Mustang V6 Autocrosser named Mistress

End Of Season Testing on the New Engine

Below is not a good photograph:

Both heads and the intake are now off for some re-work. It could be worse. The problems are not serious and reparable. Also, the bottom of the engine appears to be fine.

 The new engine has about 1300 miles on it. About 100 miles of that is blasting about an autocross course.

Testing included Direct Observation, Blow By, Compression, and Leak Down. I also have sent out an oil sample. I will write that up when it comes back.

I the next step will be to put the Procharger on it (along with a larger radiator). I have even gone to get pricing from a local speed shop (Beyond Redline Performance) here in Green Bay. But I want things to be all well, right & good in there before I put the additional power through it (“But First Syndrome”).

Here is the story on why I just took apart the top of a new engine.

Blow By Testing

This is not a common test. But it is useful and fairly easy. It answers the question – How are the rings doing? A Blow By test directly measures the volume of exhaust gasses passing around the rings into the crankcase in real time with the engine running. This engine has new rings, gapped and installed by me. I am no master engine builder.  Needs to be checked… really...

Normally this is done by sealing up the crank case (rocker covers, etc.) and venting one rocker cover (or other port) through a hose with a fixed orifice. With the engine running measure the back pressure behind the orifice with a gauge. A table that comes with the tool gives you the flow through the orifice and that is the blow by getting past the rings. Normal flow rates are 5 to 20 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). If it is fluctuating you probably have a problem with one cylinder. If it is high but steady your rings are probably all worn out.

I did not like the orifice method. I am sure it works just fine but it just seems too indirect. So, like any rebel engineer I made my own that directly measures the air velocity from a fixed diameter tube. From there it is easy to calculate the CFM. The photo below is just the “Proof Of Concept” set up with some loose parts cobbled together.  It worked better than I thought it would.

I will make a better rig that will give more repeatable results later this year and put together a write up for it. Basically the blow by gasses are straightened to laminar flow and routed through a Dwyer Wind Anemometer ($16). It is remarkably sensitive.  I got readings of 5 CFM which is near perfect. Rings are good!

Compression Test

This engine was set up with a 9.5:1 compression ratio in preparation for supercharging. That should come to about 140 to 150 psi on a compression test. My results were 140 to 145 psig on all cylinders except #6.  #6 was 138 psig.

Hmm… By itself that is nothing to be alarmed about…

Leak Down Test

The first leak down test was done with the engine cold. I know you are not supposed to do that but It is winter and things get cold quickly. Results were good with 5% to 7% on all cylinders except #6. This one had 12%. These numbers are great. They say your engine is not worn out until you get to around 30%.

Except for one little thing – I heard air leaking from the intake manifold when testing #6. Intake valve is leaking. That is probably why compression is lower on #6 also. This is also why leak down tests are so useful although they can be a bit of a pain to do.

I put things back together, warmed up the engine and tested again. Same results (Damit!).

Direct Observation

I pulled the left rocker cover off and ran the engine with little oil plugs on the rockers to keep oil from going all over. My friend Bill Schirtzinger put me on to these plugs (he has been using them since the ‘70s). They don’t keep the oil in if you rev it but they work great at idle. $16 at Summit.

With the engine idling I sounded each rocker stem with a stethoscope. #6 intake was louder than the others. Perhaps it is misadjusted and being held open? With the engine running I adjusted it. It was fine but no matter what I did it was louder than the others. Something was wrong with that valve. Follow up - Further inspection later in the summer showed it was slightly misaligned - side to side.

Using my boroscope I poked around in the spark plug hole and intake. Could not see anything interesting.

I pulled the head.  #6 intake valve guide was very worn and ovaled. The valve stem has bits of guide welded to it. Not sure how this happened. This caused the seat to wear from uncontrolled valve movement as detected by the leak down test.

All the others looked fine with no significant wobble.

The valve tips all looked great – almost new. You have to get the light right on them to see any burnishing from the rollers.

Typical valve tip:

#6 Seat - You can see damage at about 7 o'clock:

#6 Intake Valve stem

Other observations: #6 intake valve is not bent. All of the pushrods look good and are not bent.  

