1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the intrest

man its been a while since i updated this !

not much going on since the last update , i did manage to swap the rear brakes to discs . i used the ssbc kit (or at least thats what i think i used )and it went pretty smoothly. the kit comes with all that you need to do the swap , including a new master cylinder. some randome pics ( these are the brackets that came with the kit) :



you will have to mess around with the rear brake lines to make them fit if i recall correctly , but its nothing to difficult to do .
here is how the end product looks like :



i also redid the lines coming out of the master cylinder and installed a new adjustable proportioning valve. sorry no pics of that .

i also (finally) got around to swapping the hood !!! i had this "new" fiberglass hood for almost three years now and i finally decided to install it
this thing is super light and is an exact replica of the stock hood but weighs about 5 lbs if not less

luckily this thing barely fit , the intake elbow rubs against it slightly and i had to cut the bracing and hood latch on the front of the hood to clear the radiator and core support i made . and in contrast to the old one this hood is hinged in the rear and uses hood pins up front .

i like how i can actually see the road now






currently the car is waiting for its trans to be rebuilt , as soon as that is done i'll stab it back under it and go "test" it .


so whats next ?

now that i think of it , i have to go back and check if i ever put in any diff oil and additive in there after the brake install ( i really hope i did ).

i also want to take the car to a body shop and have it resprayed so the car looks semi decent

in the works too is gutting the interior and redoing the carpet, dash area and wiring under the dash. kinda not feeling it right now .

and i decided to start looking for a 4L80E trans to swap in instead of the good 'ol th400 . reason is because i want to drive the car more instead of trailering it to the races, and you know what they say about trailered street race cars (actually i don't know, but i'm sure they do say something )

and the last tidbit of info is there ,,,,,,,,,, or you know what i'll just keep you thinking what it is untill the next update

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

so i finally decided on painting the thing
i just dropped it off to get painted last night ,its going to get the same color just a different hue , more metalic too .
i'll post pics as soon as i get them

i also got a intake tube testing machine ( some have called it a driveshaft pretzel maker )
just need to rebuild it and assemble it and it would be ready to drop right in

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

a quick update :

i got some parts on the way to assemble the short block including some new slugs to lower the compression a bit .
and the car finally rolled into the paint booth today
its been primered and sanded and all it needs now is paint :





and a freind of mine thinks he found me a suitable 4l80 , i should be getting it pretty soon

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

well i guess its time to update

the paint was done a while back , but i still didn't get a chance to take it out in the sun to take a good picture, so here's the next best thing (excuse the dust everywhere )





the car looks real decent now , which is a good thing i guess

i also started building a new battery tray/hold down cause i didn't like how th eold one was . this is what i came up with so far , i just need to get it powder coated then mount it in there :



i also started assembeling the short block , started with hanging the new lower compression weisco pistons on the rods ( don't mind the bearings , those are the old ones ) :



after that i did the rings, checked all clearances , and dropped the crank in there and torqued everything down. here is wher i'm at so far :



the new cam should be here any day now from texas speed ( texas giant 248/254 .615"/.622" - 144 ) , and as soon as that is in there along with the chain and lifters i can time it , and slap on the oil pump and call the shortblock done.

switching to another subject , the car recently started developing a miss , and some lugs would just be soaked when i pulled them out ( i'm sure the rings are shot and oil is runing past them ) but recently the miss got worse - to the point the car would not start unless i put in a new set of plugs - and even then it would foul them after a few minutes . now tha last time i took out the plugs there were two plugs(#4and 5 ) that were super clean on the outer ring but sooty where the porcalin (sp) is .
this might be an electrical issue , or could be worse , so i 'll be doing a compression test to see what i get . and in case it is bad i guess getting the other engine done just got a whole lot more important

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

small update,
i did a compression test an it seems fine ( the lowest reading i got was 125 and the higest was 145) , so i decided to put a fresh set of plugs in and swap out the coils. after starting the car again it idled ok and i verified that all header primaries where scorching hot, which leads me to beleive that the miss is fixed. i still need to take it out for a spin to verify , and just to be safe i'll pull the plugs and see how they look now.
but incase the miss is still there , i have to then look at the injectors/connectors and fuel filter and probably the tune maybe?

either way it still has some more stuff to get done , one of which is the new trans cooler that i've been wanting to install since the last ice age , a new radiator puke tank, and swapping out the front springs to somethink a bit softer and lower. i also have to weld the stupid battery tray to the trunk floor.

