InsideCustom Auto Interior in Bloomington, California, did the two-tone dirt/clay vinyl theme. It complements the wowie-zowie orange and becomes an energetic canvas that continues through to the trunk. Ron Magnus filled all the superfluous dashboard holes and made panels that fit beneath it. LP Racing rewired the car, fit the Auto Meter Ultra-Lite gauges, and put a Grant 14-inch steering wheel between them. The front seats are out of a '90s Saturn, the rears are Magnus. There's no A/C, but Scott's aural fix is handled by a Pioneer head, 6-inch front speakers, and 6x9 rear speakers.
PowertrainLP Racing in Upland, California, does more than chassis work. It poured the pork to the Mouse with some ace parts. The engine, like the rest of the car, includes subtle cues that set it apart from the ordinary. Outlaw Racing Engines in Upland did all the machine work and bored, honed, and decked the block. A stock oil pan covers the ubiquitous Melling high-volume pump. Mahle flat-top pistons sport an 11.0:1 compression ratio and have been coated to fight friction and heat. They swing on Eagle 6-inch H-beam rods and the Bow Tie steel crankshaft was straightened, polished, and nitrided. To realize that old-time feeling, nothing less than a Comp solid-lifter, flat-tappet cam (250 degrees duration at 0.050-inch, 0.525-inch lift) would do; it went into the block with a Comp Cams double-roller timing chain. The Dart Iron Eagle 200cc heads were treated to the usual three-angle valve job, work 2.05/1.60 stainless steel valves, and were decked and port-matched to the Edelbrock Victor Jr. intake manifold. Manley double valvesprings are commanded by Crane Gold 1.6:1 roller rockers and hardened 31/48-inch-diameter pushrods. The 750-cfm Speed Demon carburetor uses mechanical secondaries, and the mixture is fired by a complete MSD system (Pro Billet distributor, 6AL box, and Blaster 3 coil). Stinky stuff is purged by Patriot midlength headers that dump it into 3-inch pipes then through Dynomax mufflers. Not coincidentally, all fasteners are from ARP and the accessory drive is a Black Mountain Precision cog-belt arrangement. The no-nonsense rocker covers are sheetmetal tents. Scott put his money on a 700-R4 overdrive fronted with a 12-inch Toy Shop converter and a B&M shifter. J.E. Reel in nearby Pomona made him a 3-inch-diameter driveshaft that spins the gaff to a 9-inch housing bolstered by a Detroit Locker differential and 4.10:1 gears.
ChassisSo how was Lang able to fit a nearly 10-inch wheel under the stock fender like it was born there? A narrowed Ford 9-inch housing and mini-tubs worked wonders here and are integral to the Total Cost Involved Engineering front and rear suspension assemblies underneath. TCI goes to the front with a Mustang II clip featuring 2-inch drop spindles. The Mustang springs work with Competition Engineering dampers but there is no antisway bar. Mustang II comes to the rescue again with rack-and-pinion steering. TCI subframe connectors inhibit torsional stress, and for tire sidewall clearance the springs were moved inboard. Competition Engineering shocks and Slide-A-Link traction bars plant the tires.