S550 Upside Down and on the Wrong Side Build Thread Profile - S550 Mustangs

[Bill Pemberton]

mpgainer,
I have suggested to quite a few friends to check out the G-Loc R18s when I see how deep they brake or if folks are going to fast tracks ( like Road Atlanta or Road America ) as they are an " Endurance Pad " and they need more heat build up to work effectively. I drag the brakes quite a bit during the first lap and that seems to really help to jump on the power and binders from then on. I do not recommend them for those that are casual track drivers as those drivers will find a less aggressive pad more to their liking, but for aggressive drivers ( since the newer Mustangs are heavy machines ) it is one pad to view.
One important key is to get the pads pre-bedded and the issue you are noticing could be if you did the bedding yourself. Over the years I found the situation with Carbotech/G-Locs to be frustrating as their bedding process is a huge hassle and hard to accomplish on the street/highway.

Good luck but is sounds like you are on the right track with your set up and do post some track pics of your Mach 1!

 

[GAR944]

Just logged in after after posting my new number plates yesterday and the first thing i see.

@Apex Wheels throws this spanner into the mix. Just ordered some SM-10's and will now have wheels to go with the multiple meaning numberplate.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I am considering another set...............geez, I lost track but that could be either my 9th or 10th set over the past 5-7 years! Yikes, don't tell my wife!

Would be my third this year if I do get another set!

 

[GAR944]

I am considering another set...............geez, I lost track but that could be either my 9th or 10th set over the past 5-7 years! Yikes, don't tell my wife!

No wife, great girlfriend, just don't tell my bank account its getting plundered again.

 

[Apex Wheels]

Just logged in after after posting my new number plates yesterday and the first thing i see.

@Apex Wheels throws this spanner into the mix. Just ordered some SM-10's and will now have wheels to go with the multiple meaning numberplate.
View attachment 98141View attachment 98142

Sorry

 

[Fabman]

Sorry

 

[GAR944]

Its been a while since a proper update here.
Got the engine oil cooler and remote mount oil filter and thermostat installed. Posted on another thread with much help from some great people on this forum. Only covered the garage with oil once. One fitting didn't like the pressure and convinced me to pull the lot apart and redo all the connections.
Went with the big boy cooler because it does get a bit warm here in Australia. Setrab 960. Thanks to @5.2 liters of democracy for the cad files for the cooler ducting i could mock up a set for my stock GT front bar.
A few fancy shaped brackets, nutserts, some cad work and some laser cutting and done. I wish it was just that easy.


Mounting the oil filter/thermostat was the easy part.
-12 lines and fittings all the way caus i listen to you guys.


For those of us with the steering wheel on the correct side, we get to have a rather large aluminum housing and heat exchanger run down the "passenger side" of the block which gets deleted. Problem now becomes the engine mount bracket now doesn't reach. Need a US spec one. Ebay to the rescue and found one a few km's up the road from me. Who would have thought that possible.


A few posts back i installed a set of headers and mentioned that i lost access to one of the studs due to all the components in the way. Guess what? getting rid of all the factory cooling stuff helps. I can finally put the last nut on.

Got it all back together and fired it up. Watched the oil pressure on the dash, well the crappy no oil pressure/have oil pressure message and crossed fingers.
OK, this is the part we don't talk about but better here than while driving.

As i mentioned, pulled all the lines out and redid the connections.
Still getting oil dripping out of panel seams a few months later.

 

[GAR944]

Broken record time, one of my last big planned mods, do we all B/S to our selves that.
GT500 sump for capacity and baffling, and a stronger and more volume oil pump than a 17 GT doesn't hurt.
The boys at Mustang Motorsport in Melbourne said they liked seeing my car on the hoist caus i do stuff to it and it doesn't look half bad. They don't laugh.
I know my limitations most times and this was one i wasn't inflicting upon myself.

While it was in the air and the engine hanging, do you want us to throw some nice engine mounts in as it won't get any easier to access them than now.
Who would say no.


Best part of having the engine half apart was they also found 2 swollen and cracked coil packs. OK throw a full set of new ones on and i'll keep the serviceable ones for spares.

 

[GAR944]

Actually managed to drive it amongst all this work. Was getting to be all work and no play but am paranoid about oil issues having done multiple engines on my 944 over the years of it competing.
The OPTIMA street car challenge has made its way down to Australia and i missed last years so this year we made sure the car was ready.
Unfortunately the weather didn't play nicely but i got to have dry runs each event. My plans for this car had always been a well handling and braking stock engine car.
I think i may have build a pretty good one.
3rd fastest on the track motorkhana behind an 800hp RTR Mustang built and driven by James from Mustang Motorsport and a 650hp BMW M2 Comp driven by the previous years winner Reece.
Circuit sprint was 6th behind the 2 above again, a supercharged Shelby GT, the previous years winning Audi TT and this years event winning BMW M3 Wagon. I figured i was minimum 200hp behind the cars ahead and the first naturally aspirated car.
Overall pretty happy with what this car is capable of as a full interior non stripped track toy.
We won't talk about the drags as about 30% of the field were pretty much drag spec cars. 13.633 was the quickest i could get out of it. 3 runs and done as i like my clutch and its still the stock one. Did find a Exedy hyper single on line and in Australia. Let me get back from The Bend Motorsport Park this weekend before i find another excuse.
The other event was the go to whoa, not a great one for a manual with 3 gear changes in 12 seconds and a 180 degree change of direction. Automatics and 4wd for the win in this event.


