Hey all,

I have lurked on this wonderful forum of knowledge for some time, but I figured it's time to register. So here is a quick run down of my build thus far. The car started as an '89 sold in '90. I bought the car 8 years ago, and did some fairly ricey things the first couple of years. At some point I blew a head gasket, and because it blew a head gasket I figured it was a good time to throw a turbo on it. After blowing up the stock 1.6, I did a pretty basic build, Clevite bearings, ARP hardware, Eagle rods, Wiseco pistons, with some goodies in the head. Log manifold, 3" downpipe, ID1000cc injectors, DIYPNP MegaSquirt the car landed at 359 whp before spark blowout. Switched to the D585 coil, added some more boost, never re dyno'd.

Then I got bored, took it up to Buttonwillow one hot summer day, ran the **** out of it until it blew another headgasket. I didn't really care because I was already planning on some more cylinders and more cubic inches. So I ordered some parts from Shandelle at V8Roadsters in Oct. 2014, began tearing the car down around March 2015... and it hasn't progressed much after that. With work, first house, etc...

Without further yapping, here are some pictures.

Here is after I striped the car down, before I starting going crazy with things...

Then I decided to start adding bars. The original rollcage was done at a local shop, but with my new power goals I wanted to add some more protection and to do some extra chassis stiffening. So I got a tubing bender and went to work.




Then I had the had the car sandblasted...which I probably should have done first

So the plan with this car is somewhat like my last build with the 1.6. Have a fun track car, that will occasionally driven on the street to car shows. I plan on running NASA TTU with the car, not expecting to be too competitive, more or less just go out and have fun and learn the car for a while before trying to be competitive.

Right now I have a 5.3 block I am using for mock up, as well as another complete 5.3 engine I was thinking about using. I picked up a TexRacing (now GForce) 4 speed, McLeod bellhousing, McLeod twin disc clutch, as well as their hydraulic throwout bearing conversion deal. The car will be stopping using the V8Roadsters big brake kit with Wilwoods on all four corners as well as Wilwood master cylinders and pedals that I bought from the very helpful crew at Wilwood. A Ford 8.8 stuffed with Richmond goodies will put the power to the wheels, a Holley HP EFI will be the brains. Tires are 275/35zr15 Hoosier R7, radiator is in the trunk... I have plenty of questions for these engines as they are completely new to me. So I will apologize in advance for any stupid questions.

Here are some more recent pictures. The mock up engine is back in the car so I can start working on a water pump, alternator setup. (which will be my first questions)






Other cars in the stable;
2016 Mustang GT Premium Performance Pack. (daily) CAI and tune. I want to do long tubes and exhaust, but can't find anything that sounds like ***
2015 Kawasaki ZX6R 30AE Edition. Header, slip on, programmer.

My first track day on it..
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Thanks for reading for those who made it this far! And thanks for the great forum!