Entertainment Replacement

If you're reading this magazine, odds are you're as submersed in the Mustang hobby as we are. Whether we like it or not, Mustangs become part of our lives, and every spare moment is spent thinking about them.

Matt Botchler is one of us--a die-hard Mustang enthusiast. His addiction started about five years ago when he picked up a '90 LX coupe and began hanging around various Mustang shops on Long Island, New York. Matt was obsessed with the car and made modifications as fast as he could buy the parts. While modifying the car, he had a copy of MM&FF in one hand, a wrench in the other, and guys like Job Spetter Jr. of Turbo People leaning over his shoulder instructing him on every move. The results were awesome, as the coupe ran 10.80s with a crate engine along with some boost from a Vortech S-Trim blower. It was the kind of 10-second street car that any of us would be proud to have in our driveway.

Matt loved building boost at the dragstrip and blasting off 10.80s at 125 mph. Mark Poldino at Unorthodox Chassis installed a custom rollcage to keep the coupe NHRA legal. During the next few years, Matt took the LX to what he thought was the pinnacle of his dreams--nothing crazy, just a reliable and clean street machine. Then tragedy struck. One night, after a rainstorm, Matt was cruising the streets when he lost control on the wet pavement. The car slammed violently into a telephone pole. Thankfully, the rollbar kept him safe. "Things could have been worse if it wasn't for the rollcage," he says. Although the car was a total write-off, Matt walked away without a scratch.

There was light at the end of the tunnel, however. A few months later, Matt's father found a clean notchback while on his way home from work. It was a four-cylinder car, but it was the perfect starting point. The $1,200 price tag fit the budget, too. The plan would be to do all the work in the garage to help keep costs down. With valuable input from several people, the new coupe would surpass the performance of Matt's first Mustang.

Topping the list was a rollbar for protection. Unorthodox Chassis was once again given the nod to weld together a chrome-moly rollbar. In addition to adding safety, the cage would stiffen the car in order to handle a new supercharged engine. Unorthodox Chassis also added a set of custom subframe connectors and fortified the torque boxes. The suspension upgrades were kept simple by replacing the weak, stamped control arms with Wolfe upper and lower tubular arms and a Steeda antiroll bar. Replacing the heavy front K-member and A-arm assembly is a lightweight front suspension kit from D&D Motorsports. A set of Lakewood struts (90/10) and shocks (50/50) help transfer the weight from the front to the back.