Anthony Heard’s 9-Second 1999 Mustang

Anthony Heard’s 9-Second 1999 Mustang

This 1999 Ford Mustang was bought as a rolling shell eight months before the 2017 NMRA Spring Break Shootout which included the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout. Anthony Heard and his crew then thrashed on the shell until it was ready to make some test runs a few weeks before the race. Their to-do list included installing the roll cage and drivetrain, body work, painting, wiring and plumbing to make it street- and race-worthy.

That made Anthony’s victory in the 2017 TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout that much more rewarding for him and his crew! Making Anthony’s victory even more impressive was the powertrain combo. Even though mod motor and Coyote V-8s are all the rage in the Ford world these days, and Anthony had won the TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout previously with a mod-motor Mustang, he decided to go with something very different with this new car: a 331-inch Windsor-based pushrod V-8 with a single turbo. That’s right, good old pushrod power bested two four-cam mod motors and one Coyote V-8. The 331 had a Trick Flow heads, Total Seal forged pistons, forged heavy-duty rods and a Haltech EFI system.

Why did Anthony choose a Windsor-based motor? “I’m all about simple and making everything easy to work on, and the 302 Windsor-based engines do just that,” he answered.

When you take a look at Anthony’s New Edge Mustang’s engine compartment, it’s easy to see what he means by “easy to work on.” With the petite Windsor motor in place, the bay looks cavernous compared to a modular two- or four-valve V-8 between the shock towers—even with all the plumbing linking the single Precision 76/75 turbocharger to the 331-inch V-8. 

Behind the small-block is a TREMEC Magnum six-speed, which offers plenty of strength for racing. And when it comes time to driving the car on the street, its double overdrive makes all the difference.

“The Magnum six-speed is strong when we need it to be going down the track, but can also let the Mustang cruise down interstate at 80 mph like it’s nothing,” Anthony explained.

How different does the turbo Windsor feel behind the wheel compared to the mod-motor setup Anthony had in his previous Mustang? “The biggest difference is this combo is a lot more street friendly,” Anthony said. “The naturally aspirated 363 motor was a blast, but just not something we could drive all the time. Now having the turbo, I don’t have to get so aggressive with the engine like I did with the naturally aspirated combo. I wanted an 8-second stick shift street car and couldn’t be happier with how the car turned out right now.”

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