A Trip To Mustang Week Inspired This Boosted Surf’s Up Fox Build

Every Fox Mustang has a story. For some, they are a trip down memory lane, but for 30-year-old Heath Gleaton, this one is a product of a trip to the show where we spotted it. Mustang Week is woven into the fabric of this project, emphasized by the roof-mounted accessory it wears when he returns to the event in his 1989 Mustang GT.

What started as a hand-me-down project in a family steeped in Blue Oval cred evolved into a deeply personal build that finally came full circle after that long-awaited Myrtle Beach pilgrimage. 

Today, the Titanium Gray ’89 GT presents as a clean, cohesive Fox at a glance, but underneath it’s a purpose-built street combination that reflects years of refinement. The stance is deliberate, the packaging is tight, and every major system — from fuel delivery to drivetrain — was configured with real-world use in mind.

Gleaton, a landscaper from Concord, North Carolina, didn’t just find his way into cars; he grew up in the middle of them. 

“I’ve always had a passion for cars as a kid,” Gleaton recalled. “My dad always had old project cars, and I grew up in the garage with him working on things from go-karts to dirt bikes to cars as I got older! It eventually just became a habit of building cars from the ground up as he did.”

Personal Project

While not all kids take to the hobbies of their parents, this one surely did. The heavy dose of fatherly Mustang influence stuck. It led Gleaton down the path to building a Mustang project of his own. 

“My dad is a big Mustang guy,” he added. “Between the two of us, we have more than 20 Mustangs. Growing up, he had several ’66-’68 Mustangs that he was working on restoring, as well as my ’89 Mustang that I have now.”

Even outside of Mustangs, his taste stays rooted in a specific era of Ford performance— angular, analog, and accessible.

“I’ve had several other Fox-body Mustangs. One of my daily drivers for a long time has been a 1993 Calypso car,” Gleaton said. “I’ve had several other Ford trucks — from Rangers to F-350s — but never anything newer than 1996. I seem to be stuck on the ’80-’90s body-style Fords. It’s something about that blocky look.”

That connection to the Fox platform runs deeper than preference. This GT has been with him since he was 13, and over the almost two decades, it’s transformed from a basic first project into a full-fledged street machine. 

The chassis was stripped to a bare shell and reworked on a rotisserie, allowing Gleaton to address structure and longevity at the same time. Custom 2×2 weld-in subframe connectors and a fabricated roll cage reinforce the famously flexible Fox platform, creating a foundation capable of handling both added power and modern suspension loads, while the Titanium Gray finish keeps the presentation clean.

“When my younger brother and I turned 13, our dad gave us one pick of some of the cars that he had in his collection to have and work on as our first car,” Gleaton shared. “I’ve had this car for over 17 years now, and it’s been through many seasons of life with me, everything from full-on rotisserie for over a year to going to paint school and learning to paint on my own, and years of learning welding a fab work from former race shops. I worked on building my own custom lower control arms and building my own 3-inch stainless exhaust.”

Hands-On Approach

That hands-on approach carries through the entire build, particularly in how the car sits and functions. Rather than relying on off-the-shelf geometry, Gleaton fabricated his own front lower A-arms to achieve the ride height he wanted without compromising steering travel or alignment. Supporting components from QA1 handle spring and damping duties, giving the car a controlled, predictable feel on the road that can handle the power underhood. 

While modern engine swaps remain popular, Gleaton stayed committed to a combination that fits the car’s classic roots. The pushrod combo leans into everything that makes a Fox Mustang compelling while stepping up the capability across the board. A Dart SHP-based 363-cubic-inch small-block provides a durable foundation, paired with 220cc cylinder heads and a custom-ground camshaft designed to work under boost. 

“It would have been easy to swap in a Coyote motor, but nothing beats the sound of a rowdy pushrod engine with a big cam,” he said. “It’s just cool to see and hear and keep the tribute to the roots of the car…”

The valvetrain is built with COMP Cams rocker arms and solid link-bar lifters, while a Holley SysteMax II intake and Accufab throttle body manage airflow efficiently across the rpm range. Fuel delivery is equally robust. A Fore Innovations dual-pump system feeds E85 through -8 AN PTFE lines into 84 lb/hr injectors, regulated by an Aeromotive arrangement. 

Built & Boosted

The combination also benefits from the cooling and detonation resistance of ethanol, particularly under boost, and is managed by a Holley Terminator X ECU that allows precise control over fueling and spark as the tune is refined.

Then comes the part that gives the car its edge.

“I’ve always liked superchargers with Fox-bodies,” Gleaton confessed. “It seems to be one of the more efficient ways to go for streetable use. I have a Vortech V2 on one of my other motors in this car, but I recently changed to the V1 with the heritage gears for the nice gear-driven sounds.”

