The Chronicles of my 95 Cobra OCD Machine

[95riosnake]

Hello all, I've been following all your projects on here for almost 3 years now, led here to follow the Syborg build thread. I figured it was time I throw my hat in the ring and share my project with you guys. It seems that the majority of the projects on here center around classic muscle, but maybe my car can fit in, haha.

A little background... bought this car back in July 2003 while in college. It stayed mostly stock with some bolt ons for several years, then slowly started going off the deep end. After doing a H/C/I swap I found the car was burning almost as much oil as fuel, and was making what a stock longblock with bolt ons should have made. So the car got a forged 347 stroker and a bunch of other stuff. I never really took the time to document the build of this car until last winter when I did the Procharger, IRS and Tremec so I'll just start this thread from there and add to the beginning whenever I have time to sort through 3 different computers for pics...


Build log - Winter 2011/2012:

I was pretty happy with the car (actually I was ecstatic) after getting a feature shoot for 5.0 Magazine at the NMRA event in Columbus in Sept. 2011, but it was time to step things up. Right before leaving for Columbus I pulled the trigger on a used Procharger D1SC. It was a satin unit, and came with some very rough looking piping, cast 3 core intercooler, and the blower bracket...nothing else. The missing parts and crappy piping didn't bother me, I was planning to make my own piping anyway because my radiator setup wasn't going to let the Procharger piping fit anyway. So here's what showed up at my door:

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But alas, it was prime driving season still...so I forced myself to resist the urge to rip the car apart and instead the blower found its way to the shelf until the snow flew.

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In the meantime I sent the head unit to Mirror Finish Polishing to spruce it up, and started looking for an upgraded Procharger sheet metal intercooler.

Once the weather turned colder and the insurance was off the car for winter, I started tearing into it.

Front bumper cover and bumper support out of the way

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The power steering cooler had to go

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Picked up a Derale power steering cooler and some AN fittings (which I later swapped after learning I needed to use teflon-lined braided hoses for the pressure levels of power steering)

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Power steering bracket, PS pump and AC compressor out of the way.

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No pics of the process, but I also relocated the fuse box to right behind the driver's headlight, which required a couple days of boring work lengthening wires and separating the harness. I modded the fuse box's factory bracket and paired it with a bracket I made to mount it to the fender skirt. Also ditched the windshield washer reservoir. Finished product:

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The AC condenser was just not going to fit with the way I wanted to mount the intercooler, so the whole AC system came out. I had used it maybe 3 or 4 times since I bought the car in 03, so I won't miss it, or its ugly hard lines that run in the way of everything in the engine bay. All that crap out:

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[95riosnake]

Next, the radiator core support needed some TLC. It had a bit of surface rust and just wasn't up to my standards.

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Radiator back in

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In the meantime I had found a great deal on a Procharger sheet metal intercooler, so I started mocking it up in place. I've seen people mount them low, but because of my lowness, I wanted the whole thing up above the bottom edge of the core support. Mocked in place sitting on jack stands:

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A little clearance issue to deal with here:

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Marking and modifying the bumper support. I chose to cut only the bottom and back side, leaving the front intact. The air all comes in from the bumper cover opening beneath, so cutting the front wouldn't offer much benefit.

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Back when I was removing the windshield washer reservoir, I had noticed the quite sad condition of the horns and their bracket... nothing this rusty has any place on my car, lol.

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Bracket stripped and repainted, with new PIAA Dual Tone horns:

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I smoothed the blower bracket and had it chrome powder coated, and the blower came back from Mirror finish polishing so those went on.

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Made a bracket to mount the coil nicely, rather than just bolting it sideways on the bracket like Procharger suggests:

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One issue the 94-95 Procharger kits suffer from is the power steering reservoir "puking" from time to time. This is due to the way the blower bracket tilts it inboard. So my solution was to cut the top of the reservoir off and add a 45 degree silicone coupler to level the top of the reservoir (it has worked perfectly btw). I also sanded and painted the whole power steering pump silver with a clear coat while it was off the car.

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With some of the stuff in place under the hood, I turned my attention back to the intercooler. Made a bottom mount for it, as well as notched the bumper support bracket by cutting a 4" diameter notch out of it, then welded in a piece of 4" dia. steel piping. Then repainted the whole core support again, lol.

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[95riosnake]

Then fabbed up an upper mount that bolts to the hood latch bracket

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The 3.35 pulley showed up from Procharger so that went on, then I needed to measure for belt length. Enjoy my patriotic method for measuring using a cheap spool of ribbon from walmart, lol. I can't remember why I had the upper intake off at this point though :dunno:

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Next it was time to start fabbing the boost/intercooler piping. I chose to mount the Race Mart 50mm BOV font and center above the radiator (because why not, lol), and the plan was to modify the Anderson NA Power Pipe I already had modified for the Fox TB swap so it would tie right in. I bought a used piping kit from a new edge Procharger kit for parts. The plan was to cut up all the piping I had to get the bends I needed. This ended up being a MUCH cheaper alternative to buying all new bends, I only paid like $100 for the used piping kit. Another advantage is it gave me plenty of piping with bead-rolled ends so the couplers wouldn't blow off under boost. Mocked things up with crappy rubber elbows I had laying around, they were later replaced with silicone.

The primary reason I had to make my own piping was that the way Procharger routed it just wouldn't work with my radiator setup. It's much thicker and closer to the motor and because of the overflow bottle being where it is, the Procharger piping was just a no-go. I wasn't too sad though, because I wanted to make everything nicer and more solid than what they did anyway.

You can see here the clearance is tight. I ended up cutting away a lot of the fan shroud plastic to make room.

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Pipes off the car, next step was to strip the powder coating, then take them to work and tig weld the seams (sorry I can't seem to find the pics of the other 2 pipes before stripping and finish welding :( )

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Piping stripped and finish welded:

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Piping back from the powder coaters:

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Piping FINALLY done and on the car:

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[95riosnake]

Fabbed up a small aluminum brace for the power pipe that anchors it to the strut tower.

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Next thing I know, I'm dropping the SRA out of the car. This is where the snowball started to grow that winter.

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Then I found an IRS out of a 10k mile 03 cobra to replace that SRA.

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Broke it down into 548998228942894 pieces one night

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Started smoothing the cradle and getting rid of the massive amount of weld splatter it had from the factory. I decided since I'll always have side exhaust, I made a custom web panel to go between the LCA mounting ears, just because ;) Also began all the prep work to the cradle for the upcoming Full Tilt Boogie complete bushing kit, as well as drilling and tapping the control arms for grease fittings.

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Stripped and painted the axles

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Fast forward a bit and I got the cradle and all the other IRS parts back from the powder coaters. I must have not taken a pic of the control arms and such but I smoothed them also, then had them powder coated. The sway bar and any removable brackets, etc. were all repainted as well.

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It took me a few days of on and off work to install all the bushings (TON of work), then an all day/late night carefully reassembling the entire IRS unit. Bruce and his crew at Full Tilt Boogie Racing leave no stone unturned with their install videos, which were a lifesaver. It was well worth it to stand back and look at this beauty though:

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Before installing the IRS, I stripped and repainted the underbody (for the second time since owning the car, lol) in conjunction with dropping the tank to install an Aeromotive Stealth fuel pump, then a set of Ford Racing 42lb injectors under the hood. Smoothed and painted/cleared the tank cover and added some Glenn's Performance stainless tank straps also.