The bloody fast BMW M2, we had a track session effectively to ourselves. I followed him onto the front straight and watched him disappear. 280kph (174mph) into a down hill bumpy braking zone with a mid size hairpin. I was happy to see 240ish (149)

 

[GAR944]

About every 12 month i seem to get the urge to buy more stuff from over seas. Usually from the same guy. Checked my email and sure enough for the last couple of years @AJ Hartman gets to send some of his handy work to Australia.
Whilst my car doesn't have any real aero, it does have some wheels that stick out a fair way from stock Gt guards when stuffed with 305's and as much camber as we can get dialed.

A set of S550 15-17 Mustang GT4 Style Canards later and a nights worth of careful attaching and aligning and the Zombie Apocalypse ankle slicers are fitted. Like seriously you have to be careful walking close to the front of the car. It really needs a big splitter to protect you from them. Can't have that without the big wing to balance everything. So much for a road car. Thanks again AJ.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Such a cool write up and I will admit the Hartman Aero touches really set off the car --- she looks quite menacing! Cool you got to run at " The Bend " and hopefully we will see some video from there in the future. Sounds like you did fantastic with alot less horsepower yet obviously more TMO driver talent ( acquired through osmosis from participating in the Forum, ha ) -- congrats on the super solid placing!

 

[bnight]

Broken record time, one of my last big planned mods, do we all B/S to our selves that.
GT500 sump for capacity and baffling, and a stronger and more volume oil pump than a 17 GT doesn't hurt.
The boys at Mustang Motorsport in Melbourne said they liked seeing my car on the hoist caus i do stuff to it and it doesn't look half bad. They don't laugh.
I know my limitations most times and this was one i wasn't inflicting upon myself.
View attachment 102257View attachment 102256
While it was in the air and the engine hanging, do you want us to throw some nice engine mounts in as it won't get any easier to access them than now.
Who would say no.
View attachment 102258

Best part of having the engine half apart was they also found 2 swollen and cracked coil packs. OK throw a full set of new ones on and i'll keep the serviceable ones for spares.

The oil pan is on my todo list now by the looks of it could be done while engine in the car ? Also did you do chains etc while at it ?

 

[biggsy]

Its been a while since a proper update here.
Got the engine oil cooler and remote mount oil filter and thermostat installed. Posted on another thread with much help from some great people on this forum. Only covered the garage with oil once. One fitting didn't like the pressure and convinced me to pull the lot apart and redo all the connections.
Went with the big boy cooler because it does get a bit warm here in Australia. Setrab 960. Thanks to @5.2 liters of democracy for the cad files for the cooler ducting i could mock up a set for my stock GT front bar.
A few fancy shaped brackets, nutserts, some cad work and some laser cutting and done. I wish it was just that easy.
View attachment 102238View attachment 102239View attachment 102242View attachment 102243View attachment 102244View attachment 102245
View attachment 102240View attachment 102241
Mounting the oil filter/thermostat was the easy part.
-12 lines and fittings all the way caus i listen to you guys.
View attachment 102247View attachment 102246View attachment 102248View attachment 102249View attachment 102250

For those of us with the steering wheel on the correct side, we get to have a rather large aluminum housing and heat exchanger run down the "passenger side" of the block which gets deleted. Problem now becomes the engine mount bracket now doesn't reach. Need a US spec one. Ebay to the rescue and found one a few km's up the road from me. Who would have thought that possible.
View attachment 102252View attachment 102253

A few posts back i installed a set of headers and mentioned that i lost access to one of the studs due to all the components in the way. Guess what? getting rid of all the factory cooling stuff helps. I can finally put the last nut on.
View attachment 102251
Got it all back together and fired it up. Watched the oil pressure on the dash, well the crappy no oil pressure/have oil pressure message and crossed fingers.
OK, this is the part we don't talk about but better here than while driving.
View attachment 102254View attachment 102255
As i mentioned, pulled all the lines out and redid the connections.
Still getting oil dripping out of panel seams a few months later.

amazing job and write up. Is the radiator ducting different than the GT350? I thought it was the same between the front bar and radiator.

Also, what angle fittings are you using on the remote filter and the engine block adapter? Your set up is the closest that I've seen to what I imagined for mine.

