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

[bnight]

While discussing oil thermostats with friends, i was checking out my photos of mine, and thought about getting an oil filter as i had dumped some oil while checking the state of a line.
Also was curious if i had burnt it after the previous temps i was seeing. Oil change was on the cards depending what the data logging tells me soon.

If you wonder should you do or don't an oil change the answer is always Yes better have a fresh oil in the car. Or at least this has been my philosophy. I change oil 3 times a season: 1 when I take the car out of storage, 1 in summer in the summer brake between half seasons and 1 before winter storage.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Agree with bnight, though I always base my frequency of oil changes based on track weekends. I often change after 2 extended weekends ( runs on a Friday , Sat. and Sunday ) and then otherwise after 3 full weekends max. Oil and brake fluid changes are done frequently, with brake fluid bleeds done even more often than oil changes.

 

[GAR944]

With the clutch booked in to be changed for the Hyper Single, thought i should do my bit and divorce the clutch system supply. All you guys used our Commodore reservoir but with the killing off of General Motor Holden in Australia, guess what, the price of one here is now $120.
Ended up with a Brembo one from Superbike spares with 45ml capacity. Being on the wrong side also made it a b*tch to find a nice spot to mount.
Found a wreckers who realized there are a truck load of crashed mustangs so you can move stock by not ripping people off. $30 for an automatic brake master cylinder with reservoir attached. I only wanted the reservoir. Cheaper than what i paid for the bike reservoir.
Google was listening in and sent me an ad for a VW Camper Van supplier with cloth braided brake hose with enough length. Once again way cheaper than everything else i'd found. Best part was with a slight trim of the braid allowed it to fit over the master cylinder nipple and still be small enough to be tight over the reservoir outlet.
Quick bit of cardboard design and some scrap aluminum bent to suit, mounted with a trim plug from the scuttle panel and just rests nicely on top of the brake reservoir. Quick phone video under the bonnet and it did clear with a bit of space, not a lot but as they say, a miss is as good as a mile.
While we were there, changed the brake fluid out for some race fluid, Penrite 600, its an australian brand. Does good oils as well. The stock fluid has done well given i think i have got those GT350 brakes pretty warm. Son got to help bleed his first brake system, well sit in the drivers seat and push, hold, release.
Quick drive round the block and it stops and still changes gear. I'm not totally incompetent it appears.

 

[k4show]

I noticed you have the racelouver hood louvers, have you considered adding a wicker? It could help significantly I believe from this data:

https://racelouvers.com/content/Race-Louvers-GT350-GT4-Wind-Tunnel-Data.pdf

 

[GAR944]

I noticed you have the racelouver hood louvers, have you considered adding a wicker? It could help significantly I believe from this data:

https://racelouvers.com/content/Race-Louvers-GT350-GT4-Wind-Tunnel-Data.pdf

LITERALLY ordered one about an hour ago. Have a tracking number already.

 

[GAR944]

Exedy Hyper Single is in, picked up this morning. Made it home with only one close call to stalling on a hill start. Clutch pedal is much firmer but still streetable. Interestingly the pedal travel feels much shorter, haven't had a look to see if the boys put a clutch stop in that i didn't know about. Will have to put some kms on it as have a track day in a bit over a week.

Trackspec order turned up this afternoon as well, bonus.

Even better was working from home today and had a spare moment.

All installed. Didn't realise it was actually rubber.
Lets see if this improves the data on temp drop across the radiator.
Ideally i'll rip the fan shroud out and do the Darkhorse Challenge mods so won't really know where the improvement was from.


Almost forgot, extended the shifter by 3'. It was just too short and required a lot of effort to get 2nd from high speed braking. Always felt rushed and concentrating too much on the shift than driving.

Still the great MGW precision but way less effort. Will paint the lock nut or cover it up.

 

[GAR944]

I'm sure i've said it before, this site is expensive. But i like a bargain.
@Apex Wheels gets me again 12ish month later. Found a good deal on tyres and went crap, need more rims. What timing.
At this rate i'll slowly start to catch @Bill Pemberton collection.
Another matching set of SM-10s so i can mix and match

 

[GAR944]

Watson Racing had some major price drops on some items and i needed a way to get some camber back that was lost when i went to wider wheels.
I had to dial back the settings on the hub for the wheel to clear the strut and spring but had maxed out my camber plates that came with my shocks.
Thanks to Pete @ Watson Racing for putting up with me and organizing overseas delivery for me.
Can put these in while the car is back up in the air. Unfortunately its back up in the air.