But one new issue:  All the valve keeper grooves are mushroomed. Hammered. The keepers/locks appear worn on the outside as do the cones in the retainer caps. All of them.  All the same.

I checked the valve grooves other head. All the same.

I pulled the other head. All twelve valves have perfect tips and seats (except #6 Intake). But all have exactly the same damage to the grooves.

Valves are strictly off Mistress’s diet! I don’t like the crunchy noises they make when she eats them.

Three Working Theories on the Keepers:

1- Keepers not fitting tightly to the valve stems. I used new Ford keepers. Perhaps they do not fit quite right with these valves. Perhaps the valve manufacturer has their own version of three groove keepers that should have been used (I believe it is supposed to be stock configuration but I am checking).  Perhaps I should go with a different groove design.

I think lubrication is ok. In the video you can see oil dripping down all over on each valve.

2 – Last year I re-used the spring retainer caps thinking they were not a wear item. This may have been a mistake for two reasons: 1- They might be worn and thus not seating the keepers properly. 2 - They might be a different angle from the Ford keepers (7 degrees). I believe they are from CompCams and are also 7 degrees but I am checking on that.

3-Springs a little too soft for this cam? These are the recommended springs from CompCam for this cam. As noted during the rebuild I tested them all last winter and they met the specs so I reused them. The fact that the groove damage is very consistent with all 12 valves and only on the top edge of each groove leads me to think the valves are not riding down the backside of the cam and are slamming closed. Not enough, perhaps, to bring on valve float symptoms during a run but enough to slowly hammer the crap out of the grooves.

I am working with Super Six and my machine shop to figure it out. Any thoughts form the GRM family will be welcome.

The heads will go down to Manitowoc Motor Machine this week for a new guide, re-dressing and valves, etc. In the mean time I will start work on the suspension, brakes and long list of other things that are needed.

I am a little disappointed. This was not an expense I was planning on and fixing things is not as much fun as modifying them. But it is something to do on cold winter nights here in the Great White North…

Are you allowed carbon doors?

In reply to bentwrench :

Oh boy... The people in charge of CAM class have a lot of rocks and hard places with questions like that. Here is my long answer for what it is worth:

Yes and No.

Per the rules: "Body panels may be modified or replaced in the original standard location. Frame may be modified or replaced. Vehicle perimeter and wheel base must be full scale to the original model. Incidental wheel base changes resulting from the allowed replacement of suspension components or modifications os suspension design are allowed (such as my forward offset front control arms). This is not an allowance to shorten or lengthen the chassis/body..."

So... Hell Yes you can replace the doors with carbon. 

But - the rules also say "must be licensed and insured as well as fully "street legal" (working lights,, etc.). In some ways this contradicts the body/chassis rule quoted above.

The intent of CAM is to draw in people who have American muscle cars that have been modified "outside" of SCCA and would end up being classed by Prepared or Modified rules that only run on racing slicks. That keeps people away in droves (Ever price a set of Hoosiers? Know how long they last?, Like ripping stock suspension parts off of your car on course?) CAM is a landing spot for those people. The problem is that it has taken on a life of its own. We all knew it would...

Carbon fiber doors (and other body parts) would meet the letter of the rules but not the intent. We can now get into arguments about what is a racing street car and what is a street able race car. What IS a race car anyway? When is a car is in a nearly open modified class been modified beyond the limits of that class? These questions don't really have answers but it comes up constantly. 

As I noted last month: Some mad person is putting a GM G Body on a Corvette C6 chasses. The G Body would be in CAM-T. The C6 in CAM-S. What class do they run that thing in? I don't know either but I hope he brings it to Peru next summer. I want to see that thing on course. Rocks & hard places.

Last year they raised the minimum weight in CAM-C by 50#. After I complained about it I learned part of the reason was that people were putting carbon fiber fenders on the heavier newer model cars to try and get them down to the minimum weight. In doing so the crash worthiness of these "street legal" cars was compromised. A carbon fiber door would have the same issue. The "fix" was to raise the minimum weight. 

