Horse Sense: A word of acknowledgement to Saul "The Surgeon" Gutierrez and Extreme Automotive's owner Sean Roberts for providing us the use of their facility for this major part of the project and many others that follow. From Day One, Saul has gone above and beyond by volunteering countless hours of his after-work time to help us build our coupe. Our sincere thanks goes to The Surgeon, and many other individuals and companies that believe in what we're doing. Without all of you, the car would not be coming together as quickly-or as nicely-as it is.
With chassiswork and bodywork completed on our '86 T-top project car ("'Cage Match," p.176, July '06; "Damage Control," p.146, Oct. '06; "Body Beautiful," p.122, Nov. '06; and "FABulous Four-Eye," p. 130, Feb. '07), we're now ready to take the rare 'Stang's Fox-rod renovation to a new level.
The next order of business is installing the coupe's drivetrain-namely our naturally aspirated 478-flywheel horsepower Keith Craft 347, the Performance Automatic AODE transmission, and Precision Indus-tries' Stallion lockup torque converter we think will be the perfect combination for achieving our low-10-second/highway driveability goal.
We have to give major props...
We have to give major props to the photo archives on the Four Eyed Pride Web site (www.foureyedpride.com), for this image of our coupe's original 5.0 bullet. Yes, this really is the engine in the car prior to your tech editor assuming ownership of it. This engine shot, and a few additional pictures of our T-top coupe (and rare, T-top notchbacks owned by a few other lucky 'Stangbangers), came as a surprise during one of our Internet research missions for info on the coupe's history.
When we received the engine and transmission in June 2006, we were racing the calendar. The car had a fast-approaching date with JBA for its headers and exhaust system (more on those pieces in an upcoming installment), and the motor and tranny had to be in the car before we could go forward with the exhaust system.
Dropping a stout engine between the fenders of any 'Stang is always a monumental, almost spiritual, event that gets performance nuts amped every time. It doesn't matter whether it's a fresh, new bullet for a project car such as ours, or the result of a race team's overnight thrash. It's even more intense in NHRA Top Fuel pits, where engines are removed/rebuilt/replaced in 75 minutes-sometimes less. The process of installing a new powerplant has a certain level of excitement about it-despite the amount of work that goes into getting it done-that only a hard-core 'Stangbanger can fully understand.
Our excitement levels rose considerably when our good friend Saul "The Surgeon" Gutierrez called to let us know "The eagle had landed!" Our Keith Craft, big-bore stroker had arrived at Extreme Automotive (for details on this engine see "Big-Bore Score," p. 58, Dec. '06). We set a time to install it, as well as PA's AODE tranny, for a few evenings later.
Adhering to our project's strict timetable has been a challenge. We've experienced great triumphs, but we've also suffered occasional setbacks. Through it all, we still feel that building this car is one of the most exciting things we've done with a Mustang in a long time. The following photos take you into the world of "dropping the drivetrain," as we experienced it with our project T-top coupe.
Prior to installing the engine, we outfitted it with Energy Suspension's Hyper-Flex polyurethane 5.0 motor mounts (PN 4.1122) for '84-'95 Mustangs. We chose these mounts over solid pieces because of the street-driving plans we have for our T-top coupe. The polyurethane offers more durability than OEM rubber motor mounts, and it will be able to withstand the torque forces of the 347 without compromising ride quality.
When you want your Mustang to be dragstrip capable and street driveable-exactly how we want ours-a transmission that can handle both driving styles is critical. While we acknowledge that a five-speed-or maybe even a six-speed-manual tranny is a good choice for this car, we opted for this AODE/4R70W Super Comp unit (PN 45102M) from Performance Automatic Racing. This transmission is prepared with both racing and the street in mind, and thus is heavy-duty. Our Super Comp trans includes an all-important, forged and hardened 3/4-inch input shaft made of 4340 non-twisted steel, Alto Red racing clutches, a heavy-duty servo, Kolene steels, a hardened sun gear, and high-performance bands. The tranny is capable of handling up to 800 horses and features a billet-aluminum, full-manual/forward-pattern valvebody with PA's Pro-Tree transbrake (for the strip), and a highway-compliant electric Overdrive that will kick the revs down and improve fuel mileage as soon as the button is pressed. The transmission was shipped without a dipstick tube. Our buddy Brian Schapiro of B&D Racing was kind enough to set us up with a new tube.
We're using this Stallion torque converter by Precision Industries. The 9 1/2-inch converter is the way to go for a car such as ours that has 600 or more rear-wheel horsepower but requires daily driver efficiency and driveability. Precision can make 9 1/2-inch converters that are capable of withstanding horsepower ranges from 0 to 1,600 depending on the design and assembly. Our Stallion converter is a multi-clutch unit (that multiplies torque at a 2.53:1 ratio compared to the 1.93:1 for a stocker), and it was made to work with the manual, WOT lockup feature of our AODE. The bright purple color on this converter comes from a temperature-sensitive paint that discolors under excessive heat or abuse, which lets us know the converter needs attention. We used a piece of sandpaper to scuff paint from the snout of the converter to ensure it seats properly in the flexplate and doesn't bind.