S550 Pumpkin GT Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

[PaddyPrix]

A little late to update here but suspension has finally found its way on the car! No more floaty boat feeling!

BMR SP083 Springs (250/980#)
Ford Track Shocks
Vorshlag CC Plates
BMR Front Sway Bar (35mm?)
GT350R Rear Sway Bar
BMR CB005 IRS Lockout

Thanks to @flyhalf for the great hand-me-down parts! Maybe his Italian spirit will carry over to my driving, haha!

As far as alignment specs, the car is currently at -2.6 front camber and -1.1 rear. The tech was having a bit of trouble getting the rear camber to where I wanted it (-1.5 desired) so we ended the day at -1.1 I'll likely go up from there but I'll try the car as-is first.

Looking good. BTW, unless you have some adjustable rear arms, yeah, you're kinda stuck around the stock specs, I ran into that same issue a while back. Thankfully, the rear is pretty good with that IRS, and from my short outing the other weekend, it looks like it's worn pretty evenly there, at least at Buttonwillow. Considering that they're pretty much the only track local to us that's running, I guess that's a good sign. Will you be at BW in October? What about with Speed Ventures in 2-3 weekends?

 

[Ewheels]

Autoclub isn't running right now?
I am definitely going to BW in October. I'll see you there!
So I've been looking into venturing outside of Nasa events for more track time. I know Speed Ventures has a lot of events but I've heard some not so great things about them. What's your experience with them?

 

[PaddyPrix]

AutoClub kinda is and kinda isn't, they've been the most cautious compared to Chuck, Willow, and BW which have all run events. They just had the Fast Toys Club there this past weekend, and next non-autox looks to be with Speed Ventures in mid-August (I put an event/post up about it), but hopefully with the new Covid-19 changes to restaurants and other places, they still keep it going as we're generally racing by ourselves and can socially distance without any real loss of fun.

Speed Ventures is alright, they run a good show, and the guys behind it are great. Like everything, there are always pros and cons. Pro is that that they do things by drive style, so their groups are only point-by (beg/inter/adv) and open (slower/faster). They also pre-grid by lap times, so you're hopefully getting some of your run in a competitive pack, and don't have to fight traffic as much. Compared to my last time out NASA which ran HPDE 3/4 at the same time, and that was semi-frustrating as I was coming in real hot and having to hunt down whether I could pass or not. That's partially my fault bringing a ST2 car into what was mostly 944/e30/Miatas, and was probably 10+ seconds off the pace that it's capable of. However, Buttonwillow being what it is doesn't allow for many passing zones anyhow. The only real strike to SV is that they're arguably the most popular, so they may have 30-40 cars in your run group. Your best chance is usually the last session of the day as some already packed up and headed home, same with most of the others.

 

[Ewheels]

Interesting note on their run groups. If I usually run in HPDE 3 with Nasa, what would you think would be an equivalent skill level group with Speed Ventures?

 

[PaddyPrix]

I'd say Intermediate. If it's your first time there, you'll create a car profile and don't have to go into detail, it's purely for them to know what and who is there to make it decently even. Since you have some previous track experience, be sure to put it for the track, and if you've never run, they would probably lock you to beginner, but in one of those, ask to get bumped up to intermediate, and say that you've run the course before with whatever your lap time is. As long as it's not like 2:30 on CW13, you should be fine. They're trying to CYA, and in a way, proving that you can handle yourself there helps them and you.

 

[Ewheels]

Intermediate should be fine for me. I'll have to give SV website a look now. I'm itching for a track day. Haven't been since Willow Springs March 1st

 

[flyhalf]

Glad I could help!
See u soon man!

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Your car made me suggest to Woodhouse Ford of Omaha they order one of the extra GT 350s they were allocated in Orange ( with a black top). Love the look, and it just screams track time to me, ha. Funny, even though I have retired they still call me to see what I think Track guys would like. Makes me think I need to start charging for advice, as I need more racing money, ha.

 

[Ewheels]

I've made my bank account very unhappy lately but my car will love its new presents!
Bought DBA T3 4000 series rotors yesterday to get rid of my hot-spotted and warped cheapy Centrics. These should be a nice addition for cooling and performance in my upcoming event at Buttonwillow.

