This page details the history and progress of our '86 Mustang SVO. We are not performing a concourse original restoration, instead we are Restifying(Restore/modify) our car.

     We found this SVO as an abandoned vehicle, it was missing the complete front nose and had 4 damaged wheels with bald flat tires, completely Rotten exhaust, and the interior was disassembled and thrown inside the car. The car did not run when we found it, and was about to be towed off and junked. I wish I had a picture of it when we first found it.
     After locating the front cover and headlight mounting panel(1 of the last 3 in the country in the Ford system), I got it tuned up and running. All the brakes were replaced, new tires installed, new Cat back exhaust (Custom Y Pipe, MAC 2 chamber Flowpaths and MAC 2 1/2 tail pipes) and a new radiator. I started driving this everyday because some Ohio High school students vandalized my Mark VII on Memorial Day weekend in '97.

The above pictures were taken on the way to the Reunion '98 Show in Nashville Tennessee last April. We had a convoy organized for the trip down, Those who participated were Mike Ray, Lee Clary, Rob Bohuslav, Tim Smith and Myself (Paul Becker). We had 4 SVO's and 1 5.0 LX (Rob's), Mike's girlfriend Alicia Politi and Eric Crouse came along as Co-pilots.

Despite the impending rain, we all cleaned our cars for the show. Even with the rain, we had over 40 SVO's in attendance and everyone had a fantastic time, This years Reunions promise to be Must See events as well.

     As work progresses on our SVO I will post the updates and pictures on this page, In December of '98 a deer decided to cross in front of me while driving and damaged the front left corner of the car. Some of you may also remember that I was rear ended in the spring of '98 by a '65 Mustang Coupe. Now its time to go over the body and paint it, It was finished for the Carlisle Reunion (but it was close) we were installing the NOS body side moldings on the show field! The modifications and Restoration items done so far are listed below.
 

The car was gutted in preparation for paint, Everything was removed so that the new color could be sprayed into the jambs without fear of getting paint on anything else.

Here is what remains of the factory buildsheet, it was fused to the floor and the only numbers you could read where the last 5 of the VIN. This was found under the carpet on the passenger rear floor, others have found there build sheets in many different areas, it seems Ford has no rhyme or reason on where they put these.

Here I have the car loaded up on the trailer on its way to the Body shop. I found a couple of bent rear window molding clips so the rear glass was removed. Upon removing the rear glass, I found that the factory had not put any primer down for the glass bed to adhere to, the old rubber bed pulled off easily without any residue. I am glad I did this, that could have been a potential leak, plus it makes for a nicer paint job.

They started on the car right away (surprised me), this was taken the next morning. They had straightened the hood where Bambi made contact and had a skim coat of filler on it.

Here the car is in the process of the stripe removal. You can also see where the fenders were cut in with the new color prior to installation.

Here the door jambs have been cut in, these pictures don't do the color any justice.

This picture shows the underhood area cut in. Again, the photo does not give a good representation.

Here is the finished job just as I brought it home from the Body shop. Now the fun part of putting the puzzle back together and detailing everything. Look, No more Stripes!!
 

. Our first outing was the Carlisle Reunion June 4th-6th 1999. We also drove it to the Tennessee Reunion October 2 & 3rd 1999.

This is the finished product on the showfield at the Carlisle SVO Reunion. Finishing touches like body side mouldings and emblems were put on at the show. We still have a lot of plans for this SVO, which include suspension and engine modifications so stay tuned......

