momstang rebuild begins.

[ttocs]

looks like a fun project and hopefully mine comes back looking as good. Still waiting on the powder but expecting a call any day really. Its been way to cold to do the welding I need to do on my fender so I switched to a smaller project I can do indoors while its cold. Here you can see I have the hood masked off so that the center section(except for the louvered area in the very back) will remain raw carbon fiber with a black candy on top just to take some of the sheen off of it.

I didn't like the way the cf stripe just ended at the hood so I made this insert from fiberglass that will rest on the center portion of my grill area that is below the mustang emblem in this pic.


And after sanding it smooth I am going to skin it with carbon fiber.

I got a big kit because I also want to do the roof of the car. On the sn95 mustangs(94-04) the center portion of the roof is about 1/16" lower then the side that connects to the A and C-pillars. I don't have a pic to show you sorry but the top of the a and the c-pillars are removable and sit on top of the center section so it will make it really easy to skin the center and then put those pieces back on.

I also have enough material to cover my LE octane that the finish is coming off of and as well as a dd10 and dd5 I am using in the install.

[ttocs]

picked up some parts from powder coating today. The calipers are done in a burned copper color that looks black in low light and in direct light there is a metallic copper color that shines.

[ttocs]

the sun came out today and I could not help but find a window with direct light to see this in and WOW! Direct sunlight completely changes this stuff. It goes from a strange color of black maybe with some red in it to a metallic copper color with some small green/blue flecks in it.

[ttocs]

Between some really cold weather and a crappy couple of months for my stomach problem I have not got much done. I did finish the carbon fiber grill insert and happy with how it came out.


Since it was so cold I spent some time in the basement shop doing some other projects for the car. I had the lower ported and sent off to have it ceramic coated satin black. I hear its done now and they are just waiting for the headers to be coated to send them both back.


While it was gone I spent some time on the upper to get it ready for finishing. Did some more minor polishing an at this point I am getting some small areas on the bottom that can still be seen. I can't wait to get the lower back in its satin black as it should really make this thing pop when its done

and then flipped it over to port it. I was surprised how much a simple gasket match meant I was going to take out.

And the throttle body I am mounting on the throat is a 75mm, but the throat is only 70mm. So....

So after a lot of this(ALOT ALOT, it looks like a pixie exploded in the shop with all the glitter around it)..

But now the neck matches the 75 mm tb

I need to get some sanding drum/polishing stones to finish the bottom but the hard work is done.


I am going to send the upper off for a polished ceramic coating next. finally we have some warm weather I can use to finish some welding where I need the door open.

[ttocs]

Got the lower back and I freaking love it. I hope it will both disappear below the polished upper as well as help to accent it it a little.

[ttocs]

spent a little more time porting the lower and happy to say that mofo is smooth inside and out.



also spent some more time on the top, and even the bottom. I know there are a couple of spots where the gloss black powder on the valve covers will show the point that it went from polished to casting scale........ There are only 6-8 spots left that I need to address and smooth out before I can really make it shine and get it out to nitroplate to have them work their magic on it.

[ttocs]

I got my new JBA headers back from nitroplate and they look great.

I had been waiting to see what the finish on those looked like to decide if I was going to send my upper intake for the same treatment and it energized me to finish the intake to get it off to them.
hard to believe it started from here.

and ended up here. it wasn't easy but now that its over I can say it was worth it.


Can't wait to get it back from them and paint the center area.

[ttocs]

the whole top of the motor is aluminum from the heads to the intake and I have had issues with bolts stripping out because of it. To try and stop this from the start I wanted to go with a stud kit but was surprised to find out that because of the spacer I use to get my intake to clear the upgraded heads, there isn't one made. So not a huge deal it will save me cash in the end, I ordered a 6ft long heat treated threaded rod and proceded to measure off what I needed and cut them to length. I might upgrade to chrome nuts/washers when the intake comes back but at the moment its fine. Forgive the multiple washers I am just wanting to figure in the thickness of two gaskets on either side of the red phenolic spacer.

That red spacer bugs me. Anyone know if they are safe to paint the edges?



I also polished the throttle body so it can go off for coating like the intake to match. I already took off the cast/raised "Edelbrock" letters and now the model number/size on the flange bugs me. Its coming off tonight...


Its sooo close to being ready for paint...

[ttocs]

got the newly coated lower installed, just reused the ARP 12 point fasteners I had from before since they were in good shape. Also put in the newly powdered valve covers and used stainless studs for them. Finally the fuel rail now with 42 lb injectors and all the wiring covered in tech flex.

and its amazing how a set of headers and plug wires makes it look more like a motor. I used stage 8 locking header bolts for the headers so they will not be a concern.


