SN95 RinerAutomotive's CAM-T Mustang Build Thread Profile - SN95 Mustangs

[RinerAuto]

I've done several events with the rear steer setup, I'm really liking it. I feel the car rotates better but isn't oversteery. One of my competitors watched the video and did a similar change to his car. He was the second fastest CAM-T mustang. Maybe I shouldn't be sharing everything? Nah, I like sharing and helping everyone level up.

I have had some things to fix over the last several events. First being the steering shaft bearing. It came apart luckily on my last run during one of the events. The steering shaft was knocking all around. The bearing is discontinued but luckily S197 mustangs have a compatible and better bearing.


Next was the throttle body. The engine came with a 75mm BBK TB. My tuner said it looked like the engine was getting air from somewhere, so I bought a smoke tester to look for the leak. I found two leaks one was fixed with a zip tie but the other was leaking around the TB shaft seal. Maybe it could be rebuilt, but the throttle linkage was also slightly bent which sometimes caused a hanging idle. I decided replacing the whole thing was best. Unfortunately, there aren't many SN95 options, so I went with a 70mm BBK. I knew this wasn't the best but the other ones didn't look any better.

Well the new BBK was DOA. The hole on the side where the TPS goes was undersized. The bushing didn't fit but neither did the lip on the TPS. So that was returned.

With what I felt no good options I turned to looking for a good used one. On ebay I found an old Ford Racing Cobra R 65mm. It looked to be in perfect condition even though it was made in 2001. Unfortunately, I already lost the little white rubber plug on the top (why we can't have nice things....).

 

[RinerAuto]

Recently I attended Muscle on the Mountain at UMI's Motorsports Park up in Pennsylvania. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite events and venue. This is their third year of doing this event and my second time attending. The UMI team puts on a great event. It's 2 days of qualifier runs with on average 8 runs on the first day and 6 runs on the second day. Its all to make it into the shootout which it's then a battle to determine the top 3. Drivers don't have to work the course, get an event t-shirt, lunch is provided both days, dinner social is provided on the first day. It's a top notch event. Oh and the competition is the best from across the country due to top 3 from each class winning cash money. There are 6 classes to cover all muscle cars and trucks from all vintages.

I was running in the Mid class which is 3rd and 4th gen F-Body, Fox and SN95 Mustangs. The class was 26 cars deep, which was second largest behind Early class. Oh yeah, this is Chevy country too. They broke the first day into 3 sessions of 3, 3, 2 runs. After the first session I was sitting 5th in class behind all Chevys and 0.7s off first place. After the second session everyone found more time except for me. I dropped to 7th in class and 1.3s off of first. So still achievable. There was chance of weather later in the day, but we lucked out and third session was still drying racing. Again more time was found, luckily I also found some more time on my last run to hang on to 7th and exactly 2 seconds off of first place. Only the top 7 make it to the shootout.

Day number 2 unfortunately started with rain. While I was ready to go, qualifying was cancelled and results from day 1 were going to be used for the shootout which was scheduled for later in the day. Most people packed up and left. Then around 11am the announcement that the weather window for the shootout was gone and it was also cancelled. So we packed up to hit the road back to VA which had beautiful weather. I finished with my best result of 7th in class and the fastest mustang in class.

A few people shared SoloStorm data, which showed that my lack of power and poor launches was really hurting my time at the beginning of the course. Once we got to the turns my car could keep just fine (when I didn't screw up braking or lines). So that is encouraging. I just need to try to drive like a Miata more and carry momentum.

As always here is a video of my time there, I think this one came out really good. Big thanks to Ashley for getting a lot of action shots and great b-roll.

 

[RinerAuto]

Was doing a nut and bolt check of the car after two recent local autocrosses. I've been having an issue with the upper control arm bracket consistently pulling away from the frame. I had increased the bolt torque to 130 ft-lb to hopefully keep the clamping force. But it's not enough. The bolt does not contact the bracket. The bracket is sandwiched between the k-member on the bottom and shock mount on the top. The driver side was pulled out a finger width and the passenger pulled slightly. This obviously affects my alignment settings.

I do know the car pulls 1.2 G in the corners and has hit 1 G in braking, so there is a lot of force going through the suspension. I have removed some anti-dive percentage recently that should help reduce the force through the links and put it into the springs.

More surprisingly I found the passenger side swaybar bracket was no longer holding the swaybar to the car. The bolt ripped out the welded in threads. I made that bracket so likely my fault in some way. I'll rebuild it. I think I'll add some weld on the inside to hold the threads in better.

