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S197 BOSS 302 Race Car Build Thread Build Thread

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ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
I haven't updated this thread in a while, but the last few months have been a flurry of activity (and also, somehow, inactivity).

In order to (hopefully) solve the issue that forced me to retire from the NASA Championships at COTA after starting from the back and picking off 11 cars, I added some more significant heat shielding to the fuel cell and surrounding trunk floorpan areas. This will hopefully prevent excess exhaust heat from permeating into the fuel cell and trunk area and keep the in-cell fuel pump happy.

I created a wire-mesh "wall" using the existing fuel cell support cage, and then lined that mesh wall with an adhesive aluminum/fiberglass heat shield material. If this continues to prove to be insufficient, I will also consider wrapping the exhaust (just don't have time for that right now)--but this issue didn't come up until 40 minutes into a 45 minute race, so I probably won't have a chance to really test for some time.

Bare mesh riveted to the existing fuel cell "cage":
pucbmlG.jpg

Heat shield material attached to the mesh:
7XAJ6kw.jpg

A small sample of the mesh to see the layers:
FZlPiOW.jpg

More of the shield material applied to the areas surrounding the mufflers and pass-by areas for the over-axle pipes:
sQhN9s0.jpg

Aes1beD.jpg

A nice-to-have upgrade that I completed during this time was to enable a nitrogen-filling capability for my shocks at the track. This ensures that I can 1) make sure I have the correct pressures in the rear shock canisters and 2) allow me to adjust the canister pressures at the track, both without having to mooch equipment from fellow racers.

Assembled Nitrogen filling system:
HsGQR4i.jpg

Longacre digital gauge w/ 2-stage valve:
kuur6ZT.jpg

Quick-disconnect installed to the hose and gauge:
ueQvrBN.jpg

Another nice-to-have change that I implemented was installing a set of fender vents to (presumably) help vent trapped air out of the wheelwells at speed.
I don't have any test data but since I was already this far tearing the car apart I figured it is worth a shot. I used a set of CF 2013-14 hood vents from @AJ Hartman Aero and cut the fenders and fender liners to fit and vent. I matched the surface area of the cuts in the fender well to the surface area of the openings in the vents.

Marking the cut location on the fenders using some tape and green posterboard:
wkytOfc.jpg

Cut made:
71bATyb.jpg

Vent mocked-up:
YC57ZRV.jpg

Riveted-in:
k2kXmQ3.jpg

Cutting the fender liner w/ a 2.25" holesaw:
XOsRpYK.jpg

Finished w/ cutting. Doesn't seem to have any real impact on rigidity or strength the way I arranged the holes.
IsRKXbi.jpg

Installed to car:
JkUIRvH.jpg

One of the biggest modifications planned for the car after the crash at COTA was the swap to Tiger Racing Carbon Fiber doors. This was something I had contemplated for a few years but never could justify the cost involved. Now that the car either needed to be painted or wrapped, I decided to pull the trigger.
As usual, my friends at CorteX Racing were able to help get these parts in-house before end-of-year and keep my rebuild moving forward.

Driver's door removed, carbon door for comparison:
uarOGvO.jpg

I didn't spend a ton of time really lightening my factory doors, but I thought they would be much lighter than this. I got on a scale, weighed myself, then weighed myself plus each door. Overall, the carbon doors are going to save me about 60-65lbs total after the mirrors and trim are reinstalled! BIG weight reduction and will help to keep me right at the minimum weight for my classing in NASA's ST2 group.
KKplcll.jpg

Thanks to a great tip from @the5, I was able to modify the stock door hinges to become "quick release". This will be very helpful in getting the car out of the trailer, now that the doors are not steel. I wouldn't feel comfortable resting my body weight on these doors like I would the stock doors trying to get in the car Dukes-of-Hazzard style within the confines of the trailer. Fortunately, now I can just remove the driver's door entirely for transport, and then put it back on when I unload. Takes about 30 seconds either way with one person.

You simply cut the factory hinge pivot pin, then spread the pin apart with a screwdriver or other suitable wedge. Then get a punch on the cut surface and you can punch out the factory pin from the hinge (both ends are knurled and pressed into the hinge body). Then, replace the pivot pin with a 5/16" diameter quick release pin, minimum length 2.25". I prefer the T-handle ones for the top side, the Ring handle ones are necessary for clearance on the lower hinge.
T-Handles: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3043
Ring Handles: https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productselection.asp?Product=3050

With these, the door has a very slight play when open, but when shut is rock solid.

QR Pin installed in the factory pivot pin location.
HZOWYBD.jpg

Pins vs. door.
m5pvCPt.jpg

Continued in next post...
 
