200,000 mile GT build

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Akurma

Akurma

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Slowing chipping away at this thing, the impending cold weather has motivated me because I really dont want to be crawling around on the concrete garage floor in the dead of winter.

After exchanging emails with SPEC, it turns out and this is news to me, that the flywheel will only bolt up one way? SPEC told me that the bolt holes are "not drilled in a equidistant pattern" meaning that they are slightly off. After rotating the flywheel one hole at a time I finally got all eight bolt holes to line up, threw the clutch kit in and and torqued everything down to spec.

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Got another pair of hands to help me install the transmission. I've taken the trans out in these cars a handful of times but this was the first time i did it on the ground. what a PITA! After struggling to get the input shaft in the correct place. I realized that the 3/8th motor mount shims I used were not allowing me to get the input shaft on the trans into place. So out came the shims. Turned out i didn't need them as with the trans in place it tilted the motor back enough to where I can stick my finger between the rack and oil pan. Oh well I'm just happy to have the driveline back in the car.

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Next up is working on the top half of the motor, the intake manifold, wiring harness and the intercooler piping. I am toying with the idea of throwing the gas tank back in the car and dealing with the rear end rust next spring and just work on getting the car tuned and running.
 

RAU03MACH

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Evey fly wheel i have come across with
The bolt holes are set holes
They will fit only one way some of the holes come close but not close enough
 

RAU03MACH

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I bought a complete kit once fly wheel all
Had to send the fly wheel back
It would not bolt up for nothing in all hole patterns
I would rotate
Got nothing
Manufacturer failed me
 

ttocs

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now is there a way to know how to line them all up the first time? I think I had to rotate mine a few times to get it to line up and under the car on jack stands I remember my shoulders were sore the next day from holding it up/rotating.
 

weendoggy

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now is there a way to know how to line them all up the first time? I think I had to rotate mine a few times to get it to line up and under the car on jack stands I remember my shoulders were sore the next day from holding it up/rotating.
Not really, but all you need to do is hold the flywheel on the crank (shoulder) and spin it slowly while checking the bolt positions. If you were removing it and using the same one again, prior to pulling it off you just mark ONE bolt hole and crank with a paint mark or a dimple with a centerpunch.
 

joe65

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What clutch did you use? I saw its a spec flywheel but valeo cluch plate. I know Valeo makes lots of clutches, just curious. I have the spec stage 2 clutch on mine and i really don't like it. Too much pedal effort to be enjoyable. I even replaced the cable/firewall adjuster and quadrant, which made it a lot better but still just don't like it.
 
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Yeah getting all 8 bolt holes to line up was a pain but like Weendoggy said, its basically trail and error until you get all of them correct.
What clutch did you use? I saw its a spec flywheel but valeo cluch plate. I know Valeo makes lots of clutches, just curious. I have the spec stage 2 clutch on mine and i really don't like it. Too much pedal effort to be enjoyable. I even replaced the cable/firewall adjuster and quadrant, which made it a lot better but still just don't like it.

I decided to go with a Valeo "King Cobra stage 2" clutch kit that I bought a few years back and just kept in the house in the box. These are alledgey the same as the Ford Racing kit. Not sure how it'll hold up, its rated at "650ft lbs" but I highly doubt that, we shall see. I dont plan to really beat on it, at this point I just want to drive the damn car. fingers crossed it will do for a while until a T56 swap or built T45/3650 is in the picture lol. I do know I wanted something that had a stock like pedal effort and could be engaged smoothly. Unlike the my friends 04 GT with a spec stage 3 that I drove. It was god awful to engage as it felt like an on/off switch with no in-between and required a ton of effort to press the pedal, it definitely was not a daily driver clutch.
 
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joe65

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Yeah getting all 8 bolt holes to line up was a pain but like Weendoggy said, its basically trail and error until you get all of them correct.


I decided to go with a Valeo "King Cobra stage 2" clutch kit that I bought a few years back and just kept in the house in the box. These are alledgey the same as the Ford Racing kit. Not sure how it'll hold up, its rated at "650ft lbs" but I highly doubt that, we shall see. I dont plan to really beat on it, at this point I just want to drive the damn car. fingers crossed it will do for a while until a T56 swap or built T45/3650 is in the picture lol. I do know I wanted something that had a stock like pedal effort and could be engaged smoothly. Unlike the my friends 04 GT with a spec stage 3 that I drove. It was god awful to engage as it felt like an on/off switch with no in-between and required a ton of effort to press the pedal, it definitely was not a daily driver clutch.
That's how i felt about my spec stage 2. Really heavy pedal and holy shit it was on or not, no in between. I might have to get the King cobra you have. I've heard lots of good things about that in the past.
 

weendoggy

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I've been using Centerforce DF clutches for 20+ years and never had a problem. Some don't like them but for me (and wife) the pedal is a breeze. Easiest clutch I've used and it grabs! Open track two different cars and not a failure yet...now watch...I just jinxed myself. :eek:
 
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Nothing crazy this time around. Installed the intake manifold and some heater core hoses along with cleaning up the work space.

Tomorrow if all goes according to plan

- Fuel rail & Injectors (#42 green tops)
- Throttle Body Plenum & EGR
- Fuel fill neck
- Spark Plugs and COPs
- Wiring harness

If time allows, Maybe reinstall the X-pipe and catback + mess around with intercooler piping

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Feel like I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted to today even though I crossed off everything off the list besides the harness. More on that later.

