Another Mustang, LS3 power

Just finished reading this from the start.. Fantastic craftsmanship and attention to detail, thanks for sharing!

In reply to KentF (Forum Supporter) :

I used the reflective and Kevlar sleeves on them. I also moved the power post farther away. 

I got the header install wrapped up today.  I had to cut the exhaust off from the x-pipe forward and move everything around a little bit to match up to the headers.

I had planned to tack everything in place with the MIG at the shop and then take it home to finish it with the TIG but I got lazy and just used the MIG on all of it.  The rest of the car will likely fall apart or get wadded up into a wall before I have a problem with the exhaust.  I did TIG the vbands and flex couplers though.

This is basically what I had to cut off.  Then I cut this into a couple pieces and just trimmed a little here and there.  Making a small change at the joint makes a pretty big change a the other other end 12" away.

All done.  Now I'm waiting on a new dipstick and spark plug wires to get this thing back on the road and make sure there aren't anymore issues.  Still trying to make Track Night in America on Aug 12th.

I did get a good deal on a MyLaps X2 transponder the other day with a year left on the subscription so that's another thing checked off the list for running Time Trials. Next I need to get a new helmet. I'm trying to hold off as long as possible for the new Snell rating to come out.

Patientzero said:

I got the header install wrapped up today.  I had to cut the exhaust off from the x-pipe forward and move everything around a little bit to match up to the headers.

 

I had planned to tack everything in place with the MIG at the shop and then take it home to finish it with the TIG but I got lazy and just used the MIG on all of it.  The rest of the car will likely fall apart or get wadded up into a wall before I have a problem with the exhaust.  I did TIG the vbands and flex couplers though.

 

This is basically what I had to cut off.  Then I cut this into a couple pieces and just trimmed a little here and there.  Making a small change at the joint makes a pretty big change a the other other end 12" away.

 

All done.  Now I'm waiting on a new dipstick and spark plug wires to get this thing back on the road and make sure there aren't anymore issues.  Still trying to make Track Night in America on Aug 12th.

 

 

Phenomenal work as always Bro!

I'll be out at Heartland again for a private day on the 30th of August. If you get your car sorted and things go well on the 12th, you should join us.

captainawesome said:

I'll be out at Heartland again for a private day on the 30th of August. If you get your car sorted and things go well on the 12th, you should join us.

I just registered for the 12th.  We'll see how it goes.

The new plug wires came in.  They were supposed to be here yesterday but that's a different story...

Anyway, I went with some Taylor 10.4mm wires because that's what I could get quickly with the right boot on it.

Here you can see the difference in the boots.  Much more compact.

Side by side shot.  The old wires were laying directly on the headers.

All the rest installed.

I also registered for Track Night in America.  I guess I have to go now, lol

In reply to Patientzero :

Have you been there before?

In reply to captainawesome :

Only for the ProSolo.  Not on track.

In reply to Patientzero :

You'll love it. My first time out was just a couple weeks ago and it was glorious. Are you stuck in Novice or Intermediate?

In reply to captainawesome :

I signed up for Novice.  It's been several years since I was on track.  I've been trying to watch youtube videos to learn the track.

In reply to Patientzero :

There's a few decent ones I watched before going, just make sure they have the proper kink at turn 8/9. The gray line into T8 in the image below is the one you will use for TNiA.

In reply to captainawesome :

This looks like a pretty high speed track, yes?

In reply to Patientzero :

It definitely can favor higher HP cars. I was eaten alive on the straights, but did decent making up ground in corner speed. Story of my life though regardless of track.

In reply to captainawesome :

What car do you have?  Do you have any video?

In reply to Patientzero :

13 FRS with suspension, header, tune, and re71s. This is the only thing I have uploaded so far and it's one of the only sort of open laps I got. That's my buddy in his ZL1. I hesitated on corner 1 entry since he was over-braking, but I doubt it translates to an astronomical difference in lap times. Also my heal/toe sucks.

In reply to captainawesome :

I've have to watch it when I get home, no Youtube at work.  Thanks for posting though.

Patientzero said:

In reply to captainawesome :

I've have to watch it when I get home, no Youtube at work.  Thanks for posting though.

Me too. Will need to view. 

This sounds pretty enticing.

Alright - Im in!!!

What's the helmet policy? Can I get by with a full face motorcycle helmet?

In reply to FatMongo :I believe yes as long as it's Snell rated, that's what I have. It says in there somewhere what ratings are acceptable 

Updates!

The Lokar dipstick came in.  I had to cut 1/2" of to get the oil level to match the stock LS3 dipstick and I had to drill out the hole in the mounting bracket to use it in the factory location.  The handle placement is much better with this dipstick.  The factory one was in an awkard position right under the strut tower bar and hard to get to.

