Tech Notes
Who: Jim and Darla Brink
What: '66 Ford Mustang
Where: Carlos, Minnesota, which is about 150 miles northwest of St. Paul, home of the Car Craft Summer Nationals.
Engine: The 302 is simple enough. It's a 0.030 302 from a '91 Mustang GT with a Comp Cams 274HR hydraulic roller. The cam has 224/236 at 0.050 and 0.555/0.570 lift. "It's enough cam for the street; any more would be ridiculous," says Jim. Even though these engines are factory-equipped with forged pistons, Jim replaced them with Probe slugs to get the compression ratio up to 10.5:1. Chris Weisser from Classic Motor Sports added the Eagle forged crank and assembled the short block.
Ignition: The 302 uses a PerTronix distributor and coil. It is a stand-alone that only needs a 12-volt lead.
Exhaust: The headers are 151/48 Hedman Elites with a thick flange and heavier tubes than standard. Jim says you can install them from the top, but it's easier to put them in from the bottom. If the clutch linkage is in place you have to remove the driver-side engine mount and lift the engine out of the way a bit. The pipes are 2.5-inch-diameter with Flowmaster muffs.
Goodies: Jim made the strut tower brace himself, welding it from the bottom side so you can't see the beads. "This is the second one I did," he says. "It took three nights to complete it-two nights for one side, then one night for the other side." Jim used 31/44-inch round and 31/416x2 flat stock that he had chromed. He bought the Monte Carlo bar and hid the Painless wiring kit so even he can't see the stuff.
Suspension: The front suspension has Mustang GT springs that are a little softer than stock. He cut them down one and a half coils to get the car to sit right. In the rear, Jim uses Maier rear leaf springs with a stiffer front half to eliminate wheelhop.
Brakes: The hydroboost system is a GM hydraulic brake booster. The pump on the driver sends power-steering fluid to the booster to assist with braking. The booster assembly and lines came from Hydratech, and the master cylinder is from an '02 Camaro. The master cylinder already has a pushrod attached that clips into the factory Mustang pedal. The brakes are from a C5 Corvette with 13-inch drilled and slotted rotors in the front and PBR calipers. The rears are 12-inch discs from a fourth-gen Camaro with PBR calipers. All the additional brackets were handmade by Jim in his shop.
Wheels/Tires: The front tires are 235/45R17 BFGs on 17x7-inch American Racing Torq-Thrust IIs. The rears are 255/40R17 BFGs on 17x8 American Racing Torq-Thrust IIs.
Transmission: The clutch is a King Cobra diaphragm designed for a '91 Mustang. With an aftermarket kit, Jim was able to use mechanical linkage instead of the factory cable clutch. The driveshaft is new and shortened "about 2 inches."
Interior: The interior was already finished in white, so Jim decided to stay with it and buy matching door panels. He made the dash bezel and moved the parking brake between the seats using a kit from Lokar that worked with the PBR rear brake calipers. The steering column is from ididit with a LeCarra wheel. The glovebox door was stripped with lacquer thinner to get it to match the instrument panel.
Trunk: Jim thought the engine compartment was crowded, so he put the battery in the trunk. He also made the cover for the gas tank out of 31/416 aluminum diamond plate that has been anodized black.