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Got Another GT 350 ( Heritage) and GT 350R we can order!!!

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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,422
8,346
Exp. Type
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20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Have to order the Heritage tomorrow and the R fairly soon, but wanted to get the info out as obviously they won't be here tomorrow , but we can order as you wish. As noted we have been building our Mustangs sales a bunch over the past 3-4 years and many have gone to TMO folks. Call me, text me or email me so I can make sure you get to the right person, and , more importantly, so I can tell them you are a friend of mine from the TMO site!!!

[email protected]
402-677-5864

Keep in mind we have 5 enclosed trailers for personal delivery at a fair price, as well as contracts with major enclosed carriers. A Fly/Drive program is also available --- in other words we will work with you!
 
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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,422
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Can only report on what we have seen and that has been no issues at all. Have been selling Performance machines since the 1990s and that usually is a attuned clientele base imho, and it seems like discussions of motors come up more often with this group. I have always tried to not read too much into some reports as I am from the old school that questions everything. With the digital age we hear about things super quickly , but we also pass on rumors insanely fast and we tend to believe items ( often from folks we do not know) . I remember a few years back there was word out Woodhouse was working on quite a few blown Viper motors. Quite a few was actually one, yet we had two others in the shop for engine upgrades. The one that was blown was out of a car where the driver said he had maintained it properly and he expected FCA to fix it. Ironically it had been modded and he slipped weeks later in a conversation with me noting he had missed a couple of shifts at COTA at over 100 MPH and had no problem then --- weird rationale on why it should not have had a problem later. Kind of funny, as it did not take much for us to figure it was likely a large part of the issue.

Is this what you may be discussing, I have no idea , but I am just explaining I am often a bit more skeptical than some, because over the years with various machines I have seen things like this show up ( not discounted the possibility it could be an issue ), yet it is common today that no blame is ever associated to the driver. That occurs way more often than one suspects in my experience , so it is one reason I hesitate to completely believe various postings and rumors until they bear out. We all know that things can happen, do happen , and that Manufacturers can have issues. I remember the valve issues with the 99 Cobras where they were not angle cut and there was a loss of reported HP. A supplier was tied to that and ironically a similar issue happened with Dodge Vipers in 2003. There are many other examples, but I tend to take a bit more of a wait and see stance than just completely believing everything I read online.

Lastly, I also believe in a very stringent break in , and it is interesting we see such a low incidence of concerns with our customers and we definitely have a higher case of track enthusiasts than many others.

No reports at present with the Shop, and in fact we have gotten some interesting news on HP gains with a few 19s and 20s , but no actual proof so they could be anomalies too.

Over the years we have seen Ford very responsible in taking care of problems , and this is much better than alot of Manufacturers in our experience ( with 18 Stores we do see differing responses to various concerns over the years ). I would be concerned at this time, as have heard no trickle down from any Engineer friends , other than there just might be a bit of truth to the HP reports on the 19 and 20 GT 350 models.
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,529
5,243
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Illinois
I went by the owners manual. Drive with light throttle and varied throttle the first 4-500 miles, avoiding full throttle hits. Drive with moderate throttle until 1000 miles. Change the oil, have fun.
And you are probably asking how I did that, played nice. Simple, I had my brother do the break in miles driving from Nebraska to Illinois. It’s surprising how easy it is to get someone to drive your brand new 350 when you pay for the flight and gas.
When I pulled the filter element apart after the first oil changed I was shocked at how much metal Was Not in the filter. Follow the manual. The manufacturer just may be more knowledgeable then the other guys on the inter web.
 
I did the same thing-ish with once and a while 7,000rpm hit....changed the oil at 500miles with motorcraft, nothing in the oil, no consumption before i drained it. Im at 800 now and once and a while doing wot to make sure the rings are seating, but staying below 5-6k. I will check the ford performance oil catch to see if they caught anything at 1000
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,422
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Norm, I recommend very similar to what TMSBoss did , though recommend changing the oil if possible around 500-750 miles. Ford is a solid on a stringent break in on these cars, where so many say you don't have to do anything different and the first oil change is around 5K or higher. Since the late 90s the Engineers I have known at FCA and Ford have discreetly told me to break things in easier and change the oil early. Maybe not what the Manufacturer may have said , but they quietly mentioned to us on the side that this was how they would break in their own cars.

