"RICO 316"
Chris's Eaton M90-blown Mustang
R.I.P.
This car was pieced together from two Mustangs that Chris owned. The first one, which got smashed, contained a vintage, carb'd 289 / C4. He installed 4.10s out back before the car got smashed, and basically had a complete rock and roll drivetrain to throw into another shell. The second one (this one) was the same color and even had the same rims, so many were fooled when the 4 cyl. swap occured. Chris substituted a junkyard 5 speed in for the ailing C4, and cruised the new combo for a couple of months.
Originally, we were not going to let Chris fire up the new combo without the Eaton M90 in the bay, but eminent eviction at his old house forced a quick re-assembly. So, after 2 days worth of chopping, welding, swearing, more swearing, and custom clearancing with hammers and crowbars, the blower was in and not throwing belts AND running the car. Jetting changes are in the works, but the extra 2-3 psi really makes a difference. The coolest part is that when the motor is running, the box below the carb gets ICE cold! Check out some pics (below) of the "intimidator." I wouldn't wanna line up next to this thing!
Unfortunately, the car never made it to the track. The night before its scheduled maiden voyage, Shaun and I noticed the electric fuel pump dripping everywhere. That ain't safe.....and that's coming from us! Then the blower imbibed one of its own bearings. (Go look it up!) I guess the blower really DID have a lot of miles on it and really DID need a rebuild, as the guy on eBay had told Chris! Finally, after the car served its final days as Chris's daily transportation (complete with the "Moon-i-nite" hole in the hood), the crank split itself. NO, idiots, the blower had nothing to do with this failure, and I'll tell you why. #1, the failure was right on the casting's parting line.....the snout didn't snap off. #2, the belt was under the same 90 ft-lb force that it would have been under with the stock Ford serpentine setup and accessories.
The car got stripped (all the cool blower stuff has been stashed away), and from the ashes will rise a badder, faster Mustang. For now...who knows. I do know there will be more pictures of Shaun's fabulous fab-work (most notably the carb-box, which is almost invisible in all the shots you see here).
12.08.04
We learned that at some point over the summer of '04, all of this stuff got thrown in the garbage by Chris's mom. Blower, brackets, carb box, probably the carb, etc, etc. For real. Holy fuck. Shooting spree, anyone?