This EARL's fuel filter is...
This EARL's fuel filter is small and easily cleaned. Just install it somewhere along the fuel circuit that's easy to reach. Where the fuel lines pass through the interior sheetmetal, they should be routed through metal conduit or tubing.
Up front, we added a Fluidyne electric fan to the radiator, which will conserve horsepower over a mechanical fan. We've also elected not to run an alternator, so the actual time the electric fan is allowed to run will have to be kept to a minimum. We'll also keep a sharp eye on the battery charge. Chris helped us build a radiator shroud out of plastic to make sure all available air makes it to the cooling unit. The flexible plastic is available at most racing supply shops (we got ours from Heintz Performance) and is a lot more durable than sheetmetal if you bang up the nose. And for us, banging up something on the car isn't a question of if, it's when.
The electric radiator fan is connected to a master control switch from QuickCar Racing Products. The panel is actually an ignition switch with a starter button and an accessory switch to which our fan is run. QuickCar Products makes a complete line of controls and gauges aimed at the budget racer, and we used its products on several places on the car. In the cockpit, we are also using a QuickCar master disconnect switch and the company's four-gauge panel cluster. The panel is compact and much easier to install than individual gauges. Ours has a large tach with memory recall, and oil pressure, water temperature, and oil temperature gauges. Each gauge is also wired to a warning light. We are also using QuickCar's extra-long battery cable kit and remote battery terminal feed-throughs so we can charge the battery between the heat and main without removing any body panels.
K&N makes an air cleaner cover...
K&N makes an air cleaner cover specifically designed to maximize flow into a two-barrel carburetor, so that's what we are using. The filter is 14 inches in diameter by 4 inches tall, which turned out to be too tall combined with the carb spacer. We didn't want to cut up the hood, so we ended up switching it out for one that was 3 inches.
Finally, after many nights of making sure everything was connected properly, we fired up the engine. Oh, what a beautiful sound! It was like our delinquent teen had surprised us by bringing home a report card with straight-As. All the trouble was suddenly worth it. Of course, we fouled a couple of plugs and busted the power valve in the carburetor along the way, but that hardly matters now. After a few victory laps up and down the driveway, we loaded the car up again for a trip to get a makeover. This time, we headed to Eddie's Paint and Body (Eddie is Chris Hargett's dad, and his shop shares the same driveway as Chris' shop.) to get the Mini Stock a new suit of clothes.
Roberts Custom Automotive Paint in Mooresville, North Carolina, is not your average paint shop. There are no insurance claims here or little old ladies looking to repair the front bumper of their Buick after running over a shopping cart. No, Keith Roberts and Mike Peeler mix and sell paints specifically to race teams. They deal with Valspar paint, a product seen on several cars racing on Sundays. Peeler helped us with a half-gallon of torch-red paint for Eddie to spray, along with enough silver and black to do a little trim work. We are using a two-stage paint (color then clearcoat), which should really bring out the shine.
An inside view of the control...
An inside view of the control room. Simple and clean is the idea here. Of course, those of you with a sharp eye will notice that we still have a little work to do on the shifter.
Eddie handled the prep work in a couple of evenings after work and did all the painting on a Saturday. The design is simple and should be easy to touch up in case new sheetmetal must be put on later. As soon as the paint was dry, we put the car back on the trailer and headed to American Sign and Packaging (ASAP) for the final touches on the No. 9. Owners Mark Dyer and Ronnie "Cheeseburger" Bacelo specialize in producing graphics for race cars, and we set them to work designing a scheme that would fit the paint job. We've had several companies involved in the buildup, so the car has to represent them well. The same goes for any race team trying to keep a sponsor happy. Now that the Mustang looks like a car again, we think it does just that.
In due time, I'm sure the Mini Stock will collect more dents than a golf ball, but for now it's looking pretty good!
The stock manifold is all...
The stock manifold is all we are allowed to run. It has a water jacket that runs between the runners, which we obviously don't want. A trick we are trying is to seal off the inlet side with liquid gasket and part of an aluminum can (it's thin enough so it won't interfere with the seal between the manifold and the head). It's also a little-known fact that going with a Mountain Dew can is worth an extra 5 hp.
Eddie Hargett put a new coat...
Eddie Hargett put a new coat of shine on the beast for us at his body shop. It sure is nice to finally have the whole thing one color. We are using Valspar brand paint from Roberts Custom Automotive Paint. It's affordable ($400 in materials to paint the car) and has the same pigment count as other, more expensive brands.
The Keith Dorton Series Holley...
The Keith Dorton Series Holley carburetor sits on a 2-inch phenolic spacer that should help limit the inadequacies of the stock intake manifold we're required to run without modifications. The throttle linkage comes from Longacre. Its return-spring bracket is designed to be bolted on a Chevy 350, but it's easy to make work on a Ford 2.3L.