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S197 A Canadian Mustang in Texas Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

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48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
What, did you think you could slip this one in and no one would notice? Come now. Why did you decide to go this route? Not knocking, just always curious.
I'm starting to look at doing time trials and a lot of the class guides don't differentiate between the 05-09 and the 11-14 mustangs and some of them make me step up to classes with much more powerful cars because of my wheel and tire combo. My car is in a weird spot - it's heavy and has a large displacement engine so it ends up getting classed with modern muscle cars with a lot more power. I also want to start adding COTA to my regular HPDEs and all the people I've talked to say it really favors faster cars and in current form mine maxes out about 110mph

As I went through the long list of power adders for the 3v, it looked to me like a supercharger is the easiest way to add a lot of torque and HP in a predictable fashion. I've read a few articles and watched some youtubes of people trying to get a 3V with bolt-ons alone and it looks like if you manage to get the right combination you can add about 100 but that looked expensive, complicated and failure prone and some things like LTHs might make getting state inspections difficult. Supercharger and turbocharger builds get good numbers by default and are mostly dealing with the aftermath of too much heat or power.

DOB has really good cooling options that were recommended by some of the local engine builders. I like that their kit is made up of GT500 parts with upgraded components where needed and their cooling solutions are detailed really well and well thought out. DoB has really good articles and Jason's been really helpful in answering all my questions. I'm going with their lowest HP solution with their strongest intercooler option (30GPM). I may regret it but I'll only find out by trying it. I've never owned or built a forced induction vehicle so no matter what I'll learn a lot along the way.
 
303
251
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
25 min. to 1½ hrs. from Sonoma (ugh... traffic!)
DOB has really good cooling options that were recommended by some of the local engine builders. I like that their kit is made up of GT500 parts with upgraded components where needed and their cooling solutions are detailed really well and well thought out. DoB has really good articles and Jason's been really helpful in answering all my questions. I'm going with their lowest HP solution with their strongest intercooler option (30GPM). I may regret it but I'll only find out by trying it. I've never owned or built a forced induction vehicle so no matter what I'll learn a lot along the way.
Nice! That's the large coolant port manifold with heat barrier? I'm interested in hearing how your 30GPM controls heat. I just installed D.O.B's Titanic H/E and POWA pump with 1-1/4" plumbing throughout, but I went with a VMP intercooler because it's got a C.A.R B. EO number. I recently posted some details in my build thread if your interested.
 
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303
251
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
25 min. to 1½ hrs. from Sonoma (ugh... traffic!)
... I've read a few articles and watched some youtubes of people trying to get a 3V with bolt-ons alone and it looks like if you manage to get the right combination you can add about 100 but that looked expensive, complicated and failure prone and some things like LTHs might make getting state inspections difficult. Supercharger and turbocharger builds get good numbers by default and are mostly dealing with the aftermath of too much heat or power.
I don't know what the inspection standards are like where you are, but here in CA I think that D.O.B. intake manifold would get flagged too.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
I don't know what the inspection standards are like where you are, but here in CA I think that D.O.B. intake manifold would get flagged too.
In Texas it's just an OBD2 test. Your build thread rocks - lots of great solutions in there I'm going to have to use. The 30GPM is the Titanic Triple with 1.25 lines, partial bypass mod and the POWA pump, so it'll probably be close to what you have.
 
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48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
I spent some time this weekend knocking out some long overdue projects. I finally swapped the door and fenders and put on some new headlight buckets and LED bulbs. The Trufiber fenders fit reasonably well (at least as good as the factory ones did). There were a couple minor scratches in the finish that were there before they packaged them for shipping but they look like they'll buff out and I'm going to wrap it anyways. The door was a huge PITA and I still have some electrical gremlins to chase down but at least it's installed.

My rollbar finally came in so I'll need to make a decision on the harnesses soon. I also ordered an EPAS rack and wiring from Race Car Specialties so my to do list got a bit longer.

I'm headed to ECR tomorrow so I can give it a proper shakedown.

6785583B-82E2-4D9D-93E8-A46E051A7C18_1_201_a.jpg

IMG_0680.jpg
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,425
8,354
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Great write up and we will look forward to hearing your feelings after the " Shakedown." I think you might want to consider , living in Texas, removing your foglight in the grill to get more airflow to the radiator. It seems many drivers end up removing them as the air flow does seem impeded enough in warm or high altitude areas that once removed the temps do drop some. Just an idea and who knows the new fenders may help pull air through there plenty with the side vents. Car looks great!
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
How is the fitment on those Trufiber fenders?
They actually fit really well with two exceptions. First - the rocker panels have a large clip that is supposed to go through a hole on the flange of the fender and the hole is missing. I just removed that clip and it all went together really well. The panel gaps are better now than they came from factory and I didn't have to shim anything. Second, the antenna on the factory fender has three nutserts or welded in nuts for the antenna base to screw through - those are missing. I'll probably mill or 3d print a bracket to fix this - for now it's just a speed hole.

