Scootsmcgreggor said:

Good news is the Professional Awesome mounts are easily modified to fit our cars, and would bolt to your splitter easily. Check out in my thread for details. I hit plenty of stuff with my splitter and mounts stayed true.

Click to expand...

Agreed, that would be my plan of attack if I was @bronco100 . Save the splitter blade, mount it with the PA mounts and supports, and move on. Doubtful that 777 is going to give you any meaningful resolution or re-engineer their mounts in a reasonable time frame.

bronco100 said:

I don't want to compete in CAM, and if I did I would prefer utilizing aero to get more grip rather than running a wider tire.

Click to expand...

Not sure why you appear to be against wider tires. It's well documented here that all the fastest Mustangs (regardless of powerplant) are running 305 square at a minimum. If it's a classing thing, that's perfectly understandable but rules willing, wider is seemingly always better. I can't think of one instance where an S550 mustang, pro or amateur, has intentionally gone below a 305.

@Fair on here has said that he has never gone slower by going wider with tires.

No disrespect meant; just trying to help. Love the build!

Ewheels said:

Not sure why you appear to be against wider tires. It's well documented here that all the fastest Mustangs (regardless of powerplant) are running 305 square at a minimum. If it's a classing thing, that's perfectly understandable but rules willing, wider is seemingly always better. I can't think of one instance where an S550 mustang, pro or amateur, has intentionally gone below a 305.

@Fair on here has said that he has never gone slower by going wider with tires.

Click to expand...

I'm certainly not against it, although in most classes that I compete in, a wider tire would put me in classes where I'm not competitive. At the moment I'm typically competing with sports cars that are stock or lightly modified, such as GR86/BRZ, Miatas, WRX/STI, Honda S2000. I have put down faster lap times than plenty of cars with wider tires, including Mustang GT's, Dodge Chargers, Camaros, etc.

The law of diminishing returns certainly seems to apply as well. I'd surely save tenths with a wider tire, but wider tires and wheels are not only more expensive, but cost unsprung and rotational weight.

For my next event I am limited to a 285 wide setup. After that I may look into wider options.

Hopefully this will help things stay cool.

Took 2nd place in Enthusiast class in Global Time Attack. I only had time to install the one hood vent because for some reason our hoods are so difficult to cut through. Perhaps there's a particular type of grinder wheel I should have used, but the ones I had which said they were for cutting metal, did not do that very well.

To fit the regulations of the class, I went with the Yokohama Advan Apex V601 265/25/18 - a 280TW tire that was not as wide and not as grippy as I am used to, so there was a fair bit of sliding involved, see here ()

Also new for this event was a Garett intercooler. Worked very well to keep charge air temps down. You'll also notice some custom 3d printed block off plates on the bumper side grill areas. It's a Mach 1 bumper, so I imagine on an actual Mach 1, those side grilles allow airflow to oil/trans coolers, but in my case I don't have such coolers, so it helps decrease drag if I can block it off entirely.

Went to a sort of open track day this weekend. A few things to note.

I went back to the stock bumper setup... no more 777 Mach 1 bumper - the reasons for this are multifaceted. Mainly, that I don't want to run a splitter at this point in the build, but I do need something under the bumper for airflow purposes, and the stock setup obviously makes it very easy to run the stock undertray/splash shield. I would be interested to find out if there are any undertrays that bolt right up to the same place but have diffuser tunnels in them.



A couple things I noticed during this day though. One is there is occasionally a clunk sound from the underneath rear/middle of the car when turning aggressively. I assume suspension related. Will have to investigate further.

Also, I ran into an issue several times when trying to shift mid-corner from 2nd to 3rd. I simply could not engage the shifter into 3rd gear. This is a 2018 6 speed manual, stock shifter setup. I think it must either be the MT-82 or the MT-82 D4 though I'm not sure how to tell which it is. After some research it seems this is a common problem when trying to go into 3rd at high RPMs. I'm not sure what the best solution there is yet, although I suspect reducing movement of the transmission under high G's may help.

Could be the clutch or more likely the cheap, loose and poorly made OEM shifter that we have to deal with. Take a look at the MGW shifters. I truly believe it was the best money I spent on any upgrades. Not cheap but one and done.
Here's a side by side pic. There's no comparison.

Quick video on the build. Mostly just a compilation of random photos/videos during this process. Turns out getting quality video while also working on and driving the car is quite a challenge! I admire anyone who can do all of that successfully. I am stepping up my game on the videos though so do subscribe if you're curious how this goes. My next video will be comparing braking performance in my car from stock Advanced Auto Parts brake pads to G-LOC R16 racing brake pads.

