It's In Primer!
"Originally, we planned to paint it red," Jonas says, "but we were working with Sherwin Williams, and once the bodywork was done, they shot the car with this silver primer. We liked it so much that we decided to just have the car sprayed in clear over this primer, and that's what's still on it today."
Although one school of thought likes to throw as many mechanical upgrades onto a project car as possible, with the concept of balance being paramount with the SVC, the list of performance-related additions was relatively few. The stock, 4.0L single overhead cam V-6 was given added boost (literally) by a Vortech V-1 supercharger and Power Cooler. For the blower installation, the car was shipped to the folks at MRT, and Scott Hoag and his gang also performed the tuning. The stock exhaust was ditched in favor of JBA full-length headers and cross-over midpipe, along with a set of dual axle-back mufflers and tips. "The exhaust made a big difference," Jonas says. "It gave it a real musclecar sound, even with the V-6."
With the engine enhancements, the SVC was pegged at 345 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque. One thing that did become apparent, with the extra grunt, was upgrading the clutch. "We found out pretty quickly that the stock clutch in a V-6, five-speed manual combination couldn't really handle the power," Jonas says, "so we called up Fidanza, and they shipped us a single-disc, carbon-fiber clutch. From driving the car, I like the smooth, linear action and shifting feel, the fact that the motor can spin faster and yet the clutch takes a pounding-it's been no trouble at all."
Other driveline additions included replacing the 7.5-inch rear with an 8.8 and Traction-Lok diff from a GT to cope with the increase in power. However, testing revealed a few obstacles, which have since been dealt with. "We discovered that the V-6 Mustang fuel tanks don't come with baffles in them," Jonas says. "We found out the hard way when we starved the engine of fuel during some hard turns, and it blew while out on the road course. Needless to say, we found ourselves a good, 8,000-mile replacement engine and installed baffles in the tank."
Track Weapon
From the mere mention of "road course" and an engine which "blew," you might gather that, indeed, this car has been flogged within an inch of its life on several occasions. With suspension upgrades, courtesy of Blue Moon Motorsports, including a tubular K-member, control arms, and a pair of sway bars-a BMR front unit and a rear one pirated from an '05 Mustang GT, along with the requisite brake upgrade-Jonas says, "We've got our Force 10 system with 14-inch discs, four-piston calipers on the rear, and eight-piston calipers on the front-hey, we're a brake company." The silver SVC had demonstrated rather amazing performance.
"We took it to Road Atlanta, and it performed really well on the track," Jonas says. "The sticky Dunlop tires give it a lot of grip, and with the V-6, it's about 150 pounds lighter up front than a [Mustang] GT, so it can surprise a lot of more powerful cars." And as for stopping power? "Coming off the straights, with those brakes on it, I was able to scrub off 100 mph in just 200 feet!" Now when the president of a brake manufacturer gets that excited about a project car, you know it must be something special, which the SVC most certainly is.