The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts

Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.

  • Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!

S197 Boss 302 in Chile Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Well engine is just about ready and only waiting for the last parts to come in so Shaun can finish the engine, then ship to Miami, and finally get in on a plane down here. In the mean time getting ready to beef up the roll cage and see if we can loose some weight. Another S197 car in the shop is getting the swiz cheese treatment, but am not very keen to follow the example. What do you think??
View attachment 71750
View attachment 71751
/\
View attachment 71752
Weigh that box of sheet metal and decide if that weight is worth the loss in structural rigidity.
Then weigh those extra roll cage tubes and see what the difference is.
You can save more weight using selective roll cage sizes/thicknesses.
Not everything has to be .120 or .095. Mandatory tubes/safety structure needs to be regulation size/thickness, but all the extra diagonals and supports can be smaller diameter/thinner wall.
If you swiss cheese the car to death then build a full cage out of 1.75 x.120 wall (or thicker) and add a bunch of extra tubes are you really getting anywhere?
I use .120, .095, .085 and .065 in 1.75, 1.5 .1.25 and 1.0 tubing depending on the loading for each tube in my cages. You can build a very stiff/light structure this way without sacrificing safety if you do it right and give the holesaw a rest.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Yeeehaaa. My new engine is crated and shipping out! Thanks to @Fabman for the intro to AED and the push to not dick around with another home brew build. Might have to sell some organs to get it on plane down here, but first race is on the 8th of March and I got me some Cayman's to eat.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
If you're going to do the swiss cheese job, you really should use a dimple die on the holes to regain the panel rigidity.
No, I don't think its such a great idea... Not going to happen to my boss! Its for a new participant for our category. and too top it off, its going to be with NO2.
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Have you already gone the Optic Armor route for lightweight windows, or maybe a few Anderson composite fenders or doors before you go waging a holy war?!
I do need a new windshield but the engines over the last year or so have drained the car fund. I can see about 70 kilos of junk if a take out everything behind the dash, airbags, radio, etc etc.
 

ArizonaBOSS

Because racecar.
Moderator
8,730
2,734
Arizona, USA
Well engine is just about ready and only waiting for the last parts to come in so Shaun can finish the engine, then ship to Miami, and finally get in on a plane down here. In the mean time getting ready to beef up the roll cage and see if we can loose some weight. Another S197 car in the shop is getting the swiz cheese treatment, but am not very keen to follow the example. What do you think??
View attachment 71750
View attachment 71751
/\
View attachment 71752
How much did the contents of the box weigh? That should answer your question.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,424
8,349
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
I would say it likely diminished the torsional strength of the car also, and the weight advantage is zilch. I know taking out the rear window and the front windshield got rid of a heck of a lot more weight up high. Sure the Optic Armor windows are not cheap but it sure makes more sense than that little chop job. Glad to hear it was not your Redhead, Chile Racer, and the funny thing is he paid someone to do that!
 

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Ta da!! Some thing good for a change! New engine is in Miami at last, now just waitng for last minute parts to arrive and down she comes in time for the March 6th season start. I was delaying and finding excuses of why not to buy a Setrab 948 cooler but remembering that the compression is going from 11:1 to 12:1, convinced me to take car of the extra heat now! Maybe I can fit the 925 or 915 as well if needed.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Ta da!! Some thing good for a change! New engine is in Miami at last, now just waitng for last minute parts to arrive and down she comes in time for the March 6th season start. I was delaying and finding excuses of why not to buy a Setrab 948 cooler but remembering that the compression is going from 11:1 to 12:1, convinced me to take car of the extra heat now! Maybe I can fit the 925 or 915 as well if needed.
The 948 is enough, just duct it well. I’m not a fan of multiple coolers. Use -12 lines and fittings and keep everything as free flowing as possible. This is the lifeblood of the engine, extra care here can make all the difference.
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Also, I wouldn’t be comfortable re using an oil cooler that had an engine failure.
it wouldn’t take much for a trapped piece of shrapnel to dislodge at speed and kill a new motor. Sure, you can rinse the cooler out, but shrapnel can be lodged in corners and come loose later. It’s just not worth the risk IMHO.
 
Last edited:

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,518
8,154
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Another thing I have seen more than once is leftover shrapnel in the intake manifold killing a new motor.
 
Last edited:

Mad Hatter

Gotta go Faster
5,237
4,227
Santiago, Chile
Good points, going to do a mayor clean on the manifold. And the old oil coolers will probably go up for sale to fund the habit.
 

TMO Supporting Vendors

Top