as for the engine, well i buttoned up the short block last night , i just need to time the camshaft to verify everything is ok. i also should have the heads installed any day now ( waiting for head gasket) after i swapped out the springs with a new set to replace the wimpy ones it had before.

so next up on the list is:

- fix the ebrake cable thas rubbing against the tire
- test drive to make sure the miss is gone
- puke tank
- wire in air temp sensor
- weld in the batt tray
- trans cooler
- hood pin scuff plates

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

guess its been long enough since the last update

since the last update i have fixed the ebrake cable rubbing , the miss is still there but i have been driving the car around for a while and flogging it and it fouls the plugs at a slower rate now i still need to change the plugs pretty often , but i'm not complaining since the engine will be comin out soon .

i also did wire the IAT sensor but still didn't plug it in - waiting on the tuner . and also put the hood pin scuff plates. i also redid the trans cooler , now it looks better and has a fan to help cool it, also installed a new catchcan for the oil breather - no pics of that :




i also got the new battery tray in :



i also started working on the rear suspension of the car : i ordered a UPR antiroll bar and coilover conversion kit for the rear shocks. the anti roll bar is now welded in place and am in the process of installing the coilover conversion right now:





i'm planning on leaving the original sway bar on there and using a quick release pin on the anti roll bar so i can just unhook it when i drive on the street.

and did i mention that the short block now is a long block



i just need to get the coolant stem hoses that go under the intake manifold ( the x type , anyone got a part number for those? )

and one last pic of the car after paint under better lighting :




further more , i bought a new fiberglass hood ( 2 inch cowl) and a trunk lid , i just need to get them painted so i can slap them on the car. i also ordered a new chromoly cage thats on the way ( the one on the car is locally made out of mild steel and weighs as much as the car )

so next up i guess is :

- remove the old relay panel that holds all the nitrous stuff
- clean up the wiring under the dash
- swap rear slicks
- paint new hood and trunk
- change blower belt ( might just leave that untill i swap engines)
- swap front lakewood shocks to strange adjustable shocks
- wire transbrake

fastls1inaz

iTrader: (2)

Nice sam! Can you ship me any parts you have left over, I need some second hand stuff, I got pay pal. lol

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

you mean more like third and fourth hand parts

i finally decided on swapping the old ( 2006 ) goodyear slicks with a new set of hoosiers , but now i have to trim the inner lip on the rear fenders ( old slicks were 10.0 wide and these are 10.5 )

i also have the coilover conversion in the rear finished . car looks killer but it feels too stiff !






it already has 125 lbs springs in the rear , so i ordered a set of 110 lbs to try out .
and here is a pic of the oil catch can installed :



i also dropped the front end as much as i can but the front end still sits high. so i snooped around a few boards and found out that i need a set of 14" 130 Lbs front springs to cure the high stance and stiff front, so they were ordered


so i guess the priorities have changed a bit now , now i have to clearance the fenders ( trim the inner lip) before i can do anything. and after i get the front springs in i have to install the new strange struts and get the car scaled and get the corner wheights right .

1dirtybird

iTrader: (7)

I like your "paint" should have gone purple

Edit: and when the hell did you start cleaning your cars?????????? Getting hitched has made you soft!!!!

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

loool, i don't , i just repaint them

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

man has it been 5 months already!!! update time

well got some new slicks on :





but apparently i never noticed that the goodyears were 10.0 wide and not 10.5 like the hoosiers , so the tires would rub the inner fender lip.

so i got the fenders rolled and now i have room :




so after that was done i decided since the car is just sitting there that i would clean up the wiring , so i started rewiring some stuff , then i thought since i'm cleaning the car's interior wiring i might as well change the carpt , but since i was going to change the carpet , might as well do the roll cage first ,,,, see where this is going

sooooo, this is where i'm at now





so the plan now is to gut the whole interior, rip the old cage out , then sart with the new cage. while i'm doing that i'll be ripping the interior harness out as well.

a new chromolly cage will go in instead of this "home made" cage , i'll be using two Leash panels ( a sportsman for the lights and a pro for the rest of the stuff) to handle the electrical stuff in the car , i like how compact they are and how they will clean up the interior when done.
another thing a want to do is swap the engine and trans out . i have a freshly rebuilt LSX waiting to be bolted in as well as a 4L80 transmission and a circle D converter . the current 408 is tired and bad need a of a proper rebuild ( not just a bearing job) .

