Ron Bugarin doesn't have a highly rated TV slot, and he doesn't build custom bikes either. Heck, he doesn't even have a signature line of apparel or an action figure modeled after him. What he does have are savvy mechanical skills and a creative streak that would make Van Gogh and his right ear blush. After years of working as an inspector for Ford Motor Company, Ron has picked up a few tricks, and he knows a little about our fabled ponycar, the Fox Mustang. So when it was time for him to build this '87 GT, he put his talents to work and wasted little time.
With a mere 14,000 miles on the clock, this immaculate GT still sports the original black paint and red stripe combination that Ford thought was cool back in the '80s. While Whitesnake was wondering about love and Wang Chung was busy telling us when to have fun, Ford was minting more than 100,000 of these puppies a year. So finding an example this immaculate is a true surprise in this day and age considering how few are still on the road-especially those packing a stroked and poked mega-inch Windsor.
When it came time to have the engine of his dreams built, Ron went straight to the top and gave Kuntz & Co. a call for one of its rock-solid Windsor motors. Starting with a '94 9.2-inch-deck production block, the Arkadelphians had the casting bored to 4.030 inches and placed an Eagle steel crankshaft into the main saddles with a 4.17-inch stroke. Connecting the custom 10.5:1-compression Venolia pistons to this big arm are Eagle H-beam rods. With a Kuntz main support and windage tray in the Probe oil pan, the bottom end combines real-world streetability with axle-bustin' torque.
THIS WINDSOR-based stroker...
THIS WINDSOR-based stroker displaces 427 ci of Kuntz & Co. power. The 7.0L Chevy-eater devours buckets of fuel through a Holley 750, a Super Victor intake, and TFS High Ports.
After an incredible amount...
After an incredible amount of massaging and measuring, Ron was able to bolt up massive 18x9 wheels to the front of his ride and 18x10s to the back. BFG is the choice of rubber here; in the front are 245 and the DRs measure 275 across in back.
Just about every solid-black...
Just about every solid-black GT from 1987 had a red interior. This one is tastefully updated with a MOMO steering wheel and gratuitous use of billet aluminum. An Art Morrison rollbar envelopes the occupants with four points of safety, while the MOMO buckets and RCI harnesses hold everyone in place. The rear-seat delete does away with the excess weight of rear cushions and, well, rear passengers.
The top half consists of TFS' infamous High Port heads ported and prepped by Kuntz. The custom-ground Comp hydraulic roller camshaft works a set of Comp Pro Magnum rockers to let those valves hang loose with 276/290 degrees of advertised duration and 0.544 lift on both sides. A Super Victor on top lets in 750 cfm of air through that honkin' Holley double-pumper prepared by The Carburetor Shop. With the fuel lit by a battery of MSD electronics, the gaseous dinosaurs are pumped into a pair of full-length 131/44-inch JBA headers, and the roar is muffled by a pair of American Thunder Flowmasters.
With the TKO five-speed and Centerforce Dual Friction clutch both begging for mercy as they transmit the incredible torque to the 3.55 gears and 31-spline Mosers, you know that the Ford Racing Performance Parts rear girdle is hanging on for dear life every time Ron nails that loud pedal.