads #5012

When designing the headers, there are a lot of factors to consider. Besides the obvious stuff like primary tube length and layout or allowing for spark plug access and steering shaft clearance, the head and block combination has to be accounted for as well. “When the deck-to-block height fluctuates, so does the position of the headers,” George Rumore from Kooks Custom Headers explains. Also, the cylinder head plays a major role because the exhaust ports on the cylinder head need to match those of the headers, and tubing size needs to be appropriate for the flow capabilities of the heads. “We offer tube sizes from 1 3/4″ to 2″ primaries for the Victor Jr. heads,” added Rumore. Kooks Custom Headers design their headers around these factors, and they manufacture them from 304 stainless steel, chosen for its durability and strength.

Kooks headers feature:

• Stainless 304 Construction
• Wide range of applications for different engine combinations
• Designed specifically for the 9.5 deck with Victor Jr. heads
• Available in 1.75″ and 2” primaries for this application
• 3” stainless merge collector

Flowmaster Delta Flow Header-Back Exhaust #17389

The exhaust we used on our Fox Body Mustang upgrade was the Flowmaster Delta Force System. This kit is intended as an ‘off-road only’ race system designed to mate directly to stock manifolds or “shorty” headers with ball flanges in the same position as the stock exhaust outlets. As we mentioned before, we had to modify the system a bit to mate with our Kooks long tube headers, but because the Flowmaster exhaust is designed to use the stock hanger mounting points, everything else fit perfectly, just as intended. The kit comes with all necessary hardware, eliminating extra trips to the auto parts store. The Flowmaster system includes over-axle plumbing and polished dual rear-exit tips, but since we knew our Moser 9-inch rearend housing would make clearances tight, we decided to forgo running the exhaust all the way to the rear of the car and went with turndowns right after the mufflers. In addition to solving the clearance problem, the dumped exhaust is also a few precious pounds lighter than full tailpipes.

There's plenty of clearance under our Fox for the big 3-inch diameter Flowmaster mufflers, which will quiet down our 408's bark without choking flow.

Instead of a standard H-pipe or X-pipe, this kit comes with the Scavenger X-pipe. This patented design uses a parallel tubing section with a “D” port between sides, giving improved flow and a deeper sound than the standard H-pipe. “When paired up with different parts, like the ones offered in the Delta Force Kit, you definitely will make more power over the H-pipe,” Dale Dotson from Flowmaster explains.

Our Flowmaster exhaust system uses dual Super 40 Series 2-chamber mufflers, with 3" inlets and outlets.

The mufflers that are used in this application are the Super 40 series race mufflers. These mufflers are the best of both worlds. They provide the deep, powerful sound of the standard original 40 series but with the performance and low interior resonance offered by Flowmaster’s Delta Flow Technology. “The upside to the Super 40 over the Standard 40 series is the bigger muffler that handles more power and produces a deeper sound,” Dotson explains. The Super 40 mufflers were developed from the company’s race muffler lineup and feature a black oversized case that keeps the resonance down on the inside of the cab without restricting flow.

Flowmaster Delta Force Kit Benefits

• Deep aggressive tone
• Bolt-n-go system for stock manifolds or shorty headers
• Super 40 Series mufflers
• Scavenger X-pipe

Installation of the Kooks Long Tubes

Installing these headers on “Project 666” was a breeze. Other than clocking the starter to make clearance for the headers, they went on very easily. The supplied adapter plates bolt to the head first, using countersunk hex-head bolts, then the headers bolt to the plates. One tip when installing any kind of stainless or ceramic-coated headers – after they’re bolted up, wipe them down well with a grease-cutting solvent and let them dry before firing the car up for the first time, or your dirty fingerprints will permanently discolor the finish.

The Kooks headers come with adapter plates to convert from the stock in-line bolt pattern to a diagonal 2 3/4" pattern.

To install the adapter plate, first insert the first and last hex head bolts before inserting and tightening down the middle bolts.

After the adapter plate is on, carefully start mounting the headers by bolting them to the adapter plate.

Installing the Flowmaster Header-Back

To mate the Flowmaster Scavenger X-pipe to our long-tube headers, all we had to do was mount three-bolt flanges to the front instead of the supplied downpipes to match up with the collector flanges.

After the Kooks Custom Headers were mounted, we attached the collector on the end with the supplied bolts. After that was done it was time to attach our Flowmaster exhaust.

To span the gap between the collectors and the Scavenger X-pipe, we spliced in a pair of 3-bolt flanges.

Once the flanges were bolted together, we positioned the X-pipe using the supplied hangers and the factory mounting points. Flowmaster provides clamps to secure the pieces of their exhaust system together, but recommends welding the joints if possible, once everything is installed and adjusted properly.

Next, it was time to hang the Super 40 mufflers. We installed the ring clamps to the end of the Scavenger X-pipe and then slipped on the mufflers. Because we wanted to be able to adjust the mufflers to fine tune their position, we chose not to tighten the clamps all the way down yet.

After we installed the hangers on the rear of the mufflers, we were able to get the exhaust positioned, then tightened all the hangers, clamps, and bolts. All there was left to do was install the turndown tips.

In Order to Form a More Perfect Union…

We couldn’t have chosen a better pairing for Project 666 – The Kooks long-tube headers and Flowmaster exhaust are perfectly suited to the deep-breathing needs of our 408, and fit like a custom-built system though they’re both off-the-shelf part numbers. Installation really couldn’t have been much easier, and the sound is awesome, without being so loud that we’ll run afoul of our local drag strip’s noise police.

Everybody that has tried to stuff a good sized tire under a Fox-body Mustang with a stock suspension knows it will rub. Oh yea, it will hit everything, make white smoke on the top end, and possibly even cut the tire. Did we mention it will rub everywhere.

With Project 666, our ’86 Fox Body, we wanted to stuff a 275/60/15 Drag Radial on a 15 x 10 wheel and not have it look like a inner-city low rider with the wheels hanging out the wells. We wanted that lean, Pro-stock slammed look with the tires tucked nicely in the fenders. That meant it was time for the hammer. It was time – to clearance the wheel wells.

We figured, since this was such a pain in the ass, why not document it and save thousands of future Fox-body wheel well pounders the trouble of making a mistake. This is our Guide to Fox Body Wheel Wells.

Why I loved this project…

Most of the time I get projects that cause more frustration than they relieve.

I have finally stumbled on a project that relieves more stress than it generates, and yes, it involves using a hammer on your car. Actually, several hammers. Whomever takes on this project should have careful attention to detail and should not cringe at the thought of swinging a hammer mere inches from a nicely painted quarter panel. By default, I was the unanimous choice as the wheel well fabricator.

As we mentioned, our project car is a 1986 Fox Body Ford Mustang. We have recently changed the rear end from the stock 8.8 rear end to a Moser Engineering M9 rear end assembly. We ordered the new rear end assembly slightly shorter in width than the stock one so that we could bring the tires in closer to the frame. Bringing the inside of the tires closer to the frame would allow us to run a wider tire and still have them fit into the stock wheel well.

Where can this be done?

This can be accomplished in the driveway, staging area, street or any other flat surface where you can get the car up on a jack stand and the wheel removed, I found it easiest on a lift. Putting the car on a lift and raising it to about eyeball level, gives you a better chance at creating the leverage needed to strike the wheel wells with some meaningful blows. Just like in little league baseball where your coach yelled to keep your eye on the ball, having the surface that you are going to be hitting closer in your visual range will increase your accuracy. Get the work up where you can see it and you will have fewer problems. Use a lift if possible, but we’ve done it on jack stands many times.

After removing the wheels, we lifted the car about eye level. This afforded us the perfect swing area for our 5 pound mini sledge. There are many tools available to shape metal, and the most common are mallets and hammers. Most fabricators consider these essential tools when forming metal and hand shaping techniques a must when learning how metal reacts when being formed. While there is nothing complicated about using a hammer, there is a learned skill involved in getting predictable results when forming metal by hand. Start easy and develop a “feel” for how the metal reacts to the hammer blows.