The polished Vortech V-1Si delivers up to 16 pounds of boost, feeding the 363 through a custom air-to-air intercooler mounted behind the front bumper. A ProCharger blow-off valve manages excess pressure during throttle transitions, helping maintain compressor efficiency and drivability. The system is visually prominent and function-driven, though still being dialed in as part of a relatively fresh drivetrain combination.

“This is all a trial period at this point,” Gleaton said. “I love the way an air-to-air system looks with the intercooler in the front bumper, but I’m still working through some flow kinks in the system, considering this whole drivetrain setup only has 600 miles on it.”

The exhaust side is locked in and handled by Kooks stainless long-tube headers feeding into the custom 3-inch Spintech oval X-pipe and Spintech 9000-series mufflers. The use of oval tubing allows the system to maintain adequate cross-sectional area while staying tight to the chassis, reinforcing the car’s ability to handle real road conditions without sacrificing performance.

Banging Gears

Behind it, the drivetrain is built with durability and engagement in mind. A faceplated TREMEC TKO-500 replaces the factory T-5, paired with a McLeod RTX twin-disc clutch and a Ford Racing driveshaft. The rearend is a welded 8.8-inch unit equipped with a Strange Engineering mini spool and 35-spline axles, ensuring consistent power delivery to both tires under load.

“I’ve always had manual cars and wanted to keep it that way. My poor, little T-5 transmission was not gonna stand up to this new motor build,” Gleaton said. “This TKO-500 is a lot of fun. Being faceplated, it sure turns some heads when it pops in gear with a loud clunk. I guess I’m just a true gearhead. The more mechanical and aggressive it is, the more I enjoy it.”

Despite the hardware, the car retains a level of composure that makes it usable on the street. The suspension and chassis setup work together to keep the car stable under acceleration and predictable through normal driving conditions, even with a spool in the rear and a faceplated transmission up front.

“The car drives like a dream. It’s on coilovers all the way around. I built my own front lower A-arms to get my stance and retain full steering,” Gleaton shared. “I’ve spent a lot of time building my new 3-inch oval stainless exhaust from Spintech, so nothing drags and I can enjoy the car and drive it like it should be driven!”

Surf’s Up

Inside, the car blends original styling with functional upgrades. The front and rear seats were reupholstered in a stock-style pattern by State Side Sewing, maintaining the Fox Mustang aesthetic while improving overall style. Custom door panel inserts from State Side Sewing and Fiddle Fart Fab add subtle detail, while a Holley digital dash provides real-time engine data critical for a boosted E85 combination. Auto Meter analog gauges offer quick reference points, and a Pioneer double-din head unit integrates modern audio into the factory dash.

And then there’s the surfboard. It’s the detail that ties this project directly to Mustang Week and gives the car its identity beyond performance upgrades.

“The story with the surfboard is just a tribute to my first trip to Mustang Week. I’ve strived for years to get this car finished to make it down for the event, and it never seemed to work out. Six years ago, I finally just came down in my daily driven Fox-body, and we brought this surfboard down for our Mustang house to have a little fun with. It’s been a staple to bring down ever since,” Gleaton said. “The surfboard is only ever on the car for the trip down and back.”

That direct event connection helped earn the car a Promoter’s Pick award at Mustang Week 2025, but more importantly, on the street, it delivers the full Fox experience on the trip to and from the event as well as around town thanks to its cammed idle, blower whine, and gear-banging manual shifts.

Attention Getter

“It’s so fun! It puts a smile on my face to sit at a stoplight as I see people staring at this car as I’m rocking in the seat,” Gleaton enthused. “It’s a good feeling when it’s something that you have put so much time into with your own hands, finally to let people see and enjoy!”

That attention follows the car wherever it goes, whether it’s pulling into a show or just cruising through town.

“This car brings in a lot of attention from the moment it pulls in. It draws people to it! I love bringing it out to show people. My favorite part is sharing my knowledge of things that worked and things that didn’t over the years,” he said. “Seeing people enjoy my car reminds me of all the years of going to car shows with my dad and looking at people’s cars and dreaming of having something like that one day.”

Like any well-used street build, it’s still evolving as Gleaton continues to refine the combination.

“There’s always future plans, but for right now, I just need to finish working out the kinks and get a solid tune in the car,” Gleaton said. “I have several other Fox-bodies that I would love to work on. If I get into building another one, I really want to build a drag car.”

With 16 pounds of boost, a faceplated five-speed, and a reinforced chassis to support it all, Gleaton’s ’89 GT is poised to serve as a legitimately quick street car once the calibration is finalized.

“This car has been a lifelong project for me. Everything on this car is a reflection of me and what I can build out of a garage. This car has never been to a shop one time. The motor was built as a long-block and sent to me to assemble the rest,” Gleaton added. “This car has had so much blood, sweat, and tears put in is, and I just hope that it inspires younger people that it’s possible. I didn’t have super-nice tools or a big shop or anything like that. My dad gave me a space in his garage to work, as I went to a tech school to learn what I could to build this on my own, and that’s what I’m most proud of!”