2slo95fiveOhs 1994 GT rebuild...UPDATE 5-2! Forged shortblock, fuel upgrades!

[2slo95fiveoh]

Do you have a pic of the pigtail or harness and how far away from the IAT sensor did you soilder it in?
Hope this fixes it for you.

I'll snap a pic when I get home today. The pigtail had about 6" worth of wire with it, so that's how far away it got soldered in. Since I smoothed my fenders, I had to extend the previous wiring to the IAT sensor, so the length of wiring from the plug in the fender (also has MAF pigtail on it) to the actual IAT sensor is probably 2-3 feet.

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

UPDATE!!

I am excited to report that I fired up the car this morning after the IAT pigtail swap last night, and the check engine light immediately went off! I am SUPER relieved that this issue is now behind me, but kind of frustrated at the same time that something as simple as a wiring pigtail could have made it so my car didn't have any dtc's when it was tuned, and it could have gotten it's full potential.. But perhaps now after I get my vibration issue sorted then I will take it by the tuners and have him 'touch it up' without any c.e.l. issues to work around.

Today I plan on getting underneath the car and double checking the condition of the engine and trans mounts to see if maybe I can get lucky and that is all my vibration is a result of. Then probably perform an oil change on the car to see if there's any obvious metal shavings in the oil (I've read of guys having one of the main bearings begin to fail and cause a vibration in certain rpms).
If both of those inspections pass, then I will have to plan a time to take the trans out and inspect the clutch and flywheel. I'm not excited about the idea of pulling the trans after less than 5,000 miles on the clutch and flywheel setup, but I need this car back to 100% so I can drive it!!!
Whew. It's a good 'mustang day' for this guy!

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

UPDATE!

Last week I got the car on jackstands and checked out some stuff. From what I can tell the engine mounts and trans mount are still in good shape, with minimal movement in any of them. I also changed the engine oil and cut open the oil filter and took a look at that, neither of which showed any major metal shavings or anything noticeable, so I may rule out internal engine damage.
After talking to several local car guys, as well as internet searches, and my own personal knowledge, I believe the vibration is narrowed down to:
-Faulty crankshaft pilot bearing
-Faulty clutch throwout bearing
-Flywheel threw a counterweight
-Flywheel ring gear shifted or became 'out of round'
-Clutch threw a weight.
That's about all I can think that it could be. Of course there is still a chance that there is internal engine damage, but I would think some sort of metal would be found in the oil or filter, but ya never know. I wont eliminate it from the list, but I'm doubting it severely.
I'm going to talk to a couple buddies of mine with lifts, and see if they will let me use them for a night to poke around and try and get something figured out. While I am capable of doing it on my back in the garage, I'd much rather be able to stand up and move around.
Hopefully an update (with a solution) soon!

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

UPDATE!!!
Well after a lot of thinking, a little trouble-shooting, and a lot of labor later, I believe I finally found the cause of my vibration!
Transmission came out, bellhousing coming out:


my purrty orange clutch n sh*t:


That's what a clutch and flywheel with 400 miles looks like.. still good and new!


And then I found the problem. It was one of my suspicions the entire time, and it was confirmed when I could move the center portion of the pilot bearing in and out inside the housing. After fighting with the remnants of the old bearing, I finally got it out. The comparison:


What a relief this is! This is one instance when I loved to see broken parts on my car. This was probably the best case scenario of a crappy situation, because I don't have to wait around for a warranty clutch or flywheel to ship in etc, so I got a new pilot bearing, throwout bearing, and rear main seal and started putting it back together.
New pilot bearing and rear main:


I'll continue working on the car tomorrow, but at least now I'm not still wondering what is going on with the car.. now it's all just time and labor!

Questions/Comments welcome.

 

[Burninriverdiver]

Glad to see the progress! I just started to remove my tranny for a clutch replacement, got the bearing so I don't have to do it twice!

 

[Ferocious]

Whoa, glad you found your issue... that could have turned into a bad situation real quick. Nice work.

 

[Musturd]

Good to see you figured it out and it's a cheap inexpensive fix

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

^ Thanks fellas. I'm really glad it was something this simple too. I was dreading any internal transmission problems or something

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

I got a little bit more work done on the car tonight.
Installed the flywheel and clutch (kind of a cool pic):


Then I got the bellhousing bolted up, and clutch fork with new throwout bearing installed (forgot pic).

I had began to notice that the shifter was a little dirty and nasty, so while it was out of the car I decided to take it apart, clean it up, and re-grease everything.
What I started with:


Torn apart:


New grease in the ball 'pocket' and reassembled:


My schedule for the next couple days is a little hectic, so I will have to postpone stabbing the transmission and finishing the reassembly until later this week. Also I will be installing a new catback during the reassembly process, so there will be a little more time involved in going back together, but hopefully not too much more.
Questions/Comments welcome.

 

[Musturd]

K I'll be waiting for new road pics .... Hmm new cat back hmm what kind ?

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

K I'll be waiting for new road pics .... Hmm new cat back hmm what kind ?

Ha. Believe me, I am extremely anxious to get it out on the road and get some new pics.
The catback is Flowmaster 40 series with 3" tailpipes.. compared to my previous 50 series (I think), and mutt tailpipes with diameter ranging from 2.25" to 2.75", it should be a little louder and a little 'throatier'.

BTW, are those 28" tall slicks on your car in your sig? Bias ply or drag radial?