But people driving SN95 Mustangs and Gen 5 Camaros raised holy hell. These cars could easily meet that original minimum weight but are handicapped by very old chasses designs. The fix was to move just those cars to CAM-T (for older cars). Some people in CAM-T aren't too happy about that either. Rocks and hard places.

They absolutely don't want to add a bunch of new rules. But someday they may have to. Or they might break off wildly modified cars (what ever that is) into a new sub class. Some of these people have really big skill sets and budgets to match. CAM is a serious racing technology driver. As I said last month, they are all Unicorns.

So the intent of the class would be: No - you shouldn't add carbon fiber doors (but yes you can!). If you do, it might bump you to a place you don't want to be someday down the road in an ever evolving corner of SCCA (CAM-M? "M" for madness?). So be it.

 For me, that is an expense well beyond my budget and does not really fit the intent of my build. But, if it fits your flavor of madness - Go for it buddy! Its legal! Build it!

I'm still following with great interest. Sorry to see the problems with the valves, I hope it's easily solved. Good luck!

Rules are rules, and if it does not say you can't, that is a whole lot of weight. I don't want to get philosophical or ethical I want to go fast.

It's not a safety issue if your car has a proper cage.

I'd at least add lightness to the door, removing the DOT bar and apply liberal use of a hole saw. There is some low hanging fruit right there in the weight reduction dept.

Front and rear crash bumpers and shocks?

Do I have it right that you went from having to add some weight to being 250# over?

One of the cool paybacks of being underweight is you can place the ballast where it will do you the most good.

In reply to bentwrench :

Yup. Go for it. I suggest you download the CAM rules. There are a few limitations to the class... it all fits on one page but still...

I would say most CAM cars don't have a cage unless they are also used for HPDE or are very old CAM-T cars. Newer cars are already pretty rigid. Early unit body cars were pretty floppy and can get serious benifits from the cage.

You are correct on the ballest, of course. I will be taking the 75 pounds that I worked so hard to locate back out shortly.

Don't worry, go fast, be happy!

The Plan Comes Together           

Here in mid-winter the minor issues with Mistress have been handled (although I still have to remove the 75# ballast from under the rear seat deck – I keep forgetting about that). The plan is underway for the three of the four major issues from last season.

Power Steering Issues

The power steering pump burned up at the last event of the season. Turns out it took the “new” rebuilt rack with it (seals leaking). I had attributed this failure to me not using the right fluid but as time goes on I am not so sure. The OEM rack failed in a crunchy, binding, grinding manner.  I replaced it in a heated rush just before the last event and loaded the car on the trailer after driving it to work one day. The failing rack could have passed some chunks into the pump and damaged it. The pump started to overheat on the second run and the struggle to complete the event is documented in the October 5 entry. I have rechecked the oil I used. Not premium but it should not have caused that issue.

Researching a new rack – Flaming River custom units for $900+. They look nice and it would be good to have a slightly more aggressive ratio. However, three different people on the CAM Nation site indicated they had early failures with these units. Griggs has a “new” unit in an OEM housing that, if you read the fine print, appears to simply be a high end rebuild for about $500.

In the end, I took my burned up rebuilt rack back to Oreille's and got another one in exchange (life time warranty). I told them it had been mightily abused but they did not mind. If this one fails then it will be the Griggs unit.

To help the new rack live a long twisty life I have a rebuilt Motorcraft  OEM power steering pump.  That should be about as good as it gets in the rebuilt pump market for a Ford.

I am augmenting this with a fan powered cooler in the left front fender. We will be having none of this overheating crap again!

The cooler is installed and I am plumbing it now. Control for the fan is from an inline thermostat (on at 180 F/off at 165 F). The thermostat is rated for the fan load so no relay will be required.

The fan came as a “puller” but that did  not fit my layout  so I converted it to a “pusher”. You can do this with most of these little coolers. Directions are in the box. You just take it apart and turn the fan blade around like you know what you are doing.

I still have to cut out the exhaust opening in the wheel well. I have some stainless steel mesh for that. Still working out how to mount the mesh. I will write this up in more detail as the project comes along.

