His nitrous small-block Ford knowledge wasn’t enough to keep him competitive. Querry decided to forgo the nitrous and move onto a forced induction setup, however, he had been out of the car game for 15 years, and the S550 Mustang was three generations newer. Separating the average Mustang from this S550 rocket is a set of Billet Specialties wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson tires, a Cervini cowl-induction hood, and suspension from Kelltrac Innovations and BMR Suspension. It was a blank slate waiting to be molded into the car he desired. The leftover Mustang was waiting on the lot and left completely stock. This desire resulted in a few trips to the dealership before being attracted to a Magnetic Grey S550 Mustang. Instead of seeking out a drag car, he desired something that could also handle car shows, cruises, and date nights comfortably. The attraction was back and this time unavoidable. It wouldn’t be long before he was back into the mindset from 15 years prior.Īs he tried to suppress his love of cars with other hobbies, including competitive shooting programs, it would all boil over when attending Cleetus and Cars at the Freedom Factory in Bradenton, Florida. However, relocating to Florida meant more tracks, more events, and of course more seat time. Unfortunately, this meant letting go of the old Fox Body. Instead of switching into a cold-weather motorsport, it was time to move to a warmer climate for year-round fun. We’ve maintained the stock exhaust, save for an X-pipe, and that’s something that would have been almost unheard of just a decade ago.While the Pennsylvania summer and fall provided the perfect weather for cruising and racing, the downfall of winter hit hard. In the end, what we ended up with is exactly what we wanted, a car that can scream down the track at a mid-to-low 10-second clip and still be driven daily without concerns about excess wear and tear or parts failures. To be honest, it wouldn’t take much effort to put this car into the nines, and who knows, we might just look into that, although we’ve almost reached the point where additional performance gains would require additional safety equipment, specifically a roll cage. Now, two years into our build, we far-exceeded our original goal of not just building a fast and fun car, but doing so on a modest budget. As soon as the converter locks up at approximately 30 mph, the slip isn’t noticeable and our gas mileage remained steady at nearly 20-mpg on the highway. Yes, the car feels a bit different, especially when leaving a stoplight, but it doesn’t take long to get used to. We were initially apprehensive about what the new converter might do to affect our drivability, but those concerns quickly disappeared with a few miles on the new unit. Had we chosen to do so, there is little doubt we could have run in the 10.30s or perhaps quicker. We were bracket racing during this outing so we resisted the temptation to pour in the Boostane and install our killer race tune-up. Our first test with the new combination netted extremely positive results with a new personal best of 10.52 seconds, while still using the “softest” 93-octane pump gas tune. It’s worth mentioning that we also installed a billet engine oil pump, as the stock one is a weak link. Once we tore into the rear, we were pleasantly surprised to see that none of the stock components showed signs of excess wear and tear, but the peace of mind afforded by the new parts was invaluable. Since we’d already upgraded our driveshaft, we thought it might be best to tear into the Ford 8.8 rear-end assembly and replace the stock components with high quality aftermarket parts including Strange axles, an Eaton Tru-Track posi unit, a fresh ring and pinion from Richmond Gear and a set of QA1 double adjustable shocks. Newer muscle cars like our Mustang are built for big horsepower, but it’s never a bad idea to be proactive, especially with an eye towards to safety and overall expenses. Heading into 2020, we’d made well over 100 trouble-free runs, but there was always the awkward feeling that we were living on borrowed time. Taking into account the driving distance to and from both events, we managed to put nearly 6,000 miles on the Mustang without as much as a hiccup. Drag Week proved to be so much fun that we returned for a second shot in 2019 and clicked off another week’s worth of 10-second passes. Our goal for Drag Week was to maintain a 10-second average for each of the five days and we passed that test with flying colors, ending with an average of 10.95-seconds even though the weather was unseasonably warm at one of the tracks, Bristol Dragway, which sits well above sea level.
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