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S550 A Pale Horse Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

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223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
While I'm still waiting on parts to get the motor in, I've been working on tearing stuff out out the car. I have no use for AC at this point but don't want to pull the dash get all the related components out. I purchased have some block off panels for the firewall but I've run into an issue. Calling this an issue is definitely an overstatement, it's more of a minor nuisance. The fittings that originally held the heater hoses protrude a fair amount. I'll probably end up capping these off for now.
1675057699200.png

I've also pulled all the fire suppression material out of the engine bay and it's looking pretty naked20230128_171500.jpg
I've always respected @captdistraction and his dedication to wrapping the entire firewall in heat reflective tape. I may choose to do this same before I get the engine back in. Also something interesting is seeing how toasty the headers have been getting the frame on the passenger side.

Still no ETA on the headers or radiator at this point, but the wing gets here tomorrow. More pics of that soon.
 
51
48
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Phoenix
While I'm still waiting on parts to get the motor in, I've been working on tearing stuff out out the car. I have no use for AC at this point but don't want to pull the dash get all the related components out. I purchased have some block off panels for the firewall but I've run into an issue. Calling this an issue is definitely an overstatement, it's more of a minor nuisance. The fittings that originally held the heater hoses protrude a fair amount. I'll probably end up capping these off for now.
View attachment 83458

I've also pulled all the fire suppression material out of the engine bay and it's looking pretty nakedView attachment 83456
I've always respected @captdistraction and his dedication to wrapping the entire firewall in heat reflective tape. I may choose to do this same before I get the engine back in. Also something interesting is seeing how toasty the headers have been getting the frame on the passenger side.

Still no ETA on the headers or radiator at this point, but the wing gets here tomorrow. More pics of that soon.
Your gonna love the wang!
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
This is a lot of wing. 13.25 chord, 72 inch width, and uses hollow carbon uprights.
Screenshot_20230120_180841_Instagram.jpg
20230131_075125.jpg

Here's some sweet data taken from their site as well for those interested parties:
1675191471430.png

I won't have this mounted for a little while unfortunately. I need a splitter still and I'd rather work out the teething issues of the new motor without also having significant aero for the first time. With that being said, this is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle and I've been waiting quite some time for it.
 
539
687
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
SoCal
This is a lot of wing. 13.25 chord, 72 inch width, and uses hollow carbon uprights.
View attachment 83506
View attachment 83507

Here's some sweet data taken from their site as well for those interested parties:
View attachment 83511

I won't have this mounted for a little while unfortunately. I need a splitter still and I'd rather work out the teething issues of the new motor without also having significant aero for the first time. With that being said, this is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle and I've been waiting quite some time for it.
Now that is a proper chord length!
 
Last edited:
51
48
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Phoenix
This is a lot of wing. 13.25 chord, 72 inch width, and uses hollow carbon uprights.
View attachment 83506
View attachment 83507

Here's some sweet data taken from their site as well for those interested parties:
View attachment 83511

I won't have this mounted for a little while unfortunately. I need a splitter still and I'd rather work out the teething issues of the new motor without also having significant aero for the first time. With that being said, this is one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle and I've been waiting quite some time for it.
I don't think he shared that with me ever. Thats pretty cool!
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
Several parts I've been waiting on came in. The headers arrived a while ago and I had a high temp cerakote applied. Going catless since this thing is well beyond street duty.20230410_172658.jpg

The tripe-pass radiator arrived finally as well. It has the same width and height as the OEM piece, but it is seriously thick. 2.5 inches to be exact.
20230408_073158.jpg
1681356074803.png

Oddly, the driver's side didn't fit flush against the fan. There's plenty of thread engagement so I just shimmed it up.

20230408_073940.jpg

Finally I got tired of arguing about an oil cooler being/not being an electrical piece with FordPartsGiant. They insist it is an electrical device so they won't accept returns. Great service. I decided to move on from the OEM unit altogether so they ended up doing me a favor I suppose. I went with the Setrab unit on the FP350S thinking I'd be able to use the ducting from Watson as well. Unfortunately, Watson quoted me $3,216 for JUST the ducting. Just the aluminum sheet bent to fit. I've reached out asking if that's a typo but have not heard back. I can just bend by own up if that's the case. The Setrab is an impressive unit though. Check out the size of this monster next to the new radiator and the old oil cooler:
20230412_172224.jpg

1681356030622.png

Build status:
Waiting on a few little parts that are on national backorder with no ETA. All necessary items like new seals to replace those that saw shrapnel and a new OEM harmonic balancer. As soon as those are in, everything can go back together and I can start working out the teething issues I'm sure I'll have. I also need to order a splitter from @AJ Hartman because his stuff is top notch. Far better than other stuff I've seen.

