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SN95 3V Swapped New Edge Build Thread Profile - SN95 Mustangs

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Awesome stuff here Mr. 3V! I do remember chatting at Waterford Hills a few years ago, awesome to see your car getting back together. I especially like the intake tube, and your approach to the front control arms - more front-end adjustability is something I've wanted to play with, and cool that you're making that happen (never thought of making the LBJ adjustable like that)

Definitely hope to see you at Waterford/Gingerman/Grattan next season!
 
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166
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HPDE
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Alright, so this post is to bring us up to date on the build. I started this engine swap in February of 2021. As I mentioned, it was supposed to be a simple swap, just replacing camshafts and valve springs. And in the end turned into a complete engine build and swap, which, between low parts availability and just the way things go sometimes, it took me about 7 months.

So anyway, about a month ago I had everything all wrapped up within reason, had a few break-in miles on it and it was time to dyno tune. The night before, I changed the oil and cut the filter apart to inspect for any metal or debris. To my delight, it looked immaculate.
_J2_0353.jpg_J2_0354.jpg
Magnet in the finger of a rubber glove picked up nothing in the drain pan. I also strained the oil through a paint filter as it came out of the oil pan, and it was spotless as well.
_J2_0356.jpg
I did a string alignment to get it drivable.
_J2_0155.jpg
The 3v is taller than the 2v and required me to cut a hole in the hood. I made a paper template that would lay around the engine, then I closed the hood and did my best to tape it to the bottom of the hood. From there I used a hole say to mark the corners of the opening from the bottom side, then transferred the template to the top and finished the cut out. I would have liked it a little tighter fitting but this is all getting cut out and covered with a nice louver from Race Louver's anyway.
_J2_0145.jpg
And cleaned it up with a carbide burr and some sanding rolls.
_J2_0147.jpg_J2_0151.jpg
Then it was dyno day-
_J2_0363.jpg
Dewayne Logan does amazing work and really knows mod motors. Some of you guys who've been in the scene for a while probably remember Logan Motorsports and the 3v swap kits they used to sell. He is reponsible for all of this, tbh. (The yellow lines in the graph are from my old 2v dyno run)
_J2_0375.jpg_J2_0379.jpg
He was able to squeeze 352hp and 350lb. ft. out of it. I was thrilled, but curious what I could make with the FRPP intake and a bigger throttle body. Having to adapt a Cobra throttle body I chose the Accufab 60mm unit. Same CFM rating as the 62mm BBK, and with less complaints on the internet, haha.
_J2_0311-2.jpg
I took it out for some abuse last night and can definitely tell a difference. It really wants more revs. Currently the limiter is set at 6800 and I was hitting it a lot because it didn't feel like it was time to shift, it was still pulling and making power. And also definitely need a shift light or a tach.

Over the weekend, I also pulled the plugs, boroscoped the cylinders and did a compression test. Cylinders looked good, spark plugs look good and the compression readings were great.
_J2_0312-2.jpg_J2_0313-2.jpg
This weekend, hopefully, I'm going to head back out to Dewayne's and we're going to see if we can fix some issues with the idle and put it on the dyno again to see what this combo puts down.

Here she sits. This winter I'll be getting to work on modifying the rear suspension, adding a panhard bar, and installing a roll cage and harnesses. Looking forward to spring when I can get it out on the track and start working on the biggest issue this car has...ME! 😆
IMG_6762.jpg
 
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166
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Awesome stuff here Mr. 3V! I do remember chatting at Waterford Hills a few years ago, awesome to see your car getting back together. I especially like the intake tube, and your approach to the front control arms - more front-end adjustability is something I've wanted to play with, and cool that you're making that happen (never thought of making the LBJ adjustable like that)

Definitely hope to see you at Waterford/Gingerman/Grattan next season!
Thanks, sir!! Grattan is a must next year. Waterford is a given and planning on doing a couple of events at Gingerman. That track is so much fun.
 
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166
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HPDE
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Very, very nice, I really miss my TIG welder...
Thank you, sir. It's the TIG200 unit from Eastwood. I've wanted one for my own shop for years and picked it up when I started my Falcon project and it's been invaluable. It doesn't have any of the fancy bells and whistles that a lot of the machines have. But it only cost $700 and welds AC/DC. Comes with a finger trigger control and a foot pedal. It's not the rocker style foot pedal which has taken some getting used to, but it works.
 
