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S197 3V NASA Spec Iron Build! Build Thread

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7500RPM_Ben

TMO Clueless
I did not really want to modify my Boss and instead purchased a 2005 Legend Lime Mustang GT to turn into a Spec Iron car! The car has 155k on the body, 80k on the motor, and the shocks and struts have been replaced within the past year (Shock/Strut replacement does not really matter much now does it haha). The goal is to be competitive for under $10k and that is going to be a challenge! I also nicknamed the car "The Green Hell" due to it is green and because I like the Nurburgring and this is going to be a green road race car haha.

The plan is to have the car SI legal by the first event of 2018 in the NASA Southeast region. I have started to remove the interior pieces and other things that add weight. The interior color is Charcoal, let me know if anyone needs interior pieces!

Her first mod was changing the oil to Royal Purple 5w-20 as it was on sale at Advanced Auto Parts. I also fixed her turn signal as the car will remain street legal for the time being. Everything minus upper belts and the carpet under the rear window has been removed, pictures of that to come later!
IMG_0851.JPGIMG_0854.JPGIMG_0858.JPGIMG_0860.JPGIMG_0861.JPGIMG_0862.JPGIMG_0868.JPG
 

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Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,155
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
This is gonna be an interesting thread....POST AWAY!
 
Looks like fun, good luck with the build.
 

7500RPM_Ben

TMO Clueless
Looking forward to updates! Just gotta add 'Green Hell' to your signature. :)

I will do that here in a few minutes haha!

wooooo have fun!

This is gonna be an interesting thread....POST AWAY!

Looks like fun, good luck with the build.

The goal is to have fun and try to post a build thread with an SI car, as I have not found any. I have enjoyed dismantling the back half of the interior so far!

Under $10k?? Gotta watch this one :)

Under $10k is a doable long shot in the dark. My biggest variable is finding someone to build a cage or to piece one together for cheap. I have found that Maximum Motorsports has the back half with a crossbar addition for $767. I will be posting up prices of everything I purchase in this build. I am also going to count driving suit and shoes towards the total. I of course also have a helmet, it is an SA2010 and I may go ahead and upgrade. I am hoping to sell the interior to pay for a race seat/harness/MM back half roll cage. Well, pay for part of the roll cage. I have time to build the car and I want to do it as cheaply as possible. Of course to not skimp on safety, I will spend good money on that!
 

7500RPM_Ben

TMO Clueless
Here are pictures of the car I took today a few more things to go in the back half to be pulled out. I then get to play with removing the sound deadening, which I heard is fun:(. I have a line on a race seat and if I purchase it I will go ahead and pull the front half of the interior out minus the dash. As long as she is on the street the AC will be kept! The radio can go though, the Pypes O/R X-Pipe coupled with the MBRP axlebacks sound amazing haha. I will go turndowns after the x-pipe once I take her off the street.IMG_0890.JPGIMG_0886.JPGIMG_0888.JPGIMG_0892.JPGIMG_0891.JPGIMG_0899.JPGIMG_0895.JPG
 

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7500RPM_Ben

TMO Clueless
Today there was an SCCA Autocross that I ran in "The Green Hell!" Louisiana's Red River Region held it at Thunder Road Raceway in Gilliam, LA. I was classed in Street Modified due to having no Cats and that I removed the back seat. I was up against a 240SX, 2015ish STI, and two old school 280Z's. The 240 was a stripped race car just about and the STI had good tires and I have no idea what else.

I was mostly testing the car and to get a feel for it, here are the bad things:
  • The Strut Mounts are utterly destroyed, they pop LOUDLY
  • 235/50/18 A/S type tires fold over and are not track friendly:confused:
  • Stockish GT brakes are not good at all, heck I felt like I had no brakes.
  • The amount of body roll was wild with stock shocks/struts/springs/sway-bars.
I ended up four out of six, the 240 was split between two drivers. It was 240/STI/240/Me/280/280. My fastest time of the day was 68 seconds to the 240 and STI's 67's. As I tried different things and drove harder my time started slowing down to 73/74. I do not know if it was me, the heat, I wore the tires slap out, or the Strut Mounts becoming destroyed:(.

