Junkyard Dog said:

Interesting. Any idea when that might happen? I have always wondered why track day guys are not using these, as they pick up horsepower up higher where you will be driving on track.

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This thread will go a long way to answering that question. Peak HP numbers are good for bragging rights, torque to pull you out of corners is what makes it fun. Every manifold has it good and bad points. What is important is will those good points counter the bad for your application. My delay in installation is getting someone i trust to be able to tune it. No one in the US wants to touch it as the ecu is different to US spec. I'd really like to find an Australian tuner or i have to go overseas, more headaches. Its all possible, just need to find the time.

bnight said:

Aren't you scrubbing tires on the inside fender that way ? At -3.2 With the 295/35 I'm rubbing on the fender liner (if you removed them maybe you are safe) at full lock.

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Not in any significant way. Appears to just touch on one side at full lock. Had more issues with soft springs and low ride height with the 285/20 touching the top under brakes initially.
Biggest current issue is scraping the exhaust on my driveway and the local speed humps.

GAR944 said:

Not in any significant way. Appears to just touch on one side at full lock. Had more issues with soft springs and low ride height with the 285/20 touching the top under brakes initially.
Biggest current issue is scraping the exhaust on my driveway and the local speed humps.

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At full lock my outer edge is touching the plastic fender liner which by the looks of it you removed so yeah you should be fine with that issue. Soft springs is something you have to address I run 500 lbs and don't have such problems. The Exhaust you need to be careful about scrapping as the bushings on the hangers are a real drag I had to replace mine as they were sagging and the exhaust was touching the rear bumper.

It's your tyre size if you are still on the 295/35. I'm on a 305/30 and the inner liners are still attached. Yours are 10mm taller which probably makes all the difference when squeezing thing to the max

GAR944 said:

It's your tyre size if you are still on the 295/35. I'm on a 305/30 and the inner liners are still attached. Yours are 10mm taller which probably makes all the difference when squeezing thing to the max

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Yes I know but the 295/35 shift points are better for my local tracks which makes it perfect.

GAR944 said:

Was on a bit of a roll this week, its been in the air too long again and i really want to have a drive.
Decided the radiator was an easy job and another box out of the way in my cramped garage.
After cursing Ford Engineers for this little quirk. Did they design the non air-conditioning version first. Really, simple task to some dubious wangling and old one out.
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New improved one back in.
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Temp sensors installed and plugged in.
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Time to start putting the front end back on after a couple of months off.

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Just ordered some quick disconnects for the gearbox and diff oil lines.
I still need to install the temp sensors and drain the oil so might as well us the opportunity to make future work less messy.
The gearbox has to come out soon for the nice Hyper Single clutch so i'm sure the boys doing it will be happy if i make their life easier.
Fingers crossed i can actually drive it next weekend.

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What is the new, improved radiator?

Did it make any real world difference? If so, what?

Junkyard Dog said:

What is the new, improved radiator?

Did it make any real world difference? If so, what?

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I was starting to hit upper limits according to the stock ford gauges. Part of the upgrade was to allow data logging to see exactly what the real temps were as opposed to calculated values.
Went with a CSF triple pass radiator, coolant flows across the radiator 3 times to remove as much heat as possible but yes at a lower flow rate. The other issue was the oil cooling that was addressed with a Setrab 960 cooler. Unfortunately for a road based car all these coolers are stacked including the A/C condensor.
With the radiator and opening up the rad shroud similar to the Dark Horse R race cars, i can pull a lot of heat out of the oil and not overheat the coolant.
Haven't had a lot of time to do much with the logging but i have the ability now to see if i can move, angle the oil cooler and duct the hot air away from the radiator and maximise its cooling further. Work in progress so to speak.
I was seeing calculated oil temps of 129C (264F) previously. The oil temp below is what is coming out from the oil pump and the return is post cooler going back into the engine under pressure. Honeybadger has done a lot of testing on his engine and maximised his cooling system further than anyone i know of on here. Being full race car allows you to go all out. I'm trying to work within some constraints.

GAR944 said:

I was starting to hit upper limits according to the stock ford gauges. Part of the upgrade was to allow data logging to see exactly what the real temps were as opposed to calculated values.
Went with a CSF triple pass radiator, coolant flows across the radiator 3 times to remove as much heat as possible but yes at a lower flow rate. The other issue was the oil cooling that was addressed with a Setrab 960 cooler. Unfortunately for a road based car all these coolers are stacked including the A/C condensor.
With the radiator and opening up the rad shroud similar to the Dark Horse R race cars, i can pull a lot of heat out of the oil and not overheat the coolant.

