Another Mustang, LS3 power

I finally got the passenger header to fit.  It was not going in without a fight.  I moved 3 of the primaries, had to lift the motor, remove the motor mount, and wiggle the starter in with the header unbolted.  It was a complete pain in the berkeleying ass.  If I ever had to take that header off I'm selling the car.  I had planned to get them recoated but I'm not at all happy with how they look so I'm not going to waste the money.  Maybe next winter I'll try making a set of custom headers... or put turbos on it?

Welding dirty headers IS NOT FUN.  Even though they have clearance in the car I still had to beat the crap out of them in a few places to be able to get them in.

In the car, finally

With the header on I could finally start getting some things knocked off the list.  I couldn't bring myself to put that monstrosity of a lower radiator hose on.  I was able to get a premolded hose from Oreilly's that fit the push lok fittings.  Then I used some Gates Powergrip clamps.

MUCH MUCH MUCH better

I also made some adjustable sway bar endlinks.  I used some heavy duty teflon coated heim joints with B7 Alloy threaded rod.  I think these should be plenty strong enough.  The the mount I overlapped two pieces of 3/16" angle iron and welded them together to make a "U" shape.

I hit them with some Rustoleum

Finished product

I also made this closeout panel for below the oil and power steering cooler to keep air from pushing out the bottom and forcing it through the radiator.

I pressure tested the radiator after doing all the welding on it and I was amazed it didn't have any leaks.

Just saw this thread - awesome work Bro!

Haven't read through the whole thing - but what did you end up doing with the Cobra R wheels?

By the way, I went back and read through this whole thread - wow - you are indeed a true craftsman. Phenomenal fab skills and great work.

Just read this whole thread in one sitting. Great work, thanks for documenting it all, really helps seeing some of these ideas. 

In reply to FatMongo :

I sold them to a guy who wanted them for his Jeep Cherokee, lol

In reply to Somebeach (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you!

I have more updates to post, just need time to get them up.  

I'm behind on updates but I do have a few new pictures to tease you with.  The car is about 98% together.  I need to address a couple things;  stupid brake line adapters that are leaking, install the brake cooling ducts, install the fire suppression system that showed up today.  I'm in the middle of remodeling my office right now so I haven't been able to sit down at the computer and type out my updates.

I was able to drive the car around last weekend for about an hour.  Everything seemed to work as designed.  Maybe it was in my head after not driving it for a few months but it seemed to ride MUCH MUCH nicer than I remembered.  It could definetly be a combination of the new k-member, control arms, springs, and sway bars though too.

Here are a couple pictures in the meantime.

Alright,  it's been a few weeks.  I've in the middle of remodeling my basement right now so haven't spent a ton of time on the car.  Kansas City Region has confirmed our Test & Tune and first Auto X event for the end of the month so I spent today driving the car around and making sure it's good to go.  It's easy to forget how freaking fast this car is when the fastest thing you've driven in the last 6 months is a Ford Fusion.

From where I left off...

I had to trim the front fenders and bumper to accomidate the new wheel position.  The new control arms and K-member pushed the wheels forward 1.5 inches.  This is what I started with.

I started by making a template of the back of the wheel opening.  I wanted to try to mirror this as much as possible so it didn't look funny.

This is after trimming the bumper.  I didn't cut anything off of the wheel opening of the fender.

After trimming the bumper I had to trim the lip off of the inside of the fender.  Then I hammered the remaining lip flat.

This was still not enough.  Then I made the turnbuckles out of some 1/4" allthread, a couple heim joints, and some aluminum tubing.  This pushed the front of the fender outward about 1".

Always trying to lose more weight I spent a couple hours to drop the tank and remove the charcoal canister that isn't doing anything.

Not bad for free.

I got the brakes bled with some fresh Motul 600 (my wife's FAVORITE thing). I also swapped out the rear springs from 325# to 275# at the recommendation of Maximum Motorsports.

I pulled it outside and started working on the alignment, corner weight, and adjusting swaybars.

This is after setting cross weight to 50% with me in the driver seat and 10 gallons of fuel.  I'm about 225lbs for reference.

After corner weights came the alignment.  Strings and random junk to tie them to is all you need.

All the camber.

I still needed to cover up the ugly where the console used to be.

I started by making a paper template then cut my shape out of a piece of alumium.

It ended up being two pieces that I riveted together.

I had some old fake leather material that we tried covering it in but once we got done my wife and I gave each other a look and we tore it off.  I unded up spraying it with some bedliner to give it texture and then used some SEM over the top.  It looks okay...  For all the E36 M3 I can do pretty well, I'm not an interior guy.  It's good enough for a race car I guess.

I had to check the tire to splitter clearance.

This is now caught up to present day as of May 10, 2020.  I just bought a fire suppression system that will be going in and I have some upgrades for the rear brakes planned.  Race season is here though so probably not many updates until next winter.  

I did clean the car up and take some pictures this evening though.  Here are a few.

AAAAANNNNNDDDD.... 

This is probably my new favorite.

In reply to Patientzero :

Looks mean! 

In reply to RossD :

Thanks!  I'm just ready for some seat time.

Patientzero said:

In reply to RossD :

Thanks!  I'm just ready for some seat time.

