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SN95 LS3 Pony Build Thread Profile - SN95 Mustangs

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PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
They are available. Every 2005 - 2014 Mustang has fixed flanges on the trans and diff and a sliding driveshaft. The one I linked to has a sliding spline under the black bellows. Mine is a Spidershaft (out of business) and has about 2 inches of travel, similar to the std slip yoke on older transmissions and is aluminum. Driveshaftshop.com can make what you needed. But I guess it doesn't matter now. I just mentioned it so that you knew they existed in case it comes up again.

I'm surprised the driveshaft company would sell you a solid driveshaft. They should know better.
It wasn't completely solid. It had a CV joint on the front that had a small amount of movement. But I agree, they should have known better because it was not cheap.
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
Here is some more parts to take up space until I have time to actually put them on. I went with a 2qt Accusump. I think this paired with the baffled pan should keep the motor safe. I need to figure out where and how to mount it. The Edelbrock move really has made some parts scarce. Jegs was the only place I could find the Russell AN fittings I like to use. They should be here later this week. I basically have 95% of the parts I need for this phase and I need to get it all together so I can measure for a new driveshaft again. The next step at this point is getting the motor and trans pulled.
IMG_2050.JPG
 
1,022
99
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Texas
Have you driven the car with the TKX? I've got a TKX in my 1st gen mustang but haven't had a chance to drive the car yet. Curious why you chose the ratios you did? With a .62 final drive 5th gear is really just a highway/mpg gear? I went with a different ratio because I wanted a usable 5th gear. I do mostly road courses:

1st – 2.87

2nd – 1.89

3rd – 1.28

4th – 1.00

5th – 0.81

Great thread by the way...very detailed and I like the direction of the build.
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
Have you driven the car with the TKX? I've got a TKX in my 1st gen mustang but haven't had a chance to drive the car yet. Curious why you chose the ratios you did? With a .62 final drive 5th gear is really just a highway/mpg gear? I went with a different ratio because I wanted a usable 5th gear. I do mostly road courses:

1st – 2.87

2nd – 1.89

3rd – 1.28

4th – 1.00

5th – 0.81

Great thread by the way...very detailed and I like the direction of the build.

I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. I didn't choose the gear ratio, the gear ratio chose me, lol. It's what I could get. I actually wanted the 3.27 first gear and .72 fith but in hindsight I think what I ended up with will work out better for autocross if I end up with a shorter tire. Right now I'm running 295/35-18 so 4th gear will get me to 150mph. I don't think I'll ever need more than that on track so I'm not real concerned with 5th gear. If I do drive it on the street it will just be a bonus. The only difference in yours and mine is 5th gear.
 
1,022
99
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Texas
I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. I didn't choose the gear ratio, the gear ratio chose me, lol. It's what I could get. I actually wanted the 3.27 first gear and .72 fith but in hindsight I think what I ended up with will work out better for autocross if I end up with a shorter tire. Right now I'm running 295/35-18 so 4th gear will get me to 150mph. I don't think I'll ever need more than that on track so I'm not real concerned with 5th gear. If I do drive it on the street it will just be a bonus. The only difference in yours and mine is 5th gear.
Yeah...I'm on 315/30/R18's so overall diameter is about 26". My rear gear is a 3.70 so I will end up using 5th gear on some tracks. Eventually I'll probably change rear gears.
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
The planets aligned so I could finally get some work done on the car this weekend.

During teardown I noticed this tab was completely broken off my Moroso PS resevoir. I don't know how or why that would have happened but I'll each have to get a new one or weld it back on and re-powdercoat.
IMG_2087.JPG

I decided the best plan of attack was to just pull the whole engine and trans as a unit. I didn't want to mess with re-squaring the K-member or unhooking brake lines. Completely by myself it only took about 6 hours from drivable condition.
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I got it the engine put up on the stand and stripped down this morning. I found my bad lifter in the process and it's ready to be cleaned and put back together. I don't see a reason to pull the shortblock apart so this is as far as I'm going. Unfortunately between my work schedule and my wife's new job I won't be able to get back to it until next weekend. :(
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PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
I actually had a couple hours of free time today so more progress was made.

