1994 Mustang Goes From 190 Horsepower To 1,017

The hot-rodding mentality covers all aspects of vehicle modification. It can be as simple as applying tire dressing or as major as a full vehicle rebuild. There really is no limit to the personalization and modification of a vehicle, as once you’re “finished,” you can do it all over again differently. That said, one must start somewhere, and for Bob Gruber, it was performance bolt-ons for his 1994 Mustang.

Purchased in 1995, Gruber’s pony served as his daily driver for quite some time. His very first bolt ons got the sound right with an aftermarket exhaust system and other performance bolt-on components. He eventually upgraded the factory tan cloth upholstery with a leather kit from Katzkin.

It was around 2004 that a shopping cart incident had him looking at the paint on his 1994 Mustang a bit more. He hadn’t realized when he bought it that one of the panels was a slightly different shade of black, and now that the shopping cart had made its mark, Gruber decided it was time to straighten things out.

“I finally took it to a guy close to me,” Gruber recalls. “He asked me about doing something unique.” They decided on a set of Amethyst Pearl Shelby-style stripes, but when the basecoat went on, the painter called Gruber up and asked him to come to the shop and take a look, as they first looked pink. Gruber was ready for the process to be done and told him to go ahead and clear it. The decision would be the right one as the color changed dramatically after the clear coat went on and it looked more like what they were expecting. Other modifications during the paint process included the addition of a Harwood hood and a Saleen S-351 rear wing.

By 2009, the 1994 Mustang GT had accumulated more than 170,000 miles, the clutch was finally giving up, and Gruber realized he needed to make some changes to the car.

I couldn’t take it anymore with people messing around with me anymore. The car looked like it had a lot of power, but only had about 190-horsepower! Bob Gruber

With that, Gruber decided to go big and gut the 1994 Mustang from stem to stern for a full overhaul. To accomplish such a task, he contacted Tony’s Fast Lane Performance in Lyons, Illinois.

“Tony was awesome. He would say ‘Come on down and I’ll guide you and you can do some of the work to save some money.’ I learned a lot from that experience,” Gruber says. “I sold the motor and transmission and started going nuts.” From there, he began collecting parts such as…