1992 Ford Mustang LX - Roadside Ride

Horse Sense: Nosnhoj Enterprises [(317) 887-6436], specializing in custom automotive work, restorations, and any and all performance work, is located in Greenwood, Indiana. The company also has a Mustang Dynamometer. Pete Johnson is the shop's main man, but as you can see from his work, he's no relation to your author.

Sometimes we find exactly what we're looking for when we're not looking for it. That same nauseating sentiment many use for love can also be applied to cars. We can look for days, months, and sometimes years for a certain car, but when we least expect to find that hidden automotive treasure, all of a sudden, it's right in front of us.

Such was the case for Cody and Deanna Williams of Greenwood, Indiana. During the roughly two-hour road trip to Kings Island amusement park in Ohio, the couple saw this particular coupe for sale on the side of the road.

Cody and Deanna had been looking for a coupe for a solid six months but kept coming up empty. When Cody saw this coupe on that chance encounter, he had to have it. "The car was near perfect," Deanna says. The '92 LX was cherry: It only had around 40,000 miles on it and was filled with the sweet nectar of a factory black interior. The stock red paint boasted white stripes added by the car's original owner. Other than the paint work, the coupe's only deviations were performance-minded: 4.10 gears, an Auburn Pro differential, and an after-cat exhaust system. Cody and Deanna purchased it, becoming the car's third owners.

Stock wasn't enough for Cody and Deanna, so the couple worked with Pete Johnson at Nosnhoj Enterprises to mechanically overhaul the car over a five-month period. A stock-block 347 on the spray joined the program, while the stock AOD transmission received the appropriate upgrades. Of course, the AOD didn't last long; the current Performance Automatic C4 was added to the car at that time. The Williams ran the car with the 347 for about a year.

Both Cody and Deanna worked at Ford in Indianapolis, and when they were offered the contract buyout option, Deanna explained that taking the money and running was the only way Cody could build the car the way he wanted (we like the way Deanna thinks). Being an educated man, Cody used the money to turn the coupe into what it is today.

Of course, Pete Johnson was glad Cody listened to Deanna as well, since his shop was chosen once again to perform the upgrades. Pete and Cody added a 363ci combination using a Dart block, Eagle crank and rods, and JE pistons. AFR 205cc heads play host to a Coast High Performance EFI Spyder intake. A Precision PT88 single turbo finished off the combination, which was tuned by an ACCEL Gen 7 standalone engine-management system.

The power now is now up to 746 ponies with torque coming in at a chassis-twisting 865 lb-ft. Cody and Deanna recently added a transbrake to the C4 transmission, as well as a CO2 bottle to keep the wastegate closed and the turbocharger at full boost during shifts. "The CO2 really helped a lot," Deanna says.

So far, the couple has only been able to run the car on the eighth-mile, but it responded with a 6.50 at 108 mph on Hoosier QuickTime Pros. Cody says the car was spinning pretty bad on that pass, so the couple expects 9s when they hit the quarter-mile. The only thing a certain local supercharged Viper owner knows is that the little red coupe with a stock hood is plenty fast.

So will the car ever return to the roadside with a "For Sale" sign? "Oh no," says Deanna. "That won't happen."

To make the 700-plus horsepower the Williams' coupe is capable of, it helps to have a sturdy base. Cody chose a Dart block with a 4.125-inch bore and an Eagle 3.47-inch stroker crankshaft to arrive at 363 ci of Ford muscle. Swinging from the Eagle crank is a set of that same company's connecting rods attached to eight JE pistons wrapped in Hellfire rings. AFR 205 heads, which were ported "a little," according to Cody, play host to Comp Cams Pro Magnum 1.6 roller rockers. A Coast High Performance EFI Spyder intake adds an exotic twist to the mix. Many Mustangs wouldn't need such a piece, but with a Precision Turbo single PT88 turbocharger huffing out 20 pounds of boost, it's a good idea to have one. To tune the crazy combination, Coddy and Deanna utilize an ACCEL Gen 7 standalone system.

Ah, the prized black interior. Cody has accented his with a Nosnhoj Enterprises rollcage and other necessary safety equipment, such as G-Force harnesses and a window net. "It has all of its stock interior," Cody says. An Innovate Motorsports wideband keeps tabs on air/fuel, while Cody works the B&M Performance Products Hammer shifter. Other mechanical measurements are monitored courtesy of Auto Meter gauges.