Modifications:

• K&N Cone filter
• Balanced and Flow matched stock injectors
• 3" Downpipe
• MAC Flowpath mufflers and 2 1/2" Tailpipes
• Motorsport Aluminum Driveshaft
• Steel bearing retainer
• 190lph Fuel pump
• Vortec T-Rex external Fuel Pump
• 180 degree thermostat
• Cam (Motorsport A237 Roller)
• Ric Gillis Valve
• Race Engineering round tooth adjustable cam sprocket system
• Billet Idler
• ARP Head Studs
• Ported E6 Exhaust Manifold
• Ported Intake manifolds(upper and lower)
• T4 Turbo
• Kirban Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator
• PRO 5.0 Shifter
• Bi-Wing supports(see The SVO Club Of America for these)
• White faced guages
• Intercooler polished and painted gloss black
• Kenwood In dash CD amplituner with Boston Acoustic front speakers and Polk Audio rear speakers.
• SVPU Stage 3 Performance brake upgrade(cross-drilled rotors, pads, Stainless Steel brake lines, 73mm stainless steel caliper pistons & Motul 600 brake fluid)
• White face guage kit
• '01 17" Bullit wheels
• Billet Aluminum Flywheel
• Ford Motorsport Clutch

• Global West subframe connectors

• MAC G-load brace

• Energy Suspension Polyurethane transmission mount

• Energy Suspension Polyurethane transmission crossmember bushings

• MAC Tubular rear control arms w/ polyurethane bushings

Restoration/Maintenance:

• New headlights and marker lights

• New clutch cable(long one)

• New clutch cable(little dog bone)

• Rebuilt trans

• New Rear Main seal, valve cover gasket & PCV(to stop the oil leaks)

• New Door weatherstrip

• New Window run weatherstrip

• New Hatch weatherstrip

• New Lock set

• New Tail light lenses

• All New emblems

• New Leather Seat covers(from E&G Classics)

• Installed NOS guage cluster lens

• New Koni struts and shocks

Cars on Display along with our '86 SVO were an original 289 Cobra(complete with Webers), a Pantera, '97 Saleen S351 and an original 65 Shelby GT350 R Model.

Here is a picture of the SVO at Talladega Grand Prix in September '00. I was looking for a functional wheel that would help cool the brakes better than the stock wheels so I used Probe GT wheels(which had to be modified to fit). The tires are Kumho ECSTA Supra 712(225/50-16s). The Kumhos handle GREAT! Also newly installed for this event was our SVPU Stage 3 brake upgrade along with a new set of Konis all around.

The latest change was the addition of a set of '01 "Bullit" wheels, these are 17X8 and are wrapped in another set of Kumhos(can't you tell I love these tires?), size is 235/40-17 all around. These wheels are NOT a direct bolt on and require some work and custom center caps.
 

This is the original 93,000 mile shortblock, its in excellent condition, clean inside and had plenty of oil pressure. We are installing a set of ARP head studs as added insurance since Boost is addictive.

We never knew what our old cam was until it was removed, turns out it was a Motorsport A234, we are replacing it with the Motorsport A237 which is the roller version of the same cam. Pictured here is the cam freshly installed. The only thing we did to the head was a 3 angle valve job and install the new cam.

Its coming together we are installing a set of ported and polished intake and exhaust manifold done by Modern Performance.

It may be overkill but I decided to go with the Race Engineering round tooth adjustable cam sprocket system and billet idler.

Here is everything installed and ready to go to Talladega(with only 3 days to spare before leaving). What started out as a simple engine reseal snowballed a little bit. We now have a T4 Turbo and Spearco front mount intercooler added to the mix.

Finally ready to head south to Talladega Grand Prix for a good thrashing around the track. We drove the 800 miles south to Alabama without a single problem or incident. Prior to leaving I did trim the rear quarter lips for extra tire clearance, with the car loaded with had some contact over larger bumps. I did not modify the wheels to get them to fit, I modified the rotor hub outward of the bearing race on a lathe and then had to make custom center caps since the dust cap extended past the wheel.

Here is our SVO on the Dyno at the Carlisle All-Ford Nationals June 2nd,2001. We pulled 205 rear wheel Horsepower and 247 lbs of torque.

It's been a while since we updated our SVO project. In the fall of '03 we developed an engine noise after a day of thrashing it at Talladega Grand Prix so we used that opportunity to install the 2.5 Stroker we had sitting on the engine stand.

February '04: We were honored that the Magic City Mustang Club asked us to participate in their display at the World Of Wheels in Birmingham. We took 1st place in our class.