S197 Weekend Track Warrior Build Thread Profile - S197 Mustangs

[AboveAvgJoe5]

This is the Build Thread for Weekend Track Warrior. Reply below.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Looks like you have a lot of nice mods and I am guessing you are an aggressive braker?! I run G-Loc 18s in front and 10s in the rear , which is pretty similar to you , but most of my contemporaries are running 12s in front and those just don't have the temp I need under late braking, ha. Great looking 197 and you should drop a picture or two of the car posed somewhere as I bet the rims look exceptional on a black Stand?! You might also consider changing your info to list the State you are in as there are a bunch of TMO Members in the Northeast and I know quite a few will reach out. I hope to meet up with some of you guys in the future as Watkins Glen and Pittsburgh International Raceway are two tracks on my bucket list!!

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Thanks Bill! Yeah, I had the 10/8 combo on before and I like the more aggressive nature of the 16 up front for sure. I added my location in my signature bc I’m not entirely sure how to change it otherwise.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

You can always drop a note to Ludachris for instructions on how to change various things in your personal info if you don't figure it out, and I can relate, since it took me a little searching to figure it out initially. Heck, if you are in New Jersey you have the NJ Motorsports Park and not too bad of driving distance to Lime Rock and Pocono also. Then you have a nice list of other drives that are not horrendous to get to other great tracks --- VIR, Pittsburg International Raceway, Summit Point and more.

The 18/10 combo works great for me , but then I can't drive on the street , so the high pitched screech when cold doesn't phase me, ha,ha.

How far are you from the track in New Jersey?

 

[Ludachris]

Thanks Bill! Yeah, I had the 10/8 combo on before and I like the more aggressive nature of the 16 up front for sure. I added my location in my signature bc I’m not entirely sure how to change it otherwise.

Hey Joe, just click on your avatar in the top navigation bar (in your case there will likely be a big letter "A" since you don't have a photo uploaded for your avatar). From there, you'll click a link called "Account Details". That's where you can update your location - and upload an image of yourself or your car for your avatar.

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Awesome! Thanks for the help.

@Bill Pemberton I’m actually about 2 hours from NJMP, Pocono, and Limerock. WGI is about a 4 hour ride for me. My father is my sole “crew member” so in other words, mans the grill and keeps cold water in the cooler! Haha I’ll be over at Limerock for the second time this season on August 17 with SCDA. I was signed up for the April VIR event but that was scratched. I’m definitely itching to get down there.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Understand that father/son process , as I am the tire warmer for my son when we autocross his EVO 9. When at the track I am without a crew , unless Tymeslayer or TMS show up and they often help out because they feel sorry for a bald old guy with a bad back, ha,ha.

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

I want to use this more to memorialize progress on the car. It’s a shame the first 9 years of ownership are somewhat lost in various phone camera reels haha. It was a busy winter 2023 season where I focused on a bunch of enhancements.

First up was proper repair of the right front frame rail end after kissing the blue Armco at WGI! Got the AC evacuated as well to clear the way for more fun stuff.

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Next came removal of the entire AC system, including the compressor and stock radiator support to clear the way for the lightened BMR support and more robust engine cooling.

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Then I tackled removal of the boss oil cooler and install of a Setrab 948 with a sandwich plate and ducting. It was pretty cool fabbing brackets out of aluminum for the first time. I leveraged a ton of the expertise from the builds on here to guide me and learned a ton. Made rubber isolators for all the metal connections.

Initial install with fabbed brackets on all 4 corners


Using cardboard to mock up ducting

Countless hours later, complete with bracing to ensure no flapping and weatherstripping on all edges. Added foam blocks with double sided tape in gaps on the sides as well.

View of oil cooler line routing out of the ducting and under the sway bar using AN12 hose and fittings from improved racing. Only the cast aluminum Setrab sandwich plate is large enough to accommodate the AN12 fittings. Stay away from the billet when using these big lines.


This took A TON of time but I’m happy with the results for having never done this before. Oil temps at VIR earlier this month never got above 235 in about 70 degree ambient temps.