To further my savings account deficit (don't tell my girlfriend), today I found 19x11 SVE wheels on sale for 55% off. Looks like I'll finally be joining the 305 square club!

 

[flyhalf]

I've made my bank account very unhappy lately but my car will love its new presents!
Bought DBA T3 4000 series rotors yesterday to get rid of my hot-spotted and warped cheapy Centrics. These should be a nice addition for cooling and performance in my upcoming event at Buttonwillow.

To further my savings account deficit (don't tell my girlfriend), today I found 19x11 SVE wheels on sale for 55% off. Looks like I'll finally be joining the 305 square club!

Very cool.
Nownyou just need to..drive !!
Curious to see how you will like my setup on the track. When is your next event. ?
I'll be coming south oct 31 for muscle cup

 

[Ewheels]

Very cool.
Nownyou just need to..drive !!
Curious to see how you will like my setup on the track. When is your next event. ?
I'll be coming south oct 31 for muscle cup

I'm sure I'll love it but very excited to test it out. Oct 10th at BW is my next event. Will likely do Big Willow or Autoclub in November as well

 

[Ewheels]

Buttonwillow 10/10/20 - 10/11/20

First track weekend since COVID started; oh how I missed this.

In short: getting faster but didn't reach my target.

Long story: Last time I was here, I did a 2:16. Not fast at all but hey, we all start somewhere. At Willow Springs, I felt very fast and smooth so I thought I would be able to get below 2:10 this time out. First session of the weekend, holy moly, I was sliding around as if it was an ice rink. Went two wheels off twice and I'm pretty sure I was scaring the guy behind me. It was ugly. I believe it was due to a forced 7 month vacay from the track (thanks covid), getting used to this track again, aaaaand it was cold in the morning. I don't think it was just me; there was a four car train that decided to go off-roading at the same time in one of the race groups. I remember seeing dust clouds pop up ever few minutes for the first few hours of the day.
Anyhow, started getting back into the swing of things but man, it was a train-fest Saturday. I could not get a single lap in without coming up on someone else or a faster guy coming up behind me. I managed a 2:13 in 13CCW Saturday. A little disappointed in myself to be honest. Maybe I could've gone faster with less traffic? Maybe I'm still slow? Little bit of A, little bit of B?



Sunday comes around; much less traffic (thank god). We did 25CCW which I had never done before. Was curious how Star Mazda was but to my surprise, it is so much fun! I do still prefer bus stop of the 13 configuration but Star Mazda allows you to fly through the esses! I don't think I hit much of any traffic this whole day. I managed yet another 2:13 this day but I don't know what competitive times are for 25CCW.





I got the chance to meet @PaddyPrix and see the stripper in person. Awesome car you have sir. Any time I saw him in my mirrors, I made sure to let him pass as his car made my ears bleed. He had some issues Sunday but I'll let him tell his story.
I hear @flyhalf also didn't have such a fun time this weekend either but glad he's ok.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Good work out there for sure, and yeah, Saturday was an absolutely brutal amount of traffic. I didn't care much enough to count it, but I could easily say that there were too many people for a smaller track like CW13. I'd guess why they don't really care to fix it is that they want people to learn with all sorts of traffic, and safe driving, checking your mirrors and being mindful of others, things that come up in the driver downloads. Now in this post-covid tracking world, some like Speed Ventures just don't do it, which causes people like myself to erupt when a supposedly advanced driver should know better. The downside is that it then makes it hard to really look at your clean laps and have an idea of what your improvement is, although, I guess times don't really matter, and so I changed things up on Saturday, only really addressing certain sections, and using the Track Addict lap comparison tool to really see how much better I did in each approach, making some sort of mental map. I guess it'd then really be then a promo to the Time Trials group, which with stiffer competition, is something just about like it'd be with another HPDE org's high/advanced group, except they give you $0.39 trophies at the end of the day, and get you classified with other people. It's still fun to go door to door with a C7 Z06, but them having 100-200hp+ means their laptimes being better doesn't always equate to them being the better driver.

