In Lucedale, Mississippi JMS Chip & Performance  has built a reputation as the region’s place to go for many high performance applications. Already thoroughly experienced with the 4.6 and 5.4 modular engines they also have been known to put together some radical performance projects using the increasingly popular Coyote platform, an all aluminum mill that boasts an as-delivered horsepower figure of 420 hp in the current Mustang GT.

Monty Johnson of JMS says that the lightweight Coyote mill (which only weighs 430 pounds) featured in a customer’s recent Fox-body build is perfect for this ‘Stang because of its proven strength and reliability. He also makes it clear that it’s an engine with a lot of potential, especially in this particular customer’s case, “Even though we limited the car to 600 horses with 7 pounds of boost, it is capable of putting-out 800-900 hp to the rear wheels,” says Johnson.

While there are many stock Coyote mills out there withstanding the strain of forced induction like our own 2011 Mustang GT, Wild E Coyote, eventually the cast pistons and powdered-metal rods will only take so much. Johnson says that this particular LX Fox will most likely be undergoing an engine swap in the near future, with a short block that will be more capable of holding up to higher boost levels long-term. That will then allow the car, and it’s owner to take full advantage of that new Precision turbo, and hopefully achieve those nearly four-digit rear wheel horsepower numbers.

This Coyote-stuffed, four-eyed fox was built and is owned by a Lucedale local. Previously the combination produced a healthy and respectable 606 hp and 460 ft-lbs of torque on the dyno with a ProCharger P-1SC and a Tremec T-56 stick.  With the transition to turbo power, the owner also decided to make the change to an automatic transmission as it is often better suited to drag strip performance. The T-56 was replaced with a a 4R70W donated from a’96-04 Stang, fortified with beefier internals, a 3,500 RPM stall converter, and a trans-brake.

The video shows the previous combination of the ProCharger and T-56 manual transmission making the Coyote howl on the dyno. That combination also included BBK long tube headers, and a 4.10 geared rear differential. Johnson tells us the car now pulls just over 600 hp to the rear tires with it’s upgraded turbo combination, which also includes a BOSS 302 intake manifold.

Mustangs of the 1980s and early-’90s set into motion the Ford performance craze that we’re still enjoying today. When compared to the horsepower and performance numbers generated by the musclecars of today these cars as stock were not fire-breathers as was true of many of the era’s sports cars, however at the time they were still quite a bang for the buck.

The Fox-body platform has always been a great one for modifications, and we’re seeing more and more Coyote engines take the place of worn out pushrod mills. We’re fortunate to live in a whole new era of American muscle, where anyone with some relatively easy to acquire tools and, the right amount of cash can start building big horsepower and performance in their own backyard.

We’ll be keeping an eye on JMS Chip & Performance to see what other cool cars they crank out in the near future. We’re also curious to see how much more power this combination can crank out once that new shortblock arrives. The Coyote engine has definetly opened up an entire new dimension of performance possibilities in the Mustang landscape.