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story and photos by
Eddie MALONEY
4 0 0 2 S ’ Z E V JAVIER CHA USTANG
M
COBRA
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FEAR THE SNAKE This wicked street driven raced hard Screaming Yellow Cobra was a must have for Javier Chavez 11 years ago, and it just so happened that he worked at a car dealership that was able to make it happen.
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t’s often said, a boy’s first hero is his father. Javier Chavez has a lot to be thankful for, especially his father getting him involved in the Mustang world. “Growing up as kid, I can vividly remember my father owning several Mustangs. He never raced any of them, but he took great care of them.” Fast forward many years, Javier just turned 16
years old and was ready to start driving. At the time, his father owned four Mustangs and was ready to part ways with them. “He asked me which one I wanted to keep, and I ended up choosing a red 1993 Mustang GT convertible. It was the cleanest out of all four of them and I enjoyed cruising with the top down.”
THE START OF SOMETHING GREAT One day, while cruising around the streets of Las Vegas, Javier ran into a group of “car guys.” They belonged to a local car club called, Destructive Creations, Javier joined almost immediately. “We would cruise together to all the local car shows and
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STRONGER & FASTER
JAVIER CHAVEZ’S 2004 FORD MUSTANG COBRA Chassis Type & Mods: 10-point roll cage by Belfab Racing. Factory frame beefed up, no tubs .Kirkey race seats with G-Force 5-point harnesses. Suspension & Brakes: FRONT: Aftermarket K member with QA1 struts & caster/camber plates. REAR: Aftermarket upper & lower rear control arms & anti-roll bar. Body & Paint: Original “Screaming Yellow” paint. Stock body except for Harwood fiberglass lift-off 4-inch cowl hood. Engine: Ford modular 4.6 4 valve Teksid block. OEM heads ported by a local shop in Las Vegas, HBR Competition Engines. JE pistons with Manley rods & Eagle crank. Induction & Fuel Delivery: Custom single front mount turbo kit by Belfab Racing. Power Adder: Precision Turbo dual ball bearing billet wheel GT42 8285. Electronics & Ignition: Currently running PRO EFI engine management system with Boost Leash boost controller & Motion Raceworks C02. Exhaust: Custom turbo headers. Transmission & Driveline: 2-speed Powerglide with PTC converter. Differential: Factory 8.8 housing with Strange Engineering axles & spool 3.90 gear & large wheel studs. Performance (eighth-mile): 5.608 @ 127 BEFORE. After the changes—I can’t tell! Class: Small tire/grudge eighth-mile (moving to small tire quarter-mile). Other Important Info: “The car is known as MY TAXY. It’s known for grudge racing from street to track. Since I bought the car 11 years ago, my goal was to make it into a competitive race car. I went from running 13.5s stock to now running high 8s with the new changes I recently did to the car we’re hoping to make it quicker and thus more competitive in the small tire class. Special Thanks: Mike Prock, Jamie Belfiore, Elton Burnley, and Kyle LeBanc.
the most exciting part was when we went to the dragstrip.” Javier took his first pass down the quarter-mile at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, running a blistering elapsed time of 15.9. “I was slowly starting to get better at shifting & driving and started running
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mid 14s. I was on cloud 9, at that time, I thought my car was really fast.” One day, Javier and his good friend Salvador were hanging out and he blatantly asked Salvador if he could drive his 2003 Mustang Cobra. At the time, Salvador had the fastest car in the
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It’s not a 13-second Mustang anymore! The last recorded ET was in the 5.60 eighth-mile range, but we can guarantee that doesn’t tell the most recent story of what this car is capable of as it moves into small tire quartermile grudge racing.
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I’LL BE BAAAAHCK The 2004 Cobra, otherwise known as “The Terminator,” is one of the more sought-after body styles Ford produced outside of the Fox body. To this day, you’ll have to pay a premium to get your hands on one! Out back, a beefed up Ford 8.8 rear boasts Strange Engineering axles & spool and 3.90 gears.
club, running low 12-second ETs. “I was really excited because I had never driven a car at that power level. I buckled up, drove off, and ended up in an empty stretch of road and did a pull to hear the supercharger whine. When I did the pull the car pinned me back so hard into the seat it instantly put a big smile on my face. When I got back from the drive, I decided I was going to save up and buy a Mustang Cobra.”
