The introduction of a new project car is an exciting event. There's a certain level of anticipation as an idea becomes reality. During a conversation amongst the MM&FF staff, we realized there hasn't been a Four-Valve project since our beloved Superfly, Destroyer of Hideous Camaros graced the pages of Muscle quite a few years ago. Jim Campisano's '97 Cobra was at the forefront of Mustang and Four-Valve technology for its time, and still to this day delivers a level of performance matched by few Four-Valve SN-95s.

The big hand and little hand both pointed directly at 12 on the clock at Radical Racing. The clock didn't chime when midnight came, but those present didn't need an audible reminder of that moment in time. There were only three of us left at that point, and patience was running low, at least for this author.

This month, our adventure with Project Silver Stealth Stang led us to shift focus from adding horsepower to increasing stopping power and looks in the form of a brake upgrade.

MM&FF command center in Tampa, Fl is where our fleet of project vehicles now call home. Although the move from the New Jersey office went relatively smoothly, some of the projects need a little post-move service.

After spending most of the 2008 racing season building and sorting our '95 Camaro-Mustang Challenge race car, documented in the previous four issues of MM&FF, we're finally wrapping up the project with the story of our run for a National Championship at the NASA Championships, which were held at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, on Sept. 14, 2008.

For those who have been following our latest in-house project vehicle, the Silver Stealth Stang, we are well under way in taking an innocent '99 Mustang GT and turning it into a budget-minded street/strip stormer. Ken Miele, author of our Yo, Ken! column, picked up the high-mileage Stang for the reasonable sum of $5,800. It serves as a daily driver and the odometer shows over 160,000-miles and counting. As of today, though, we are well on our journey to reviving the Stang's health and performance.

On Saturday April 4, 2009, the staff of MM&FF headed out to Hernando County Airport in Brooksville, Florida to tackle the cones and put Nitto's NT05 maximum performance radial tires to the test for a day of autocrossing.

A few issues ago we introduced Project Silver Stealth Stang, and the goal is to pump life back into a tired '99 Mustang GT. The high-mileage Two-Valve modular-equipped Mustang was a plain Jane car that was destined to visit the car crusher in a few years as its service was nearing an end, thanks in large part to the 160,000-mile odometer reading. Ken Miele, from our Yo, Ken! tech column, picked it up rather cheaply ($5,800) and we started tossing on reasonably priced parts. The '99-'04 Mustangs are great project vehicles thanks to how well they respond to modifications; even the most minor changes show an effect. The New Edge era of Mustangs have become very reasonably priced, when compared to other high performance cars in the used car marketplace. The '99 cars went on-sale a decade ago, and by now most units have racked up high mileage. Our last project car report saw the addition of an exhaust system (Ford Racing shorty headers, Bassani x-pipe, and cat-back system) to help the Two-Valve modular engine breathe easier. We had previously opened up the intake system with a JLT cold air kit, a TFS 70mm throttle body, and a TFS upper plenum. Our accessories take less horsepower away from the 4.6L engine thanks to a set of underdrive pulleys by TFS. Other modifications include 3.73 gears and a complete front and rear suspension system by Hotchkis. The best time at the dragstrip was a 13.97 at 97.50 mph. Each engine mod didn't yield monstrous gains but we didn't care that overall peak horsepower and torque results were not glamorously better. Our true test with this car has been at the track. The mid-range gains were outstanding from the exhaust upgrades and overall, the car picked up three-tenths of a second. That is a huge success and a testament to how well this car responds to minor modifications. The computer carries a custom tune by Radical Racing's Craig Radovich. He mostly corrected the air/fuel ratio and adjusted the shift points for the auto transmission. The car shifts at 5,800 rpm at WOT.

There's great excitement with any new project, and that includes the planning, purchasing, and assembly stages. Bolting together a new race car is only half the job (and half the fun). Once it's assembled, the real fun of optimizing the performance of those parts begins. With that, our Camaro-Mustang Challenge (CMC) '95 Mustang GT went together in relatively short order. Major modifications were limited to the suspension, brakes, engine, transmission, and rearend, and we covered all the details in the past three issues. In this installment, we'll finally hit the track and start sorting out the bugs.

If turning left and right on a road course wasn't unusual enough, Part 3 of our budget road race project deviates even more radically from the typical Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords street/strip project car. For this project we're running as close to a bone-stock 5.0L as you are likely to ever see in the pages of this magazine. But since the Camaro-Mustang Challenge rules limit rear-wheel output to a maximum of 230 hp and 300 lb-ft of torque, we just didn't need to get very tricky with the engine.

Last month we kicked off our Camaro-Mustang Challenge road race project with an introduction to the class and an overview of the selection and preparation of the donor '95 Mustang GT chassis. This month, we start building it. If you missed Part 1, you should know that the CMC is a bucks-down series designed as the ultimate grass-roots level of road racing. And even if you don't plan to build an all-out racer, most of the build will transfer to any Fox Stang. With that said, we'll get started.

