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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 Internet storefront sites these days appears to be a combination of myth, hearsay, opinion, sales hype, and hidden agenda. That dog just won't hunt for those of us 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 and 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. I've been a card-carrying ratchet head for decades. My first project car, bought brand new, was a '67 Camaro Rally Sport with a 327, and I've been an automotive enthusiast 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. Each based on decades of personal experience. You probably won't agree with all of them, and I really don't care. Go complain to somebody who does or just go away, because this isn't one of those moronic free-for-all forums where you get your 15 minutes on a soap box to rail about your pet peeve or grind your axe or whine about this shortcoming or that or ask the same lame questions over and over again, ad nauseam. Neither is this a site you can visit to hawk your wares or spread your favorite lies, slander, and irrational prejudices. But most importantly, this isn't a place where you can further decimate the beleaguered English language by spewing an incessant stream of shabby diction and poor grammar. However, please feel free to use the Internet forums for those purposes. Everyone else obviously does, which is why I rarely visit the forums any longer.

On the other hand, if you're looking for real tech information, you'll find it here. Even though this blog is focused primarily on my SVT Cobra's upgrade program, it also contains a lot of good general tech that I've acquired over the years. Make no mistake. Nothing gets said here except what I have to say, but I will at least do my best to back up the information I present on these pages with verifiable data and hard numbers wherever possible, instead of employing the shadowy innuendos and sweeping generalizations that you'll usually find elsewhere on the Internet. And I will do my best to say it well, so even if you don't agree with what I say, you may wish to stop by from time to time, if only to sample 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 much technical information, you'll find many blue-text Editorial Comments like this one scattered about the pages of this site, generally wherever there are controversial topics, such as HID lighting, brake component technology, or suspension options. 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. They're color-coded to enable you to easily skip them if you'd prefer, but I'm not at all interested in debating anyone's opinions to the contrary. Again, go tell someone who cares. Read the blue-text sections if you want, or don't. Regardless, you won't get any rebuttal time around here.

Why "Taz" of all names? Aren't cars supposed to have feminine monikers like ships? Umm, no. 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. As any real car guy will tell you, every vehicle already has a name, and the car will tell you what it 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 little Tasmanian devil named Taz.

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 project 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 extended periods in order to tackle lengthy projects lends an entirely different perspective to the hobby of automotive tinkering. Not being forced to meet completion deadlines has enabled me to pursue much more ambitious projects and to take as long for each one as I feel necessary to satisfy my perfectionist nature.

Taz was an outstanding car right off the showroom floor, and I thought Ford had certainly bargain priced him, considering his standard features and performance. That's why I bought Taz. Of course, once the "mod bug" got hold of me, I began replacing all sorts of perfectly good stock components with upgraded parts to further enhance the Cobra's performance and appeal. Eventually, I reached the point at which I had spent considerably 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 exactly like everyone else's?

Editorial Comment:  That last question begs another: why do so many members of the automotive community 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. Are those poor souls incapable of independent thought and critical analysis? Or do they perhaps feel so socially and emotionally insecure that they're more concerned with gaining others' approval than they are with pleasing themselves? Regardless, by habitually making their upgrade choices based on consensus, they end up with cars that are just like most everyone else's, don't they? But considering one's car is supposedly an extension of his/her unique personality, there appears to be something dreadfully wrong with this dynamic, doesn't there? 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.”

In my opinion, nothing really worth a damn was ever produced by a committee, so I personally find the consensus approach to automotive tinkering completely abhorrent. Why not take a chance on YOUR OWN DECISIONS, instead of relying on a twisted social networking paradigm that reduces everyone and everything to the least common denominator, while destroying originality and self-expression in the process? You may be surprised by 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 why not focus on pleasing yourself?

Let's fast-forward to the present. Here are a couple shots of Taz 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'll 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 showcases the car's Kenne Bell supercharger, which has been installed since 2004. You can find the scoop about Taz's power adder project on the site's Twin-screw page.

Of course, acceleration represents only one of a vehicle's performance facets. Equally important to those interested in well-rounded performance are braking and handling. From the outset, I adopted a "balanced package" approach designed achieve good overall equilibrium by addressing every aspect of the car. 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 it just a bit. To be sure, I most certainly was not interested in creating a rolling Guantanamo Bay experience in an irrational quest to wring the last iota of performance out of a primarily street-driven car. Nor was I keen on building a car that required constant tinkering just to keep running.

This site's Days of Future Past page provides a visual chronicle 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 the most appropriate choices and tradeoffs along the way to achieve my goals and to suit my own personal preferences. 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 this 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 open 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

2012 Annual Photos

Taz's 2012 photo shoot is now available for review. The above two photos of the car were taken during this shoot. Unlike the photo below, they reflect my recent adoption of HDR photographic techniques for improved images. If you like them and want to see more, jump to the 2012 Upgrades section of the Days of Future Past page.

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 his front end. I had the folks at SmartShield install the mask in early January 2012.

The photo above was shot immediately following Taz's invisible mask installation. Can't really see the mask, can you? Well, I suppose that's why it's called an invisible mask. Jump to HERE to read more about the new mask.

Rear Sway Bar

Taz's second 2012 upgrade worthy of mention was a 29mm sway bar from Eibach. I had often thought of replacing Taz's OEM rear bar with something stouter, while leaving the factory front bar in place in order to further reduce the car's understeer, and a fire sale by one of the Internet parts vendors on the Eibach bars was all the incentive I needed to finally pull the trigger.

Installation of this new bar resulted in a remarkable change to Taz's handling. You can find the details about the sway bar upgrade HERE.

Fuel System Upgrade

The Cobra's third major 2012 upgrade centered on replacing the unbaffled OEM fuel tank with a newly developed Glenn's Performance internally sumped tank.

Although I was unaware of it when I started down this particular path, installing the new tank also required swapping out the OEM fuel hat, level sending unit, and Kenne Bell F1050 pump. You'll find all the details HERE.

The Archives

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

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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 17-May-2012.