I stress an easy break in to all my customers and often supply them with an oil filter and even a quart of oil as a subtle reminder to change early. With tolerances so incredibly tight, I think the early change was just a little extra precaution to flush out the system early in the motor's life cycle. Another reason behind an easier break in was due to the huge HP increases over the years and this meant more stress on other components -- transmission, driveline, and even brake systems. The break in is important , also for these components.

The reason I went over this with everyone is due to the fact that no matter what one would tell many buyers , the old adage of drive it like you stole it was imbedded in too many minds ( with little thought that motors of years gone by were essentially pretty damn loose to begin with). I tried to get these old wive's tales out of buyer's minds, knowing it would not sway everyone. Always amazed me that guys buying racing Miata engines , years back were told they had to baby the motor for 500 miles prior to racing , yet they would go get a new vehicle and be beating on it within a 100 miles.

Now days many Manufacturers have backtracked with more stringent break ins ( GT 350s, Hellcats, etc. ) but the issue is education and getting folks to adhere to this, imho.
 

Grant 302

basic and well known psychic

F9FD9085-C8CC-4491-9018-B079D9E6E561.jpeg

I don’t see anything in the official GT350 supplement that says to drive like a Grandma. ;)

Breaking in ‘gently’ can mean many things to different people.

Focusing on the Ford Note above, varying the speed and RPM of all parts is important. Taking a long transport drive is essentially ignoring that note.

The thing that most don’t mention is the need (IMO) for rings to be seated under vacuum. This is something I firmly believe in. That is achieved by varying speed as the note says. But I do think a break in procedure that includes high vacuum conditions is critical for good piston seal.

TO BE CLEAR, this does not mean beating the crap out of the car, drag racing and power shifting for the first 100 or 1,000 miles then taking the car to the track without changing the oil. But there is no way that any good seating pressures are achieved at the rings if only driving ‘gently’. And there’s no way I’d track a car at 1,000 , 2,000 or even 3,000 miles if it was only driven ‘gently’ during that period.
 

TMSBOSS

Spending my pension on car parts and track fees.
7,529
5,243
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Illinois
Grant

Agree but brother drove back on county and state highways, no interstates. Stopped about every 100 miles, an old guy thing. Shifted between fourth, fifth and sixth regularly. Shut her down and took care of nature. Yes, he is a freak when it comes to saving equipment. He owns nothing newer than 20 yers old.
Still I expected to see metal in the filter as well as silicone sealers like others have posted. Almost nothing. Very happy with that finding.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,422
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Since so many do take the term], driving gently, different , I just told folks to vary the speed, keep it under 4000 rpms, no severe braking , and change the oil at 500 miles. As noted prior, Ford is a bit more stringent than some other companies on their performance machines, but I kept it my recommendations simple and based on respected friends in the Industry . Thanks for posting the Ford info , Grant, and I agree generalized terms can be interpreted differently , so hopefully keeping it simple with well over 2600 Performance Vehicle Sales, helped keep our issues/problems at a very, very low level.
 
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I don't think that anyone would recommend bouncing the brand new engine off the rev limiter leaving the dealership parking lot, but don't forget that pretty much every single sportscar and sportbike engine that I am aware of is load tested at the factory before they release it for shipment. That load test involves running the engine up to redline, sometimes more than once.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,422
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Realize this will always bring up counter points, and my data is from hanging with various Big 3 Engineers over a beer or two , where they may not adhere to the Marketing Line put out by the Manufacturer. We live in a World where the minute one Automotive Company states you can change your oil every 5,000 miles, the next day someone is out promoting 10,000 miles , or even just wait and change when it gets dirty. There are so many other examples I could waste a bunch of your time discussing the differences between Sales, Marketing, PR, Engineering , etc.