Depending on your perspective, the gist of this article may sound like a fortune or a bargain. Even half of 10 grand is a lot of money, especially if you spend it all at once, but in the world of competitive road racing, it's barely a weekend's tire and gas bill. Still, keeping costs at a bare minimum has always been the primary goal of the National Auto Sport Association's Camaro-Mustang Challenge series, which is the main reason why I began racing in it back in 2003.

Last month, we reintroduced Project Ice Box, our '01 Mustang GT. Currently serving duty as former MM&FF Editor-turned-Editorial-Director Jim Campisano's 600-plus-horsepower daily driver, the decision was made to update the looks of the beloved Pony. After a short hiatus from the pages of this magazine, we brought the white beauty back for a makeover to replace the beat-up Cervini's Stalker body kit with a Roush kit.

Last month, you may have caught us testing a proposed theory on our resident '93 Cobra project car, Stolen Goods. The test, in fact, was nothing more than your average intake manifold swap. The theory was that a different manifold, namely the Edelbrock Performer RPM II, would pick up 20 or so horsepower, but lose 30 lb-ft in the process when bolted to our D.S.S. Racing 347ci engine. To our surprise, we picked up power and torque across the powerband.

You may have noticed by the coverage over the last few months that we've gotten back to the task of thrashing on The Fridge, our trusty '99 Lightning. Since 1999, this truck has served as a test mule, first in the Ford press fleet, then as our in-house workhorse. In most cases, the 4,600-pound beast has responded wonderfully, providing us with daily transportation as well as Corvette- and Evo-crushing power on demand. It has also hauled its fair share of loads in the bed, such as car parts and other items.

Hot-rodders are never ones to leave well enough alone, and the Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords staff members are certainly guilty of that. After we completed Project Stolen Goods, our resident '93 Cobra, we wondered about the many what-ifs that we hadn't tried. This month, our what-if revolved around two main premises that involved two key players in the Stolen Goods buildup.

There comes a time in every person's life when change abounds. Whether puberty hits, the wedding bells toll, or the college tuition bill comes in the mail, human beings face change. By nature we are adaptive, so change is accepted, and often we thrive in the new environment. The same thing can be said about our cars. While the looks, power, and other modifications we make may be one person's cup of tea, those things might be different from your own personal preferences when you pick up the car second or third-hand.

You may have noticed by the coverage over the last few months that we've gotten back to the task of thrashing on The Fridge, our trusty '99 Lightning. Since 1999, this truck has served as a test mule, first in the Ford press fleet, then as our in-house workhorse. In most cases, the 4,600-pound beast has responded wonderfully, providing us with daily transportation as well as Corvette- and Evo-crushing power on demand. It has also hauled its fair share of loads in the bed, such as car parts and other items.

Last month, we set out on an adventure to further enhance our in-house Lightning project, the Fridge. We had been successfully running a Whipple 2.3L blower on top of our built 5.4L engine. However, we became bored with the 669 rwhp and 732 rwtq on tap. It was time to step things up a bit, so JDM Engineering dropped on the massive 3.4L supercharger from Whipple. That helped our fortified Two-Valve truck engine generate 710 rwhp, which unfortunately taxed the fuel system to the limit. We had plenty of fuel injector (60-pound) and fuel-pump capacity (twin Walbro 255 lph), but our truck lacked larger fuel rails and fuel lines. Our hungry engine needed to gulp more dead dinosaurs in a big way.

Naming a project car can be a daunting task. Once a vehicle is slathered with such a moniker, it will stick for life. A cool name can catapult a car or truck into project-car stardom-a bad one can kill it. I've heard some great car names and a lot more bad ones. I'd say we've done a pretty good job naming the variety of project vehicles that have graced MM&FF's pages. Some of my favorites are Superfly, DOHC (Destroyer of Hideous Camaros), The Fridge, Project Pit Bull, Project Stocker, and who could forget Project White Trash. Sometimes a name pops into your head and it's an immediate match. Other times you can think for weeks and not come up with a winner.

It's The backbone phrase of the wedding vows: 'Til death do us part. Unfortunately, it has come time to remember that phrase as we say goodbye to our '06 Mustang GT project car, Project MILF, as this month's installment will be her last appearance in MM&FF-at least for now.

This Issue marks the 12th installment of project Stolen Goods and the conclusion of the buildup portion of our '93 Cobra. It has been a long road, but the snake is finally running, hissing, spitting, and biting at whatever's in striking range.

While we guys love shop-ping for speed parts for a fast Ford, women don't think twice about picking up a new pair of high heels, even if they're to go with a dress they'll wear only once.

If You've been following the modification of our resident '93 Cobra, Project Stolen Goods, you're probably as ready as we are to know that it's finally running, driving, and turning dynamometer rollers.

Boy, we're getting tired of the local auto parts stores. It seems like we've been going there every other day to pick up this or that, and throughout this story we'll let you in on what some of these expeditions entailed. We may have even forgotten a few, as there were lots of trips prior to this installment of the project. More importantly, though, the end is now in sight and the sound of the crackling exhaust was well worth it.