These are the tools that we used and we recommend that you start with:

• 5-lb sledge – this is used for the major “easy” blows to move metal.
• Dead blow hammer – used for corners or dangerous rebound areas
• Regular/Conventional House hold hammer – for targeted blows/high spots
• Lock-jaw Wedge Pliers – to prevent sheet metal seperation

We are going to start out by looking at the front half of the Fox Body wheel well. Above us is in yellow is the area that will need to be clearanced to eliminate tire rub. How much – well that depends on your specific wheel and tire combination. In our case, with the 15 x 10 and the 275/60/15, a significant amount of metal needs to be pounded back.

When you start with the front half of the wells, you are generally going to work in a circular motion starting with the 5-lb sledge. The areas that will be the toughest are near the spring perch. Unfortunately, this is also an area that needs a lot of work.

Notice where the metal is formed around the bottom edge of the inner wheel well. When sheet metal is bent, it adds strength. This is also the area where sheet metal is joined together. Use caution when forming the metal in these areas. Remember that the Fox Body platform is a unibody construction vehicle. Where the edges of sheet metal meet, like in the rear shock mounting areas or the upper spring perches, are spot welded together. Striking these areas with too much brute force can rip the metal at the spot welds.

A good rule to follow is: hit the metal with a firm blow in the center of the area you want to form, and work your way outward to the flanges. Be advised that the hammer may rebound from the hit causing the hammer to strike the inside of the quarter panel leaving a dent visible from the outside. There is the possibility that the hammer operator may get stuck by the rebound, leaving a dent in the forehead visible for all to see. To prevent either of these incidents from occurring, you always want to use a strong and firm blow to reduce the rebound. Try to keep the hammer blows even and at the same strength.

Work from the inside to the outer edge of the inner wheel well.

Do your best to work from the inside area out to the edges. Keep working the metal with repetitive and overlapping blows so that the metal stays somewhat smooth. Most of the time I like working the metal in a circular pattern. I have found this to be helpful in stretching the metal without creating too many ripples in the form. Patience is going to make a huge difference in the success of your metal forming. Continue stretching the metal until you see that some space has been created. Fit the wheel on the hub and check for clearance. This will give you a good idea of how much metal you will have to form. Keep in mind that the suspension is lower than ride height at this point, so you will have to guesstimate how much clearance you need at the upper portion of the inner wheel well.

Work the metal until enough space has been created for clearance.

Try and Try again

Ok, now this is where the patience comes into play. If your wheel looks like it has enough clearance, you will need to tighten the wheel up to the hub with lug nuts, lower the car to where the wheels are barely touching the ground. As soon as the wheels touch the ground, you will need to watch the clearance between the wheels and the wheel well the rest of the way down. It might be a good idea to get a helper that you trust to either lower the car or be your eyes. If you have good clearance through the suspension travel, then your all set. If not, you need to bring the car back up in the air. Take off the wheel and move some more metal. You may have to do this process more than once. And yes, your patience will be tested.

Mount the tires and bring the car down to ride height. If you’ve got the car on jack stands this part will be a pain in the ass.

Once the car is on the ground and at race/ride height – check tire clearance all the way around. We’re looking for at least 3/8-inch if possible.

It’s important that the procedure listed above be followed. If you leave a flap of metal sticking out, there is a potential that you may experience tire rub which will eventually cut down a tire. Usually with very bad results when this happens on the track. There never seems to be a real convenient time for a tire to explode or cut and force you into the guard rail.

I’ve yet to be successful keeping off the wall after a blowout, but I will still keep trying.

Here is what our wheel well looked like once we finished.

This is our wheel well, our tire and wheel combination. Not yours. You may have to beat on your wheel well more or less than ours, and potentially in different spots.

Also, please keep in mind, after you install the tire, you must load the car to ride height before you check for clearance issues. Make sure that the car is not supported by the frame and the rear end is hanging down to its bottom length of travel when you are checking for clearance. Load up the chassis by lowering the car fully to the ground.

Bounce the rear suspension a couple of times by pushing down on the rear bumper. After checking for clearance at static ride height, you will want to check the clearance at race ride height. To do this you will want to raise the front end of the car one to two inches. This will settle the car on the rear suspension. Check the entire wheel well area for clearance. Don’t forget to check for wheel clearance on other parts in the area, like exhaust system pipes that run close to the aft edge of the tires.

Painting the wells – pretty?

We think if you take the time to do this right, you should go ahead and do a nice job painting the wheel wells. This has been done poorly (and it looks like crap) more times than we can count. Many people just take out a spray can and go to town.

Over spray, drips, and a shoddy looking chassis can be easily fixed with 30 minutes of time, masking paper and painters tape. Everything your Home Depot or local auto part store can easily have in stock. We masked off our wells and painted them a nice flat black.

A few other areas to think about..

A couple of other areas worth mentioning concerning wheels and wheel clearance are brakes and wheel backspace. The Fox Body 5.0 Ford Mustangs have a great many bolt on performance enhancers. It’s pretty easy to double the stock horsepower, and in the case of our project car, triple the horsepower. Keep in mind that you must upgrade your brake system proportionately. Our project car started out with rear drum brakes. Realizing that was not going to provide the stopping power that we needed, an upgrade to rear disc brakes was in order. Changing braking systems from drum to disc can interfere with backspacing on shallow backspaced (and sometimes deep backspaced) wheels. Keep an eye out for clearance issues there as well.

Tremec's famed TKO-600 five-speed transmission

Project 666 Mustang is moving along, with the hairy goal of putting down 666 horsepower and running 10s. With power comes great responsibility, and we knew the tired old T-5 stock transmission and wimpy clutch just wouldn’t be up for the job. So after 25 years of service, it was removed from our mighty four-eyed ’86 Mustang to make room for a fresh, durable TKO-600 transmission from Tremec and a fresh SPEC clutch.

To achieve that numerically demonic level of power without any forced induction or nitrous, we needed a big-inch, king of engines. We have a choice of a 408 or 427 Windsor, but rest assured, both make plenty of ponies, starting at 600, and going up to about 750 hp with a small nitrous shot. To handle (corral) that level of power, Tremec’s TKO-600 got the call, conservatively rated to handle 600 HP.

Tremec is an acronym, standing for “Transmissions and Mechanical Engineering”. Tremec first gained popularity in the early 90’s when Fox-body Mustang enthusiasts began breaking their T-5 transmissions in the pursuit of high power and a popular swap was the TR-3550

As Fox-bodies surged in popularity thanks to their low cost of purchase and modification, so did the line and popularity of the Tremec transmission upgrade. According to Nate Tovey of Tremec, “Tremec offers a line of five and six-speed manual transmissions for most every application, and since they are so easily adaptable, our transmissions have also become popular with the muscle car and resto-mod crowd, too.”

Tremec is a long-time player in the transmission game, having been in business since 1964, the very beginning of the muscle car movement. “We manufacturer transmissions for a wide range of products beyond just cars, even providing transmissions for John Deere tractors!” explained Tovey. “Tremec transmissions also found their way into many performance production cars today. The T-56 six-speed can be found in Vipers, ‘Vettes, Shelbys, and even the outgoing Pontiac G8 GXP.”

666 Gets TKO’d

Since Project 666 is getting 351W small-block stroker engine, we need a transmission that can handle gobs of power. Although an automatic is an easy choice, for our street/strip car, we knew we wanted to have three pedals. The goal if Project 666 is 666 flywheel horsepower and an equal amount of torque. Thus, we turned to Tremec and their world renowned line of TKO transmissions.