 

[GAR944]

The oil pan is on my todo list now by the looks of it could be done while engine in the car ? Also did you do chains etc while at it ?

Yes it was done with engine in but supported from above and raised slightly. From what i saw when i dropped in to have a look there was a fair chunk of the front of the engine missing. The suspension was also dangling out the sides. It was a thank you for doing it, i'm happy to pay rather than, i could do this. The sump is also a pump upgrade as part of the package. They upgraded the crank sprocket while they were there as well. The engine has only done 30K kms so no chains etc.

 

[GAR944]

amazing job and write up. Is the radiator ducting different than the GT350? I thought it was the same between the front bar and radiator.

Also, what angle fittings are you using on the remote filter and the engine block adapter? Your set up is the closest that I've seen to what I imagined for mine.

Is the radiator ducting different than the GT350? The ducting template i started with from 5.2Litre was the FP350S duct work which of course doesn't allow for an air conditioning condensor coil in front of the radiator. The inside of the front bar is different i believe as they have a different shape. I mounted mine to the flanges on the cooler and depending how close you mount that to the condensor will determine your leading edge. Mine was about 4-5mm with 6mm closed cell neoprene tape to squash between to form a seal.
what angle fittings are you using on the remote filter and the engine block adapter?
The remote mount filter/thermostat has 2 off 90 degree fittings to the engine and i think the front 2 are 45 degree. You have to be careful when mounting it to clear the inner guard plastic. It is just about touching, green line is about where it comes to.
Its a bit of a balancing act to get it far enough rearward to get a nice sweep on the front hoses but in front of the inner guard.

Ideally a 60 degree front fitting would allow you to come further forward. I had worked out a shopping list of fittings and then worked with what they had in stock as well.
Its kinda why i cant remember what i used for the block take off. I think one is a 90 and the other a 15. It was a bit of a mix and match job by that stage.


Now the scary part of all this cooler stuff and sump is my oil temps skyrocketed at my first full track day.
The rate at which the temps climbed was concerning but it also was the temp reading from the ECU via the OBD. From the small amount of research i have done since last weekend, the figure is one of those lovely Ford calculated from other data type values. This leads me to think it may be drastically wrong. However i did spend more time north of 6500rpm than the car has ever seen. Time for a deep dive through the forum and internet. Realistically, actual gauges is on the cards.

 

[GAR944]

After experiencing the smoke screen created from some lovely flowing corners and a full sump for the first time, got my delivery today all the way from the USA. GT500 cam covers to go with the matching GT500 sump previously installed. Lucky i had already sourced the corresponding dip stick previously when we did the sump just in case.
May have a radiator and temp/pressure sensors turn up in a couple of days, it was an expensive sunday nights shopping. I'm not responsible when it comes to car parts.

 

[bnight]

After experiencing the smoke screen created from some lovely flowing corners and a full sump for the first time, got my delivery today all the way from the USA. GT500 cam covers to go with the matching GT500 sump previously installed. Lucky i had already sourced the corresponding dip stick previously when we did the sump just in case.
May have a radiator and temp/pressure sensors turn up in a couple of days, it was an expensive sunday nights shopping. I'm not responsible when it comes to car parts.

View attachment 102671

I have one of this ready to go on the car as well for exactly the same issue so you are saying the oil burning / oil loss on track is because of valve covers and not the oil pan ? I really wonder what exactly is going on in my car but ones I install this bad boys will do a new test on Serres and let you guys know.

 

[Fabman]

I have one of this ready to go on the car as well for exactly the same issue so you are saying the oil burning / oil loss on track is because of valve covers and not the oil pan ? I really wonder what exactly is going on in my car but ones I install this bad boys will do a new test on Serres and let you guys know.

The oil separation is much better on the GT500 valve covers and the higher you turn the motor the more it matters.

 

[GAR944]

The oil separation is much better on the GT500 valve covers and the higher you turn the motor the more it matters.

Had a FULL GT500 sump, first track day with it and first time running the limiter through some sweepers, gearing was wrong for this track, well i should have grabbed a gear earlier, joys of learning a big track. Took a couple of sessions to sort out what i should be doing where. As the oil level came down the smoke eventually dropped off.
@bnight There is a thread on here that talks about the air flow through the engine breathers and how under certain conditions - g force- the oil pools in the left hand head slightly and with the right combination of throttle the vacuum changes and sucks it into the intake, hence big clouds and oh crap moments. The GT500 cover has the better oil control as mentioned by @Fabman to prevent it getting sucked out.

 

[GAR944]

A quiet Friday night after dinner. Started with the easy side to get a feel for things. The other side can wait for daylight so i can see all the stuff i'll probably drop pulling the airbox and possibly the battery box. I think ours is on the opposite side to yours.





Hopefully everything inside looks ok, i cant see anything obvious but i don't know what is considered ok when it comes to internals.
Its only done 22k miles, 35k kms.