Defying Convention

Conventional thinking told us that the earth was square, only birds could fly, and you couldn't put a V-8 into a Model T. Like Columbus and the Wright Brothers, racers have always been a rebellious sort, making a habit out of the unconventional. The lifestyle of a racer is often outside what society would call mainstream, constantly pushing the boundaries within themselves and their cars right on the edge of danger.

Brian Schapiro knows this all too well as he has been at the dragstrip nearly every weekend for the past 11 years with several of his own 10-second Mustangs. He's also made a living out of helping others push the envelope through his speed shop B&D Racing in Conoga Park, California. However, it wasn't until a few years ago that Brian got into road racing too, and then it was just a matter of time before Brian was breaking a whole new set of rules.

While road racing (especially in California) is usually dominated by Miatas and Porsches, Brian has chosen his most familiar platform, the Fox-chassis Mustang, to buck convention yet again. He didn't have the heart to tear apart his '87 GT that he turned into a 10.60 drag car, so he reclaimed a white '89 GT that he had purchased for his mother. The white GT had been a former customer's car and was already outfitted with a Vortech R-trim blower. Though the R-trim is considered outdated by most, including Vortech's engineers who can scarcely remember designing it, the blower has been a loyal soldier and lasted nine years before ever needing a rebuild. Brian is such a firm believer in its capabilities, and more importantly in its reliability, that he is unwilling to part with it.

Another reason for Brian's attachment to the R-trim is that it is a high-rpm blower, which allows a large degree of driveability in the lower-rpm range. Driveability was key to this project as he wanted the GT to still be a great daily driver in addition to performing on the road coarse and the dragstrip. Balancing all three is a very difficult task as they are conversely related. However, his 17x9.5-inch Forge Line RS front wheels are a great deal more feasible on the street and the strip than 15x3-inch Welds are on a road course.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for most road race suspensions, which often compromise ride quality and straight-line acceleration for greater lateral acceleration and less body roll. The exception, Brian says, is the Griggs Racing suspension. Thanks to the addition of a torque arm and Panhard bar to the four-link rear suspension, the rear axle plants nicely on launch and hooks to enable 1.71-second 60-foot times with ET Streets. Those times are pretty impressive when you consider that he has Griggs Racing 425-pound springs in the front and 225-pound in the rear, which don't enable a whole lot of weight transfer.

The Griggs Racing suspension, as some may be familiar, is popular among American Iron series racers, which is in fact where Brian first heard about it. "I met Bruce Griggs at a Buttonwillow NASA event and got a ride on the track in Guy Cunningham's AI Championship car, and there was no turning back. I immediately placed the order for a full Griggs Racing GR-40 complete suspension system."

Not long after arrived Griggs subframe connectors, a tubular K-member, adjustable A arms, bump steer kit, adjustable lower control arms, the Severe Duty torque arm and Panhard bar to stabilize the solid axle. This setup is so stiff that it negates the rear sway bar and makes the stock front sway bar sufficient even under heavy loads. Koni double-adjustable shocks and struts are used at all four corners and converted to coilovers thanks to the Griggs Racing kit. Despite the lack of an independent rear suspension, which is considered by some to be far superior for handling, Brian says he has been able to achieve completely neutral and balanced handling characteristics.

Fox Mustangs have a couple of strikes against them in that they have poor weight distribution and poor braking from the factory. The same can be said of most old musclecars, which is why the general consensus is that they are inadequate performers on the road course. However, Brian has gone to great lengths to ensure his '89 GT hangs in there with even Germany's finest stallions by testing out several top-of-the-line brake manufacturers. Oddly enough, a most unlikely candidate blew him away; a little-known company called The Brakeman. "I drove an Expedition with its front brake kit and the pedal modulation was unbelievable. It felt as if the car was going to break in half."

As the result, Brian purchased The Brakeman's front brake kit containing forged four-piston calipers with two-piece 13x1.25-inch rotors, which also keeps weight down while dissipating heat and thereby preventing fade. This has also kept Brian from having to rebuild his brakes after every track day as with the Cobra brakes he had on previously. In the rear, the stock drum brakes are swapped for discs via Baer's 12-inch conversion kit.

Knowing that his car would be pulling double duty at the dragstrip, Brian also spared no expense at upgrading the drivetrain. A SPEC aluminum flywheel and Stage II Clutch with a Griggs Racing 3-inch aluminum driveshaft complement a TREMEC T56 transmission. The stock 8.8 rear is treated to 31-spline Superior axles, 3.73 gears, and a Torsen T2R limited-slip differential. With over 37,000 miles on the drivetrain it still shows no signs of wear, despite high-rpm launches on Mickey Thompson ET Streets to propel Brian to low 11-second e.t.s.

With so many beefy components, you would think Brian's GT has probably got some enormously stroked motor with all forged internals, right? Wrong. Using a freshened-up 302 that has been bored .030 over, B&D has managed incredible durability with only a set of SRP Sportsman pistons and Speed Pro rings while maintaining the rest of the stock bottom end. Brian credits the quality of the build in conjunction with the use of Redline oil and the girdle from Central Coast Motorsports as being key ingredients to holding the almost completely stock short-block together.

ARP main studs and rod bolts combined with a Fluidyne HD aluminum radiator, Spall twin 11-inch fans, a Canton 7-quart road race oil pan, and an Anderson Ford Motorsport programmable PMS have also done their part. "Everyone said it can't hold up with the stock crank," but some 40,000 miles and 24 days worth of track time later Brian's little pony is still galloping.

Actually, Brian's little pony is more like sprinting at over 540 rwhp and 496 lb-ft of torque with the long-overdue addition of a Vortech Aftercooler to cool the 15 psi of charged air. That air is then channeled through a Pro-M 80mm mass air and 75mm Accufab throttle body before meeting an Edelbrock Performer RPM II intake manifold. A Lunati custom grind cam permits the passage of air in and out of the AFR 185 cylinder heads. A Walbro 255-lpg, in-tank fuel pump and a Vortech in-line T-Rex pump provide adequate pressure for the Ford Racing 42-pound injectors. An MSD 6A Box with an MSD Blaster TFI coil does the igniting, and Ford Racing ceramic-coated shorty headers exhale the exhaust through a 2.5-inch offroad X-pipe and Dynomax mufflers. The exhaust system had to be custom-fabricated by Labree Motor Sports to clear the Griggs Racing suspension.

From doubts about reliability to handling, there is nothing Brian's GT can't conquer. Brian's secret to success: "I brought a drag race mentality to road racing and managed to find a balance."