Claudia Bottomley's '93 LX is the antithesis of our usual 5.0&SF feature car. We typically look for nice paint, a lot of power, or an interesting story line. If all three are present, our job becomes that much easier. Even with only one of the aforementioned qualifications, we still should be able to make it an interesting read for just about every Mustang owner.
Claudia's LX hatch touches all the right buttons ever so slightly. It has nice paint, although it's devoid of an aftermarket hood, a rear wing, or a body kit of some-sort. And it makes good power. But probably the most interesting part of Claudia's car is that it's hers. And let's be realistic-not many women have a supercharged Mustang to call their own.
Claudia and her husband, Paul (who owns a '93 Cobra), purchased the LX a couple years ago. It already had a 306 with GT-40 heads, a Holley SysteMAX II intake, and a Powerdyne BD-11 supercharger. But all was not well with the powerplant, according to Paul, as it "burned oil and had serious fuel issues." Paul and Jim Locsi of Jim's Sales and Service in Lakeville, Indiana, found out why the engine was burning oil and running too rich on fuel-the previous combination's pushrods were incorrect, causing the valveguides to go bad. In addition, the previous mass air meter was the incorrect calibration. Obviously, both issues were solved before the engine went back together.
"The goal with this car was to make an 11-second street sleeper for my wife," Paul says. In December 2002, he and Jim ordered a Coast High Performance 347 stroker kit, which included a Scat crank, Probe antidetonation forged pistons, and Probe Blue Thunder forged rods. Before leaving Jim's Sales and Service, Paul donated his '93 Cobra block to the horsepower cause by having it bored 0.040 inch over, adding the stroker kit and a CHP main girdle for mechanical insurance. He then ditched the GT-40 heads and purchased a pair of Holley SysteMAX units, along with the Lunati camshaft included in Holley's SysteMAX II small-block Ford package. To finish the valvetrain, Jim installed Ford Racing Performance Parts 1.6 roller rockers and new lifters, and the correct length pushrods. The Powerdyne supercharger was retained for pressurizing 8 pounds of boost into the combustion chambers.
Once the combination was back in the car, Paul and Claudia went to Angel Automotive in Elkhart, Indiana, for an appointment with a Dynojet. The car laid down 423 hp on pump gas, and ran a 12.07 at 114 mph on street tires and an 11.69 at 119 mph on slicks. The car reportedly gets 15 mpg on the highway.
"My wife has a blast with this car," Paul says. "When she runs across a Camaro, a Firebird, or a Corvette, she leaves them wondering what in the hell was that?" No, really-it's just stock.