351W stroker small block meets Tremec’s TKO-600

Tovey filled us in a little more on the TKO-600: “The TKO is just one series of manual transmissions Tremec offers. The TKO comes in two flavors; the TKO-500, and the TKO-600. The TKO has an impressive lineage, dating all the way back to the legendary 4-speed “Top Loader” transmission found in Ford performance vehicles, including big blocks for the day.” Nate explained that the Top Loader evolved into the TR-3550, which eventually became the TKO.

For even more information on the TKO, we turned to Kevin Ryan, a Product Engineer at Tremec. Since we are going to be making in excess of 600 ft-lbs of torque, we opted for the TKO-600 and its 600 ft-lb torque capacity. The TKO-500 meanwhile, only has a 450 ft-lb torque capacity (which dwarfs the T-5’s 300 ft-lb capability). But what are the differences, beyond (metal) skin deep?

According to Kevin Ryan, “the main difference between the TKO-500 and 600 are the gear sets. The 500 utilizes a 3.27 gear set with a 0.68 overdrive 5th gear, while the 600 uses a 2.87 gear set with either a 0.64 or 0.82 overdrive gear set. “In general, the deeper the gear ratio set (higher numerical value) the lower the torque capacity.” The gears are made from SAE grade 4620, 8620, and 4615M carbon steel, and Tremec has several different tactics for improving strength of the gears to handle so much torque.

“A balance of base material and gear cutting design will dictate the torque capacity. We also use modern gear processes to optimize strength,” says Kevin. He goes on to explain that all of Tremec’s forward gears are helical (like a helix) in order to provide a balance of strength and gear noise. Straight-cut gears are stronger and easier to make, but result in a great deal more gear meshing noise. “It has always been an aftermarket transmission and, as such, a major design focus was to fill as many applications as practical,” Kevin explains. This is why you will find TKO transmissions in everything from classic Camaros to 5.0 Mustangs. It also explains why Tremec’s popular T-56 transmission can be found in high performance vehicles across all three domestic brands.

Other things were done to ensure the versatility of the TKO too. The 31 tooth spine input shaft was chosen because it is a very popular and proven strong design. Since the TKO was bound to wind up in different length vehicles, the shifter needed to be able to work from different positions on the transmission. Using the back of the engine block as a reference point, the shifter can be located at 19, 23, or 25 inches. A half-foot is enough variety for most applications, but Kevin says they are always working on expanding available shifter positions, including side-to-side
offsets.

Tremec tests the strength of every area in their entire line of transmissions, because versatility would be worthless without durability. Gears and shafts are tested for long-term durability using strength-over-time measurements. The syncros and shift linkage are tested using shifts at different speeds over time. To test overall impact strength, the gear castings and linkages are shock loaded under extreme conditions to verify they represent a good value to the customer.

SPEC Clutch.. to the Rescue

All of this durability within the transmission would be of little use if the clutch isn’t up to snuff. Like the T-5 transmission, the stock clutch wouldn’t last long behind 666 horsepower. When it comes to manual transmissions, the clutch often gets more thought than the transmission itself, but you want to ensure both products are on par with each other. Thus, we went and asked our friends over at SPEC clutches to hook us up with a clutch package that would take all of the power that we dished out, and more so for the future.

SPEC’s single-disc Stage 2+ clutch kit with a steel flywheel

When we told them how much power we planned on making, they sent us their Stage 2+ clutch kit with a steel flywheel. The Stage 2+ clutch bridges the horsepower gap between the streetability of the Stage 2 and the higher torque capacity of the Stage 3. The Stage 2+ has a 15-20% higher torque capacity than the Stage 2 but maintains streetable manners.

We’ve used the Stage 2+, and there is no fighting this clutch to the floor to find a gear. The clutch is made from a hybrid Kevlar and Carbon-graphite friction material and comes with a high-clamp pressure plate, and has a flywheel torque capacity of 635 ft-lbs. It has a double sprung hub, too. It is a perfect match for the TKO-600.

Shacking up Tremec and SPEC with Project 666

As we have previously written about, the old engine and transmission have already been removed and discarded. But before we could install the 351W Windsor stroker crate engine, the SPEC flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate, and throwout bearing had to be installed first. The benefit of a fully-equipped shop is there is no crawling under the car to do all this work, so we got right to work installing the parts.

Torque down the SPEC flywheel to 80 ft-lbs max

First goes the SPEC flywheel, which installs to the back of the crank shaft with six nuts. They must be torqued down to 80 max ft-lbs. Our SPEC steel flywheel is a stout piece, completely machined on CNC equipment, and with a removable facing so that we can re-use the flywheel for the life of the engine and vehicle.

The SPEC clutch disc comes next, and it has to be perfectly aligned to work properly. Thus we use a disembodied input shaft tool stuck into the crank shaft to ensure the right alignment. There is no room for mistakes here, and you can use the input shaft from your own transmission to make sure everything lines up; this is just easier… And we like easy.

The assembled SPEC 2+ clutch kit, lookin’ sharp. Too bad we don’t get to see it in action.

Finally, the SPEC pressure plate needs to be attached to the flywheel. When the pressure plate clamps down on the clutch, it engages and thus turns the wheels to the tune of 666 horsepower (minus drive train loss, natch). The SPEC pressure plate should only be torqued down to 28 max ft-lbs. Since this is a 351-based stroker and the engine was already put together, the throwout bearing was already installed — now it is merely a matter of mating engine with transmission.

With the SPEC clutch and pressure plate system installed, we could finally hook the TKO-600 transmission up to our engine. With both the engine and tranny out of the car, this is about as simple a procedure as it gets. Just torque down the bolts on the bellhousing, and get ready to hoist the engine up and in.

But wait! The 351W Windsor features a deck height that was 1.3 inches taller than the 302. This could create clearance issues with the stock hood. How do we remedy such a situation?

The easiest way is to drop the engine with motor mounts. Thus we used Holcomb Motorsports 351W Drop Mounts for better hood clearance. Zinc plated for appearance and protected from corrosion, these mounts made putting the engine in a pie. We just dropped the engine and attached transmission in and they slid into place with ease. The cross-member was cushioned with energy suspension polyurethane bushings, as was the transmission mount ensuring a smooth snug fit without too much bouncing for our engine.

Finally, we installed a Hays clutch quadrant and cable kit to connect the transmission and clutch together with our pedal. Hays Products adjustable clutch cable is designed to increase leverage and makes adjusting our upgraded clutch much easier. The Hays clutch cable also comes with a heavy-duty low friction cable, made from stranded steel. It has durable metal fittings with an adjustable fork end for exact adjustment of clutch release and pedal free play.. all in all, it helps us get that right feel in the pedal.

That was it – we were wrapped up and ready to go. We should be starting up 666 any day now, and we’ll bring you full test results before you know it.

Hay’s Clutch cable and quadrant, fully adjustable.

For naturally aspirated power it is hard to beat cubic inches. Sure, you can slap on a blower or turbo and get great boosts in torque and horsepower, however doing it with raw compressed air is much more challenging. The challenge for Project 666 was to build a power plant that could not only make 675 plus horsepower, but also be able to hold together at redline through every shift and every quarter-mile trek. Getting this kind of power out of a small block Ford based engine means you need to have big displacement, good compression, and the right list of matched components to make it all happen smoothly and reliably.

The crankshaft is designed with the matching 2.750” Cleveland sized main journals, and uses typical industry standard 2.100” large journal Chevy throws, giving us a lot of options for connecting rods.

The Lunati crank is also designed to be internally balanced, which is perfect for a high horsepower engine. OEM Ford engines are designed to be externally balanced from the factory – that’s where all of the counterweights are on the balancer and flywheel. However, it’s not really a good idea in a higher performance environment, as the weights are way out at the ends of the crank, adding extra flex and wear on the front snout and rear journal. The Lunati crank has all of the extra material built into the counterweights, so the weight is distributed evenly throughout. This helps stability in the crank and provides for better bearing durability.