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ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
Continued from previous post...


Once the doors were mounted up, I decided to finally get to work on the 2013 Watson radiator closeout kit. I knew from where my oil cooler lines were routed that I would have to do some modifications, but I didn't realize that I would also have to add brackets to mate the closeouts to hardpoints on my radiator. It makes sense that Watson would create them in this fashion due to any number of different radiators being installed, but in retrospect, with this amount of custom work necessary, I would have just made the whole kit myself if I had known ahead of time.

Clecos for test fit of the two-piece panel and adding mounting stand-offs:
w2H1TH0.jpg

Installed. Still might have to make some modifications to make the flaps completely reach the radiator at the lower sides. If cooling performance is good I'll probably not mess with them due to having to remove the bumper, etc. We shall see...
V83owau.jpg

xfYFOZ7.jpg

After screwing around with the closeout kit, I decided to paint the inside of the carbon doors. This way, the interior of the car would be a uniform color despite the wrap on the outside. I got some automotive paint in two-stage base/clear from our local body repair master-shop and rattle-canned this stuff on in my garage. The insides turned out pretty well, but the outside clearly needed more skill and equipment than I had. Also it turns out that what I thought was primer grey was really just gel-coat on the doors, so the paint bond to the surface is not great in some locations. Most of this will end up getting covered with wrap as a result, but it was a good learning experience. Wrap guys have been given a heads-up that some of the door paint may be questionable.

Paint shop in the garage:
QRLUbcb.jpg

Base coat applied to inside face of door:
pxGFx7j.jpg

Clear applied and masking removed:
9eIMpOP.jpg

Mounted on car. Color match was damn good and this would probably look really nice with thicker clear and some buffing/wetsanding. Too much work!
I3ENWSz.jpg

In the past couple days, I replaced the front hubs and studs with a GT350R kit from @OPMustang Tim to give a little more room for spacers in the front, and yesterday I replaced the driver's side inner and outer tie rods, as well as the driver's side ball joint. Hopefully these preventive maintenance activities will prevent me from having any more mechanically-induced excursions.

OP Mustang hub kit:
xDyhsOX.jpg

Old tie rods on driver's side:
s57kxcK.jpg

Yesterday, I put the car on the ground for the first time since October, and sent it off to be wrapped up with a fresh 2019 livery.

CEOc4Yq.jpg

RjCEL0o.jpg

More updates will come soon as the car comes back together for its 2019 debut at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway with NASA AZ in February. I've still got a lot to do, but a couple solid days of work should get everything in-order, once the wrap is completed.

I'll also soon be recapping my 2018 season and also taking a look back at how the car and driver have evolved over the last five years, and what the plan is for 2019.


Stay tuned...
 
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You've been busy!
 

Bill Pemberton

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Dayamm, now I know what talent and appropriate upgrades are like on a Boss?! I have made the decision, after seeing all the unreal and exceptional stuff you have done to yours, that when we finally meet up at the track , I will endeavor to outdo you in one build area ----------gonna have fancier decals ha!!

You are an inspiration, but since my Technical skills lag way behind yours, gonna have to just use this build as a bucket list for my fabricator. Bucket list, is likely the proper term, since it will take a bucket of money to get to your state of development? I am planning on new valve stems real soon , since I noticed you forgot to do that?
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Dayamm, now I know what talent and appropriate upgrades are like on a Boss?! I have made the decision, after seeing all the unreal and exceptional stuff you have done to yours, that when we finally meet up at the track , I will endeavor to outdo you in one build area ----------gonna have fancier decals ha!!

You are an inspiration, but since my Technical skills lag way behind yours, gonna have to just use this build as a bucket list for my fabricator. Bucket list, is likely the proper term, since it will take a bucket of money to get to your state of development? I am planning on new valve stems real soon , since I noticed you forgot to do that?

Thanks for the kind words, Bill. Your fabricator will easily outdo my fabricobblings :)
Get metal valve stems...

I love when this thread gets updated. So much cool, and so much inspiration.

Thank you sir. :)

Do your new fender vents meet class rules/regs?

NASA Super Touring is only regulated by power to weight and aero. In Super Unlimited, ST1, and ST2, you can do any type of aero you want without penalty.
 
On the radiator close out kit, why do the two pieces of curved metal near the top face the same direction? Looks like one funnels air from the grill into the radiator, and the other funnels it behind the headlight?