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Also not pictured was swapping the rear driveshaft yoke for a hybrid unit to adapt to the terminator pinion flange, running new brake lines and mounting 99-04 Cobra Russell Stainless brake flex hoses, and mounting the rear IRS brackets by drilling up through the trunk. Here's a picture of the plates in the trunk however.

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Had my dad drive up to my house and lend a hand getting this heavy ******* up in place. Took us almost 8 hours, having to be careful to not mess up the powder coat.

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Added Maximum Motorports rear coil overs on Bilsteins, with 8-550lb Hypercoil springs.

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And at the recommendation of Maximum Motorsports, I changed my front coil over springs to 10-350lb Hypercoils (kept my Tokico D-Spec struts in place). You can also see the Maximum Motorsports MMFCA-7 non-offset control arms I switched to in place of my previous Team Z front control arms.

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[95riosnake]

Added an 03 Cobra rack and steering shaft, converted the rack with Maximum Motorsport's AN adapter fittings and threw in some Energy Suspension Rack bushings.

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The last phase was to spruce up the interior, so in went a pair of Sparco Evo2's Schroth Rallye Cross 4 point harnesses (100% D.O.T. street legal), as well as a custom carbon fiber-wrapped cluster bezel to hold the new AEM wideband and the Autometer C2 boost gauge. The last interior change was a KDezines rear seat delete.

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Had to make adapter brackets to mate the Sparco sliders to the seat brackets, they were for some reason left out of my order from Sparco. I didn't have time to wait for them to send them to me so I just made my own.

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Didn't think to take a picture of the seats or gauges in place because I was in a mad rush getting it together for the appointment at the tuner, but here are a couple more recent pictures showing the interior.

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Next it was off to the dyno where my good friend Tim Rodeheaver of Rodeheaver's Hot Rod would be installing the built Tremec 3550 transmission (with MGW shifter), McLeod RST twin disc clutch and flywheel, aluminum driveshaft, rebuild my side exhaust to be higher, and weld in my new SpinTech subframe connectors. Normally I would have done the transmission, clutch and driveshaft myself, but my previous side exhaust was one solid piece from the long tubes back. This would mean I'd have to take the side skirts off to remove it or take a sawzall to it, neither of which was a tempting option. So while Tim was in there, I had him move the mufflers further up into the driveshaft tunnel and add V-band clamps after them so the side/tail pipes could be easily removed separately in the future. He ran into a small clearance issue with the header primaries and the bell housing, which you'll see in the pictures...nothing a little end mill work couldn't fix. I'm not totally happy with how the side/tail pipes turned out, they still aren't high enough off the ground so I'll be cutting them off soon and making new ones out of stainless oval tubing.

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Then at last, it was time for it to hit the rollers. The first full pull made 556rwhp/614rwtq, which was a bit too much for my comfort with the block the car has, so the timing on the top end was backed down and the car made a nice strong 495rwhp/494rwtq. Here's a dyno video:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cplvhD4CMWU

I had a couple boost-related issues to sort out before Carlisle but I slapped the HRE's back on the car, buffed and detailed the crap out of it and got it there mostly done. I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend even despite the few loose ends that still needed tied up.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_J_I9_mKYs

[95riosnake]

Some completed pics courtesy of a couple of my photographer friends

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[95riosnake]

10/21/12 - GZ Motorsports Vacuum pump:

Tried out some yellow Lamin-X overlays on my fogs, I already have 3000k HID's in them so they should look pretty cool. I wasn't sure if I'd like the yellow fog look but I think I dig it.

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Also yesterday I finished up the GZ Motorsports vacuum pump install. Ever since I put the Procharger on, I'd been having issues with the dipstick blowing out under boost. I tried open breathers but the oil vapor smell was more than I wanted to live with, and after MANY MANY hours researching online I found that it seems no factory-style PCV system seems to work very well on these blown pushrods. So I sucked it up and pulled the trigger on a few parts. Got it started up yesterday, my tune will need a couple tweaks because the pump is messing with the idle slightly but overall it seems to work great.

GZ Motorsports VP102 Sportsman vacuum pump
March Performance 6.5" pulley
Custom machined 0.500" pulley spacer to use the 6 rib march pulley and serpentine belt rather than the GZ setup of a V-belt pulley and separate belt
Allstar Manufacturing breather tank
Aeromotive 33101 vacuum regulator
GZ Motorsports lock-on -10an breather
Earl's -10an fittings
Earl's -10an hoses
Custom fabbed breather tank mount bracket
Lokar Anchor Tight locking distick

Some pics:

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And a couple pics of the pulley spacer needed to push the pulley out where it needs to be.

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12/1/12 - Plug wires that don't suck

Well a couple weeks ago I was pulling a plug wire off a spark plug and the connector pulled out of the boot. I figured since I needed one new wire, might as well do them all. I have always hated how my wires were tight on some cylinders, and had TONS of extra length on others, plus the coil wire was way too short after adjusting the timing. I decided to take the plunge and do what I've been meaning to do for years and ordered a set of Taylor universal DIY plug wires and got to it. It took the majority of the day to make them but I am very happy with the result. They fit perfectly and are nice and neat like they always should have been. The "409" 10.4mm wires also look pretty beast compared to the old 8.5mm's I used to have.

Parts used:

Taylor 409 Pro Race Universal Spark Plug Wire Set p#79253

Made For You Vertical Wire Looms (replace lower valve cover bolts) p# 50-710-13

Taylor Wire Crimping Tool 43400

Pics:

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Coil wire has plenty of slack for timing adjustment
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All buttoned back up:

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[95riosnake]

Since doing the plug wires I've been selling parts, collecting new ones, and thinking about new projects in my free time. By the time I actually turn a wrench, I have usually thought about it like 10 times at work, while falling asleep, etc. lol. I tend to brainstorm things waaaay too much, lol.

3/2/13 - moving the battery and changes to the trunk begin

I can't seem to find any pictures, but my trunk previously had a Taylor battery relocation on the passenger side and a custom sub box that fit into the driver's side corner of the trunk. Here's a picture of the box I had/have though:

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This was ok, but I got tired of the lack of trunk space, the worn, stained carpet, and my hacked up trunk panels (I cut them to accommodate the CHE rear shock tower brace and my previous Tokico D-Specs - you had to be able to access the top of the shocks to adjust them). Now I have Bilsteins with a MM coil over kit so I no longer need these hacked access points through the panels.

So far I've relocated the battery under the rear seat delete, and I'm planning to make a custom sub box to drop the sub down into the spare tire well. I'm also on the hunt for a pair of mint left and right trunk trim panels currently.

Now I'll go into some more detail with pics:

I have a K-Dezines rear seat delete. If you're not familiar with it, it actually raises the bottom up a few inches, which provides quite a bit more room underneath. Here's a link to their site: http://www.kdezines.com/MustangParts/RearSeatDeleteKits if you want any more info. They're great to work with and the quality of their kit is absolutely top notch.