Making the Right Connection

The rods were next on the agenda. I wanted to make sure that we could design the pistons to work correctly within the deck height and utilize the 4.000” stroke, so I had to run some calculations. I needed to see what piston we would come up with so I could pick a rod length based on all of the numbers.

First, I had to consider the crankshaft itself. Most cranks are designed with counterweights to clear a specific minimum rod length, and the Lunati crank was set up to clear a minimum length of 6.125”. That meant I could use any Small Block Chevy rods in popular lengths 6.125” or longer, including: 6.200”, 6.250”, or 6.300”.

Next, I had to consider the piston and think of all the variables: valve relief depth, skirt length, room for rings, etc.. I have learned from previous experience that a compression height around 1.350” typically works best for big cams and ring room. I calculated that on a 9.500” deck height, with 4.000” stroke and a 1.350” height for pistons, a 6.125” rod would work beautifully.

For maximum naturally aspirated power and less rotating mass, we used this really trick set of Lunati 4340 Fully Machined Superlight rods. They weigh in at a very light 609 grams and have small block Chevy dimensions to fit our Lunati crank. These rods resist pulling apart because Lunati uses 7/16″ ARP2000 material rod bolts, instead of the 8740 bolts typically found in most aftermarket rods.

So, now I knew that we were looking for a 6.125” Chevy connecting rod for a street driven, naturally aspirated, high revving, high compression engine. Again, I looked no further than Lunati and their 4340 Superlight I-Beam connecting rods. The rods are great for power, since they are forged and machined here in the USA from aircraft grade 4340 steel. They are shot peened, individually magnafluxed, and bolted together with extremely strong ARP cap screws. Since we were going to drive this car on the street, we had to stay away from aluminum rods, yet we needed a rod that could hold up to the RPM and horsepower of our nasty 427. Plus, these rods barely tipped the scales at 609 grams, which meant less weight our crank had to spin at 7500 RPM’s.

Slugging it Out

I always prefer to have the exact piston for the job. This means that I can’t simply open up a catalog and pick one out, especially when looking for compression, low drag, and durability. Therefore, custom pistons are the way to go. I know a lot of people are afraid of custom pistons, but I am here to tell you they are not scary at all. In fact, I think just about every engine should have custom pistons. It just makes more sense, because each engine is unique in its application and uses, and should be optimized for power. Custom pistons allow you to tailor the piston to your needs and they typically take only a few weeks to make.

For high quality pistons, I turned to none other than the legendary JE Pistons. JE offers custom pistons, just what we needed for our 427, so I went over the specs with them to build the best piston possible. They offer pistons in any dome, dish, or valve relief configuration, you just need to have all of the information handy when you are ready to place your order. Quite often, these specs will be provided by the engine builder, or in this case, the engine designer.

Fortunately, when you need a specific piston for a special engine, you can turn to JE Pistons for a custom forged 2618 piston made exactly how you need it. These pistons have the small .070″ dome for our desired compression ratio, in addition to a lot of unique features. The ring grooves were machined for our low tension 1.2mm top, 1.2mm second, and 3mm oil JE rings, and we had them add in lateral gas ports to allow more pressure to help seal the top rings. The valve pockets were machined to our cam and head specs, and with weight in mind, these came in at a very light 470 grams.

Because I had already done all of the legwork, I had the information needed to give JE the proper numbers to build our special pistons. We needed a 4.125” bore. The compression height of our piston would come out to 1.365”, which puts our piston .010” in the hole. Although a max effort engine would probably be zero deck, I prefer a little cushion when building custom pistons. That way, if we need to deck the block, the pistons are still usable. The Lunati rods use the standard .927” pin, so I chose the 52 series JE pins, and because we had a big bore, went with the 2.750” length for better pin engagement. These would be held in the piston with the standard double spirolox.

Our JE pistons are equipped with double spirolox, to retain the pins in the pin bores for a full floating piston and rod arrangement. After sliding the pin through the rod and the piston, the clips are installed. Ronnie showed us that the trick to putting these in, is to stretch them out and then wind them into the grooves slowly and carefully.

As far as compression ratio goes, I knew we needed to be around 13.5:1. We wanted this engine to be able to rev and breathe at high RPM’s, so that meant we needed some compression. With the Trickflow heads we would be using, JE calculated that we needed a small dome, about .070” tall. Giving them cam specs and valve sizes also allowed them to put the proper valve reliefs in the pistons, so we wouldn’t have an issue. At this point, I had not picked out a cam, but I had a general idea of the specs, and I typically guess larger when giving specs for valve reliefs. I knew that we would be somewhere around 270 @ .050” and .700” lift, so I told JE we would be using a cam 285 @ .050” with .770” lift. This is something I always do on custom pistons, to ensure that the valve reliefs are not only deep enough, but can also accommodate a larger camshaft down the road.

The pistons were then designed for our naturally aspirated engine by the JE engineers. That meant that the ring lands were a little tighter and higher than a boosted engine, with the top land coming out at .200”, the second at .150”, and the third with a thickness of .080”. The pistons also came out pretty light, weighing in at 470 grams, and were clearanced at .005” on the skirts.

Sealing the Deal

Rings would be a very important issue in this engine. I wanted to make sure we had rings that would hold in the compression and reduce drag, so I picked out a trick set of rings from JE that I have used in the past. The rings are thin for less weight and lower resistance at 1.2mm width top, 1.2mm second, and 3mm oil. The top ring is a steel chrome that has great sealing and wear. That, coupled with the latest 3mm oil ring design, would maximize our power for the Windsor.

For bolting everything together in our engine, we simply pulled out our ARP catalog. ARP makes a wide variety of fasteners for most common engine builds. Our 427 is held together with ARP oil pump bolts, timing cover bolts, cam bolt, oil pan bolts, and they even make a heavy duty oil pump shaft.

Some Assembly Required

At this point, I contacted Ronnie Wilson at Specialties Machining in Pompano Beach, Florida about screwing our package together. Ronnie has been building engines for over twenty years and is very familiar with high horsepower Fords. You may recognize his name from all of the Fun Ford Weekend Championships that he has collected over the years, racing his Ford powered Mustang.

Ronnie was excited about the project, and Specialties Machining has all of the equipment necessary for getting the job done correctly. They have the machines for boring and honing, measuring tools, and Ronnie hand assembles each engine that leaves the shop. They also do all of their own balancing in-house, and have plenty of experience working with aluminum blocks like the Dart that we were using for this engine.

Ronnie got the Dart aluminum block and was impressed with its finish and quality. After setting the sleeves according to Dart’s instructions, he checked all of the block’s dimensions and found them to be perfect. The line hone was on the money, the lifter bores were properly sized – all that he needed to do was finish hone the sleeves to 4.125” with the proper stones for our steel rings.

Designing the Perfect Beastly Cam

While Ronnie was working on machining the block, I got to my computer and started designing the camshaft. This is a crucial decision and should not be left to an amateur. Typically, if you are using a blower or turbocharger, the camshaft design can be a little forgiving. The boost tends to make up any slight errors you may have made in design. However, since our goal is to make a lot of power naturally aspirated, the camshaft has to be perfect in every way.

Many factors came into play in choosing the camshaft. We were originally thinking hydraulic roller, but after looking at the complete engine, a mechanical roller would be the better choice without too many down sides. The solid lifter would allow us to rev the engine up to 7500 RPM’s and make more torque and horsepower throughout the usable RPM range.

This is what a big Comp Cams mechanical roller camshaft looks like. The lobes are aggressive and rounded for maximum “area under the curve.” The roller lifters allow the lobes to open the valves and reach higher lifts faster, moving more air in and out of the engine. A nice feature on the Comp Cams billet cores is the pre-drilled dual dowel holes. These are really necessary when you are running extreme spring pressure and don’t want the timing set to try to break the weaker single dowel pin. The best part? This cam was custom made right in the Comp Cams factory in just a few days.

