Project Name: Code Blue
Car: '93 Mustang GT
Timeline: May 1993-August 1994
Goal: Platform to test the new 5.0 parts coming out, especially AOD transmission goodies.
Result: A hot handler that rode like a truck but went quick, and gave readers tons of blower tech when centrifugals were the hot, new thing. Low 12s with AOD; emissions-legal; when low 12s were fast.
Grade: C
Best Performance: 12.10/113 mph
Biggest mistake: Bone-jarring suspension.
Best move: Swap to then-new Edelbrock heads and intake to complement Vortech blower, and getting Nitrous Pete Misinsky to tune it properly.
Code Blue was at the forefront of 5-liter tech in its day, as we got to install numerous parts that were new to the then-budding market. It led the way for future project cars and was the first one we had with an AOD.
Project Name: The Horse With No Name
Car: '95 Mustang GT
Timeline: May 1995-June 1997
Goal: Platform to test all the new SN-95 parts.
Result: Turbocharged monster, emissions-legal daily driver.
Grade: B+
Best Performance: 11-second e.t.'s, 400-plus rear-wheel horsepower when that was considered a lot.
Biggest mistake: Too-stiff spring rate gave ride akin to a floor jack.
Best move: Combined wild Roush intake and Roush CNC-ported GT-40 heads with Cartech turbo (custom built and tuned by Job Spetter). Shinoda body kit (not seen here).
People feared the SN-95 Mustang's computer then as much as we feared the '05's a year ago. This car showed the 5-liter Mustang was still a legit threat, and the electronics were nothing to worry about.
Project Name: Superfly, Destroyer Of Hideous Camaros
Car: '97 SVT Mustang Cobra
Timeline: September 1997-Present
Goal: Emissions-legal, 11-second e.t.'s on motor; do-it-all daily driver; learn what makes 4.6 Four-Valve V-8 tick.
Result: Best E.T.: 11.95/114.03 mph; passes emissions anywhere; runs on pump gas; compliant suspension.
Grade: A+
Best Performance: Ran 11s at our shootout, then a week later was going 142 mph at Watkins Glen with only a tire swap.
Biggest mistake: Trying to go 11s on a road-race-inspired suspension.
Best move: Six-speed swap, Dave Jack-prepped heads, Paul's High Performance-modified intake.
Editor Campy's first-ever new car broke a lot of ground in Four-Valve Mustang performance (it also broke a lot of stock parts). Now with 30 more horses, we know we can significantly lower that 11.95 e.t.
Project Name: Stocker
Car: '87 Mustang LX
Timeline: July 1995-Present
Goal: To be competitive in NHRA Stock Eliminator competition and set the NHRA national record for the class.
Result: 10 NHRA national records and won class eliminations 13 times. Stocker currently holds the E/FI record at 11.35/116 mph.
Grade: A+
Best Performance: 11.08/118 mph (3,050 lbs) and 11.18/117 at 3,190 lbs (legal weight for E/FI). Best 60-foot is a 1.45.
Biggest mistake: Running wearable parts like a clutch disc and valvesprings too long. Second biggest mistake is having sloppy wiring (which has now been fixed).
Best move: Working with quality companies and people like Kuntz & Co., Jim LaRocca, Ryder, and G-Force Transmissions.
MM&FF Tech Editor Evan Smith has owned Stocker since it was three months old. He drove it nearly every day on the street from December 1987 to the summer of 1995. It had been stolen twice (while he was in college), and was turned into a Cobra clone in 1997. It is currently the longest-running MM&FF project car.
Project Name: White Trash
Car: '89 Mustang LX
Timeline: June 1998-November 2000
Goal: 10s, 1g handling, high pimp factor.
Result: 11.30s, 0.92 g, stupid fresh pimpness.
Grade: A
Best Performance: 11.33 at 127 mph
Biggest mistake: Too big of a cam, huge heads.
Best move: 351 swap, Baer brakes, Kenny Brown suspension.
This project started off with a nitrous-induced melting of its four-cylinder engine, but finished with a 351W and a hot suspension. Best of all was asking companies for parts for a project called White Trash.
Project Name: Pro Tree Mustang
Car: '83 Mustang GT
Timeline: July 1999-November 1999
Goal: To build a low-buck, Pro Tree Mustang race car for Open Comp.
Result: A car the owner does quite well with when he uses it.
Grade: Incomplete
Best Performance: 11.94/109.45. Numerous final and semifinal appearances, but no victories.
Biggest mistake: Agreeing to let a certain lovable, eccentric Staten Island-based freelancer do a project car.
Best move: Only ran in three issues before disappearing, so readers probably have forgotten about it until now.
NVO phone home.
Project Name: Bracket Brawler
Car: '86 Mustang GT
Timeline: March 2000-November 2002
Goal: To run NHRA Super Street 10.90 index.
Result: Car ran consistently under the index in actual competition.
Grade: B
Best Performance: 10.47 at 127 mph
Biggest mistake: 351W conversion. Most of the components for that engine just didn't fit to the author/owner's liking.
Best move: Deciding to calm it down and go bracket racing. The car (with the blower) was getting too expensive to be competitive heads-up, and racing paycheck to paycheck is no fun.
The Bracket Brawler started life as a timid 5.0, but went 9.74 at 140 mph with its fuel-injected and supercharged powerplant. When it became an MM&FF project car, the decision was made to enter the NHRA Super Street 10.90 index class, thus the Brawler's 393ci, carbureted setup was born. With a mild 0.550-lift cam, the car ran a best of 10.47, but we know there were easy nines in the combo with more cam lift and more rpm.