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August 28th, 2008

Dennis Henry, The First FordMuscle Golden Wrench


Dennis Henry (aka Dennis111) deserves special recognition from the entire FordMuscle Community for being the first Tech Exchange contributor to reach “Golden Wrench” status. In fact, Dennis crushed the final Tech Exchange interval by submitting back-to-back-to-back-to-back tech articles, all in the past 10 days. Since FordMuscle implemented the Tech Exchange program, Dennis has contributed 10 articles. As many of us know, disciplining yourself to slow down and document your garage work can be a true test of maturity and patience when you just want to try out your latest modification as quick as possible! For all his hard work, Dennis earned $100 and an extra $100 on top of that for being the first FM member to reach the final interval. Watch your mail Dennis! He also gets a lifetime FM membership and an admirable golden icon next to his forum username. FordMuscle is proud to have created the format to inspire regular guys to write Ford performance tech articles. Thanks Dennis for making the most of it!

Here are links to all 10 of Dennis’ Tech Exchange articles, most of which revolve around his 1965 Mustang GT:

Relocating Your Seat Tracks
Air Compressor Installation Ideas
Heater Core Installation for ‘65-’66 Mustangs
Installing Aftermarket Pistons To Rods
Victor Jr. To Super Victor Jr. Appearance Mod
Installation of Calvert 90/10 Drag Racing Shocks
Street & Strip Friendly Exhaust
Manual Transmission Install Made Easy
Driveshaft Safety Loop Installation
Air-Cleaner Base Modification

We asked Dennis to share something about himself, here’s what he had to say…

I’m 53 years old and live in a very rural area, 1 hour south of State College, PA. I work as an Electronic Maintenance Technician in a large factory. The equipment and expertise found in our factory’s machine shop allows me to do some special automotive mods on my car as needed. I have a BS in Management and an Associates degree in Electronics. Being prior Air Force, I’ve lived in Mississippi, Louisiana, Colorado, and Texas. I’ve also lived a total of 7 years in southern Italy (I took a baby blue ‘66 Mustang with me) and in Germany for 3 years.

I bought my first Mustang in 1972 for $500, it was a plain Jane Candy apple red 6 cylinder 3 speed coupe with no fancy options. Since then, I have owned either a ‘65 or a ‘66 all my life. I have restored several coupes and convertibles and still have a very loaded Texas bought ‘65 GT convertible in storage waiting for me to work a little magic on it… I am saving it to be my retirement project.

I handle all aspects of the restorations, from the mechanics, to bodywork, painting and interior. I learned most of these tasks from reading up on the subject and then putting what I learned into use. I’ve even installed a couple of convertible tops along the way. With age, the stuff I learned as a youngster has become second nature.

My current GT, actually a clone, was bought in 1978 when I lived in Shreveport, LA for the sum of $200. It already had a blown up 351W in it and an automatic transmission. I fixed the 351w, swapped in a toploader and completed its restoration in 1980. It still wears the same Rangoon Red paint that I put on it in 1980. It’s a little chipped here and there, but is still a decent 20 footer. The interior is deluxe black pony. It sports a Scat 393W with AFR 205 heads, a custom solid lifter camshaft, a Vic Jr. intake, and a 750HP carb. The rest of the drivetrain consists of a wide ratio toploader, and a 59′ Ford 9″ rearend with 4:11 gears. I also have subframe connectors and various other owner desired modifications such as Caltracs for both street and drag strip use. The car’s best track time so far has been a 11.52@121.29

Here are some pics of Dennis and his 1965 Mustang GT:

By Mikelonis @ 9:14PM PDT. In: FordMuscle News | E-Mail It
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8 Comments


  1. Thank you for all your kind comments. I also wish to thank the Fordmuscle staff for offering the Tech Exchange and the the generous rewards for participating in the program.

    I encourage all members to submit articles of interest so that they can illustrate their accomplishments and so that the FM Tech Exchange can continue to grow.

    Dennis


  2. congrats!! I hope to follow your example and share what little I know.


  3. WOW, it’s a small world. I live in Dauphin, PA. I see the BSD sign in your pictures. I’ve been there many times. Also Ryan J. who posted above, I have friends in Mifflintown. I’ve also raced at Port Royal speedway in the 80’s. Anyhow, Congratulations Dennis on the good job on the tech articles.


  4. Congratulations Dennis,ill look forward to more of your tech articles,you certainly deserved this with all the effort that youve put in mate


  5. Congratulations as well Dennis. You have been a big help to me in the past with your knowledge, And I enjoy reading your threads/posts.


  6. Way to go Dennis. You’ve helped me out a great bunch too as I have made progress over the years on my 70 Cougar. You definitely deserve it. Your expertise and friendly knowledge has been very grateful on this forum. Congrats on a well deserved award.


  7. 1 hour south of State College? We’re practically neighbors! I love in Mifflintown off route 322. Congrats on the award and thanks for all your contributions!


  8. Congratulations Dennis, we appreciate your contributions and excellent tech!

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