Tim is hoping his Real Street...
Tim is hoping his Real Street competition sees this view a lot during the '10 NMRA season, and beyond. We took these photos after the car's completion at the NMRA Peach State Nationals in Commerce, Georgia. Though Tim and the new car had a rough go of it at the NMRA Bradenton opener, his program took shape at the Peach State Nationals, and the NMRA Atco race just prior to this writing.
Last month we brought you the first part of Tim Matherly's Real Street '10 Mustang GT. We covered how Tim received the car, and how he proceeded to put together the suspension, rollcage, and the beginnings of the electronics. Now it's time to get down to the hard parts behind an already successful racer.
If you've been to an NMRA race this year, you've seen the finished product already, but you'll only see the behind the scenes action right here. Everything we covered last month was in preparation of what we're covering this month. The suspension and cage are needed since Tim is hoping to routinely run deep into the 9s with the car. It must be prepared to run those times and also be NHRA-legal.
Thanks to components from Strange Engineering, Racecraft, Ford Racing, Holeshot Racing Wheels, Mickey Thompson, The Detail Zone, and MSD; and Jim Bremer's rollcage handiwork; it was halfway there when we left you last. It needed fuel, it needed an engine, it needed a transmission, it needed gauges, it needed paint, and it needed to be fully operational.
For its PRI preview and NMRA...
For its PRI preview and NMRA Bradenton race debut, the car featured a Three-Valve engine, but midway through the Bradenton race, Tim decided that combination wasn't quite ready for prime time so he swapped to his customary Two-Valve combination. Tim didn't think the car could be competitive with the Three-Valve under the current Real Street rules. He hadn't been able to wring everything out of the Three-Valve combination so he decided to shelve it until he could do more testing. In the racing world, the competition doesn't wait for you to sort out a new combination.
Here's where we fill in ... the rest of the story.
Painting The Beast
Carnes Customs had the unenviable task of applying the Tim Matherly-trademark scalloped paint scheme. The paint scheme began on Tim's old Pro 5.0 car, and it wouldn't be Tim's car if it didn't have this scheme.
Carnes Customs' Jason and Johnny Carnes and their cousin James Brown worked around the clock and Tim's mechanical schedule to get the car done in time for last December's PRI show. The chassis split time between Tim's and Jason's shops, according to who could work on it at the time. If Tim was able to focus on mechanical aspects of the build, Jason would take the chassis to his shop for paint work. When Jason reached a stopping point with the chassis, it would go back to MV for component installation.
Both were pressed for time every step of the way, and had to make best use of available time for the car to come together for PRI. Jason applied Kona Blue to the rollcage and the rest of the car before laying out the scalloped scheme. In the top right photo, you can clearly see Jason is using my favorite drink, Mountain Dew, in an attempt to keep it going.
Once they finished the car, there wasn't much time to apply the sponsor stickers. As we've mentioned before, paint fumes about knocked us down when we opened the car's trunk at the PRI show. The body was pretty much bare on the PRI main hall, but come race season, Jason went over to MV Performance to help apply the larger sponsor stickers, since applying stickers is not one of Tim's strong suits.
As you can see, all the stickers are in place, and after witnessing a few of the sticker installs at MV, we hope none of them have to be removed. Tim especially doesn't want to remove the number "1" from the windshield.
Tim is more comfortable with...
Tim is more comfortable with the Two-Valve in the car since it's a known entity in his eyes. The Two-Valve is the same basic combination Tim has run since joining the Real Street class. However, these days the Two-Valve boasts a Trick Flow intake and heads. Tim says the Trick Flow Two-Valve heads flow better than the Three-Valve heads so this combo makes more power. Regardless of engine combo, Tim's power adder of choice is a ProCharger P-1SC II supercharger. As of the NMRA Atco event, the new car is already running 9.40s with the Two-Valve.
Support equipment for the...
