Saul "The Surgeon" Gutierrez of Extreme Automotive sets Paxton's new Novi 2500 supercharger in place on Project T-top Coupe's 353ci stroker. We've waited a long time for this moment, and now it's time to see what this new blower is all about.
Readers who have been with us since 2006 should be plenty familiar with the '86 T-top project Mustang. For our newcomers, the rare coupe is a thrice-resurrected, Paxton-supercharged LX that your author has been working with since 2006. We've chronicled every highlight (every step of its initial Fox Rod resto; running the length of a dragstrip in 9 seconds; winning numerous car-show awards) and lowlight (two catastrophic engine meltdowns) the project has experienced in the last six years.
For this effort, recording what we hope will be 1,000-or-more horsepower at T-top Coupe's feet has been our ambition from the moment we realized Engine Two—which pumped out 866 horses and 727 lb-ft of torque—had gone by the wayside during a qualifying pass at the PSCA's Street Car Super Nationals V. To reach that next plateau, major changes to the engine and the Mustang itself were made.
The upgrades, which are detailed in the most recent reports on the project car ("Grand Scheme," Mar. '11; "To the Top," May '11; "Cold Case," Oct. '11), highlight A.R.E. Performance & Machine's design and assembly of a brand-new 353ci powerplant and its installation at Extreme Automotive, and the slick Earl's-based plumbing arrangement (ice tank, water feed/return lines) that we set up for a water-to-air intercooler.
While a lot of critical detail on the latest resurrection has been covered in those past reports, the time has come for us to turn our focus on the higher-profile pieces that comprise T-top Coupe's big-steam package. Power hardware still includes the project's original Paxton Novi 2000 supercharger, which we're using to establish a performance baseline for the new engine. However, the upgrade that really has us over-the-moon excited is Paxton's all-new Novi 2500 head unit, which we're bolting on Couptie's 353 immediately after power and torque peaks with the OG Novi are established.
Yes, that's right—while we've alluded to and hinted about the new Paxton in past reports here and through our blogs and social-media pages, we're finally putting the much-hyped blower to the test. (If you follow or believe Internet buzz, insiders at Paxton are saying the newest Novi has what it takes to possibly end the Vortech YSi's dominance in NMRA's EFI Renegade class.) It's a good-old, back-to-back comparison in the dyno cell at Extreme Automotive in Canoga Park, California.
The following photos and captions include highlights of some of the final modifications that were made before our monumental test, as well as images of and all-important data from the tuning, dyno-, and dragstrip testing that was performed.
Horse Sense: The title for this segment of our six-year, Life-and-Times-of-Project-T-top-Coupe series definitely sums up, in a nutshell, the latest status of the rare '86 LX. We say this because after just about two years of downtime, the Fox coupe with T-tops once again is in a condition that's worth talking about—running, and we have to modestly admit, it's running pretty damn well.
Project T-top Coupe has come...
Project T-top Coupe has come a long way since the last time we were able to take an engine photo like this one. The coupe’s latest bullet has 353ci and features Scat’s forged crank and rods, JE flat-top pistons, the same Comp Cams hydraulic-roller camshaft that we’ve used from the beginning, and upgraded AFR cylinder heads (from 205s to 225s). Rocco Acerrio of A.R.E. Performance & Machine in Simi Valley, California, designed and assembled this engine for the project ’Stang. We’re confident the piston change (from SRP dished to JE flat-top), bigger cylinder heads, and intake-air cooling provided by Vortech’s Mondo intercooler, will show us greater efficiency over the coupe’s previous (non-intercooled) 350ci engine.
A change in tubing clamps...
A change in tubing clamps is among the general housekeeping updates for the new engine/supercharger packages. While the standard hose clamps (left) worked well on T-top Coupe’s previous engine—withstanding up to 21 psi of boost that ran through the blower’s discharge tube—the stainless-steel, T-bolt-style tubing clamps (right) really are the better choice for securing the air-tract plumbing in high-boost applications.
We anticipated a clearance...
We anticipated a clearance issue between Couptie’s new intercooler (the Vortech Igloo sits tall atop Trick Flow R-Series lower intake manifold) and the 2.5-inch Cervini’s cowl hood that has been with the car since day one. This photo shows one of the main points of conflict, which can be resolved by installing a hood with a taller cowl, or creating proper clearance in the short-cowl hood by cutting an opening in it.
Here is a last look at the...
Here is a last look at the project car’s 2.5-inch cowl hood before modification.
“Cut it and see how it looks....
“Cut it and see how it looks. You can always get another hood.” That’s the guidance Editor Steve Turner imparted on your tech editor when asked for an opinion about the hood dilemma. With that suggestion, the decision was made to create an opening in the 2.5-inch cowl that would allow the Igloo’s lid to poke through. The idea is by no means “original,” as it was inspired by this crude hack-job we saw on another Igloo-cooled Mustang. Armed with this photo, we took T-top Coupe and its Cervini’s hood to Perfecto Hernandez of P Fiber Glass and asked him to do something similar…but better, of course.
Perfecto’s company, P Fiber...
Perfecto’s company, P Fiber Glass [(818) 890-7175], is known throughout SoCal’s San Fernando Valley as the outfit to turn to when modifying fiberglass pieces or fabricating new ’glass parts from scratch. Armed with the sample photo and your tech editor’s explanation of our exact wants, Perfecto created a template first, then made the opening in the hood.
Vortech’s enormous MaxFlow...
Vortech’s enormous MaxFlow bv57 bypass valve sits right below these slits, which were included in the hood modification. We decided to add the louvers to ensure bypassed air doesn’t break the hood or blow it completely off the car when the throttle is shut after a hard run.
And here’s T-top Coupe with...
And here’s T-top Coupe with its remodeled 2.5-inch cowl hood. Go back and take another look at the “example” photo we used for reference. Notice how the right side of the Igloo’s lid actually slants inward slightly? We wanted an opening that was better-contoured to the actual shape and dimensions of the ’cooler, and that’s exactly what Perfecto created. Props also have to be given to our friend Chris Kephart, who handled the refinish with a color match that is spot on.
In our report on plumbing...
In our report on plumbing the intercooler (“Cold Case,” Oct ’11), we explained that despite installing a 5-gallon ice/water cell in the middle of the rear-seat area, our intent is to maintain some semblance of a rear seat in our ‘Stang (not that anyone sits back there, but, hey, it’s a street car). Here’s a look at the finished “rear buckets,” created by Mr Herman Paul of Los Angeles. Herman made the pair of seat bottoms by dissecting a stock seat cushion and then building two halves that surround the ice/water tank and give the back of the cockpit a finished look.