t sure doesn’t seem like it has been since last August that I made a post.  At this stage in life the weeks click off like days and the months click off like weeks.  I’m sure there is some of you reading this who were wondering if this project is still under way.  I can assure you it is.  But at this time there’s just not much to report because I’ve only made a couple of purchases for it in the last 9 months.  While they are key purchases and they are large purchases that’s all that has been done.  The car still sits against the wall in the garage covered with stuff.  It’s officially a project car now that it has taken on the role of being a “shelf” for some household stuff.  

New Hood!

The first thing I’ve done is buy a different hood for the car.  While chatting with some other Saleen enthusiasts it was determined that the hood I had was one of a few prototype hoods and the vent louvers were not the same as the production cars. I want this car to look identical to the others.  My goal wouldn’t be accomplished with using that prototype hood.  So I sold it to someone in the Saleen community and had a close friend who’s working to make some Fox Saleen parts build me a hood made to Saleen specifications.  He created a mold off of an original SC hood.  This car now bears a replica hood but it is identical to the originals.  It fits better than a Saleen spec hood too because the final fitting of the two halves of the hood were done with a setup made from a stock hood.  
While the other hood is certainly cool and an awesome piece of Saleen history, it was just not fit for my project. It went to a great home and is being used on a cool car. 

Ground Effects

I’ve also bought all of the ground effects for the car.  A good friend in the Saleen community had an NOS 91-93 ground effects kit he had purchased a few years ago.  This kit has never been installed or used and was purchased from Saleen some 15 years ago.  It still has the red plastic on the double sided tape.  While I would LOVE to post pictures of these items, they are in storage at a friends house.  When I go pick them up I will update with pics. 

Tremec 3550 Transmission

THIS is a big ticket item.  And, finding one is somewhat tough because they’re not made anymore by Tremec.  They now have the TKO 500 and 600 series transmissions. This was an option for the SA10 because Saleen sold it in the catalog.  I do know that SA10 #5 has this transmission in it.  I think car #1 also has it and there may be others but I’m not sure.  I’m excited to have found one locally for a good deal from a friend.  This one is the correct one because it uses the factory yoke because the output shaft of the transmission is the same spline as a factory T5 transmission.  

Tremec Bellhousing

Something else needed for the transmission is the bell housing.  The Tremec has a different bolt pattern than the Borg Warner T5 that came in the Mustang from 1983-1995.  Prior to 1983 the Mustang came with a Tremec 4 speed SROD (Single Rail Over Drive) transmission.  All that is needed to put the 3550 in number 4 is one of those bell housings.  Ironically 12 years ago I bought an 85 GT from a buddy.  In that process he liquidated all the “stock” parts he had laying around.  There were several intakes, sway bars, and small odds and ends. I headed over to his place with a close friend and we filled up the hatch of the 85 with all those parts.  One of those pieces was a Tremec transmission bell housing.  This piece has been sitting at one of my closest friends Mom’s house since we picked up the parts.  If you look at the picture you can see it poking up behind it all. Of all the parts in that stash the only things I cared to have were a sway bar and this bell housing. The rest stays with my buddy for his future projects.  I guess this is one of those things showing that this project was in the works many years ago.