Anyway, this provided more than enough room to put the battery in that location. I was running a conventional Motorcraft battery, which required the battery box but a battery box definitely will not fit here. So here's the parts list for the battery relocation-relocation, lol:

Odyssey PC1200 Dry Cell Battery
Arctec Industries Battery Mount (pn# OY1201B)
Mil-Spec Battery Terminals
Various 2 gauge power and ground wire, ring terminals, etc.
Jegs Remote Charging Terminal Kit

First, protect the rear bumper cover with generous amounts of frog tape, and strip all that crap out of the trunk:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0779gz-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0781qe-1.jpg

Then it was on to getting the battery mounted under the RSD, Shot the Arctec mount with some metallic dark gray paint and mounted it in place:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0773vq-1.jpg

Odyssey battery in its new home:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0774t-1.jpg

Top plate of mount on:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0775l-1.jpg

Terminals in place and cables run. The mil-spec terminals are really nice because they provide plenty of room to grow because of the threaded studs, especially coupled with the top bolts of the Odyssey's terminals. This will make it easy to attach power wires for things in the future should the need arise.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img07762-1.jpg

I then found myself looking at the trunk with disappointment, and upon remembering how I always wanted to lay down some Dynamat there, I placed an order for 20 sq. ft. of Dynamat Extreme and got to it.
This stuff is a little tricky, but not too bad It just takes some patience to trim all the pieces correctly and work the material over and around curves. Here are a few pics of the process:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/photo3ca-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/photo2sde-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I didn't think to take a completed pic, but I ended up getting most of the wheel tubs covered also.

One issue with having the battery under the rear seat delete is that it makes it a bit hard to get to with a harness bar and fixed back Sparco seats. So to make it easier to charge the battery/hook up a battery tender or in an unfortunate case, attach jumper cables I decided to add remote charging posts in the trunk for easy access. I attached the bracket under the deck lid and think it looks pretty good there. I may add some "speed holes" to the bracket to make it look a little less plain-looking, not sure though. (you can also see in one pic I mounted the sub amp under the deck lid also, to get it out of the way).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0785qo-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0783up-1.jpg

Next step is finding some new side panels. I don't have pics but last night I made some cardboard templates for a floor panel. Planning to use 1/2" MDF and wrap it in either carpet or suede.

[95riosnake]

So here's a picture of the aforementioned hacked trunk panels. I am pretty ashamed of how sloppy of a job I did lol. You can see the large holes in the base of the passenger side panel for the battery cables where they came into the trunk, the various stains and the holes/markings from a previously-installed SMR bar (ended up upgrading to the CHE piece instead).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0787ya-1.jpg

I took a trip over to a local mustang shop that is gutting a 95 GT vert to turn it into a coyote-powered drag car, with the intent of snagging a new rear trunk panel (the piece that goes behind the taillights) and ended up scooping that up for only $20 in mint condition. You can somewhat see it sitting under the car on top of the old panel in the picture above. But while I was there BS'ing with the shop owner a bit I noticed one of his guys working on taking out the interior, specifically a pair of kick panels with Polk Audio components in them, so I threw out an offer. I ended up picking up these beauties for a total of $70!!!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0788e-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0789nm-1.jpg

I'm thinking I'll probably paint the grilles and tweeter surrounds either metallic dark gray or satin black so they blend in a little, the silver would draw a bit more attention than I'm after.

Lastly, I got home from work today and saw this had showed up. I've been looking for this exact one for a long time. We have a pair of these Check-a-Threads at work (standard and metric) and they are just so damn handy to have around for checking threads quickly. I scored this one brand new from eBay for $17 + shipping , compared to $50+ shipping for differently-branded ones I've seen online. I'll continue my hunt for a standard counterpart but for now I'll be happy with this one. It is probably a bit lame that I was so excited about checking metric nut and bolt sizes when I got home from work today, but I suppose that is the life of a car nut, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0791uj-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

3/9/13 - Who needs a spare tire anyway?

You may remember I mentioned plans to make an enclosure to put the subwoofer down in the spare tire well. Here's the progress on that from yesterday and today.

Picked up all the supplies (please excuse the mess on the shelf behind the work bench, lol)

- 3M Paint Spray/Pesticide Respirator
- Fiberglass cloth
- Fiberglass resin
- Fiberglass hardener
- Plastic paint mixing cups (with ounce measurements on sides)
- Mixing sticks
- Latex gloves
- Cheap paint brushes (the cheapest available - these will thrown away after use)
- Masking tape
- Cooking spray
- Aluminum foil
- Liquid Nails (for attaching the MDF top board)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0801hk-1.jpg

So, with all that in hand, it was time to line the spare tire well with the aluminum foil, being careful to work the foil into all the curves. Then I taped up the seams and any tears with masking tape to seal it all up.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Note the board here, this is to create a recessed place for the speaker terminal cup, then I can just route the speaker wires up below the taillight panel then around the driver's side perimeter of the trunk and up to the amp under the deck lid.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0799oc-1.jpg

Now that the foil was down, I sprayed a coat of the cooking spray and laid down the first layer of fiberglass cloth. I cut it into long strips, then smaller rectangles until I got it all covered:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0802ni-1.jpg

Then strapped on the respirator, put on some gloves and mixed up the resin, (10 drops of hardener per ounce of resin) and brushed it on:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0803v-1.jpg
(^ I know it looks like there's nothing there, but the cloth turns translucent as the resin soaks into it.)

After another layer of glass and more resin:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0804pg-1.jpg

Then after a third layer of cloth and resin:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0805ht-1.jpg

At this point, I was out of fiberglass cloth because Home Depot only had three packages in stock, so I left it to cure overnight. Then took the wife out to dinner to make up for the house smelling like resin ;)

Fast forward to this morning...Saddled up the DD, went to Lowe's and picked up 5 more packages of cloth. Then I needed to sand the surface of the cured resin to give the subsequent layers something to adhere to:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0806r-1.jpg

Vacuumed out the sanding dust and added another 3.5 layers of glass and resin. I added a bit more to places I thought looked a bit thin. What you can't see here is 2.5 - 3 hours of bending and brushing on resin (SO MUCH FUN!)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0807qy-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0808j-1.jpg

So above is how it sits currently, letting it cure over night again. I won't be adding any more layers, it's about 3/16" thick now, which is fine for my needs. Tomorrow I'll pop it out of the trunk and peel off the foil and tape. Then I'll need to make a cardboard template for the top board to cut from MDF. It'll also need some internal reinforcing underneath the top board to strengthen it.

Probably not the most visually exciting update but I thought I'd share anyway. It's also somewhat of a bonus tutorial for all you guys on the first step of making a spare tire well enclosure

[95riosnake]

To my delight it popped out pretty easily after a little tugging. Here's how it looked, freshly-popped lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0811pn-1.jpg

Starting the tedious process of peeling away the foil and tape:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0812vj-1.jpg

About 2 hours later:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0815cf-1.jpg

If I could offer any advice to someone about to do this project, I would recommend trying to keep the foil as smooth as possible. In the areas where it was crumpled/smashed, the resin really gripped onto it. This made it pretty difficult to peel away. I'm going to sand down the outside/bottom and add a bit of filler to get rid of some of the texture from the foil (necessary? no...but I'll refer you to the title of this thread ;) ). You can also see a few small areas here and there where the resin didn't fully penetrate the cloth, so I'll be brushing on a little bit more resin in those areas.

I'll be moving the rest of the work on this project to our shop at work now that I don't need the car close by, I'd like to isolate my garage from all the sanding dust lol. So my next update will have a slightly different setting.

[95riosnake]

Some more progress, probably doesn't look like much but it was about 4 or so hours worth of work, lol. And most of that time was spent sanding, which may be one of the most miserable things to do lol.

So I sanded the crap out of the inside and outside of the tub for about 2.5 hours...unfortunately I forgot to take a pic before adding the filler. Next I added a layer of "Bondo Hair" fiberglass-reinforced filler (similar to Evercoat Tiger Hair if anyone has heard of that).

Filler on finally

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/enclosuresanding1-1.jpg

Let it cure about a half hour, then after an hour and a half of sanding or so later it looked like this:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/enclosuresanding2-1.jpg

Thank God I took it to our shop at work to do this step, my garage and car would have been covered in dust, lol (down draft sanding table FTW) It still needs some more sanding and a little bit more filler in a couple spots. Then I can liquid nail a support rib inside it and then get to work putting the top on. I've decided once I get the tub smooth enough for my tastes, I'm going to coat it in some textured bed liner-ish coating, then obviously the top panel will be wrapped in carpet.

