 |
 While Tony was using 28x12.5...  While Tony was using 28x12.5 M/T ET Street rubber (mounted on Bogart D-10 rims) to get down the track, he plans on switching to full slicks for 2006. |
 The low-mileage interior was...  The low-mileage interior was upgraded to business class with svelte Kirkey bucket seats, a B&M Pro Stick shifter, and assorted Auto Meter gauges to monitor the turbocharged mill. |
 For the '06 season, this 347...  For the '06 season, this 347 will benefit from a larger air-to-water intercooler and a tad more boost to take advantage of the increased intake cooling. Though Tony doesn't have a chassis dyno nearby, he estimates engine output to be about 1,000-1,100 hp to the tires. |
We all want to go fast. Some of us like to do it more often than not. Obviously, the MM&FF staff consists of pedal-to-the-metal personalities, and Midland, Texas, resident Tony Strong is cut from the same cloth.
Back in 1991, Tony's father bought this clean, barely used '90 Mustang GT for his son to tool around in, and it's led a life of full-throttle fun for the last 16 years.
"The car had 20,000 miles on it when my dad bought it," Tony says. "About a year later, he gave me his old work truck, and the Mustang sat beneath a car cover in the garage until about 1995."
While the Pony got out of the stable for the occasional romp, it wasn't until Tony started his mechanical engineering internship where it made good on the influx of college-educated cash coming in.
A bit of money helps when you're hot rodding your car, and Tony's new salary afforded a Vortech supercharger and Trick Flow Specialties Twisted Wedge cylinder heads. This combo lasted a little over a year until the factory internals expired.
While Tony got a bit sidetracked with some Nissan Z cars and a Toyota twin-turbo Supra (all of which he still owns), the Mustang sat in disrepair until mid-1998, when an A4 block was summoned and Jeff Spears at Crankshaft Balancing Service in Midland, Texas, stuffed it with 347 stroker internals.
A Scat forged steel crankshaft swings Eagle H-beam connecting rods and JE pistons, which when combined with the mildly ported Trick Flow heads, produce a boost-friendly compression ratio of just 8.0:1.
A Cam Motion solid roller camshaft features a duration of 242 degrees intake/236 degrees exhaust at 0.050, and lift figures of 0.605 inch intake/0.593 inch exhaust with a lobe centerline of 113 degrees.
A T-Trim Vortech was chosen to pressurize the TFS-R intake manifold, while a C4 automatic transmission replaced the five-speed manual gearbox. This combination was good for a best pass of 10.03 seconds.
In 2003, and at the advice of drag radial racer Shane Hill, Tony pulled off the supercharger and converted the Stang to turbo power, employing a 76mm hairdryer, a Vortech Igloo/Holley intake setup, and a FAST engine-management system.
Elapsed times dropped to the 9.60s. As a result, in 2003 Tony won the Clash of the Titans True Street points championship. During this time, the slick, black GT was also taking it to the streets and taking down LS1s with alarming regularity.