Don’t feel bad Sal, I’m not really into Italian cars either.
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S550 Upside Down and on the Wrong Side Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs
- Thread starterGAR944
- Start date
2017 GT in Australia
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Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
Considering all the screw ups most of us have made I consider your admonition simply a wish to join our " Conclave of Idiots " since your years of burnt rubber, exhaust fumes, and oily palms has obviously had the same detrimental effect on your mental faculties ---- thanks for joining us , we welcome you!
Fabman
Dances with Racecars
- 7,587
- 10,260
- Exp. Type
- W2W Racing
- Exp. Level
- 20+ Years
There are things I'm good at, and I'm typically very good at them....and then there's everything else.
- Thread starter
- #44
Self acknowledgement makes you way smarter than all those we have dealt with who think they know everything and have no f'ing idea they know nothing but will happily spread their "knowledge".
Love having access to this collective group of industry experts who have "hands on knowledge". No better knowledge to be found.
- Thread starter
- #45
I think i have a problem. You know how one thing leads into another. Well it appears that if something is worth doing you may as well go all in.
It started with higher spring rates at the front which is easy, divorced spring at the rear lead me down a rabbit hole.
Thanks @AJ Hartman for having your rear spring platforms for 2.5' springs available. Another overseas purchase on the way down to Australia. Now if i could only find a cheap way to get some aero down here as well. Freight is killing me.
Springs were easy, out of Eibach in Sydney.
Get the grinder out and clean up some seriously wonky factory castings so the lovely adjustable spring platforms had something close to flat to sit on.
Install upper mount and drop in spring. Seriously easy and simple.
Reassemble and adjust, corner weight as simple as can be.
But what did it take to actually get to here.
It started with higher spring rates at the front which is easy, divorced spring at the rear lead me down a rabbit hole.
Thanks @AJ Hartman for having your rear spring platforms for 2.5' springs available. Another overseas purchase on the way down to Australia. Now if i could only find a cheap way to get some aero down here as well. Freight is killing me.
Springs were easy, out of Eibach in Sydney.
Get the grinder out and clean up some seriously wonky factory castings so the lovely adjustable spring platforms had something close to flat to sit on.
Install upper mount and drop in spring. Seriously easy and simple.
Reassemble and adjust, corner weight as simple as can be.
But what did it take to actually get to here.
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- Thread starter
- #46
After never being really happy with what the stock rear end was doing, it was time for a change. Well actually a total overhaul. Youtube is an educational and dangerous place.
I keep reminding myself its a dual purpose road/track car then totally ignore myself.
Rose joint as much as possible and not go solid but firm on cradle and diff caus its a road car.
Dropped the exhaust, on myself first, then managed to roll us both out from under the car.
Replaced the cradle bolts with the longest bolts i could get hold of. Intention is down the track to convert them into studs so i can lower and raise the cradle just on the threads and not keep pulling the bolts out of the frame.
At that point serious butchery ensued. Removing factory rubber bushings under the car with only 2 feet of working height is a pain in the arse. I may have burnt myself with molten rubber stuck to a snapped blade.
You get way better the more you do though, sabre saw the rubber then die grinder to cut the outer shell then hammer drill to collapse the shell.
Looks like crap but they come out easily once they aren't interference fit sized.
Did the sub frame ones first which in hindsight may have been the wrong order.
The rear ones weren't too bad once i got my cooler lines out of the way.
The front ones are a pain caus the fuel tank really gets in the way. But i wasn't dropping the cradle all the way out so just jacked it into some weird angles and prayed the jack didn't loose pressure.
After a couple of weeks in the garage at night trying not to disturb the neighbors too much and still be able to stand up and walk the next day i was happy to see it finally done.
Well the cradle and diff anyway. That was the bits from the second box in the pictures above.
Did i mention how i hate working with no space. My roller door clears the rear bumper by less than half an inch. I spent more time rolling under the car to get tools caus it was raining and the door was down than i did actually using them.
This was the easiest part, unbolt, adjust length to the take off part and reinstall new piece. Amazing how well the arms move when not bound up by rubber bushings.
Thankfully have a friend who owed a few favours and owned a press.
The front tension arms can actually be done with a heat gun, unfortunately only measured them after half doing the first one and realising how close it was to just slipping in.
Finished, nope. That was just the back, while its all apart why not work our way forward.
