S550 AJ Hartman Aero's GT350 Build Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

[AJ Hartman]

Tinkering with some stuff and the latest thing I'm trying is to move the factory coolant reservoir to where the battery used to be. At this moment I let the car come up to temp till the fans came on several times and cools right back down. So so far so good. Not a big performance gain but it cleans up the engine bay, moves some weight rearward and no longer in front of the front axle, and when we were in the wind tunnel with pressure probes on the radiator, we did see a slight cooling advantage (but we also removed the intake tube so that accounted for some as well) as air had an easier path out the hood louvers. Plus, it fits under the factory battery cover. So its pretty much a small triple win! If my next event goes good I'll make the kits available.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I completely forgot about this thread, there's a guy on here looking for Gt350 aero stuff.

 

[AJ Hartman]

I completely forgot about this thread, there's a guy on here looking for Gt350 aero stuff.

Tag him if you can. We have the best parts you can put on these cars.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Tag him if you can. We have the best parts you can put on these cars.

I did, and that's what we told him

 

[CobaltFilly]

Tinkering with some stuff and the latest thing I'm trying is to move the factory coolant reservoir to where the battery used to be. At this moment I let the car come up to temp till the fans came on several times and cools right back down. So so far so good. Not a big performance gain but it cleans up the engine bay, moves some weight rearward and no longer in front of the front axle, and when we were in the wind tunnel with pressure probes on the radiator, we did see a slight cooling advantage (but we also removed the intake tube so that accounted for some as well) as air had an easier path out the hood louvers. Plus, it fits under the factory battery cover. So its pretty much a small triple win! If my next event goes good I'll make the kits available. View attachment 97872View attachment 97873View attachment 97874

Could you maybe be making a tank relocation kit/full explanation video to do this? I would love to relocate both my battery and reservoir to take full advantage of my louvers in my 2016 v6.

 

[AJ Hartman]

Could you maybe be making a tank relocation kit/full explanation video to do this? I would love to relocate both my battery and reservoir to take full advantage of my louvers in my 2016 v6.

Yeah. Once I know its good and run it at an event I'll do a video on the coolant relocation. A few posts ago I did the video of my battery relocation.

 

[AJ Hartman]

Got to run at an SCCA TT event at Pitt Race. Ran a 1:53.2 on 305 RT660's in Max2. But the big thing was testing the coolant relocation kit. All worked well and I was able to use my AiM to log ECT temps to confirm its all working as it should. It was in the mid 90's the one day and saw temps slightly cooler than the OEM setup when at VIR on a day with very similar ambient temps. So I turned that into a complete kit and the link is in the video description below. Last thing to note, I finally got sick of holding the traction control button so finally pulled the dyno plug and I love it. Cause even with holding the TC button, you could still feel the car interfering in a way I didn't like. So anyway, I have some new plans and ideas to get the car more competitive in Max 2.

 

[biggsy]

Hi AJ. I’m curious as to how you choose between Fulcrum 14 and Apex 12. Both are allowed in M2 SCCA class and NASA TT3. Apex provides more DF and lower drag. I understand the front end of the car has to match but being able to hit higher top end speed plus more corner speed is a winning scenario all around. Both can be trunk mounted (S550 chassis) so no need for coming up with another mounting solution. Why would you steer a customer towards Apex 12 over the fulcrum?

 

[AJ Hartman]

Hi AJ. I’m curious as to how you choose between Fulcrum 14 and Apex 12. Both are allowed in M2 SCCA class and NASA TT3. Apex provides more DF and lower drag. I understand the front end of the car has to match but being able to hit higher top end speed plus more corner speed is a winning scenario all around. Both can be trunk mounted (S550 chassis) so no need for coming up with another mounting solution. Why would you steer a customer towards Apex 12 over the fulcrum?

I'd only go with the Apex 12 over the Fulcrum 14 if you could really get wild with the front aero and need the extra Df. Efficiency is kinda funny cause a single element at a low angle make less drag. But if you really need to crank some angle into it, then the dual element can make more Df with less drag. So if a single element can make the Df needed at say less than 5 degrees, I'd go with that. Some other reasons may be the classes that may limit wing size, if there is a sq/in rule you can pack more punch with the dual element, or somepeople may just like a dual element cause its more awesome. Since I'm very familiar with M2 ruyles with the GT350 and ST3 with the old race car, what we are allowed to do front aero wise in M2 I would go with the F14. If you really pushed the front aero to the max of TT3, you may even surpass the Apex 12 and need the Apex 15. Below is a video if my race car splitters built to be legal in Ai which would be close to M2, and what I then built for ST3 so you can get an idea. Feel free to shoot me a DM.

 

[biggsy]

I'd only go with the Apex 12 over the Fulcrum 14 if you could really get wild with the front aero and need the extra Df. Efficiency is kinda funny cause a single element at a low angle make less drag. But if you really need to crank some angle into it, then the dual element can make more Df with less drag. So if a single element can make the Df needed at say less than 5 degrees, I'd go with that. Some other reasons may be the classes that may limit wing size, if there is a sq/in rule you can pack more punch with the dual element, or somepeople may just like a dual element cause its more awesome. Since I'm very familiar with M2 ruyles with the GT350 and ST3 with the old race car, what we are allowed to do front aero wise in M2 I would go with the F14. If you really pushed the front aero to the max of TT3, you may even surpass the Apex 12 and need the Apex 15. Below is a video if my race car splitters built to be legal in Ai which would be close to M2, and what I then built for ST3 so you can get an idea. Feel free to shoot me a DM.

