Engine and Management System:
353 inches
World Products MoTown Race block, splayed billet caps converted to ARP studs
Eagle 4340 non-twist forged crank, 3.48” stroke
Eagle 5.7” H-beam rods, ARP L-19 bolts
JE Extreme Duty turbo pistons, 22cc dish
Heavy Duty JE wristpins
Speed-Pro rings
Dart II 23° heads, ’91 castings, 2.055/1.600 Manley Severe-Duty valves
Custom Cam Motion solid roller camshaft, Crower roller lifters, Manley NexTek springs
T&D Machine shaft mount rockers, 1.6 ratio
Crower Rev-Kit
Blowthrough Carbureted

Induction and Fuel:  
Homebuilt Holley 750 carburetor
Hangar18 carb “hat” with integral water-to-air intercooler
Unported 2975 Victor Jr. manifold
Aeromotive A1000 fuel pump/filter
Aeromotive 132-02 bypass regulator
-12 AN feed and return lines
Stock fuel tank
Innovate LM-1 WBO2

Ignition and Exhaust: 
MSD 6AL
MSD Extra Duty distributor
Blaster 2 coil
3” 409 Stainless downpipes, 22” long, no mufflers

Tranny and rear:
1.76 Powerglide built by SWT Racing
Dedenbear case, Mike’s Transmission planetary, TCI HD input
TCI “single-dump” Transbrake
Water-to-Oil transmission cooler
9” Ford rearend, stock case, 33 Spline Moser axles, Moser spool
3.25 gears

Front Suspension: 
Stock Vega, cut V8 Monza springs
Monza spindles/brakes
Lakewood 90/10 Drag shocks

Rear Suspension: 
Chassis Engineering 32” ladder bars, HAL coil-over shocks
Custom 1” 4130 track locator
Aerospace Components disc brakes

Tires and rims: 
Centerline Convo-Pro wheels
15x4 Front, M/T ET Front 24x4.5
15x7 Rear, M/T ET Drag 26x8.5

Body:
All steel body, stock rear wheel wells
Custom fiberglass cowl induction by Speedway Collision
Stock dash and interior
PPG Mercedes Black paint
Paint & Body by Speedway Collision

Other:
Stroud parachute
SWT Racing built roll cage with “in-car” framerails

Future plans:
Add a MSD Programmable Launch Boost Controller and upgrade the current 6AL to a MSD Digital 7 ignition. Upgrade carburetor to a custom CSU unit.

Background:
A friend of mine bought this car around 1990. It came with a standard 2-bolt 010 350 block with a cast crank, stock rods, cast pistons, all stock fasteners on the bottom end, and a set of stock heads. . .along with an ugly paint job. It looked like an old Armor All bottle. He bought the car, and added a cam and a set of Dart II heads (the same that are on the car to this day) and had it running 12.20’s. In 1992, I bought the car and drove it every day.
Over the years, I reworked a lot of areas on the car, including a new black paint job. I fabricated a full 10-point cage with tubular framerails over the stock floor (Vegas do not have rear framerails). I also installed a set of Chassis Engineering ladder bars, along with HAL coil-over shocks. In this n/a trim, the car eventually ran 11.60’s @ 117 at a sea level track. In February 2001, I bought two T04B turbos and began the transformation. Because there is little aftermarket support for Vegas, I built just about everything on the car, from the headers and intercooler to the remote mounted water pump. It took me about 20 months to finish the car, with much of that time designing and fabricating the carb hat with integral water-to-air intercooler.
On January 1st 2003, I took the completed car to the annual “Hangover Nationals” at Los Angeles County Raceway to see what it would do. I was still running the same old longblock because I didn’t want to hurt a brand new engine trying to dial in my home-built carburetor setup. I was expecting the car to run high 10’s to low 11’s because I had 6 psi springs in the wastegates. To my surprise, boost was approaching 16 psi on the top end. . .resulting in a 10.10 @ 138 mph at a track with a altitude of 2800 feet! After that, I was told not to make any more runs over 135 mph until I had all the proper safety gear, a NHRA chassis cert, and a NHRA competition license.
The next year was spent getting my car (and myself) legal to run 9’s. I went back to the track for the 2004 Hangover Nationals and went 9.82 @ 138 exactly one year after my 10.10 run. I made a couple more runs in the 9.80’s before I started hearing a faint knock from deep in the engine. The stock bottom end had finally let go. Upon tearing the engine down, I found that it had two spun rod bearings, bent the cast crank .020” and bent all the wristpins. Even so, the cast pistons looked brand new and a leakdown test showed 6% on all cylinders.
The new engine is now in and performing beyond expectations. The best time so far at the local 1/8-mile track has been 6.050 @ 120.5 leaving on 8 psi and hitting a max of 15 psi down track. There’s much more left in the engine, but the limiting factor will be the 26 x 8.5 Mickey Thompson slicks...I plan on seeing just how fast I can go on them!