Let's just say for the past 20+ years , when hanging with many of the top line Performance Engineers virtually all of them suggested a much more stringent break in than what the factory threw out. One of the reason was super simple, the motors tolerances had to be so incredibly tight to meet ever challenging emission requirements that they just flat did not break in like the old days of loose motors ( right out of the box). Should not be a surprise and with many of us seeing motors go 200-300K , where there was a block party with a keg of beer in the olden days if a vehicle made it over 100K.

No argument that many are dyno'd , tested , etc. at the factory , but in the words of friends in the business, there is no substitute to being all hooked up to the car under real life conditions. The other main reason I was often given , is even though the motors were checked over, the tranny , rear end , brakes , etc. needed to be under real load and they needed the break in as much as the power plant.

With distinct break ins for Hellcats, GT 350s and other performance machines out there now, it is obvious the Manufacturers have gone back to a more stringent break in than just 3-5 years back.

Folks will do what they believe or feel they understand, but when selling I always felt the inside dope I was given should be listened to and knowing how each Dept. inside an Automotive Corporation had their own agenda , the privilege of having many Engineers confidence made me feel responsible to pass on the info, often discreetly, over the years.

Easy break in, change the oil fairly early, vary your speed, no panic stops, etc.............it worked for well over 2500 Performance Vehicle Sales , so I just went with the flow. Just a good idea imho, and I realize there will always be others who disagree, but since I was selling the vehicle, our Dealership, myself, it just seemed like a good path to travel down.
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
939
712
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
a few miles east of Philly
Realize this will always bring up counter points, and my data is from hanging with various Big 3 Engineers over a beer or two , where they may not adhere to the Marketing Line put out by the Manufacturer. We live in a World where the minute one Automotive Company states you can change your oil every 5,000 miles, the next day someone is out promoting 10,000 miles , or even just wait and change when it gets dirty. There are so many other examples I could waste a bunch of your time discussing the differences between Sales, Marketing, PR, Engineering , etc.

Let's just say for the past 20+ years , when hanging with many of the top line Performance Engineers virtually all of them suggested a much more stringent break in than what the factory threw out. One of the reason was super simple, the motors tolerances had to be so incredibly tight to meet ever challenging emission requirements that they just flat did not break in like the old days of loose motors ( right out of the box). Should not be a surprise and with many of us seeing motors go 200-300K , where there was a block party with a keg of beer in the olden days if a vehicle made it over 100K.

No argument that many are dyno'd , tested , etc. at the factory , but in the words of friends in the business, there is no substitute to being all hooked up to the car under real life conditions. The other main reason I was often given , is even though the motors were checked over, the tranny , rear end , brakes , etc. needed to be under real load and they needed the break in as much as the power plant.

With distinct break ins for Hellcats, GT 350s and other performance machines out there now, it is obvious the Manufacturers have gone back to a more stringent break in than just 3-5 years back.

Folks will do what they believe or feel they understand, but when selling I always felt the inside dope I was given should be listened to and knowing how each Dept. inside an Automotive Corporation had their own agenda , the privilege of having many Engineers confidence made me feel responsible to pass on the info, often discreetly, over the years.

Easy break in, change the oil fairly early, vary your speed, no panic stops, etc.............it worked for well over 2500 Performance Vehicle Sales , so I just went with the flow. Just a good idea imho, and I realize there will always be others who disagree, but since I was selling the vehicle, our Dealership, myself, it just seemed like a good path to travel down.
Very well said.

People today don't seem to have as much patience or willingness to wait. For anything.. Gotta have it all. Right now.

Most people have never assembled an engine. Let alone built one where any hand-fitting was involved.

Fewer still have a solid engineering understanding of topics such as uneven heating, different rates of expansion, thermal transients, or that mechanical break-in involves what I'll call "final fitting of parts to each other by self-machining on a microscopic level".


Norm
 

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