Knowing Rick Anderson has...
Knowing Rick Anderson has no qualms about spinning the rollers on the Anderson Ford Motorsport DynoJet chassis dyno, we shipped off Project Real Street to Clinton, Illinois, in the hopes of finding some power. And find power we did-after Rick swapped the heads, cam, and supercharger, thus creating a combo fitting of our stock block, standard valvesprings, and maxed-out 48-lb/hr injectors. Had we wanted to step up the springs and injectors, there was surely more power at higher rpm, but with more stress on our stock block as well.
Plain and simple, magazine project cars are double-edged swords. Every car nut would like to dream up a car and build it while on the job. Of course, magazine projects are notoriously long-lived and-in my case-underperforming cars that never quite live up to their potential. A number of factors are at play here, but the main culprit is that because they are part of the job, they become just another part of the job, so they don't receive the kind of after-hours worship that your prized projects do. After all, your project is a way to forget about work. Ours are work-enjoyable work, but work all the same.
It doesn't help that yours truly often likes to make things more complicated than they need be. Just ask Tech Editor Houlahan. In addition to performing the requisite black interior swaps, Mark likely wouldn't be surprised to hear me ask him to install two steering wheels in one of my project cars. Seriously, I have an affinity for gadgets, and you have to look no further than the number of Auto Meter gauges in Project Real Street to see that. In fact, I'm still a bit disappointed we haven't put an aftermarket stereo in the car-yet.
And the idea of a stereo in the car just goes to show you, I really wanted to build a car that reflected my original ideas about the NMRA's Real Street class. As you may or may not know, I had a bit to do with forming the concept of this class, which was built around streetable bolt-on parts and power adders. Since its inception, the class quickly evolved beyond its mid-10-second origins into an ultracompetitive, mid-9-second class thanks to some select rule changes and the unmitigated creativity of its racers. Still, I never thought my project car would be a competitive racer, rather an example of a street car that would be legal for the class-the kind to have fun with, not compete for a championship.
Here's how Project Real Street...
Here's how Project Real Street arrived at AFM, sporting all factory accessories-A/C, power steering, and smog pump. Our combinations included a Paxton Novi 2000 blower with a legal pulley blowing into an Accufab 70mm throttle body, a Trick Flow intake, and Twisted Wedge cylinder heads. The short-block is a D.S.S. Super Pro Bullet with main support and optional windage tray. Our cam was a stock '93 5.0 cam and the rockers were 1.7s from Comp. Rounding out the hardware was a full Bassani Xhaust with 131/44-inch short-tube headers, an X-pipe, and an after-cat system. The fuel system is by Aeromotive, the 48-lb/hr injectors are by ACCEL, and the tuning is courtesy of an AFM Programmable Management System. Tuned to the edge, it was good for just over 430 hp. We knew something was up.
The emphasis on street was important, so Mark assembled the car with out-of-the-box parts and all the factory accessories, including smog gear. We knew we'd give up some power that way, but it would give us a baseline to see where a real car gains from that racing creativity. Still, when Project Real Street finally hit the dyno, something was amiss. It made just over 400 hp, and we had hoped for more like 450-475 with all our street gear. While it's not giant slaying, it's not far off from the cutting edge when we began building the car four years ago. We grew frustrated and let the car sit for a while.
Fortunately, we weren't the only ones frustrated with the car. Rick Anderson of Anderson Ford Motorsport had supplied some components-his famous Power Pipe and PMS-and tuning to the car. He too wondered why it didn't make more power. Unlike myself, Rick is a mini-malist. He does only what it takes to make power. The bells and whistles just get in his way. He offered to take the car under his wing and exorcise the gremlins for us. It took us less time to accept that offer than it does a controversy to erupt on the Internet. His streamlined approach was likely just what the car needed.
With Project Real Street finally under expert care, we relaxed and waited for the good numbers to roll in. That didn't happen right away, but it made us feel better that Rick tried his best to get the car to run properly as it still made just over 430 hp with the tune-up on kill. Something was amiss, and his patience ran out. He tore down the engine to the short-block-the next step was a new cam and prepped heads anyway. He determined some damaged valvetrain gear caused undue friction inside the engine. Not only did this explain why the car was down on power, but it also made me feel a heck of a lot better. It wasn't something I had overcomplicated.
From there, Rick put her back together and made similar power with our combo to what former champ Joffre Lafontaine's car made back in the day. It's not competitive with today's Real Street giant slayers, but it's great for our little street car.