the problem is i can't swap them yet; i need to mock stuff up on the engine before i put it in .

i don't know if i posted its picture or not , but i have a front mount cog drive kit for this blower ( the kit that mounts the blower right above the waterpump ) that was only missing the adapter plate to mount it on an LS engine. so now i have the adapter plate on the way so i could finally mock it up on the engine.

the plan is to slap it on the engine , find a suitable place to mount the air to water intercooler on the engine and make brackets for that , finish making the charge pipe plumbing and BOV , only then i can drop the engine into the car.

after that offcourse i have to look into the cooling system and where to mount the water pump ( which needs to be relocated ,,,,, and conveniently just came off my camaro ) and possibly a new radiator.

this should keep me busy for a while i guess

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

so things have been moving along nicely ( a little slow for my liking but i'm not complaining )

first off the whole interior has been ripped out , including the the original wiring harnes ( all 34,535 miles of it ) . the plan is to use a Leash panel to handle the lights, signals and other electrical stuff along with a small fuse/relay board :





the new cage is almost done, right now the rear down tubes are being welded on and after that the strut bars go in :





i also managed to mock up the bracket on the engine , i just need to get the balancer mounted on the engine and have to cog pulley bolted on to that . i also have a supercharger sprag pulley laying around that i will be using .










so the plan now is to hold off installing the engine and trans untill i have everything i need for the bracket and focus on getting the interior done first . i also want to wait a bit to see if i can get one of these :
http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=549765

if this goes through it will save me a ton of space as well as plumbing and fabricating to run a traditional air to water intercooler.

so next up is :

- finish welding the cage
- mount the PCM and leash panels
- wire everything up
- install dash , carpet , seats and other stuff
- finish whats needed on the new engine
- install new drivetrain
- burnouts !

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

been slowly chipping away at this for some time now .

i ripped the whole electrical harness out of the car ( well out of its place , but its still bundled inside the car )



the cage is all done now , so i started working on the front strut bars ; not fun !

here is the driver side strut bar mocked up in place , i thought of taking it through there to help reinforce the strut tower while not taking much realestate from the engine compartment :



and this is it with the reinforcing plate welded in place :



and here is the semi finished product , just needs a few touchups and to paint it :



same on the pass. side :



all that is left now for this part of the project to be called finished is welding the original sheetmetal in place on the pass side and painting the bare metal for protechtion .

afte that i should be move back into the interior and weld the pcm mount and leash panel bracket. whenever thats done the fun part that i'm really looking for begins wiring the whole car again !

and incase you are wondering about the intercooler : no word yet from 417motorsports

LILHEMI

very cool project. cant wait to see it run.

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

small update :

I've been working on this thing a little bit at a time every time i'm in the garage, so don't expect major breakthroughs

the strut bars are finally done , so it was time to move on to wiring the thing ;
I started with working on the dashboard a bit . the plan was to replace the cluster with new gauges from speed hut. so I began by installing a plate to house a terminal strip to kinda be the "dash electrical hub" . it has wires running to the cluster , hazard button and light switch. I got to run the wires and connect a few things here and there ( also used weather pack connectors here ) but could not move any further unttill the gauges show up.
so I decided to move on to the back side where I ripped all the wires out and started with a clean slate. I painted the trunk flat black to make it look decent as well as mounted the new battery tray. the only hold up now is a new emergency cutoff switch that I ordered and should be here any day now . after that I ran the wires up front and even installed a weatherpack connector to make servicing stuff easier ( sorry no pics ).

after that mounted the relay and fuse panels that I got from leash electronics to the board , which will be located under the passenger seat . here is the 8 relay board that I will use to control the electric water pump , intercooler pump , fans, trans cooler fan and other stuff:



I fell in love with these boards after using them on a friend's car as well as on my Camaro , they are compact and full of features.
here is how it looks on the aluminum board :



after mounting the board I moved to the front of the car and wired in the fans and other stuff and ran the wires to the board.

and last but not least I just got the gauges in from speed hut as well as the indicator bezel from new vintage usa ( cool little thing has lights for signals , e brake , alt. , SES, and hi beam indicator) , I went with a white lettering style that turns blue with the lights on :




and after messing around with a lexan piece and drilling holes for the gauges and then covering it with a black wrap , this is what I ended up with



and this is where i'm at so far.

so the plan now is to finish the instrument cluster ( mount it on the dash and wire it ), finish the dashboard as a complete unit , start wiring the column stuff ( starter sig , acc, etc. ), install the dash , test everything , insulate the floors , install the carpet and seats , install the fenders , and then start working on the underside of the car ( new exhaust , fix cut brake line , etc.

