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LIABILITY DISCLAIMER

The technical information presented on this website may contain typographical errors and/or errors of omission. All tech information obtained from this site should be verified with information available from other sources. Additionally, some procedures may not be suitable for your application. You assume all responsibility regarding the suitability and outcome of your modifications when attempting the procedures described on these pages.

Welcome to Taz's web site

This site is best viewed at a resolution of 1024 x 768 or higher. You may jump to any of the site's main category pages by using the buttons above and at the left. However, the various category pages may be linked to supplemental files and/or secondary pages that are not accessible from the button bars. Think of peeling an onion layer by layer, and you'll have a good feel for the way this site has been laid out. Except for Lunatic Ravings, each category page is arranged in chronological order, with its oldest project at the top and its most recent undertaking at the bottom. The Lunatic Ravings page is arranged in the opposite order, with my most recently published rant at its top.

You'll find many hyperlinks embedded throughout the text that will take you to other sites, other pages on this site, or various tech documents. All hyperlinks are underlined. Generally, if a link takes you elsewhere within this site or opens a local tech document, the transition will take place in your current browser window. If the link takes you to another web site, it will usually open in a new window.

Editorial Comment:  What passes for tech on many automotive forums and vendor sites these days appears to be a combination of myth, hearsay, opinion, and hidden agenda. Well, that dog just won't hunt for those trained in engineering and the physical sciences. We prefer to dispense with the BS and cut straight to the facts. What you'll read on this site is the voice of reason and the truth as I understand it to be. Period. No sales pitch; no hidden agenda. Furthermore, the information appearing here is based on first-hand experience, not something a friend of a friend happened to mutter in the midst of a drunken stupor. Just how extensive is that experience, you ask? Well, I've been a gearhead for decades. My first project car, bought brand new, was a '67 Camaro Rally Sport with a 327, and I've been turning a wrench ever since. In other words, I didn't buy my first Jr. Mechanic's tool set last week.

Sure, I publish opinions and preferences here. Mine. All based on decades of personal experience. You may not agree with all of them. Too bad. I really don't care. Go complain to somebody who does. Or just go away. This isn't one of those moronic free-for-all forums where you get your 15 minutes on a soap box to gripe about your pet peeve or grind your axe or whine about this or that or ask the same retarded questions over and over again, ad nauseam. This also isn't a site you can visit to hawk your wares or spread your favorite lies, slander, and irrational nonsense. And just as importantly, this isn't a place where you can come to further decimate the beleaguered English language by spewing an incessant stream of shabby diction and poor grammar. Please use the Internet forums for such frivolity, as everyone else does, which is why I rarely visit them any longer.

On the other hand, if you're looking for rational, insightful information, you'll find it here. This blog is focused primarily on my Mustang Cobra's upgrade program, but it also contains a lot of good general tech that I've acquired over the years. Although nothing gets said here except what I have to say, I will at least do my best to back up the information presented on these pages with verifiable data and hard numbers wherever possible, instead of shadowy innuendos and sweeping generalizations. And I will do my best to say it well, so even if you don't like what I say, you may wish to stop by from time to time, if only to enjoy what English was like prior to its decline and fall at the hands of assorted "texters," "tweeters," disciples of Ebonics, and just plain ignorant louts.

In addition to the technical information, you'll find many blue-text Editorial Comments similar to this one scattered about the pages of this site, typically wherever you find a highly controversial topic, such as HID lighting, brake component technology, and suspension choices. (I've color-coded them to enable you to easily skip over them if you'd prefer.) Each of these comments is merely a candid expression of my opinion and/or my understanding of the straight scoop on the topic at hand, supplemented by whatever relevant factual data I have amassed, and I'm not at all interested in anyone's argument to the contrary. Again, go tell someone who cares. Read the blue-text comments if you want. Or don't. Regardless, you don't get a voice in what is said.

First a little history:  I bought Taz new on Father's Day in 2001. Ever since that day, this little black Mustang has been reserved for recreational use, and has never been a daily driver. Although I've owned a number of performance cars over the years, I've never enjoyed the luxury of having a performance car that I didn't also need to rely on for daily transportation until this one. I must say that being able to take the car off the road for several weeks at a time during lengthy projects lends an entirely different perspective to the hobby of automotive tinkering. Not being forced to meet deadlines has enabled me to pursue much more extensive upgrades and to take as long for each one as I feel necessary to satisfy my perfectionist nature.

Why on earth did I name this Cobra "Taz?" Aren't cars supposed to have feminine names, just like ships? First, ships come in both genders, as evidenced by the names of many U.S. Naval vessels, such as the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower; cars are no different. Second, I didn't name this car - he already had a name. Every real car guy knows that every car already has a name. All you need to do is listen, and the car will tell you what its name is when it's ready for you to know. Over the years, I have owned a fairly even mix of cars from both genders. This one just happens to be a somewhat insane Tasmanian devil named Taz.