Cool to be one of the first ever Mustang S550's ever documented to have a racing steering wheel. This thing is nice!

For a track car this is a must have

Fathouse Fabrication bolt-in roll cage installed. I ordered it non-powdercoated to save $250 (and because they only offered red or black) - then sanded & painted it with gloss white spray paint. I only used 1 can of clear but 2 would probably be better to provide more peace of mind while wet sanding to get a perfect finish. I still need to get a white paint pen and go touch up some areas that were nicked during the install.

For anyone curious, yes you do need to remove the vibration damper in the rear (on Ecoboost only) as well as the catback in order to complete the install.

A simple 1/4" plywood with carpet works as a partial RSD and cleans up the overall look. I had some FIA 45mm roll cage padding lying around that I figured I might as well add to the top section, and I used a small section of it also to try and keep the outer shoulder harness from sliding too far, since the tube bends forward slightly. There's surely a more elegant solution but I've yet to find it.

I also added a 1.5" Planted seat spacer to help improve driver visibility and shoulder harness angle.

And of course the Momo Start seat is installed now, with the 6 point harness.

bronco100 said:

A simple 1/4" plywood with carpet works as a partial RSD and cleans up the overall look. I had some FIA 45mm roll cage padding lying around that I figured I might as well add to the top section, and I used a small section of it also to try and keep the outer shoulder harness from sliding too far, since the tube bends forward slightly. There's surely a more elegant solution but I've yet to find it.

Click to expand...

Something like this, see below. If you are concerned about it moving then the cable tie isn't going to do much in a multiple impact. Usually we weld some loops on the back of the bar to locate the webbing and it probably should be straight at that point. To late for that so clamps are the go.
Looks good in white. Mines in charcoal because road car "haha" and Australian Police.

I now have switched over to running full E85 after installing a Nostrum HPFP. Everything is working pretty smoothly so far but the tune is the bane of my existence as it has been from the beginning, since no one has ever tuned one of these cars for the track before, certainly not with the tuning platform I'm using (HPTuners, for some reason everyone uses Cobb).

One thing I am noticing is a weird issue upon cold start at idle with an oscillating pattern of lean & rich behavior. If anyone has any ideas why this is, I'm all ears. Is it too much startup enrichment?

Trying to make more videos, here's a quick one going over how much some of this stuff costs!

bronco100 said:

I now have switched over to running full E85 after installing a Nostrum HPFP. Everything is working pretty smoothly so far but the tune is the bane of my existence as it has been from the beginning, since no one has ever tuned one of these cars for the track before, certainly not with the tuning platform I'm using (HPTuners, for some reason everyone uses Cobb).

One thing I am noticing is a weird issue upon cold start at idle with an oscillating pattern of lean & rich behavior. If anyone has any ideas why this is, I'm all ears. Is it too much startup enrichment?


View attachment 103144

Click to expand...

Before i really read the details of your post, i was curious about the fuel pressure swings and how they were chasing their tails. Looked up what the Nostrum HPFP was and asked my self what is controlling the pressures. I've also just started down the HPTuners path also.
Is there a table for fuel pressure adjustment rate, or you mention startup enrichment, as the actual pressure is swinging wildly, my thought is the rate of change is too rapid and overshoots the target by too much. The values may have been fine for the stock pump but the new one overpowers the system and needs a new calibration figure. There may be another table with multiplication factors depending on temperature that scale the base table. Just a thought based on logic. I've spent quite a few hours each night going over a stock tune trying to understand how things are controlled. Talk about a steep learning curve. Worst part is i don't have a great understanding of engines, timing, cams etc.
Just noticed what the last line on the table was, if the current reading is 17.%, i assume the flat top is 100%, 80% oscillating swing logically is extreme. Look for a table with pump voltage control and what its based off.

Winter snow tire setup:
Wheels: KONIG AERIS 17x8 5x114.3 ET40 STEEL SILVER
Tires: 225/55R-17 Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 RFT Run Flat SL
With Steeda 1" spacers in the rear to improve the fitment look.

I applaud you for driving your Stang in the Winter and in snow. It is a lost art required by most of us old farts where all wheel drive was almost non existent. A set of good snow tires all the way around and it is amazing how well many cars conduct themselves in the white stuff. Good choice on the Blizzaks, those babies are amazing in Winter weather.