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This combo works for GT4 cars it should work great for an HPDE or Time Attack car where you are not driving 4 hours races in close traffic In fact the DHR cars only run a 2 pass radiator with the same 960 cooler. But the track cars don't have A/C I think. How are temps on the street though ?

bnight said:

This combo works for GT4 cars it should work great for an HPDE or Time Attack car where you are not driving 4 hours races in close traffic In fact the DHR cars only run a 2 pass radiator with the same 960 cooler. But the track cars don't have A/C I think. How are temps on the street though ?

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Street temps are fine, oil gets up to temp in a few minutes of driving with the thermostat bypassing 90% past the cooler initially, if any thing probably quicker than the stock setup. Water I think stays well below 100 as very little input from the oil cooler. Was thinking if I could angle the oil cooler and duct it's air past the side of the radiator and expose more of the radiator to clean air. At full tilt I'm only getting single digit temp drop across the radiator but 30ish over the oil cooler. Redirect that air and the radiator will be way more efficient and then we can see what we can blank off size wise. Lowering head temps would be advantageous across the board. Especially if I'm running in Australian summer.

GAR944 said:

Street temps are fine, oil gets up to temp in a few minutes of driving with the thermostat bypassing 90% past the cooler initially, if any thing probably quicker than the stock setup. Water I think stays well below 100 as very little input from the oil cooler. Was thinking if I could angle the oil cooler and duct it's air past the side of the radiator and expose more of the radiator to clean air. At full tilt I'm only getting single digit temp drop across the radiator but 30ish over the oil cooler. Redirect that air and the radiator will be way more efficient and then we can see what we can blank off size wise. Lowering head temps would be advantageous across the board. Especially if I'm running in Australian summer.

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Sounds great. If you manage to keep the CHTs below 104C (220F) the car will be consistently faster. I'm at the point that without any cooling I get to like 109C at Summer temps 30C (86F) but timing start to be pulled at anything over 104C.

Got bored waiting for people to get around to doing my machining for the front struts. Seriously hard to find someone to do some manual machining that isn't either inundated with work or who actually gets back to you about doing it even though you have a long chat and they seem keen. Minor rant over.
In my eternal chase to keep temps under control, i had visions of moving the overflow tank to the battery location. Thank @AJ Hartman for the ideas, go check his site out https://ajhartmanaero.com/ . Now given i have a right hand drive Mustang i can't just purchase the kit and have all the hard work done for me. Mind you i'd still get bent over with import charges so would probably end up doing it myself.
Step one, find a really light battery, preferably one that is already in Australia. https://www.lithiumax.com.au/ for the win in this case.
Ended up getting a good deal on a Race9+. Such a weird feeling when you get a package delivered and it weighs next to nothing and is your car battery. 3kg or 6.6lbs OEM battery is 31lbs.
Best part of working for a large electrical workshop is the is plenty of "welding flex" cable around. 50mmSq or 0 gauge was "acquired" for the job at hand.
Spent the week pulling the battery out of the front of the car and running a new cable through the car to the trunk. Had a small power supply going back there previously for my oil pumps and cooler fan. Pulled that back out and pulled the larger cable through behind it.
Had looked at 27 different locations for the battery and ended up going with the easiest. Ideally i wanted it sitting between the rear wheel arches but i really didn't want to deal with the issues mounting it there, but it is only 3kg and it isn't sitting over the front axle so win win in my books.

Step 2 was prep the area for mounting. Thanks Ford for coating the small flat area with textured goo. A little bit of heat and a plastic scraper got a fair chunk of it off. Spray gun cleaner and rags dissolved the rest. Cleared my sinuses as scrubbing it off and burying ones head in the trunk at the same time with the fumes was interesting.
Did i mention the flat area isn't flat. Thankfully the adapter plate for using the battery in the stock location was a nylon type material and easy to machine for it to sit over the stiffening humps.

Step 3 spend way to much time contemplating how to attach it. There is a large stiffening rib under the location. The adapter is just wide enough to mean the fixing are outside it.
Friday night here, finally put drill to steel and put the first nutsert in. Test fit the first bolt and realise i really did need a clamp type arrangement, stright bolt and washer really wasn't going to cut it.
Thankfully have some scrap 3mm aluminium with 90 fold floating around. Quick cut and fab and first end ready to go. All good until i get to the last hole which is sort of under wheel arch bulge. Drill pilot hole and open it up from underneath. Bit of wangling an last nutsert in.
Put the rear clamp in and the bolts are short. Why? Forgot about the bloody stiffening ribs. Butcher, clearance the bracket to match the profile and bolts fit.
Battery very securely mounted.