I still have the sound deadening to remove as well and I've decided to pull the dash to remove all the AC junk. Better to do it now to get it over with. I plan on caging the car either late this year or early next, depending on how long it takes to get it sorted. Until then I'm just going to keep instructing and cheerleading since that keeps me motivated. It's also nice to see the tracks at a slower speed. I've been picking up details that were harder to find when I'm trying to focus on keeping it on track.

Hopefully the next update is a juicy one like me buttoning up and installing a motor!
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
@honeybadger made his own ducting like the Watson didn't he?
He did! That's my next course of action. If I can get the FP350S ducting, I was thinking of drawing "a version" of it up in CAD and making the files available to anyone since it doesn't seem like it will be made anymore. If not, I'll make my own and do the same thing and anyone that needs it can just shoot me a message for free delivery of some janky bent parts 😁
 
741
1,075
TX
He did! That's my next course of action. If I can get the FP350S ducting, I was thinking of drawing "a version" of it up in CAD and making the files available to anyone since it doesn't seem like it will be made anymore. If not, I'll make my own and do the same thing and anyone that needs it can just shoot me a message for free delivery of some janky bent parts 😁
It's really not too bad. I just used the thin AL sheets from Lowes - I think they might be 20g? they definitely don't need to be thick and strong. I'm sure the Watson part is much better, but also heavier and the cost is appalling from what I remember. A CAD file for others would be SWEET.
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
I made the decision to remote mount the oil filter. I wasn't too crazy about some of the options on the market that are "full kits." A lot of the digging I did had people recommending -10AN at minimum for oil lines but saying -12AN is preferred. The Ford Racing block mount is also -12AN. The easy button kit is -10AN and that just made me nervous so I've assembled my own.

Attached to the block will be Ford Racing's remote oil filter adapter. This seems like a no-brainer since it's as close to an OEM piece as I can get.
1681844291436.png
The remote filter mount was a bit more difficult. Since I'm relocating the oil pressure sending unit to the remote oil filter mount, I was hoping to find something with a 1/4NPT port to accommodate that in addition to the -12AN inlets and outlets. I eventually stumbled across the Setrab 92mm remote oil filter mount. The inlets and outlets are a nicely sized m22x1.5 so I can convert to -12AN. They also have the fittings for that but given that I don't know where it will mount yet, I don't want to pull the trigger on those. What I really like about this unit is you can run it in several configurations as shown below. It will also let me run the Ford Racing spin on oil filters which are easy to find and half the price of the cartridge filters.
1681845497942.png1681845551575.png

with the lines installed, the whole thing should also save me about 5 pounds since I get to delete the whole OEM filter housing. If anyone sees any wrinkles in this plan, please feel free to tell me how dumb this is.
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
Well this is frustrating. Ford's own remote oil filter block doesn't perfectly line up with their block:

1682730691995.png

This is after pushing the block as far over as possible. I guess I'm going to have to mill the mounting holes out a bit. Nevertheless, I assumed Ford would have the best fitment, but I guess I'm good at being wrong.
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
Just a heads up for anyone that may find themselves using ARP main studs and retaining the OEM GT350 composite oil pan, there is windage tray interference with the single long stud:

1683739849927.png

Right now my solution is to just wrap the engine a thousand times in plastic wrap, put a tarp over that, put a rubber seal around the base of the ARP stud, and the take a cutoff wheel to it while someone holds a shopvac near the cut. That should be more than enough to keep any contamination from making its way inside. I could also just replace the single ARP stud with a shorter version like the other 19. If anyone has any good thoughts on this, let me know.

I've also been slowing down since summer is coming up and I'm trying to at least have some semblance of funds once I'm back. I took the time to gut the dash to remove all the AC/heater crap and the airbags.

20230507_144455.jpg

This isn't all of it, but it's the picture I have on hand. I'm going to weigh it all to see how much weight it saved, but I'm guessing between the heater core, the AC parts, the airbags, AC lines, and pulley it will be around 70 pounds off the front of the car. I'll come back with exact weights so some other overconfident, underqualified person like me can be convinced to strip their car down.
 