Valve Keeper Grooves Hammered (again)

After a lot  research on the webbernet and several discussions with Tom at Super Six Motor Sports we came up with a solution: Replace the aftermarket OEM style valves (stainless steel, 7 mm stems and OEM style 3 groove keepers) with with 8mm stem valves.  Choices with the original 7mm valves are very limited.

Chosen parts are LS Series Severe Duty valves (Chevy racing parts - that could work!). These are made from a tougher material, have 8mm stems and one keeper groove. The intake valves will have to be turned down to fit my seats. The guides will have to be replaced.

I think of it this way – Nothing in this engine is OEM configuration from the crank to rockers. Everything is hardened, tougher, forged and putting out quite a bit more HP than Ford intended…  except  the valves. Let’s toughen up the valves too! In hindsight it seems like a bit of a loose end. 

The OEM 3 groove units are designed to allow the valve to rotate which helps even out wear. This means there is some compliance in that keeper connection. The single keeper groove locks in more tightly (death grip as Tom puts it). It will not allow rotation but I am not concerned about wear 80k miles from now.

This will require new valve guides, keepers, caps, etc. We are keeping the springs since they tested out to spec. I may test them again anyway.

Parts on order – Will take them down to my machine shop to have the heads re-done (again) when they get here.

Front Strut Clips Bent (see October 5 entry)

After several emails with Maximum Motor Sports we came up with the following fix:

New reinforced MM strut housings with my Bilstein dampers inserted into them.  This saves about $300 (and complete new struts are on back order anyway). There is nothing wrong with my dampers, just the housings are bent. 

Along with that we will re-spring the front from a fairly soft 200# to 325#. This is a mid/high level sport setting.

The rear will get upgraded to coil over units with 175# springs (after all, I saved $300 on the front re-using the dampers). This will match up with the front and save some sprung weight. I can send my rear Bilsteins in to have a groove cut in them to accept the coil overs.

I still have to take the suspension apart to ship the dampers to MM.

PVC System

As noted earlier the PVC system not working well with the low vacuum the engine generates today.  Testing indicates this engine has 14" HG or so at idle and spends most of its time below 10" HG when on the road.

I am pretty sure I am going to build a pump arrangement to positively remove exhaust gasses and keep the crank case at a slight vacuum. I have scoped out much of the design

That is the plan. We will know later if it was a good plan.

Front Strut Damage Update

This weekend I took the front struts off the car and shipped them out to MM in California for new housings. Now it apparent how truly extensive the damage is (egad!):

What you can’t see in the photos is that the welds at the bottom are actually starting to tear out the base metal of the tube. Technically these have structurally failed. They are on their way to a catastrophic failure where the parts actually separate and then it becomes a bad day.

What galls me a bit is that according to folks at the CAM Nation page this is not a new phenomenon. It has been around for 15 years or more. Yet Bilstein (and Koni) have not changed the design of these struts. The problem is old enough that MM has had time to develop and market reinforced strut housings with the Bilstein cartridges inside (I have more respect for them now - way to grab an opportunity!).

The strut manufacturers know people are not putting these things on their ’96 Caviler and commuting to work with them.  

To get a better idea of the forces involved I threw some classic physics on a spreadsheet and here is the result (This might be on your exam later) :

If – under heavy braking on a rough 60 year old concrete tarmac the left front tire generated 800# of force (not unreasonable). The moment (the torque) about the joint at the clips is roughly 700 ft-lbs.  That would be me and my twin brothers Bubba and Little Bubba standing on a one foot wrench. It might bend a little…

Look at it another way. Turn the strut and spindle horizontal – Support them by the ends and balance a 600# ballerina on point at the clips. It might bend a little…  

Very similar forces are going to happen when cornering except it will be side to side.

I also sent the rear dampers so MM can cut a groove in them to mount coil over units.  As noted earlier new springs are part of the upgrade. Now I have springs I don’t need again…

Other Things - PVC

After lots or research I have ordered a Toyota “smog” pump to use as the basis for a powered PVC system that should work well when the car is boosted (if it works at all).

One of the primary reasons this pump was chosen is that it is not hermetically sealed and can be rebuilt. If the motor can’t hack it I will modify the mounting bracket replace it with one that can.  It will be paired with a Mitsubishi catch can that has a sintered metal filter. It is an experiment. I like experimenting.