Unfortunately, I didn't check the car in between the last two local autocrosses (never unloaded the car) so I don't know where the above damage occurred. Race car doing race car things....breaking.

 

[RinerAuto]

To fix my upper bracket moving issue hopefully once and for all I drilled a hole in the back top corner of the bracket and bolted it to the frame rail. Now I did only install a nutsert in the rail so that could be the new weak point. The bolt is a 10.9 but only M8. I think it's going to be strong enough to just keep it from sliding.

I'm not sure why this is a new issue this year. I added the top bracket for the shock mount last year. Brakes were also added last year. Nothing was new this year.

 

[Dave_W]

I'm not sure why this is a new issue this year. I added the top bracket for the shock mount last year. Brakes were also added last year. Nothing was new this year.

You're driving better, which means you're faster. So more load being generated. When new things break on your car, take it as a compliment.

 

[RinerAuto]

You're driving better, which means you're faster. So more load being generated. When new things break on your car, take it as a compliment.

Ha I'll take it!

 

[RinerAuto]

Speaking of things breaking at the event last weekend I had a grinding noise. I had done two changes before this event. First changing front springs from 900 lb to 800 lb. The second being swapping rear brake pads between driver and passenger side because one side had more wear than the other.

Ashley ran before me. The grinding noise happened when turning to the left. Since I had soften the front I thought it was the front rubbing. Between each of her runs I tried the following changes (list is not in order of changes). Unfortunately, nothing fixed the noise and she never got a fast run because she would back off when hearing the noise. Since it was unknown noise that was the best thing to do at the time.

• Raise the front
• Move steering rack shims
• Add wheel spacers to the front
• Stiffen front shocks

We then had a down heat before I ran, so I did some more troubleshooting. I determined the noise was from the right rear. The brake rotor was contacting the caliper bracket. Luckily someone had a grinder so I did some more clearancing of the bracket. In hindsight swapping the brake pads would have been easier. But never crossed my mind at the time.

It was then my turn to run and hope it was fixed. Well it still did some grinding but not as bad and I now knew it was just the rotor hitting the bracket so I drove through it. The car felt great.

Well I ended up getting my first local class win of 2025 and finished 2nd in PAX (out of ~100 drivers). Highest finish of the season, so I think softer front springs was a good move. I'll do a post later explaining the reasoning for softening and some maths.

 

[RinerAuto]

Oh yea I forgot the front brackets didn't move! Success!

 

[RinerAuto]

Oh yea I forgot the front brackets didn't move! Success!

Brackets still haven't moved but I have noticed the driver side one starting to bend some. It's 1/4" steel...

 

[RinerAuto]

Well it's the week before Nationals and of course I have a lot to do before hitting the road. Ashley and I just got back from UMI's King of the Mountain. Amazing event! I didn't make it into the shootout again, but the Late class was very tough. I finished a respectable 17 out of 26.

Right before the event I found a spark plug, #4, that was black. In went all new plugs. It definitely made a difference, and the car was back pulling hard. Who knows how long it's been down on power. It wasn't a huge difference but noticeable in the data. Acceleration g's in 2nd gear went from 0.4 to 0.5g



Anyways my prep list that I'm trying to get done before leaving on Saturday and while working full time

• Fix USB charging ports in my truck
  • power converter died coming back from UMI
• Add spare fuses in truck
  • I blew several powering my new cooler fridge/freezer
• Install new radio in the truck
  • I've been using a Bluetooth speaker for music, but it stopped working driving back from UMI
• Larger fuel tank in the truck
  • Been on back order for 4 weeks
  • I don't think it will be here in time, so I'll be stopping every 200 miles to fill up. Stupid Chevys
• Mount new tires for the car.
  • I was trying to make my tires last but at UMI one of them started to show a small section of cords. Getting new tires and need to figure out how to get them scrubbed in beforehand
• Check car alignment
• Nut/bolt check the car
• Change truck oil

At least the car is pretty good to go. Most of the items are for the truck either due failure or nice to haves.

 

[Dave_W]

Good luck at Nats!

Getting to this late due to crazy work schedule this week. You can scrub / heat cycle the tires on the practice course at Lincoln (if the time slots aren't sold out), especially if you're running Th/F and you do the practice course on M/Tu or early W. Ideally, the tires should rest ~24h after the initial heat cycle for the molecular bonds to reform. If I'd written this earlier, I'd suggest you consider having Tire Rack (if that's where you bought them) do their heat cycle option.

 

[RinerAuto]

Good luck at Nats!

