Tired of having just one supercharged option in the Ford Mustang range? Just kidding, the 760 HP 5.2L Predator of the GT500 is brilliant, but still, what if you want more, and by that we mean more than double the muscle of the Shelby? Well, you can always follow the example of actress and car enthusiast (only she knows the order) Emelia Hartford, who dropped a supercharged Big Block Ford into her S550 Mustang. And it’s time for the monster’s first startup, folks!
Emelia’s pony started out in life as one of the Phase I S550 (pre-2018MY revamp) GT. However, the muscle car, which is actually a 2017 unit, has given up on its Gen II 5.0L Coyote V8 for a motor that can deliver up to five times more power.
Okay, enough with the comparos, what engine is in Emelia Hartford’s S550?
Back in the 1960s, it took Ford a few model years to adapt the original Mustang to Big Block power—introduced in 1964.5, it got the meatier engines starting with the 1967 update—and Emelia claims this is the first supercharged Big Block Ford Mustang S550.
South of where the hood used to be, we find a 598 (9.6L) Big Block Ford, which is a bored and stroked 460 SVO block featuring a forged crankshaft, aftermarket pistons and rods, mechanical rollers, and Kaase P-51 cylinder heads.
And while the V8 used to make 1,000 HP in N/A form, it’s working with a 14-71 supercharger supplied by The Blower Shop (TBS). The enthusiast brought the build to YouTube one month ago, with this first startup being the third video related to it. And, on the original vid, which awaits you at the bottom of the story, Emelia lists the motor as a 2,000 HP beast.
The roots-style blower is joined by Holley EFI (electronic fuel injection), with the injector hat pushing the height of the hardware past that of the roof.
The V8 is linked to a Tick Performance T56 Magnum XL manual transmission, which has lost its 5th and 6th gears and is now some 10 lbs lighter—who needs those ratios when you’re racing down the drag strip in this (presumably) still street-legal beast?
A twin-disc ACT clutch and a Deatschwerks fuel system, along with a carbon fiber driveshaft complete the list of tech goodies that have already been fitted to the car.
Who is Emelia Hartford?
Born in 1993, American actress Emelia Hartford started her career in 2009 (From Mexico with Love, Nightfall). In fact, as she mentioned in the clip below, she recently received a small part in an undisclosed movie, with the filming taking place just as she was recording these S550 Mustang clips.
Emelia came to YouTube in 2017 (she had 825,000 subscribers when this story was published). And while this appears to be her main platform—it allows the enthusiasts to discuss her project cars in detail—her social media presence is also strong on TikTok (1M followers), Instagram (728,000 followers), and Facebook (393,000 followers).
Perhaps her most famous build to date is a C8 Corvette. Despite General Motors’ efforts to keep tuners at bay by digitally encrypting the ECU of the mid-engined Corvette’s 6.2L LT2 V8, Emelia and her team managed to install a twin-turbo setup and make use of it in a way that allowed the car to deliver some 1,500 HP, with sub-10s quarter-mile passes. In fact, GM’s PR department even praised the effort last year, but it seems that her C8 adventure is over.
We’ll be hearing from this Supercharged Big Block Ford Mustang S550 again
However, there are still plenty of steps to cover before Emelia can put the pony through its paces in the quarter-mile. For one, the vicious soundtrack awaiting you in the video below is the Big Block Ford waking up to life without its headers, while the water pump is also missing.
For now, Emelia and her crew are tuning the 598 ci motor on pump gas, but this will eventually run on methanol. So you should be prepared for more badassery from this S550.
