Diving Head First

"My car was stock for approximately 12 hours," exclaims Brian King. The morning after driving his brand-new Pony out of the dealership, he was under the hood advancing the ignition timing and removing the air silencer. The year was 1993.

During the next two years, MAC headers and DynoMax mufflers joined some minor suspension work in providing a good foundation for a Powerdyne supercharger to call home. The kit's 6-psi setting survived a mere six months before being upped to 9 psi of boost. About this time, a 155-lph fuel pump and a 3.55:1 gearset went in as well. Around 1995, Brian decided to upgrade the top end of the 5-liter, but the teardown eventually lead to a 0.030-inch overbore along with a set of then new-to-market Twisted Wedge cylinder heads. An Extrude-honed Cobra intake manifold and a blower-specific camshaft netted 11.70s at 118 mph. Feeling the stock suspension components were now out of their useful range, Brian upgraded the car's underpinnings with Saleen coil springs and Formula GP shocks and struts, as well as a set of JBA subframe connectors.

The drivetrain was also upgraded with a Tremec 3550 five-speed gearbox, and the 8.8 rearend was stuffed with 31-spline Moser axles, an Auburn Pro differential, and 3.73s. Happy with the combina-tion, Brian drove his Mustang for a couple years until, after many rebuilds of his Powerdyne unit, he sprung for a Vortech supercharger.

While on the Hot Rod Power Tour in 1997, Brian was on a straight stretch of land in Utah, when a certain '69 Camaro driver dropped the hammer. The Mustang showed the F-body who was boss, but not without hurting itself in the process. "I nursed the car for another 2,000 miles, adding a quart of oil just about every time I stopped for gas," Brian says. "That was the end of my 306."

Since the motor was coming out, the El Cajon, California, resident thought it would be a good time to fix some of the Mustang's abused sheetmetal. For this, Alden Farris Auto Body of San Diego was contracted to fix the metal and reshoot the Pony in its stock Royal Blue hue, and to add some additional Chrome Yellow Shelby-style stripes. The color combination represents Brian's day job as a diver for the United States Navy. A Maier Racing 2-inch cowl hood and a Saleen-style wing were added, too.

A 351 Windsor was procured and filled with Nowak blower pistons, and the stock truck rods and crank were buttoned up with ARP hardware. The Trick Flow heads were exchanged for some Avenger cylinder heads, and the Cobra intake manifold was swapped out for a GT-40 351 lower manifold combined with a boxed upper intake. Pro Mustang headers and a Dr. Gas 3-inch X-pipe made sure all the exhaust was expelled quickly, while new rear upper and lower control arms were installed to help reign in the new horsepower. An Auto Power six-point rollbar and harnesses were installed as well.

"I was never really happy with this combination," Brian says. "It ran well and was bulletproof, but it made only 480 rwhp and never ran faster than the 306's 11.70s."

By now it was 2003, and since Brian's expectations had not been met, the motor was hauled out once again. It was about this time that Brian got deployed to Iraq. Thankfully, he made it back and returned right to the task at hand. While the engine bay was vacant, he welded all the miscellaneous holes and seams. The 351 was then set aside, and a 408ci engine from fellow racer Charles Weller was dropped in. The stroked Windsor made 800 rwhp in Charles' car, so it was plenty healthy. Built by Grolm Racing in San Jose, the 408 used a Scat crankshaft, Eagle rods, and JE pistons. A Comp Cams XE282HR bumpstick with 232/240 degrees of duration at 0.050 and 0.565/0.574 valve lift moves 1.7:1 ratio rockers, and the Avenger heads received a Stage III porting job by Grolm and were upgraded with Manley valves and stiffer springs. A Trick Flow R upper intake was port-matched to the lower, and the S-Trim Vortech supercharger benefited from a cog drive. The stock EEC IV computer is controlled using a TwEECer piggyback unit, and Paxton's line of fuel-system products supplies fuel to this beast.

"I also upgraded the front suspension with road-race coilover shocks and added 13-inch Cobra disc brakes up front," Brian says. He had installed SVO rear discs before. "I chose the FR500 wheels because no one was running them on the older Fox platform."

Having dove into this project from day one, Brian has a lot invested in this project. He also had a lot of help from his wife, Karen; Larry Smith; and Charles Weller.