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(last updated 02/25/04 )

Did I mention that I really liked the Mustang SVO yet?

On October 20th, 1998 I purchased another 1986 Mustang SVO. I bought it from Art Griggs down in Sonoma, California. Art is part of the Griggs Racing family, famous in racing and Mustang engine rebuilding and suspension parts - if you haven't heard of them, you haven't been around the Mustang scene much. I got to drive their race car, a 1989 Mustang LX convertible - SCCA Racer - full race (wow!), and their production 1998 GR-40 Mustang Cobra! (see Mar '99 Super Ford)). Both cars are loaded with all the Griggs Racing goodies.

My 1986 Jalapeno Red SVO (color code 2R)

And Another!

I'm the 6th owner of this car - for those into SVO's, this car was sold in the Midwest, ordered out of Kansas City. I'm currently researching the dealership where it was purchased and will them try to find a license plate frame from said dealer... It was ordered with every option available in 1986, leather and sunroof. The color - Jalapeno Red - was available in 1985 and 1986 and this SVO is one of 666 painted in 1986 in this color. I hope that number has no significant meaning...

Normally I would never consider a midwest car because they salt the roads there, but this car has no rust! Researching the history of the car told me this was because the car moved to California very early in life. That could be why the paint is so faded in areas!

It's well used but in good condition. It has ~~136,000~~ 141,000 miles on it (3000 road and the rest on track). When I bought the car, the engine was just rebuilt and it had a lot of trick stuff done to it:

port matched and flowed head
exhaust ports have been matched and flowed
intake ports have been matched and flowed
the turbo boost and timing have been enhanced by bypassing the regular/premium fuel switch (about 18 pounds of boost now)

While the engine was out I had Griggs do their trick front suspension to the car. This corrects some of the problems with Fox-body Mustangs. The SVO has completely different and unique suspension parts from all the other Mustangs - but there are still some things that needed to be corrected. The Griggs Racing GR-40® front suspension parts completely replaced what I had on the front of the SVO (of course I kept everything they took off in case I wanted to make it original again). This took about 80 pounds off the front end and:

corrected ackerman - a defect in all Mustangs
allows me to fully adjust camber and caster
can raise or lower the front end 2" maintaining full shock travel

Among the parts replaced with GR-40® goodies:

Tubular "K" member
tubular control arms (SVO, they make SN95 too)
coil-over kit using original Koni Red Adjustables
bump steer kit
300# coil springs (I think I want 350's)
Maximum Motorsports camber/caster plates

Art did a lot of things to the car that really showed me he cared for it - and if you didn't know, a lot of these parts are expensive and/or very hard to come by these days (which is why I'm always looking for spares and have quite an arsenal of my own):

new Koni "red's" all the way around
new quad-shocks on the rear axle
new headlights, turn signals and side markers
new Climate Control Panel (these wear out)
polished SVO wheels (they want $350 each new if you can find them!)
spare set of seats
new hoses
spare interior parts
spare steering wheel and shift knob
new brakes and tires
new hatchback cartridges (holds the hatchback up when you open it, kinda nice unless you like bashing your head when you put the groceries back there...)
much, much more!

Here's the modifications and fixes I made up to 1999:

Replaced Clutch, Pressure Plate, Throwout bearing, pilot bearing
Replaced the clutch cable, dog-bone cable, clips on clutch cable assy
Replaced the fuel tank and all fuel filters
Upgraded the fuel pump to 190lph Welbro
Replaced the TPS
Replaced rear end gear oil with RedLine 75W90 Gear Oil
Replaced transmission fluid with RedLine ATF
Replaced power steering fluid with Mobil 1 synthetic
Replaced brake fluid with Motul synthetic brake fluid
After 2000 easy breakin miles, running Mobil 1 5W30 in the engine
Installed 9mm spark plug wires
Installed NGK TR-5 V-groove spark plugs
Replaced intercooler hoses with T/C hoses, removed intercooler brackets
Replaced Coolant Temperature Sensor
Replaced all door and window seals
Removed the foglights and add ducting to brake calipers
Added SVOCA bi-wing supports (these are GREAT! - have them on both SVO's)
Added heater core flow restrictor (both SVO's now)
I recently broke a wheel stud - these are not easy to find... Replaced.

