Adam Crabtree's 1986 Saleen Mustang

"The Phoenix to say the least"

094 of about 200 cars built.

The guys at Blood Enterprises harassed Adam into not buying some Porsche.  Craig Blood's exact words were "buy something we can work on."  So he found Saleen #094 in the paper about a year ago.  It was certainly tired and he almost didn't even buy it.  But everyone said that a guy as crazy as him could have it better than new in no time and '86 Saleen's don't grow on trees.  MAACO or someone had already painted the car so paint was good enough.  Adam spent over $10,000 on the paint for cobratech so you might say he's particular.  Everyone thinks the Saleen's paint is fine, but he will no doubt end up repainting it.  He had the shop inspect it and the engine had good compression so he bought it. It was then that Blood Enterprises had to put up or shut up.

Adam is not one of those guys that buys a pristine car and then spends sunny days washing and drying it in the shade.  He drives!  So A real car that had been driven on the road was okay by him.  Everyone knows these projects are a loosing battle financially since a perfect Saleen '86 goes for about $13,000.  But people shouldn't build cars and think they will be worth the sum of all the receipts.  It just doesn't work like that.  You build a car because you cannot resist the project!  Anyway, Adam has a lot of good parts lying around after the $100,000 project cobratech,  perhaps he'll put them to use here.  

The theme of his project is to build a exceptional commuter car that is suitable for an occasional track day at Pacific Raceways road course.  Emphasis will be put on conservative modification so as not to sacrifice drivability, reliability, or parts availability.  Motor modifications were particularly small since the high mileage block was still in good shape and Adam's belief is that a good road car needs suspension, brakes, and chassis rather than enormous power (races are won in the turns, unless your drag racing of course).

Since then the following has been done:

 

'86 Saleens started life as '86 LX cars. So insurance rates are much lower than any '86 SVO or '86 GT. Just make sure you have your Saleen appraised so if its lost you get reimbursed the appropriate value and not $3500 for an '86 LX mustang!	Originally '86 stangs had charcoal accents. Due to the poor condition of this area we had it repainted in gloss black for a more uniform look.	Best kept secret in Mustang performance. The MAC prochamber H-pipe. You get great torque and a deep big block sound.	Good coat of wax makes black look just fine.
	Original wheels are cool, but we may sell them since they are so rare and buy 5 lug conversion kit with the money.		New leather seats are very comfortable and have enough side support for an occational track day. Later rears will be upholstered to match. Price $800 at junk yard.
Much of the grey color of the original Momo wheel is rubbed off. But the leather is still in fine shape and very nice.	Alarm is cool. It never goes off by accident and it rolls the windows up so you don't have to.	Left over wheels from an SVO project. New tires too! We may use these on the Saleen if Adam chooses a 5 lug conversion.	You must lift the car from the wheels when welding sub-frames or the chassis will pinch the doors closed when you are done..
Sub frame connectors were wire welded and then later tig welded for better appearance and strength. These too were modified to allow better than usual ground clearance.			New and repainted front and rear bumper valences
Pro 5.0 sitting on top of D&D blueprinted T-5 trans. D&D T-5's have oversized bearings among other upgrades. This trans can certainly handle everything this mild 302 hand put out.	new carpeting us a good way to make an older car feel new again.	Adam wanted a real world shifter. One he could reach while wearing a 5 point harness. So we built this longer handle for him.
Nice new headlight covers, these are getting hard to find.	2002 Charcoal leather seats are converted to power lumbar and 6 point adjustable seating position too. If you know mustangs you know that the seats sit too high for many people. Not these, the mounts are custom.

Adam is a loser,  He has posted this car on the Ford Trader!  He has not even driven the car once at Pac Raceway!  He did drag race it once to test the new tranny but that is all.  Furthermore he bought some lame motorcycle to commute to work and now this poor car sleeps under a cover in his back yard all the time.  Initially people were mad at Adam for putting the car for sale after all the hard work done to it.  But now it has become clear.... He doesn't deserve the car anyway.

Adam's defense: "my new job is 1.5 miles from my house and parking is $40 per month, I'll ride my bike"

Real car enthusiasts drive to work even if it's half a mile!!!

So Adam if you are reading this (and I'm sure you are).....  Enjoy your pretty little motorcycle and we'll be down here in Auburn with the real vehicles if you need us.  :)