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166
Exp. Type
HPDE
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Took some time to make a quick prototype of a hood bump that would allow me to get up over the engine high enough to get some louvres on there. Just laid some welding wire across and taped over it. So, the final product would obviously not have the points in it where the tape changes direction over the wires, but this is sort of a start. The original idea was something like an M3, hence the sort of bubble design. I think I want to extend it in all directions to get it blended into the shape of the hood better, though.

_J2_0280.jpg_J2_0288.jpg_J2_0296.jpg

After I spoke with AJ and the guys at RaceLouvers, I was hopeful that they had a vent that would essentially eliminate the low section of this hood with a center louver. Unfortunately, there is only about 1/4" between the hood and the intake as of now, and the throttle cable bracket is actually above the highest plain of the hood. So I do need to lay up some kind of bump to raise the center of the hood in order to get the louver to fit there. Good winter project.

Speaking of winter projects:
- Rear suspension modifications
>Three link
>Lower control arm relocation brackets
>Panhard bar
- Torsen diff
- Roll cage
- Harnesses
- Race seats
- Stiffler like bracing
- Shift Light
- Terminator gas tank (or I may add baffles to this tank myself)

I'm going to have a very busy winter 🙃
 
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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Looks like the Falken 660s are hooking up quite well?! Will be interested to see how the hood comes out, but you might check with Jonathan Blevins at Chicane 23 on one of his hoods, as they might give you enough clearance? Doesn't hurt to check ( chicane23.com ).
 
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Michigan
Looks like the Falken 660s are hooking up quite well?! Will be interested to see how the hood comes out, but you might check with Jonathan Blevins at Chicane 23 on one of his hoods, as they might give you enough clearance? Doesn't hurt to check ( chicane23.com )
They definitely are. They're 275's and this was the second of three little burnouts so they were nice and warm.

Thanks for the link, those are awesome looking hoods! I always wondered where Matt James' (@Regularassmustang) hood came from. His car is a huge source of inspiration for my build. I don't think I can swing $1200 for a hood right now, especially with all the other stuff still left to do to the car. The build is more budget minded than I and most would like, but it should hold it's own when it's done. As for my hood bump, still lot's of tweaking to do yet but I'm hopeful it will be exactly what I want.

Brad
 
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Michigan
@blacksheep1 Nice! I like that design and was thinking something similar at first. I may go as far as re-positioning the radiator to make something like that work one day. The intake tube is too close to make it work as is.
 
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Michigan
As the snow began to fly here in the lovely midwest, I got the car nestled into the garage for some winter mods. The list has dwindled substantially as my ambitions and wallet have come more into alignment, haha. But, it's still a good list and should really improve the car.

So, tonight I got the interior out and bought some 2x2 tubing for the though-floor subframe ties. The car already has Kenny Brown connectors underneath. They're the shorter length style so I think I'll cut them off and run full length tubing once the through-floor connectors are in. The frame rails are really crushed and crinkled from all the years of jacks and jack stands, so there will be a lot of straightening out to do there._J2_0006-3.jpg_J2_0011.jpg_J2_0015-2.jpg

Aside from that, I finished up another YouTube video last week on my Cylinder heads. It was my first attempt at grinding my own valve seats and they came out great.


As always- thanks and more to come!
 
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Last week I was able to get out to the shop and make some sparks. The car already had short subframe connectors on the bottom side, so I went ahead and cut the welds to remove them and cut the section of floor pan out above the frame rail channel. I know this is very common, but the only time I've ever personally seen this done, start to finish, was my dad's Maverick.
_J2_0025-2.jpg
Screen Shot 2021-12-10 at 8.12.09 PM.jpg
The frame real was REALLY crushed. I was able to get the channel straightened out with an air chisel and fine tuned it with the BFH and some chisels and dollys.
_J2_0020.jpg
Detroit Speed makes a subframe connector for the 79-93 mustang that I really like the design of, that ties into the torque boxes, and I'm going to try and recreate for this car. The SN95/New Edge is on a Fox chassis, so I kind of wonder if the SFC's from DSE would actually work on this car, but I really enjoy fabrication so I'm just going to make them myself. Simple in concept but I'm sure will take some time to work out all the details.

Also got the Sparco wheel mounted and started working on positioning the new Corbeau seat. The quick release didn't have any countersink screws with it so I just temporarily mounted it with half the screws from the hub adapter.
_J2_0015-3.jpg
_J2_0011-3.jpg
The tubing bender die is on order, they say 2-4 weeks lead time. That should give me some time to wrap up the SFC's.
 
