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Coyote Must-Have's for Road Course Reliability

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So I'm planning to swap a Gen3 coyote into my Ecoboost mustang and I'm trying to plan the mods I should do to give myself the best chance at long term road course reliability. I've read as much as I can and have a list below of the various recurring items I've come across. So in your experience/opinion, which are necessary and which are a good idea funds permitting?

For sure doing these things:
  • Oil Cooler (either a large Setrab 6 series or mid size 9 series)
  • Oil Balancing Lines (back of the heads)
  • Billet Oil Pump Gear & CS Sprocket
  • Radiator Ducting
Curious about these items:
  • GT500 Oil Pan & Pump (with aftermarket Billet Gear)
  • Clutch (there's a theory that some MT82 failures are due to poor OEM clutch disengagement, so I'm curious about this. Problem for 2018+ as well? What are the options for 2018+ clutches? Seems very limited.)
  • Valve Springs

Anything else? Thanks in advance guys.
 
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FWIW back in the IMSA Boss 302 days we were only allowed to change valve springs, rods and later, oil pump drive gears, you could go .020 to clean up the cylinder bores, and I think that was it.
 
So I'm planning to swap a Gen3 coyote into my Ecoboost mustang and I'm trying to plan the mods I should do to give myself the best chance at long term road course reliability. I've read as much as I can and have a list below of the various recurring items I've come across. So in your experience/opinion, which are necessary and which are a good idea funds permitting?

For sure doing these things:
  • Oil Cooler (either a large Setrab 6 series or mid size 9 series)
  • Oil Balancing Lines (back of the heads)
  • Billet Oil Pump Gear & CS Sprocket
  • Radiator Ducting
Curious about these items:
  • GT500 Oil Pan & Pump (with aftermarket Billet Gear)
  • Clutch (there's a theory that some MT82 failures are due to poor OEM clutch disengagement, so I'm curious about this. Problem for 2018+ as well? What are the options for 2018+ clutches? Seems very limited.)
  • Valve Springs

Anything else? Thanks in advance guys.
Cooling. Triple pass radiator (as opposed to triple core), Fluidyne or Kenny Brown. Damn the air flow thru the radiator. Loose the AC.

Brake ducts. And, The MT82 cannot take the heat of track duty. It will fail. I’ve had two. Now have a T56 Magnum. Save money where you can now and put it into a new Tremec.

Drive it. I’m not sure you need all the oil cooling stuff. I have a stock Gen 1 coyote, only has a tune, and it’s still very strong after 20,000 track miles. Drive road course advanced.
 

JDee

Ancient Racer
1,797
2,001
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
5 miles from Mosport
The gear ratios for the current MT82 are absymal, I see you're going Gen3 so if you get an engine/trans unit you'll have it I believe. Another reason to go Tremec. If not in the budget, plan on a trans cooler right off the bat and hope for the best.
 

Dave_W

Cones - not just for ice cream
984
1,277
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Connecticut
Between the slightly greater weight and more power of the Coyote, you'll be arriving at a corner with both more speed and more mass to slow down. I see from your build thread you already installed the GTPP brembos and master cylinder, so you should have that covered. Though you may want to look at stepping up the brake pad compound if you're nearing the limit of your current pad with the Ecoboost.

The Gen2 vs Gen3 was discussed in another thread recently - IIRC the Gen2 cylinders are sleeved and the Gen3 is spray-coated. There appear to be anecdotal reports that the Gen3 cylinders are as rugged. Just mentioning in case you hadn't heard.

How much work/expense are you willing to do on the Coyote? @Fabman swapped from a boosted 3-valve to a N/A Gen2 that has a bunch of internal oiling mods, and he seems very happy with it so far.

How about Ford Performance or third-party oil separator(s)?

Nice to have might be a Torsen instead of aTrac-loc (if that's what you've got) so you don't have to replace friction rings every so often.
 
Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming.

That KB radiator for a true triple pass is a good price, I think I'll pick one of those up.
I'll look into oil separators.

Yeah I've been going over the Gen2 vs Gen3 attributes and the D4 trans is a big downside, but as has been mentioned I'll probably end up with a Magnum if I keep this thing long enough anyways. Not in the budget now, but eventually. The extra power of the Gen3 is enticing.
 
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Install a 948 or 960 Setrab oil cooler. What you listed are too small.

You will need a larger capacity radiator. I and a number of people I know have had really good results with the C&R radiators. I am not sure if they offer a triple pass that is a drop in unit fir your car.

The GT500 pan and pump are good pieces. If you get the Ford Performance kit, you really don’t need to change the gears. The GT500 gears are stronger than what are used in the GT.

The Gen2 and Gen3 engines have decent valve springs for stock cams and up to 7500. But, they are a service item if you do a lot of track days. Plan on pulling the motor and changing the springs every two or three seasons.

