Having ordered a body from Unique just a few months before, Brent attended the 2002 Homecoming and got to see his kit begin its assembly on-site in Unique's factory. Once home, Brent started on building his drivetrain for his soon-to-be-delivered ride. Using his race-car experience, he assembled his 402 Ford powerplant by starting with a 390 block that was bored .060 over. All of the parts and pieces used were balanced before assembly, and special work, like putting a "knife-edge" on the crank (so it would cut through the oil faster without creating foam) was also done. Brent used forged pistons and LeMans rods in the buildup, dialing in the compression ratio to a hefty 11:1 and backing it up with a Comp Cams camshaft with a .605 lift.
Other engine parts included an aluminum Edelbrock water pump, a Powermaster alternator, an MSD 6AL ignition system, and billet roller rockers bolted to ported and polished Edelbrock aluminum heads. Wanting the multiple-carb look from the Cobra's FIA days, Brent used four Weber 48 IDA carburetors as the base for the engine's induction system and added a set of Unique headers to handle the exhaust. Brent located a vintage '65 Ford Top Loader transmission and rebuilt it using a Lakewood scatter shield, a modified (by Toploader Heaven) Hurst Competition shifter, plus a Hays 2,800-pound pressure plate and composite disc, all bolted to an aluminum flywheel.
As promised, the car was delivered to Brent by August, and he soon began doing the finish work (plumbing, extra wiring, sheetmetal fabrication, etc...) to make his car roadworthy. Brent's idea was to drive his car for a while in gelcoat and make a list of what he wanted to change before blowing it apart for paint. Blessinger racked up 300 or so miles working out the bugs before taking the entire car back apart-right down to the bare frame. He didn't think he could do the required body and paint to the quality level he wanted, so the car was sent to the Miller Brothers in Knoxville.
Bobby Miller did the necessary body and prep work before squirting the entire car with a deep PPG Candy Apple Red. That was soon followed by a set of twin white stripes that run the entire length of the body and a few coats of clear to give the 'glass body a mirror-like finish. Brent's high attention to detail kicked into overdrive when he got the car back home where he hid whatever wires he could see, installed the carpet kit and black-leather bucket seats, and all of the special aluminum parts and pieces he'd made just for this car (like the mounts for the twin electric radiator fans and the aluminum underhood piece). Back when he was racing, Brent hooked up with Mat Wright of BRC Racecraft, who is an expert fabricator and craftsman. Whenever Brent needed some special piece custom made, lathed, or milled for this car, he turned to Mat, who always made it look and work right.
The finished car made its debut at a local show near his home, but its "official" coming out party was the 2004 Unique Motorcars Homecoming party in Alabama, where it wowed the crowd (the car received the Favorite 427 award, as voted on by attendees). What separates an average car from a spectacular one is usually found in the details, and Brent's ability to address every one of those little things with his car is what puts his roadster in a whole new class of kit: the super-nice, super-detailed replicar.
In the months since the Homecoming, and now that the "show" aspect has worn off and he's been able to roll up some miles on his ride, he began thinking about building a slab-sided, wire-wheeled, 289/FIA car, but has recently decided to just have fun with the car he has. He's added a some sway bars to both front (9/16-inch) and rear (5/8-inch), which Brent says not only stiffens up the ride a bit, but now the tires no longer rub on the fender's wheel lip.