Brad’s buddy lost control...
Brad’s buddy lost control of the car, wadding it up in the process, so it received a nose job. Brad upgraded the Roush with a GT500 front fascia and a Cervini’s Auto Designs hood before having fresh black paint to cover the new components. The Roush rolling stock remains, but the widened rear wheels measure 11 inches to accommodate the massive Mickeys. After all, Brad doesn’t want to take the chance of losing traction again.
The ’07 Roush 427R carried a $42,039 base price, and ran the quarter-mile in the low 13s at over 108 mph. Contrast those numbers with the Roush 540RH, which we ran to 11.70s at over 122 mph.
"I’ve always been a Mustang lover," says Brad Bateman of his obsession with Mustangs. The Maitland, Florida-resident’s first Mustang was a ’96 V-6 convertible. Of course, a GT was Brad’s first desire, but his parents knew better than to unleash their 17-year-old son onto oncoming traffic with V-8 power.
However, as soon as Brad grew up, he was ready to quench his need for speed. He did so with this ’07 Roush 427R, but that number would gain even more significance further into the build. When Brad first purchased the Roush, "I loved it. The throaty growl of the V-8, the whine of supercharger, and the perfectly awful smell of burning rubber as the rear tires fought to stay on the ground," he says. "It was everything a Mustang lover could hope for," he added. Well, almost everything...
Inevitably, we adapt to a car’s horsepower, and in the case of Brad’s Roush, a friend suggested he swap on a smaller blower pulley to get a few more ponies. Obviously, how could Brad say no to more horsepower under the hood? Up till that point, Brad had never really thought of modifying the car, but quickly learned he wanted to go faster.
To that end, a pulley was added along with a pair of long-tube headers, which brought 35 more horsepower to the party. That wasn’t enough, though, so a Whipple supercharger took the place of the Roush unit. Brad wanted more, so he ordered a fortified short-block, which allowed for even more boost. Once it was all back together, the combo made 585 hp at the wheels. Now that’s a party.
Evidently, it was too much of a party. "The only problem with a 585hp roaring jukebox on wheels was that every friend wanted to drive it," Brad says. Oh no he didn’t! Oh yes he did. Brad learned a valuable lesson when he let one too many friends drive the car; and this certain friend proceeded to make it about 100 yards before wadding up the Roush. Obviously, the car needed to spend some quality time at the body shop, and what better time to really go for the gusto and put some real power under the hood.
Brad headed to Real Street Performance in Longwood, Florida, to take the Roush up a few notches--OK, several notches. Brad wanted to go with big displacement combined with a lot of boost. I sold the Whipple’d 4.6 and started the journey with RSP’s Jay Meagher to build one of the fastest Mustangs on the street, Brad says. Jay and Brad decided to go big--"really big," according to Brad. "Really big" in Brad-speak equaled 427 ci of Ford Windsor.
Nelson Competition’s Kris Nelson screwed together a 427ci Windsor using a Ford Racing Performance Parts block, a Callies Magnum crankshaft, and JE pistons. Once the short-block arrived at RSP, Jay and the guys added Kris Starnes-ported Edelbrock Victor Jr. heads and corresponding intake manifold. A Wilson Manifolds 90mm throttle body ingests a crap-ton of boost by way of a twin turbocharger system built by RSP using Turbonetics GTK850 hairdryers. A D&D Performance T56 sits behind the big Windsor. As with any build of this magnitude, it took a little longer than planned for the car to make its street debut. However, once it did the Roush was making way north of 700 hp to the wheels on a mild street tune.
Before his Roush’s build process, Brad didn’t know too much about cars. He just knew he liked fast Mustangs. Fortunately, he says Jay is one of the best guys around when it comes to dealing with his customers. He not only built me a car, he gave me an education that every hot rod owner should have.
5.0 Tech Specs
’07 Roush 427REngine and Drivetrain
Block Ford Racing Performance Parts
Bore 4.125 in
Stroke 4.000 in
Displacement 427 ci
Crankshaft Callies Magnum
Rods Callies
Pistons JE
Compression Ratio 8.5:1
Camshaft Bullet Racing
Heads Kris Starnes-ported Edelbrock Victor Jr. with 2.05/1.60 valves, Comp Cams roller rockers and valvesprings
Intake Edelbrock Victor Jr.
Throttle Body Wilson Manifolds 90mm
Power Adder Real Street Performance custom twin-turbocharger kit w/intercooler and Turbonetics GTK850 turbochargers
Fuel System Fore Precision Works triple-pump hat w/Walbro 255-lph fuel pumps, Injector Dynamics 1,000cc fuel injectors, and Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
Exhaust Real Street Performance (Mike Vig) custom w/Roush Performance mufflers
Transmission D&D Performance T56 w/D&D Performance shifter and aluminum driveshaft
Clutch McLeod street twin w/custom Ford GT throwout bearing
Rearend 8.8 w/FRPP 3.73 gears, Eaton Posi, and Moser Engineering 31-spline axles
Electronics
Engine Management AEM 6050
Ignition LS1 coils w/MSD spark plug wires and NGK spark plugs
Gauges Stock w/Auto Meter C2
Front Suspension
K-member Stock
Control arms Stock
Springs Roush Performance
Struts Roush Performance
Caster/Camber Stock
Brakes Roush Performance, 14-in
Wheels Roush 18x10-in
Tires 275/35-18
Rear Suspension
Springs Roush Performance
Shocks Roush Performance
Control arms Roush Performance
Brakes Stock
Wheels Roush Performance custom-widened 18x11-in
Tires Mickey Thompson 345/40-18 drag radial
Brad’s interior is nearly...
Brad’s interior is nearly as Roush built it. Given its street status, the car is devoid of a cage, but it does sport Auto Meter C2 gauges to help Brad keep up with what’s going on under the hood. The shifter is attached to a D&D Performance T56.
It’s not often you see a pushrod...
It’s not often you see a pushrod engine under the hood of an S197 Mustang, and it’s even more unusual to see a 427ci Windsor. To spot a twin-turbocharged 427 under the hood … well that is a unicorn sighting for sure. Nelson Competition in Pinellas Park, Florida, built the short-block, while Real Street Performance finished up the top end and constructed the turbo system. With the twin Turbonetics GTK850 turbochargers at 10-11 pounds of boost, the combo makes a safe 730 hp to the wheels. RSP’s Jay Meagher thinks the combo would be good for 840 at 16 pounds, but the current level makes the car more streetable.