The upper intake and throttle body are off at nitroplate and were actually started wed. I got them in at the right time as I just got an email saying they will only be doing OEM/large scale manf from now on. Can't wait to see it now on top of the lower, this is what it looked like finally prior to going out(wet sanded to 2k grit).


I only have a few more spots on the body before its ready for primer

[ttocs]

remember how happy I was with the spark plug wires? How it made it look more like a motor? I think I had that thought for about 5 mins before I realized I hated it and it needed a change. IT wasn't really for any good reason as the wires on there have worked perfectly now for years but I just was not happy that all the other wires are wrapped techflex except these. The on problem with that is that it probably would not be a good idea to have the plastic tech flex on it as it could melt around the headers even though they are ceramic coated. So I found a version that is made from fiberglass that looks the same and is good up to 1200 degrees so no more worrying about melted cables fer me. Again who could stand this crap in their car am I right?!

So to do my favorite dance of one step forward and to back I started by getting a new taylor 8mm set of cables, the slide on cylinder markers and the fiberglass tech flex I was ready to start. The techflex was a pretty amazing PIA because 8mm cables were just a tad bigger then a 10 gauge cable and smaller then a 4 awg the next size available. So I had a choice of getting it big and easy to put in and probably have left over material, or one too thin that would wrap nice and tight but be hard to get on. I wanted it tight so I got the smaller one and ended up sitting there pushing it up onto the wire an inch at a time. But after all that I could not be happier. I will refuse to call them wires now as they are cooler then that and definitely look more like a cable.


So finally the only other thing I wanted to change on this was that horrible universal loom. Who wants to look at all that crap?

don't get me wrong it is not bad at all and I have been really happy with the wires/loom combo till now but I want to step it up a bit. My only complaint honestly all the extra material that is behind the cables . Its there because its a universal fit and those back pieces allow for it to be expanded or retracted to fit anything it needs to. I am using it as a pattern and I am going to cut/bend out of aluminum it so the only part of the loom you will see is the plastic blocks that hold the wires that I will take off of this one. I traced out the pattern on the aluminum last night intending to cut and bend it today and of course I wake up puking like a mofo, and now at the hospital. So that sucks as it should only really take 30 mins to cut/bend the loom but it will obviously have to wait now.

In other good news though the newly polished and ceramic coated upper and throttle body should be done this week and needless to say after spending countless hours on it over the last 3 years I am looking forward to getting this box just as much as I was my air ride or supercharger, probably more.

[ttocs]

3 yrs of sanding this bitch its nice to see it finished now. Just got it back from the ceramic coaters and put some paint on it.

can't wait for the paint to dry too see it on the car....

[ttocs]

[RayBuck]

Looks good

[ttocs]

thank you sir! Sometimes I am not sure anyone looks here. That pic above was done with a lot of cursing in the background. I cut/made my own stud kit to hold the upper intake to the lower intake because there isn't one made for the spacer combo I am using so I made my own. I was putting two smaller studs in when one slipped from my hand and of course fell right into the intake and I heard it slide down into the head. I tried to grab it with my magnetic grabbing tool but had no luck as I discovered the heat treated grade 5 material I got for the studs is not magnetic. So I wasn't happy to take it back down to the lower intake again but once I did I saw it sitting right there to grab. So now this pic everything is back together and tightened down correctly and then started working on the spark plug loom to clean it up a little. I need to bend the tabs back a little more and get it powdered with some other crap but hopefully it will disappear into the blackness when its done.



And a before pic on the loom/plug wires to see how much better it looks now

[knightrider358]

Scott thats some wicked skills man!

Awesome job!!!!!

[dwnrodeo]

Sometimes I am not sure anyone looks here.

Don't worry, we're watching. We're just lurking in the background.

Great job so far! Very good attention to detail, especially with the custom badges. I wouldn't have the patience to do as much as you have done.

[Bfowler]

Sometimes I am not sure anyone looks here.

we notice! i just dont really know anything about mustangs so i just watch!

[ttocs]

Scott thats some wicked skills man!

Awesome job!!!!!

Thank you very much.

Sometimes I am not sure anyone looks here.

Don't worry, we're watching. We're just lurking in the background.

Great job so far! Very good attention to detail, especially with the custom badges. I wouldn't have the patience to do as much as you have done.

I have entirely too much time to sit, look and dream of how I would like things to be. Combine that with the amazing power that the internet gives you to search new ways/places to do this stuff and I too am amazed at both what can be done and what I can with the help of a youtube video.

Sometimes I am not sure anyone looks here.

we notice! i just dont really know anything about mustangs so i just watch!

Makes sense. I will be sure to keep updating it then thank you for all the kind words.