Getting to this late due to crazy work schedule this week. You can scrub / heat cycle the tires on the practice course at Lincoln (if the time slots aren't sold out), especially if you're running Th/F and you do the practice course on M/Tu or early W. Ideally, the tires should rest ~24h after the initial heat cycle for the molecular bonds to reform. If I'd written this earlier, I'd suggest you consider having Tire Rack (if that's where you bought them) do their heat cycle option.

Usually I do the Tire Rack heat cycle. I didn't want to risk them not showing up in time plus my co-driver was buying the tires. I did already have a TnT session on Monday as I ran Tu/Wed. But Monday was all rain. Before leaving I did find an on/off ramp cloverleaf to rip on.

 

[RinerAuto]

Well SoloNats is wrap and it was a roller coaster of emotions. This is going to be long, sorry. Let's recap.

First my todo list:

• Fix USB charging ports in my truck <- Done
• Add spare fuses in truck <- Done, good thing cause still blowing them
• Install new radio in the truck <- Done (why did I wait so long?!? Android Auto is awesome)
• Larger fuel tank in the truck <- Didn't show up
• Mount new tires for the car <- Done, took forever like 8 hours
• Check car alignment <- Done, added some more neg camber
• Nut/bolt check the car <- Done
• Change truck oil <- Done

We had everything loaded up and ready to go on Saturday around noon, went to start the truck and nothing. That's odd I just had pulled the trailer out earlier that morning. There was a click from the starter so I grabbed a hammer to tap the starter. Hit the starter and the whole starter moved . Bolts to bellhousing are tight but the bolts that hold the starter together were loose or missing. I pulled it out and Ashley ran up to Advance to get a new one. Glad I found it in the driveway instead of the bumpy ass roads in Ohio. The starter for sure would have completely fallen off.

Now we're off at 1:30pm on Saturday, so not too bad. Made it through the mountains of West Virginia and stayed the night at Walmart in Ohio. Ashley is not a fan of driving through the mountains with the semis. Sunday if get an early start I think could make it to Lincoln by nightfall. Around Missouri started getting tired but roads were straight and not many other cars, so Ashley drove for several hours to get more practice. The last stint was exciting with a complete down pour in the dark. But we made it to Lincoln around 10pm on Sunday. In time for Big Wheels ProSolo. Ashley is very fast on a big wheel.

Monday was a chill day. I had signed up for a test and tune for 3-4pm, but there's rain all day. It did eventually stop before 3pm but the course was still very wet and slick. I don't think it was very good for scrubbing in the tires but it will at least help us build confidence. I drove 2 runs and Ashley drove 2. I spun on both of mine.

Tuesday, first race day. I ran in Heat 1 and Ashley ran in Heat 3. My co-driver was a friend and fellow SN95 driver that I raced with at home. While I wanted him to do well, he said his job was to warm the tires for me. He was great at that. My first run would have been good for 3rd position if I didn't nip the very last cone on course. Second run was quicker and momentarily put me in 3rd position out of 36 cars. Ashley said when I came through the finish there was a lot of moans down the grid. Tires were getting warm so no more tire blankets, I was on the fence if needed to spray water on them. I think I should have because on the 3rd run the car was much looser. After first day I was sitting in the Trophies in 7th position, about 0.5 seconds from first, and was the fastest Ford in class.

Ashley was running CAM-T Ladies with 2 other ladies in a Camaro. We looked at data and discussed strategy. First run she was almost a second faster but had 4 cones. Second run even faster but had one cone. I knew she could go even faster but she wanted a clean run. I think she toned it back some on her last run but it was clean and still 1 second faster than her competition.



After racing we cleaned all of the OPR off the tires and I checked over the car. Thankful for my pit crew and co-driver.


Day 2 started off damp but looked to be drying quickly if more rain didn't come. I pulled up to the line and something didn't feel right. Went to brake into the first corner and the car pulled hard to the right even though the corner went to the left. Something was broken in the right front suspension. I babied it through the rest of the course to at least get a run and since there are multiple cars on course I didn't want to cut across to the finish. Once back in grid sure enough the solid rod end on the passenger side had broken again. I thought I had a spare in the trailer since this had broken before. But the spare I had was too large OD to fit into my lover control arm. So I was out...

Or so I thought, apparently I'm allowed to switch cars. So I went down the grid to see who would let me co-drive. I wanted to be in a car that I could quickly be comfortable with, so another SN95 mustang. Thankfully Colton (who I had just met the day before) said yes. His car had a lot more HP than mine with his supercharged SBF, but had Maximum Motorsports front and rear suspension. I jumped in, tried to calm my breathing and refocus. Colton gave me a couple quick things about the car and then I was out on course. The steering wheel was smaller diameter which felt different, the 3.73 rear gear hit rev limiter quick, and I had to be more gentle with throttle as traction was an issue, but I got a clean respectable run. It was 1 second slower than Colton's though. Last run I tried to push harder but had more oversteer moments. I kept it pointing straight and finished with basically the same time as run 2. I had dropped to 14th position and 0.6 second outside of the trophies.


