Whenever a class's rules permit 8mm or 14mm cogs for superchargers, use them. What's the bottom line? Cogs are simply a must for hard-core blown 'Stangs. The cog drive helps protect the engine and supercharger because it requires much less belt tension during operation and thus causes considerably less deflection on the crank's snout and less wear on the blower itself. Cogs also promote higher boost pressures because they allow blowers to be driven faster without belt slippage and parasitic loss. For racers who must adhere to "no-cogs" rules, having an assortment of different-size pulleys to select from is important. As a rule of thumb, always pack a supply of new blower belts (serpentine and cog) to have at the ready if you need one at the track.
The snout of a small-block Ford crankshaft sustains the brunt of pressure and stress brought by the power that centrifugal superchargers are capable of producing. Aftermarket crankshafts are often designed with a larger snout that helps alleviate fatigue and failure. A crank support (PN 3FABB-025) like the one shown here by ATI ProCharger [(913) 338-2886; www.procharger.com] bolts to the front of the block and adds a level of protection to this vulnerable area by minimizing any deflection caused by the cantilevered blower drive. We believe crank supports should be considered mandatory equipment at the Outlaw 10.5 and True 10.5 level. Almost all the cars competing at these levels pack more than 1,900 hp, and the crank snout is called upon to help the blower meet the engine's airflow demands. In a sense, crank supports add an extra measure of safety, which alone is a prime reason they're part of the must-have collection for Mustang racers using the bigger blowers.
This new Autolite Revolution HT (PN HT0) is the must-have spark plug for '05-'06 Three-Valve 4.6 Mustang racers using power adders. Autolite's [(800) 862-7737; www.autolite.com] short-tip plug provides the coldest (heat-range) spark available for the Three-Valve 4.6. It features a 10mm design, which had been one of the bigger hurdles for S197 'Stangbangers who want to use larger shots of nitrous or more boost on their trey-valve engines.
Since this report is all about technology, we had to include the latest nitrous equipment from Nitrous Express [(940) 767-7694; www.nitrousexpress.com], as it's a prime example of how far nitrous plate-and-solenoid technology has come. The black nitrous plate shown here is the company's brand-new, Stage 6 Gemini Twin Phase-3 nitrous plate (PN NP604; 50hp-300hp) and Lightning Series solenoids (PN 15200L, nitrous and 15201L, fuel). The first-generation Gemini Twin plates are shown on the left, above the Phase-3 plate, while the plate on the right is a custom, two-stage Gemini Twin. These plates illustrate the evolution of this technology from spray bars running within or through the middle of the plenum opening to the current design, in which the spray holes for fuel and nitrous oxide are incorporated inside the plate itself and surround its perimeter, with nitrous and fuel spraying directly into the plenum from the bottom. This patented, new plate design directly addresses the distribution issues that have long been associated with using nitrous with small-block Fords. The NX Lightning Series offers weight-conscious racers the lightest solenoids in the industry, thanks to a combination of carbon fiber and 6061 T6 aluminum. The solenoids feature a bottom-exit design, a purge port on the nitrous can, and a bypass port on the fuel solenoid. For a long time, these features have been developed by racers because they weren't available in a self-contained solenoid.
When it comes to meeting the tremendous spark and timing needs of a blown, turbocharged, or nitrous-assisted race engine, the Programmable Digital-7 Plus (PN 7531) from MSD [(915) 857-5200; www.msdignition.com] is our hands-down choice as the must-have ignition box. Any engine influenced by a power adder has a denser intake charge than a naturally aspirated combination and requires a stronger spark due to higher cylinder pressures. Many power-adder combinations also require intricate timing settings-sometimes at the individual-cylinder level-to achieve maximum efficiency. The 7531 easily handles this, and it includes several innovative timing-retard features that can also be used to help improve a race 'Stang's launch/traction performance (see "Bite in a Box," Feb. '06, p. 126).
While no racer wants to have to replace one or both head gaskets during an event, the sad truth is sometimes it happens. Power adders can create enormous cylinder pressures and heat, which can sometimes compromise head-to-block seal, thanks to blown head gaskets (Fords, unlike Chevys are lacking in the head-bolt department). Anyone racing with a power adder must have good head gaskets on his or her engine. Racers competing with the elaborate nitrous systems or mega-powerful blowers and turbochargers (especially in the Pro 5.0 categories) prefer to use copper head gaskets such as the self-sealing SCE Titans shown on the left in the photo [(661) 949-0083; www.scegaskets.com]. Copper gaskets, because of their excellent thermal conductivity, help stabilize head and block temperatures. One of the benefits of copper gaskets is they'll stretch before a catastrophic failure, which provides an extra measure of safety in case of severe detonation. Multilayered-steel head gaskets also work great and are actually the new-school alternative to copper.