Mustang Mach 1 Racer

Horse Sense: What we've built here is a sort of "generic" open-track car, not aimed at any particular track, series, or sanctioning body. If you have a particular form of competition in mind, spend some quality time with its rule book before making all the parts-purchase decisions. NASA's American Iron series, for instance, requires the use of a spec Toyo tire.

If you've been following our series on building a Mach 1 Racer, you already know the basic concept: Get on the track for as cheaply as possible in a brand-new Mach 1-powered Mustang that you assemble yourself like some form of graduate-level metal jigsaw puzzle. We've been following the assembly of a road racer, but a quarter-miler can be created just as easily. The secret is in utilizing a combination of factory and aftermarket hardware-from bodies-in-white and complete drivetrains to the tiny fasteners and other assembly hardware that would other-wise drive you nuts trying to track down. These are gathered up and made available at more-than-attractive package prices through the combined and concerted efforts of CDC Racing and Mustang Racing Technologies, otherwise known as MRT.

This month, we wrap up construction by affixing all the exterior pieces that make a Mustang actually look like a Mustang. We'll also add some small, but essential, racing paraphernalia that will make next month's visit to the road course a (hopefully) painless experience.

Because you won't want to use the factory's heavy and complicated latch mechanisms, you'll need hood pins, not only on the hood (duh), but also on the trunklid. There are all sorts out there, but installation is basically the same. We used the existing hood-bumper holes (otherwise, drill 'em where you want 'em) and threaded the pin posts into place. Then grease was dabbed on the post tops, and the hood was gently lowered, to mark locations of holes to drill through the hood's inner and outer skins. Three-quarter-inch heater hose is used as a bumpstop to maintain hood/fender alignment.	The pin sets we used are from Sparco. This design holds the linchpin captive when unlatched, negating the need for pin lanyards. It's critical to adjust the threaded pin posts and heater-hose bumpstops to a height that retains the hood or trunk securely, while allowing easy insertion of the linchpins.	Just about all sanctioning bodies require use of an external master cutoff switch that simply wires in line between the positive battery post and the starter, allowing quick shutdown of all electrons in the event of an incident. It's also great for working on the car-no need to disconnect/reconnect the battery all the time.
No matter what your form of racing or track activity, it makes sense to move the battery to the trunk with a proper relocation kit and housing. Note the use of a rubber grommet wherever the cables pass through metal. This shot also shows the location of one of our trunk pins.	Now we're ready to begin finishing off the nose, which in raw form resembles a reject from the set of Terminator 3. Before adding the fascia or other nose components, you'll want to tape on the foam bumper former that maintains fascia shape. Without it, the fascia would simply buckle under air pressure-not doing much good for aerodynamics.	We used a Mach 1-style grille surround, as we had no desire to put a GT's plastic-mesh grille in the way of airflow. It simply pushpins in place.