Published on July 14th, 2012 | by Gearhead Diva

Week 1 Recap: Powertrain

Starting with a bone stock 2013 Mustang GT 5.0 donated by Ford Motor Co., our all-female team has less than 2 months to transform the American icon from work-horse muscle to luxury tire slayer. There’s no shortage of components that are being provided by several SEMA-member aftermarket companies to support the build so it’s up to us to get it all installed.

Week one was all about horsepower and what better way to kick off a build than by dropping in an Edelbrock Supercharger? The stock Mustang already delivers 420 hp but when the team got their hands on it they had it pumping closer to 599 hp. Test drive anyone? I guess I could take one for the team.

The supercharger install was complete by Tuesday afternoon and fired up on the first try. Then, Wednesday was all about tuning for optimal performance. In order to perform the supercharger install some of the front end had to come off including the front fascia and the hood, which as it turns out, isn’t self-supporting. To remedy that, the team installed new hood struts and did away with the supporting rod.

By Thursday, the team was already reassembling the car while preparing components for the upcoming week, which is all about supporting that extra power with goodies like upgraded brakes, rear axle, panhard bar and more.

This week’s team included JoAnn Bortles, team leader and award-winning custom painter who along with S. Kellie Colf were responsible for making the build a reality. Also wrenching were Camee Edelbrock, Karen Salvaggio, Susan Carpenter, Rose Kawasaki and Samantha Whitfield. They were then joined by Julia Johnson and Raquel Rangel from Skyline College mid-week. HOT ROD staffers Julia Cyr and Elana Scherr were also there to cover it all, giving readers a front-row seat to all the action.

Check out more coverage, photos, and information about the participating SBN members and manufacturers:

Photo Credits: Bryan Harrison & SBN

Tags: edelbrock supercharger, mustang build powered by women, mustang gt, sbn, sema

About the Author

Gearhead Diva Purveyor of the illest car stuff on the net, decreaser of stance and performance suck world-wide, proud superfan of mods and now recommended by 4 out of 5 people that recommend things.