At certain national events, the cars in each class would run heads-up for a class win, in addition to running against other cars in various Stock designations. At the U.S. Nationals one year, the pair met up as two of the four com-petitors in the E/FI class. Jeff took the win and defeated Evan in the final round to take the class championship. "We met up in 2003 running in the same class," Jeff says. "I beat Evan, but it was bittersweet because he was faster than I was. I beat him on a holeshot. He probably won't let you print that, though."
The Mean Street motor looks...
The Mean Street motor looks like your typical hot-rodded small-block Ford, and that's what the NMCA is shooting for with the Mean Street class. It's a mean beast, though, that has propelled the black hatch to a best elapsed time of 10.15 at 131.20 mph, an NMCA national record.
During Jeff's Stock Eliminator tenure, the heads-up Mustang scene picked up considerably, with Fun Ford Weekend, NMRA, and NMCA sanctions offering a wide variety of classes to run. "Jim Kuntz beat me up the whole time to get away from the NHRA, and I was getting fed up with Stock," Jeff says. "They had split the EFI cars from the carbureted ones, and having a stick shift meant very, very few heads-up races."
It was time for a change, and Jeff chose the National Muscle Car Association's Mean Street class as his new destination. BFGoodrich Mean Street is an entry-level, heads-up class in the NMCA that is designed for naturally aspirated, street-appearing cars. There's a maximum engine displacement of 385 ci, and the vehicles must run carburetors and are limited to certain D.O.T.-approved, radial tires.
For the most part, the changes Jeff needed to make didn't require a monumental effort on his part, and he estimated the financial gap from Stock to Mean Street to be around 10 grand. Mean Street allows for more liberal front-end chassis modifications, such as RaceCraft tubular control arms and K-member. Jeff also uses AVO adjustable shocks and Moroso springs up front. Steve Gurley of Racefab Performance in Memphis, Tennessee, upgraded the eight-point rollbar to the current 12-point cage, which stiffens up the chassis, thus allow-ing the Team Z upper and lower rear control arms to control the '86 Mercury Capri rear springs. A Mid South Race Cars antiroll bar is also used.
Jeff is one of a growing number...
Jeff is one of a growing number of racers using this trick water recirculation setup between rounds. Icing the intake only does so much, and this setup will help cool the cylinder heads.
One of the biggest changes from Stock to Mean Street was under the VFN 5-inch cowl induction hood. Jim Kuntz assembled a 360ci powerplant using an Eagle crankshaft and connecting rods, along with Ross pistons. The 8.2-inch deck height block uses a 4.060-inch bore combined with a 3.465-ish stroke, as Jeff puts it, and compression is sealed by a set of Kuntz-built, Trick Flow Twisted Wedge cylinder heads that have received a three-angle valve job and not much else per Mean Street rules. The 2.02/1.60-valved heads support Harland Sharp aluminum roller rocker arms as well as an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake manifold and Pro Systems 4150 four-barrel carburetor.
The camshaft is a flat-tappet stick that sports 0.550 inch of valve lift. Beyond that, the rules are open-but the mouths are shut with regard to duration and centerline. Jeff relies on an Aeromotive A1000 pump to supply the gasoline to the carb and an MSD distributor, 7530T ignition box, and coil light the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chambers. Once the motor's exhaust stroke is complete, Hooker full-length headers with 3-inch collectors empty into a Hedman x-style mid pipe, where a short distance away the Flowmaster 3-inch Outlaw mufflers keep the small-block Ford audibly acceptable.