DS Racing created this bitchin', fully removable, sheetmetal trans tunnel to replace the material that was taken out of the floor In the spirit of such notable three-pedal Mustang racers as Larry Geddes, Bob Pott, Mike Sodano, Don Bowles, and Ward Alston, using a stick transmission has always been the plan for this Pony. As the project progresses, we hope to some day replace the pro-shifted Top Loader with a full-on, clutchless gearbox from G-Force.
Remember the frame structure that was created for a fuel cell, batteries, and more? It is now completely finished with sheetmetal panels and looks good with everything is in place.
Whenever a battery is mounted in the rear of a drag car and isn't protected by a separate box, the NHRA requires a rear bulkhead panel. Former NMRA Real Street racer Andy Burnett fabricated this sick rear panel for our car several years ago. We'll finally put it to use when Boss 340 is completed.
Inside the LX, the aluminum racing seats are secured with Holcomb Motorsports' brackets, and the factory dash and center console pieces are held in place with Duzs fasteners for quick-and-easy removal whenever necessary. The dual nitrous-bottle bracket is a $10 swap-meet score, which Dave and Junior modified to be fully removed from the passenger side for whenever someone is occupying the second seat.
Five years after KJ acquired the '90, we're finally at a point where a new and hopefully final life is beginning for a Mustang that has definitely been through a lot!
This is how we found our project LX in November of 2008. After being parked in your tech editor's garage upon its return from DS Racing in 2006, the Mustang sat untouched and literally became a storage shelf for miscellaneous parts and other items.
Before taking the 'Stang out of its tomb, a compressor and plenty of air was used to remove layers of dust that had amassed inside the car over the years.
Rocco (left) and Tony Acerrio of A.R.E. Performance and Machine have accepted the challenge of transforming our rolling chassis into the dragstrip terror we're envisioning it will be when Boss 340 is completed. As builder of our project T-top coupe's 350ci, 830-rwhp small-block, A.R.E. has shown us what it can do with engines. This build definitely is a much-bigger assignment, but the duo is ready and, barring disaster, feels our Boss Mustang could possibly hit the strip before the end of the '09 racing season.
Strange Engineering's 9-inch rearend housing will be installed under our Boss, along with rear-suspension components from Racecraft. Since the back of the Fox is mini-tubbed, Rocco measures the length of the 8.8 rear and calculates the length for the new rear. For those who are curious and plan on going this same route with a '79-'93 Mustang chassis at some point, a rearend measuring 517/16-inch (from the backsides of both 9-inch bearing housings) and 15x10-inch wheels with a 6.5-inch backspace are the A-plus combination for achieving a clean, tucked fit for 10.5-inch slicks on a mini-tubbed Fox. We haven't yet selected a wheel package for Boss 340, but we're strongly considering using beadlocks on whichever wheel we choose for the rear.
After delivering Boss 340 to A.R.E., we immediately put it in the air to assess the car's needs (for completion) and to develop a strategy for the build process. As we learned with the T-top car, full-build projects (street cars or racecars) require you have a solid idea of what you want or what you want to do from the outset, and then allotting a sufficient amount of time to get it or do it. Notice that our LX actually does have a front end (fascia and fenders), which was taken from the aforementioned parts car before it was junked. The Mustang may not look like much now, but our plan is to have a Boss-themed vinyl wrap designed and applied by the crew at Catalyst Imaging in Van Nuys, California, once we get this bad boy running and rolling under its Boss 340 power.