Horse Sense: As an update to Brent's quarter-mile times, he ran an 11.20 at 122 mph with the Lentech AOD at Beech Bend in Bowling Green, Kentucky. But, as we write this, he's on the hunt for even more performance. Brent contacted Keith Craft to build a 331 using a Ford Racing Performance Parts R302 block and either Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads or AFR 205s. The ProCharger P-1SC will also be upgraded to D-1SC status.
Imagine yourself in a perfect Mustang world. You have all your favorite Mustangs in your 12-car garage, which is complete with two lifts and more power tools than you can shake a stick at. So, what Mustangs would you have?
As for us, we'd have each rendition of the Cobra R (maybe two or three of each), a Rio Red '95 Cobra with black leather, an '89 Saleen SSC, a Saleen SA-10, a '96 Mystic Cobra, a Saleen S351R, and a couple Steedas, just to name a few. But even with all these highly collectible, high-profile Mustangs, we'd still want an understated coupe to fly below the radar every once in a while.
Freshly painted silver coupes...
Freshly painted silver coupes always get our attention. The Saleen wheels do nothing but accentuate the otherwise-clean looks of a 5.0 coupe.
So, in our perfect world, we would include the little coupe seen here, owned by Brent Loveless of Lyles, Tennessee. Brent's '93 silver coupe would be the perfect low-flyin' machine to complement our high-dollar collection. Unfortunately, since there's no such thing as a perfect world, we can only look at such fine machinery.
Brent purchased the car in January 2000. At that time it featured fresh silver paint, Saleen wheels, and leather seats, but its engine and transmission were not in such good shape. It took Brent only a month to replace the tired components with fresh units from a previous 5.0.
The replacement engine was a 306 he had built with GT-40P heads and a GT-40 intake. The factory T5 was yanked in favor of a T5-Z transmission. The car stayed in this fashion for roughly six months, at which time Brent saw fit to step up the power by adding Edelbrock heads to the mix. However, knowing a supercharger was in the coupe's future, he had the heads treated to a Stage II porting and O-ringing at Powered By Ford in Orlando, Florida.
Entering the power foray in March 2001, the intercooled ATI-ProCharger P-1SC was joined underhood by the Trick Flow intake, 30-lb/hr injectors, and an Anderson Ford Motorsport Power Pipe. A Florida 5.0 instrument cluster filled with Auto Meter gauges also found its way into the cockpit. Brent added an Anderson Ford Motorsport Programmable Management System to more easily control and monitor the tune-up.
Unfortunately, on his way home from the '01 World Ford Challenge, Brent's coupe blew a head gasket. He looked at the situation as a way to do more upgrades, including an Anderson Ford Motorsport B41 cam and a D.S.S. main support and windage tray. In this form, the carran an 11.92 at 120 mph at the Corral Day at Bowling Green, Kentucky's Beech Bend Dragway. Alas, the car broke an axle on the first pass of the day and the T5-Z on the fourth pass, so it wasn't the greatest of days for Brent.
Oh well. Time for more upgrades-the most significant of which included ditching the stick and swapping in a Lentech Strip Terminator AOD with a Precision Industries 3,000-stall converter and a B&M Hammer shifter. Brent recently added Lakewood shocks and struts and Lakewood lift bars to aid in weight transfer and better the 11.92.
With the new transmission, converter, and suspension mods, Brent says, "I'll see low 11s or high 10s." So much for flyin' under the radar.