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some upgrades for an amateur?

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45
36
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Spain
Would appreciate some feedback on these planed upgrades for my Mustang GT and the order of doing them. It's my daily driver that I hope to continue taking to the track every second month or so for amateur trackdays (four so far for me).

1) BMR CB005. Consensus seems to be that this is a better bang for the buck than the comparable offering from Steeda, and is probably more than good enough for my amateur track use?
I plan to combine this with the Steeda "SUBFRAME ALIGNMENT KIT - BMR CB005" (555-4447).

2) MGW shifter. I don't have any of the complaints I sometimes see of harsh shifting 1->2 when cold, or missed 2->3 shifts at high RPM. I however like manual shifting and everyone seems to agree the MGW shifter just makes it that more pleasurable.

3) Camber plates. Doing this last since it will be the most challenging one for me I expect. Hoping doing some easier tasks first will make this one easier.

People appear to recommend Vorshlag for quality, but also say the metal-on-metal there is apt to transmit more noise from other parts than e.g. the plates from Steeda, which reuses some rubber dampening from the existing hardware? Is it similar for M&M camber plates?

4) 19x11 wheels. Would have liked to do them earlier, but from what I gather, I will need the adjustment range offered by camber plates in order to run a square setup like this anyway? Please correct me if wrong.
Delaying also increases the chance I will have good luck and find some 19x11 rims on sale or second-hand by the time the other things are done. If I have to ship from the USA, it will probably add USD 200-300 per wheel in shipping and taxes.

I understand I will need to take the car to a garage for alignment after installing the CB005, and then again after installing camber plates, so it would be better to do both at the same time if I were a real mechanic, but alas I don't want to try to do too many things at one time.

Apart from that alignment issue, anyone see any other problems/not necessary things with this plan, or can recommend some other not too expensive or difficult modifications you think an amateur trackday guy should do at the same time as one of the other steps?

Thanks.t.jpg
 
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JDee

Ancient Racer
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5 miles from Mosport
There's no noise from my Vorshlag plates, if there is there's something wrong. I had a bad experience with MM's plates, they are low quality, the upper mount bolts snap below rated torque and the spherical bearings seize. When the spherical seizes it can saw into the strut shaft and potentially junk an expensive strut. I had both these things happen and they were not particularly user friendly about it. Also they are only good for about -2.5 whereas with Vorshlag you can get close to -4 if you cut the top of the struts out which is easily done with their jig. I junked MM for Vorshlag and never regretted it.

You don't necessarily need an alignment after installing CB005, if you're talking about wheel alignment. If you're talking about making sure the rear cradle is properly squared in the chassis, that's a different thing and there are other kits to deal with that issue. My cradle was set up correctly from the factory. You can check this yourself by doing some relatively simple measuring of where the cradle sits in relation to the chassis. BMR CB005 has been trouble free for me and an easy install.

I have never used an MGW shifter, have read mixed comments on it. Most seem to love it, a few people find it notchy. The issues you describe are often more transmission/clutch issues than shifter issues, putting in an MGW won't necessarily solve those problems. When I had shifting issues George himself told me his shifter couldn't cure a problem with a cheap OEM clutch. An Exedy clutch did.

Often changing to a higher quality trans fluid will help with the cold 2nd gear crunch, I use BG SyncroShift II and it pretty much cured that problem, RedLine is supposed to be good as well.

Missed 2-3 shifts can be clutch related or user related, the stock clutch is not good and often does not release completely at high rpm, that will eventually kill your 5th gear syncro as well as damage other trans components. A racing clutch is the only solution for that release problem. You won't know that problem is happening until it's at the point were you are seriously damaging your gearbox.

You need at least a 20mm spacer on the front to run 11" wheels square. You need camber plates and all the negative camber you can get to avoid destroying expensive tires on every track day.

If you're just going to do casual track days and not really push the car hard (like constant redline shifting and maximum G corners), you don't need any of this stuff. But once the track day bug bites and you're turning redline RPMs all the time, reaching maximum lateral Gs and making serious heat stock stuff gets very dicey. Buy the best early, control heat and you might save some money later. Speed costs money and you will eventually need to do all of these things and more if you push the car hard.
 