You will need a differential cooler. That’s more important than the transmission cooler initially. You can put the car into limp mode because of differential temps in 10 -15 minutes on a hot day. If you have to wait on the transmission cooler, try to at least install a temp sensor.

If I am not mistaken, the EcoBoost and GT use a different MT-82. You need to research the differences and figure out the minimum pieces that need to be changed to work with the coyote and hold up to the extra power.

If you have to swap clutches and flywheels, I would install an Exedy clutch. If this is primarily a track car, I would use a Hyper Single or dual disk.

The D4 MT-82 ratios suck. If I couldn’t afford a Tremec, I would install an earlier model close ratio MT-82. They bolt directly in wiring and all. You don’t even have to have a tune change.
 
141
153
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Arizona
A lot of good advice posted so far. I'll just add that I've gotten a lot of value out of installing real coolant and oil temp gauges so I don't have to rely on the inferred data in the stock cluster. Adding parts to keep the car cool is great and having real gauges eliminates all the guesswork in determining if the car is safe (imo). Oil pressure is another one - not sure if the EB comes with the oil pressure gauge in the dash like the GTPP.

Only other thing I'll add is octane. I always hear about how crappy west coast 91 pump gas is. My coyote was a victim of detonation damage that required a total rebuild so nowadays I mix in about half a tank of 100 unleaded. E85 would be the ticket if it's available in your area.
 
+1 on the GT500 oil pan kit. Also the Gen3 comes with a real forged crank sprocket not the "forged" powdered metal of prior years so there's no reason really to go billet. Re the oil balance lines: you will have to drill and tap the ports because the Gen3 heads have pressed in plugs in place of the earlier screw in plugs.
 
296
349
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
20+ Years
NC
Supposedly, if you run a 4.09 final drive, it makes a D4 more like the older MT. Just what I've read as I've not changed a thing on my Bullitt. I would go with rear diff cooler, or different fluid and wrap exhaust near the pumpkin, which I have yet to do. I do know the oil gets a workout. Can only do 1.5 HPDE's before oil monitor shows zero. need to send a sample off to Blackstone. Not had any overheating issues here in the dirty south. admittedly, it hasn't been that hot and the PP radiator appears to be holding up fine
 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
Moderator
4,008
1,924
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W2W Racing
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10-20 Years
Cookeville TN
Supposedly, if you run a 4.09 final drive, it makes a D4 more like the older MT. Just what I've read as I've not changed a thing on my Bullitt. I would go with rear diff cooler, or different fluid and wrap exhaust near the pumpkin, which I have yet to do. I do know the oil gets a workout. Can only do 1.5 HPDE's before oil monitor shows zero. need to send a sample off to Blackstone. Not had any overheating issues here in the dirty south. admittedly, it hasn't been that hot and the PP radiator appears to be holding up fine
4.09/D4 is a myth, same amount of useable gears (2) and you will spin the engine higher on long fast straights, At Daytona you will also lose 5 mph top speed. The older gearing in the 2011-2017 MT-82 gives three useable gears, 3,4,5 and with 3.55 gears a 172 mph top speed at Daytona. This combo is the most flexible at many road courses.
 
Is there enough of a market for D4 boxes to sell them for about the price of an earlier one?

Steve have you swapped in an earlier transmission? I’m guessing you need to swap to the earlier Clutch and flywheel?

Also does anyone know if the stock water pump flows enough for a true triple pad rad?

@bauern did you drill and tap the heads with the motor together or apart? Even with grease on the drill bit and tap that would make me really nervous if I wasn’t pulling the motor apart.
 
296
349
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
20+ Years
NC
4.09/D4 is a myth
Thank you sir for correcting me:). I knew from IM's and conversations you had switched back to pre 18 trans. I am still able to use 3 gears; 2-4. At least at VIR and sometimes at Road Atlanta. That Bullitt ain't going past 163mph without some help.

Scoots, you building a racecar or just a fast HPDE car?
 

steveespo

Lord knows I'm a Voodoo Child
Moderator
4,008
1,924
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Cookeville TN
Is there enough of a market for D4 boxes to sell them for about the price of an earlier one?

Steve have you swapped in an earlier transmission? I’m guessing you need to swap to the earlier Clutch and flywheel?

Also does anyone know if the stock water pump flows enough for a true triple pad rad?

@bauern did you drill and tap the heads with the motor together or apart? Even with grease on the drill bit and tap that would make me really nervous if I wasn’t pulling the motor apart.
Earlier style clutch, throwout bearing and pilot bearing(new cars have it in the flywheel not the crank). And after two failed TOB, I discovered you need to swap the 15-17 clutch master cylinder on the pedal assembly. Same would apply to a Magnum XL swap too.
 

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