Whew! And we aren't done yet... On Christmas Eve Day 1998, I was out driving the SVO - having fun. It was such a nice day, sunny and warm for the time of year. While "playing" with the throttle I heard the sound of the overboost warning - and continued to keep my foot on the gas. Next thing I saw was green water shooting out the drivers side of the hood and power was quickly dropping off. The car was stalling. I had just blew the heck out of the head gasket... I was able to pull the car off the road into a driveway. At that point I realized that I had forgotten the cell phone. Long story short, a good samaritan allowed me to use tWhen my mechanic tore the head off he noticed metal in one of the cylinders. Not knowing if this was part of the ring or worse, I had the entire engine torn down. If you are a gearhead, don't do this - it will cost you money. See, it doesn't stop with a simple rebuild - no, you have to add this, do that and pretty soon you have a race motor. I ain't complaining - the darn thing is a rocket. Anyway, I decided to do some very tricky things with the motor and turbo to make this a bit more fun on the track. The turbo safety gear was hooked up again - right now I am satisfied with the 15-18# it is delivering and feel more comfortable keeping my foot into it.

While we were diggin' in the motor, here is a list of things we did:

Turbonetics T03/04 hybrid turbo with ceramic bearings
SVPU-acquired aluminum flywheel
K&N cone filter (removed stock airbox)
all kinds of Esslinger goodies inside and outside the engine
Hayes racing clutch (Centerforce-like)
Custom 8 qt. oil pan
removed the air conditioning equipment - don't want that dragging things down now!
subframe connectors
a new set of Bridgestone RE730's (RE 71)

The engine now has approximately 400 miles on it now - 150 of them are on track. This car rocks! And I'm still not done with it yet...

Future work to do to the car:

Griggs Racing Frame Stiffening kit
- or -
Kenny Brown jacking rails
Kenny Brown panhard bar and trak kit
Global West rear upper and lower control arms
- or -
Griggs Racing GR40 rear suspension kit and panhard rod
Kenny Brown 2 point strut brace
AutoPower roll cage
4 or 5 point seat belts - both sides
~~flow match the fuel injectors~~
~~upgrade the turbo~~
replace the broken stereo (it works but no lights and the pots need cleaning)
a bit of body work on the inner fender (passenger side)
White Face Cluster Guage Kit (change the gauges from black to white faced)
reface the steering wheel and shift knob
~~find interior screws (obsoleted?) and screw down the rear interior pieces~~
~~install a Fuel Safe gas tank (they make them to fit where the original is...)~~
~~New Tires!~~ Probably an extra set of BFG Comp T/A R1's or Hoosier Racing tires too
Fix the seats (either install backup set or recover the ones in there or maybe a racing seat in the drivers compartment?)
someday I'll have it painted - right now I'm partial to the factory color
oh, and I'll think of something else soon...

None of this is in any particular order... This should keep me busy (and broke!) for a while.

NEW! In July 2001, I was doing a track day with the Shelby Club. This car really does rock with the new motor and other work done to it so far. Unfortunately, two things happened that day... First, the bolts for the exhaust manifold came out. Boy was the unlucky track person who picked these up off the track a little angry about that... So the car filled with a bit too much Carbon Monoxide that afternoon and me thinks I was a bit hazy when I popped the hood latch and forgot to close the frickin' hood before heading down the highway. I remember seeing it bounce and then WHAM - it hit the windshield and shattered it real good. It also messed up the cowling and dented the hood. I have since bought another hood for it but haven't fixed the cowling yet - or the exhaust manifold 'cuz I bought an Ice Cream store and have been way too busy the last two years to do anything... Driving the car with the hood up is quite an experience. I don't recommend it to anyone.

I plan to fix these things Spring 2004 so I can get it back out on a track day with my Shelby Club buddies. I'll keep you posted.