Glad to hear your 2018 escaped unscathed, and thanks for helping me load up yesterday, oh, and is Jake on TMO yet? That's a sweet ride he's got too.

 

[Ewheels]

Good work out there for sure, and yeah, Saturday was an absolutely brutal amount of traffic. I didn't care much enough to count it, but I could easily say that there were too many people for a smaller track like CW13. I'd guess why they don't really care to fix it is that they want people to learn with all sorts of traffic, and safe driving, checking your mirrors and being mindful of others, things that come up in the driver downloads. Now in this post-covid tracking world, some like Speed Ventures just don't do it, which causes people like myself to erupt when a supposedly advanced driver should know better. The downside is that it then makes it hard to really look at your clean laps and have an idea of what your improvement is, although, I guess times don't really matter, and so I changed things up on Saturday, only really addressing certain sections, and using the Track Addict lap comparison tool to really see how much better I did in each approach, making some sort of mental map. I guess it'd then really be then a promo to the Time Trials group, which with stiffer competition, is something just about like it'd be with another HPDE org's high/advanced group, except they give you $0.39 trophies at the end of the day, and get you classified with other people. It's still fun to go door to door with a C7 Z06, but them having 100-200hp+ means their laptimes being better doesn't always equate to them being the better driver.

Glad to hear your 2018 escaped unscathed, and thanks for helping me load up yesterday, oh, and is Jake on TMO yet? That's a sweet ride he's got too.

Nasa HPDE events are definitely crowded. I will be looking into Speed Ventures for sure in 2021. I need as much seat time as I can get, and realistically a coach of some sort (someone to tell me to stop being a b*tch and go faster).
I keep telling Jake to get on TMO. Another Foxbody and another Socal AI car is always welcome

 

[Ewheels]

This passed weekend's chores included bike oil change, chain clean, and brake bleed on the mustang. Since the car was up on jacks and the wheels off, I decided to tackle another project that I had been meaning to do for awhile. I had the Vorshlag brake ducts which then later got replaced by their deflectors but I kept the forward half of the ducts (bumper to front of wheel well). These ducts weren't really aimed at the brakes though, so I took a page out of @JeffV8 book and added some PVC elbows to better direct airflow.





While I was digging around on the brakes, I noticed some fun temp signs.





Finally getting some decent heat into them. I thought those stickers were duds. Turns out I'm just slow

 

[302BOB]

Ewheels, I admire you for your energy and enthusiasm to get your car where you want it to be.your dedication will reward you in your ambitions...

 

[Ewheels]

Now that I have my car to a solid track-able point, I really want to focus on driver mod. Obviously seat time is the best thing for me but I wanted something more; I wanted coaching. I have heard friends talk about Racers360 so I decided to give it a try. I sent them my best lap from my last event at Buttonwillow. Before sending my video, I picked apart my lap myself to see if I could catch my mistakes and if they matched what the coaches would say.

Within 48 hours (just as quoted) I had a response video. The coach was very helpful. He pointed out what I was doing right and where I can improve. Some of the improvement areas matched exactly what I thought, and others were helpful to hear. In summary: my braking points and overall line is perfect, while I need to work on hitting the apexes and getting on throttle sooner.

Overall, very pleased with Racers360 and I think I'll be using them more often now.

 

[Ewheels]

Well friends, this weekend I bought one of the best mods for the mustang yet..... a used Camry! Finally have a daily driver so I can go completely bonkers on the mustang and not worry about its ability or effectiveness to bring groceries home. I see many more vents and a partially gutted interior in its near future. Maybe start with only the trunk, need to stay legal for Street class in Super GT Cup for 2021

 

[PaddyPrix]

They say never go full retard.



Nobody likes the trunk liners anyhow.

 

[Ewheels]

This is a testament to always checking your new wheels...

I had purchased a set of SVE 19x11 wheels a while back for a crazy deal and I just last night took them out of the packaging to get tires installed. I had read somewhere to always check the stamping on the inside to make sure they are the right offset and whatnot. Sure enough, one of the 19x11 +50 wheels turned out to be a 19x10 +35. Luckily LMR has pretty darn good customer service. I'm just hoping the replacement comes quickly so I can make the 17th.