ReplicaR's Mustang build finally on track again

ReplicaR · Oct 1, 2016

Today was a bit of a maintenance day. First and foremost, I wanted to change the thermostat from 195 degree to something a bit lower, a 180 degree for example. The issue with current thermostat is that it opened up at around 200 degrees in reality, and my altered fan temps never allowed the fan to turn off because the thermostat would keep the engine above the turn fan off temp range. Another thing that I replaced was the upper radiator hose. I had to shorten it a while ago, with the old radiator, because of the positioning, and now it was being stretched thin. I ordered Motorcraft hose, and that fit perfectly. Today I also had 4 new tires installed. The old set of NT01s had a cut it in in one tire, from I'm not sure what. Even though the tires held temps, the cut was pretty deep, and I didn't want to take chances.

Old two piece hose, with a stainless 90 degree angle.

Engine compartment with the new hose. If you look around, you can spot, the mark 8 fan, catch cans for both PVC and Power Steering, coolant overflow tank, and the Odyssey PC680MJ.

And the two cars side by side. I call this one "The Refined and The Raw". I'm sure you guys can figure out which one is which.

A bit of note on the side. Working on the car today made me feel really nice inside, but also a bit sentimental. It reminded me of the time when I worked on the car out of necessity. It also reminded me that doing stuff yourself gives you that sweet reassurance that you know exactly what was done, and how well it was done.

Pete@FTR · Oct 1, 2016

ReplicaR's Time Trial Mustang build *Pre Track Maintenance Page 32*

Looks good I'll bet you're enjoying that HOV lane... Theres a way to wire a switch the the CCRM to control the fan manually without actually re-routing the power source, if that helps

ReplicaR · Oct 2, 2016

Pete@FTR said:
Looks good I'll bet you're enjoying that HOV lane... Theres a way to wire a switch the the CCRM to control the fan manually without actually re-routing the power source, if that helps

You can get one too.

http://www.support.krops.org/product/track-ok-sticker

Also, I'd prefer to keep the fan operated by ecu. Less stuff to worry about that way.

g36 monkey · Oct 2, 2016

Good stuff. I was telling someone today, now that I rarely drive the Mustangs anymore because of work, I like them to be ready when I get in, so it's an "experience." I sort of got that vibe from what you said about the good feeling sentiment lol.

Great stuff, still loving that plate!

ReplicaR · Oct 3, 2016

g36 monkey said:
Great stuff, still loving that plate!

Thanks. I still can't believe I was able to secure it.

ReplicaR · Oct 31, 2016

So, this weekend was the track day that I’ve been looking forward to due to all the changes recently. The weekend turned out to be a mixed bag of successes and failures.

Success:
1. Increase in speed: The weight reduction and the addition of the Torsen T2R differential definitely made a pretty good difference in speed. Despite the weather being very cold, and the track surface being damp every time I ran a session, I was still able to go about a second faster than my previous best time. My previous best was 1:29, and I was able to run 1:28, and had I concentrated a bit more, could have dipped into 1:27. I believe 1:25s are in the cards if the weather is better, and the track is stickier. There is still some work to be done on the balance, because I believe that I can make the rear softer, and reduce my camber angle to gain some speed. Time will tell I guess
2. Cooling improvement: Ron Davis radiator didn’t let me down. Granted it was cold out, but in similar conditions, hammering on the car like I did, I would find myself doing cooldown laps half way into the session. No matter how hard I was hammering on the car, it kept cool and composed. I think I would see the temps go up to 200, but then drop down pretty quickly. Very efficient radiator, and definitely worth the money.
Failures:
1. Reliability: An oil leak ended my session early twice, and brought my whole day to the end. I am pretty sure I’ve tracked down to where it leaks, but I’m going to give my car to the shop that does all the maintenance on the car. They will clean the engine bay up, make sure that nothing else is leaking, and give it back to me.
2. Vibration: I’m pretty sure I bent one wheel at the track yesterday. I’ve started to notice pretty good vibration at 80 mph and onwards. I think I’ll take all my wheels to a shop that might have a road force balancer, and see if the wheels are jacked up. If the wheels are fine, next step would be to check the driveshaft again. I might have damaged it already because it came in contact with the parking brake bracket. I might remove parking brake all together.
3. Weather: It was cold, and it rained pretty much before every session that I ran, making the track slick and slow. Not much more I can add on top of that, kinda upsetting that my only actual track day this year ended up being affected by like 1 day it rained in SoCal in the whole year.

Some videos from the weekend. Nothing to be particularly proud of this time around.

[video=youtube;-FyqiJ99028]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FyqiJ99028[/video]

[video=youtube;vKtRTrcnWw4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKtRTrcnWw4[/video]

white95 · Oct 31, 2016

A bad day of racing is better than a good day at work :thumbsup:

I'm curious, oddly enough, to see where the oil was leaking from.

ReplicaR · Oct 31, 2016

I tried to diagnose a leak by going to the most top and front point of the oil trace. At first I thought it was the oil filler cap. It's 22 years old, the rubber seal is as hard as plastic. So to troubleshoot that, I cleaned off all the oil, and sealed it with gasket maker for good measure. When I came back from next session, I had same exact mess. That's when I noticed that the hose that runs from the oil filler tube to the intake, is almost completely loose, and cracked in the back. I am pretty sure that is where the leak is coming from. In order to be able to use fox valve covers with all the lift roller rockers have to do, I had to remove the baffle, so I'm pretty sure there is oil spraying out of there, especially because of the high rpm operation.

hotmustang95 · Nov 6, 2016

So this is your current setup? Looks like adding taller valve covers my start a chain reaction. Intake spacer so TB clears taller valve covers but then brings intake into contact with tower brace. You could modify the tower brace in the section around the TB. Do you have access to a welder?

ReplicaR · Nov 6, 2016

No access to welder, but the main thing that I really want is just a baffle for where the oil filler cap is.

ReplicaR · Nov 8, 2016

From last weekend.

g36 monkey · Nov 8, 2016

Can't wait to have those wheels! Car is looking good dude!

hotmustang95 · Nov 8, 2016

There's something to be said about a nice clean look. No wings or splitters or big hood.

ReplicaR · Nov 9, 2016

hotmustang95 said:
There's something to be said about a nice clean look. No wings or splitters or big hood.

I call it the calm before the storm. All the things you've mentioned are coming, aside from big hood.

hotmustang95 · Nov 9, 2016

ReplicaR said:
I call it the calm before the storm. All the things you've mentioned are coming, aside from big hood.

Yea it doesn't last long does it lol?

ReplicaR · Nov 9, 2016

hotmustang95 said:
Yea it doesn't last long does it lol?

I've had the car that naked forever and ever. I took the spoiler off within a couple fo years of getting the car, side skirts came off recently. They don't really do much in my opinion and simplify the look once they are removed.