Phenomenal work Dude! Car looks stunning. You should drive it to work. 

I've been through the thread at least twice, but I dont feel like going back again, so I'll just ask - has the car been on the dyno in this current setup?

In reply to FatMongo :

No, not with the 5 speed.  When I originally dyno'd it was with the 6 speed having vibration problems and a huge heavy CV joint driveshaft on a dyno that is known to read low.  It still made 482hp/443tq.

I would expect it to make closer to 500whp in it's current state based on what I've seen other LS3's make.   I have talked to a couple friends about doing a dyno day sometime this summer.  You're welcome to join too.  I might change the cam before I put it back on the dyno though.  The cam in it wasn't spec'd for this motor so I think there are gains to be had there too.

I've driven it to work once.  I don't like putting that many miles on the tires. (100 miles roundtrip)

Patientzero said:

In reply to FatMongo :

No, not with the 5 speed.  When I originally dyno'd it was with the 6 speed having vibration problems and a huge heavy CV joint driveshaft on a dyno that is known to read low.  It still made 482hp/443tq.

I would expect it to make closer to 500whp in it's current state based on what I've seen other LS3's make.   I have talked to a couple friends about doing a dyno day sometime this summer.  You're welcome to join too.  I might change the cam before I put it back on the dyno though.  The cam in it wasn't spec'd for this motor so I think there are gains to be had there too.

I've driven it to work once.  I don't like putting that many miles on the tires. (100 miles roundtrip)

Even at 482 rwhp, that thing is stout. Especially for a ~3200 lb car!

Im down for a dyno day. I already know approx. what my puny 2v puts down, but wouldnt mind seeing what some real built cars are doing. You should get yourself some DD wheels/tires for commuting.  

Fawk me! I just realized you're N/A. I was scrowling back through your engine photos, thinking, man these LS blowers are really tucked away...

In reply to FatMongo :

2970lbs, 3200 is with me in it, lol.

What is your timeline for getting the new engine together?

I have a brand new Fusion for commuting.  No A/C, no heat, no cruise control, and no radio is not fun for driving 100 miles in a straight line.  Although, I do want another set of wheels for time trials/track days.

In reply to FatMongo :

Yes sir.  I have considered low boost and making an EASY 650whp but I don't know if the transmission would tolerate that and I don't really need the power or want the heat.  But, never say never.

Patientzero said:

In reply to FatMongo :

2970lbs, 3200 is with me in it, lol.

What is your timeline for getting the new engine together?

I have a brand new Fusion for commuting, no A/C, no heat, no cruise control, and no radio is not fun for driving 100 miles in a straight line.  Although, I do want another set of wheels for time trials/track days.

As far as timeline - I have an Audi in pieces in the garage right now - Im rebuilding an engine (2.0 TSI) that shat bearings because of a wounded oil pump. Based on work and family stuff, my pace on car projects is galacial so Im hoping to get the Audi back together and out of the garage by the end of the summer. Once the Audi vacates my 'work bay', Im going to scrounge together a set of PI heads for the new motor and go ahead with a Teksid 2v build -  (PI heads, stage 1 or 2 cams, aftermarket intake manifold, and a pair of shorty headers) essentially slap the motor together on the stand and then pul and replace with the current engine in the car. So really - a tentative schedule is maybe Christmas? I wouldnt be surprised if we ended up a year from now though.

In reply to FatMongo :

Darn, I thought your were farther along than that.  I had a set of PI heads that I bought to swap onto my '98 but ended up selling the car.  I had those heads listed for sale for months for $100 and couldn't get rid of them.  I ended up throwing them in the dumpster just to get them out of the garage.

Let me know if I can lend a hand, I can do things...  Sometimes have have tens of minutes of extra time, lol.  

Patientzero said:

In reply to FatMongo :

Darn, I thought your were farther along than that.  I had a set of PI heads that I bought to swap onto my '98 but ended up selling the car.  I had those heads listed for sale for months for $100 and couldn't get rid of them.  I ended up throwing them in the dumpster just to get them out of the garage.

Let me know if I can lend a hand, I can do things...  Sometimes have have tens of minutes of extra time, lol.  

Just so you know - the car is currently put together and running fine with the 2V it currently has. My build thread on the Mustang is just a re-telling of the last 12-18 months of stuff I've done to it. So I can take car to events and might even dip my toe into Auto-x this summer, but I still have plans for it.

Oh my God! That makes me cringe about the heads! Luckily there are more PI heads on the planet than cockroaches, so Im sure I can pick some up dirt cheap for when I need to.

Yeah Bro - if you werent so far away - Id be bitching at you for help all the time. But as it stands I'll save that lifeline for when I really need it. Same goes for you too - if you need a body or an extra pair of hands, let me know. Your fabrication skills and craftsmanship as evidenced by this thread are head of my non existent fabrication and cave man craftsmanship by light years, but I can provide dumb labor if need be.

Bad ass 

Dead sexy

Came out really great! Did you make a plug for the sunroof?

I took out around 50lbs with all the sunroof stuff 

In reply to OjaiM5 :

Still has the sunroof.  I would like to replace the roof skin with one without the hole but I'm holding off to do that for when I add on to the roll cage at some point.