HOT ROD Power Tour 2017 Is Presented By Chevrolet Performance And Driven By Continental Tire
If you think that Power Tour is just for rocking chair cruisers, think again. Michael Callahan from Cincinnati, Ohio, always dreamed about going to Bonneville with a street car and getting into the 150MPH Club. Or should we say drive a car to Bonneville, make his passes, and then drive it home. A few years ago he got into the 130MPH Club with a 1999 Crown Vic that was a Bondurant Driving School car set up by Jack Roush with a 1999 Mustang Cobra drivetrain. He got into the club with it, but he knew it couldn’t go 150mph. He retired from the printing business and the search for a 150mph street car commenced. In 2015 he found the car he thought would work in California, this 1969 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. These cars were originally made to fight the aero wars in NASCAR, where a 500-production run available to the general public was necessary to homologate the cars for racing. In all 502 were built, all with 351 Windsor engines, C4 automatics, and all in white with either blue or red accents. The noses were extended, lowered, and a flush grille was added. Ford Torino Talladegas were built in a similar fashion. The front bumpers were modified rear bumpers, V’d in the center and capped to help aero. Also, the rockers were modified to roll into the frame sooner, to cheat the NASCAR rules about stock ride height. NASCAR measured at the rockers, so if they are higher, then the car can be lower, for a lower center of gravity and better aero. Get it?
What Michael got when he bought the Merc was a modified Spoiler, set up basically like you see it here. Painted a non-stock black, it also has a 1970 351 Cleveland with 4bbl heads and single 750 Holley, hooked to a wide ratio Top Loader 4-speed trans. Out back a 2.75 gear and Detroit Locker rear also got Michael a few steps closer to Bonneville. The mods and improvements sealed the deal and he drove it home from Torrance, California, with a list of things to fix with every mile driven. Over the last two years of ownership Michael has made substantial small fixes and improvements to ready the car for its salt assault.
Changes to meet SCTA specs to race the 2-1/2 mile course included a 4-point roll bar, driveshaft loop, V-rated tires, 5-point harness and seat brace, and a handful of other additions. When he put it on a chassis dyno a few other changes were deemed necessary to surpass 150mph at Bonneville. Beehive valve springs with titanium retainers were added, an Edelbrock air-gap intake replaced the single plane manifold, 16-inch rear wheels were added to gain speed, an aluminum driveshaft replaced the clunky original, and many minor changes were made to the Holley. But keep in mind that this car runs a mechanical fuel pump, stock pistons, rods and bottom end. With those changes the Merc ran 168mph simulated on the chassis dyno at 5900rpm.
After all of the thrashing to prepare it for its maiden runs on the salt, the 2015 Bonneville meet was rained out, so the wait began for 2016. When it finally arrived Michael drove the Spoiler 1800 miles to Bonneville. Getting there for Tech Day, he passed tech and the next day ran 154mph on his first pass, with a backup pass of 153mph, making it into the 150MPH Club no problem. This was done with windshield wipers and side mirrors, the tune he drove it to Bonneville with, and a mix of the 91 octane gas he came to Utah with, and some 100 octane gas he picked up on the course. He told us the passes were exhilarating, and that towards the top end it skated quite a bit. But if you don’t back off and over correct you’re positioned to complete the pass short of breaking a part. When Michael is telling the story it seems so simple; just drive your street car to Bonneville from Cincy, go 150mph, and then drive home. Of course we know that any effort like this required plenty of planning, thought, time and money. Still, Michael got into the Cyclone really reasonably, and though he expected he might have to rebuild the engine and do other major mods, it ended up being one of those happy ending stories that greased the skids to fulfilling one of the most improbable dreams a hot rod enthusiast could have. Congrats to Michael and to his murdered out Cyclone Spoiler II.
Frequently asked Questions: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hot-rod-power-tour-2017-faq/
Driving Directions: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/2017-hot-rod-power-tour-route-download/
Main Event Page: http://www.hotrod.com/events/power-tour/
For More Coverage, follow us on Facebook and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hotrodmagazine/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/hotrodmag/
The post 2017 Power Tour Cyclone Spoiler II That Got Its Owner Into the 150mph Club At Bonneville appeared first on Hot Rod Network.