All in all it was a fun day, I went out to play and to learn the car:). Once I pick up what I want for the suspension and brakes, she will feel 100 times better!

Here are some pictures I took when we rolled in this morning. I will post any more that I find of The Green Hell:D!
IMG_0900.JPGIMG_0903.JPG
 
I am going to subscribe to this thread....

I posted a week or so ago about opinions on Spec Iron. After running Skippy for a few years I want my own car to run some NASA events here in the North East. I too want to keep my Boss clean and costs down so have been looking into Spec Iron.

I've gone back and forth about building my own car or buying one turn key. As noted above, you can get a ~100K mile chassis for about $10K. Spec Iron mandated performance bits are another $7K or so. Add in a motor refresh, consumables, and safety gear you could probably get one going for 20K (assuming you didn't go the optional adjustable suspension route).

Or you can spend $30K on a complete car from Watson Racing and miss out on the fun of the build. Hmmm...

http://www.racingjunk.com/NASA-Amer...=&searchString=spec+iron&offset=0&from=search

I've gone back and forth on this for almost a year! lol
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,155
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
I am going to subscribe to this thread....

I posted a week or so ago about opinions on Spec Iron. After running Skippy for a few years I want my own car to run some NASA events here in the North East. I too want to keep my Boss clean and costs down so have been looking into Spec Iron.

I've gone back and forth about building my own car or buying one turn key. As noted above, you can get a ~100K mile chassis for about $10K. Spec Iron mandated performance bits are another $7K or so. Add in a motor refresh, consumables, and safety gear you could probably get one going for 20K (assuming you didn't go the optional adjustable suspension route).

Or you can spend $30K on a complete car from Watson Racing and miss out on the fun of the build. Hmmm...

http://www.racingjunk.com/NASA-Amer...=&searchString=spec+iron&offset=0&from=search

I've gone back and forth on this for almost a year! lol
Depending on the skill set, available time, space and access to tools/equipment of the individual, it may or may not be feasible to do your own from scratch.
For all the time and work involved, IMHO the 30 grand is way worth it if your budget allows.
 
Depending on the skill set, available time, space and access to tools/equipment of the individual, it may or may not be feasible to do your own from scratch.
For all the time and work involved, IMHO the 30 grand is way worth it if your budget allows.

Exactly where I'm at - especially when a season of the Mazda Speed Challenge was costing $35K/yr plus travel.

Setup and consumables I can do myself but fab and body no way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,155
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
Exactly where I'm at - especially when a season of the Mazda Speed Challenge was costing $35K/yr plus travel.

Setup and consumables I can do myself but fab and body no way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I am a fabricator and have built literally hundreds of race cars over the years. A turn key car built from scratch is a ton of time and work even with the right resources. If my ego would allow it I'd find a reputable seller and pay once. But, like I tell my son, we're Fabricator's, we are obligated to build something no one else has, and it has to be good. It's what my accountant calls "a demonstration of competency." And that makes it a write off for me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,155
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
demonstration of competency....
I like your style
Its legit, I secured my deal with Oakridge national laboratories (I have 2 nuclear welding certs) because the engineer had heard about me and my hot rod mustang from the machinist down the street. (I do welding for them) He is a huge vintage racing mustang nut so he came to meet me. After looking at the fab on the car and other jobs I had in the shop at the time he was impressed enough to start sending me work.....from Tennessee!
 

Fabman

Dances with Racecars
6,519
8,155
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Pleasanton: 1/2 way between Sonoma and Laguna Seca
So....if sh!t blows up back there.... :rolleyes:
 

7500RPM_Ben

TMO Clueless
I am going to subscribe to this thread....

I posted a week or so ago about opinions on Spec Iron. After running Skippy for a few years I want my own car to run some NASA events here in the North East. I too want to keep my Boss clean and costs down so have been looking into Spec Iron.

I've gone back and forth about building my own car or buying one turn key. As noted above, you can get a ~100K mile chassis for about $10K. Spec Iron mandated performance bits are another $7K or so. Add in a motor refresh, consumables, and safety gear you could probably get one going for 20K (assuming you didn't go the optional adjustable suspension route).

