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Yotah's Grabber Blue GT350 thread

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yotah1

Ford Employee
398
636
Detroit
Well, it's kind of a build thread, kind of a normal thread, kind of a place where I'll put the various photos and videos I do with the car.

The 350 is awesome, no doubt about that. But i've taken my european track car very far in terms of modifications, to the point where it's a lot faster to list what I didn't modify on it rather than listing what has been upgraded.
The Shelby won't need "so much" but my main intent with the car is to track it. It's built for it, so that's mostly how I'll drive it.

I've snapped a few photos since I got it :

The day we picked it up, so stoked!

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During our first proper drive in the twisty roads around Detroit ...

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I then cleaned it up with AMMO NYC products. A first layer of protection for a few weeks worth, and then I'll give it a complete protective coat before the summer.

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We got the chance to meet the FOrd GT Le Mans 24 and Daytona 24 winners as well as the Daytona 500 winner last week, so i took the opportunity to get the dash signed by everyone, as well as by Dave Pericak, head of Ford Perf. Really awesome day :)

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The first trackday is coming this weekend and hopefully my work will leave me enough time to go and try the car on the track.
I have a couple parts coming tomorrow :
- Steeda hood struts
- air / oil separators from Ford Performance
- front tow hook from Ford Performance

The rest of the modifications that will follow this year are :
- interior light kit from Raxiom
- read side markers from Raxiom
- Steeda clutch spring kit
- Steeda camber plates
- SRP or Steeda pedals
- Schroth 4 point harnesses for both driver and passenger
- Watson Racing 4 point rollcage

Next winter will be busy also :
- rear seat delete kit
- MGW shifter (probably)
- Ford Performance rear subframe mounts and diff mounts
- Ford Performance lowering springs

The things that I'm considering but not decided on yet :
- R splitter and wing
- Girodiscs
- Steeda sway bars
- Full Tilt Boogie bushings
- BMR end links and LCA bearing
- Steeda adjustable toe links and vertical links
- GMS motor mounts

I have the GT350 Track Attack scheduled for mid-september, and will take my 350 to M1 Concourse, Grattan, Mid Ohio, and a couple others this year.
The big plan though for 2018 is to take 2 weeks of holidays in Europe and ship the car over there to take it to my favorite racetrack : Nurburgring Nordschleife :p
 
Since you have not gotten any belts yet, shift to either a 5 point , or better yet, a six point belt, as a 4 has absolutely no antisubmarine benefit. Beneficial maybe for an Autocross , but absolutely not a recommendation for track usage -- and definitely not for Nordschliefe! Will hold you in better also and less movement around the cockpit means a less tiring environment for a road course.
 
I've got Schroth 6 points in my european trackcar. But I'm keeping the OEM Recaro seats in the Shelby, so that means no 5 point or 6 point solution available in this car. That's why I'm going with Schroth again as they offer a 4 point harness which is road legal and features an anti submarine system on one of the shoulder belts which they patented a few years ago.
Unfortunately a friend of mine tested that feature not so long ago with a major crash at Hockenheim with a frontal impact. His M3 was setup with a pair of buckets and the Schroth 4 point harnesses and he got away from it without a scratch.
This is what they fit in some GT3, Cayman GT4 and also offer for the 918. Called ASM.

https://www.schrothracing.com/products/profi-ii-asm#1597
 
There should be a system out there that uses the seat and bolts to anchor a bar for attachment. Regardless , I would have little faith in a 4 point system as they are not approved for any actual pure racecar usage , and our cars are faster than many pure track cars of only a few years back. Will do some checking and get back .....
 
They are actually FIA legal in most youngtimer, rally, and non-GT3 class and above races in Europe. I'm pretty sure the FIA doesn't approve something that doesn't work ...
 
Actually years ago FIA belts in European competition were so thin ( width wise) they found them destroying ribs and other body parts in severe crashes, hence the reason so many belts Worldwide are now much thicker. Racing improves safety procedures and things that were okay in years past are no longer considered state of the art, but no use to go into things like Helmets, Hans Devices ,etc. , as we all know the advances. It is your car and you have obviously done some research , but I would still consider a 5 point or 6 --especially when so many racing organizations are phasing out 5 points and requiring a 6 point system.

