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Justin Burcham drives the first S197 Mustang to run in the 8s with a Three-Valve mod motor. The barrier has been broken, as Justin Burcham ran an 8.89 last Friday night at Maryland International Raceway, marking the first time a Three-Valve-powered S197 Mustang has eclipsed the 8-second zone. Regular readers are most likely familiar to Burcham’s antics with Ford’s latest musclecar. He ran oh-so close to the 8s at our S197 Shootout last fall with a 9.05. A blower tube popped off on the run, preventing him from doing it at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park that day. Perhaps one of the more amazing accomplishments with Burcham’s run is that he relied not on his Boss-based, 322ci engine (built by Rich Groh), but rather on Ford Racing’s new Aluminator short-block, as he has been working with Ford Racing on the development of that engine lately. Burcham used his Fox Lake-ported Three-Valve heads and custom grind camshafts. He also relied on a ProCharger F1R blower and a nasty shot of juice courtesy of a Nitrous Pro Flow fogger system to get the job done. Justin has also credited Brisk spark plugs as a big contribution to the record run. The engine would burn the tips of some other plugs every time he leaned on the nitrous real hard. He felt the elongated tip of the plug contributed to the burnt tips since the nitrous tune was very conservative. The Brisk plugs were resistant to the extra heat and worked flawlessly. The combination is nothing out of the ordinary, and is far less mystical than anyone would have thought for such a monumental accomplishment. I did a story on the Aluminator engine in the latest issue of MM&FF (June 2008). It is a crate engine offered by Ford Racing that carries some really nice features. The engine is based on the Terminator Cobra powerplant, but is centered around an aluminum block to save weight. Inside, there is a forged steel crankshaft, Manley rods, and forged pistons. Ford Racing sells it in three configurations—Four-Valve, Three-Valve, and Two-Valve. It is also available as a Four-Valve long-block with and without a Ford Racing supercharger. For those who are afraid of the aluminum block for durability reasons, don’t be. It is a solid piece that has an enormous amount of webbing and support in all the right places. It is rumored to be the aluminum block from S197 Mustangs, but that is not confirmed. We do know that Ford Racing puts these engines through rigorous durability testing, thus adding testimony to its reliability. After all, Ford Racing won’t offer a part that will be suspect. It also survived Burcham’s torture test, so we know it will be good for the masses as he puts a mix of street and track miles on his mule. For those who don’t think Burcham has a legit street ride—I know firsthand that it is street worthy. There have been times when I stayed over night for a tech story and we took his ’05 Stang back to his house! The car is as legit as any serious MM&FF True Street entry, right down to the air conditioning. I spoke with Burcham right after the legendary run, and the best part is that he is all ready thinking of a new twist for the car. He was rattling off different induction combos and swapping back and forth between his Boss 322 and Aluminator engine. He said he won’t stop until he has more information and pushes the boundaries even further. Burcham even hinted that he might be going for 200 mph in the standing mile, then head to a drag strip and run in the 8s—all with the A/C blowing cold and driving it on the street. Check out the YouTube video of his run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mt1mXiVKvU
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