Tech Notes
Who: Steve Keefer
What: '70 Ford Mustang
Where:
Brentwood, California, not to be confused with the Brentwood of O.J. Simpson fame. O.J.'s B-wood is not a city. It is a district of the city of Los Angeles.
Engine:
Steve started with a good foundation: a Mexican block with its higher nickel content and bigger main caps. The block was bored 0.020 over before having a polished crank and Boss rods dropped in. He chose 11.0:1 Venolia pistons and Childs & Albert bearings and gapless rings to handle the strain of compression. The iron heads are vintage '69 351W castings that have been ported to the limit, O-ringed, and reassembled with Manley 1.94/1.60 valves, Crane valvesprings, and Crane roller rocker arms mounted on 1/2-inch studs. Finally, a monster Ultradyne solid roller cam was slid into place. It specs out at 260/268 degrees duration at 0.050-inch tappet lift, with 0.608/0.630 inch of valve lift. A Cloyes True Roller timing chain keeps cam and crank in sync. Steve reckons this combo should be good for about 500 hp without nitrous.
Induction:
From top to bottom, feast your eyes on a Roush air cleaner cover, a Barry Grant Mighty Demon 750-cfm carburetor, and an Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake. A Nitrous Oxide Systems 150-shot Sportsman Fogger system is ready to go in case 500 hp isn't enough. A Holley fuel pump feeds a blend of ERC race gas and regular 91-octane, necessary to curb detonation.
Exhaust:
Steve saved himself some man-hours of fabrication time by installing 1 5/8-inch primary-tube JBA shorty headers. He made up for that, though, by making the rest of the exhaust system by hand, welding up a combination of 3-inch mandrel bends and straight tubing. The mufflers are from Spin Tech and make a delicious racket.
Transmission:
Steve keeps it old-school cool with a Top Loader as his gearbox of choice. He grabbed it out of a '67 big-block car and spins close-ratio gears. A Lakewood scattershield contains the Centerforce clutch and flywheel. Steve pieced together the modern hydraulic-clutch system using Wilwood master and slave cylinders.
Rearend:
To run those big reverse-offset wheels, Steve had the Mustang's 9-inch narrowed 4 inches. It was rebuilt with Moser 31-spline axles and Richmond 3.89:1 gears on a Traction Lock differential.
Suspension/Brakes:
Where do we start? Up front, you find Total Control double-adjustable upper control arms, Tru-Center lower arms, and VariShock double-adjustable coilover shocks. Also, Steve converted to rack-and-pinion steering with a Steeroids rack and an ididit column. The sway bar comes from Maier Racing. The front spindles are stock, however. Out back, you'll find Total Control's g-Bar-canted four-bar kit replacing the ancient horse-and-buggy leaf springs. VariShock single-adjustable coilovers got the nod here. Steve trusts Wilwood for his stopping duties. A Wilwood triple master cylinder and pedal assembly is mounted underhood. Wilwood calipers put the squeeze on Wilwood rotors, sized 13 and 12 inches, front to rear.
Wheels/Tires:
Those are Budnik Cannon wheels measuring 18x9 inches, front, and 19x10 inches, rear. The tires are 255/40-18 and 295/35-19 BFGoodrich KDWs.
Paint/Body:
Everyone around the office was asking about the color. It's Toyota Red Salsa Pearl. You'll never look at a Prius the same now. The red is offset by a Lexus silver. The trim is finished with gray powdercoating topped with a satin clear.
Thanks:
Steve wants to thank his friends Neil Olson and Rick Sattler for their help and his wife, Laura, for her support.