I keep reminding myself its a dual purpose road/track car then totally ignore myself.
Rose joint as much as possible and not go solid but firm on cradle and diff caus its a road car.
Dropped the exhaust, on myself first, then managed to roll us both out from under the car.
Replaced the cradle bolts with the longest bolts i could get hold of. Intention is down the track to convert them into studs so i can lower and raise the cradle just on the threads and not keep pulling the bolts out of the frame.
At that point serious butchery ensued. Removing factory rubber bushings under the car with only 2 feet of working height is a pain in the arse. I may have burnt myself with molten rubber stuck to a snapped blade.
You get way better the more you do though, sabre saw the rubber then die grinder to cut the outer shell then hammer drill to collapse the shell.
Looks like crap but they come out easily once they aren't interference fit sized.
Did the sub frame ones first which in hindsight may have been the wrong order.
The rear ones weren't too bad once i got my cooler lines out of the way.
The front ones are a pain caus the fuel tank really gets in the way. But i wasn't dropping the cradle all the way out so just jacked it into some weird angles and prayed the jack didn't loose pressure.
After a couple of weeks in the garage at night trying not to disturb the neighbors too much and still be able to stand up and walk the next day i was happy to see it finally done.
Well the cradle and diff anyway. That was the bits from the second box in the pictures above.
Did i mention how i hate working with no space. My roller door clears the rear bumper by less than half an inch. I spent more time rolling under the car to get tools caus it was raining and the door was down than i did actually using them.
This was the easiest part, unbolt, adjust length to the take off part and reinstall new piece. Amazing how well the arms move when not bound up by rubber bushings.
Thankfully have a friend who owed a few favours and owned a press.
The front tension arms can actually be done with a heat gun, unfortunately only measured them after half doing the first one and realising how close it was to just slipping in.
Finished, nope. That was just the back, while its all apart why not work our way forward.
- Thread starter
- #47
So while the driveshaft is dangling from being disconnected from the diff to do the cradle, might as well undo a few more bolts and remove it completely.
Why?
Caus the MGW shifter has been sitting on the floor in my office for 12 months. After missing a slow shift from 5th to 4th and getting 6th just about every lap in the same spot at my last event it was definitely time to fix it given i had the parts already.
Read the instuctions of doing it without removing everything and i'm glad i waited. I'm sure it can be done, with a hoist to make life easier but not at a low level. I'm not into that kind of punishment. The shifter itself is beautiful and simple to attach, its the getting to the location thats the pain in the butt.
To be honest, i think think this version is a little too short, i'll live with it and see what i think after a proper drive on track. Sure it wont be hard too add a bit of length back as required.
But it definitely feels way better than that rubbery piece of garbage that was stock.
Now time to put the driveshaft back in and continue our little saga.
No, not the stock one. Remember the mantra, if its worth doing go all in.
Only a few kilometres (slightly less miles) down the road Mustang Motorsport had an aluminum one piece on their shelf. No importing from overseas and waiting, still bending over on exchange rate though and not common here in Australia tax.
So much lighter than the factory 2 piece. Should help being a 17 Gen 2 stock engine and wanting to keep up with (beat) the guys in their MACH 1's.
But we haven't finished yet.
Why?
Caus the MGW shifter has been sitting on the floor in my office for 12 months. After missing a slow shift from 5th to 4th and getting 6th just about every lap in the same spot at my last event it was definitely time to fix it given i had the parts already.
Read the instuctions of doing it without removing everything and i'm glad i waited. I'm sure it can be done, with a hoist to make life easier but not at a low level. I'm not into that kind of punishment. The shifter itself is beautiful and simple to attach, its the getting to the location thats the pain in the butt.
To be honest, i think think this version is a little too short, i'll live with it and see what i think after a proper drive on track. Sure it wont be hard too add a bit of length back as required.
But it definitely feels way better than that rubbery piece of garbage that was stock.
Now time to put the driveshaft back in and continue our little saga.
No, not the stock one. Remember the mantra, if its worth doing go all in.
Only a few kilometres (slightly less miles) down the road Mustang Motorsport had an aluminum one piece on their shelf. No importing from overseas and waiting, still bending over on exchange rate though and not common here in Australia tax.
So much lighter than the factory 2 piece. Should help being a 17 Gen 2 stock engine and wanting to keep up with (beat) the guys in their MACH 1's.