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Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
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Blair, Nebraska
Would agree the Vorshlag should not have any noises , and I have their camber plates on my BossS. I have had M&M Camber Plates also, on my first two Bosses and had no problems with them either. I will politely disagree with my Canadian Brutha from another mutha ( we are both well into our 60s, ha ) on the MGW short throw shirt kit. George Ciamillo ( owner of MGW LTD ) has done more work on Mustang shifters than any after market company in the World. He does not just work to improve the stock OEM units , he has bought numerous Mustangs ( GTs, Bosses, GT 350s, etc. ) over the years and he does make the system for a very well known company related to Ford. I have know George for over 20 years and he takes precision to a new level and constantly works to improve products that most folks do not feel need improving. He designed a system for Vipers years back , and it was the " Gold Standard " for the V10 Beast for many years.

With for fully independent suspension on your car I would move Camber plates and larger tires and rims towards the top of your selections instead of further down. That is just my personal opinion and I do hope you find a shop you feel comfortable with to help you make some of your changes.
 
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8,185
I'm always been a fan of the Ford Performance stuff, you really can't go wrong with them, prolly a good call on the shifter, some of these are like rowing a paint paddle stuck in a bucket of rocks
 

xr7

TMO Addict?
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821
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Autocross
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10-20 Years
Minnesota
Watch your front tire wear, my buddy has a 2019 GT350 and burned thru a set of front tires pretty quickly, outer shoulder blocks gone, belts peaking thru in spots. Caster/Camber plates and rotatable tire and wheel set may save you some dollars. +1 for the Vorshlag plates, mine are quiet after 4 seasons.
 

Norm Peterson

Corner Barstool Sitter
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a few miles east of Philly
Just a late note regarding MGW shifters . . . short-throw shifters tend to be more notchy to begin with. This bothers some people but not others, and for the driving we do (up to HPDE, anyway) "shifting speed" isn't as important as many people make it out to be.

I have an MGW in my '08 and there's a lot I do like about it, But I'm one of the people that gets annoyed by notchy shifting. Turns out if you start with MGW's longest throw setting and add an extension piece to move the shift knob up a bit, the notchiness goes away. And now the shift knob will be located a little closer to your right hand position on the steering wheel.


Norm
 
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343
300
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Time Attack
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Under 3 Years
Bulgaria
steeda.eu.com carry Apex so you can order there instead of shipping from the states. I think they only carry EC-7's though. Camber plates are must ether way and not that hard to do but make sure to order new strut mount bolts as well as they are one time use. I don't know about Shifter but a better clutch/lightweight flywheel is a must for MT82 on the track and even then this transmission is just not good enough for tracking there is a reason why the Mach 1 use Tremac. Hope this helps.
 
45
36
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Spain
steeda.eu.com carry Apex so you can order there instead of shipping from the states. I think they only carry EC-7's though. Camber plates are must ether way and not that hard to do but make sure to order new strut mount bolts as well as they are one time use. I don't know about Shifter but a better clutch/lightweight flywheel is a must for MT82 on the track and even then this transmission is just not good enough for tracking there is a reason why the Mach 1 use Tremac. Hope this helps.

Steeda.eu is so overpriced that you are in most cases better of ordering it yourself from the USA. Price of wheels from steeda.eu are about twice the cost of the same wheels from the USA, and they don't carry the wheels in stock even. Better to order directly from APEX. APEX have some local EU distributors also, but at least the one in Spain have set their prices so high that, again, I'd rather order from APEX directly.
 
343
300
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Bulgaria
Steeda.eu is so overpriced that you are in most cases better of ordering it yourself from the USA. Price of wheels from steeda.eu are about twice the cost of the same wheels from the USA, and they don't carry the wheels in stock even. Better to order directly from APEX. APEX have some local EU distributors also, but at least the one in Spain have set their prices so high that, again, I'd rather order from APEX directly.
I ordered mine from a local APEX dealer and price was reasonable but with APEX production delays they will be here in like September. I just put steeda.eu as an example.
 

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