Now to figure out the car for Ashley's heat. Luckily Speedway Motors is based in Lincoln and had the right parts in stock. Once I had parts that fit the car went back together quickly. I quick check of the alignment and she was ready to rip again. The rain had started again but stopped before Ashley's first run. The course dried out quickly again. Ashley's second run was clean and 1 second quicker than her competition. Last run she dropped a tenth and finished 2.1 seconds ahead to win her first Nationals!



Overall, it was a great trip. The car was competitive with the softer suspension. Ashley is hooked and we will be back next year. I am bummed I couldn't finish in the trophies. But I'm very happy with how Ashley did, very appreciative of everyone that offered help and thankful Colton allowed me to be the second person to drive his car. Maybe third year's the charm?

 

[RinerAuto]

Here's why I think the rod end broke. When I had the car in the air cleaning tires I tightened the jam nuts as they constantly loosen up. I think this put that rear link in a bind. During the first run for my co-driver it broke.

I think I'm going to redesign the lower control arm to be a typical A-arm instead of a 2 piece. I do like the adjustability of the two piece as I can change camber and caster if needed.

 

[DaveW]

Congrats to Ashley on the win! Clean runs were hard to come by for the ladies in my car too...Beth coned away the win against Kylee for the 2nd year in a row, but it was an epic battle between those two and my daughter.

If something random is going to break on a car, it will happen in September at Nationals (for me at least). Things that were fine for years find a way to fall off the damn car in Lincoln (and Topeka before that for us old guys)n Thank goodness for Speedway being in town.

What kind of lower arms are they? Isn't that solid rod end massive?

DaveW

 

[RinerAuto]

Congrats to Ashley on the win! Clean runs were hard to come by for the ladies in my car too...Beth coned away the win against Kylee for the 2nd year in a row, but it was an epic battle between those two and my daughter.

If something random is going to break on a car, it will happen in September at Nationals (for me at least). Things that were fine for years find a way to fall off the damn car in Lincoln (and Topeka before that for us old guys)n Thank goodness for Speedway being in town.

What kind of lower arms are they? Isn't that solid rod end massive?
DaveW

Thanks Dave!

The lower control arm is homebuilt but similar in design as the Griggs and Cortex. Here's an old picture but shows it the best. I think having the sway bar link forward of the centerline between the front rod end and ball joint puts a rotation torque on the rear link. The solid rod end connecting to the control arm is 3/4" shank and 1/2" hole. It should be strong enough as it should mainly be in compression/tension.

 

[Dave_W]

Congratulations on persevering. The camaraderie at Nats is incredible - people loaning their cars to competitors who broke is completely normal. If the car hadn't broken, I think you were totally in the trophies.

Cheers to Ashley for the win! Super awesome.

Not sure if you had a typo above - I think the off-axis mount of the swaybar puts a rotational force on the front arm, which then puts a bending force on the solid rod end in the rear arm that attaches it to the (rotating) front arm. The fix is probably to have the swaybar attachment through the centerline of the front arm.

 

[RinerAuto]

Thanks Dave!

Not sure if you had a typo above - I think the off-axis mount of the swaybar puts a rotational force on the front arm, which then puts a bending force on the solid rod end in the rear arm that attaches it to the (rotating) front arm. The fix is probably to have the swaybar attachment through the centerline of the front arm.

That's what I meant. I had planned to build new arms last winter. I designed them and bought the parts, but never got around to it. I also want to a splined swaybar, which would allow me to do longer bar arms.

The camaraderie was definitely great. I didn't mention all the people that offered to help, offer tools, or offer parts. The mustang next to me also had a custom SLA. They brought a whole box of rod ends, unfortunately none were solid.

 

[RinerAuto]

Took me long enough but finally got the event video for Solo Nationals:

 

[Dave_W]

Nice video and congrats again to Ashley.

I find I like to have a mix on longer road trips of sweet, salty, and protein. Twizzlers are my #1 road trip food as well, and all I need for shorter trips (2-4 hours); for really long trips I might add gum drops or jelly spearmint leaves just to mix things up. For the salty snack I always choose Pringles, because the can makes them easy to grab (or pour into your mouth) when driving, and the resealable lid keeps them neat. Lastly, beef jerky for the occasional protein hit. All washed down with Mountain Dew, which for some reason I don't drink at home.