Or you can spend $30K on a complete car from Watson Racing and miss out on the fun of the build. Hmmm...

http://www.racingjunk.com/NASA-Amer...=&searchString=spec+iron&offset=0&from=search

I've gone back and forth on this for almost a year! lol

I am about to hit the bed but I will touch on this, my donor was $5,500. I was going to release the price a little later but I am tired of seeing people saying $10k!!! Also, in the Spec Iron rules, the parts are PERMITTED and not MANDATED. I am not yelling at you haha, when I saw permitted in the rules I said I am doing this! Motor refresh? I will run her until she blows or gets noticeably weaker. I am hopefully selling my whole interior Friday and picking up a Kirkey race seat from a buddy. If my whole interior sells, I will have more FP parts inbound!

$30k? it may be worth it, to me it is not.

Depending on the skill set, available time, space and access to tools/equipment of the individual, it may or may not be feasible to do your own from scratch.
For all the time and work involved, IMHO the 30 grand is way worth it if your budget allows.
Yes sir! It takes time to dismantle the car and have everything going. Time is money and I have the time that during my down time I can continue to tear apart the toy race car!
 

7500RPM_Ben

TMO Clueless
Yesterday I went back to tearing out the rest of the interior, a guy is coming from Monroe, LA to purchase it all! I have until Friday to pull it all out. Between work, detailing, and normal daily things I will be busy! I like being busy, it keeps my mind off of other things!

Yesterday I got off work and spent four hours figuring out how to disable the seatbelt chime and to pull things apart!

Seat belt chime disable sequence on a 2005 Mustang GT:
1. Doors closed
2. Key on
3. Wait one minute for the seatbelt light to go off
4. You have sixty seconds to buckle and unbuckle the seatbelt 9 times
5. Also within that sixty seconds you have to see the airbag light come on for 3 seconds and once it goes off, buckle and unbuckle your seatbelt one time.
6. The airbag light will flash like crazy
7. Turn key off and back on to do the passenger side.
IMG_0915.JPG

After that, I pulled the #17 fuse (10A) out of the Smart Junction Box to depower the Security Restraint System (I think is the correct name). I then pulled the seats, front and rear seatbelts, rear carpet panel under the back glass (not sure of proper name), door panels, and center console!

1. The seats were not too bad, they are 13mm and 15mm bolts/nuts. Do not forget to unplug the wiring! Also, lean the seat back, it will help with weight distribution when you lift the seat up. The seat can be lifted easily from the front.
IMG_0918.JPGIMG_0916.JPG
IMG_0922.JPG
2. The seatbelts are held in by T50 torx bits. Pop off the bolt covers and there you go! The passenger side shoulder belt has a wire, pull up the edge of the carpet and you will see where it leads. Pop out the mounting tabs and disconnect the connector.

3. The rear carpet panel under the back glass is held on by four push pins. Pull them out and the panel pops out by lifting up and pulling to you.IMG_0923.JPG

4. The door panels were a pain as I had no 7mm socket. Using my miniature 7mm wrench I pulled all 8 screws out from around the door, pulled and disconnected the window masterswitch and the trim piece below it. Under that trim piece was another 7mm screw. Pull that one and then pull the trim piece behind the door latch and grab handle. Behind thos trim pieces are T30 torn bits. Pull panel off, disconnect lock connector and use a pair of needle nose pliers to pinch the plastic piece in the latch housing to pull out the wire.IMG_0920.JPGIMG_0921.JPG

5. The center console was not bad, lift the center armrest, pull 2 screws, pull shift knob and boot, and then pull the trim piece back and up. The bottom portion is held on by four bolts/nuts. 2 nuts are under the storage compartment carpet and the two up front. Pull up and back, then disconnect the connector to the power supply hole (Not sure of name). Pull up and out!


Today I will pull the headliner, floor carpet, and if I get to it the front driver and passenger airbags! If anyone wants more in depth pictures or anything, let me know! I am on a little bit of a time crunch as I am busy over the next couple of days and I have other bits to ship and the guy is coming Friday, I wish I would of taken more pictures in the process!
 

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