Cylinder pressure plays a big role in deciding the cam specs, so with 13.5:1 compression, I could choose some pretty good sized lobes to reach our RPM goal, without losing too much pressure in the bores. Also, the heads we would be using, (Trickflow high ports that will be covered in part two), would flow air up to .700” lift, so I wanted to make sure that we had a good amount of lift to use all of the available airflow.

Comp Cams has an extensive list of lobe designs to choose from and an excellent history of providing custom cams in a timely fashion. After studying their lobe list, I settled on the designs we would need for this engine. The intake lobe would come out with 272 degrees of duration at .050” lift with a .435” lobe lift. The exhaust lobe would be slightly larger, at 279 degrees at .050” with a lobe lift number of .420”. That would give us a net lift with a 1.6 rocker ratio of .696” intake and .672” on the exhaust. The lobe separation would be put right at 112, to give us a little broader RPM range and flat torque curve. The cam would be ground on a billet blank right at Comp on standard sized journals, as the Dart block was set up to use regular sized cam bearings. This cam would work well with our intended stick shift setup and give us peak power at the desired 7500 RPM range.

The roller thrust plate from Comp Cams is what we use for all higher RPM roller cammed engines. The needle bearing rollers reduce friction, and it is a more durable upgrade from the cast piece that Ford uses.

Bearing the Load

With the cam in hand, Ronnie Wilson was able to dry assemble the engine and check all of the clearances. I provided him with our preferred bearings of choice, which were made by King. King manufactures high performance bearings made from Alecular, which I have found to be a superior choice over familiar tri-metal bearings. The Alecular material is embeddable, holds up to higher heat, and they are precision matched for clearance.

Ronnie snapped the King bearings into the block and then carefully dropped in the crank. He then assembled the pistons and rods to slip them into the block. It turns out that the rod and main bearing clearances were perfect on the Lunati crank with standard bearings, even though King offers a variety of extra clearance and tighter bearings on the shelf.

Ronnie has installed all of the rings. After assembling all eight connecting rods onto the JE pistons, Ronnie sets them up on his bench and gets them ready to go into the short block. Here, he has already snapped the King High Performance bearings into place in the rod and cap, and indexed the dome on the pistons to align correctly with the chamfer on the rods. (The chamfered side goes toward the radius of the crank journal.)

Highest Level of Clearance

With the pistons and rods loosely in the bores, Ronnie went ahead and checked for interference with the block, piston to crank, and oil pump assembly. Some minor grinding was required to clearance the block and the oil pump, then Ronnie could move on to checking the valve reliefs and dome fitment.

Even though we aren’t covering the top end in this story, the heads were required for finishing up the short block. Ronnie slipped the heads into place with the timing set and cam in the block. Before getting too far, Ronnie noticed that the heads were hitting on the domes a little, so he marked the heads and the domes in order to modify them prior to balancing.

Before Ronnie was ready to assemble, all clearances and specs were triple-checked. Ronnie laid the main bearings in the bare block and rested the crank into place. It is a good idea to “dry assemble” an engine before you do any final balancing or assembly. A whole list of necessary modifications may come up: Switching bearings for less or more clearance, polishing the crankshaft, machining the counterweights or pistons for clearance, dome modifications, oil pump clearance, block clearance, etc.. By doing a dry assemble, you make the changes before you balance the rotating assembly. Fortunately for Ronnie, this engine only needed minor clearancing.

Ronnie then mocked up the lifter, pushrod, and rocker assembly to check piston to valve clearance. JE and I had done a good job with the valve reliefs, because Ronnie noted that we had “miles” of clearance. This is a good thing, in case we ever want to up the rocker ratio or go to a larger camshaft. If the valves had not had enough clearance, Ronnie would have had to flycut the pistons for minimum clearance – that’s why you do the dry mock up before assembly and balancing. However, in this case, Ronnie could just move on with minimal clearancing on the pistons.

After checking all of the clearances and modifying everything, the rotating assembly was chucked up into Specialties Machining’s balancing machine. Ronnie was happy to report that the crank internally balanced beautifully, with no major work required.

The Right to Assemble

With the block honed and clearanced, the oil pump machined, and the domes of the pistons massaged, Ronnie could now start assembling the engine. The rings were oversized by about .002” and Ronnie went ahead and filed them to the proper end gaps for our naturally aspirated engine. With the crank back in place and torqued, he went ahead and laid the engine on its side (which he prefers) to start dropping in the pistons and rods.

The rings are squeezed by a ring compressor for installation into the bores, then the rod caps are torqued to spec around the crank journals. Note that the Lunati rods use a stronger 7/16” diameter ARP2000 material cap screw design, rather than the OEM style bolt and nut assembly. Following the manufacturer’s torquing instructions with a high quality torque wrench and proper lubricant is mandatory for this step.

After tightening all of the cap screws on our Lunati rods, Ronnie slid the camshaft in and retained it in the Dart aluminum block with a Comp Cams roller thrust plate. The timing chain was then slipped on so Ronnie could degree the camshaft into place. The cam was pretty close right out of the box, so Ronnie was able to quickly dial it into proper phasing. In order to do this, he used a deck bridge and dial indicators to note the opening and closing events on the cam lobes. It is always critical for your engine builder to have the right tools when building a high performance street or racing engine.

At this stage, the 427 is starting to look nasty! The JE domes are filling the holes in the block and the camshaft and crankshaft are in time with each other. There are only a few more items left to bolt on before the short block is complete. Then it’s on to the upper end air flow items in part two!

Now that the cam was degreed, Ronnie bolted on our brand new timing cover with the timing cover gaskets and seal already pressed in. The TCI balancer could now be installed onto the snout of the crankshaft. We chose the TCI Rattler to get the ultimate in dampening quality for this project, and it was designed for our internally balanced rotating assembly. TCI also makes a precision billet timing pointer that we bolted onto the front cover so we could time the engine accurately.

Our project Mustang awaits the Maximum Motorsports Manual Brake Conversion Kit.

Our Project 666 car, a 1986 5.0 Fox-body Mustang, has recently undergone an upgrade to a Wilwood brake kit. The new brakes, rotors and calipers made a huge difference in stopping power but still lacked that little something for outrageously quick, stop-on-a-dime performance. Looking for that extra edge, we went to the Mustang specialists at Maximum Motorsports for help. Since we plan on putting Mickey Thompson Drag Tires on the back wheels, updating our braking system to include a TCI Roll Stop at the same time would prove to be a time-saver.

Since 1992 when the company was founded, Maximum Motorsports has established itself as a leader in Mustang performance parts. Because we are looking at adding some horsepower (a lot of horsepower, to be honest), we needed to start thinking about stopping our ‘Stang before the track runs out. The adrenaline rush of getting to the end of the strip and finding out your brakes are weaker than you would like is a bit too much for the faint of heart. We called Chuck Schwynoch, CEO of Maximum Motorsports, to get the lowdown on manual brake conversions for Mustangs. Chuck assured us that switching to manual brakes would only moderately increase the effort required for braking, especially using his company’s manual brake conversion system, due to the advanced pedal arm geometry designed in the kit.

Chuck went on to explain why we would benefit in using manual brakes in our project car. Two of the most popular selling points were less weight and more space. Because manual brakes do not require a power booster, that entire assembly is removed. The removal of the power assist booster saves a lot of space under the hood and eliminates the need for the engine to supply vacuum to the booster, which is nice when you’ve got a lumpy cam installed.

The bulky, heavy old power assist unit will be taking up space in the recycling bin instead of under the hood from now on.

The Roll Stop

Not wanting to overlook any technical advantage we could get, we made a call to TCI Automotive for the scoop on their Roll Stop kit. We talked with Scott Miller at TCI and he enlightened us on the unique nature of their roll stop.

