Project Super Beater

[blacksheep-1]

You mean like thisView attachment 73110View attachment 73111View attachment 73112

Prolly why IMSA and PWC allowed Manley rods, and aftermarket valve springs.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Bought some zoomy looking cam covers, it looks like the polished aluminum will clean up, but thats for a later date.
Finished up the dash with the pre-requisite EJECT button

 

[Kitakaze]

I was actually looking at this car before I ended up with my 3.7. Out of curiosity, how difficult of a build has the car been? And would a newbie like myself been able to get it to track day/race shape?

 

[TMSBOSS]

Kitakaze

All I had to do with my daughters 2013 V-6 was swap wheels and tires, pads/fluids and add harnesses. She was a novice and loved tracking the car. She was just a few ticks below Fords speed limiter at BHF so we left the drive shaft and tune alone. I would not jump into many other mods until you get some seat time. See what the car need with you driving and then let the cash flow. Lol
Nice looking car by the way. I bought my wife A 2019 Mustang GT convert in Ruby Red. She loves that car.

 

[blacksheep-1]

like TMS boss said, get some wider tires/ wheels and then go out and see how she likes it

 

[Kitakaze]

Yep, that is the plan. The mods underneath were the first step.

I won't derail your build too much here, but you think wider wheels/tires will be the way to go first rather than suspension pieces?

 

[blacksheep-1]

Yep, that is the plan. The mods underneath were the first step.

I won't derail your build too much here, but you think wider wheels/tires will be the way to go first rather than suspension pieces?

depends on what is on it, the v6 came with little 255/35/17s or something. a set of 295 x18 on 9.5 or 10 inch wheels would work wonders.
Pretty much tires > any other changes.
and when you do change the suspension try to find a Ford Performance kit.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Concur with Blacksheep and TMS, drivers often spend tons of money on all kinds of improvements and then they finally look towards .....................tires!! The number two best mod to go faster ( the first is seat time ) , yet folks often do it after thousands are spent elsewhere. Back in the last Century ( when I was reasonably fast ) I would whip up on guys with headers, tunes, cams, some suspension mods , etc. and I would be running a stock car with a camber plate, MGW Shift kit, aggressive brake pads, and best of all sticky rubber ( often Hoosiers ). Down 50 to 75 HP was common and how could I possibly be faster ----- I let them believe it was skill , but I was operating at speed with a 2-3 second advantage with tires alone!!

 

[blacksheep-1]

So got back to superbeater today, installed the new LMR radiator, after wrestling with the A/C condenser.
I also replaced the water pump, ( with the good one) checked all the pulleys and will be replacing the belt and the hoses.

 

[blacksheep-1]

In the meantime, I noticed that at some point anti freeze bled on the polished aluminum and seriously marred the finish.
I started sanding it with a mix of dishwasher detergent and 800 grit, then going to 2K grit and finally some metal polish.
Not as good as new, but it looks like they'll live to fight another day.

 

[ChrisM]

Why am I just seeing this thread?! Shame on me...

Looking forward to more!

 

[Fabman]

mothers billet polish works wonders.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

.......and the "Beater" becomes more Beaterful ( Southern Redneck slang for " Beautiful ")!

 

[blacksheep-1]

All buttoned up with the zoomy hoses installed

 

[blacksheep-1]

So.. today's installment is on bumper covers, the front was ripped around the turn signal. I used a grinding disc to roughen the area around the rip, then prepped it with brakeclean. I pulled out some resin that's been in the closet since before time began and went at it.
I supported the outside of the cover with tape while it dried.

 

[blacksheep-1]

The rear also had issues with the lower attachment points. On this I made up some "L" brackets and pop riveted and epoxied them in place.

 

[Kitakaze]

Seeing your updates on this make me glad I didn't pull the trigger on this car myself. Nice work though and glad to see it's coming along for you!