Thank you for the explanation and the video. I guess I was trying to figure out at what point is it necessary to upgrade using your recent 5.0 splitter video as a reference. The customer had a 6in splitter with tunnels. If you were to recommend the F14 for them given that front end aero then at pint do you say, the Apex 12 is recommended? Would they need to add more tunnels or venting? Longer splitter/flat body? I know it also comes down to driving style, preference and tracks driven so there is not a 100% correct answer. Based on the recent cars if you done (supra, c8, and mustang), the fulcrum covers most of the rear aero needs.

I run similar tracks to you with Summit Main being my home track so again, it seems fulcrum is more than enough.

 

[AJ Hartman]

Thank you for the explanation and the video. I guess I was trying to figure out at what point is it necessary to upgrade using your recent 5.0 splitter video as a reference. The customer had a 6in splitter with tunnels. If you were to recommend the F14 for them given that front end aero then at pint do you say, the Apex 12 is recommended? Would they need to add more tunnels or venting? Longer splitter/flat body? I know it also comes down to driving style, preference and tracks driven so there is not a 100% correct answer. Based on the recent cars if you done (supra, c8, and mustang), the fulcrum covers most of the rear aero needs.

I run similar tracks to you with Summit Main being my home track so again, it seems fulcrum is more than enough.

Still very hard to say. The easy answer is if you have our Fulcrum 14 and are needing near 10 degrees with a gurney, then you may want to look at a dual. If you don't have a wing yet, thats where it gets tricky. I've been in the wind tunnel with cars with very unassuming front ends make great downforce, and then cars with all sorts of stuff on the front make absolutely terrible front downforce cause they missed a few of the basic principles. So saying you have a 6" splitter with tunnels can be a wild range of front downforce. I'll put it this way. On my Ai splitter in the video above, I ran our Fulcrum 14 at 5-7 degrees with a gurney and that car had every trick in the book on the front. I'll be building a max effort aero setup for my GT350 for Max2, and I'll be running our Fulcrum 14. Theres a few other advantages in Max that the wing can be set back a little farther vs. Ai and the GT350 has a smoother rear glass so I've seen slightly better performance from the wing on my GT350 vs my 99 mustang.

 

[biggsy]

Still very hard to say. The easy answer is if you have our Fulcrum 14 and are needing near 10 degrees with a gurney, then you may want to look at a dual. If you don't have a wing yet, thats where it gets tricky. I've been in the wind tunnel with cars with very unassuming front ends make great downforce, and then cars with all sorts of stuff on the front make absolutely terrible front downforce cause they missed a few of the basic principles. So saying you have a 6" splitter with tunnels can be a wild range of front downforce. I'll put it this way. On my Ai splitter in the video above, I ran our Fulcrum 14 at 5-7 degrees with a gurney and that car had every trick in the book on the front. I'll be building a max effort aero setup for my GT350 for Max2, and I'll be running our Fulcrum 14. Theres a few other advantages in Max that the wing can be set back a little farther vs. Ai and the GT350 has a smoother rear glass so I've seen slightly better performance from the wing on my GT350 vs my 99 mustang.

Thanks for answering my questions. Everything you said makes sense. Looks like I need to rewatch your video on differences in wing position.

 

[AJ Hartman]

Working on a few odds and ends. Made myself a steering wheel. Made the wheel, grips, and hub adapter. Only thing I bought was the quick release. Also made myself some vertical links. 100% done in house (ok, I had to buy the sphericals). I made myself solid bushing on my lathe a year or so ago. Last rubber bushing left are in the camber arm so I'm working on something there. I'm breaking a bit from my normal format of videoing everything since its a bit too time consuming with everything I have going on at the moment. I also signed up to SCCA TT Nationals in a few weeks so that should be fun.

 

[mavisky]

No concerns about the yoke not providing enough steering input through hairpins on certain tracks and having to go hand over hand ?

 

[biggsy]

Looks great. Now when you make a radio panel delete kit with precut holes I’ll be the first customer lol

 

[AJ Hartman]

No concerns about the yoke not providing enough steering input through hairpins on certain tracks and having to go hand over hand ?

No. My racecar has one thats a smaller diameter and I went back and watched my videos and I never go hand over hand. I'll be fine.

 

[AJ Hartman]

Since I brought some CNC capacity in house I've been tinkering with some more (or nicer) suspensions bits. I just got back from SCCA TT Nationals at NCM and will get a video of that up soon. The steering wheel felt way better to me than an OEM wheel.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Sexy!

 

[Stan Whitney]

Good to meet you at TTN last week. That steering wheel is super slick.

 

[AJ Hartman]

Recap of my first time at NCM with SCCA TT Nationals. Finished 4th in class of 14.