In maintaining our emphasis on Ford restomod performance, we offer these insights into making your Mustang or other vintage Ford run with the best out there. Whether it's horsepower, handling, or braking, there's something here for whatever project you're working on. Take a little time and study our list, and see how many of these pointers apply to your high-performance Ford.
Under Pressure
If the engine you,'re planning for next season has aluminum heads in the formula, remember that you can be more liberal with your compression ratio. The superior heat-dissipating qualities of aluminum allow you to run a higher compression ratio than would be possible with cast-iron heads. Some new cars equipped with aluminum heads have a compression ratio as high as 10:1. Your aluminum-headed mill can go this high, too, as long as you run premium gas.
More Voltage, Less Filling
In the never-ending quest to keep weight off the front wheels, many Ford owners opt to move the battery to the trunk. While this does help, it involves lots of work in routing heavy cable all the way to the trunk, which leads to considerable voltage loss because of the distance of the battery from the starter. One great compromise is a dry cell battery. They,'re so light that weight is not much of a factor. These batteries are also very small, so they fit easily in special applications. Ours has lots of cranking power and has never let us down. Also, tech inspectors at the dragstrip like them because there,'s no liquid acid to worry about.
Peace-of-Mind Switch
Another advantage to using an electric fuel pump is that a fuel cutoff switch can be mounted inside the car in a secret location. This is a low-buck anti-theft device that's worth lots more than some of the expensive car alarms we've seen.
Soak Your Header Gaskets
One problem you may be having with your headers is recurring leaks. A simple trick we use to solve this problem is to soak our paper-based header gaskets in water overnight before installation. This causes them to swell up and make a better seal. Fire the engine, and the heat will cure them into the correct position.
Ice, 'Er Down
Ever wonder why they sell so much ice at the dragstrip? They,'re not putting it in their beer cooler. Ice down that intake manifold after each run and your engine will get a colder, denser, fuel/air charge on the next run. We all know that a cool charge packs more punch, just make sure to put the ice in a bag first so you,'re not leaking water all over the track!
Further Advancement
We've noticed that our EFI conversion cars are very sensitive to distributor timing advancement. Although the 9:1 compression engines will run fine on 87-octane regular fuel, our 5.0 likes more advance than 87 fuel will tolerate, and ping or detonation is the result. Rather than retard the timing, we're buying 92-octane premium fuel because the performance difference on the freeway on-ramp is dramatic. The improvement is well worth the extra cost.
Negative Ions
You may not believe this, but the truth is that high-voltage ignitions can create an ionized condition under your distributor cap. When this happens, you'll often get a miss that is impossible to diagnose because the ions allow the spark to travel along wrong pathways under the cap. Lift the cap to inspect the rotor, and so on, and the ions dissipate, so the miss goes away--but just for a while. The solution is to drill a 1/8-inch hole in the rear of your distributor cap. This allows the ions to escape. We know this sounds far-fetched, but if you don't believe us, look at a new 5.0 distributor cap. You'll see that Ford has the vent already built right in on the top of the cap. It's covered by that little black, loose cover.
Get Rollin'
One hot performance tip for your early Ford engine is a roller cam conversion. This nifty kit offered by Crane Cams allows you to enjoy roller cam advantages, like greatly reduced internal friction (which means more horsepower) and quieter operation. If you're considering a cam swap, the roller cam conversion doesn't require much extra work, and it's well worth the effort. Info: Crane Cams, Dept. MF, 530 Fentress Blvd., Daytona Beach, FL 32114; (904) 258-6174. | 
Crossover Power
In the quest for inexpensive horsepower, one of the best and most economical ideas we know about is to install a crossover pipe on your dual exhaust system. Any good exhaust shop can weld one into place in no time, and you'll see a noticeable gain in power and torque. Your exhaust system will also have a quieter and smoother tone. | 
Lighten Up
We don't need to convince you of the need for disc brakes on your high-performance Ford. You already know about the superior and fade-free stopping power that disc brakes offer. What you may not know is that Stainless Steel Brakes now offers a PBR all-aluminum front disc-brake caliper kit to fit your vintage Mustang. These calipers reduce unsprung weight, which can be just the advantage you're looking for on bumpy road courses. When there is less weight for the suspension to control, the tire returns to the road faster after a bump for improved handling and safety. Info: Stainless Steel Brake Corporation, Dept. MF, 11470 Main Rd., Clarence, NY 14031; (800) 448-7722. |
Mess Reducer
We all know that it's a good idea to change the transmission fluid in your car's automatic transmission from time to time to keep your gearbox working smoothly and to prolong transmission life. If you've ever done this job, then you know it can be a big mess with tranny fluid spilling everywhere when the pan is lowered. A simple solution is to install a drain plug in the sump pan as shown. Now, when it's time to work on your automatic, it's a quick and easy task to drain the pan without the usual mess. | 
Start Me Up
In the unending quest for weight reduction, here's a cool item. A high-torque mini-starter not only saves weight, it has more cranking power than an original, standard-size starter. Another advantage is that the small unit works in confined spaces when the full-size unit won't, so it's the hot ticket when you're using headers or engineering a custom application. They're available from either Ford Racing Performance Parts [Dept. MF, 44050 N. Groesbeck Hwy., Clinton Township, MI 48036; (810) 468-1356], or Hamburgers' Division of Mr. Gasket [Dept. MF, 8700 Brookpark Rd., Cleveland, OH 44129; (216) 398-8300]. | 
Keep Cool
Whenever you've made performance upgrades to your car's engine, you know that the mill is also generating extra heat. There are lots of folks out there who can help you with an oversize radiator. One look at this unit and it's easy to see that you'll have plenty of extra capacity available (compared to a stock radiator on the left) to cool that hot engine on a warm day. |