Customer James Shaw’s ’33 Hot Rod
James Shaw ordered his kit in 2017, and it took him just under 3 years to get it registered and driving. Built on a budget, he told us “I still haven’t painted it and used a junkyard rear and a small-block chevy motor that a local drag racer was selling dirt cheap. No AC, no windows, everything was bought for function. I did splurge on a brand new TKO600 though. I can rebuild motors but not gearboxes!”
In regards to what he’s focused on James says, “since I autocross regularly with some track time too, I’m focused on making it corner faster first. I have tried many alignment setups, spring rates, and have added adjustable front and rear sway bars. The car runs 355/30 on 19×13 and 295/30 on 19×10 on the street, and will soon run 315/30 on 18×12 (square) for racing. Once the handling is as good as I can get it, I’ll focus on braking next (I’m still on standard Mustang GT w/Hawk HP+ pads), and then finally I’ll start increasing power and rev range, probably with a 377 SBC. It’s all for fun though, not serious racing. I have to compete in E-Modified which is a pure race car w/slicks class, so I mostly aim at matching raw times from the CAM class Corvettes.
It’s been an amazing build and I love the fact that I’m still out there tinkering and improving every chance I get. The Factory Five chassis is a great base for a lot of fun! Feel free to reach out, especially if around Austin, at @jamesrshaw “