Great write up and we will look forward to hearing your feelings after the " Shakedown." I think you might want to consider , living in Texas, removing your foglight in the grill to get more airflow to the radiator. It seems many drivers end up removing them as the air flow does seem impeded enough in warm or high altitude areas that once removed the temps do drop some. Just an idea and who knows the new fenders may help pull air through there plenty with the side vents. Car looks great!
Great idea. A healthy portion of the stock GT grill is blocked out honeycomb too so maybe I'll just go with a billet grill.
 
6,362
8,185
I'm starting to look at doing time trials and a lot of the class guides don't differentiate between the 05-09 and the 11-14 mustangs and some of them make me step up to classes with much more powerful cars because of my wheel and tire combo. My car is in a weird spot - it's heavy and has a large displacement engine so it ends up getting classed with modern muscle cars with a lot more power. I also want to start adding COTA to my regular HPDEs and all the people I've talked to say it really favors faster cars and in current form mine maxes out about 110mph

As I went through the long list of power adders for the 3v, it looked to me like a supercharger is the easiest way to add a lot of torque and HP in a predictable fashion. I've read a few articles and watched some youtubes of people trying to get a 3V with bolt-ons alone and it looks like if you manage to get the right combination you can add about 100 but that looked expensive, complicated and failure prone and some things like LTHs might make getting state inspections difficult. Supercharger and turbocharger builds get good numbers by default and are mostly dealing with the aftermath of too much heat or power.

DOB has really good cooling options that were recommended by some of the local engine builders. I like that their kit is made up of GT500 parts with upgraded components where needed and their cooling solutions are detailed really well and well thought out. DoB has really good articles and Jason's been really helpful in answering all my questions. I'm going with their lowest HP solution with their strongest intercooler option (30GPM). I may regret it but I'll only find out by trying it. I've never owned or built a forced induction vehicle so no matter what I'll learn a lot along the way.
The problem with blowers is the tremendous heat, after a few laps the engine will start to pull timing, @Fabman has pretty much wrote the book on blown 3valves and I would seek him out. He ended up running the car on alcohol to dump some of the heat issues.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,425
8,354
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Duh, sorry there was a Ford Performance race grill for the 2011 and 2012s I put on my 12 CO Boss and I should have been more specific and observant.
 
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48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
Last week I got out to ECR for the afternoon to see if the new fenders made any difference. While my times and speeds were just okay, I did notice some benefits to the changes:
1. On the big straightaway, I used to get a bit of front end lift. This is now all gone. I wouldn't call it downforce as much as anti-lift. I wish I had better acceleration and top speed to take advantage but that'll come in time.
2. Good lord is there a lot of tire noise on the highway. It is noticeably louder at highway speeds.
3. Air temps (at least measured by the MAF) was quite a bit lower. Prior to swapping the fenders, my IATs would ramp up to 139 degrees over a lap or two and stick there for the entire session. Now the temps were 95-130 and bouncing around throughout the session.
4. For some reason, I got very good fuel economy - somehow I only used about 1/3 of a tank on three sessions including almost 100 miles of driving to and from the track. Normally something like this would use a tank. I'll check to see if the gauge is broken or something because that's really odd.

Session 1:
Session 2:

Session 3 I forgot to record.
This weekend I'll take her out to Cresson and see if I can squeak out some better times. I'm shocked at how long I'm getting out of the pads on the Brembos - I've still got 7mm of pad left after 5 track days.

I also found that the curb I hit at Cresson back in June bent my rim fairly badly (it won't balance and doesn't spin true). Luckily I have spares and their replacement program is pretty straightforward.

Up next, rollbar and harness.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
Whelp, I think I figured out why I was getting such good fuel economy. My fuel pump gave out after my second run on Saturday almost stranding me on track. I managed to limp halfway to the paddock. Weirdly no codes were thrown but the car was bucking like it ran out of gas. A local shop helped me swap the fuel filter but fuel pressure increased but was still to low to run. It sucks because it's the first time I've not been able to drive her home after an event but at least it should be an easy fix.

Important key lesson learned here - get more gauges. I've been using a cheap android tablet as a low cost data logger - I need to mount that and put some gauges up. Also I need to start upgrading some of the stressed parts that support the drive train. Alternator, water pump, radiator and so on. It's time to get proactive if I want this to be trouble free.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
Got a 2013 EPAS steering rack installed using the harness from Racecar Services. After alignment the car feels lighter and the steering feels quicker and more precise.

