GT 500-Powered 2005 Mustang GT - Re-Fanged

Horse Sense: Kenne Bell offers superchargers in Stage 1, 2, and 3 configurations. They deliver 10-23 pounds of boost and 540-801 hp.

Every once in a while, what initially seems to be adversity turns out to be opportunity. Let's begin our tale with misfortune that took place on October 31, 2006, when some Night-of-the-Living-Brain-Dead ghouls slipped into Roger Banks' shop, found his retro-look '05 GT convertible sitting in his dyno room, and proceeded to steal it by backing out through the door-without bothering to open it first. Roger, whose shop is Supertune Performance in Overland Park, Kansas, bought the yellow ragtop new, added a Vortech supercharger to its Three-Valve, and had Indiana's Fang Performance work venomous exterior and interior magic. It was, in other words, a cool and powerful ride.

Roger Banks' topless '05 GT grew fangs first via body and interior mods by Fang Performance, and then by way of a transplanted '07 Cobra GT 500 drivetrain. Those chromed Ford GT-style rims add bling and grip to this modern musclecar.

As it happened, there wasn't much fuel left in the GT after its day of dyno runs, so these joyriding jerks soon found themselves coasting to a halt close to the shop. Fuel or not, they couldn't have gone far anyway-they destroyed the GT's original engine. At this point, we'd like to point out that people used to be hanged for livestock rustling. Maybe it's time for such punishment for Mustang rustling. All in favor, raise your hands.

When the police located the car the next night, Roger was left with a rolling chassis with damaged hindquarters and miscellaneous body damage-backing through a locked steel door tends to do that. While this might have sent many of us cryin' to our mommas, Roger was undeterred. He immediately began looking into ways of repowering his recovered ride. Before proceeding, we should tell you that his previous Mustangs have included one with V-10 power, a '98 GT packing a 76mm turbo, and one of his early favorites: a '70 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1. He's not afraid to tackle diverse projects. Adversity began to morph into opportunity.

When 330 ci of Roots-blown GT 500 modular won't do, swap on a Kenne Bell Twin Screw. Then begin planning fuel upgrades.

One of the ideas galloping through Roger's mind was to swap in Ford Racing's '07 GT 500 supercharged 5.4 crate motor, but its asking price was a deterrent. Just the same, he called Livonia, Michigan's Kar Kraft Engineering-a purveyor of all things Ford. The company had a slightly used Shelby 5.4 available. Apparently, it was a test engine with less than 500 miles under its blower belt, at a savings of a few thousand greenbacks. Kar Kraft also had a slightly used version of the GT 500's Tremec TR6060 six-speed on the shelf, so a deal was soon struck. Roger now had some serious work to do, making this Shelby powertrain work with his '05 GT processor. Thankfully, he performs such feats of mechanical and electronic matchmaking every day. He soon had the repowered ragtop up and running, using a custom one-piece driveshaft to mate with the GT's factory rear axle that has been upgraded to an Auburn Pro diff.

To avoid a complete face-plant, he also installed GT 500 front struts and springs. Out back, traction got a boost from Metco upper control arms and Steeda lowers, along with 305/35R18 Nitto rubber, mounted on chrome, 10-inch-wide Ford GT-style rims from a company called CRT. Up front, 9-inch versions mount 275/40R18 rubber. Meanwhile, fresh body parts were ordered from Fang Performance to replace those damaged in the theft, and a new skin of paint brought the body back to its original glory. By the way, Roger's love of early Mustangs probably explains why his S197 sports a blacked-out hood, a chin spoiler, and a Shaker scoop so reminiscent of the original Mach and Boss models.

The Fang Performance logo is evident on the reskinned seats, having a Comfortweave-style material reminiscent of the original '69 Mach 1.

This tough musclecar stance was in no way false advertising, because the hefty GT pounded out 565 rwhp and 550 lb-ft, and it ran a 12.07 e.t. at 121 mph on the strip. Still, Roger was underwhelmed-his next call went to Kenne Bell for one of the California firm's 2.8 screw blowers to replace the GT 500's hybrid Roots. At 15.5 pounds of boost, this blower swap resulted in 630 rwhp and 585 lb-ft, but Roger says the dyno pull had to be cut short-things were getting lean at the top end, even with twin Ford GT fuel pumps and Kenne Bell's Boost-A-Pump. As we write this, he's in the process of upgrading fuel lines and whatever else necessary to properly feed the omnipotent 5.4. He guesses somewhere around 700 hp will be set free once he can keep air/fuel ratios where they should be.

This is the first such Shelby-into-GT swap we've heard of. With this sort of potential, it probably won't be the last. So, when opportunity knocks