I want symmetry!
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Yeah from a symmetrical perspective it is bothersome. Those are to mate up to the curvature on the backside of the fog light deletes on the BOSS 302S grille. The passenger side one scoops air into the radiator area. The driver side one scoops air into the engine airbox snorkel area.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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My new number is 14, and that seems very appropriate on my Boss 302S, since it could be construed as the dyslexic approximate of #41 .This build is proving that my mechanical skills are 180 degrees opposite of Drew's. I , like you , Tyme, feel compelled to utter , " We are not worthy, " every time I read of Drew's magnificent mods. The good thing is somehow along the way , I hope to be learning something, or at least I can bug Drew to answer my Kindergarten questions so I can relay them to my fabricator?
 
242
125
My new number is 14, and that seems very appropriate on my Boss 302S, since it could be construed as the dyslexic approximate of #41 .This build is proving that my mechanical skills are 180 degrees opposite of Drew's. I , like you , Tyme, feel compelled to utter , " We are not worthy, " every time I read of Drew's magnificent mods. The good thing is somehow along the way , I hope to be learning something, or at least I can bug Drew to answer my Kindergarten questions so I can relay them to my fabricator?

Some how all the cars I work on end up Being number 14! When I was putting the engine together and in I was telling Rob that he Should number the car 14 to be like ours!
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
Had a great return-to-racing weekend at Chuckwalla this weekend. Will post updates later this week after I catch up with whatever has happened at work over the last two weeks.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
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Arizona, USA
Lots going on in life in 2019, haven't had a chance to update this thread in a bit but I did promise a retrospective and a look forward, as well.

So here's a brief history of my exploits with this car--it's hard to believe that it's nearly 10 years old (and still highly competitive)!

qZenHaD.png
2011: I took delivery of BOSS 302 #1241 in July, after ordering from a local dealer in December of 2010. My chance at an allocation was pure happenstance, and I ended up taking the spot of another buyer that dropped off of the dealer's committed list. With some help of some good friends at Ford, the car that was slated as a Q4'11 build ended up being built in June '11, and it was on-track for our fall-season opener at the end of August, with just over 1,100 miles on the odometer.

2012: Lots of HPDE and Time Trials. The BOSS got a couple nice additions by way of a Tiger Racing hood, LS spoiler, and PWC front splitter. I also added the familiar Roush Track Pak suspension kit to the car at a closeout price. I got married this year and we bought a bigger place with more garage space that set in-motion the plan to turn the BOSS into a pure race car.

2013: With just around 20K miles on the odometer, the car went to Flatout Motorworx of Tempe AZ for a full roll cage and fire system install. By the fall of 2013, I was racing it on-track with ProAutosports in wheel-to-wheel competition! To cap off the year, I was honored to receive the ProAutosports 2013 Sportsman of the Year award.

2014: This was the year I decided I needed to start improving my skills by driving against significantly faster drivers, and explore more out-of-region tracks. For me, this meant starting to run with NASA's Arizona chapter, which would ultimately evolve into a carte-blanche to race with any NASA regional group. The year was going smoothly until my planned summer vacation, when I lost control of the car and buried the rear end in a tire barrier. I was able to repair the car with help of a skilled local body guy, and decided to add the wing to the car at this time. After getting the car squared away, I was able to make the trip to Miller Motorsports Park's East Track, and also had my first visit to Laguna Seca, courtesy of a NASA NorCal unlimited-sound day. I was able to run mid-pack with the local NASA guys there, which was a pleasant surprise, but I had a long way to go to run with the fast guys in my group. Unfortunately, at Laguna Seca, some competitors noticed smoke coming from my exhaust, and upon inspection at home, I decided to park the car for the remainder of the season while I saved up to replace the short block with an Aluminator unit. @captdistraction and a few others helped me pull and install the refurbished powerplant in December, and we were ready for 2015.

2015: The plan to increase my skills by racing those better than myself continued. I did more events in California at tracks like WSIR and Laguna Seca. By April, I had a full set of MCS double-adjustable dampers from Vorshlag ready to install on the car, and was ready to make the move from take-off slicks to 315mm Hoosiers. The combination of seat time, more tire, and motorsport suspension paid off as my times dropped 3-5 seconds at every track I'd been to, and was becoming a regular podium fixture in ST2 and TT2 locally. I attended my first "National" level event at the NASA West Coast Championships, held at Laguna Seca that year. With a good dose of both luck and skill, I was able to finish 4th of 12 in ST2. The plan was working :)

2016: Now that things were starting to gel, I decided to focus my time on racing with NASA save for a few special events. Despite the improvements I had made in 2014 and 2015, I didn't have much to show for it, so in 2016 I decided to go after the NASA AZ regional championship in ST2. For a good part of the year there was good competition in-region, however by the second half of the season, the chase came down to myself and one other driver. In the end, after the season-end 100-minute enduro, I ended up winning the regional championship by two points (something like 1001 to 999). I made my second appearance at the NASA West Coast Championships, placing 4th out of 5 (beating the only other AZ driver to show) at an unfamiliar track to me (Buttonwillow). A good year but more improvement to be made!