After sanding the inside and finding some air pockets, those areas were a bit thin for my liking, so I wanted to add a bit more thickness. I ordered a yard of 4mm thick Coremat to add a thick layer quickly. Coremat is a perforated, shredded polyester material that will give you the effect of adding 4 layers of glass much quicker. So here's the process of that:

First I had to start cutting the mat to fit inside the enclosure by making pie cuts to fit it nicely. A bit of 3M spray adhesive on the inside of the enclosure and on the back side of the core mat kept it in place. After getting a flap trimmed, I simply sprayed a light mist of adhesive on the back of the coremat and on the enclosure interior, waited a second and pressed it down to form it. This part took a little while to get it all fitting nicely.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/photo7lub-1.jpg

Trimming done

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/photo8xj-1.jpg

Next came another layer of fiberglass cloth to lay over the core mat.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/photo6vt-1.jpg

Then I mixed up three 24oz batches of resin and saturated the core mat and the fiberglass cloth. Then a final additional layer of cloth was laid down and another batch of resin over that. After about 3/4 gallon of resin I ended up with this, and left it at the shop at work for a couple days to save my house from the smell of the resin while it cured ;)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/photo5ry-1.jpg

Took a trip to work a couple days later to pick it up and bring it home. Then it was time to mark it for trimming to get rid of the flange around the top edge that isn't needed.

Here's the highly sophisticated marking tool I came up with :eagerness:

I just slowly slid this around to mark the cut line, only the most high tech tools in my garage, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0816c-1.jpg

Then out came the cut off wheel and I made a tiny bit of dust cutting this off

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0818th-1.jpg

The finished lower tub of the enclosure

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

This thing is SOLID now, the wall thickness is about 5/16" or so, and it is hard as a rock. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Next step will be dividing the interior in half to reduce the volume to what I need for my sub, then adding the top panel of 3/4" MDF. The tub is 5-3/4" tall, and with the 3/4" MDF top the total height will hit 6-1/2", which is the exact depth of the tire well. My sub's mounting depth is 6-11/16" so I'll just have to add a thin ring of MDF where the sub mounts to space it up and get a little space undrneath it. It'll still be very low to the floor and close to flush so I think I'll be happy with the finished product.

[95riosnake]

Spent a couple very dusty, messy days in the garage... but made a lot of progress!

Ran out to Lowe's and was reminded why a hatchback is the next best thing to a truck :rockon: , brought home a 4x8 sheet each of 3/4" and 1/2" MDF

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0819oc-1.jpg

Side note, my new trunk side panels came in and they're in great shape. I'll come back to trimming those to fit nice and tight around the shock tower brace brackets later.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0820bk-1.jpg

Quick test fit in the trunk to make sure the tub sits all the way down in... good to go!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0821sp-1.jpg

Laid the tub face down on the piece of 3/4" MDF and traced the outline, then cut it out.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0822r-1.jpg

Made a cardboard template for the center divider to reduce the enclosure volume to a bit less than 1 cubic foot, takes a bit of trial and error but this is pretty much the only way to make it happen.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0823cz-1.jpg

Sanded the interior to give the Liquid Nails something to adhere to

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0824ow-1.jpg

Cut a divider from 3/4" MDF, mocked up in place and everything looked good

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0825mw-1.jpg

Laid down a nice thick bead of Liquid Nails, better to have a lot than not enough.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0826gk-1.jpg

Divider in place, then let it sit over night to cure.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0827xv-1.jpg

Marked and cut the hole for the speaker terminal cup (after a wild goose chase around town for almost an hour trying to find one, ended up finding out there actually is a Radio Shack near me, which is cool because I always thought there were none)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0828ud-1.jpg

Looking good

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0829oo-1.jpg

Sat the top back on and marked out the hole for the sub cutout, it may look off center but this location actually locates it right in the center of the trunk. The spare tire well in our cars is off center in the trunk to the driver's side.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0830JPG-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0831ty-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0832zj-1.jpg

Now I had been basing my needed depth for my sub off the numbers I found online from Boston because I hadn't yet taken it out of the old box. No idea where they got the dimension of it being 6-11/16" deep, it's a lot deeper sub than that for sure... (it's been a couple years since I put it in the old box so I forgot how big the magnet is on this *******)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0833mw-1.jpg

So my idea was to space it up with a piece of 3/4" MDF, cut to the shape drawn out here:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0834td-1.jpg

Buuuut, even after the 3/4" spacer, the magnet was still hitting the bottom of the tub, so I cut an additional layer of 1/2"

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0835zb-1.jpg

Screwed the spacer layers together and mocked it in place, good to go!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Before I attached the top, I took a minute to install the terminal cup. It had just been sitting in the cutout. Sanded the back of the cup's flange, then applied a bit of liquid nails inside the cut out, then screws to tighten it in place...then a bit more liquid nails around the edge from the inside. No leaks to worry about from here, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0837xz-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0838gp-1.jpg

Time to attach the top panel, once again a nice thick bead of Liquid nails was run around the edge and on the center divider.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0839ba-1.jpg

Laid the panel on top and used countersunk screws to attach the top panel to the divider, this also serves to draw the top panel down tight against the edges of the tub.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0840yh-1.jpg

Added a layer of Bondo Hair over the countersunk screw holes and all the way around the edge where the top panel meets the tub. This is just further reinforcement, even though the Liquid Nails alone is probably plenty. Also, I sealed all the internal edges of the subwoofer side of the interior with caulking, unfortunately I couldn't really get a picture of that.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0842cy-1.jpg

Sanded down the top while I allowed the sides a bit more time to cure (it was a bit thicker on the sides so it wasn't ready for sanding yet), then screwed the spacers in place, once again with countersunk screws. The stock trunk carpet makes a great sanding pad FYI haha

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0843uk-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

Sides sanded smooth and the screw holes on the spacers were also filled and sanded smooth.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0845kh-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0846xp-1.jpg

Finally it was time to lay down a textured coating on the bottom and sides of the tub.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0847se-1.jpg

Sprayed it with Rust-Oleum Truck Bed Coating. This stuff is pretty nice, it dries with a rough texture which looks great. The bottom of the tub isn't 100% smooth as you can see, but I think it looks pretty good considering nobody will EVER see it, lol. It's only this smooth because I can't leave well enough alone, lol. This is how it sits for now, gonna let this cure really well for a few days then get back on this next week. The next step will be carpeting the top panel and the spacers. It wasn't totally dry in this pic yet, it ended up getting more textured and less glossy so it looks even better

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0850fb-1.jpg

Some of you may remember I said I would be doing all the dusty/messy work in our shop at work to keep it out of my garage, but I wanted to just get **** done today rather than having to pack up supplies, drive them to work, get all the lights and such turned on, etc. So I decided to make it happen in the garage. Well, the consequences of breaking that commitment became painfully apparent when I looked at the rest of the garage...

oops...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0844gn-1.jpg

After 3 hours of hosing down the garage, squee-geeing the water out, washing the cobra, sweeping, shop-vac'ing, and wiping down every tool and item that was covered in dust...not to mention a wife returning home from shopping to a complete mess of a garage (lol), I finally had everything cleaned up and can sleep tonight knowing the cobra is sparkling and pretty again. I will not be sanding **** in this garage again, lesson learned! Next time I'll just take the time to pack stuff up and take it to work like I said I would, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0849JPG-1.jpg

Took yesterday off working on the car to drive down to my parents' house in WV and start building a new work bench for my garage. My current setup of a piece of OSB on top of some saw horses isn't cutting it anymore lol. My dad has a fully-decked out wood shop, and a truck for picking up full sheets of plywood so it just made sense to make the trip there. I'm going back next weekend to finish it up.