I was just happy to both find and install some little things today like the fuel pressure regulator and the throttle position sensor and idle air control valve. Now I need to find some AN fittings to put the fuel lines on but its coming around and I could not be any happier with how it all looks. Can't wait to slap on the powdered from brackets and alt and the polished super charger.

I have also been doing some trading for a new set of wheels. They are not exactly what I was wanting to go with but for the price I could not turn them down. 19" x 9.5 up front and 19" x 11" in the rears should put the fender flares to work as I was planning.

[ttocs]

Will these make my butt look big? ROH Modena 19" x 9.5" and 11" with hankook 275 and 295/30 tires. I did some trading and happy to say these look hardly used at all.


I would be out putting them on for at least test fit if my stomach would let me. I think it knows that I was expecting these and was hoping to go out to a comedy show tonight.....

[ttocs]

got the battery charging up to play.

WILL

IT


TUCK?!

[ttocs]

I finally got the batteries charged up enough to get the wheels on the ground and happy to say they fit really well.


I am going to get a spacer to bring the fronts out a tad both for looks and so I can replace my center caps with flush center caps These currently stick up and I would rather they did not. I had to laugh a little yesterday when I saw the same caps I have on ebay for $250, that is just a little less then I plan to sell my current wheels for.

[ttocs]

Finally got everything finished on the alternator. Its kinda funny I have either wiped or ground off any other name brand other then the this but this will be front/center on my motor. LOVE IT!!!!

I also decided to switch to a flush center cap rather then these that stuck out. Before

[vwdude]

Your progress is looking great. I'm watching, keep posting.

[ttocs]

well it was going great. I ordered the primer and borrowed a fender rolling tool from a buddy as part of the last prep before primer. Then of course I woke up feeling like hell, spent 5 hrs with stomach pain and then 4 hrs puking till I went to the er, and then it only took 4 hrs to get in there. So beside ruining my progress on the car I was really mad that it looked like I was going to have to miss a good friend of mines wedding. over the years with this stuff I have missed 5-6 that I just could not travel to. One I was asked to be the best man for and another I was supposed to stand at but I was instead sick. Well I got out of the hospital the same day as his wedding and of course had no sleep the 4 days prior so I was happy to go sleep for a few hours before I got up and got ready to go. Oh yea, the other reason I wanted to go was my date. We go back a long time now over 20 years and dated for a short stretch but were going different directions at that time so it didn't work out. Well we have remained very good friends over the years and now that I moved back into town we have been talking about a lot of what might have happened if I didn't move, ect. So I picked her up and we went although I knew I would not last all night. I was good for about an hour and then when I sat down at one point suddenly I felt like I could pass out right there. Never felt so exhausted so we said good bye to my friends and took off. By the time I got home I was puking again, not the way I wanted the date to end by any means. I spend the next 2 days trying to recover before I started puking again and was back at the ER again. so 2 times in less then a week really took a lot out of me and I basically slept the last week away before starting to pick up where I left off. So after rolling the pass fender I learned not to let any small parts of your body/hand get between you and the roller as you can see a little bit of blood on the fender. Not the first time won't be the last.

Now the drivers side fender was a reproduction piece and it fit about as well as we would expect a cheap repopped part to fit. It needed me to beat on it to get it right. Two days ago this view made me wince as the bottom was not strait, the door gap was all off, there was a spot under the body line that was out by almost 1/8" and then the top was exactly the opposite as I was in about 1/16". So after some time with my hammer and dolly I am happy that the bottom is straight, the gap is still wide but at least it is consistant(and fixable) and now the top isn't in too far.

so now I need to scuff a few small area(And the hood) and then mask everything up from primer to start.

[ttocs]

been keeping busy this week trying to mask everything off. Sees like every time I think I am almost there I realize another 3-4 hr project but its coming along. All the glass has either been removed or masked. Door/trunk openings masked as well as the inside of the passenger door(still need to do drivers side)

also took a break to make a small roadtrip and take a tour of ridetechs manf facility since its only an hour away(saved me $100 in shipping). Super nice people and the quality of the work they are doing really is impressive as I got to see them putting my shockwaves together. I am upgrading from standard bags because this will allow both for aftermarket control arms as well as more adjustability. These incorporate the bag into the shock so its more of a coil over design.

They make a beefy rear control arm. I saw where they were making these by hand and was surprised how thick the tubing was. Unfortunately they don't make a front...

not sure about you but nicely machined stuff gives me a semi and this is no exception. They took the time to machine their name/logo into small areas on most of their parts.


Also happy to say that the old medicine I went back on is helping A LOT! I quit taking it because my insurance said they were not going to cover it, and it runs $1200/month for about a quart. Well I have been doing much better since I went back on it and yesterday I went back to the insurance to try and get them to pay for it. Hopefully with the paperwork the dr sends in will work as its been nice to not feel like hell all the time again.