JoJo has yet to get into the...
JoJo has yet to get into the engine of his '01 GT. Aside from the homebuilt nitrous system, he's added a MAC cold-air intake, a Ford Racing Performance Parts 70mm throttle body, and 30-lb/hr injectors. With 3.73 gears out back, the car has run a best of 11.60 at 120 mph.
JoJo then installed underdrive pulleys, a MAC cold-air kit, and a UPR X-pipe. Since he had a set of 30-lb/hr injectors lying around, he installed them as well, even though he didn't have a corresponding mass air meter. He moved the nitrous nozzle in front of the throttle body and leaned out the fuel mixture with the nitrous. "The difference was night and day," JoJo says. "That thing had a lot more get-up, and we didn't even add more nitrous."
The following Saturday night, he began talking to the owner of a red Camaro who was wrenching away on his laptop. "I asked him if he wanted to run the blue '01 Mustang," JoJo says. The Camaro owner knew of the car and said, "You don't want to run me." To which JoJo said, "Yeah, I do." "No you don't," the Camaro owner said. This went on for a while until JoJo walked away saying, "OK, if you don't want to run, that's fine." He was on his way back to his car when the Camaro owner finally gave in, saying, "But I run 11.80s and that was with my old cam." JoJo wondered what he had gotten himself into with the Camaro. The two got into their cars and raced. The Camaro got the jump, but JoJo pulled by real quick. He grabbed Second and expected a Camaro to come flying by, but no Camaro. He grabbed Third, no Camaro. He pulled Fourth and rode it out. JoJo won by almost a car length.
After the Camaro antics came Gainesville Fun Ford. JoJo purchased a new pair of M/T ET Streets just for the race. Still using the 125hp jets, he ran a best of 11.87 at 114 mph. "I was screaming," JoJo says. "I couldn't believe it!" He thought the timeslip booth operator gave him the wrong slip, but she confirmed it was indeed his. After his run, the sky opened up on Gainesville and the race had to be postponed until the next one in Virginia. However, he lost in the first round of both the makeup race from Gainesville and the Virginia race.
On his next trip to the track, JoJo again fried a clutch. H.P. Performance once more received the repair call. This time a Centerforce unit found its way between the Two-Valve and the tranny.
JoJo and his friend Luke Marshall decided to take in the NMRA World Finals at Bowling Green, so they packed up the van and threw the GT on the trailer. JoJo was cutting down the Tree with consistent 0.4 lights, and the car was running great with a best time of 11.60 at 120 mph. "Sunday morning I played with the clutch adjustment to try and get a little better light," he says. "In the first round I went a 0.398 red." Needless to say, those events made for a long trip home, but the duo had a blast in the process.
For 2002, JoJo plans on racing NMRA while he puts together a Renegade car. Sounds like this little brother is well on his way.
| 5.0 TECH SPECS |
| ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN |
| Block | Stock |
| Compression Ratio | "Maybe a little less now" |
| Cylinder Heads | Stock |
| Intake Manifold | Stock |
| Camshafts | Stock |
| Power Adder | Home-built nitrous kit using NOS solenoids |
| Exhaust | Stock headers, UPR X-pipe, MAC Flowpath mufflers |
| Fuel Pump | Stock |
| Fuel Injectors | 30 lb¼hr |
| Transmission | TTC T45 |
| Rearend | 8.8, 3.73 gears |