Other Things – Oil Cooler

Last month my local speed shop (Beyond Redline Performance) was able to get me the install instructions for a Procharger kit for Mistress (thanks guys). After studying the document I realized it is tucked in behind the radiator so tightly you have to clip a plastic reinforcing strut off of the fan. This is needed to clear the intake.

I have had a nice Frostproof 3 pass radiator on my wish list at Summit for some time now. I am glad I did not buy it. The thicker core would never clear the intake on the blower.

But what to do for more cooling? I can tell the car is near maximum capacity on the stock radiator by the temperature swings and how it recovers from a run on a hot day.

My answer would be a twin fan oil cooler mounted in the passenger side fender.  That will pull a lot of heat out of the engine and right where it is needed (oil). Now that is on my wish list…

Mistress looks pretty pathetic now. Parts missing all around and stashed all over. The front shroud is in the basement and keeps freaking out my wife when she goes down there. I will get her back together by spring (the car, not the wife).

Once again I think this is one of best postings on this site.

Also what temperature thermostat are you using?  I switched to 180 deg. to keep things cooler in between runs.

In reply to Mustang50 :

Thanks Mustang50. I am running 190 drgF thermostat. Low speed fan is set for 203. I don't remember what high speed fan is set for. On an autocross run the car heats up to 212 to 215. It takes about two minutes after a run to cool back down to 203 and switch the fan off. After it cycles the fan on/off a couple if times I figure things have settled down and I can shut it off.

Often I am at smaller events and things cycle through so fast I leave it running.

I have not considered lowering the thermostst since it recovers and maintains temp bumping off the fan at idle. On a run the thermostst should already be wide open by 205 or 210. The fact that the temp still climbs indicates more cooling capacity is needed. That said, since Mistress has never been on a race track at heavy load for a long time. I am not sure where the temp would stop climbing (215?). Perhaps it is fine for now...

But as I keep adding power surely it won't stay fine. If you are running a V8 machine you have a larger radiator, different pump, etc. Different dynamic. Whatever works and the thermostat is a hell of a lot cheaper than a twin fan oil cooler!

KentF said:

It has been around for 15 years or more. Yet Bilstein (and Koni) have not changed the design of these struts.

I thought this was a Bilstein specific problem.  Never heard of it happening on Koni's (at least on SN95's specifically).  I pulled my Koni's off after being on the car for roughly 2 years and they still look great.

In reply to Patientzero :

Yes on the CAM Nation FB page member Cindy Dunkin has had exactly the same problem with a Mustang on Konies. Going back and looking at the posts I am not sure if this was an earlier car or her current one which is a later Mustang. Like me, she also runs on a lot of concrete. Other members chimed in that this is not uncommon. On further research I found it can happen with some Cameros also but I am not sure where I saw that.

Makes sense though. Any McPherson Strut car is going to put tremendous force on that joint. A big heavy CAM car on sticky tires might push too far.

This ties into an earlier article I wrote noting reasons NOT to go to race rubber. Odds are dramatically increased for bending/breaking something. However, as street rubber and suspension technology get better perhaps that becomes less of a distinction? This is the second time I have caused a failure through sheer grip (Other was brake mount brackets).

Moral of the story I guess is inspect, inspect, inspect. We drive these cars very hard and sometimes an unexpected weak link will pop up. I sit and stare at everything each time a tire is off now. Wiggle  this and jiggle that (keep it clean now...).

The fact you are bending struts due to the amount of grip and G's you can pull is pretty badass.

In reply to maschinenbau :

Bad Ass indeed. And slightly perplexing.

I have given this a lot of thought. Perhaps more than justified.

This car has been running stock calipers with Hawk HPS pads on fairly ordinary Stop Tech rotors (not fancy ones) for several years now. The pads are grippy but smooth. I like them and they do not put out much dust (although much more than stock pads). I am planning on replacing them with HPS 5.0 pads this spring which have slightly more torque and slightly higher temperature limits.

Solo Storm indicates Mistress can routinely corner in the 1.2G range and touch 1.3G sometimes in good conditions. Braking is routinely in the 0.8G to 0.9G range. Never seen it hit 1G. Those are nice numbers for a car like this (but of course I want more).