 

[GAR944]

Didn't mention it at the time, but late in the day on my last outing i had a "major" catastrophe.
Actually its kinda like a story @Fabman told me of water spewing out bonnet vents. In my case the auto wipers started while leaving pit lane which confused the daylights out of me. Looked to the left as my screen was clear to see a significant smear across the screen quickly followed by smoke.
Looked at the dash to see a low oil pressure warning and promptly hooked the wheel over to head for the grass off track and killed the engine. More smoke, told my son to bail and head for the wall. It was to be his second ride in the car on track. I quickly did the same and saw the proverbial truck load of oil that had been shot out from around the headlight assembly.
Figured a hose had let go and was thankful it happened on the lead out onto the circuit proper and not during a hot lap.
Towed off track and dumped behind the pits, day done. Knew i bought a trailer for a reason.
Put the son to work at the girlfriends house pulling the car apart to confirm it was what i thought it was. Can't get it into my place without driving it.
Sure enough the main feed from the engine had torn out of its fitting. There it sat over Christmas. Thankfully had enough left over to make a new line so i could fill it up to move it back to my place.
I had this happen initially when i did the lines and went back and re terminated all the ends as a precaution. Its survived well over 12 months but time to rip them all out and have compression fittings done on all the ends by professionals. I just don't trust myself now and too much at stake.
A GT500 oil pump can empty 7 litres of oil in a very short time through a -12 line. Oil level was below the dip stick when i checked after getting the replacement line in.
Thankfully checking the video i was only part throttle 1st & 2nd gear and made it to 4k rpm before off throttle and shutting it down. Fired up fine when i got it back together and back to 130psi cold.
I'll dump the oil that i threw in for the 15 meter drive up into my garage and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[biggsy]

Watson Racing had some major price drops on some items and i needed a way to get some camber back that was lost when i went to wider wheels.
I had to dial back the settings on the hub for the wheel to clear the strut and spring but had maxed out my camber plates that came with my shocks.
Thanks to Pete @ Watson Racing for putting up with me and organizing overseas delivery for me.
Can put these in while the car is back up in the air. Unfortunately its back up in the air.
View attachment 108668

View attachment 108667

How are you adapting these to fit your coilovers?

 

[steveespo]

Watson Racing had some major price drops on some items and i needed a way to get some camber back that was lost when i went to wider wheels.
I had to dial back the settings on the hub for the wheel to clear the strut and spring but had maxed out my camber plates that came with my shocks.
Thanks to Pete @ Watson Racing for putting up with me and organizing overseas delivery for me.
Can put these in while the car is back up in the air. Unfortunately its back up in the air.
View attachment 108668

View attachment 108667

Do you have the mis alignment spools for the spherical bearings?

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Sorry to hear the news and I always fail to post that I love your front plate!

 

[GAR944]

How are you adapting these to fit your coilovers?

Do you have the mis alignment spools for the spherical bearings?

No idea and no in that order.
In all seriousness i grabbed the major component because i don't really have many options in Australia.
The rest can be sorted out once i pull everything apart and work out what hole i have dug for myself.
I did already think that the shaft diameter may be an issue but figured a sleeve was an easy fix. Was going through the FP350S parts list and other docs last night looking to see if there were other parts that i could reference.
@steveespo interesting that they don't mention those parts. If you have any pictures i'd love a look just to see what was meant to go in there. Either way i see something custom in my future. Metric shock absorbers into imperial bearings already sounds a mess but such is life.

 

[bnight]

Sorry to hear about your issues. I hope you will be back on the road in no time. Good that the engine is fine.

 

[GAR944]

Hoses are already out so I can send them for a trip interstate to Motorsport Connections who will do me a set of custom crimped hoses using mine as samples. Same guys who do all the V8 Supercars so they will be way better than my effort and they get pressure tested after manufacture so it's another item I shouldn't need to worry about.

 

[steveespo]

No idea and no in that order.
In all seriousness i grabbed the major component because i don't really have many options in Australia.
The rest can be sorted out once i pull everything apart and work out what hole i have dug for myself.
I did already think that the shaft diameter may be an issue but figured a sleeve was an easy fix. Was going through the FP350S parts list and other docs last night looking to see if there were other parts that i could reference.
@steveespo interesting that they don't mention those parts. If you have any pictures i'd love a look just to see what was meant to go in there. Either way i see something custom in my future. Metric shock absorbers into imperial bearings already sounds a mess but such is life.