 

[blacksheep-1]

So the ledger books so far..
Car (excluding taxes)........................................................................................................................................................................ $5000.00
Stop Tech calipers, radio, carpet, rear calipers, brake lines, air filter, fuel pump,
hoses, water pump, thermostat, radiator, new limited slip clutches, misc bearings and seals and
really zoomy cam covers ............................................................................................................... ...................................................... $2235.00
Hubs and studs ........................................................................................................................................................................................ $250.00
Upholstery ............................................................................................................................................................................................... $600.00
MGW shifter ............................................................................................................................................................................................. $354.00
Watson Racing roll bar .......................................................................................................................................................................... $1200.00
Misc nuts, bolts, screws, and materials ................................................................................................................................................. $200.00

TOTAL ( so far ) ..................................................................................................................................................................................... $9939.00

Now, without question there is a lot of scrounged parts, the FP shocks are one, so is the limited slip carrier ( the original which I had to destroy in order to disassemble), is an example. I think there were some other take off as well, like the adjustable PHB, so you could easily drop another grand into this, on the other hand, depending on the car, you might not need to disassemble the posi unit or do the interior in another particular car. The really Zoomy FP cam covers were a complete non necessity, but were too cool to pass up, and they were on sale.
The car also came with offroad exhausts, an CAI and some suspension mods. The whole idea here is to get a car on the track as cheaply as possible and have some fun with it. I think it would be reasonable to get a car this far along as cheaply as I did by careful picking of parts, some significant scrounging abilities and the presence of salvage yards around where you live, including swap meets.
These cars are pretty bullet proof, this 180K mile car still has all the accessories working, including the AC (thank God, since it's a black car in Florida). Also we haven't addressed the tire/wheel issue yet, and that will certainly add as much as $2K to this, plus paint.
I'd really like to bring this in under $15K, and a bonus would be not to leave any driveline parts on the pavement, so we'll see how it goes.

 

[blacksheep-1]

Seeing your updates on this make me glad I didn't pull the trigger on this car myself. Nice work though and glad to see it's coming along for you!

Oh, it was definitely not for the feint of heart, you'd never be able to just track it as is, if I couldn't do a bunch of the work myself, it would end up a paper weight. If you look over some of my posted projects, this one is pretty mild, a $50.00 fox body, (with a moon roof cut into it), on my rotisserie was probably the worst case scenario. Problem is, my back can't take that anymore.. sadly.

 

[carver]

So the ledger books so far..
Car (excluding taxes)........................................................................................................................................................................ $5000.00
Stop Tech calipers, radio, carpet, rear calipers, brake lines, air filter, fuel pump,
hoses, water pump, thermostat, radiator, new limited slip clutches, misc bearings and seals and
really zoomy cam covers ............................................................................................................... ...................................................... $2235.00
Hubs and studs ........................................................................................................................................................................................ $250.00
Upholstery ............................................................................................................................................................................................... $600.00
MGW shifter ............................................................................................................................................................................................. $354.00
Watson Racing roll bar .......................................................................................................................................................................... $1200.00
Misc nuts, bolts, screws, and materials ................................................................................................................................................. $200.00

TOTAL ( so far ) ..................................................................................................................................................................................... $9939.00

Now, without question there is a lot of scrounged parts, the FP shocks are one, so is the limited slip carrier ( the original which I had to destroy in order to disassemble), is an example. I think there were some other take off as well, like the adjustable PHB, so you could easily drop another grand into this, on the other hand, depending on the car, you might not need to disassemble the posi unit or do the interior in another particular car. The really Zoomy FP cam covers were a complete non necessity, but were too cool to pass up, and they were on sale.
The car also came with offroad exhausts, an CAI and some suspension mods. The whole idea here is to get a car on the track as cheaply as possible and have some fun with it. I think it would be reasonable to get a car this far along as cheaply as I did by careful picking of parts, some significant scrounging abilities and the presence of salvage yards around where you live, including swap meets.
These cars are pretty bullet proof, this 180K mile car still has all the accessories working, including the AC (thank God, since it's a black car in Florida). Also we haven't addressed the tire/wheel issue yet, and that will certainly add as much as $2K to this, plus paint.
I'd really like to bring this in under $15K, and a bonus would be not to leave any driveline parts on the pavement, so we'll see how it goes.

That's a decent build for less than 10K. so far !