From the July, 2011 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords / By Mark Houlahan / Photography by By The Author

We're taking a hard look at our High School Hauler project and trying to determine the best course of action for each area we want to upgrade and in what order. Of course, there are no hard and fast rules as to order, but some things do make more sense than others when you look at the big picture. Still, you can really start pulling your hair out when you start to consider, "Do I buy new headers or do I get those cylinder heads I want first?" Yes, indeed, tough questions are an aspect of every build, be it a drag car, road race car, or just a fun street ride.

For the High School Hauler, we knew we'd be getting into the engine sooner or later with some sort of heads/cam/intake package, an upgrade to the 8-inch diff with some gears, and other performance upgrades, so we wanted an exhaust system that would handle these upcoming near-future performance mods and complement our final power level. We decided to upgrade the exhaust first due to the state of the current system, which was as basic as it could be; long-tube headers with straight pipes, a pair of welded mufflers, and turndowns.

While the system was throaty at idle, it was unbearable at speed. What sounded cool 10 years ago when the coupe was a daily driven high-school ride just wouldn't cut it now. We wanted long-tube headers for their tuned primary equal length tubes that promote low-end torque, but we had to make sure such a header would fit around our recently upgraded AOD four-speed overdrive trans. JBA headers had just what we needed in its catalog. The rest of the system is from Pypes Exhaust, where we used one of its mandrel-bent, high-flow stainless steel systems. You can check out a video at the end of this article to hear our finished system for yourself.

At our last track outing, we raised a few eyebrows with the track officials when they saw what our '70 was riding on. While there was tread left on the tires, they certainly were way past their window of usability with dry rot cracking starting to show on the sidewalls. If we were to chassis dyno the '70 and take it to the track for more testing, we would need some new shoes. A call to the Tire Rack for some new BFG rubber wrapped around a set of polished Torque Thrust IIs filled the bill.

The Tire Rack, known for years as the place to go for replacement tires for your daily driver, has continually worked on expanding its offerings. From performance wheels to race tires, and even hard part upgrades like suspension and brakes, the Tire Rack has plenty to offer for every car in your driveway and its classic Ford fitments continue to grow all the time, so if you don't see it on the website, just give Tire Rack a call. It'll get you fitted with the wheels and/or tires you want.



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