Taz was an outstanding car right off the showroom floor, and I thought Ford had certainly bargain priced him, considering the standard features and performance. That's why I bought him. Of course, once the "mod bug" got hold of me, I began replacing all sorts of stock components with upgraded parts to further enhance the Cobra's performance and appeal. Eventually, I reached the point at which I had spent more on the upgrades than I had for the car, itself. But so what? After all, what's the point in having an automotive toy that's just like everyone else's?

Editorial Comment:  That last thought begs the question of why so many members of the Internet's various automotive forums feel compelled to rely on peer approval to select everything from the color of their valve covers to the knobs mounted on their shifter handles. Perhaps those poor souls are incapable of independent thought and critical analysis. Or perhaps they feel so socially and emotionally insecure that they're more concerned with gaining acceptance by pleasing others than they are with satisfying themselves. In any event, they end up with cars that are exactly like most everyone else's, don't they? There's something wrong with that dynamic. To quote the late Steve Jobs, “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

Nothing really worth a damn ever was ever produced by a committee. Take a chance; make YOUR OWN DECISIONS instead of relying on a twisted social networking paradigm that reduces everyone and everything to the least common denominator and destroys originality and self-expression in the process. You may be surprised at how rewarding it can be to actually make some choices of your own. Remember, you cannot please everyone all the time, regardless of what you choose, so focus on pleasing yourself.

Let's fast-forward to the present. Here are a couple shots of Taz Cobra as he looks nowadays, after countless upgrades, large and small. The front end photo shows off the car's heat extractor hood and retrofitted ECE-spec Hella bi-xenon projector headlamps. You can find the gory details regarding the hood project on the Body / Trim / Misc page of this site, and for more about the HID headlamp project, visit this site's Electrical/Electronics page. The engine bay photo below showcases the car's Kenne Bell supercharger, which has been on the car since 2004. You can find the scoop about Taz's power adder installation on the site's Twin-screw page.

Of course, acceleration represents only one of a vehicle's dynamic capabilities. Equally important to those interested in well-rounded performance are braking and handling. From the outset, I adopted a "complete package" approach designed achieve good balance by addressing every one of the car's systems. At the same time, I was intent upon retaining an acceptably civil and refined cabin experience for myself and my passengers, and maybe even enhancing the level of refinement just a bit. To be sure, I most certainly was not interested in creating a rolling punishment box in an irrational quest to wring the last iota of performance out of a primarily street-driven car. Nor was I interested in creating a car that required continual tinkering just to keep running.

You'll find a visual chronicle on this site's Days of Future Past page of Taz's gradual metamorphosis from assembly-line product into a unique and infinitely more capable creation. For the most part, the Cobra's upgrade program has been deliberate and methodical, and I've done my best to make intelligent choices and tradeoffs along the way. I'm still not finished, just a plodder with limited funds. On the other hand, will the car ever be truly finished? Maybe, maybe not. Project cars rarely ever are. Regardless, I must have done a lot of things right, because Taz's current valuation by a licensed automotive appraiser came in at more than twice the price listed on his NADA sticker back in 2001, and he is insured with an agreed value policy for that amount through a major national underwriter of collectible cars.

To open an Adobe PDF document containing Taz's current technical specifications in tabular form, click here. Factory parts and specifications are listed with white text in the table, while all upgrades are listed with yellow text.

NOTE: The above link will take you to an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) document. If you haven't already installed Adobe Reader on your computer, you can download it free from the Adobe Website.

Recent Events

Invisible Mask

For Christmas 2011, Santa was very good to Taz once again. This time, Santa left a roll of money in Taz's Christmas stocking to pay for the installation of a clear polyurethane mask for Taz's front end. I had the folks at SmartShield install the mask in early January 2012.

The photo above is a close-up of Taz wearing his new mask. Can't really see it, can you? Well, I suppose that's why it's called an invisible mask. Jump to this site's Body / Trim / Misc page and scroll down to the bottom section to read more about the new mask.

The Archives

Miscellaneous old news is accessible from the site's Archives page. This includes photos from open track outings and other past events.

Publish your OWN website!

Taz uses and recommends IPOWER web hosting. Click on the IPOWER graphic below to get started ...

NOTE:  If you follow the above link and decide to sign up, you'll be doing us both a good turn. You'll be getting IPOWER'S excellent web hosting service and the nice folks at IPOWER will reward me with a little money to help keep this site going.

This page was last updated on 14-Jan-2012.