465
438
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
MD
For a person who is just tryin to expand their knowledge, what are the benefit of having a remote oil filter set up other than easier oil changes?
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
For a person who is just tryin to expand their knowledge, what are the benefit of having a remote oil filter set up other than easier oil changes?
For me it was mostly cost. It was going to be $650-$750 for a new housing since the other one had plenty of metal sucked through it. Everything I needed for the remote mounting came in under $500. Trying to cleaning passages I couldn't see didn't give me the feeling I was doing things to a high enough standard given how much metal I pulled out of the oil pan. The other benefits I see are being able to move the oil filter away from the headers. I can't imagine that being good for more than a degree or two, if that. I do get the benefits of being able to run larger filters though. Here's the current filter I'll be running:

1683743835251.jpeg

Amazing that these are half the cost of the paper filters.

The final two benefits are also pretty small. Less weight hanging off the engine (about 5.5lbs less) and a bit more room. Are all these things worth it if you don't immediately have to replace the OEM housing? For me they would not be. I'd rather spend my money on tires or the AJ Hartman splitter I'm overdue to buy.
 
98
113
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
So cal
Just a heads up for anyone that may find themselves using ARP main studs and retaining the OEM GT350 composite oil pan, there is windage tray interference with the single long stud:

View attachment 86171

Right now my solution is to just wrap the engine a thousand times in plastic wrap, put a tarp over that, put a rubber seal around the base of the ARP stud, and the take a cutoff wheel to it while someone holds a shopvac near the cut. That should be more than enough to keep any contamination from making its way inside. I could also just replace the single ARP stud with a shorter version like the other 19. If anyone has any good thoughts on this, let me know.

I've also been slowing down since summer is coming up and I'm trying to at least have some semblance of funds once I'm back. I took the time to gut the dash to remove all the AC/heater crap and the airbags.

View attachment 86168

This isn't all of it, but it's the picture I have on hand. I'm going to weigh it all to see how much weight it saved, but I'm guessing between the heater core, the AC parts, the airbags, AC lines, and pulley it will be around 70 pounds off the front of the car. I'll come back with exact weights so some other overconfident, underqualified person like me can be convinced to strip their car down.
Buy the gt500 oil pan.
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
Buy the gt500 oil pan.
I seriously considered that early on. Honeybadger did exactly that and had the same failure he did with the FP350S oil pickup as I recall. These damn things vibrate too much to use anything except plastic. Since the 500 and FP350S pans use the metal pickup tubes, the likelihood is I'd just find a broken pickup when I pull the oil pan off.
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
Well it's about as bare as it is going to be. I'm putting the dash back together now that I've pulled all the airbags out.


The last concern before the engine can go in is the remote oil block. That not fitting put me behind more than I would like. I see two options right now. Canton will make custom versions on their products so I've reached out to them to see if they'll make their Coyote remote oil block with an12 ports. If not, I'm going to have to whip something up in CAD and get it machined. Hopefully whatever the result is will be something others can easily obtain.
 
223
420
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
3-5 Years
Southern California
Updates have been slow with how hot it has been. I also keep running into scope creep to address issues/market gaps I've run into. Since nobody is making a remote oil block in what I consider to be the correct size (the same as OEM) I decided to make my own. I drew one up in Fusion 360, 3D printed it, and test fit it with all the accessories installed. It's a fitment success and I can see why companies run AN10 and not 12 with how difficult it was to offset the oil channel. AN10 is the easy button. It uses the OEM oil block gasket as well. I'm going to have it milled out and if it tests flawless on my car, I'll make the CAD file available for anyone that wants to use it or maybe sell them for anyone that wants a new, better easy button:
20230704_194708.jpg20230706_185309.jpg20230706_185307.jpg

Speaking of 3D printing, I didn't really want to re-use the OEM interior door handle. I ended up clipping the cable and 3D printing a pulley mechanism so I could pull the door handle backward instead of having to pull forward. I'm going to hit it with some paint and that little project will be done.
20230726_203514.jpg20230730_141501.jpg

I also undertook what ended up being the single worst decision I've made for this car: Wrapping the firewall and trans tunnel in heat reflective tape. This ended up being a much larger effort than I originally thought. I'd probably put it at around 25-30 hours of work to make sure it was done properly. Not sure I'd do this one again.
20230805_162148.jpg20230805_162400.jpg

After all that, I think this bad boy is about ready to go in, I just need to find a good weekend:
20230702_154243.jpg

And finally, this gorgeous splitter from @AJ Hartman. The work that guy puts in feels like I should spout off several titles before even introducing his name (First of His Name, Father of Splitters, Protector of Downforce, etc). I'm 6'3 and this thing dwarfs me when I put it on end. Can't argue with 5 inches of projection on each side:
20230709_140655.jpg

More to come soon hopefully!
 

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