Because Mike has been involved in drag racing since he was a child, and having built many street rods, the chassis would receive as much attention as the engine combination. The 8.8-inch rear was built up using drag racing-oriented components. Inside the popular rearend housing are 3.55 gears, a Strange spool, and Strange 33-spline axles. A T/A Performance rearend girdle ensures the gears don't blow out the backside of the housing when launching at high rpm. A set of Granatelli Motor Sport upper and lower control arms were also added. Mike fired up the welder and built his own antisway bar. Competition Engineering subframe connectors and a Biggs Automotive 10-point rollcage prevent this Stang from twisting up.
The manual transmission is from Tremec, and it's hooked to a Centerforce clutch setup that ensures Mike can launch hard with nitrous time and time again without wearing out the clutch disc. He slams each gear using a Hurst short-throw shifter that has a Reichard Racing shifter handle. Thanks to Fifth gear, the engine sings gracefully on the highway, and the car is sedate enough to achieve the 20-mpg goal that Mike set out to accomplish. "It is totally driveable," he says. "I was aiming for 20 or so miles per gallon, and based on the recent True Street cruise, it got that."
Horsepower numbers were not available, as Mike prefers to use the dragstrip as his dyno. Best time to date has been an 11.17 at 128 mph. With that kind of mph, this LX is more than capable of going deep into the 10-second zone. Mike has some work to do on dialing in the launch efficiency, as the best 60-foot time was a traction-limited 1.70. New rear shocks, springs, and tires have been ordered up and should be the answer to the traction issues.
With a little tweaking and adjusting, this Mustang will hook hard and charge into the 10s, where it belongs.
This interior is standard fare for a street/strip Mustang.The NHRA-legal rollcage has been welded in place to help stiffen the unibody.Kirkey seats replace the stock stuff, and Mike bangs the gears while gripping a Reichard Racing handle that is attached to a Hurst shifter. | 
A Nitrous Works 100hp nitrous kit is sprayed into the throttle body. It is a wet-nitrous system, which means both nitrous and fuel are sprayed together at the inlet. | 
The Hoosier Quick Time Pro tires are DOT legal, and Mike runs them on the street and at the track. Mickey Thompson ET Street tires have replaced the Hoosiers. Mike thinks the stiffer sidewall on the M/T tires will help his Stang get a bit more traction at the launch. |
AS HIS last name implies, Mike is big-he towers over his '88 LX. He ate a lot of Wheaties when he was growing up, and still does. |  | |