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Michigan
More progress on the subframe connector project.

As I mentioned before, these are based on the DSE Fox body connectors which tie into the torque boxes and are mitered in places to be less intrusive in the floor boards. The other through-floor connectors I've seen tie into the seat riser with a doubler plate. The carpet would never fit back over them. I do plan on putting the carpet back in. And I'm going to make a nice rear seat delete. It's not a full-blown race car...yet.

Anyway. I got the rear axle and suspension out.
_J2_0006.jpg
I connected the dots from the outside of the rear subframe rail to the end of the front rail and cut the rest of the floor pan out. [I am going to remove the rest of the sound deadener...just wanted to get to the good stuff tonight.]
_J2_0007.jpg
The main difference I've noticed so far from a 79-93 vs. this car is the stiffening plate that ties the torque box into the seat riser and floor pan. Perhaps that is the reason the DSE kit is not for the 94-04 cars. Either way, I notched it out up to the front side of the lower link pocket so the tubing will continue beside the rear subframe rail and tie into the link pocket with a couple of rosette welds. And also to the floor pan in the rear seat area. Also- notice how caved in the torque box is from jacks, jack stands, hoist arms...etc. I did end up bending that back down flush with the 2x2 after I took this photo.
_J2_0018.jpg
After that it was just a matter of determining angles and making cuts.
_J2_0019.jpg
Looked like a 7º angle.
_J2_0021.jpg
Marked 3.5º on each side of perpendicular and sliced it out on the bandsaw.
_J2_0022.jpg
_J2_0023.jpg
With all the peaks and valleys in the floor pan I think my cut lines got a little skewed, so the tubes don't mate up perfectly and theres still some fit-up work to do on the joint before welding. This is just roughly sitting in place.
_J2_0024.jpg_J2_0026.jpg_J2_0027.jpg
All in all I'm very happy with how the project is turning out so far. I still need to make the boxes to weld inside the torque boxes and the doubler plate for the bottom side of the torque box. I'll share more as I go. Thanks for lookin!
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
Looks good but you're going to hate life when you start welding those in. That metal is some of the worst welding crap I've ever seen. It just bubbles and fizzles and you blow holes through it no matter how low you turn the welder.
 
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Michigan
Looks good but you're going to hate life when you start welding those in. That metal is some of the worst welding crap I've ever seen. It just bubbles and fizzles and you blow holes through it no matter how low you turn the welder.
Ha! Well, that's encouraging 🤣
 
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Haven't had much time lately to work on the car but I did make a little progress over the last few weeks.

Like the DSE subframe connectors, I notched into the torque boxes and will be plug welding this boxed section on the end from inside the link pocket and through the rear seat pan. I have both connectors fabricated now and it's time to weld everything in. Just waiting for a day that I have a solid few hours to get out there and start welding._J2_0018.jpg
Trimming some 2" flat stock to cap the end of the 2x4 tube.
_J2_0046.jpg

_J2_0047.jpg
These are the pieces. The 3/16" piece gets welded to the back side of the box to get around some bumps and flanges inside the torque box at the link pocket.
_J2_0049.jpg
This is the finished rear section of the connector from the right side of the car.
_J2_0030.jpg

Once the connector is welded up in place I'll weld a doubler plate across the bottom side of the torque box and connector to tie everything together.

I also got my tubing bender back and the 1-3/4" made it to get the roll bar built. I built this bender from the Takacs cycles plans and I love it. Still need to get some paint on it, though.
_J2_0028.jpg
More to come.
Brad
 
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Under 3 Years
Michigan
Finally wrapped up the through-floor subframe connectors last night. I still have to do the underbody connectors before I can install the Maximum Motorsports Torque Arm. But, they came out really good, I think. The doors still close and everything seems to be lined up, so I guess I didn't distort the car during the process, haha.

The floor was difficult to weld to, but not impossible. Once I figured it out it went pretty well. Some welds look better than others, but I got good penetration and everything is solid.
_J2_0018-2.jpg_J2_0016.jpg_J2_0017.jpg_J2_0015.jpg_J2_0023-2.jpg
The doubling plates tie the connector, frame rail, and the torque box all together.
_J2_0020.jpg_J2_0021-2.jpg
Notched the upper connector out to pass the fuel, brake, and EVAP lines between the upper and lower connectors.
_J2_0029.jpg

The lower rails will be a piece of cake, now. Then, just need to mount the tabs for the torque arm crossmember, hit it all with a wire wheel and throw some paint on it.

Brad
 

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