 Dan hurled his ProCharger-blown...  Dan hurled his ProCharger-blown Shelby around an autocross track as part of the Car Craft Street Machine of the Year competition. He took top prize in the overall competition.
Photo by Jeff Smith |
 Yep, he ripped off the Roots-style...  Yep, he ripped off the Roots-style blower and added a ProCharger F1R to the mix. Now Dan's Shelby rips off 860 rwhp. |
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 Dan picked up the Shelby in...  Dan picked up the Shelby in this condition and rebuilt it bigger and better. |
At almost the instant the Shelby GT500s hit the streets last year, the aftermarket ramped up parts, and people started tearing into them. It was reminiscent of the '03-'04 Cobra market with bolt-ons coming within the first month of ownership for many Shelby owners. Then the bigger blowers started showing up--thanks Kenne Bell and Whipple! People continue to want more from the special-edition Mustang. It's quite evident on the message boards as they're full of sick looking and extremely fast Shelby GT500s.
And then there's Dan Schoneck, most known for his antics on the dragstrip with his '03 Mustang Cobra. It runs 7.60s at 185 mph on true 10.5-inch wide slicks. For his street car, an ordinary Shelby just wouldn't do for the Minnesota resident. He had to be different, so he built a one-of-a-kind street car.
Dan ripped off the Roots-style blower and tossed it up on eBay. He began fabricating brackets and tensioners in order to mount a ProCharger F1R head unit. It caused a riot on some message boards as people screamed wildly in disbelief and rejection but that didn't deter him from having a unique and seriously powerful ride. It took a few months of work, but Dan completed the project just in time for the warm summer months. A custom bonnet funnels the boost into the factory aftercooler, and a larger Fluidyne heat exchanger helps cool it down. The speed freak also relies on a hit of meth to cool down the intake charge when barreling down the highway at 170-plus mph--hey, it pays to live in a really rural area. Derek Schoneck at their Schoneck Composites company made a custom blower inlet pipe. It specializes in carbon fiber and fiberglass body components, such as hoods, noses, fenders, doors, and such for race cars.
The engine was worked over so Dan wouldn't have to worry about tossing the rods at high rates of speed. The stock block was stuffed with a stock crank swinging steel rods and Diamond pistons. The heads are stock, but Dan did add a quartet of Ford GT supercar camshafts to help the engine breathe easier. Feeding the beast is the job of a return-style fuel system that consists of a MagnaFuel EFI pump, large feed and return lines, 160-pound injectors (controlled by a Versafueler injector driver), and CPR fuel rails. A Stainless Works exhaust system replaces the stock stuff. Dan used its 17/8-inch long-tube headers, 3-inch cross-pipe system, and 3-inch after-cat exhaust.
Knowing all that power doesn't mean anything if not applied to the asphalt, Dan went wild under the car. A complete Racecraft suspension front and aft takes the place of the stock stuff. It includes a tubular K-member, A-arms, rear lower control arms, an adjustable upper control arm, and a Panhard bar. The 8.8 rear was tossed, and a 9-inch one now sits under the back end. It is filled with Mark Williams 35-spline axles and Strange third-member with 3.50 gears. The driveshaft is a one-piece chromoly unit from the Drive Shaft Shop. The transmission internals were treated to the Micronite process, and a McLeod twin-disk clutch transfers the power to it.
It's all worth a lofty 860 rwhp, all tuned and dyno'd by Andy Wicks of DynoTune (Watertown, South Dakota). A few weeks ago, Dan pushed his car around an autocross course, ran it on a chassis dyno, and performed a brake test in front of the Car Craft staff. He accumulated enough points to take home the '08 Car Craft Street Machine of the Year award.