With TDC confirmed, Rick installed his Trick Flow Twisted Wedge heads featuring AFM Stage III porting ($2,388). These are the standard TW heads with healthy porting-no race heads here. Remember, this is a street car. The lower intake also in place is a Trick Flow R lower, which Rick will top with a Vortech Mondo Box upper intake. That package goes for $788, but it supports big power.
Rick has taken a liking to the affordable line of roller rocker arms from PRW. For this combination, he chose the stainless steel in the 1.7:1 ratio ($222.75). These lightweight rockers aren't only strong, they also provide extra valvespring clearance, coming in handy when you want to rev to 7,000 rpm. The rockers that work with AFM's B-451 ($299) camshaft won't cause any problems. This cam is one of the company's Hi-Rev versions and is designed for up to 20 pounds of boost and 6,800 rpm on stroker small-blocks. Naturally, these heads have AFM's Hi-Rev valvespring package as well.
Rick couldn't help but top off the rockers with a set of AFM's polished valve covers ($113.56). If you long for those chrome stock covers from the old Ford Motorsport SVO catalog, these will make you smile.
High rpm isn't all about the valvetrain and intake; you need a lightweight clutch and flywheel to let the engine rev freely. The setup must offer enough grip to put more than 600 lb-ft to the ground. As such, Rick commissioned AFM's own line of Hi-Rev clutches designed to allow shifting as high as 7,600 rpm without the pedal sticking to the floor. For his car, Rick opted for the Stage III unit ($550) and one of AFM's Superlight flywheels ($329), which is 14 pounds lighter than a stock flywheel.
Similar to many Mustangers, Rick still loves to bang gears in his fast street car, but a T5 isn't going to live in this one. As such, he turned to the crew at ProMotion Powertrain for one of the company's prepped Tremec TKO 600 five-speeds ($2,990). These Pro-Shifted TKOs feature a face-tooth gearset, which allows shifting at 7,000 rpm and withstands up to 850 hp. These transmissions are standard equipment on many of the race cars in our NMRA Real Street class. For more information, see our Dec. '05 issue ("Rock the Gearbox," p. 134).
Finally, Rick is ready to drop the engine in place. Unlike most of us, he actually takes the time to use a level to ensure the motor goes in straight. We're not sure if Rick is just a stickler for right angles or if he's trying to eek out that last horsepower by reducing drive-line bind. Maybe he's just trying to freak us out.