Project 5.0 Revival (Part 1): Launching Summit Racing's Mustang GT Project With Bolt-On Power

Slide Show

We’re convinced that car years are like dog years. Just like a two-year-old pup is actually 14 in dog years, a car that’s, say, 10 in people years is probably a lot older in car years. Whether it’s double, triple, or more, your guess is as good as ours. But we’ve seen too many cars that were used up far sooner than their chronological ages would suggest to believe otherwise.

Take the 5.0 liter Mustang as an example. The first ones were built way back in 1978; the last models rolled off Ford’s assembly line in 1995. Chronologically speaking, 5.0s are old. In car years, they’re darn near geriatric.

But unlike dogs or people, the technology exists to not only extend the life of America’s favorite ponycar, but make it perform better than when it was new. That’s the idea behind Summit Racing’s latest project vehicle, a black 1995 Mustang GT. We’re going to show you how to build a 5.0L in affordable stages using proven, reliable parts from Summit Racing and Trick Flow Specialties. We’re also going to test the car after each stage on BigShot Dyno and Performance's Dynojet chassis dyno so you can see the real-world performance results.

Baseline Results
We hooked the as-delivered Mustang to BigShot’s chassis dyno to get some baseline numbers. Our GT delivered a surprising 199 horsepower and 288 foot-pounds of torque to the rear wheels—shocking considering it was factory-rated at 215 horsepower and 288 foot-pounds of torque at the flywheel. Some credit goes to the more efficient five-speed manual. But the monster torque number leads us to suspect the car came with either a bigger rear axle gear or a bigger cam—or maybe both. We’ll find out eventually when we get into the engine and axle.

Stage One Upgrades
Our Mustang revival starts with some basic bolt-ons—ignition tuneup parts, cold air intake, exhaust, underdrive pulleys, adjustable clutch quadrant, and a short throw shifter. This is stuff that even a novice mechanic can install in a weekend. Let’s take a look at what we used:

Ignition Tuneup
Before you start throwing on performance parts, you better make sure the engine’s basic systems are functioning properly. That means doing things like checking compression, timing, and fuel delivery, replacing old hoses and gaskets, changing the oil and other fluids as needed, and refreshing the ignition system.

We followed our own advice and updated the ignition with a Summit Voltmax X-Treme Wire and Cap Kit and a Summit TFI Coil. The Voltmax kit includes custom-fit, low resistance 8mm spiral core wire, plus a high-quality alkyd distributor cap, and rotor. The coil is designed for Ford TFI-style ignition systems, and puts out 40,000 volts to wake up those spark plugs.

Cat-Back Exhaust
One of the first upgrades a car guy makes is to ditch the stock exhaust system for something less restrictive and better-sounding. We treated the GT to a Summit Cat-Back Exhaust System. It features 2 1/2 inch diameter, mandrel-bent tubing, a pair of turbo-style mufflers, and mounting hardware. The system is aluminized for rust protection, and since it leaves the catalytic converters in place, is a great way to free up power and stay emissions-legal too.

Cold Air Intake, 75mm Mass Airflow Sensor, Underdrive Pulleys
Cold air is power-building air. That’s why we replaced the factory air intake with a Summit Cold Air Intake. It feeds the engine cold, dense air from inside the fenderwell instead of hot engine compartment air, improving horsepower, throttle response, and even gas mileage. It comes with a reusable air filter, polished intake tube, and mounting hardware.

The Summit Mass Airflow Sensor helps improve performance thanks to its state-of-the-art electronics that is calibrated for use with cold air intake systems. That allows the engine computer to more quickly and accurately set fuel and ignition parameters to the increased airflow, which in turn improves power and driveability.

The Summit Underdrive Pulley Kit frees up power by slowing down the engine-driven accessories. The kit comes with billet aluminum crank, water pump, and alternator pulleys with a nice blue anodized finish.

Adjustable Clutch Quadrant and Short Throw Shifter
It’s no fun banging gears when the shifter feels like it’s attached with rubber bands and the clutch pedal is as firm as a wet paper bag. We fixed both of those problems thanks to a Summit Short Throw Shifter and an Adjustable Clutch Quadrant Kit. The shifter is all billet aluminum and stainless steel, and comes with a stop collar and adjustable locking gear stops to prevent overshifting. The billet aluminum clutch quadrant is much stronger than the factory plastic part, and is adjustable so you can easily tailor the clutch takeup to your driving style.

Dyno Results
The improved breathing and hotter spark will make an excellent foundation for the engine upgrades we’ll be installing down the road, To be honest, we didn’t expect big power gains from our Stage One upgrades, but we were pleasantly surprised at the dyno results—12 peak horsepower and 5.5 foot-pounds peak torque at the wheels.  Not bad for a day’s worth of bolt-ons, is it?

What's Next
Things will be looking a lot brighter the next time you see our project GT. That’s because it will be wearing a brand new paint job courtesy of Tallmadge Collision. Once the Mustang is back in our eager little mitts, it will be time for Stage Two:
• Trick Flow roller camshaft
• Summit throttle body, 30 pound injectors, and 80mm Mass Air Sensor
• Summit shorty-style headers
• Summit 3.73 ring and pinion gear set
• Summit lowering springs, rear control arms, and cross-drilled rotors
For now, let’s see how easy it was to help our tired old 5.0 breathe a little more freely.