2017: After a solid 2016, I decided to see just how competitive I could be on a National level. I aimed to win my class at NASA's West Coast Championships at Thunderhill late in the year. In addition, I chose to defend my ST2 title locally, and also took over the role of the ST Series Leader for NASA AZ. The car got a set of long tube headers after cracking a factory exhaust manifold at the final event of 2016, and the extra 20+ hp didn't hurt either of those goals. At the same time, I swapped over the car to the Cobra Jet intake manifold setup to get the most out of the mostly-stockish engine. I had some damage left over from 2016 that was begging to be repaired, so during that repair and repaint I also swapped over to the white BOSS stripes for a little more "noticeable" livery for Thunderhill. I ended up with the NASA AZ regional championship in ST2 again for 2017, and I finished second of four ST2 cars at the West Coast Championships, my first podium at a "national" event. The first place driver had a few thousand laps on Thunderhill compared to my handful, so I was wondering how things would have worked if "home track advantage" weren't a factor. Before we left Thunderhill, we heard a rumor that the 2018 Championships would be held at COTA--just the right answer to my question. Within a week of arriving home from the 2017 Championships, I had reached an agreement with CorteX Racing that would deliver an arsenal of the best S197 competition products to maximize the car's performance in the year to come...

2018: I guess you could say that things were getting a bit serious. In order to be ready for a full-on National level competition at COTA, CorteX and I turned my garage-built BOSS into the equivalent of a Pirelli World Challenge Mustang with the addition of their cambered rear axle, JRi double-adjustable dampers, watts link, and rear sway bar. Filip at CorteX and JJ at Ultimate Performance were able to guide my setup choices, and after a couple events worth of tuning, I made my way to a NASA TX regional event at COTA where the car ran great, finishing 4th in my first race, 2nd in my second race, and winning the final race of the weekend. On top of this, the 2018 regional season was going strong. I was smashing my old personal bests, and a number of NASA AZ track records in the process. The car was faster than ever before, in all cases while running slower Hoosier R7s, compared to Hoosier A7s that I had typically run prior to 2018. To cope with fuel consumption rates at COTA over 45 minutes, I decided to install an ATL fuel cell to guarantee I wouldn't DNF due to running out of gas. Unfortunately, I had a mechanical failure during practice at the Championships at COTA that caused the car to go into a SAFER-style barrier. The failure was due to a 3-season old ball joint shearing off the stud--a more robust maintenance/replacement schedule would have prevented this. This wrecked every front end panel on the car and cost me two days worth of time and setup fine-tuning prior to the Championship race. With a lot of help from some good friends (both near and far) I was able to get the car cobbled back together to start at the back of the field for the final race of the weekend. The race was a bit of a cluster, starting 17th of 19 in ST2 due to my prior issues. By the closing laps of the race I had managed to pick off 10 cars, and was working on the 7th place car when I noticed a low fuel pressure alarm light. I chose to retire as the white flag flew instead of risking the engine due to a lean condition. My best hypothesis was that the exhaust overheated the fuel pump in the new cell--I had never had a chance to test at 45 minutes duration with as much WOT time as at COTA. So I didn't meet my goal of winning a National Championship in 2018, but I got a great taste of what it's like to really compete on that level. And as for my regional results in 2018, I ended up 4th in ST2 despite not particpating in about 40% of the races. But out of the 10 races I showed up to in AZ and TX regions, I won half of them and was second for three--so the performance is there. I just need a little more development and a little more luck :) During the offseason, I rebuilt the front of the car with help from some local friends at FatHead Fabrication of Gilbert, AZ, and converted all of the front body work to 2013 spec. In addition, with CorteX's help, I added a replacement 2013 Tiger Racing hood, as well as Tiger Racing's carbon fiber doors to drop even more weight off of the car.

2019: For 2019, I am very pleased to continue my winning partnership with the fast folks of CorteX Racing and am happy to officially partner with APEX Race Parts to help show the capability and durability of their affordable race wheels. I have a few other irons in the fire for 2019, and while I don't plan to chase a National championship in 2019, I do plan to keep cranking down lap records and personal bests, to show what an almost decade-old platform can do with the right equipment and a capable driver. Keep following along for more as the year goes on!
 
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TymeSlayer

Tramps like us, Baby we were born to run...
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Excellent recap and historical perspective of your life in the Boss Mustang and adventures with NASA. Always a good read and inspiration for Pace Car drivers like me! Good luck in 2019 and I love how the new look turned out on number 41.
 

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