The perplexing part is there are many people running the same set up (full MM Kit in front) with better brakes and fatter tires (I am only on 255 x 17 tires). While this failure mode is not rare it is not common either. Why aren’t there packs of lighted torches coming up the hill toward the Bilstein fortress in Germany demanding someone’s head? Because it is not a common enough problem, is why.

I suspect there may be several factors. Why did my struts fail?

• I am running on smooth but clean and toothy concrete much of the time and many people run on asphalt. It is typically not as grippy (although if it is old it can be just about as good I think).
• I am a very aggressive driver on course. Likely too aggressive for best speed. I lean on those brakes as absolutely hard as I can push sometimes. If the antilocks don’t start to chatter I figure did not use them all. A couple of years ago I bent both front caliper brackets (Wow the pads are wearing into a weird offset wedge – What’s going on…?)

Why doesn’t everyone with this set up and a similar car bend their struts like this?

• They don’t drive like a yabo like me?
• We are all limited by the 200 tread wear tires. Perhaps people running on race rubber quickly learn to beef up lots of things after a season or two. Not sure since I generally travel in 200 tread wear circles…
• The expensive Brembos may not get you as much bang for the buck (in autocross) as you want because of those pesky 200 tread wear tires. If I can smoothly stop the tires from turning with my stock calipers how much better will the $2000 big brake kit really do it? Remember though – this is not a track car. The prolonged high speed braking on track with much higher temperatures would put an entirely different spin (sorry) on it.
• Fatter tires have more grip – yes they do. But only incrementally. A 12” wide tire does not have 25% more grip than a 9” wide one. It has perhaps 10% more – maybe.   That is significant for lowering times but probably not enough to bend your car while stopping.   

Friction is factored from surface area (contact patch) and force pressing the two surfaces together. If the contact patch is larger there is less force per unit area (square inch, square cm) pressing the parts together. This significantly (but not entirely) offsets the larger contact patch. Someday I might flare the fenders and go there – we will see…

I was on the phone with the guy at MM when he opened my box with the bent struts in it. “Holy crap these are pretty bad!” I think he said something about the worst he had ever seen but I did not hear clearly because I was laughing so hard.

The correlation between things that add braking power/shorten stopping distance and the things that add fade resistance is weaker than a lot of people think. For example, bigger rotors mostly increase fade resistance by dissipating heat but can only add to braking power by increasing pad swept area from the larger pads that are paired with the larger calipers they are paired with. Adding rotor size without increasing swept area may make the brakes more progressive but does little for power -- controlling for rotor material.

In reply to GCrites80s :

I think that sums up braking configurations well. Yes.

A larger rotor with the same pad area should absolutely provide more stopping power.  It has more leverage.  A way to test this; ever put a larger rotor kit on with the same caliper with a bracket that moves it out?  Suddenly your brake bias is off.

Yes it is, but it seems like brake bias is hypersensitive to any change. That's why a little twirl to a manual brake bias adjuster that you can control from in the car seems so drastic when you are only making a little change percentage-wise. You've got a big knob there that has a large sweep but can only change things what, 10%? It's been a while since I messed with them.

Oil Cooler –>  Not  (Not yet anyway)

Further research on adding an oil cooler brought up two significant problems:

Problem #1 - Looking at the Power Steering cooler I installed I realized it was only a few inches from the tire. It will blow hot air on the tire.

I don’t think this will be a big issue for the Power Steering cooler. It should cool that system down quickly after a run and the fan will shut off. That system can generate a lot of heat but it does not have a lot of capacitance. In other words, the power steering system cannot store a lot of energy and once the pump stops generating NEW heat the system will cool down quickly (a minute or three should do it - time will tell).

An oil cooler is another story – The engine will store an enormous amount of energy. Worse yet, the temperatures are much higher. The Power Steering will run up to 160 to 180 degF (shuts the fan off at 160). But the motor oil hitting that cooler will be 225 to 240 degF.

