2003 Ford Mustang Mach 1 - Mongoose Mach

Corey Mccomsey’s 2003 Mustang Mach I
From glancing through the specs on this feature you'd probably find it hard to believe there was a time when Corey McComsey wasn't into cars. But there was. "Up until I was about 16-1/2 I wasn't that interested in cars." One day however, that all changed and yes, a Mustang had something to do with it. "One day, a buddy of my dad's pulled up to the house in a souped 1964-1/2 coupe. He tossed me the keys and said 'go for a drive.' My life hasn't been the same since." This was back in Corey's high school years and after driving the classic Pony, he need something a little more than the average grocery getter to tool around in. "I got my first Mustang in my junior year of high school. It was a red 1984 GT hatchback." Corey did a bit of work to it, namely swapping the single exhaust for true duals, but his time with his first steed was checkered. "It got stolen twice. The first time it was joy riders and I got the car back, but the second time it was never recovered." With the insurance money, Corey purchased a motorcycle and a little Ford Escort, but it just wasn't the same. "After owning a Mustang I just couldn't go back to a slow car." So he went out and bought himself a 1988 LX coupe. "This car was in really nice shape, it was midnight blue and I really liked the color. The only problem was that it was an automatic. I put 4.10 gears in it, but after a year decided to sell it, I just couldn't really deal with the automatic." By this stage, Corey was now out of high school and had some disposable income, so he set about finding the 'perfect' Mustang, in his case a clean coupe with a five-speed. "I eventually found one. I don't know why, but it was tough to find clean five-speed coupes in my area, but I came across this white '89 and bought it. And that was where all the trouble started." Corey's '89 went through more driveline combinations than stripes on a Zebra. "Every combination and every Vortech blower you could think of, that car had it. My '89 went from daily driver to street/strip to dedicated strip car. In the end it just got too expensive. It was running 8.60s at 160 mph and was making 1,000 hp to the tires, but I was just breaking parts all the time - everything you could break I destroyed twice on that car."

However, towards the end of his tenure with the '89, McComsey purchased a red 1992 LX for a daily driver. "It was my second red hatchback. I bought that one from my buddy who'd pulled it apart. I put it back together and even took it racing in NMRA Factory Stock. My claim to fame is knocking out number two qualifier Robin Lawrence at the tree during a race at Mid-Michigan Motorplex." However, like his previous red Mustang, this one also got stolen and wasn't recovered." However McComsey wasn't without a steed, having a purple 1996 GT with a Vortech supercharger, motor work and a Tremec TKO to play with. "That was actually a pretty neat car. The last year I had it I drove it every day, even in the winter. Put a set of snow tires on it and off she went - that car never got stuck." In July 2002 however, Corey decided to step up and purchase his first brand new Mustang - the car you see here. "I was initially considering a Cobra, but then the Mach 1 was coming out. It had a four valve engine with a solid rear axle and you could get an automatic trans - I liked that." On March 3rd 2003, McComsey took delivery. Now you're probably thinking that buying yet another red Mustang might turn out to be a bad omen, but up to this point, things seem to have worked out rather well (and we're not about to discuss anything else relating to red Mustangs and theft). "My first goal with this car" relates Corey, "was to put a blower on it and go beat up on supercharged Cobras - they're everywhere around here, but a Mach 1, you see maybe one or two a month." So that was the plan. However, as plans often do things changed. "I was on my mission to make more power than a stock 2003-04 Cobra, when a friend of mine, Mike Wesley, then working at ATI Procharger in Kansas asked me if I'd be interested in coming down there and using my car as a demonstrator for their new blower. I just couldn't pass it up." So Corey drove to Kansas and the car took up residence at Procharger for approximately five weeks. "I picked it up with the blower installed - the sweet deal was, I got to keep the supercharger. My Mach 1 now made about 450 to the tires - I drove it for a year and tried getting it in the 10s. One day I decided to put in a higher stall converter than stock, but ended up blowing the trans. So I ended up pulling it out, getting it rebuilt by Lentech Automatics and had a 4000 rpm stall converter and trans brake added. After that it went 11.60 at the dragstrip but I knew I wanted more." By this stage Corey had been getting a lot of interest about his Procharger fed Mach on the message boards and the folks at Accessible Technologies were intrigued - enough that a plan was made for McComsey to upgrade this blower to a D1. "These guys were great - they did the upgrade for free." With the blower installed, it was back home and back to Mid-Michigan for some more dragstrip action. And this time, Corey did something. "With the D1, the car went a 10.96 a 124 mph - I was really happy about that - my car became the first automatic Mach 1 documented in the 10s with a stock shortblock - that was a great day."

Over the winter of 2004, McComsey figured out his next plan of action. "One really nice day, toward the end of winter I decided it was time for some motor work - I was going to put a Livernois 5-liter stroker in the car, with Manley rods and forged Mahle pistons." Even with his day job as IT specialist at Livernois and recognition as a blower 'guru' at the shop "the guys would always drag me out from the back when somebody came in with a blower question," it still took quite a lot of time and effort to get the 5-liter stroker V8 completed. "It took about a year and a half to get it all done. It was a question of time and money, plus I was always changing things. I had the heads CNC'd and when we had the shortblock assembly completed and put the motor back together and then in the car, it was already June 2006. I did the fuel system and stuck two Ford GT pumps on, along with a booster. I was one of the first to use the GT pumps. I did a lot of research on returnless fuel systems and found the limit. When building the motor I also decided to upgrade the blower again, and went with Procharger's F1A. With 29 lbs of boost - the car made 781 horsepower and 686 ft-lbs to the tires." So by this stage, Corey had a car with almost 1,000 horsepower to the crank that he could drive every day if he wanted - a far cry from his old '89 LX. "My commute to work is 34 miles each way and last year I used to drive it all the time. It still has stock cams in it. Even the exhaust, JBA headers, Bassani X-type mid-pipe and Dynomax mufflers, is fairly quiet. I've tried to keep it fairly close to stock and although the blower gives it away - it sounds like a chainsaw - there isn't too much else. I run Verde 17-inch stock style rims on it and even the boost and air/fuel gauges for the blower are tucked down and out of the way. It basically looks like a stock Mach with a blower and wide rear tires (the backs are 315s)." But still, McComsey has surprised more than a few people. "Guys will try it but so far I've never lost a race. It's been fun. One year, coming back from World Ford Challenge 8 in St. Louis, I was eating Cobras left right and center." Small wonder McComsey's plate reads MONGOSE! However as much fun as he's had, the Mach, as we go to press is currently getting some more engine work. "The engine is out right now - it broke a cam bolt but otherwise it's mint inside. It was setup to run 22-23 lbs of boost and I was pushing 29 out of the blower, but now, I'm going to put a different piston in it to handle the higher boost - with a smaller pulley I think I can get at least another 5-6 lbs out of it which will be good for another 100 hp to the tires." So that's where things are at. But, before our conversation ended, Corey mentioned that he's selling the Mach. "I know, I've come all this way, havea 1,000 horsepower car I can drive on the street, but you know what? Everything's for sale. I'm married now, got a wife and two kids - my wife likes my hobby, but even she's a bit fed up with the amount of money I've spent on these cars that break all the time. I'll get another car down the road, but once the spring hits, I'll think about selling this one." However, before he does, there's one more thing still left to do. "I'm going to take it to the track and this car is going to damn well run 9s on 17-inch drag radials!" There's no argument from us on that one.

Specifications
Corey McComsey's 2003 Mustang Mach 1