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Vorshlag 2018 Mustang GT + S550 Development Thread

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boardkat

CAMtard
131
179
Exp. Type
W2W Racing
Exp. Level
10-20 Years
Lake Oswego, OR
I did a surge tank as well, I ran my tank all the way down to 6% and still had a solid flat 58psi at the rail at all times.

I'm working with a radium retailer to make a kit for S197 and S550 cars.
yep, and i calculated it'll take ~18s @ WOT with my current fuel(dual 465s)/power (750rwhp) to empty the ~1/2 gallon can, which in the real world is never gonna happen. short of going to a fuel cell w/ foam and in-tank surge setup, this is about as good as it gets.

fwiw, aaron and i go way back to when i was in an elise and he was just getting his company off the ground in the lotus market a decade ago - he's a short drive across town from me. if your vendor can do the legwork and bring a strong business case for making a kit, he'll easily jump on board.
 

Ludachris

Chris
Staff member
Moderator
1,658
1,962
Exp. Type
HPDE
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
Newcastle, CA
hydramat, fuel foam on the hump, etc aren’t big enough bandaids; you will still fuel starve on CCW configs under 1/2 tank, especially as you go up in power and/or switch to E85. plumbing in a fuel surge tank fixed all my problems:

View attachment 15254
Surge tanks are pretty common in other platforms too - I almost went that route myself with my old track car. It was either that, modify the tank baffling or get a fuel cell. Surge tank was the most reasonable option for what I was doing.
 
Question for you Terry:

I'm building a 2020 ecoboost base for road racing. I ordered a bunch of parts from you, thanks again. I followed you thread closely for inspiration and tips.

I went with the Wilwood racing brake system (14'' cuz series rules require 18'' wheels, tires are 245 anyway so grip is limited). I might eventually upgrade the system but this is what i'll use for now to keep the costs down. I followed your advice to switch the master cylinder and brake booster to the PP1-2 spec. Thanks again for sharing.

My question is regarding the ABS. Did you keep the same pump, control unit and computer? I don't think the pump has anything to do with the bias but not all ABS systems work equal. Are there potential gains by switching out the entire unit and computer for the GT350 system which is supposed to be 'track tuned'?

I have not tried my setup yet.

thanks
 
Question for you Terry:

I'm building a 2020 ecoboost base for road racing. I ordered a bunch of parts from you, thanks again. I followed you thread closely for inspiration and tips.

I went with the Wilwood racing brake system (14'' cuz series rules require 18'' wheels, tires are 245 anyway so grip is limited). I might eventually upgrade the system but this is what i'll use for now to keep the costs down. I followed your advice to switch the master cylinder and brake booster to the PP1-2 spec. Thanks again for sharing.

My question is regarding the ABS. Did you keep the same pump, control unit and computer? I don't think the pump has anything to do with the bias but not all ABS systems work equal. Are there potential gains by switching out the entire unit and computer for the GT350 system which is supposed to be 'track tuned'?

I have not tried my setup yet.

thanks
I believe the ABS unit is the same across trim levels. The ECU tuning for the ABS is different across trims to account for the available grip the different trims have from factory.
 

Fair

Go Big or Go Home
Supporting Vendor
277
492
Plano, TX
Yes, we have noticed the same thing. We recently replaced the ABS unit out of an S550 that had physically damaged the OEM one. Every light on the dash lit up, but after taking it to Ford they were able to reprogram the ECU and modules and "married" the new S550 ABS unit to that car. It all worked fine. We used a used similar year unit, but it was not "exactly" the same. And like johnson.ba reported, it still works fine.
 
218
369
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
5-10 Years
CA
continued from above

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First the steering column was removed, which was also barely held in place. This had been out of the car, stripped of the airbag and some other bits, and shoved back into the car quickly. The splined slip joint under the dash was somewhat mangled and jammed together, so that had to be repaired before it would go back in place. I want to keep the factory tilt / telescoping column, as it is relatively lightweight (12.7 pounds), has a rigid cast aluminum structure, and the ergonomics of this fit me in this car well. Not enough weight there to chase something that will lose adjustments and likely even some rigidity.

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The dash is held in place on the sides of the A-pillar sections as well as this lower bracket, that we removed. Pieces like this will be replaced with much thinner aluminum brackets that way 1/4 as much.

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We then got a weight of this semi-stripped dash assembly, which was 50.7 pounds. There is a lot of weight in there that we can whittle down, including an airbag that is part of the glove box. The center console was just sitting in the car when we got it, but it weighs in at only 9.1 pounds. We will likely reinstall that for the Phase 1 build, as well as the lightened dash. I just like a little more completeness in the interior of a car, even a race car.

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With the dash out of the way the sound insulating pad at the firewall was removed, along with the HVAC box. This insulation pad will not go back in and sheds 5.4 pounds in the process.

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Last up is the HVAC box - which is the heater core, evaporator core for the air conditioner, blower motor, and complicated duct work buried under the dash. This 22.5 pound box (without the coolant that the heater core holds) will not go back in either. Instead we will use the 6.5 pound lightweight defroster box we normally put into race cars. This keeps a heater core and blower motor in a more compact box to blow on the windshield on cold race days. All told these pieces above weigh in at 102 pounds, and I suspect we will reinstall the steering column, center console, a gutted dash, and a lighter heater box.

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Didn't weigh the missing but lightweight dash trim pieces, which ironically I bought on eBay from The Parts Farm (they could have come off this same car). If we can cut that total interior weight number down by 40 to 50 pounds that will be a nice accomplishment - while still keeping a fully functional/adjustable steering column, a visually complete dash, and a working heater in the car. I will show those lightening steps and weights going back in on a future post.

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This car was missing the pedals, brake booster, brake master, and more. I bought this used OEM pedal box from a 2016 Mustang GT online for $124, and it even came with the Mustang electronic throttle pedal (which we might not use, depending on which EFI system we go with). The pedal box was bolted in with the dash out of the way, then the brake booster went in from the firewall side.

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We ordered a new brake booster and PP1/PP2 style master cylinder from Ford, which we also sell on our website. The master cylinder is indeed designed with a very different hydraulic ratio than the base GT/V6/Ecobooster master, which we found out the hard way when we upgraded our 2018 GT to the PP1 brakes. I was never convinced that the brake booster we bought for our 2018 GT was in any way different but it did have a different part number. The 2015-17 GT used the same booster for PP1 and base brakes, so we bought that model.

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I am not going to re-hash what was already posted in this thread earlier, but long story short: there is a reason why we include the PP1 master cylinder with the 6 piston Brembo 15" brake upgrade kit we sell. It will NOT work on track without the correct hydraulic ratio master, and the difference is easy to measure and see.

continued below
Terry all this stuff is so awesome. Thanks for documenting and posting all the numbers. It´s not for an s197 but close enough to get a good idea how much weight can be cut and where it can be found.
 

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