It’s pretty much a given that if you want to do super-human burnouts and heat the meats on the rear, you need a roll stop to lock the front brakes. According to Scott, on most roll stops you pump up the brakes and press the switch to lock the fronts, then take your foot off the brake pedal. At that point, the pressure you have on the front brakes is what it is. With the TCI Roll Stop, if you don’t have enough pressure you can step on the brake pedal and add more pressure to the front brakes due to the one-way valve design in the solenoid.

Making the decision

So, let me see if we get this correct; in switching to a manual brake system, we can save a little on weight, provide a little extra room in a crowded engine bay and save some power because the engine doesn’t have a parasitic vacuum draw from the power assist booster, and all we have to do is step on the brake pedal slightly harder. That seemed like a real “no brainer” to us, so we decided to convert. As for the Roll Stop, we were going to be moving the brake lines anyway, so it was just too cool to pass up and we put one on order. How much space would we be saving? In removing the vacuum assist, the master cylinder would move six and a half inches closer to the firewall. We knew to be prepared to move the existing brake lines for the change. Maximum Motorsports also sells brake line adapter kits to assist with the installation.

When the Maximum Motorsports manual brake conversion kit came in, we were delighted and surprised to find a new brake pedal is included in the kit. The brake pedal not only corrects the pedal geometry, but as an added bonus, the pedal pad can be mounted in one of six different positions on the pedal arm. This makes it possible to “fine tune” the mechanical leverage ratio and even change the position in relationship to the accelerator pedal to aid in the “heel and toe” downshifting technique, for those using it in a street or roadrace application.

The brake arm has a number of mounting holes drilled to allow for pedal adjustment.

An adjustable length pushrod attaches to the pedal arm with a spherical rod-end, eliminating the sloppy fit of the stock pushrod to further improve pedal feel. A CNC-machined aluminum adapter block bolts to the firewall in place of the vacuum booster, and mounts any 1979-1995 Mustang master cylinder. By using readily-available aftermarket master cylinders, you are assured of always being able to find a replacement one easily, whether at home or at the track.

The adjustable length pushrod with spherical rod end provides a better fit than the stock pushrod.

Chuck explained that for a stock 1979-93 Mustang brake system with the original calipers, rotors, and rear drums, you must use the stock master cylinder size that was originally fitted on 1987-93 power brake-equipped 5.0L Mustangs. The 20.6mm bore of that master cylinder is the best choice to provide decent braking ability with reasonable pedal effort.

For Mustangs equipped with rear disc brakes, the master cylinder recommendation depends upon the situation. For a 1979-93 Mustang equipped with rear disc brakes, Maximum Motorsports recommends a 1” bore master cylinder (1993 Cobra). For 1994-95 Mustangs (both GT and Cobra) Maximum Motorsports recommends a 15/16” bore master cylinder (1994-95 Cobra).

Some drivers of road course-driven Mustangs prefer a master cylinder one size larger because it provides less pedal travel. Chuck suggests trying the recommended size first, and only switching to a larger master cylinder if track testing indicates a change is warranted.

Finally. A good set of instructions.

Another pleasant surprise was the fully illustrated and very complete instruction manual. Rarely do we encounter a step-by-step installation manual that is as thoroughly detailed. Compared to many aftermarket part instructions, these were great. It was very obvious that a great deal of research and development went into this kit, from the components included right down to the instructions. We were pleased with the kit even before the installation began.

The next day our TCI roll stop came in and we were ready to start the install. The kit came complete with a solenoid valve, a push button microswitch, a red powder-coated mounting bracket, an in-line fuse connector, and mounting hardware. And once again, easy instructions. A quick trip to the parts store for some brake fluid and we were set.

Bolting it up

Normally, we figure that real men don’t read instructions and we just start bolting stuff on, but seeing as we were dealing with brakes and the boss was going to do the test drive, we were following the instructions to the letter. There was no difficulty with the installation or understanding the directions. I did have a question for Maximum Motorsports’ tech department about using a Wilwood brake bias control and the TCI Roll Stop in the plumbing. The tech department was extremely helpful and even provided a copy of their brake bias control instructions. As for TCI’s Roll Stop, the installation couldn’t have been easier.

The schematics tell the tale for installing the Roll Stop in the brake system and hooking up the power.

We started the installation with our usual safety precaution of disconnecting the battery and making sure that we had plenty of shop rags and containers for drained brake fluid. Following the instructions, we measured the stock pedal height and pedal free play. The next task was to remove the pedal box from the vehicle so that the pedal and brake light switch could be replaced. In order to remove the pedal box, several panels and the steering column had to come out of the car. It’s a good idea to take lots of photos during the disassembly, in case there are any questions when it comes time to reassemble. We found it easiest to remove the driver’s seat to provide plenty of room to remove the four nuts that secure the pedal box to the firewall. Finally, we removed the power assist assembly and master cylinder from the engine firewall.

Removing the power assist assembly.

Bare firewall where the power assist and master cylinder used to be.

The stock pedal box and pedals.

Once the pedal box was removed, we installed the new brake pedal from the Maximum Motorsports kit. The instructions were very clear on which parts to discard and which ones would be reused.

A few pieces from the stock brake assembly are reused.

Pedal box with Maximum Motorsports brake pedal installed.

With the new brake pedal mounted in the pedal box, we then connected the adjustable pushrod to the pedal and reinstalled the pedal box, steering column and panels back into the car.

The pushrod connects to the new pedal via a rod end, which makes for a precise, solid connection with no slop.

The other side of the firewall

With the work done inside the car, it was time to get under the hood and reassemble the master cylinder and brake lines. We added the TCI Roll Stop to the front brake lines as part of the upgrade. Much to our amazement, our Wilwood Master cylinder used National Pipe Thread fittings and the TCI Roll Stop used AN fittings. We found some adapter fittings from Wilwood that adapted the stock brake lines to the master cylinder and the Roll Stop.

The master cylinder adapter block bolts directly to the firewall in place of the brake booster.

Our master cylinder with the conversion block instead of the power assist unit looks much nicer, and performs well.

We ended up with a clean installation on our manual brake conversion, and a braking system that we can grow into. The test drive provided proof that a manual brake conversion was indeed a wise upgrade.

TCI Roll Stop solenoid valve mounted to the strut tower.

Points to ponder

Chuck Schwynoch reminded us that, “The Maximum Motorsports brake pedal is not intended to be used with stock, unmodified brake systems.” The pedal ratio is would be incorrect for a stock system and may cause an increase in stopping distance. The manual brake conversion kit mounts into the stock pedal box without drilling any new holes, and allows for use of the stock cruise control. If you have a real street/strip car and it is fitted with factory cruise control, you can change to manual brakes and still be able to use it on the highway when you’re heading to the track.

Maximum Motorsport’s engineers work with the car manufacturers and aftermarket brake manufacturers to ensure proper fit and safe application of the brake kits. In our case, we were using the MM brake conversion kit with a Wilwood master cylinder. Maximum Motorsports had already done the research with representatives from Wilwood to ensure that the kit would be compatible. Thanks to the research and development put in up front, the kit we installed went in smoothly. When we had a question about the pedal feel, Chuck answered it quickly and clearly. We give the MM Manual brake conversion kit two thumbs up.

It served us well, but the new engine will serve us better!

We have been wrenching away on our Project 666 car this week, in preparation for some new drive train components. Specifically, the engine and transmission. We have identified our replacements, but our first task was to get the stock stuff outta the way.

Part of the deal in the powerTV garage is that parts that are removed for future use and cleaned and wrapped for storage. We describe this as “clean storage”. Because we wanted to re-use most of our cooling system components, like our Meziere electric water pump, Flex-a-lite electric cooling fan, and radiator, we started by draining the coolant. While the car was up on the lift we drained the oil and transmission fluid. All the bodily fluids were coming out of our baby.

