1988 And 1981 Ford Mustang Supercharged - NMCA Drag Racing

Tim bought an '81 Mustang shell to build a really fast street car, and that year was considered pre-emissions at the time. He also found a '90 in the junkyard for parts. They took every piece of the car down to bare metal before painting it. The cowl is from Cervini.

Early in the season, Tim and the crew blew up a turbo and an engine. Thinking they were out for good, they showed up in Ohio and found out that the NMCA automatically drops two of the races. Back in the game, Tim dominated for the rest of the season.

Job Spetter at Turbo People of New York did the math and prepped the Precision turbo. It measures 72 mm tip-to tip on the impeller wheel per the rules. There is no restriction on the exhaust wheel. The fabrication of the stainless tubes was performed by Chris Thatcher in three days.

The handle attached to the top of the rollcage is for the parachute. After Tim drives through the lights, he pushes the handle forward and the cable pops the pin out of the spring retainer that pushes the 'chute into the wind. If you are faster than 149 mph, you need one. The buttons are part of a Firefox fire-suppression system. The upper button is for an engine fire, and the lower button is for a fire in the cockpit. The overhead switch console is from Painless Wiring and the shifter is from Hurst.

Plugged into the back of the HKS 60mm wastegate is a MAP sensor that provides feedback to the AMS 1000 boost controller. A 6-pound spring can produce around 12 pounds of boost with another 1-5 pounds being added by a charge of CO2 through the black tube on the back of the gate for a total of 17 pounds. The boost pressure can be dialed using the controller in the car, depending on the track conditions.

The fuel system uses a Weldon pump that feeds the boost-reference pressure regulator. The ratio is 1:1, and the fuel pressure is set to 42 pounds at idle with no vacuum. To add or subtract fuel during dyno tuning, the crew adjusts the pulse width of the injectors.

The CFM of the turbo dictates the required size of the blow-off valve. If the valve opens and there is still boost in the system, the throttle blades can hang open or surge back into the turbo and damage parts. This system uses a 50mm valve from Tial Sport.

On the first run of the day, the dense Memphis air allowed for too much boost on the line and popped off the intake tube. This was the only wrenching they did all weekend.

Robello Racecraft built the 'cage so the car can go as fast as 7.50s without having to change anything. It is an SFI 255 Funny Car 'cage, which simply means it wraps around Tim's head. He also wears a neck brace to keep things attached.

To get a turbo to work, you need to build boost. The two-step HyFire box breaks up the spark while the car is on the line with the footbrake applied, causing fuel to ignite in the exhaust and spool up the turbo. The car is then switched to the second step connected to the transbrake right before the car leaves the line. If you try to spool up the turbo on the transbrake, you will overheat the transmission.

Even though Tim has a parachute, the brakes have been upgraded to a disc-brake system from Strange Engineering designed to bolt on to the stock Mustang control arms. You never know when the 'chute isn't going to open.