All the parts for my diff swap came in.  I planned to swap out to the 3.27 gears I got from FatMongo but I decided to keep the 3.55's for now.  I think they will be better for the track days I'm planning on. 

The factory Trak-Loc was long overdue for a rebuild.  I decided to upgrade to an Eaton Truetrac with Moser 31 spline axles.

Here's the Truetrac after getting the ring gear swapped over and new bearing pressed on.

Diff installed and shimmed.  Ford recommends .008-.012" backlash.  I think this will work.

Eaton doesn't recommend synthetic gear oil so it got topped off with some Lucas.

I have been wanting to swap over to Cobra brakes on the rear for awhile.  I was running the Baer Eradispeed kit that uses a 13" rotor with the stock caliper.  This is very similiar to what came on the car originally from Roush.  My problem with this is that the rotors are not vented.  I already bought a set of Cobra rotors a couple years ago and was just keeping an eye out for a set of brackets.  The GT and Cobra use the same caliper but the Cobra uses a different bracket to push the caliper out for a bigger rotor.  The Cobra rotors are vented. 

The Cobra brackets are getting harder and harder to find unless you buy a whole kit that is very overpriced and includes stuff I don't need.  I came across a company called Drift American.  They make drift parts for SN95 Mustangs.  Among their parts is a billet dual caliper bracket for Cobra brakes.  This solves the issue of the caliper bracket and also gives me the option to add a hydraulic ebrake or staging brake later on.

Out with the old and in with the new.  The second picture is with the Drift American brackets,  Moser axles installed, and ARP studs pressed in.

I wasn't able to get the piston to retract on the old calipers so I traded them in at Oreilly's for some fresh ones(Lifetime Warranty for the win).  I've come to the conclusion that these things are one time use.  The wife helped me push some fresh Motul 600 fluid through them and the car was done.  

...or was it?

I started the car back up and it ran fine for a few minutes then started going downhill.  It wouldn't stay idling and kept wanting to die.  I figured out the TPS signal wire was grounding out somewhere and it wouldn't allow me to do a TPS Autoset in the Holley.  I thought maybe the wiring had got against the headers and melted.  Then I realized that when I bolted up the transmission I didn't get everything pushed out of the way well enough and pinched the harness between the block and the bellhousing.  So this morning I had to get out the soldering iron and fix my boo boo.  I know really smart people that are anti-solder and really smart people that are pro-solder.  I use it for certain things and this is one of those things.  I also use marine grade adhesive lined heat shring tubing over the top.

The idle issue is resolved and it drives great.  I bedded in the new brakes this morning.  Yesterday I noticed a tapping sound that I've never heard before and the AFR's seem to be a little rich on the passenger side.  I sent the video to an engine builder friend and he thinks it sounds like a lifter but I'm going to pull the valve cover and see if anything is out of place.

In non-Mustang related news I hit a damn possum on the way home from work the other night.  The premilinary quote from the dealership is $1005.86.  My deductible is $1000, go figure.  They have had the car a week at this point and still haven't taken it apart to confirm there isn't any hidden damage.  The Ford dealerships in my area are trash.

On the Mustang front.  Not a great deal of news.  I pulled the valve cover on the driver side to see if there was anything obviously wrong.  When I started pulling the spark plug wires I noticed there was an exhaust leak at the header flange right where the noise was coming from.

I replaced the header gasket hoping I might get lucky after the week I had but the universe had other plans.  After getting it back together and starting it up the noise is still there.  It's definitely a mechanical noise, like a "clack, clack" so I'm almost sure it's a lifter.  I'm using LS7 lifters and I'm pretty disappointed that one would fail this quickly.  It's possible I have too much spring pressure for them.

With the heads coming off to do the lifters I'm going to go ahead and change cams.  The goal I'm working towards is running time trials in MiDiv Production D and right now I'm on the wrong side of the power/weight formula.  I got in contact with a couple companies to spec a custom cam.  I want to lower the RPM for the sake of reliability and I need to kill power to make class.

My current camshaft is 232/240 duration @.050 with .615/.615 lift

New camshaft from Cam Motion is 222/232 duration @.050 with .553/.553 lift

Cam Motion said this will lower my peak power by at least 400rpm and kill power through the whole curve. 

For reference this is my dyno graph with the current cam.

The Mustang is taking the rest of 2020 off while we regroup.  The lifters I intend to run are sold out everywhere so really no rush to get it fixed right now.  I'm going to focus on finish getting the fire suppression installed, installing a battery shutoff switch, and install the crotch straps for my 5 point harness.  I'm going to hold off on anymore upgrades until I can get the car to the track and really see what I'm working with.  I don't have nearly as much seat time in this car as I need and I know it's much more capable than I am right now.  I just need to find those limits.