Once the fluids were drained, we brought the car down and took off the hood. Taking off the hood is essential for removing the engine/transmission combo from the top, and not as difficult as it sounds. The key to successfully re-installing the hood is to scribe a line around the hinge that holds the hood so that it can be put back together in the exact same position. We stored the hood standing upright with shop towels taped to the edges of the hood to prevent paint chipping.

Next step was to harvest our reusable cooling system components, which was a lot less messy now that the system had been drained. At the same time, I had Steve-O removing the wiring from the electrical components, vacuum hoses, and fuel lines running to the engine. Having two people working in the engine bay is crowded but it speeds up the removal process. Steve-O and I took a left side/right side approach to working in the engine bay. He didn’t cross the line to my side and I didn’t cross the line to his.

The empty engine bay. Notice all the wires and lines.

Once all the wiring, hoses and lines were removed from the transmission and engine block, Steve-O and I supported the engine from above with an engine hoist and removed the transmission and engine mounts. With the mounts removed, and using a couple of eyes on each side of the engine and one set of not so young eyes watching under the car, we hoisted the engine out of the engine bay and onto the garage floor where the transmission could be separated.

Our old muscle out of the Stang.

Because our transmission was going to be replaced as well with a brand new Tremec TKO-600, we separated it from the engine block and did a preliminary cleaning on it. We checked the endshaft play and the input shaft movement. There’s still a lot of miles in this transmission, so we are going to store it for future use, or maybe sell it on Craigslist.

As if that weren’t enough, we capped off our day by removing the entire fuel system which is going to replaced with a full Aeromotive Stealth system. We’re talking every line, hose, filter and tank removed. Although we drained the tank before removal, Steve-O still had the 91 octane perfume smell all over him.

Dropping the fuel tank.

We brought the car down on the lift close enough to use a floor jack to support the fuel tank. Using a 2X4 between the floor jack and the tank to prevent us from puncturing the tank, we loosened the mounting bolts, removed the retaining straps and lowered the tank far enough to remove the vent lines and electrical lines to the fuel pump. With those removed, we lowered the tank to the ground.

Our drained fuel tank on the ground.

Project 666. Our '87 Ford Mustang. She's a beast, but we love her.

You learn a little something new everyday. If I hang around long enough, I’ll be a genius. Today’s lesson; Ford 2G alternators and fires.

Before you get the wrong idea, our stripper Mustang that we call “Project 666″ is fine. We didn’t burn it to ground or anything like that.

We were having some battery and charging issues with our project car, and those issues led us to the alternator. Nothing special there, an alternator change is pretty straight forward, and to be honest, pretty boring.

We made a quick run to the parts store and pick up a replacement. Normally we hunt around and find a really cool aftermarket performance piece to replace the stock factory stuff, but we were in a hurry.

I opened the box for the new part and a piece of paper catches my eye. Real men don’t read the instructions but this paper looked different and important. So we gathered around to take a closer look:

Fire Hazard! This piece of paper must be important.

Very top line of the paper states in big bold letters: DANGER. FIRE HAZARD.
OK. Now they have my attention. I flip the paper over and the big bold letters on the other side say: PELIGRO. RIESGO DE FUEGO. I know what Fuego means from my many Taco Bell visits. Now I am more than curious and want to figure out what the 5 alarm fire warning is all about.

Not wanting to appear ignorant, or more than I already do…I bypass asking James. He has a lot of experience in these model Mustangs, and he’s my boss, so I head for the internet.

A little searching around and I get an education on electrical connectors and the factory charging system for the 5.0 Mustangs. I didn’t know this before, so I figured it was worth sharing. Check this out:

The stock 2G alternator.

The Fox Body 5 liter Mustangs were equipped with what Ford calls the 2G alternator. This alternator is rated at 75 amps which is ok for the electrical system on a Stock Mustang that doesn’t have power accessories. When you have one of these Mustangs though, they don’t stay stock long. Much like our 666 Stang, modifications are common, and many of them are electrical.

That is when the problems start to come into play. Electric fans, water pumps, nitrous solenoids and such, start to draw more load than the alternator can keep up with. Best case scenario; the alternator quits. Worse case scenario; Fuego.

The bad guy: the two wire spade connector.

The stock wiring harness and alternator has a three spade design, of which, two spades share the current. Our connector was three spade but only two were in use, the third had a factory seal on the wire side of the connector.

So two spades are sharing the current and as the load (demand) increases, the resistance in the wires increases to the point of overload. Overloads create massive heat that can melt the wires and wire harness. Resulting in: yeah, you guessed it, Fuego.

Three spade connector on the alternator.

Ford recognized this problem in 1996 and issued a technical service bulletin. The update was an electrical wiring kit (part number E5AZ-14305-AA) to eliminate the possibility of Fuego. Accordingly, the new replacement alternators now have direct wiring and you must cut out the three spade connector and direct wire the new alternator in.

The new alternator. Hard wired, no more spade connectors.

Cutting the stock connector.

The wires from the new alternator are soldered together and covered with heat shrink.

A final wrap with electrical tape and she's good as new.

The most recent upgrade we have been working on involves improving the cooling of our Project 666 — with an upgraded Flex-a-lite Radiator/Fan combination and a Meziere Water Pump. At the time, we decided to pick up some horsepower and reduce engine clutter by installing a complete March Performance 5.0L Pulley/Bracket system since we were already ditching the stock water pump and engine driven fan.

Check out the video we shot covering our cooling system upgrade, then read all the details below!

Our Project

As a reminder, the Project 666 build is a 1986 Ford Mustang LX 5.0L that we will build out as a street/strip car with a projected horsepower of over 650 horses to the rear wheels (hence the moniker 666). That requires a serious cooling sytem that can cool on a stupidly hot Riverside day.

The ’79-93 Fox bodied Ford Mustangs have a large following among the street performer and drag strip devotees. One of the more desirable models of our ’86 LX Mustang is that it is a bare bones version often referred to as a “stripper” model. As attractive as that tag sounds (no, the car did not belong to a Vegas showgirl), it is desirable because of the manual windows, door locks, seats, etc. No luxury power accessories of any kind. This absence of bulky electric actuation motors reduces the total weight even further. In short, our “stripper” Mustang was built for speed.

Currently our Fox Bodied “Stripper” Mustang is awaiting a new power plant, and the time is right to start preparing for this enhanced power package. Seeking to squeeze every once of horsepower out of our coupe, we will forgo some of the power robbing parasites that are engine driven and replace them with components that offer better performance than the stock parts.

The stock engine and cooling system. Lots of help needed here!

Why upgrade?

The new engine will be subjected to a harsher operating environment than the stock cooling system were intended to operate in. Because we are going to push this power plant for higher performance, we felt that the cooling system was a logical place to start our upgrades. Higher horse power motors generate more heat. Typical cooling systems on a stock Mustang operate in the 200 degree range and the internal pressure should be near 20 pounds.

Running hotter than these parameters tend to result in power loss, or worse, blown head gaskets and cracked cylinder heads. Therefore, it’s always a wise idea to upgrade your cooling system when you step up your motor performance. Good aluminum radiators can provide up to twenty five percent better cooling, and because we we’re planning on increasing our horsepower to 3 times the stock amount, it was a no-brainer to replace stock cooling system.

The Solution:

We installed the following components on Project 666:

• Meziere Water Pump, PN #WP111R
• Flex-a-lite Radiator/Fan Combination, PN #52185
• March Performance 5.0L Fox Pulley Drive Kit, PN #30061

Enter the companies of Flex-a-lite, March Performance and Meziere.

As luck would have it, March manufactures a pulley drive system specifically for the Ford 5.0 (Part #30061), that removes the power steering, A/C, water pump, and idler and replaces it with a complete custom March adjustable system. Perfect.

The March pulley drive kit was designed to work with almost any electric water pump on the market but we had knowledge that the Meziere electric water pump kit (part #WP111) worked extremely well with the March drive kit. We checked out Meziere and were pleased to find that their support & tech department was very knowledgeable with this particular application.

