As most of know, Doug Lewis is one of the founders of FPS Automotive (FPS = Ford Performance Specialists), a shop just outside Atlanta, GA that specializes in high performance Ford vehicles. Here's the story (in Doug's words) of how his SuperSHO came to be.
When these cars first hit the lots, I was a technician
working for a dealer in Florida. I got to drive on and thought to myself,
"Here is a car with Mustang-like performance that I fit in [I'm 6'-5" and
about 240lbs)". Ever since that day, I know I'd have one someday.
I got my chance in the middle of '91. It was a red '89 that belonged
to a rental car company as a personal vehicle, not a rental. It was
one off the first cars built (build date 11/88). The car had not
had the best of care, clutch was stiff, tires were bald and out of balance,
brakes vibrated and etc. But it was exactly what I wanted, so I bought
it for $10K with only 20K on the clock. After getting used to it,
I started trying to make it faster and better. I did the clutch thing
many times while trying to learn how to drag race, I also had a guy custom
bend an exhaust system for it. Things were going along just fine,
but I was still missing something. Then I started on the suspension
and brakes. I tossed the 15" baskets for a set of stock '93 slicers
and put on a set of BF Goodrich Comp T/A ZR's. These were the best
tires that I'd ever had (I'm on my third set and will never run anything
else). I experimented with cutting the springs and lowering the car
till I got the ride and the height just right. I found the right
strut combination, but there was still something missing. I started
on the chassis and installed polyurethane bushings for the sway bars, then
the strut rods and finally got the subframe. I noticed one day while
the car was running, that when you turned the wheel, you could see the
engine moving. I thought this was strange so I looked a little further.
When the steering wheel was turned, the force of the rack was moving the
subframe on its mounts. I felt the this was a good place to make
a change, so I had a set of billet aluminum mounts made by a local machine
shop. After a couple of designs, I had the right fit. The difference
was dramatic. The car was much more sensitive to steering inputs
and was a thrill to toss into corners. This made more difference
than any other modification that had been done to date.
After that, I did the Motorsports Rod Shifter
conversion and the leather on the driver's seat along with the paint, I
found a spoiler from a '91 and had the car painted in the factory color,
but base coat-clear coat urethane in a '94 design. I did the door
handles and the mirrors. Then focused on the brakes. I started
with the Performance Friction pads and evolved to the '94 brake system
then finally put the first '96 brake package together. The brakes
are marvelous.
About that time I started experimenting with nitrous oxide.
I picked up a kit from a friend and started piecing things together.
The learning curve was pretty steep as I was again going thru clutches
and having a hard time with spark plugs. I went to the first All
Ford Car and Truck show at Moroso Motorsports park in West Palm beach FL.
I was having problems getting the car to make a full pass without laying
down at the end of the track. It would pull like crazy, but after
I shifted into 4th, the car would nose over and stop pulling. I though
it might be the nitrous in the bottle, so I filled up the bottle and tried
it again. This time, the car stopped pulling just as I shifted into
4th but I didn't notice it. By the time I got to the end of the track,
the car was only running on 5 cylinders. My racing was over for that
weekend. As it turned out, the system had leaned out and burned an
exhaust valve. I didn't really know why...till later. I rebuilt
the motor and added a couple of things. I installed ported heads
and stage 1 Logicams. The motor ran great and had lots of power.
My drag racing skills were improving along with my ET's and trap speeds.
The car was running mid 14's at about 98 mph. I again did the nitrous thing
and again had problems making a full pass. I was racing a Mustang
and couldn't lift for obvious reasons. I ended up beating the Mustang,
but killed the engine again....same cylinder, same valve. This told
me that the system was at fault, so I changed the system. The problem
was the intake manifold was never designed to handle anything wet.
As the mix of gas and nitrous was moving thru the manifold, the gasoline
was falling out of suspension and puddling in the manifold. The nitrous
could make it into number six, but the gasoline wasn't. This was
leaning out the cylinder and burning the valves. I knew that the
system was the problem, so I changed the system. I installed a Pro
Fogger style system with six individual nozzles that shoots both nitrous
and gasoline directly into each intake runner. This eliminates the
problem of puddling in the manifold. The results were dramatic.
The car would make a full pass and was making tons of power and mph.
Now, with all the suspension mods and good track tires, I'm running mid
13's at 106mph. It is fun to get beside a Mustang and watch him pull
several cars at the start, then real them in and pass them at about half
track. I have managed to piss off several Mustang owners by killing
them on the track.
The latest mods have been subframe connectors
and aluminum rear control arms. The next mod is the supercharger
set-up. After building the first one for Don
Donelson, I knew I had to have one. It will be so nice, not to
have to fill a bottle to go racin'.
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