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

I took a break from metal work to let my hands heal a little and got to upgrading brakes to the S550 6 pots along with the 302s cooling inlets, spec fab backing plates and 302s module.





4 inch hoses are massive but I was happy to see no rubbing with this routing.

 

[TMSBOSS]

Nice Work!!!

Do you have the part number for the Setrab Sandwich plate you used?

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Thanks for the compliment! Yessir, it is SET-SPT76-22-180-22. I had some issues though where I incorrectly received the billet plate. Pegasus Auto Racing customer support was excellent but they had to open all their stock to see if they had any cast plates. This was the only one they found in their inventory. The rest were all billet although the billet part number has a b in it. Setrab might not be making the cast plate anymore.

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Next up, I began a front splitter build to match with a Nine Lives Racing Wing on order.

A 77inch TV box makes for a perfect canvas to sketch out a splitter outline.Went about 5” from OE GT lip out front and 2.5” on each side ahead of the tires using a wood block.

I used 1/2” hard maple plywood for the splitter and a router to round the leading edge with a longer slope on the underside.


I used 1x1” aluminum angle with a million cuts to create a fence that I riveted 3” plastic to block air flow.

The splitter is chassis mounted at 8 points. One set as shown above is L brackets attached to flat stock attached to the body area below the headlights. Another set uses the combo of kazespec engineering chassis mounts and professional awesome quick release mounts.

The front of the splitter is mounted using the OE mounting locations in the 302S bumper bar and professional awesome rods with built in titanium skid pucks under. The rear is mounted using threaded rod into the factory Z brace. Primed the splitter and painted 3 coats with some black deck paint I had leftover.

Splitter is very strong with slight flex up front to give under impact due to the PA rods. No issues during first track weekend of the year. I’m super happy with the result and of course have the cardboard to make additional.

 

[twistedneck]

Thanks Bill! Yeah, I had the 10/8 combo on before and I like the more aggressive nature of the 16 up front for sure. I added my location in my signature bc I’m not entirely sure how to change it otherwise.

Joe, i love your ride.. its so close to my 2012. I finally got a new set of good pads G12 for the front and G10 for the rear. knowing what you do about S197 and those pads, what should i expect and where did i go wrong on the 12 / 10 combo? Oh yea, i love how you call out the cobra jet pulse ring, i have one too - gotta be a coyote OG for that!

 

[Mike_FL]

Subscribed!

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

Joe, i love your ride.. its so close to my 2012. I finally got a new set of good pads G12 for the front and G10 for the rear. knowing what you do about S197 and those pads, what should i expect and where did i go wrong on the 12 / 10 combo? Oh yea, i love how you call out the cobra jet pulse ring, i have one too - gotta be a coyote OG for that!

Hey man, thanks! I like yours a lot too!! I felt that with the setup of brake bias on these cars I definitely needed a more aggressive pad up front to threshold brake consistently over a 20-25 min DE session. Pad wear was also not great with those lower compounds at all. I really liked my first outing on the 18s up front. A lot of bite but can still modulate.

 

[twistedneck]

Hey man, thanks! I like yours a lot too!! I felt that with the setup of brake bias on these cars I definitely needed a more aggressive pad up front to threshold brake consistently over a 20-25 min DE session. Pad wear was also not great with those lower compounds at all. I really liked my first outing on the 18s up front. A lot of bite but can still modulate.

I wonder if i would have gone with a R8 in back .. (or like R14 up front on the pad compound) they would be more balanced.. sounds like the rear was over braking vs. the front. Do you have the larger GT500 rotor in back?

 

[Bill Pemberton]

I moved to R10s many years ago as R8s tend to wear quickly though depending on the car it can balance out braking where the rear does a bit more work. R10s seem to work as well and do last longer ( always get G-Locs or Carbotechs pre-bedded ).

 

[AboveAvgJoe5]

I wonder if i would have gone with a R8 in back .. (or like R14 up front on the pad compound) they would be more balanced.. sounds like the rear was over braking vs. the front. Do you have the larger GT500 rotor in back?

Nope, I don’t. I’ve thought about it but haven’t really saw the need. I did remove the rear backing plates after frying 2 axle seals prematurely.