 

[Musturd]

Ha. Believe me, I am extremely anxious to get it out on the road and get some new pics.
The catback is Flowmaster 40 series with 3" tailpipes.. compared to my previous 50 series (I think), and mutt tailpipes with diameter ranging from 2.25" to 2.75", it should be a little louder and a little 'throatier'.

BTW, are those 28" tall slicks on your car in your sig? Bias ply or drag radial?

Theyre a 28" tall et street bias Ply, I'm going to try some drag radials too ...

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

Theyre a 28" tall et street bias Ply, I'm going to try some drag radials too ...

Cool. Is your car Auto or Stick? I was trying to get an idea how my recently purchased 28" tall tires are going to look.. it definitely fills up the wheel well!
Also, trying to figure out how nervous I should be trying a drag radial at the track..

 

[Musturd]

Cool. Is your car Auto or Stick? I was trying to get an idea how my recently purchased 28" tall tires are going to look.. it definitely fills up the wheel well!
Also, trying to figure out how nervous I should be trying a drag radial at the track..

My cars cars a stick as well . I just currently only have drag trim for my car and running on the street on et street slicks could be messy after a while with the cops . So I was thinking I'd give drag radials a shot I got aftermarket axles and the crap . I just don't think I'm man enough to launch at 5k on radials

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

My cars cars a stick as well . I just currently only have drag trim for my car and running on the street on et street slicks could be messy after a while with the cops . So I was thinking I'd give drag radials a shot I got aftermarket axles and the crap . I just don't think I'm man enough to launch at 5k on radials

Ha I can't blame ya for not wanting to try and tear something up. My weak link in the drivetrain is definitely the rear end (stock axles and diff), so I won't be launching at 5k either. ha. My 28" drag radials will be multi-purpose: to get better 60' times and not slide through 1st gear, and to stay in 4th gear going through the traps.

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

UPDATE!!
Well I am glad to report that after getting the transmission back in, I believe the vibration is gone! I will fully confirm this when the car is out on the road (hopefully tomorrow), but before I tore it apart, I could feel the vibration with the car up on jackstands, and currently there isn't any vibration with the car still on jackstands.
Before the transmission went back in, I got to spray some undercoating on the bottom of the car, especially the transmission tunnel, which did not get done last time I applied POR-15 to the underside of the car.


Here's where the car sits now. I am in the process of getting my new tailpipes fit to the car, which came out of a buddies new-edge, so they require a little bit of work to fit just right, but should be worth it in the end.


Also, my shifter boot fell off once again, even after I tried to use hot-glue to reattach it to the plastic surround. Sooooo I decided to try something I've been thinking about for a while now, and it actually worked really well! Essentially, 'plastic soldering'. I have an attachment on the front of my snap-on soldering iron that is shaped like a blade, meant for cutting plastic. I combined that with a few zipties I had, and basically fed the zipties into the hot blade which was right next to the plastic shifter surround, and reattached the shifter boot to the surround that way. When all was said and done, it is really really stout and doesn't seem to want to separate with a decent amount of force applied to it. It may not be pretty on the underside, but it works well, and thats all that matters:


I will probably use the same method for my ebrake boot, which has also torn away from the console, even after attempting the hot glue method.

Tomorrow I hope to finish up with the tailpipe install, give the car its first wash in over 6 months, and drive the thing!
Questions/Comments welcome

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

UPDATE!!
Well I finished buttoning up the exhaust today, chasing leaks and whatnot. I am very pleased with the new exhaust sound. It sounds about the same at cruising speeds and idle, but really sounds more aggressive once some decent throttle is applied. Nothing like a couple burnouts and wide open throttle pulls to make sure everything is in good working order! ha.
I am extremely happy to confirm there is no vibration what-so-ever with the car, and no check engine light to report.
I took a couple pictures of the car out of the garage, but apparently photobucket is down for maintenance right now, so those (and some better looking ones) will be uploaded within the next day or so.
I'm going to have the cars tune 'tweaked' now that there's no issues to work around, and hopefully everything is good to go for the next drag night on the 30th!

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

UPDATE!!
The car is running pretty well, and I've been trying to get as much seat time in it as I can.
I'm taking the car to the tuner tomorrow evening to have the tune finalized and finally get some dyno numbers! I am extremely curious as to what this car puts down. He has a Eddy-Current Loaded Dyno (supposed to be very accurate to 'real world' numbers), and with everything considered I am expecting the car to make something north of 450 rwhp, but who knows.
Tonight I changed the fuel filter for good measure, raised the ride height in both the front and the rear, and removed the front sway bar. I also changed the settings of the struts/shocks (firm in the back, soft in the front) to hopefully get some good weight transfer with this car, and actually see some decent 60' times!
And assuming all goes well at the dyno tune tomorrow night, I will be heading to the local dragstrip to see what kind of times I can put down! Shooting for mid 11s, but anything can happen at this point.
Questions/Comments welcome.

 

[2slo95fiveoh]

Update!

Whew, it's been a while since I've updated this.
Got the cars tune finalized.. ended up putting down 536 rwhp and 495 ft lbs! It runs great.
Went to the track. I did not have the ride height set very well, and it affected my 60' times and weight transfer, but I managed a 12.11 @ 123 mph.
I have since bought and installed Strange 10 way adjustable rear shocks, and bought some 15x10 summit racing brand wheels to mount my 28" tall Mickey Thompsons on, instead of the too-skinny 15x7 sn95 v6 wheels.
I've done some other little things to the car, and I will post pics within the next day or so.

 

[punched281]

Shocks and tires are going to make a difference, congrats on the numbers and getting to enjoy it at the strip! And even more so that you got to take it home as a driving vehicle! More updates!