Then next step was to find an aluminum radiator that would provide us with the higher cooling needs of a high performance engine. Flex-a-lite is a well known brand that has established a good reputation in fans and cooling systems. Another quick phone call and we had the answers that we wanted. Flex-a-lite makes an application specific Radiator and Fan combo that fits the Mustang Fox Body platform, part # 52185.

We’ll walk you through the entire installation and also talk a little about the features of each of the parts that we installed and why.

Getting started.

We started by removing the smog pump and plumbing. While the pump may not be as power robbing as some of the other accessories, the weight of the pump and all of the associated lines, valves and canisters added up to a considerable amount. Simply removing all the lines made the engine bay look a lot neater. The next step was getting rid of the power steering pump. We had already changed out the steering rack for a rack and pinion steering system, so the power steering pump and reservoir were just along for the ride. These parts were considerably heavier than their size would indicate. Yet again, once the parts were gone, the front of the engine bay took on a less congested appearance.

By now it was apparent that our coupe was undergoing a serious weight watchers program. This became infectious. The more we removed, the more we wanted to take off. It had already been decided to change out the water pump to improve cooling, and we knew that the radiator needed to be upgraded, it was only natural that the engine driven cooling fan fell into our cross hairs. Just for good measure, we removed the air conditioning compressor and all of the A/C lines. Our “stripper” had dropped so much weight that I envisioned the bright red coupe in a Jenny Craig commercial with Kirstie Alley.

Our “stripper” on Jenny Craig. Less weight in the engine bay.

Installation of the Flex-a-lite Radiator & Fan unit.

Installation of the components was very easy. We simply installed the components in the reverse order of the removal process. Starting with the Radiator and Fan kit, we opened the instructions and were pleasantly surprised to find that we were half way done with the task. Moving down the instructions past the initial 12 steps because the stock radiator was removed, we resisted the urge to take a “half-way” break. Assembling the radiator components took no time, as the electric fan is an integral part of the assembly. Only the overflow bottle needed to be attached to the radiator.

The Overflow Container

We were surprised at how lightweight the flex-a-lite radiator was compared to the overall size of the unit. It looked much thicker than the stock radiator and the flat side tank had a real impressive machined look where the stock radiator had rounded side tanks. It was easy to spot the larger core surface area and the twin rows of tubing running through the cooling fins. The core size alone measured 22 inches wide by 18 inches tall and 2 ½ inches deep. Even with my limited understanding of thermodynamics, I understood that a larger core area was going to dissipate heat faster and more efficiently than the stock radiator’s smaller core area.

We finalized the radiator installation by sliding it into the area where the stock radiator was mounted, then attached the supplied brackets to hold the radiator in place. This took a total of 10 minutes and our new radiator and electric cooling fan were installed with only a couple of wires and the variable speed control yet to install. Bypassing the electrical for the time being, we started installation of the electric water pump.

A couple of cool things I wanted to mention about the Flex-a-lite Radiator and Black Magic Extreme fan combination:

• The Flex-a-lite radiator features internal and external fins. The way this design works is that internal fins absorb the heat, and the external fins radiate it away.
• The external fins allow easy mounting of fans and accessories.
• The radiator is a cross-flow design with (2) 1-inch diameter tubes.
• The radiator comes with a Black Magic Extreme fan, which is probably the most popular aftermarket fan in the history of the Mustang aftermarket. This has a great mounting system, and includes a Variable Speed control which integrates an adjustable thermostat, A/C controller, and manual on/off switch.
• Best part, includes all brackets, wires, and bolts!

Sliding the Radiator in place.

Installing the Meziere Electric Water pump

The Meziere water pump was almost too perfect to install on a used block. The pump itself is svelte and much sleeker than the heavy cast metal stock centrifugal pump. The Meziere water pump for the 5.0 engines can be ordered in 35 gallons per minute (GPM) or 55 GPM high flow model. It does not come with provisions for heater or bypass hose, which was fine for our street/strip car. We ordered the WP311R which comes in Red, polished and waxed.

The nice thing about the Meziere pump is that it’s built right here in the US, and has a reputation for being a serious workhorse. It even comes with a 2 year unlimited mileage guarantee and Meziere told us that it can handle daily driver, high-horsepower applications without breaking a sweat.

Here is some information on our Meziere electric water pump:

• Fits small block Ford 302 & 351 (perfect for our new 9.5 deck motor)
• 3,000+ hour life for street or drag use
• 55 gal/minute flow
• Stainless Steel Hardware w/ Stainless Steel Main Shaft
• This pump is supplied complete with gaskets, hardware and fittings. No additional items should be necessary.

In terms of choosing the “right” pump for your application, Meziere told us, “The standard 35 GPM pump is suitable for normally aspirated engines up to 650 horsepower. Supercharged, turbocharged and high compression, and high horsepower applications should use the 55 GPM high flow pump.

Installing the Backing Plate.

If you must have the heater and bypass hose provisions, they can be ordered from the factory when you order the pump. Of course, you will have to block off the heater and bypass hose outlets at the source if you didn’t order the provisions. The back plate mounted up easily to the engine block and the pump mounts directly to the back plate. Gaskets for the pump to the back plate come with the kit. We recommend gasket sealer when installing the gaskets.

The Meziere electric water pump.

The engine bay was really beginning to look like it had some room for the bigger motor. To finish the upgrade, we needed to install the March pulley drive system. We had removed every drive pulley from the motor with the single exception of the alternator drive pulley. Our project car still needed the alternator because we wanted to be able to drive it on the streets for extended periods of time (like driving to the race track and back home after making a few passes).

The March Performance Underdrive Crankshaft Pulley.

The factory mounting position for the alternator made it very difficult, if not impossible to mount a serpentine belt from the crankshaft drive pulley to the alternator pulley and still have clearance for the electric water pump housing. There are a few pulley kits on the market that you can buy to help solve the belt routing problem, but we chose the March kit (part # 30061) because of the completeness of the kit. We knew that the drive system would work with our other components, the existing engine and the new engine when it was installed.

The Alternator Positioning Bracket.

Although the pulley drive looked pretty intimidating, the instructions were very complete. They even included a couple of drawings, which helped this barely literate retired Marine understand the installation process (a picture is still worth a thousand words in my book). What I found interesting about the drive kit was, even though we were using the existing stock alternator, March included a pulley for the alternator. May not sound like much, but having the crankshaft pulley, idler pulley and the alternator pulley all look the same really improved the look of the engine block. The kit can easily be installed in 20 minutes, which includes time for coffee breaks.

Once installed, we had to get ourselves a 41-inch 6-rib serpentine belt and adjust the adjustable support link to properly space the alternator and put the correct amount of tension on the belt. It was really easy and simple, not to mention the horsepower increase and weight loss.

Alternator Pulley installation.

The Final Steps

All that was left in our installation was wiring. Flex-a-lite and Meziere both include a complete wiring harness and fuses, including a complete variable speed control (VSC) that helps with a daily driver. We chose to not install the VSC because our car was going to see such little street driving, and instead installed a simpler on/off switch and 30 amp relay. However, we recommend the VSC if you are going to drive on the street regularly no matter your application.

In recapping this upgrade, we managed to upgrade our cooling system in preparation of installing a bigger engine in our street/strip project car. We were able to replace a lot of the heavy stock components with stronger lightweight parts, and we eliminated the dispensable accessory drives. We estimated a total weight loss of 40 pounds and recaptured 23 to 40 of lost horsepower. Everyone in the shop was pretty excited about the lightweight “stripper” with more power.

Check out the final “after” photo showing the complete March pulley system, Meziere pump, and Flex-a-lite Radiator/Fan combination. We’re going to drive it around in the next few weeks and give you a full cooling system performance report – tested exclusively in our oppressive Riverside heat!

The completed cooling system and accessory drive.