After this '92 GT suffered...
After this '92 GT suffered a serious engine fire, owner Chuck Weller went all-out with the rebuild, but wanted to make his statement in a tasteful and subtle way. To that end, only a Cobra grille insert and an SVO-styled cowl hood were added to the front as the factory Titanium two-tone paint scheme was re-applied.
Although many people may tell you that their car is "better" or even "the best" out there, it's pretty much the same old story. Although some might find it interesting that a person threw a ton of parts at a car and got lucky, we're not one of them. We want to know more about a car and its owner. We want personality, character, and a persona--basically, a damn good story to share while having a beer.
All Mustang stories start when the car first rolls off the assembly line, so Chuck Weller's story is typical. He purchased this '92 GT and, like many of us, started with the bolt-ons and then moved on to motor work. Although we could lecture you all day and night about what kind of modifications we did to our own cars, we think it would be best to let Weller tell you about it in his own words.
As he starts, "I bought this car brand new in March of 1992 and it was a daily driver for five or six years. During that time, I did the usual bolt-ons (heads, cam, intake, pulleys, chip, exhaust, etc.) and eventually added a supercharger. In the early '90s, I had several close friends who were heavily into road racing and they got me pretty hooked (thanks to the late Charlie Bruno of Charlie's Mustangs in San Jose, California)."
Stuffed with a Comp Cams solid...
Stuffed with a Comp Cams solid roller cam and a Jesel shaft-mount rocker arm system, the Kuntz-built 408 is capped off with a pair of CNC-ported TFS high ports and a Reichard Racing manifold. A Vortech YS, making 20-pounds of boost, and a set of 160 lb-hr injectors turn on the floodgates of horsepower. And for good measure, a Nitrous Express juice kit tosses in an extra stampede. ACCEL's DFI Gen VII shoots the electrons about and helps manage the 1,000 some-odd horsepower.
"So, after the exposure to road racing, the later modifications focused more on speed, braking and cornering. I moved to San Diego in 1997 and noticed that everyone down here is heavily into drag racing, unlike me. I figured why have fun for 9 or 10 seconds at a time when you can have it for 20 minutes nonstop? I can only go straight for so long before I want to stab the brakes and crank the wheel, but hey, that's just me."
At this point, it was safe to say that Chuck was moving towards open-track events, as his car ditched its slicks-and-skinnies look to the low-and-wide stance that came with the addition of the 17-inch Cobra "R" wheels. He was, shall we dare say, "evolving" from drag racer to road racer.
As he continued, he told us about one harrowing night when he was testing the throttle cable's pull capacity while a car, coincidentally was doing the same next to him. Fortunately, the street was blocked off by many nice citizens of the town at two in the morning to make sure that in the event that these two cars would exceed the speed limit, nobody would be near.
"During a late Saturday night encounter, I had a fuel system malfunction that resulted in the spraying of fuel over the hot engine at a high rate of speed. The car, from eyewitness accounts, became an instant fireball. When I got the car to a full stop, the one fire extinguisher I kept inside at all times did not prove to be enough. Luckily, a gallon of water and a large sleeping bag seemed to do the trick. The insurance agent wasn't too happy about the incident and with $30,000-plus in damages, she told me the car must be totaled.
"Well, as a lawyer, I did not take no for an answer, and I insisted that the insurance company must cover my loss. After push came to shove, they caved and I got some money to fix up the car. Fixing the car took about a year, hence the reason why I now have two on-board Halon fire suppression systems and a fire extinguisher, just in case."
Once the insurance check was cut, the car was resurrected and this time around, it was no time for games. Since the entire vehicle had to be stripped to repair the fire damage, an entirely new paint job in the factory Titanium Silver Metallic was applied. The car was put together with a new Kuntz motor packing 408 cubic inches of fury with some 20-pounds of boost from the Vortech YS-trim huffer.
The black cloth interior...
The black cloth interior has been seriously upgraded with the addition of an eight-point chrome-moly rollcage and a pair of supportive Flofit seats. Auto Meter gauges all around monitor the blown and squeezed 408 up front.
A T56 gearbox with a Pro 5.0 shifter provides the fun to the 8.8 rear, which has been beefed-up with Moser 31-spline axles and 3.55 gears. TA's popular rearend girdle manages to keep all the contents within the housing as the Griggs Racing GR40 Extreme Duty Torque arm does its best to plant the 1,000-plus (what the!?) horsepower to the ground.
The remainder of the suspension also benefited from the Griggs package as a tubular K-member with a matching control arm set was bolted in. A coilover conversion at each corner allows Weller to dial in his car to put weight over each wheel as he so desires. Not a bad way to spend an insurance check, huh?
When all was said and done, Weller finally got his Stang back on the street, and on the dyno. As he relates, "Overall, the car is a blast to drive. There's an ungodly amount of power. I have accidentally done burnouts on the freeway in fourth gear with the sticky 315 tires. It turns better than a Ferrari or Corvette and it can stop on a dime."
The Cobra R-style wheels measure...
The Cobra R-style wheels measure 10.5 inches wide and mount a pair of massive Yokohama A032Rs that say 315/35 on their sidewalls. Aside from the larger rear spoiler, the car is mostly stock-appearing. Underneath it carries a Griggs Racing GR40 suspension kit.
Although we tried to pry him for dyno numbers, he's staying tight-lipped about it and only hinted that it had four-figure value. From that, and a quick glance over at his engine spec sheet, we'll assume it generates over 1,000 hp.
Without the help of Chris Huff (of Coast High Performance), Doug Whitworth and Brian King, this pony would have been put out to pasture a long time ago. But lucky for Chuck, he's picked up a few lessons as time has gone on: Never let others force you to give up on a loved one, always have good wrenching buddies, and although change is slow and unassuming, it will always make you a better person. That's what Chuck Weller has learned, and perhaps we can all benefit from his example--just don't set your Mustang on fire to find out first hand.
Model:
Michelle Perez
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