S197 APEXPNY Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

[Apexpny]

This is the Build Thread for APEXPNY. Reply below.

 

[302BOB]

"Car has constantly evolved"...................A man on a mission don't need no permission.......only an end goal to reach.........Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Apexpny]

"Car has constantly evolved"...................A man on a mission don't need no permission.......only an end goal to reach.........Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, only money and time can slow us down! Haha.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Let me introduce you to project Superbeater, feel free to steal any ideas posted there.

 

[SMGDHG]

Warms my heart to see another 3v getting the track car treatment. Welcome to the club and hope to see you out there sometime!

 

[Apexpny]

Let me introduce you to project Superbeater, feel free to steal any ideas posted there.

Thanks man, I'll make sure to give an honorable mention if any the ideas work!

 

[Apexpny]

Warms my heart to see another 3v getting the track car treatment. Welcome to the club and hope to see you out there sometime!

Thank you. Not sure our 3v's are the weapon of choice but it's my weapon of choice! Looks like you frequent Buttonwillow. Maybe we'll cross paths before the end of the season.

 

[Apexpny]

Thank you. Not sure our 3v's are the weapon of choice but it's my weapon of choice! Looks like you frequent Buttonwillow. Maybe we'll cross paths before the end of the season.

This is the Build Thread for APEXPNY. Reply below.

Ok, so it's going to take some time but I'll slowly be updating this thread getting everyone up to speed on how I/we got here. Going back to Fall of 2018, I had saved some pennies and decided I would finally pull the trigger on getting into this hobby. I had considered many options from a new Camaro 1LE, to spec miata, or even a Honda S2000. All of which would be great track car choices but based on low initial cost, huge availability of parts, and what some would say is an underdog platform, I decided on an S197. After months of looking at several beat down, teenager modified junkers, I finally found this creampuff grandpa car in Beaumont, CA. So in April of 2019, I drove five hours from Norcal, handed the guy a wad of cash, and trailered this low mile, mint condition S197 back home. The car had 45k miles and was untouched down to the original Pirelli tires dated from 2007. This S197 was almost too nice to make into a track car but the deal was too good to pass up. The very next weekend modifications started and this is where the adventure would begin.

 

[Apexpny]

The very first modification was an obvious wheel and tire upgrade. At the time I was thinking maybe working toward spec mustang or time trials, so I chose the GT500 wheels which would meet the spec for those classes. With no prior track experience ever in my life, I decided to start with a 300 treadwear Nitto NT555 street tire to learn on. Although the stock suspension was still a complete disaster, this simple bolt on upgrade absolutely changed how the car drove just driving around the block! This was the first of several modifications I needed to get done before my first ever track day in June of 2019, only two months away.

 

[Apexpny]

Next up after wheels/tires, would be brakes. Once again, trying to build for possible future goals, I went with the GT500 Brembo 4 piston brake upgrade. One of the rear calipers was seized, so I replaced both single pistons with remans. Pad choice was Hawk HP Plus on all four corners. While the car was in the garage, I also added some cosmetic upgrades with a front splitter and GT500 dovetail wing to stick with the theme I had going.

 

[Apexpny]

Next in line was exhaust. After wasting countless hours watching knucklehead youtubers trying to impress their bros with how sick their exhaust sounds, I had no Idea what to buy. However, I ended up going with the FR500S axle backs. Honestly, just decided on these to stick with my build theme but after getting them installed, I think they are the best sounding mufflers for a 3v. While the car was on jack stands, I changed out fluids. Went with Driven FR20 oil, bled the brakes with Motul rbf600, and flushed out the cooling system. Getting closer to being ready but still waiting for suspension parts to deliver.

 

[Apexpny]

Finally, my suspension order from Maximum Motorsports arrived. I went with their grip box upgraded with the Eibach R1 single adjustable coilovers. Back then I was learning on the fly and didn't really have a full understanding of everything involved with making a car get around a track. The guys at MM were really awesome and took the time to answer my laundry list of questions. The suspension went in without any issues and immediately took the car for alignment. Added Schroth quick fit harnesses and the S197 was ready for her first track day. Now I had to figure out how to get myself ready!

