Budget Ford Mustang Build - Back-To-Basics Budget 5.0 Buildup Part 1 - Tech

That was the bad news as far as the interior went. The good news was that it was equipped with a basic rollcage that would have cost us at least $300. This suggested the car had seen track action in its time. A look under the hood revealed some engine mods.

There was evidence that a nitrous kit had at one time been installed and subsequently removed. Dale had already spotted this and checked out the engine for possible nitrous overload problems. Since it came up with a clean bill of health here, he went ahead and bought it. Also installed was an aftermarket intake system along with an MSD distributor and MSD 6AL box. If we bought those new, that would be about $480 out of our pocket. So far, things were looking good, but there was more. The engine was equipped with a set of underdrive pulleys. On the exit side of things, we found the cats had been removed and a set of long-tube headers installed. These then fed into a pair of Flowmasters. This accounted for the throaty and somewhat mean sound emitted from the rearend of this machine. Even without the nitrous, the rest of the goodies should help output by a measurable amount.

Mods had also been done to the chassis and suspension. The trans sported a clutch quadrant, while an aftermarket shifter and the clutch-pedal feel indicated that something like a Ford Racing Performance Parts pressure-plate clutch assembly had been previously installed. A set of BBK lowering springs was installed along with a set of unidentifiable aftermarket shocks (that were now worn out). This car also had a set of frame connectors welded in place. At the rear was a set of drag radials. Now let's give this some thought. If we had to buy all the still-usable aftermarket stuff already on this car, it would set us back at least $2,500 at Jeg's prices.

The car looked like a cost-effective starting point for our project. The only question before laying out the required $2,800 was to see how it ran. The engine fired up right away, but the idle was rough. Although we later found it to be stock, it sounded like it had a relatively big cam. The clutch felt good, and once the revs came up, the engine seemed a little stronger than I remember a stock unit being. All the gears shifted OK, and although the brakes worked, they needed some attention. As for steering and suspension, the car tracked straight, but the shocks were 90 percent shot. Even so, this less-than-perfect machine still proved surprisingly fun to drive, but that is why we like these 5.0s. The key issue here is not that we are going drag racing, road racing, and doing auto-tests, but that we are going to have fun.

Making A StartBefore going one inch further with this project, I need to dial you in as to how test results and the subsequent conclusions are arrived and delivered. First, whenever practical and applicable, you will get the results from whatever car happened be the test vehicle at the time for the parts in question. If this involves chassis dyno testing, then it will be, or has been done, on a Dynojet chassis dyno as those results are very repeatable. Secondly, I have a comprehensive computer model of a Mustang that can deliver estimated dragstrip times to within as little as a couple of thousandths of a second. So, for times when we could not make it to the strip or the mods were tested on a car other than our Comp Cams special, that's what you will get.

Next, this is a project car, and we want readers out there to know that, so some graphics labeling it as such were needed. Obviously, as a private individual, you won't need to do this to your car unless you are fortunate enough to have a sponsor to cover such costs. Our Comp Cams car needed to stand out at the track so folks who may want to ask questions and even give us ideas as to where we should take this project can easily identify us.

To make that happen, I called Ricky Gonzalez the boss at Lucky 13 Graphics in Mooresville, North Carolina, and explained that we needed a graphics sponsor so track spectators could identify our car. Once Ricky saw where we were going with this, he agreed to support our efforts, and a few days later we were over at his shop. I must admit I knew little of the process of producing graphics. It was a fascinating process to watch unfold. It really is like a computer-generated prefabricated paint job.

Track Time-At Last!The car had been cleaned up and was looking pretty respectable, but mechanically it was untouched from the day we got it. While the graphics deal was going on, I made some calls to the good guys at Mooresville Dragway to see if we could get in some test and photo time before official Thursday night test and tune. Mooresville has a reputation for having a racer-friendly management and Jody Leazer, one of the tracks owners, made it all happen in less time than it takes to snap your fingers.

As for testing, the planned starting point was to run the car as received, but repeated rain storms cancelled three track sessions in a row. I could see a copy deadline going down the drain along with all the rain water, so the decision was made to go through a service and tune-up and forego what was to be our original "as received" baseline. Our student crew consisted of Nathan Bornitz, Dusty Kennett, and ex-student John Fichtner. Nate took care of the service and tune that consisted of an oil/filter change (Castrol GTX) and new, slightly cooler Autolite plugs (we planned on running a Zex nitrous kit early in the proceedings). Along with this, the plug leads were checked and a vacuum leak that was affecting the idle fixed. Also, the battery cables were in poor shape, so they were replaced and some rear brake binding fixed. Since all cars need to be serviced, we are not going to count the cost of lubricants and other consumables in our total expenditure. All that's going on the tally sheet here is the cost of some battery cables from AutoZone. The Zex nitrous kit also went on at this time. I was not there to shoot the install, but Nate later said that it was all straightforward if the instructions were read first. About this time we saw the weather break for us, and we made it to the track.