Gapped and put the NGK TR6 spark plugs in. Gapped them to .32 as that seems to be the popular gap for these motors when supercharged. Then put the fuel rail and 42# injectors on and then the coil packs.

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Went to throw the 78mm throttle body on and realized an issue. I bought this off of a forum member on the ModdedMustang forum years ago. It was cheap with the slight issue of one of the throttle cable bracket bolts snapped off. No biggie to me. I Opened the box saw it was what it was suppose to be and then never looked at it again.. until today. I started swapping the IAC & EGR over to it before I realized there was what looked to be casting slag or something inside the plenum part. I picked at it with my finger and it came right off. This is where I noticed the previous owners mistake. The bolt they used that broke off must have been the wrong one and too long as they actually threaded the bolt into the plenum area. Thus the bit I thought was just a casting slag was actually the bolt pushing the aluminum into the plenum.

The second picture below shows what I'm talking about. It was hard to get a picture of but now im not sure what to do. Part of me says screw it just leave it there and use just one throttle cable bracket bolt and leave the broken bolt be. The other part of me says to swap back to the stock plenum and 75mm throttle body and get another 78mm down the road. If i run the 78mm as is I'd be afraid that small bits of metal will come off over time and head straight into the motor.

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Then it was time for the wiring harness, I labeled everything so it was super simple to plug back in. However I realized that at some point in this cars 217,000 miles someone half assed repaired the coolant temp plug and one of the injector plugs. Not what something I want to do but needs to be done, luckily its easy enough to do.

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Up next is putting the fuel tank back in with the upgraded 340lph pump. I have decided to get the car running and driving to make sure no other issues creep up and then get the rear end rust fixed.
 
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RAU03MACH

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Man i hate wiring like that , looks like it could be all the way in the wire harness wrapping
wires get hard and brittle and start breaking
 

07GtS197

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Here’s a thought, you could use some threaded rod and cut it to length to make a stud. And on the bottom side inside the plenum you could grind it flush with the surrounding surface. Or just weld it.

Just out of curiousity, who did you buy it from?
 

Gregomatic

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Man i hate wiring like that , looks like it could be all the way in the wire harness wrapping
wires get hard and brittle and start breaking
Yeah that looks pretty scary! But on the other hand, I don't think you'll have to unwrap but a few inches to get to where the wiring insulation is fresh. Just tin your new connects and shrink-wrap them for peace of mind and I think you'll be gold. Maybe finish it off with some split loom tubing to retain that sterile look.

On a side note, methinks ttocs is onto something with the grinding and JB weld. I've done some amazing things with JB. The longer you work with it and understand its properties and respect its limits, the more you find you can do with it.

Regardless, if it's gonna rent space in your head about something hard departing and being ingested straight in, I'd slip the stock back on.
To me, it wouldn't be worth the worry, but I digress...

I'm excited about your project, I really like the style of that year!
I AM eagerly awaiting to see what the blind chiselmister did to the trunk floor!!
;)
 
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Akurma

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grind it down and put some jb weld on it
Thought about it, but as Gregomatic said, it will rent space in my head when im driving it. I'll always worry that tiny bits will fall off and get sucked right into the engine. I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Then i'll sell the other for cheap to someone who wants to fix it.
Great detective work! Although it eats up time, im confident to say youll be successful in this build!!

Thank you! I sure hope so lol
Man i hate wiring like that , looks like it could be all the way in the wire harness wrapping
wires get hard and brittle and start breaking

Yeah I am going to gently cut the harness back a bit and see how the rest of the wires look.. fingers crossed they dont all look this way
Here’s a thought, you could use some threaded rod and cut it to length to make a stud. And on the bottom side inside the plenum you could grind it flush with the surrounding surface. Or just weld it.

Just out of curiousity, who did you buy it from?

Also Thought about doing that as well. But like Gregomatic said, it will rent space in my head when im driving it. I'll always worry that tiny bits will fall off and get sucked right into the engine. I'm going to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Then i'll sell the other for cheap to someone who wants to fix it.

As for whoever sold it to me, it was "StangAddiction." it was from 2016 lol im not bashing or anything chances are they didn't realize it either. I logged into the Modded Mustang site for the first time in a while and man that place is dead!

scotch locks

I hate those things!

Yeah that looks pretty scary! But on the other hand, I don't think you'll have to unwrap but a few inches to get to where the wiring insulation is fresh. Just tin your new connects and shrink-wrap them for peace of mind and I think you'll be gold. Maybe finish it off with some split loom tubing to retain that sterile look.

On a side note, methinks ttocs is onto something with the grinding and JB weld. I've done some amazing things with JB. The longer you work with it and understand its properties and respect its limits, the more you find you can do with it.

Regardless, if it's gonna rent space in your head about something hard departing and being ingested straight in, I'd slip the stock back on.
To me, it wouldn't be worth the worry, but I digress...

I'm excited about your project, I really like the style of that year!
I AM eagerly awaiting to see what the blind chiselmister did to the trunk floor!!
;)

Yeah not worried about the harness at all honestly, i'll uncover a little bit of the harness and fix it up. The throttle body however, the more I thought about it the more I worried about something getting sucked into the motor. It's already "renting space in my head" lol I'll just bite the bullet and order a new one and then sell the other cheap for someone to fix.
 

07GtS197

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I was actually thinking it was stangaddiction for some reason. Yeah I still log in, I’m a mod now but don’t have mod tools…

Buying a new one is probably best but it sucks that you pretty much have a good one it just has a small defect.
 

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