I threw the lifters in some oil to get them ready for install.
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New cam slid into place.
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Oil pump installed and aligned.
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Front cover back on and ready for the damper and oil pan.
IMG_2123.JPG
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
I got the heads put back on and basically the whole motor is back together minus pushrods. I cleaned the block and heads really well with mineral spirits to get back that shiny aluminum bling bling.
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With the new Johnson lifters I had to measure for longer pushrods. I came up with 7.525" which should be perfect to give me the recommended .035" preload.
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While I was waiting for parts to come in I took the opportunity to weld in a bung for the steamport on the radiator. I previously had the steamport plumbed back into the water pump. It has been a few months since I welded aluminum so don't judge too hard. I also ordered a -16AN bung to weld on the upper outlet so all my coolant lines will be AN fittings. I ordered a fitting from Autoplumb to go on the upper water pump outlet, no welding required so the pump can be replaced easily if need be.
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PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
Here is the other bung welded on for the upper radiator hose. My welding is very rusty.
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Here is the new Tremec TKX finally out of the box.
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I got the pushrods and rockers installed. Clutch installed. I'm using a Tilton throwout bearing so I had to set the airgap on that and then got the transmission and bellhousing bolted up.
IMG_2201.JPG

Dropping the motor back in the car. A little bit tricky by myself but I managed.
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Sitting back on the motor mounts again. I'm hoping to get far enough along tomorrow to start it up but we will see how it goes.
IMG_2208.JPG
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
It’s starting to look like something again. I got most everything put back together on the top end. I need to finish up the radiator hoses and put fluids in it.241C1AD2-E969-4CC5-A4A0-0FA6A8E86FEF.jpeg
6C05D7C3-84FC-4CF5-A77B-140D2552EC4F.jpeg
I need it lift it up and get the bottom side put back together; headers, exhaust, steering shaft, starter, etc. I have my fingers crossed that my driveshaft will work with a different yoke. It’s very close in length. Here is a comparison of the shifter location between the two. The TKX moves it back about 2” compared to the AR5.
30B59B67-3BAF-466D-9E20-5FBB56BDE2D5.jpeg
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
I was getting the headers put back on today and noticed the passenger side header looked alot worse than I remember. Just as a refresher, these are brand new Hooker Blackheart headers with about 10 miles on them. I had to put these headers on after I switched to the Maximum Motorsports K-member. I also replaced the transmission at the same time because I blew it up at the Topeka ProSolo. When I started the car up with the new trans(and these new headers) I heard the tapping that led me to replace the lifters. I figured it had also happened in Topeka and I just couldn't hear it from inside the car. At the time I did notice the leak on the header and tried a new gasket to see if the sound went away because it did sound oddly like an exhaust leak. The new gasket didn't seem to make any difference to the sound so I went forward with the lifters. After now seeing just how bad this flange is I'm not so sure that it wasn't the problem the whole time. There is a pretty significant gouge right next to the primary, probably .010-.020" deep. I tried to flatten it out on my belt sander but the stainless pretty much laughed at it. I dropped it off at a machine shop so hopefully they can figure out how to fixture it and get it cleaned up. I may have spent a whole bunch of time and money for no reason. Really not happy about this after spending $1200.
IMG_2221.jpg

IMG_2225.JPG
 
Last edited:

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
Uhhhhh... they better have a warranty with that kind of cost. (Pre-belt sander. Lol)

Also, did you make youtube videos with you ls new edge, like you did the budget beater? (Didnt look on your channel. Lazy and typing here already. Heh)
I did a few short videos on Instagram (@restless_performance) but nothing like the budget beater. That is super time consuming and I’m already struggling with time. I wanted to, just not feasible right now.
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
I'm still waiting to get my header back from the machine shop but as of 2pm today they are telling me "tomorrow". We'll see. I am pretty steady knocking stuff off the list though. Nothing very photogenic other than the coolant hoses so here are pictures of those. Driver header is back on, my 31 spline yoke should be here tomorrow, engine/trans are completely bolted up, wiring harness is hooked up. The main things left are; fluids, driveshaft, exhaust, passenger header, spark plugs, power steering reservoir(I ordered a stock Corvette piece), intake, clutch lines, and steering shaft. I think that's it. I'm hoping to test drive it this weekend.

