1993 Mustang GT 302 Engine - Iron Curtain

At the end of World War II, the United States and the former Soviet Union entered into what was arguably the most unsettling time in modern history, the Cold War. With nukes and other forms of weapons capable of blowing up the world time and time again, things ended when the Soviet Union capitulated.

While the Cold War may be over in terms of world politics, a war between Mustangs, Camaros, and Firebirds has been going on since the late '60s and still rages on road courses throughout America. Today, instead of the Iron Curtain, there's an iron of a different kind, namely the National Auto Sports Association's American Iron Series.

Standing on the front lines of battle is Julio Mayan and his '93 Mustang GT. Julio, of JME Enterprises, decided that this car and the American Iron Series would be the perfect proving ground for his company's performance components. "Our goals were to run this car in the NASA American Iron Series to prove the effectiveness, performance, and durability of our new SLA front suspension," he says. To showcase the company's go-fast goodies, Julio decided to take a '93 Mustang GT and turn it into a racer worthy of battle on the road course.

Power, handling, and durability were the three fundamental components Julio and the crew at JME needed to address when building the Pony for competition. The transformation from street cruiser to corner carver began under the hood, where the stock 302 pushrod engine was removed and taken down to bare bones. The block was then poked and stroked, with the bore increasing to 4.040 inches and, thanks to a long-arm forged Eagle crank, the stroke now measures out to 3.250 inches. Eagle 5.4-inch forged H-beam rods swing on the crank, while gliding up and down the cylinder walls are JE pistons. Making sure that the 333ci powerplant would be lubricated with oil no matter what, a Johnson High Tech Performance external three-stage oil pump was installed, along with a Canton Accusump 3-quart accumulator and a wet sump pan that was modified by JME for the Johnson pump.

A Comp Cams dual-pattern camshaft was shoved in next. The bumpstick showcases lift figures of 0.565 inch on the intake and 0.574 for the exhaust. Duration at 0.050 inch lift checks in at 232 intake and 240 exhaust. With a naturally aspirated motor, getting air in and out is the key to making power, and to do so, an upgraded set of cylinder heads is a no-brainer. With that in mind, AFR 185 heads were bolted on. Featuring additional porting work, Ferrea 6-Series valves, and Comp Cams dual valvesprings and titanium retainers, these heads were the perfect choice for the road-race car.

Sitting between the intake ports is a Holley SysteMAX intake manifold. Fuel makes its way into the engine via 30-pound injectors, and the spark is provided with help from a Digital 6 box, distributor, and coil from MSD. The signal to light the plugs is sent from the stock computer that has been loaded with a Superchips custom tune. Spent gasses are shuttled out of the engine via BBK ceramic-coated 13/4-inch long-tube headers that dump into an unmuf-fled SpinTech 3-inch exhaust system that was installed by Terry Buch at JME. Keeping the bullet cool under fire out on the track is a Meziere Enterprises electric water pump and Fluidyne radiator. When all was said and done, the supersized small-block Ford spun out 385 hp at the rear wheels.