For anyone else doing this, here's the part list:
2013+ EPAS steering rack (M-3200-EPAS is the 302-R steering rack, but I cheaped out and got a used, non-race version. Here's my LKQ search - https://www.lkqonline.com/2013-ford-mustang-steering-gear-rack I got one from a GT car with 18" rims but I don't know if that actually makes any difference. I've heard racks up to 2012 have a problem so it's better to go with 2013 models)
Belt - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C2UJRA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
EPAS harness - https://racecarservices.com/shop/ols/products/epas-swap-harness-05-10-mustang-and-07-10-gt500

I had a local shop install mine and it was about 4 hours of labour plus an alignment. Bear in mind my car was winter driven in Canada so it probably took longer to extract mine than it should be for yours.

Next up - roll bar installation.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
Took it out this Saturday and had a pretty good day on track. Consistency is improving and I really like the way the new steering rack feels - it's a lot more sensitive and I can feel camber in places on the track I couldn't feel before. I didn't get my rollbar installed yet (maybe this weekend) but it was good to just get on track for a while.

Times were about the same as last time but there was a lot of traffic and I was mostly working on increasing exit speed so I wasn't trying to kill the clock. Here's my best session:

Getting passed by the C8 on my first lap gave me a Ricky Bobby moment:

I'm going to need to flush my cooling system. Might be time to upgrade - I'll take a look this weekend. I'm also going to take a hard look at ripping out my EVAP system - I don't think it works anymore or at least I never successfully complete an Evap Test in the ECU.
 
61
67
Exp. Type
Drag Strip
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Chester Virginia
Did you ever get your supercharger installed? I wondered how it worked out for you. I'm waiting for final pieces for a GT450 and 30gpm 3titanic kit myself.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
Did you ever get your supercharger installed? I wondered how it worked out for you. I'm waiting for final pieces for a GT450 and 30gpm 3titanic kit myself.
Haven't yet but I got all the pieces. It's all sitting on the bench, laid out, waiting for me to start. It took a while to all come in - I think I got the last piece in Feb and then between changing jobs, travel and a new grandkid, it's been sidelined. I'm going out again in June and after that I'll start the install. I'm also going to upgrade the water pump, rad support and radiator as part of the whole deal so I can box everything in and make sure everything fits and run the water pump and fans with the engine off.

I've been having a ton of electrical problems lately so I upgraded my alternator to a 200 amp unit and ran 0/1 gauge to ground, alternator and alternator ground and replaced my starter with the smaller, high torque one from Ford. Seems to have helped a bit on the random codes popping up front but I'm still having issues with my fuel gauge. I'm going to install a new fuel sending unit (even though it was replaced not that long ago) this weekend. I think I'm also going to rip out the EVAP system while I'm at it - I'm sure it's full of spiders and rust and is probably why it takes 20 minutes to fill up the tank. Having a tank that doesn't want to fill up mixed with a gas gauge that doesn't work is not a great combo.

I learned an important lesson about cross rotating tires:
1685324802414.jpeg
Still pretty good for ~10 track days. Time to put them on the right side and send it.

I had a few good days at ECR. I'll post the videos in a bit but times were consistently in the mid 2:20s - not exactly fast but I'm improving slightly in a few turns.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
I implemented a bunch of upgrades during the hot summer months:
  • Fixed my fuel sender issue by replacing the fuel sending unit with a brand new (not reman) module. It fixed the fuel level problem and fuel pressure is actually higher even though the pump is rated for lower GPH.
  • New bigger radiator (Mushimoto 3 Pass), rad support (BMR with endlinks), and water pump (Meziere - more on that later).
  • Catless H-Pipe with AEM wideband sensor.
  • Finally changed the front pads - got a lot of life out of those G-Locs
  • Replaced the tie-rod ends
I had the tune adjusted for the mods and my tuner (Lito) made some adjustments to throttle response that completely changed the way the car performs. All the dead space and latency in the throttle is gone now and it has noticeably more torque. Unfortunately, the cooling system somehow is not keeping up and the car quickly overheated in each session on track in August. To be fair, this is the hottest summer on record and I was on one of the hottest, shortest tracks around but I was getting overtemp warnings after about six laps. I think the water pump is the problem (it was making a lot of noise) and I'm going to try and swap it for a Stewart (https://www.stewartcomponents.com/product/emp-stewart-components-electric-water-pump-e558a/).

Roll bar is now installed with Schroth Profi-II 6 points and a small fire extinguisher.

I was hoping changing the transmission fluid would resolve my second gear issue but no such luck. I'm going to start looking for a deal on a Magnum XL or a TR6060.
 
48
41
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Fort Worth
Good news! It looks like the thermostat was the culprit:
1695006430985.png
This is from last weekend. It's not quite as cool as stock strangely but the day was really hot and I had a lot more on-track and some of that was on a short track with limited straightaways. It was a weird day - lots of dust on the track and I was having traction issues in a few sections (massive oversteer). I think the tires are showing their age because lap times, while consistent, were slower than last time and decreased through out the day. Here's the third session which had my best lap of the day.

I got the last parts I need to install the supercharger so it looks like next month she'll get a power upgrade. I'll document it here for anyone else looking to install a GT450 from DOB.
 

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