This is the AN adapter from Autoplumb, it's pretty awesome.
IMG_2229.JPG

I'm using -16AN pushlok hose so now it matches the bottom. This stuff is cheap, looks nice, and is really easy to work with.
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PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
I had the rare opportunity to use some Ford Performance parts on this car. I was actually able to use a stock 2002 Mustang u-joint with this Ford yoke with my existing driveshaft and it worked out perfect.
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I also got the stock Corvette power steering reservoir put on since the Moroso piece was busted.
IMG_2251.JPG

Basically the whole car is back together at this point, I'm just waiting for the machine shop to get off their ass and finish my header. I'm pretty much gonna sit and twindle my thumbs all weekend instead of retuning and breaking in the transmission. :confused:
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The machine shop told me Wednesday that the flange needed .010" cut off, which is what I told them when I dropped it off. Yesterday they said they could only cut .005" per pass because the stainless was so hard and it took 25 minutes per pass. They sent me this picture at 11am this morning and said it would be done "Monday, guaranteed". It is already on the surfacer and has already been cut but they can't finish it until Monday. Maybe I'm missing something but the math and timelines are not adding up. It's safe to say I will never be back to this machine shop. They have been telling me "tomorrow" everyday for the last week. If anybody wants to buy me a shop full of tools I'm accepting donations. I'll make you guys some cool stuff too.
IMG_1717.JPEG
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
Finally some updates. I've been super busy lately so haven't had a chance to post.

It took over a week but I finally got the header back from the machine shop.
IMG_2302.JPG

After getting the header on it was ready to fire up. Started up without issue and I drove it down the street and back. I started to notice a sound that didn't seem right and digged in a little deeper. Here is a video from under the car of the sound. At first I thought it was throwout bearing related. I removed the throwout bearing completely and reinstalled the transmission, it didn't make any difference to the sound. I was pretty sure something was wrong with the brand new transmission at that point. Everything else was known good parts.

After pulling the transmission a couple times and checking everything I finally figured out what it was. I can pull the transmission in 30 minutes btw, lol.
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The stud that gets installed on the front of the transmission for the throwout bearing was about .025" too long and hitting a couple of the clutch forks. 100% my fault for not checking it.
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IMG_2338.jpg

Here is another video after trimming back the stud and getting it together.

I drove it home from the shop. Everything seems to work fine but it need the tune cleaned up for the new cam. If I can get some time without kids or rain I will work on that. I also want to get it on the dyno after I get the transmission broken in.
IMG_2347.JPG

Here is the current list of stuff to do until I think of more.
IMG_2348.JPG
 

PatientZero

@restless_performance
825
865
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Kansas City, Missouri
I've been putting miles on the car to get the transmission broken in. I've driven it to work a couple times this week (100 miles roundtrip, RIP A052's) and everything seems to be working well, except....

I'm getting a pulsing vibration that is speed dependent. At 75-80mph it's a wub....wub...wub... and it gets faster with speed. Clutch in or out doesn't matter and still does it while coasting. I thought it might have been a flatspotted tire but it seems way to slow to be a tire so I think that leaves a driveline/driveshaft issue. I think it's possible a bent one of the ears on the driveshaft when removing the old u-joint because it was a MAJOR PITA to get out. I'm going to check runout on the driveshaft to confirm. I might have to have a new driveshaft made after all. I have rechecked the pinion angle, trans and pinion match. Trans to driveshaft and driveshaft to pinion also match at about 2°. Any ideas from the crowd?
 

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