But we haven't finished yet.
- Thread starter
- #48
Previously somewhere along this escapade i may have mentioned i wasn't into the kind of punishment involved installing parts with little access. I undersold myself, i'm a complete idiot.
While we were still car in the air and half its guts still spread around the garage, i kept getting facebook adds for mustang headers. I was bored and sore from working on this money pit so surfed the internet.
Bad move.
Now the car came with an X-Force 3' Cat back system with Varex mufflers so we can not get busted by our one small step away from 1939 Germany police here in Australia. Yes they are that bad when it comes to vehicles. They crush cars here. Can be funny buggers generally but the Traffic Operations Group have a bad rep.
Now while it might not make a great "race" system its already there and dual purpose car thing again. Oh, guess what, company just north of work had the headers for sale at a reasonable price and it should just bolt up to the rest of the system. Sounds simple enough.
Time to keep pulling parts off the car.
This led to some interesting questions. Like how the hell do these things make the power they do with these factory manifolds. Like how short can we make the primary.
The inside view is even worse.
And no the other side isn't any better
Now i realise packaging is an issue but damn.
Actually i didn't realise packaging was that much of an issue until i had to fit the long tubes.
Us poor folks with steering wheel on the correct side get hit with the starter motor and steering shaft tax. Disconnect one and remove the other, half install headers and put other bits half back and continue.
I may have modified the engine mount to allow a pipe to rotate. I definitely walked away from this job on multiple occasions.
Eventually and i mean eventually i got them in and bolted down. Except for one nut that i cant see or reach and get tight. Got it started before i lost access. Thankfully it has another stud really close that i could get done up. I'll keep an ear out for an exhaust leak and next time i pay someone to lift the engine and remove the left hand engine mount they can tighten the bloody thing.
While is was there, thought i should protect the starter motor given it has a header looping around it. Coolwrap to the rescue. And some sleeving for the cables too it. And some more for the transmission oil cooler lines that were a tad close to the exhaust and the outer braid has slightly sizzled.
Might as well wrap the exhaust pipes where they wrap around the diff just to reduce the heat transfer.
I am officially over this and just want to drive it. Due to varying degrees of life, 3 months in the air is enough. This was meant to be my fill in car so i could work on my old 944. Talk about project creep.
Now just waiting for a wheel alignment this week and asked them to go over everything with a spanner and just check i didn't miss anything. So many new noises from the car, time to re-calibrate what is normal now.
While we were still car in the air and half its guts still spread around the garage, i kept getting facebook adds for mustang headers. I was bored and sore from working on this money pit so surfed the internet.
Bad move.
Now the car came with an X-Force 3' Cat back system with Varex mufflers so we can not get busted by our one small step away from 1939 Germany police here in Australia. Yes they are that bad when it comes to vehicles. They crush cars here. Can be funny buggers generally but the Traffic Operations Group have a bad rep.
Now while it might not make a great "race" system its already there and dual purpose car thing again. Oh, guess what, company just north of work had the headers for sale at a reasonable price and it should just bolt up to the rest of the system. Sounds simple enough.
Time to keep pulling parts off the car.
This led to some interesting questions. Like how the hell do these things make the power they do with these factory manifolds. Like how short can we make the primary.
The inside view is even worse.
And no the other side isn't any better
Now i realise packaging is an issue but damn.
Actually i didn't realise packaging was that much of an issue until i had to fit the long tubes.
Us poor folks with steering wheel on the correct side get hit with the starter motor and steering shaft tax. Disconnect one and remove the other, half install headers and put other bits half back and continue.
I may have modified the engine mount to allow a pipe to rotate. I definitely walked away from this job on multiple occasions.
Eventually and i mean eventually i got them in and bolted down. Except for one nut that i cant see or reach and get tight. Got it started before i lost access. Thankfully it has another stud really close that i could get done up. I'll keep an ear out for an exhaust leak and next time i pay someone to lift the engine and remove the left hand engine mount they can tighten the bloody thing.
While is was there, thought i should protect the starter motor given it has a header looping around it. Coolwrap to the rescue. And some sleeving for the cables too it. And some more for the transmission oil cooler lines that were a tad close to the exhaust and the outer braid has slightly sizzled.