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THE RISE OF THE COBRA At 18 years old (2008), Javier started working as a porter at a local Cadillac dealership. Javier’s 93 convertible had been good to him, but he needed to sell it in order to save up for the Cobra. He started searching on craigslist and ended up finding a 2004 Screaming yellow Mustang Cobra in town. Javier and his friend
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Luis contacted the owner and went to see the car in person. It was everything he hoped it would be, and more. Unfortunately, the car came with a high price tag and Javier was not able to secure the loan to purchase it. “A few weeks later while at work, my friend Luis
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calls me over and told me that the wife of the Cobra owner was looking for me. I didn’t believe him at first, that’s until I looked outside and saw the Cobra sitting there.” She mentioned to Javier that her husband was previously in a motorcycle accident and they
STREET LETHAL Although it’s no longer his daily driver, Javier’s Cobra is licensed, registered, and insured with all functioning street equipment.
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MODDED MOD In 2004, Cobras came with a 4.6-liter, 32-valve modular V8. This supercharged powerplant produced 390 horsepower that could easily run mid 12s at sea level. Javier’s current setup uses a single turbocharged bullet producing over 1,000 street driven horsepower. The 4.6 4 valve Ford modular mill starts with a Teksid block. Heads are OEM ported by HBR Competition Engines in Las Vegas.
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BOOOOOOSTED A Precision Turbo dual ball bearing billet wheel GT42 8285 turbo graces the forced induction system of the Cobra. The custom single front mount turbo kit was done by Belfab Automotive.
had an urgent need to sell the car. However, Javier was denied for the auto loan and was still unable to purchase it despite her willingness to negotiate the price. She threw the idea out of selling the car to the Cadillac dealer Javier worked at and seeing
if maybe they were willing to in-house finance the car for him. “It’s a longshot,” said an excited Javier, “but I will ask my boss Dan. I told him the story of what was going on and how I really wanted the car. He went outside to take a look at it and thought
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SHIFTY MOVE A 2 speed Powerglide with custom PTC converter sends power rearward and shifts are controlled by a cleverly disguised shifter handle with stock boot pulled up tight. At first glance you might think the Cobra is a stick car. A 10 point roll cage was fabricated by Belfab Automotive and the factory frame beefed up. Also, you might notice there is still a backseat and no rear wheel no tubs.
PLUSH COCKPIT We love that Javier kept the factory interior mostly intact. Plans are to upgrade to an SFI 25.5 roll cage.
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it was a gorgeous car. He told me to take it to the back, and if it passed inspection, he could make something happen. After the car passed inspection, my boss and I went into his office to discuss the terms of the loan.” The very next morning, the title arrived
at the dealership and the Cobra was finally Javier’s to own and enjoy.
MY TAXY “I took the car for a cruise down the famed Las Vegas Blvd that night and I noticed a bunch of yellow taxi cabs driving next
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to me. It gave me an idea of calling the Cobra, MY TAXY since it was yellow of course.” When Javieer purchased the ccar, he had already envisioned that he en wanted to build it into w
a competitive street/ strip car. He raced the Cobra nearly every weekend, getting used to the car and the more he hustled, the more money he was able to put towards making the car quicker and faster.
COLOR COORDINATED The Matching Ford Super Duty tow rig is a nice touch. While the Mustang is street legal, it probably makes for a comfier road trip to the track when rolling in the SuperCrew.
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THE TRANSFORMATION When Javier purchased the Cobra, it ran mid 13 second quarter-mile times but that was 12 years ago. Through blood, sweat, tears, and lots of hard work, his Cobra has transformed into an 8-second runner and he’s raced at several major events such as the West Coast Hot Rod Association and the Street Car Super Nationals. But Javier is a grudge racer at heart, and grudge rac-
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ing is rapidly becoming the most popular way to drag race. With a number of recent changes to car, including adding a little more power, Javier is confident the car will raise some eyebrows in clocks-off competition, “My goal is to become more competitive in the eighth-mile small-tire class,” he said. Judging by the matching tow rig, eyebrows will be raised long before Javier even fires up the bright yellow Cobra!
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PEEK-A-BOO POWER With the Harwood hood pinned in place, you can barely make out the Precision Turbo hiding subtly behind the factory grille opening, but with it romoved, you can see the intercooled induction system in all its glory.
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