January 2010 Car Of The Month: Spyder7724

psfracer

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Ron Leonard's 2006 Mustang


The first car of the month for 2010 is the N/A record holder! Ron Leonard (Spyder7724) had previously held the stock long block record (281CID, stock heads) with an 11.89 @ 114.77 mph last year. But, Ron wanted more. What to do though when your motto is “Gas and Whining are for Babies, Real Men do it ALL NATURAL”?

Ron’s solution to this quandary was to go with a 5.4L 334cid 3V mod motor out of an Ford F150. But this is no ordinary 334 cid mod motor. Ron assembled the shortblock with the stock forged crank, probe lightweight I-beam rods, and probe lightweight 12.2:1 flat top pistons. The cylinder heads were CNC ported and polished by Sutton, and a Comp Cam custom grind solid roller camshaft that still makes power at 8000 rpm was added. The specs on the camshaft are secret, so don't ask haha. Custom made adjustable solid lifters with Comp Duramax beehive springs along with custom made adjustable VCT lockouts finish out the valvetrain setup.

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What a work of art. Awesome looking custom JPC intake.

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Check out the Moroso sheetmetal valve covers.

Of the many obstacles Ron ran into building this custom set up, the intake was perhaps the largest, as no one made an intake manifold for the 5.4 capable of power to 8000 rpm. Ron had JPC build a prototype intake manifold for the 5.4 that was then port matched to the cylinder heads. Ron uses a GT 500 throttle body, 60lb injectors, a 90 mm CAI, and the JPC custom intake to make power up to 8000 rpm.

Trick looking Moroso sheetmetal valve covers along with the custom JPC intake make this 334 cid mod motor a work of art. A Meziere electric water pump, along with coated Hooker headers to an off-road x-pipe and flowmaster mufflers finishup this potent combination. With Woodbine Motorsports (WMS) tuning the car, the car put down a very conservative 421rwhp on E85. With the high stall automatic, the real number is probably much closer to 480-500 rwhp.

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Ron roasting the M/Ts

But this power is useless without getting it to the ground--and Ron gets all of it to the ground with amazing mid 1.4X 60’ times. The 5R55S is stock except for the custom made TCI 4000+ stall converter. As the developer of the Sydershaft, Ron’s car runs the first Sydershaft made from the 5R55S to the 8.8 rearend stuffed with motive 4.30 gear set and a detroit tru-trac. The front suspension uses an AJE k-member, a-arms, and radiator support / sway bar delete. Ron modified the Strange fox body struts and uses QA-1 250lb front springs. The rear suspension consists of stock springs with 1 coil removed, strange shocks, an adjustable Steeda upper control arm, and L&M lower control arms. Bogart Welded R/Ts with M/T tires front and rear add the final piece to Ron’s effective set up.

So, as the N/A record holder, what is the combo good for? On 10/29/2009 at Capitol Raceway, Ron became the first N/A mod powered S197 in the 10s! First pass off the trailer was a 10.997 @ 123 mph. Then he backed it up with a 10.91 @ 124 mph. And that is at a relatively heavy 3680 lb race weight! I can't help but wonder how fast this car would be if Ron raced at Cecil or Atco during one of those "mineshaft air" days......

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AJE a-arms shortened 2 inches make the front tires really tuck under the front fenders.

Below is Ron’s list of modifications to this impressive mod motor N/A S197 record holder:

"Engine is a 2004 5.4 3Valve from F150 built by me using the following parts and specs.
Block: stock iron bored .020 over
Crank: stock forged, balanced and magnafluxed
Rods: Probe custom forged steel superlight I-beam
Pistons: Probe custom forged aluminum superlight 12.2:1 compression flat tops coated
Rings: Sealed Power moly file fit 1mm- 1mm- 3mm
Bearings: Cleavite
Misc.: ARP main studs, head bolts
Flywheel: SFI 8bolt
Balancer: March fluidamper
Heads: stock ford 3v with Sutton HP CNC port job
Valves: stock with 3 angle valve job
Valvetrain: Comp custom solid roller cams (specs are top secret), custom adjustable solid lifters, Comp Titanium retainers, Comp duramax style beehive springs, stock followers, custom made adjustable VCT lockouts.
Intake Manifold: JPC prototype 5.4 version using a GT500 T/B, 60lb injectors, 90mm CAI
Valve Covers: Moroso sheetmetal
The rest consists of: Meziere e-W/P, Hooker coated L/T’s off road H-Pipe with 40-series flowmasters
Drivetrain: stock 5R55S trans with a custom built TCI 4000+rpm stall converter, The very first Spydershaft aluminum driveshaft, 4.30 motive Ax style gears, Detroit tru-trac and otherwise stock.
Suspension: AJE K-member, A-Arms and rad support. Strange rear shocks stock rear springs (-1 coil) and modified Strange fox body struts with QA-1 250lb. front springs
Steeda adjustable UCA and L&M LCA’s with custom torquelinks.

Wheels & tires: Bogart welded r/t’s with M/T drag radials front and rear.
Hood: RK sport functional ram air with aerocatch hood pins.
Battery relocation, sway bar removal and in race trim I use a butler built aluminum race drivers side seat in place of the stock leather front seats.
All tuning done by Woodbine Motosports with help from Bamachips."

Here is a video of the new combo in action for the first time. Most runs were in the 11.30s. http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t32/jwgroovin/MasonDixon10-3-09/?action=view&current=09100306.flv

You can read more about Ron's journey to implement this set up here: http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6047

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Yes, you are #1.
 
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stkjock

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Congrats Ron - Well Done!!

:cheers:
 
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Croft

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WELL DESERVED!!!! Congrats Ron! I am very anxious to see what numbers you pull this new year.
 

chad05gt

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Congrats on the kickass build; project in full...

The full weight, street friendly, pump gas friendly, ...


10 seconds, N/A, done RIGHT!!!
 

spyder7724

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Thanks guys. I'm very honored. I know it probably won't last too long cause there's some guys out there itching to put together some lighter combos with even crazier engine stuff than i came up with but even still it's nice to be the first and to do it without any gimmicks.
imagine what we could do if our cars weighed what a fox body does.....thats what i've been thinking now. where do i go from here.
thanks to all the members for their help through the years you guys are awesome.:beerchug3:
 

Shades

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Sweet car and what a hell of a engine. Any plans on building that tranny sometime soon? Congrats on being COTM!
 

don_w

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Great choice for COTM! :clap:

I have always admired guys who think out of the box, and have the skills necessary to do the custom and one-off things. And Ron has always been on the leading edge. I tip my cap to you, Mr Leonard! :hi:
 

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