Of course, he was now left with that empty, slow feeling. "I found that my car was a sled compared to others," Jules says. That discovery prompted another round of mods, including Edelbrock Performer heads, Crane Cams 1.7 roller rockers, a BBK adjustable clutch cable and quadrant, and a Ford Racing Performance Parts King Cobra clutch. Those parts were all purchased using a 20-percent-off coupon and his savings from $40 a week on a Mustang-parts allowance. The coupon was for a now-defunct Web site. But the heads were out of stock, so Jules called up Jegs and asked if the company would honor the coupon. To his surprise, Jegs agreed, and the parts were on their way. In its new form, the car ran 13.7s at 103 mph on Nitto NT555 Extreme Drag Radials.
With his performance appetite still looking in the fridge for more, Jules' new goal for the car would be daily driven, reliable, 12-second times. Obviously, adding a supercharger crossed his mind, but remember-he'd just busted his piggy bank on the previous additions, and he enjoys too many hobbies to invest that much into just one of them.
"I decided nitrous would be the best bang for the buck," Jules says. "We installed a ZEX nitrous kit with the purge through the hoodscoops-a real trick effect that usually stuns a lot of imports." An Autologic chip was added, with one program for the nitrous and one for naturally aspirated. With the nitrous, the car made 346 hp and 401 lb-ft of torque on the chassis dyno at Mustang Magic in Deer Park, New York.
The nitrous installation and dyno tune were just in time for the SuperStallions '02 Fall Nats. Everyone in attendance was shocked at Jules' 12.72 at 110 mph, a full second improvement from his last trip to the track. The 12-second time was accomplished using 100hp jets and the same Nitto NT555 Extreme Drag Radials. For the SuperStallions '03 Spring Nats (where we shot the car), Jules added 3.73 gears and upped the nitrous jets to the 125hp level. He was rewarded with a 12.48 at 113 mph. "I was shocked," he says. "We then made the three-hour trip home getting 18 mpg with the air on.
"Now my car is just how I want it," Jules says. That's good, because when Sue opens up those "surprise" credit-card bills, it's not gonna get much better.
Jules started off by outfitting his GT with a K&N filter, a 65mm throttle body, and a GT-40 intake. After joining the SuperStallions of the Net Internet Mustang club, he says he "began trying this quarter-mile thing." At his first SuperStallions race, however, he realized how much slower the car was in comparison to other members' Mustangs. To bring it to a more respectable performance level, he added Edelbrock Performer heads and a Ford Racing Performance Parts King Cobra clutch. Charlie Valera of D&C Auto Repair [(914) 684-2167] in White Plains, New York, helped out with parts selection and installation. The crowning modification came when Jules added a ZEX adjustable nitrous kit. Those mods, combined with drag radials and 3.73 gears, have netted Jules a best of 12.48 at 113 mph-and the car still gets 18 mpg on the highway.