So the car was well sorted out mechanically when I got it. However, there were minor maintenance things to ensure got done. A fuel filter was one of those:
So the car was well sorted out mechanically when I got it. However, there were minor maintenance things to ensure got done. A fuel filter was one of those:
At this time I was experimenting with wood cribbing and made myself a set of blocks so I didnt have to pull the Mustang in to the garage to get on level ground for jackstands. The cribbing allowed me to work safely under the car on the inclined driveway:
Taking advantage of my cribbing, I went ahead and popped in an aluminum driveshaft:
Before:
After:
Here you can also see my exhaust. The off h-pipe and catback were the first things I did to the car, but I forgot to take photos as I was doing it.
Also, in the above photos you can see my welded in, full length Maximum Motorsports sub frame connectors (SFC). By the way, the SFCs are AMAZING - single handedly transformed the New Edge from feeling like a styrofoam cyp with a melted shake sloshing around to an actual chasis that is somewhat connected.
Knocked out another little aesthetic upgrade:
I feel like this grill is an improvement over the stock GT grill:
For most of the first year that I owned the car, except for the mods I listed in the above posts, I was squirreling away and hoarding suspension parts as the suspension on this car was downright worn and sloppy and that was going to be the first emphasis before any thought was given to adding power. I Since I wasnt in a rush, I could wait for sales and coupons to pick and choose deals and after a while, I started amassing a bunch of parts:
New grille looks great
Wheels are gorgeous. What size are those exhaust tips?
mr2s2000elise said:New grille looks great
Wheels are gorgeous. What size are those exhaust tips?
Thanks - I would've loved to have a lighter color in this same design. But the schmucks at LMR have terrible taste and wont make more 'gunmetal' color wheels.
The exhaust tips are 3 inches - however the car doesnt have tips at the moment, because the Maximum Motorsports panhard bar interferes with the tailpipes. i will need to find an exhaust shop to cut & weld my tialpipes back on.
Get your calendar marked.
https://www.kcrscca.org/our-racing/autocross/autocross-schedule-and-results/
Patientzero said:Get your calendar marked.
https://www.kcrscca.org/our-racing/autocross/autocross-schedule-and-results/
Thanks Brother! I'll get my calendar marked for some of these events in the summer. Might just come out to observe for the first time.
So by the summer of 2019, I had accumulated most of my planned suspension parts to the point where i could begin the overhaul of this car's suspension. As such, she got backed into the 'work bay':
Those tires are BFG Comp 2 - A/S in 275/40/18. The BFG Comp 2 is a great tire, but I made a mistake in going with the All Season's. The car now has more mechanical capabilitiy than the tires have grip. Should've gone with trhe summer Comp 2's. The 400 TW A/S are decent tires but leave something to be desired on a nice warm dry day.
So the piecemeal disassembly of the worn, 15 year old suspension parts started. It went relatively smoothly until...
,,,until I ran into 15 year old rear control arms and their bolts that had been 'frozen' into the bushings:
Well, since less 'kinetic' methods of extracting these bolts didnt work, I resorted to a more direct approach to get what needed to be done, done:
I was really proud of my self for the precision cutting in space cramped circumstances.
The problem bolts were the bolts that connected the control arms to the axle side. Luckily, the connection to the chasis side, was MUCH easier to extract:
Finally, victory against the lower control arms!!!
What are you replacing them with?
Patientzero said:What are you replacing them with?
I will post a complete list of what I did to the suspension once I sit down and make a list. For the lower control arms, I went with Maximum Motosports Heavy Duty arms.
Any power mods planned?
I'm not a mustang guy but have been looking at sn95/new edge cars lately, always liked them, just can't get over the cable clutch
Opti said:Any power mods planned?
I'm not a mustang guy but have been looking at sn95/new edge cars lately, always liked them, just can't get over the cable clutch
Car makes 245 rwhp and 298 rwtq on a dynojet. Those are healthy numbers for a 2V with just exhaust really.
I plucked a 4.6 4V out of a low mileage junkyard Lincoln mark Viii because I had heard that "Mark VIII's have the Cobra motor..." Well, thats true in a way. Except it costs many hundreds of dollars more to get the necessary accessories to actually run a Cobra motor: Cobra intake manifold and TB, Cobra intake cam, throttle and cruise cables + bracket, Cobra exhaust manifolds. The Cobra throttle cable, they do no make anymore, so you are going to pay $100 for a throttle cable. The Cobra intake manifold is $400 or so. The little things add up and pretty soon you are $1000 deep in accessories for a $300 engine. To top it all off, the 'B' heads as these cylinder heads are called (93-98 MarkVIII and 96-98 Cobra) will only net you about 260-70 rwhp in full Cobra guise. I was not about to spend $1500+ and all that effort to end up with a 25 hp gain.
So in my research, I discovered a thing called the Teksid 2Valve....
So, an interesting fact about the 93-98 Lincoln MarkVIII and the 96-98 Mustang Cobra: they have a Teksid aluminum engine block. This block was made by Teksid in italy and weighs 80 lbs less than the typical 4.6 engine block. These blocks are very desirable.
A second interesting fact about the Teksid 4.6 engines is that in DOHC guise they had a certain type of piston that when SOHC heads are bolted to them, the compression of the engine goes to approximately 11.5 to 1. So this means, I can keep the engine and block exactly as they are, obtain some Mustang (or Crown Vic or Grand Marquis, or Town Car, of Explorer) SOHC heads, bolt them on to the engine and run Mustang intake and exhaust for very little cost and effort.
I've been told that a Teksid 2v with aftermarket intake manifold, shorty headers, and mild cams (1/2 the expenditure because SOHC heads only require 2 vs. 4 cams) and a tune, will put 300+ rwhp down to the wheels (due to the increased compression).
This is a much more friendly budget build and I think its the route Im going to take.
So currently the 4.6 Teksid engine sits in the garage:
Its actually sitting in front of my current project. But this was a convenient short term storage solution to avoid the wrath of the wife.
I've heard of the Teksid block but didn't know anything about them other than that they saved weight.
So all you have to do is a short block swap, with intake, cams, headers and a tune.
That's awesome.
Mark VIII teksid 4V engines have a cast crank, Cobras have forged cranks. A cast crank will be fine at your power level. The Teksid block is sought after because it is very strong and can handle well over 1000HP.
XenaFordPrincess said:Mark VIII teksid 4V engines have a cast crank, Cobras have forged cranks. A cast crank will be fine at your power level. The Teksid block is sought after because it is very strong and can handle well over 1000HP.
Yup. Good point. I have zero concenrs about having a cast crank. This engine is never going to see more than 500 rwhp - and thats if I go crazy and go the FI route (which I wont be able to do if I do the Teksid 2v). But I plan to stay N/A and less than 350 rwhp.
It is notable that on the cobra engines with the forged cranks that they still have hypereutectic pistons and the rods arent too special either. The "common knowledge" on them is that much of anything over 450hp with a power adder and they will peel like an onion. The 03 cobra "terminator" motors received forged pistons and better rods supporting more power (pulley, chip, exhaust - 500hp), however they also received iron blocks.
Thats kinda the rub. NA power much beyond stock is a big investment for not too much gain.
I had never heard that 2v heads on the cobra block bumped compression that much. Anything more special than a flash tune needed to keep it happy at that CR?
Very interesting build. One of the most interesting things I think I just learned is that the SN95's have the quad shocks for axle wrap/wheel hop. I never knew that.
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