You don't often see a car such as Ben Frazier's wild '91 LX convertible Saleen clone. Usually the 10-second cars are of the notchback or fastback persuasion, and a convertible is only good for cruising from car show to car show. But sometimes a car comes along that mixes those stereotypes and brings the entire hobby to a higher level. And, as would any good hot rodder, Ben used what he already had to build the 5.0 Mustang of his dreams.
The transformation of this LX began in 1998 when Ben rescued it from a used-car lot for the princely sum of $7,500. While in high school, Ben had an '88 GT with bolt-on parts and a nitrous system. He ran up to 180,000 miles on that car before parting ways with it. But something about this 20,000-mile-young convertible LX made him take notice. It came to him completely stock, including all wearable parts and one dry-rotted top. The car was street driven occasionally in the beginning, but it would ultimately become the weekend project car.
Influenced heavily by the '89 Saleen SSC, Ben set out to better his car with that vision planted firmly in his mind. The first things that needed to be changed (after a good top and a complete tune-up) were a shift-improvement kit for the AOD, rear gears, and a performance exhaust system. In the meantime, the exterior of the car was being updated with the full Saleen package to not only make it stand out, but also to transform it into Ben's dream car.
In December 2002, he made the leap to a Powerdyne supercharger on the stock motor. A set of Trick Flow heads, an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake, a Lunati camshaft, and a Vortech S-Trim quickly followed. With those goodies, the 5.0 pumped out an amazing 575 rwhp. With a five-speed now in the car, Ben was running easy mid-11s and having the time of his life with the car.
Because of the convertible's exces-sive weight, however (more than 3,800 pounds in street trim), Ben found himself using the car less and less. He began running it in any Texas True Street race that came along, but he knew he was really pushing things with the convertible. Still, on the streets of Texas, this 'Stang was a blast to drive, cruise, and show off.
"I started looking around for a good deal on a 347 or a 331," Ben says. "I knew the stock bottom end wouldn't last forever, and I was hoping to find someone getting out of a race motor. That's when I found a standard-bore NASCAR block-used in only one race-and I started collecting parts for the larger engine."
The 9.2-inch-deck motor isn't a problem if you want a race car-they're plentiful in Pro 5.0 and Outlaw. But if you want to make it work in your street car, you better do your homework on all the little parts you will need for the complete engine swap. Ben spent a good 12 months picking up tips, tricks, and parts to make the thing fit in the convertible.
"I'd find out information on the Internet," Ben says regarding his research efforts. "Or, I'd [ask] a guy who had figured out something on his Outlaw 10.5 car that I needed. The hardest stuff to figure out was the blower brackets, the accessory brackets, the header-to-collector alignment issues, and especially the lower intake since I wanted to run EFI." [For a complete rundown on what you'll need for a similar swap, Ben has set up a Web site to help the first-time builder of this type of combination. Check out the details at saleen.v8mustang.com.]
Finally, the day arrived when everything came together-the parts, the blueprints, and the planning-and Ben was ready to build his first engine. That's right, he'd never even screwed one of these things together. What did he do? You guessed it-he threw a party! He bought a keg of beer and a bunch of food, and he invited all his car buddies (and their wives) to the house. Amazingly, despite all the adult beverages consumed that day, the new 379-inch small-block Ford has run perfectly for Ben, including dozens of passes down the dragstrip and hundreds of miles racked up on the cruise scene.