The solution of course is keep the fender liner intact and put in fender vents.  Except for Problem #2:

To clear the future intercooler outlet pipe the new oil cooler has to mount fairly high in the fender. There will be room for it there but right now that space is occupied by the air intake filter. I had been thinking of ducting it low through the fender liner but the tire is in the line of fire.

Solution – Postpone the oil cooler to when the supercharger is installed. At that time leave the fender liner intact and install fender vents to exhaust the air. The engine, as it is today, does not truly need that much additional cooling anyway.

Given the economics and uncertainty we are seeing this spring now is not a good time for me to drop several grand on supercharger parts. Hell – I might not even get my cylinder heads back this spring. I think my machine shop may be shut down.  Trying to contact them…

If you recall- I can’t install a larger radiator due to clearances with the supercharger inlet duct (and I still want to keep the AC Condenser).  But I would like some additional cooling and do not want to take any steps backward.

Hood Vents. Really Bad Ass Hood Vents. Why not?

Mistress is an autocrosser so, although vents will add a few pounds of down force on the front, it is not primary factor. Air flow is the driver for this decision.

This will help get more air through the radiator and out of the engine bay. Natural convection will help even when it is standing still.

Getting the hood unbolted from the hinges by myself took a little thought. Hoods are dammed awkward. I made two 2x4 blocks with wood screws through short tubing pieces (pins).

The pins fix the blocks in existing holes in the body and keep them in position. The center of gravity is toward the rear (just a little) and there is enough clearance to get a socket on the little nuts at the hinges. After unfastening it my wife and I were easily able to lift it off the car onto a table. It is sitting there unbolted in this photo.

Before cutting I sprayed the underside flat black (can't use the liner anymore).

The Race Louvers brand vents came with good directions and templates. Well built. Professional Looking. Recommended – (Thumbs Up thingy).    Still some trepidation taking a drill to the fiberglass hood I spent so many years polishing.

These are angled generic RT series louvers. They are “mid range” between a street car and an all out race car. The difference is mainly how many of the louvers stick up above the surface to create low air pressure above. On the street version only the front tab sticks up. The race version all of them stick up.

Caution is advised peeling off the masking tape. Eighteen year old paint that was just cut through and tape are not a good combination. I almost took off enough paint with the tape that it would show beyond the edge of the louver (almost). I “sealed“ the new edge down with some spray paint in a paper cup and a tiny brush.

So what we have here is fully functional race vents on each side of a “decorative” plastic intake. Try not to notice that… really.  

Someday Mistress may get a new coat of paint. At that time I plan to  remove, contour, and fill that plastic "design element" in. Same with the decorative side scoops. Think 1966 Mustang.

In the meantime Mistress is just a little absurd. I like that.

Still one of the best posts on this site.   I too am waiting until all of this clears up.  I need new struts, shocks and some paint work for my Mustang.  Hoping to get things finished before the autocross season starts here in Ohio.

A vented hood is a great feature, It really helps heat escape.

The only downside I have from mine is keeping the car out of rain. 

Looks good.  Maybe you could get one of the GT hood scoops so your fake scoop looks less fake?

I've already had a couple requests to make fender vents.  Maybe I should get on that...

In reply to Mustang50 :

Thanks for your kind note.  I will be writing a follow up on the bent front strut clips in the near future . The housings received from MM are substantially reinforced over the original Bilsteins. 

in other news - I heard from my machine shop (Manitowoc Motor Machine) today. Since they ae automotive repair they ae considered "essential" and still up and running. My heads should be done in another week or two after some valve spring seats arrive (yea!). I also still have lots of work to do.

In reply to Patientzero & OjaiM5:

Since my hood vents are just off to the left and right over the space between block and fenders that should help keep the rain off the top of the engine (hopefully). We autocross in the rain (got drenched last fall) so... it is what it is. You make hood vents for people... Hmmm...

I never really liked the GT hood vents either though. They're not real. Even the late model "shaker" kits are just a cold air intake without any ram air effects. But that is a little bit of the "Pony Car" mystique isn't it? A little style and braggadocio that, sometimes, is very justified.

KentF said:

You make hood vents for people... Hmmm...

 

You obviously haven't seen my hood vents. haha.   https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/another-mustang-ls3-power/161779/page5/