One of the greatest aspects of modern automotive culture is that the internet allows every enthusiast a chance to bring their wild dreams to life. As restomods grow in popularity thanks to the availability of parts, knowledge, and inspiration only a few keystrokes away, engine swaps have become almost the norm when it comes to car meets and amateur motorsport. But then there's the region of outright insanity, like this Cummins-swapped Ford Mustang build being documented on the YouTube channel Westen Champlin nicknamed "Smokestang" because it's borderline rolling coal on a daily basis.
The Answer To Nobody's Question
Champlin's been hard at work on this build for at least a year after buying the Mustang as a wreck. He's also posted a ton of videos about semi-trucks and diesel pickups, which explains the maniacal genius behind this project. The car started its life as a base 2016 Mustang but Champlin has installed body panels from a GT500 to go along with the Cummins engine swap.
Boost It Up
No, the choice to go with a turbodiesel doesn't make a ton of sense. The 12-valve Cummins was formerly used on farm equipment and debuted in a Dodge Ram pickup truck for the first time in 1989. It's got a redline of only 3,000 RPM and produced a max of 215 horsepower in its most powerful iteration. But that's nothing a bit of NOS can't help, surely.
Struggling To Drive
Champlin has spent a ton of time trying to get the engine to run properly, notably blowing his turbo piping over and over again. In this video, he tries to fabricate heavy duty units to handle the pressure and tries to get some heavy-duty ARP head studs into the mix, while also teasing the use of nitrous. His plan is apparently to destroy the engine, the tires, and the rear ends—all while documenting the process extensively. By the end of this video, he's seemingly happy, having pushed the boost up to and beyond 60 PSI without any immediate problems cropping up.
Sources: youtube.com and autoweek.com.