Step 4 strip and crimp the cable end and attach to fused battery terminal. Pull the excess back leaving enough slack to allow it to be secured later. Pulled the excess through the car and out through the firewall. Still waiting on a high current connector to join the cables in the front to the original battery cables.



Given its a right hand drive car, our battery is on the opposite side to the fuse box. Started stripping back the loom insulation to see what was going where. Came across this little gem. Because the supply to the fuse box travels all the way under the engine to the other side, Ford decided to "protect" it with some fusible links inside the loom. Like really guys. Was this cheaper than a visible fuse arrangement?

Either way i'm just happy to have made some progress this week. Probably should start looking at what hoses i will need to move the coolant tank, hate to be waiting on myself after getting shitty with waiting on everyone else.

Stupid question follows, but if I don't ask . . .

How does moving the overflow tank help keep temperatures under control?

Also, installing the triple pass CSF radiator did not sufficiently cool off the engine at the track?

It's the sum of the little things, and it was an excuse to get a light weight battery as well. Not like I really needed an excuse, I like making or modifying thing so they are better. And moving weight off the nose. Lots of little things. When people ask how is yours so fast, they expect HP as the answer, not a list if small improvements.

The old standard that a 100 lbs of weight reduction is worth a second of time on the track is seldom remembered. I applaud your mods, weight off is such a simple way to gain time and speed.

GAR944 said:

https://racelouvers.com/content/Race-Louvers-GT350-Unobstructed-Radiator-Wind-Tunnel-Data.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawFefElleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHbEnD0S9ax58ImjnmE2F-d9uu6PsyaprxgJuKKemZYRhn6zd49cpisq1iQ_aem_1xv1IxNAQgPACEKB_8W-YA

It's the sum of the little things, and it was an excuse to get a light weight battery as well. Not like I really needed an excuse, I like making or modifying thing so they are better. And moving weight off the nose. Lots of little things. When people ask how is yours so fast, they expect HP as the answer, not a list if small improvements.

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Ah. I drive an S650, so I did not even think about the coolant overflow tank on an S550 being in the path of air coming through the radiator.

300A Connection point turned up so some quick fab the other night and bracket made, nutserts in and a quick paint. Mounting point done.
Spare hours while dinner was in the oven, grabbed an extra pair of hands and crimped all the cables and bolted up. Yes i'm going to pull the feed back off when i get some bigger heat shrink for the feed in.
Quick search online for an earth point in the trunk area sent me into the doof doof realm, the boys with big amps and sub woofers use the spare wheel hold down point. Ok, i'm in.
Attached the earth and lights, camera, action. Hit the starter button and very good crank speed, no issues, fired into life instantly.
Proof of life, now to tidy it up and tie it down.

Run a secondary ground from the battery to the engine mount bolt with the current main harness ground. If the car stalls hot on track, you will have a tough time getting a restart with the current configuration. I blew 300A fuses twice until I corrected the ground issue.

steveespo said:

Run a secondary ground from the battery to the engine mount bolt with the current main harness ground. If the car stalls hot on track, you will have a tough time getting a restart with the current configuration. I blew 300A fuses twice until I corrected the ground issue.

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Thank you for that info, will look into it. Was curious about the grounding through the chassis over that distance. I was trying to keep the weight down. A run from the front to the back with the size cable i used was more than the light weight battery.
Its 50mm Sq which is close to 0 gauge but actually larger than the Ford main wiring which was loose in the 50MM lug before crimping. Here i was thinking the job was done bar a few more clamps.

GAR944 said:

Thank you for that info, will look into it. Was curious about the grounding through the chassis over that distance. I was trying to keep the weight down. A run from the front to the back with the size cable i used was more than the light weight battery.
Its 50mm Sq which is close to 0 gauge but actually larger than the Ford main wiring which was loose in the 50MM lug before crimping. Here i was thinking the job was done bar a few more clamps.

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Still less than an OEM AGM battery up front and high. Putting that ground close to the starter on the engine itself really makes a difference.

This is why I opted to mount my battery behind the pass seat.
The cable weighs more than the battery so moving the battery to the trunk would be of no benefit.
Plus, less cable means less voltage drop.