Support equipment for the engine include an Innovator's West damper, a Hurst Roll Control, Wilwood brake proportioning valve, QuickTime bellhousing, and braided-steel brake lines. Tim utilizes Innovator's West dampers on both the Two- and Three-Valve engines. These dampers feature an eight-rib gripping surface and an overdriven percentage to optimize supercharger boost. If you'll notice, the Two- and Three-Valve use different parts. The QuickTime bellhousing is used to mate the modular engine of Tim's choice to a ProMotion Performance-massaged Tremec TKO transmission. QuickTime is one of the few, if not the only, manufacturer to carry a bellhousing to mate a modular engine to a T5-style transmission like the Tremec. Obviously, it has to be SFI certified, as well.
A ProMotion Performance-prepped...
A ProMotion Performance-prepped Tremec TKO has been a staple of Tim's program since the beginning. The ProMotion TKO is a non-synchronized box featuring face-plated gears to aid in shifting. If you've ever heard Tim shift a car, one thing he definitely knows how to do is shift gears. Speaking of which, Tim shifts those gears via a Hurst Competition Plus shifter.
Before the engine and transmission...
Before the engine and transmission come together, a Ram clutch and aluminum flywheel goes in between to mate the power with the Strange Engineering 9-inch rear outlined in last month's article (Real Fast, p. 135). Ram has also maintained a long-standing relationship with Tim over the last few years. For his Real Street ride, he uses Ram's VDS, which is designed to maintain optimum clutch pressure throughout the clutch's life. Many clutches lose pressure as wear occurs. Ram's VDS clutch is designed to maintain that pressure.
Moving to the exhaust, Ford...
Moving to the exhaust, Ford Racing Performance Parts short-tube headers and a Bassani Xhaust X-shape crossover pipe and Flowmaster mufflers exit just fore of the Strange Engineering 9-inch rear. The headers are 15/8-inch per Real Street rules, and the Bassani components are of the 2 1/2-inch variety. The Flowmaster mufflers are from its Outlaw series.
If you haven't noticed, a...
If you haven't noticed, a trend with Tim's new car is that he knows what works for him and he sticks with the products he knows. The same goes for the new car's fuel system. The task of supplying the necessary fuel is left to Weldon Racing's 2035 fuel pump, 2040 regulator, and filters. Weldon's 2035 fuel pump is more than capable of feeding a Real Street combination like Tim's.
The Weldon pump is mounted...
The Weldon pump is mounted lower than the Summit Racing fuel cell using a custom bracket. The regulator is mounted inside the engine compartment for easy access. The fuel system is a return-style so there's one feed line and a separate return line.
Supplying fuel to the engine...
Supplying fuel to the engine farther downstream is left to UPR Products fuel rails with the Two-Valve while for the Three-Valve Tim uses Metco Motorsport Solutions fuel rails.
With a stock dash included...
With a stock dash included in the interior trim package from Ford Racing, Tim fashioned a custom gauge plate for a set of Auto Meter Pro-Comp gauges with an Ultimate II playback tachometer to keep tabs on what's going on under the hood. Tim utilizes a shift light above the steering column to help maintain optimum shift points.
Here's the finished interior...
Here's the finished interior with the dash, carpet, and interior trim from the Ford Racing interior trim kit Tim received with the body-in-white. Those are Kirkey Racing seats with the accompanied padding and covers to make for a somewhat comfortable quarter-mile ride. Tim steers his way down the track using a Strange Engineering steering wheel while he utilizes a Hurst shifter to hit the next gear. As you can see, Carnes Customs also painted the cage Kona Blue to match the car's base color.
Here's a look at the finished...
Here's a look at the finished rear half of the car. The rear suspension is in place, as is the car's fuel system. Since the car has no need for a back seat, that area was covered in aluminum as a rear seat delete. Likewise, the area around the fuel cell was filled in with aluminum panels, as well. In this photo you can also see the car's Bassani Xhaust/Flowmaster system dumping in front of the Strange Engineering 9-inch rear.
Moving to the front, a Moroso...
Moving to the front, a Moroso oil pan keeps the oil where it belongs, while a ProMotion Performance transmission mount keeps the TKO in place. You can also see the cable-operated clutch in this photo, as well. Factory '05-'10 Mustangs use a hydraulic clutch, but Tim's car features a ProMotion-sourced clutch cable setup.