Anyway, onto the progress on the car:

Test fit the box in the spare tire well, overall it fit nicely

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0852gv-1.jpg

But it did need a little dremel action to clear some ribs below the trunk latch

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0851mh-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0853sl-1.jpg

Dropped the sub down in place to get the full effect, still thinking about possibly adding a beveled 1/2" thick ring around the sub to give it a flush mount look, not sure if I'll do that or not yet.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0854zr-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0855qq-1.jpg

Next, the new trunk panels came out for some trimming to fit over the shock tower brace brackets.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0820bk-1.jpg

More dremel action

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0856ir-1.jpg

Panels in place, finally looking proper, rather than hacked like my old ones.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0857tf-1.jpg

The trunk floor panel templates I made a few weeks ago then made a reappearance. Now that I had the trunk side panels in place I could make a few last minute changes to the templates for a perfect fit. As you can see, making the templates is no scientific process... I traced the stock trunk carpet about 1" larger all the way around, then just kept cutting away areas and notches... sometimes adding some material back with the help of some duct tape when I took too much, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0858xv-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0859ii-1.jpg

Traced out on the 1/2" MDF

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Cut out and ready to go in

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0861dn-1.jpg

As you can see in the next pic, by splitting the trunk floor into two panels, it lets me get a nice snug fit all the way around. A one-piece panel wouldn't be able to slip under the shock tower brace brackets, and aside from that issue it would be very difficult to get into the trunk. The cutout near the rear seat area is to clear some weird bump in the trunk floor that would prevent the panel from laying flat. I'll be making a trim panel that will cover that area.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0864v-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0862wu-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0863w-1.jpg

Also a few goodies showed up this week so I thought I'd share some pics :bananen_smilies102:

First off we have a badass little Rockford Fosgate PBR300x4 amp to power the new kick panel components and my rear deck speakers. This thing is impossibly small so it will easily mount just about anywhere, and it puts out 86 x 4 which will be perfect for powering my components.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0865gd-1.jpg

My dusty iPhone on top of the amp to give you an idea of its size:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0867w-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0866dn-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

NVX 8-gauge power wiring kit and RCA cables for the amp

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0868kx-1.jpg

My rear 6x8's have been semi-blown for a couple years so I figured it was time to step up the rear sound stage while the trunk area is being reborn. Rather than going with 6x8's again, I'll make some adapter plates from MDF to run these 6.5" components from Precision Power. These are their PC2.65C two way components.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0869pt-1.jpg

These things are beautiful IMO, almost a shame to hide under the rear deck.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0870wj-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0871cw-1.jpg

Lastly we have a little chassis stiffening for the cobra as well! My friend Tom Clark (Sinis Built) posted some pictures on facebook of the Stiffler's FIT System going on his pro touring 79 Pace Car build and I was intrigued. I wondered whether they would fit with the SpinTech subframe connectors I already have, so I gave Brian Figg at Stiffler's a call. Brian is an awesome dude with a background in mechanical engineering, and a super nice guy. After a bit of brainstorming and a little BS'ing about mustangs, we felt very confident that they will work, and since they sell each component of their FIT System separately, I was able to buy just the webbing braces and stiffening rail for the pinch weld to add to my existing SFC's. There may be a couple issues to deal with where my side pipes exit out the side of the car, because my exhaust is 100% custom, but the only way to find out is to have them in hand. I have some plans to make these things look incredible under the car, they won't be black when installed. Stay tuned for that, I won't be starting the FIT braces until after I'm finished with the trunk.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img08721b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0873zk-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0874s-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

Decided I'd start working on getting the rear components mounted.

Pulled the interior trim and the old speakers.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0875vi-1.jpg

Then made a template out of cardboard for the adapter plate. The plates will attach underneath the package tray with sheet metal screws, the speakers will screw into them from the bottom, and the tweeters will attach to the top of the plates.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0876qj-1.jpg

Marked out on the 1/2" MDF, ready to cut

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0877j-1.jpg

Finished adapters

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0878lq-1.jpg

Here's how the speakers and tweeters will be attached

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0879h-1.jpg

Shot them with a little satin black.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0880lv-1.jpg

Components mounted, very happy with how these turned out!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0881fz-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0883ew-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

Took another trip to my dad's house again to finish up building the new work bench. I won't show any pictures of the work bench until I have it finished so I can just show the pictures all at once though, so stay tuned for that.

While I was there though, I took advantage of my dad's extensive collection of scrap metal to make an extension for my jack. I have a ridiculously low profile jack, in fact it's the only one that will fit under my car without driving it up on boards. The downside is it doesn't have a high enough max lift height to let me put the car on taller truck-style 3 ton jack stands to give me have plenty of room for welding in the FIT system and reworking my side pipes. So I decided to make an extension spacer to give it 6" of extra lift. This way I can jack it up normally and put it on the shorter 1.5 ton jack stands, then put the extension on and jack it up higher to use the higher 3 ton stands.

Started by cutting a piece of 5" diameter 1/4" wall pipeline tubing and cleaned it up, then torched out a couple 6" diameter plates from 1/2" steel and ground the edges smooth, followed by a 1" hole through both.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0890yr-1.jpg

Here's the basic concept stacked up

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0888us-1.jpg

The existing jack plate will sit down into the top of the spacer like so

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0889ew-1.jpg

Found a huge 1" grade 8 bolt, cut it to length and welded it into the hole of one plate. This creates a pin that will slip down into the hole in the jack.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0891mtv-1.jpg

Stacked the pieces back together and clamped them in place

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0892uyl-1.jpg

I then welded it all up with my dad's MASSIVE industrial-sized Lincoln welder, this thing is no joke...he said he's welded 1" thick steel with it! I'd love to have a big boy welder like his, maybe someday lol. Anyway, all welded up...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0894po-1.jpg

Painted and ready to go!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0896bl-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0898hn-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0899id-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0900si-1.jpg

Ok so back to the progress on the car... I got the components mounted and they look great.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0908cr-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0909t-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0906ne-1.jpg

The rear package tray cover had always bothered me. It's been pretty badly faded the entire time I've owned the car. So it's about time I change that.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0901du-1.jpg

Supplies:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0903ug-1.jpg

Cover masked and wiped down with acetone

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0904ff-1.jpg

After drying, looking mint!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0919sx-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0918bn-1.jpg

A little cutting of the fabric under the speaker grills to clear the tweeters

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0920vo-1.jpg

Worked on mounting the Rockford amp under the rear seat delete. I chose to mount it above the floor so I could have easy access to the wiring connections and gain adjustment. I had a spare bracket from the remote charging terminals I used in the trunk, so I drilled a few holes through that and attached it to a rectangle of 1/2" MDF to mount the amp to.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0910nq-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0911ka-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0914z-1.jpg

Mounted in place under the rear seat

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/04/img0915sy-1.jpg

After that I just worked on wiring things up, hopefully with the next update I'll have the wiring complete.

[69clark]

Ehh, just have built a camaro. Lot of wasted time on a mustang, lol. Looking good Dan!

[Thephranc]

Holy picture book batman! Thanks!

That fiberglass thick padding stuff is interesting.

