Brian Tordik's '98 Mustang Convertible Cruises To The Head Of The Class.
writer: Frank H. Cicerale
photographer: Joseph P. Greeves
In high school, there are always people grouped together in cliques. There are the popular kids, the smart kids, the artsy types, those involved in the band, the cheerleaders, the football players, the jocks. Add in the after-school-activities nuts, and high school is like a bag of Skittles with a flavor for everyone. As Sly and Family Stone sang way back in the day, "different strokes for different folks."Then there are the kids who dig fast cars, loud exhaust systems, and a ride showcasing the coveted running Pony on the grille. There's always one car that stands above the rest, much like that one kid who racks up perfect attendance along with a 4.0 GPA and is voted valedictorian. For Brian Tordik, that car was a fellow student's Mustang.
"My Mustang hobby began when I was in high school," Brian says. "I saw a classmate roll up in a black '97 GT. After seeing the sleek, curvy lines of the car and hearing the rumble of the exhaust, I was hooked. I had liked Mustangs before; my first car was a '94 coupe. It was just a plain, basic car, but I kept it up and added a few minor things to make it unique. After a while, the six-popper just wasn't cutting it."
Combine the image of that '97 GT and the fatigue of driving a Pony with two less cylinders than desired, and it was to be expected that Brian would commence a search for a car to take him to the head of the class. "After seeing that '97, I knew what I wanted. It had to be black, it had to be loud, and it had to have a five-speed."
The Indialantic, Florida, native searched the want ads for the perfect Pony, but it was while on a road trip with his father that he spotted his dream car, a '98 GT convertible. The Mustang sat in the parking lot of Advantage Ford in New Orleans, but it wouldn't remain in the land of the blues for long. After taking the SN-95 for a spin, Brian fell in love, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Once he got the car back to Florida, Brian started work on making the Pony his own. "As I became more familiar with Mustangs, I took notice of the special-production Stangs such as those made by Roush, Saleen, and Steeda," Brian says. "The Saleen convertible really caught my eye. I knew then that I wanted to build one but with a few different twists."
The modifications began with a roll call of power-producing speed parts for the 4.6L mod motor. D.S.S. Racing took the 281 modular Ford, balanced and blueprinted it, and then filled the bottom end with a D.S.S. forged crank. Rotating on the crankshaft's main journals are D.S.S. forged 4340 H-beam rods topped by Probe pistons. A D.S.S. oil pump lubricates the rotating parts of the engine. Topping the eight holes are Ford Racing Performance Parts P.I. aluminum heads that feature a pair of Sean Hyland Motorsport camshafts. The bumpsticks advertise a 242/232 duration spread and 0.550-inch lift across the board.