Might as well wrap the exhaust pipes where they wrap around the diff just to reduce the heat transfer.
I am officially over this and just want to drive it. Due to varying degrees of life, 3 months in the air is enough. This was meant to be my fill in car so i could work on my old 944. Talk about project creep.
Now just waiting for a wheel alignment this week and asked them to go over everything with a spanner and just check i didn't miss anything. So many new noises from the car, time to re-calibrate what is normal now.
302BOB
Epic Contributor
To quote you.."Sounds simple enough"...............that's a phrase that has gotten me and a lot of others in more trouble than we care to remember LOL.................................
Mad Hatter
Gotta go Faster
Now that you have headers and such, beware of the dreaded false knock. Anything touching the headers can lead the knock sensor to retard timing. Can be a pain in the behind.
- Thread starter
- #51
Never heard of that, something new for the memory banks. Fingers crossed it's not some thing i have to chase. Some many new clunks and creaks from the cage and sub frame, i'm quietly crapping myself that i didn't do something quite right. A few short drives around the streets and rechecking nothing appears loose and i'm starting to trust my own work.
Mad Hatter
Gotta go Faster
It can be a real pain, but its usually from some thing that is connected straight to the engine.. Exhaust and headers etc will transmit vibrations directly to the engine. Then the knock sensors can be triggered, so timing gets retarted as the pcm thinks the pistons are detonating, It can easily cost you 4 degrees of advance. That can be as much as 40Hp!!!
If you log the car you will be able to spot it right away, even if your butt dyno does not feel it. But if its 4 degrees you will feel it!
Check this link out.
If you log the car you will be able to spot it right away, even if your butt dyno does not feel it. But if its 4 degrees you will feel it!
Check this link out.
- Thread starter
- #53
Thanks for that. Such a simple problem but out of sight out of mind kinda deal.
Its getting aligned tomorrow at Mustang Motorsport here in Melbourne. I'll get them to have a look over the exhaust as well. Getting them to do a general nut and bolt check on the running gear while its in the air.
Love the updates! Glad I could be a small part to help out.
- Thread starter
- #55
More than a small part, the ability to change rear spring rates is huge for me. If the Australian dollar even gets above 80c American expect a large order.
Love the thought and effort behind your products.
And the information you put out with all your aero work is fascinating for my need to understand brain.
Thanks mate.
- Thread starter
- #56
I know i'm hard on brakes so every little bit will help. Titanium backing plates for a bit more caliper longevity. Woo Hoo.
Bill Pemberton
0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
As another individual who is hard on brakes ---- good move! Great company and a set of their 2 piece rotors are on my list for changes on my new machine.
- Thread starter
- #58
Shims have been installed. Interesting heat signature on the pads. Left pad is the inner and i would assume is getting cooling air over it. Right pad is outer and shows more heat affect. At least the pad is looking good. Still early days as they have only really had one hard day. They are shocking to use on the road as only the slightest pedal pressure is required in low speed traffic. Do love them on the track. Ran Pagid pads in my 944 hence my decision to go with them on the Mustang.
I’ve had similar experience with Pagid 29s. I also installed larger cooling deflectors and the titanium heat shields. My pads looked very much like yours both front and back after a couple of track days. Your pads appear glazed, which happened to mine. I then developed a lot of hot spots on the pads and uneven looking deposits on my rotors (Giro two-piece). Brake judder followed soon after. My post and pictures are here:
https://trackmustangsonline.com/threads/thoughts-on-how-my-pagid-29’s-are-wearing.20636/
I ultimately swapped them for G-LOC 18’s. After two full track days they aren’t glazed like the Pagids. And they bite really hard! If you’re not running R compound tires the G-LOC 16’s would suffice. When I run 200 TW tires the 18’s seem to overwhelm them. R comps handle the 18’s better. I still get some brake judder. I didn’t put new rotors on with the G-LOCs. At the advice of others on this forum, I attempted to sand the rotors before installing them. The G-LOC instructions suggested the same. Either I didn’t do it right, or it didn’t work. I put the stock pads and rotors back on and there’s no judder, so clearly I have an issue with my Giro rotors. Haven’t had time to sort that out yet. Hopefully my experiences save you some headaches and/or guesswork, and money.
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- Thread starter
- #60
New numberplates arrived. Multiple meanings but they all work. Need the wheels but other things come first unfortunately.
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