The factory motor blew in 1995 at around 200K miles and the car was put into storage due to lack of funds. I had bought some parts over the years it was sitting but the most expensive parts were just to much money. I started restoration of the car after I sold a house in early 2007 and had some cash to spare. I decided I wasn't going to cut any corners with cheap crappy parts and that I was going to do the job right. The picture to the right is what the car looked like after 12 years under a car cover in my garage. It had a few small dings in it from my kids when they were messing around in the garage but for the most part it was still in great shape!

The crank and block broke when the original engine gave out so I had to throw it away. I couldn't find another H.O. 1984 5.0 block so I decided to go with a later model roller block. I had it bored and stroked to a 347 using an Eagle balanced rotating assembly with SRP forged pistons. I bought a set of new Edelbrock aluminum heads and I ported and polished them. The heads had 60cc combustion chambers which brought the compression ratio up to around 10.5:1. I  just installed a new Meling high volume oil pump because the off brand one I first intalled broke. The car has a Milodon oil pan.

 For the first camshaft I chose the E303, a smog legal cam from Ford but I wanted a more modern grind. The car now has a Comp Cams Valvetrain and a XE274HR-12 Cam. I used Crower stainless steel roller rockers for the top end and a Edelbrock (quiet) gear drive to bind it all together. My factory trans was the non-world class T-5 which wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes on the new motor so I bought a new Z-Class T-5 which was a much stronger trans. I also replaced the factory 7.5 rear end with a 8.8 with 31 spline Alloy USA axles and an Eaton Posi unit and joined the two together with a Ford aluminum drive shaft. For traction I put on a set of Lakewood's top of the line 5.0 traction bars. This is another thing I will be changing down the road due to poor ride quality.

For the ignition I used a pro MSD distributer and 6A ignition components with Ford Racing 9 mm spark plug wires. I also just installed a MSD timing controller. For the induction I used a port matched Edelbrock RPM Airgap manifold with a Holley 650 double pumper carb and a Holley high flow mechanical fuel pump. My latest install is going to be  a NOS Sniper 150 wet shot. I installed a set of Hooker 1 5/8 headers and 2.25" off road duel exhaust with 40 series Flowmasters. I am going to be changing the exhaust to a 2.5 X pipe when the cash flow allows. For the accessories I used ASP Red underdrive pullies, a Milodon high flow water pump, Powermaster 160 amp alternator, a Flex-a-lite Black Magic Xtreme electric fan and a Ford Racing aluminum radiator.

 The interior of the car is pretty much all new or cleaned up like new. The factory seats are temporarily replaced with Procar racing seats due to a cat that was sneaking into the car and sleeping/spraying in it. Because the car was locked I never looked in it for several years. I had no idea a cat was even getting into the garage let alone the car. The little bastard was getting into the car through the gear shift hole in the floor board while there was no motor or trans in it. I will eventually be getting the factory seats redone to replace the Procar seats. I also redid the gauges in white and got a 140 MPH speedo.

I used Ford Racing "C" springs for lowering the suspension but eventually I would like to totally redo the entire rear suspension with new MM adjustable uppers and lowers and ditch the traction bars to smooth out my ride quality. Right now I get killer traction but my car rides like a covered wagon! I will eventually be redoing all the brakes when I have the money to do so. I wanted  to have close to 500 NA horsepower at the flywheel when I had the motor completed but my dyno program says it will be more like 420 HP.  Then the Nitrous system I am adding will boost that horsepower pretty close to 600 which is getting real close to the stock block breaking point and I don't want to push my luck, so 420 NA HP will do just fine. At least until I can afford a Dart block LOL!!

Due to not having the new rear end in the car when I ordered my Centerline Scorpions, I had to guess at the rear rims back space because the new rims and rear end were changing to 5 lug. Unfortunately I was about 1 inch off on the measurement, so the rear tires stick out a little more then I like. I called Centerline and found out my mistake was going to cost me around $400 to have them re spaced so I haven't had them done yet. My current rim and tire setup is front 245-40-17" Riken Raptors on an 8" wide rim with 5 inch back space. Back is 275-40-17" BF T/A Drag Radials on a 9.5" wide rim with a 5 inch back space.

The car had Riken Raptors all the way around at first after the new motor install but I couldn't keep the rear tires from spinning if I jumped on it in 1st and 2nd gear, so I had to switch to the BF Drag Radials instead. In the video I have posted on here you can hear the tires starting to let go in first and second, so I was having to be real careful to not lite them up. Now with the new drag radials on it I can take it up to the red in first and second a little easier and not have to worry about being all over the road. I haven't tried any super hard launches in it since I put the new tires on it. I will take it to the track after I get the new cam, Nitrous and oil pump installed.

As far as the Stereo goes, I haven't done anything really special. I have a Pioneer 6800 head unit. I put Rockford Fosgate 3 1/2's in the dash. I made custom 5 1/4 enclosures for in front of the driver and passenger seats because I didn't want to wreck the stock door panels. I put Infinity speakers in those. I put a set of Hertz ECX-690 6X9's in the cargo area of the hatch where the stock speakers use to be. The only tricky part of the system was building the enclosure for the 12" JL sub in the hatch area where the spare tire use to be. The sub is completely hidden. To power the whole system I used an 1800 watt 5 channel Earthquake amp. The stereo sounds pretty damn good!

Thank you for taking the time to check out my car and it's specs! On the next page you will find information on my latest rebuild with pictures of my newly cleaned up engine bay and motor. If you have any questions I will do my best to get back to you in a timely manner. I will be checking in on this page about once a week. Please sign my guest book or leave a comment if you have time!