[cobraguy65]

Very cool build!

[R32Jordie]

Nice to see another 90's build on here, and a boosted one at that. I might have to "borrow" your idea of having trunk mounted charge points its not something that i have thought about before. My Battery is going to be mounted in my rear seat delete as well and its a pain to get to with the cage and seats im planning on getting. Absolutely incredible attention to detail keep up the good work, im not usually one for car audio but your install was on point.

[85coupe50]

Nice...

[Tig]

Awesome build, everything looks amazing.
That amp is so cool and so tiny. I'm going to look into one of them for my car, hah.

Great job man.
Lookin forward to your updates.

[AstroCreep]

Awesome! Thanks for posting all the pics.

[95riosnake]

Thanks for the kind words fellas. Sorry I haven't done a better job keeping this thread updated. Here are some updates!

4/21/13

Ok so I don't have much to show for this update that is picture-worthy. I've got almost 3 days of contorting myself and bending backwards inside the car doing wiring behind me now, lol. None of the previous audio wiring that was in the car prior to this winter is in the car anymore. The further along I got the more dissatisfied I got with some wiring I had done as much as 8-9 years ago so I just ripped it all out and started fresh. I'm really picky about how wiring is run so this process took me a while. It's 100% complete now, but there's nothing too visually exciting about showing you the wiring so I'll spare you the boredom, lol.

One thing worthy of pictures is that I got the grilles for the kick panel speakers painted, and the kick panels are now installed. I don't have a pic of this because my shop-vac decided to kick the bucket and the inside of the car is littered with stripped wire insulation and such, so I'll get a pic of that once I grab a new shop-vac and clean it up.

While scuffing the grilles to repaint them, I noticed I didn't like the pointed design of the spokes, so I rounded them and like it much better. Here's a comparison of how they came and what I changed:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0922o-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0921qw-1.jpg

Both prepped for paint:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0923fn-1.jpg

Primed:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0924ga-1.jpg

Complete:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0926pt-1.jpg

And a little before/after comparison:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0788e-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0925d-1.jpg

When I thought I was ready to button everything up and try out the new speakers, I found that I in fact did not have 3 pairs of RCA pre-outs on the back of my Alpine head unit like I thought (you need 1 pair for the front channel to the amp, 1 pair for the rear channel to the amp, and 1 pair for the sub to the amp), this head unit only has 1 pair for the sub... so that won't do. This has finally pushed me over the edge to convert to the newer-style double din radio bezel so I can run a nice double din setup.

Out came the old radio and shifter bezel:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0927a-1.jpg

And these beauties are on their way from Carbon Driven... full carbon fiber replacements, not factory bezels wrapped with CF, these are the real deal! :pepper:

The radio bezel isn't yet available but I pre-ordered one, he said they'll be available in 2-3 weeks. I'll have to figure something out for the button holes at the bottom.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/carbondrivenradiobezel-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/carbondrivenshifterbeze-1.jpg

Here's the link to their site, Rob is a great guy and his stuff is super nice. It's awesome to see someone making CF parts for pre-05 mustangs FINALLY.
http://www.carbondriven.com/

Also have this beaut on the way, Pioneer AVH-P4400BH head unit. This thing is sick.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/avhp4400bh-1.jpg

Here it is mounted in a guy's car I found online

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/f36229ea-1.jpg

So those last 3 purchases illustrate how my projects on this car snowball out of control, lol. I just can't leave any stone unturned, much to the "delight" of my wife ;)

Lastly, one thing my car has always needed is louder exhaust (read that with VERY heavy sarcasm, lol), so these showed up a couple days ago, Doug's stainless electric cutouts. I did A LOT of research on e-cutouts to find out which suck and which don't. Most of the companies use a butterfly blade design, like DMH and QTP, but I heard nothing but bad reviews of them leaking, rattling, and burning out the motors. I finally found the Doug's cutouts, which had stellar reviews and are guaranteed not to leak. I got them for a great deal less than most places listed them, if anyone is looking to get some, go to www.marylandspeed.com, they have hands down the best price on them. Go here: http://marylandspeed.com/dougs-electric-cutouts-25-pair-with-ypipes-and-hook-up-kit-dec250ak-p-3920.html and use coupon code facebook5 to knock another $18 off the total. :thumb:

As you'll see in these pics, they use a totally different design than a butterfly. The only drawback is they are bigger in size than the butterfly type. I'm gonna have to get creative installing these, but I'm determined to make it happen.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0929b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0930ey-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

4/27/13

Here are some pictures of the completed wiring inside the rear seat area. These show the wiring for the rear speakers, the component amp and the sub amp, as well as the crossovers mounted and wired.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img09312-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img09332-1.jpg

Next step is getting the Carbon Driven radio bezel in (should hit the market in a couple more weeks) and installing the Pioneer AVH unit (hasn't come in yet) to fill that void in the middle of the dash, and I can finally try out all the new speakers.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0946large-1.jpg

Speaking of Carbon Driven, the shifter bezel showed up this week. This thing is absolutely beautiful. By far the highest quality carbon fiber part I've ever had.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0947large-1.jpg

And look a this, they actually designed a CF part that snaps in just like the factory piece! (This is a rare thing in CF parts, you're usually on your own when it comes to mounting them)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0948large-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

5/08/2013

I took a brief hiatus from the car to build a proper work bench. I don't have any from the very beginning, but I'll just give you a run down of what we did. I wanted a large rolling work bench with storage in the bottom. This way I can roll it out of the way for easy access to the shelves in my garage. My previous "work bench" was two sawhorses with a piece of OSB thrown over them... it was no longer cutting it.

My dad bought a TON of shelving from a warehouse that was going out of business back when I was in college. Along with the shelving came some several T-shaped frames with locking casters on the bottom. They were originally part of rolling parts racks and have a 2000lb capacity. What we did is chop the uprights down to the height I wanted the bench top to be, then laid the cut off part over the remaining upright and welded it in place. Then I re-purposed a metal brace to span between the uprights at the top, and added a steel cross brace near the bottom. The frames have a pretty sweet silver vein powder coat so we minimized the grinding as much as possible, then sprayed the welded areas with a very close shade of metallic gray. Now that you're up to date on what I don't have pics of, here's the semi-complete metal frame, sturdy as hell too.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0884j-1.jpg

Here's where the cut off piece was welded onto the top of the upright

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0886wd-1.jpg

Then I welded some mounting plates into the ends of the cut off pieces with nuts welded on the back of the plates. This way I could bolt the frame of the bench top onto the metal frame from the sides.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0885gq-1.jpg

Added a plywood lower storage level

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/inprogress5-1.jpg

Then the plywood bench top with a double layer of plywood around the edges to give me a strong edge to clamp against when I'm working on things. Also there's a 2x4 frame under the bench top that bolts to the metal frame.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Painted it with gloss oil-based gray so it will be easy to clean without worrying about taking paint off with cleaners

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/inprogress8-1.jpg

These are sides that slip into existing lower channels that the T-frames already had. The top of them bolt into the top of the metal frame.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/inprogress9-1.jpg

And here's a few finished pics with it loaded up with stuff. I added a power strip under the front edge of the bench top that I got from Lowe's also. The cord for it runs around the inside of the bench top , connecting to an extension cord. Now all I have to do is plug the cord into the wall and I have 10 outlets to plug things into rather than running extension cords all over the place. When the cord isn't plugged in, it gets coiled up and hung from a hook on the back of the work bench.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0959wx-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0961qg-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0962cc-1.jpg

^The shelves in the garage are from the tons of shelving my dad bought back in the day. He has probably 10x as many shelves in his garage, lol.