 

[SMGDHG]

Thank you. Not sure our 3v's are the weapon of choice but it's my weapon of choice! Looks like you frequent Buttonwillow. Maybe we'll cross paths before the end of the season

All things considered....the 3v is a fantastic platform. Lots of pros to the 3v vs the 5.0's. 185k on mine.

I used to live in socal.....I was at buttonwillow pretty much monthly . I'm in norcal now, so hoping to focus on Sonoma, Laguna and Thunderhill. Still try to make it out to BRP 2-3 times per year though.

Let me know if you are signed up for anything at the norcal tracks, I'm dying to get tracktime at Sonoma, but nobody seems to run it on weekends. Super frustrating.

 

[Apexpny]

All things considered....the 3v is a fantastic platform. Lots of pros to the 3v vs the 5.0's. 185k on mine.

I used to live in socal.....I was at buttonwillow pretty much monthly . I'm in norcal now, so hoping to focus on Sonoma, Laguna and Thunderhill. Still try to make it out to BRP 2-3 times per year though.

Let me know if you are signed up for anything at the norcal tracks, I'm dying to get tracktime at Sonoma, but nobody seems to run it on weekends. Super frustrating.

Ah cool, I'm in Stockton, so pretty much within 3 hrs or less of all the Norcal tracks. My buddy and I just ran a one day event at Thunderhill last Friday with HOD and are looking at Sonoma Aug 19-20 with NASA. We have a few guys that meet up with us, so it's usually a good time. I'll let you know once we get registered.

 

[Apexpny]

Now it was June 14th 2019 and we were off to Buttonwillow for my first weekend HPDE event. Honestly, I was pretty nervous not knowing what to expect and how well my shade tree mechanic skills would hold up to race track conditions. However, once on track the nerves went away and I immediately was addicted. I just remember the session ending in what seemed like 5 minutes and I couldn't wait to get back out there. Everything seemed so fast even though in reality I was going slow by my own standards today. Shout out to my instructors Tom and Darrin who were awesome. Time to plan the next event!

 

[Apexpny]

I've always been a gear head and worked on cars ever since I could hold a wrench. I do most of my own repairs and have restored several cars. I'm one of those drivers who loves working on my car as much as driving it, so this hobby scratches all the itches. With that said, I immediately wanted to make more upgrades after that first event. The first thing was to get rid of those lazy 3.31 gears and swap with 3.55. Also while the axle was out, replace the sloppy two piece drive shaft with an frpp one piece aluminum.

 

[Apexpny]

We are now into spring of 2020 and next on the list was oil cooling. Buttonwillow got to 102 degrees and I have no idea what my temps reached since there are no real gauges in the mustang. That was going to change, so I ordered a universal oil cooler kit from Mishimoto and Autometer gauges from Summit. Since there are not many oil cooler mounting options out there, it was up to me to figure it out. I used aluminum angle to build a frame that would house the cooler, then mounted it behind the bumper bar. Routed the lines up and around the frame and we were ready to go. I know now that the way I mounted the cooler wasn't ideal, but I was learning each step of the way. To this day I still haven't boxed in the cooler, that's probably my next project. Lastly, while the bumper cover was off, I mounted a tow hook and also ran some brake cooling ducts using a JLT/Steeda combo kit. Now I was ready for another Buttonwillow event to test my upgrades.

 

[Short circuit]

Very cool build.

 

[Apexpny]

Very cool build.

Thanks!

 

[Apexpny]

Another weekend at Buttonwillow confirmed my recent upgrades were an improvement. Oil temps stayed around 225 and it was nice to actually read real gauges. The brake cooling helped the HP Plus pads hold up through each session. However, after this event I wanted to address the axle breather purging issue and I developed a pinion seal leak. As a solution I installed a JLT overflow can for the axle breather. Since I just had the diff rebuilt, my best guess was the pinion angle caused the leak, so I installed a Steeda uca to sort that out. Also I upgraded the front lca with a set of GT500, installed a strut tower brace, and added an frpp transmission cooler scoop. Lastly, I swapped out the sloppy stock shifter with an MGW unit, one of my favorite upgrades.