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

more pics :



cluster with bezel :



and the wiring from the back of the cluster:




I still have to wire in the indicator strip bezel , and I plan on installing the cluster lens on there ( I remember having a new one somewhere here , but I can't find it ) , I was thinking of tinting it with a very light tint so that the gauges look blacked out when off .

more to come soon

dualdj1

Lookin sweet man!

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

well some progress I guess

I finally finished the wiring on the car and most of the interior is back in .

board wiring :



dash back in :



carpet finally in :



so the wiring is mostly done ( have to hook up one or two more wires), and the gauges all work. I also put the seats back in . I just have to tighten the passenger seat noy and install the harnesses.

the plan was to finish installing the rest of the interior ( center console , interior panels , ac vents and panels ), but that got put on hold cause I busted my Camaro trans and now I have to pull this tranny out ( the tranny on the mustang is the old rossler tranny that was on my Camaro that busted the tail housing ) to put it back in the Camaro .

so what goes in its place ??? the nice little built 4L80 I had sitting in the corner for a while

this is it after I cut the ears of and ready to haul it in place:



so now I have to install it in with the new circle D converter , figure out what to do with the cross member, cut the driveshaft to length , install the new 4 speed shifter, and figure out if I want to use the TCI controller on this thing or use the pcm to control it via a speartech conversion adapter.

and that's about it for now


I do have a few other sinister plans i'm thinking of, but I have to make sure this thing is running and ready by the 17th for a local race , which means that I might not get a chance to install the "other" stuff on there because it would require some fabrication and time to set it up right.

4*4

Amazing build! Updates?

1dirtyZ

iTrader: (1)

well I've been slowly chipping away at this thing ,,,


the dash is in and working ( mostly working ,,, I kinda messed up a connection but its not a biggie) everything looks great but if you ask me would use the gauges again I would look into new vintage gauges , not that there is anything wrong with the speedhut stuff , but only for the fact that the new vintage gauges have a set that has the indicator lights built in both rpm and speed gauges , and they have a direct replacement mustang cluster. they also have a gage kit that puts 2 gauges in the speedo and 2 within the rpm gauge, which looks a lot cleaner that bunching 4 up like I have in 1 gauge.



the only drawback to these gauges is that you are limited to one style of gauges , unlike the crazy customization options you get with the speedhut stuff.


moving on , I decided to ditch the monster cog setup and go with a Dallas performance bracket and cog kit ,,, with this I can still run the stock water pump, run power steering , and still use a cog drive for more boost and run the sprag blower pully . (pics soon )


so like I mentioned before that the car will get a new engine, 4L80 trans and converter , along with a new k member and headers.

so the swap process was started and old faithful has been yanked out along with the tranny :





this thing needs a rebuild real BAD ! so i'll put it on a stand and slowly work on it and shelf it for a later project

the trans is also out along with the old AJE k member :



after removing the k member I removed the steering rack and took it to be rebuilt ( mixing stock ford racks and stock ls power steering pumps tend to get leaky )

and I installed the new AFCO k member along with the rack on the car :




I also had an issue with the brakes being really mushy and weak , so I decided to change what I didn't change yet on the brakes; install a new master cylinder and delete the booster , along with new brake lines from the master to the front and rear brakes.


and that's where I am now

the plan is to install the innovators west damper on the new engine and swap the injectors and fuel rail over too. the accessories will not be swapped cause the engine already got a vette style acc. setup for the new cog kit to work.

after the balancer is installed I plan on mocking the new A/W intercooler in front of the engine , I plan to make a bracket to mount the intercooler to the front of the engine instead of to the side or on the frame. kinda making the whole engine and intercooler as one unit.

I'm currently waiting on the UPR booster delete block and as soon as I get that I will start with the brake plumbing , then hopefully after that I drop in the engine and trans , make the new trans cross member , and fab the new exhaust and do some burnouts

more pics to come soon !