I'm planning to make racks that attach to the sides of the bench to hang my wheel dollies from when I'm not using them, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[95riosnake]

5/11/13

Ok so...started getting the trunk floor panels fitted 100% so I can get them wrapped by an upholstery shop. It previously slipped my mind to put the taillight panel in place, but I threw it in and thankfully I did this before having them wrapped because they needed quite a bit of trimming to fit with it in place.

Messed around with the cardboard templates I still had sitting around, then marked the panels for a little trimming:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0966sd-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0967ev-1.jpg

Cleaned up the cuts and fitted all the panels back into the trunk, good to go! I'm planning to have a local shop wrap these, I still haven't totally made up my mind between suede/alcantara or black carpet...hmm. Either way I'll be getting with them this week.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I had a small order placed with Late Model Restoration for some plugs to fill the switch holes in the upcoming double din radio bezel, a new speedo gear so my speedometer will finally be right (been using my GPS lol) and while I was at it, I decided the rusty, tired looking trunk lid bumpers might as well get spruced up. This is more evidence of my automotive OCD, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0953f-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0954kr-1.jpg

Console is out while I look for a 98 console to relocate my gauges into also.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0957yd-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0958ir-1.jpg

Lastly, I went through the lengthy process of getting the car up in the air, then mocked up the cutouts. As you can see in the picture below, there happens to be a really great spot they'll fit into right behind the cross member, I'll just need to weld some bends onto the X pipe (which needs a new coat of paint anyway, after the dipstick blew out last summer and sprayed the bottom of the car with oil lol)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0963nx-1.jpg

You can see in the next pic how nicely it fits. A short bend welded onto the pipe right after the headers will do the trick. I'm also going to make flow tubes that run from the cutouts and tie back into the exhaust after the mufflers so everything will still come out the side rather than onto the ground like most cutouts.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0965zq-1.jpg

Just placed an order for some aluminized bends to tie into the X pipe (since it isn't stainless), some 3 bolt flanges and copper gaskets to bolt up to the cutouts, and some 2.5" stainless tubing to make flow tubes after the cutouts. Once I have the flow tubes done, I'll start rebuilding the side pipes higher off the ground

[95riosnake]

5/21/13

I haven't been very happy with the gap where the floor panels meet the raised portion for the sub, it was 1/4"-3/8" in some places.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0970vp-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0971qs-1.jpg

So I grabbed a bit pf 3/16" plywood and cut out a trim piece that tightened up the gap, then liquid nailed it in place. One step closer to being done.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0972q-1.jpg

While the console was out, I was reminded the poor shape my lower shift boot was in, I rigged it with some silicone last time it was out when I was installing the new shifter for the Tremec, but this thing is beat IMO.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0973vr-1.jpg

So I ordered Latemodel Restoration's replacement boot, plate and hardware kit. I'm pretty impressed how nice it is. It has 1/4" thick foam on the bottom for a really nice seal against the trans tunnel.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Installed

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0975ov-1.jpg

Next up was a little more refinement of the trunk floor panels. They didn't want to sit level because the edges overlap the side interior panels, and the trunk floor in these cars isn't exactly level. So I cut out some strips of 1/2" MDF to add to the bottom of them; they sit nice and level now. This also allowed me to add a thin panel to close out the cutout I had to clear the bump in the floor near the back seat. This way the panel will be nice and flat with no need for a cover or anything added there.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0978v-1.jpg

Next up was blending the trim piece I added around the sub cutout last week with some bondo. Took it out to our shop at work to make a mess with it. When I was sanding the bondo down, I sanded down some of the edge of the trim piece so it's a nice gradual contour. It should look nice and smooth when covered

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0977d-1.jpg

In place, and looking great IMO

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0980be-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Next up, I FINALLY found a black 98 console and it showed up at my door on Friday. It's in great shape, but I think I still may hit it with some black paint from CJ Pony Parts, it looks a little neglected and I can't get it to look nice and deep black like my factory console.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0982gj-1.jpg

And here is the key design aspect of it that I was after, the removable cup holder insert that neatly snaps down in place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0983lc-1.jpg

Here's a rough mockup of the plan I have for it. The water temp and volt gauges will be mounted in a custom fiberglass pod using the cup holder, should look pretty nice when I'm finished with it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0988gs-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0984xu-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0985nr-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0987z-1.jpg

I ended up remaking the PVC inserts so they were positioned closer to the middle of the cup holder areas, then epoxied them in place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/gaugepod2-1.jpg

After the epoxy was dry, I stretched fleece over the cup holder insert and the PVC pieces, mixed up some fiberglass resin and brushed it on. The fleece is great because it stretches really nicely in all directions, and once you add resin to it, it gives you a nice strong shape to sand and add filler to.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/gaugepod3-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/gaugepod4-1.jpg

I let the resin cure for a couple hours, then cut away the excess fleece and trimmed out the holes. I gave it a quick sanding to get an idea how it looks and I'm really happy with how it came out. It obviously still needs a lot of sanding and shaping, and a little bondo work to get it smooth.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/gaugepod5-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/gaugepod6-1.jpg

Gauges mocked in place. Notice the dent in the trim ring around the water temp gauge, my dumbass dropped it on the floor :banging:

I emailed Autometer and they said if I ship the gauge to them, they can replace the ring and crimp on a new one for $12-17, which sure as hell beats $130 for a new gauge. Nice little tip for any of you guys who may have a gauge with a dented trim ring! You just have to print out a form and fill it out, then throw it in the box with your gauge.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0989zw-1.jpg

Snapped it into the console real quick to get an idea how it looks. It'll look much more at home once I sand it down nice and slender and get it smooth. Also, I talked to the owner of Carbon Driven and I'm gonna ship the pod to him when I'm done to have it wrapped in real carbon fiber so it'll tie in nicely with the other carbon bits I have in the interior:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0990fm-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

5/24/13

Worked on the pod a little, lots of sanding and shaping, added some filler, etc. Nothing too exciting to show there so no pics of that. I did get started on the cut outs though.

First off, you can see in this pic that on the driver's side, the wideband bung and the ball and cup joint are right where the cut out needs to attach to the X pipe

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0963nx-1.jpg

So I grabbed my trusty sawzall and solved that problem ;)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0992yo-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0995wy-1.jpg

Cut a straight piece of 2.5" and tacked it in

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

And here are the supplies for today. The straight piece for the previous picture had already been cut from the 180 degree bend before I took this pic. Some nice thick 3 bolt flanges and some copper gaskets, also not pictured is a new wideband bung so I can relocate that.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0997ww-1.jpg

After what seemed like endless trial and error, trimming and notching, here is the little guy that will do the trick!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0999kp-1.jpg

Hole cut in the X pipe, ready to tack on the elbow

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img0998tm-1.jpg

Everything tacked in place for the passenger's side cut out

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1000v-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1001vi-1.jpg

Tucked up nice and tight, nothing hangs any lower than the mufflers or header collectors so it's all good!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1002bc-1.jpg

Repeated the process on the driver's side

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1003ct-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1004fi-1.jpg

Everything is just tack welded in these pics, so I'm gonna pull it off the car sometime this weekend and finish weld the seams. Then I can bolt it back up and start rebuilding the side pipes/tails. Once those are done, I'll be making the flow tubes to tie the cutouts back into the side pipes

[95riosnake]

5/27/13

I got the X pulled off yesterday, got it prepped and started welding, and after about 20 mins ran out of gas... :mad2: All the welding supply places were closed since it was a Sunday, and obviously they're closed again today since it's a holiday. I'll need to get the bottle filled this week and hit it again next weekend. I also cut off the one remaining hanger that wasn't even being used. This might be one of the most modded mustang mid pipes in existence lol. It started life as a MAC pro chamber for shorty headers, which I then hacked off and converted to work with my long tubes. Then it was hacked off after the prochamber to have the Borlas welded on to make the custom side pipes. Then the prochamber was cut out and an X was welded in, now I'm adding cutouts lol. I think there's about 8" total remaining of the original piece, lol.