Just my opinion and was just throwing out the suggestion. Keep posting on your Blue Beast as looks like some fun things are going to come to pass.
 
I totally agree on the 5-6 point harnesses and would go that route if the OEM Recaros were allowing a sub-strap to be fitted but they don't, and I like the seats and can't find any fixed back buckets nice enough to put in the GT350 instead of those. So in the meantime, 4 point will have to do.

I know that most race organizers are progressively banning 4 point harnesses. Even Chump Car now requires 6 points :p
But trackdays allow more "freedom" so I'll use that to my advantage for now :)

In any case, I already have a Bell helmet with HANS device to go along with the harnesses that I've used for a couple of years now approx.
 
Bill, the Schroth ASM is a well tested harness and is deemed to be safe when used with stock seats. Note @yotah1 is not going wheel to wheel racing. No doubt a car with full roll cage, six point harnesses, racing seat with halo, fire suppression system and other safety gear is safer. Schroth, being one of the largest OEM belt manufacturers in the world, wouldn't put out a product that wasn't safe and they'd get sued over. I used six point Schroth's in my Boss and sat on the sub straps. I never felt that was the right way to go although it's deemed to be safe by some. If you call Schroth and talk to them they will tell you the ASM is much safer than sitting on the sub belts. I researched this for my GT350 and I went with the Schroth ASM as have many others. @fuhrius had a top Porsche race shop install a custom roll bar in his R and they insisted he use the Schroth ASM with his stock seat. The ASM wasn't tested with a Hans device when I purchased the belts for my Boss but they have since been certified to work with a Hans. GMG is also installing ASM belts in GT350's along with Porsche's and Audi's that don't have sub slots in stock seats.
 
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I will politely disagree, but I can state that when SVT tested some of it's cars I know the belts they used in the machines -- they were all 6 points and figure there must be a reason? We all have differing opinions , and this is just one based on my personal experience of racing for 36 years and being a Safety Steward for SCCA. Just trying to give what I thought was helpful advice and obviously some will disagree, and that is fine..........
Yotah is getting ideas from the Forum and the benefit we all get from TMO is a wealth of differing opinions , but all given in the context of trying to help each other , and that is a healthy concept and one that will continue on this excellent Forum.

Keep up posting on your build as I personally think Ford getting rid of Grabber Blue will prove a mistake -- your car looks awesome.
 
Yes @KonaBoss , this is a nice place to drive the car, as long as you avoid the cops. Not too many motorists there last weekend either :)
@8250RPM maybe we'll meet at a Cars n Coffee or something :)

AHah @mattlqx , yeah, I always struggle to keep my stuff stock, but I'll do my best to not go too far and keep it looking stock while just improving it step by step!
 
I'll post a proper review tomorrow but I took the car to the track today. It was fun kicking some Hellcats asses and other BMW and Porsches all day long :)

3 things :
- car is too high
- gear knob has come loose
- aircon belt gave up and started shredding to pieces...
 
It should happen this week, Dave was on holidays last week.

So, my weekend went as follows :
car on jack stands on saturday, we fitted the air/oil separators (5' job), failed at fitting the Steeda hood struts as they are for standard S550 Mustangs and don't fit the Shelby. Then we spent 5 hours taking the front wheels off, the front wheel arches off, the front bumper / splitter / air dam off. Then we had to remove the bumper beam and drill it. Getting all the holes to lineup properly without having a drill press was no small work... Then it's off to cutting the front grille and putting everything back on. It looks awesome but I'm not really looking forward to doing another one.

On thing I notted is that the front splitter is fitted to the bumper with screws that you have to drill in order to remove them as their heads break off when you reach proper tightening torque. So, I'll see if I get an R splitter at some point to add some downforce on the front wheels, but that will be a bit of a workout to remove and fit the new one.