View attachment 108684

This is the front pair for the Multimatic DSSV shocks I put on my car. 5/8"bearing bore, 16mm"shaft. I only had one set, (long story). Getting them from Multimatic is theoretically possible but no time line given and $$$$$. So I ordered 5/8"mis alignment spools that were the correct heights (very close) from QA1 products. Perfect fit for the bearing, .005" tight for the shaft. What to do? Backyard lathe, chucked the new spacers into my drill press and then used a carbide burr to open the bore a little at a time, stopping often to test fit onto the shaft. Material is very hard so it was slow going even just taking 5-6 thousands. I would call Watson, they are great and will help you figure what you need. Just let them know what shock shaft diameters and the bearing bore diameter.

 

[k4show]

Didn't mention it at the time, but late in the day on my last outing i had a "major" catastrophe.
Actually its kinda like a story @Fabman told me of water spewing out bonnet vents. In my case the auto wipers started while leaving pit lane which confused the daylights out of me. Looked to the left as my screen was clear to see a significant smear across the screen quickly followed by smoke.
Looked at the dash to see a low oil pressure warning and promptly hooked the wheel over to head for the grass off track and killed the engine. More smoke, told my son to bail and head for the wall. It was to be his second ride in the car on track. I quickly did the same and saw the proverbial truck load of oil that had been shot out from around the headlight assembly.
Figured a hose had let go and was thankful it happened on the lead out onto the circuit proper and not during a hot lap.
Towed off track and dumped behind the pits, day done. Knew i bought a trailer for a reason.
Put the son to work at the girlfriends house pulling the car apart to confirm it was what i thought it was. Can't get it into my place without driving it.
Sure enough the main feed from the engine had torn out of its fitting. There it sat over Christmas. Thankfully had enough left over to make a new line so i could fill it up to move it back to my place.
I had this happen initially when i did the lines and went back and re terminated all the ends as a precaution. Its survived well over 12 months but time to rip them all out and have compression fittings done on all the ends by professionals. I just don't trust myself now and too much at stake.
A GT500 oil pump can empty 7 litres of oil in a very short time through a -12 line. Oil level was below the dip stick when i checked after getting the replacement line in.
Thankfully checking the video i was only part throttle 1st & 2nd gear and made it to 4k rpm before off throttle and shutting it down. Fired up fine when i got it back together and back to 130psi cold.
I'll dump the oil that i threw in for the 15 meter drive up into my garage and keep my fingers crossed.

View attachment 108669View attachment 108670

Sorry to hear about the issue and glad the engine is okay. I mounted my remote mount in the exact same spot with the sensor on that side as well. I noticed it protruded a bit into the fender liner on my side and had to trim the fender liner and confirmed clearance with the stock PP 255 tire to make a track day but I plan on relocating the sensor to the engine side to give more room. Do you think something could have grabbed on the hose in between the tire and the fitting? Or do you think just assembly issues.

 

[302BOB]

Whenever this thread pops up I immediately think of a Diana Ross tune..........I know, I know nothing to do with cars................

 

[GAR944]

View attachment 108689 This is the front pair for the Multimatic DSSV shocks I put on my car. 5/8"bearing bore, 16mm"shaft. I only had one set, (long story). Getting them from Multimatic is theoretically possible but no time line given and $$$$$. So I ordered 5/8"mis alignment spools that were the correct heights (very close) from QA1 products. Perfect fit for the bearing, .005" tight for the shaft. What to do? Backyard lathe, chucked the new spacers into my drill press and then used a carbide burr to open the bore a little at a time, stopping often to test fit onto the shaft. Material is very hard so it was slow going even just taking 5-6 thousands. I would call Watson, they are great and will help you figure what you need. Just let them know what shock shaft diameters and the bearing bore diameter.

Big thanks for the pics, gives me a great indication of what i'm aiming for. Will see if i can drop a shock down tonight and get some measurements. Most likely i'll get something machined up as the spherical bearing is imperial internal measurements and my shock will be metric as they are european ST (low end KW).

 

[GAR944]

Sorry to hear about the issue and glad the engine is okay. I mounted my remote mount in the exact same spot with the sensor on that side as well. I noticed it protruded a bit into the fender liner on my side and had to trim the fender liner and confirmed clearance with the stock PP 255 tire to make a track day but I plan on relocating the sensor to the engine side to give more room. Do you think something could have grabbed on the hose in between the tire and the fitting? Or do you think just assembly issues.

Definitely a ME issue. When i mounted mine i was very specific in making sure it just touched the liner. Its such a tight location that just works as you have discovered. The 305's touch in a few spots but thankfully that isn't one of them.