Marshall Shaw
'66 Chevrolet Impala
h862 RWHP/906 RWTQ
10.54 at 98 MPH
20 PSI
Mmm, big-blocks and boost. The Great Pumpkin belongs to Stromberger Performance wrench Marshall Shaw. There is nothing like 900 lb-ft at 5,000 rpm from a set of 70mm Chinese fans on a low-buck big-block. The motor has the basics, like a set of 8.8:1-compression KB slugs and Eagle rods on a stock forged crank, but otherwise it's a simple, punched-up, 498-inch iron block with stock oval-port heads. The flat-tappet cam timing is mild at 238/248 at 0.050 with 0.540 lift, and most of the parts are from SummitRacing.com. The real trick to holding the boost is the Fire Ring copper head gaskets borrowed from the diesel guys. This power is fed through a TH400 transmission and streetfriendly 3.08:1 gears in the 12-bolt. This 4,200-pound driver runs 10.54 on race gas. The lack of safety equipment has prevented Marshall from going out the back door, so the mph is always below 100. In the eighth-mile, the numbers are a more respectable 6.51 at 111 mph.
Erick McCarthy
'87 Ford Mustang GT
1,008 RWHP/1,014 RWTQ
9.62 AT 148 MPH
21 PSI
This guy laid down a big-big number at the wheels, and after we talked to him for a while we found out why. Erick's father owns SMC Customs, which is right around the corner from Stromberger Performance. As an engineering student at nearby Eastern Washington University, Erick gained the skills to TIG-up his own plumbing. His work can be seen on Marshall's Impala, and of course, on his personal cars. The Mustang has some serious hardware, such as a set of 67mm Turbonetics turbos and a Ford Racing Boss block as a foundation, with AFR 185cc cylinder heads and a big Comp solid roller cam with 250/256 degrees of duration at 0.050 and 0.633 lift on a 114 lobe center. Erick made the headers, the EFI hat, and the air-to-water intercooler that runs through the center of the car to the trunk. The fuel injection system starts with an 80mm BBK throttle-body and is controlled by an Adaptronics system. The transmission is a TH400
with a JW Ultrabell adapter, and the rearend is an 8.8 with 33-spline axles and 3.31:1 gears. The converter is from Ultimate Converter Concepts, and it stalls at 4,000 rpm. We asked him why he wasn't over-revving in the traps. "With that solid roller cam, 8,500 rpm is pretty standard," Erick says. The 9-second runs are on 28.0/10.5-15-inch M/T ET Drag tires. There is a lot more speed in this car.
"The Adaptronic is self learning. I just drive the car with a laptop, and the fuel map starts appearing in front of your eyes."
Erick McCarthy
Steve Berg
806 RWHP/671 RWTQ
9.13 AT 154 MPH
21 PSI
You might have seen this car before-it's the ultra-scary, '65 Factory Five MK 4 powered by a twin-turbo 351 Windsor. Steve Berg set it up as a fast street car that runs on pump gas. As the low-e.t. and high-mph leader of the group, it's rev-limited to a 154-mph trap speed. "The car needs a taller gear; we had to grind the Strange aluminum housing top to fit the huge 2.75:1 gears, but it needs more," Marty says. "This car is capable of 165 in the traps." The
formula is logical. Using an SVO 351 block, Steve added a set of Trick Flow R-series 206cc heads and a Super Victor intake. The Precision 61mm ball bearing turbos feed the BBK 75mm throttle-body for about 1,000 hp at the crank. The trans is a Lentech AOD that ate its own converter on the 9.13-second pass. That kind of speed earned a pink slip from the local racetrack. It is now a retiree.
Jody Watts
'65 Mustang
780 RWHP/685 RWTQ
9.67 AT 142 MPH
14 PSI
This car is a bit different from the rest, as it started as a race car instead of a streeter. Jody ran 12s with it in the early '80s before selling it. He recently bought it back and made the changes to return it to the street and at the same time get the car into the 9s on a budget. The car has a single 75mm Borg Warner turbo pushing 14 pounds of boost through the iron 351 Windsor. Aside from the Victor Jr. heads, most of the parts are from eBay. The generic Fox-body headers were flipped and modified for the turbo, and the EFI uses Edelbrock rails and a Haltech controller. The whole thing runs on E85.
Mike Ross
'91 GMC S-15
700 HP/700 TQ (EST)
10.06 AT 138 MPH
15 PSI
This has to be one of our favorites. It's just so Car Craft. The S-15 was purchased from an abandoned-vehicle auction for $150 then fitted with a set of eBay T3/4 turbos. The engine is a very basic 383 smallblock with Procomp aluminum cylinder heads and a flat-tappet cam with 208/212 degrees at 0.050 and 0.474/0.510 lift. The rotator uses a set of Eagle H-beam rods, Icon forged 8.7:1 pistons, and an Eagle 3.75-inch crankshaft. The fuel injection uses a 1,000-cfm throttlebody and is controlled by an Adaptronic tuner. As with most of the turbo guys' cars, the Jimmy relies on an Aeromotive A1000 pump to feed it all. Mike estimates that he was less than $10,000 in the entire build. That is as cool as it gets.