We were off to the track on sunday morning, at M1 Concourse on Woodward Avenue in Pontiac, MI. Nice-ish track, not very loong, not much elevation but a good canvas for a first proper test drive of the car. The bad news started during the drivers' briefing. I'm used to european trackdays, where we have open pitlane configurations, 100-120 cars driving throughout the day, almost never any track closures, we can take passengers, overtake anywhere we want and i works out quite nicely everytime.
This time though : no passengers (even after signing a waiver to enter the premises as spectators...), no overtaking unless on the back straight after having a "point by" given by the slower car, windows open at all time to avoid shattered glass in case of a crash and to be able to get out if the doors are stuck, driving in groups depending on experience (they put me in Novice even though I've got 6 years of trackdays in Europe...), first 2 sessions were "lead and follow" style, at slow pace, drivers couldn't go in other cars as passengers to give advices (even though we all signed waivers anyway).

Well, I was starting to expect the day to become boring very fast. The first 2 sessions didn't disappoint. The track is 1.5 mile long, it has 7 corners and 50 feet of elevation. Nothing really fancy here. It has run-off areas big enough for a semi-truck, and the track itself is pretty wide too. It didn't stop an idiot from putting his M5 into the wall on the 2nd lap of his lead/follow in the morning... So they became evne more cautious :(

I managed to be bumped into group 1-2 at the 3rd session, with the "intermediate and advanced" drivers. Which meant no more lead/follow. Finally an "open" session where I could put the car through its paces and see its potential. We were still stuck with only one overtaking zone on the track though and with a bunch of Hellcats out there dropping the hammer in every straight line possible, I was on their tail on the corners but got stuck a few laps behind some drivers who just didn't want to be overtaken by a "lesser" car. One of them seriously came to see me after the session, asking me to pop the hood as "it's impossible for your car to be stock and overtake me, i've got 700 horses..."

Made me laugh :)

Anyway, 3rd session was in. I got ready for the 4th session, when I started the car and noticed a clicking nosie. My aircon belt was getting shredded into pieces. I called my dealership, they said to cut it and I would keep my warranty and they'd replace it during the week. I missed my 4th session with the advanced group, fixed the bugger in 2 minutes and got on track with my usual "novice" group for session 4. Guys were driving better, albeit still quite slower than the Shelby, but I had a lot of fun anyway.

Last session of the day was again with the advanced group. I started almost last, and made a point of catching up everybody else. My friends were taking bets about which cars i would pass on each lap. Fun session.

Now, the car. It's awesome, it's raw, it slides when you want, grips when you want. It corners really well and I was surprises by the PSS tires and their grip, as well as their longevity. I wasn't messing around, and they never gave up. Tire pressures were around 28psi on the parking lot, going up to 39-40 max on the track. I will need camber plates and a proper track alignment to improve the handling of the car even further but it's really a very good starting point and it didn't disappoint.
I was locking the driver's seatbelt by moving the seat all the way back, locking the belt, and pulling the seat forward again to my normal driving position. That worked well enough to keep my butt planted in the seat until i get some proper harnesses.

I'll pot up some photos of the car and a bunch of videos. I also have to get the dealership looking into my gear knob, the thing started rotating on its axis during the day... and I noiced my truck doesn't lineup, for some reason...

Well, all in all, a nice sunny day with a few miles on track and a lot of fuel burnt for fun. I call that a good sunday :p
 
Nice runs , you were obviously the class of the field out there! Typical though that those who you run down will race you down the straights since that is the only place they can keep up. My biggest pet peeve is getting stuck behind someone who won't let you pass as they are clueless enough to think they are faster than you since you can't catch them on the straights. Nice run and the track looks a lot more fun than on would imagine for a 1.5 mile track , and there are definitely a few spots where you better be on your game or you could be looking at collecting some Armco!
 
Yotah1:

Nice drive! I liked your line, how you drove to the apex and then through it. Very nice.

Your going to have a lot of fun with your new Shelby GT350.

302 Hi Pro
 

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