Right after dropping it out of the car

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1005t-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/20130527150951-1.jpg

As it sits now, cleaned up/prepped and a very tiny bit of welding accomplished, haha

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1009ll-1.jpg

Since I was out of gas, I scrubbed the bottom of the car clean and finally replaced the speedo gear with the proper one to fix my speedo issue. We just kept the white 17 tooth gear for a T5/3.55's when swapping the trans because I forgot about needing one, the 3550/3.55's needs a black 20 tooth so my speedo was off about 15mph last summer IIRC, lol.

[95riosnake]

6/4/13

Got my bottle filled for the welder and finished up the X pipe, I'm pretty happy with the welds overall but I hate welding aluminized pipe. Good enough for exhaust I guess. Also you can see the new location for the wideband O2 sensor bung.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1011v-1.jpg

Made it pretty with some VHT silver

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1012su-1.jpg

Also picked up a new pair of band clamps for the header collector joint

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1013y-1.jpg

Bolted up

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1095pl-1.jpg

Cut outs in place

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1097za-1.jpg

I'm going to get some 90 degree 2-1/2" round to oval transitions on the way from Spintech to base my new side pipes on next. I'll tie them into the same Borla tips. Then once those are finished I can finally begin fabbing the flow tubes from the cut outs back into the side pipes.

Onto other things, I finished the cup holder gauge pod insert. It may not look pretty here but is is smooth and flawless, very happy with it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1098ht-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1099hq-1.jpg

Quick final test fit in the console

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1101gm-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1102ee-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/img1103ed-1.jpg

Packed it up and shipped it out to Carbon Driven in Cali yesterday so it can get covered in some sexy carbon fiber. Can't wait to get it back!

[95riosnake]

6/7/13

I needed to mount the switch for the cutouts somewhere, so I looked around and saw the coin holder I have yet to ever put a coin in lol. Popped it out and got to work.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagecgsr-1.jpg

Measured the top of the coin holder and laser cut a top plate from styrene

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagesbu-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagealp-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imageekjo-1.jpg

Cut out the interior of the coin holder

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagejaud-1.jpg

Epoxied the plate on top

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imageqszo-1.jpg

Test fit the switch and decided the plate needed to taper down to the edge of the coin holder so it wouldn't look so bulky

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagejjqt-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagexayj-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imageksoi-1.jpg

Smoothed it out and painted it satin black

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagetbms-1.jpg

All finished up, pretty happy with it. The satin black isn't very "satin", it's a little higher gloss than I was wanting but oh well.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/imagehkd-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

6/26/13

Ok so this post will start out with some progress you all would expect to see, and then I'm gonna spill the beans about something I've been keeping under wraps until now. But we'll get to that ;)

The interior lacquer showed up from CJ Pony Parts, so I stripped all the stuff out of the console, then prepped and cleaned with soap/water and a scotchbrite pad.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/6tno-1.jpg

A few coats later, and looking pristine!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/oy56-1.jpg

Meanwhile my blower came back from getting a fresh rebuild at Procharger with new oil seals, it picked up some marring and scratches that I'm not very happy about but it is what it is. I'll have to polish them out, they aren't too bad but I'm far too picky to leave them.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/teuy-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/d548-1.jpg

My oval exhaust piping came in as well so I can get crackin on the new side pipes. This is what $309 worth of stainless oval tubing looks like btw :faint2:

Took me a while to talk myself into clicking the "submit order" button on these...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Onto the big news, this has been the plan since probably November, and it has been very slow going while I have been waiting for new products to hit the shelves but here goes...

A couple days ago a shipment arrived, and this shirt was inside...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/h8r6-1.jpg









































Quite a curious thing to find in a box right?

Here are the boxes... but what could going on here? hehe

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/8n9c-1.jpg

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you all have realized by now that I'm FINALLY doing air ride! I have wanted air ride pretty much FOREVER so it's time to make it happen. It's not all here yet, because the new redesigned front RideTech shockwave struts have not hit the shelves yet because Fox Racing is still testing them, and the also-redesigned RideTech adjustable rear shocks are set to be released in the next week or two once Fox finishes them. I also have the complete RideTech E3 management system coming from Cali soon, coming off the owner of Carbon Driven's Shelby. So I will update all of you when I receive all those parts. Anyway, here are some of the parts I already have:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/b8wf-1.jpg

Rear Coolride bags (I would have liked to go with a rear shockwave setup but due to the space limitations with the IRS, the bag has to go in the stock spring location), also standard valves, fittings...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/um7t-1.jpg

Dual Viair 480c compressors and SMC water traps

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/bkdl-1.jpg

RideTech LevelPro sensors (found these for a steal, brand new on eBay for almost half new price!)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/2gia-1.jpg

I also got the RideTech 5 gallon tank below. It comes with built-in mounting brackets but where's the challenge in mounting it using them? ;)

Armed with my grinder, I got started by cutting the brackets off.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/5v56-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/d191-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/ocf5-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/e9rw-1.jpg

So to mount the tank, I started looking online and stumbled onto these pretty trick nitrous bottle mounts on eBay so I ordered them. Unfortunately even though I asked about dimensions ahead of time (the Ridetech tank's diameter is VERY close to the diameter of a 15lb nitrous bottle), when they showed up, the inner diameter wasn't quite big enough to fit the Ridetech tank so I threw them in the CNC and enlarged the inner diameter to fit the tank.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/i7ac-1.jpg

Here they are mounted on the tank. I also swapped out the black oxide studs the brackets came with for some nice stainless allen bolts :)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/rvcg-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/n8lu-1.jpg

I started by sketching out some ideas on cardboard. Below shows the design I settled on. The upper heim joint will bolt to a bracket/tab I'll weld in place under the package tray near the trunk opening (think near the remote battery terminals I've shown pics of), the aluminum clamp will clamp onto the cross bar of my shock tower brace, and the air tank brackets will bolt to the steel tubes. The blue line you see is where I'm going to cut the bottom area of the bracket off, then it will mount to the steel tube using a bracket that bolts to the side through the two lower holes.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/xod9-1.jpg

I then bent some steel tubing and started welding up the frame arms, welded on the heim joint bungs and two steel spacers to bolt to the aluminum clamps.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/sidj-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/js6s-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/856tJPG-1.jpg

Here's one completed arm shown clamped in place on the shock tower cross bar. If it looks crooked, that's because it is, lol. I didn't want the arms to go straight up to the mount tabs, rather they will both tilt inward toward each other. I apologize for the washed out picture, it's a hard place to get a decent picture of holding a light and a camera, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/v8cw-1.jpg

That's where I'm at with it for now, I'm pretty excited because I've run through the build process of bagging this car hundreds of times in my head. It feels great to finally be doing it

[95riosnake]

6/30/13

Small update, the Carbon Driven radio bezel showed up to join their shifter bezel I already have. These parts are sooooooo damn nice. I will need to mod the dash a bit for the double-din radio bezel to fit, and make some support brackets for the radio to rest on but it shouldn't be bad. I can't wait to get these in and have the carbon cup holder gauge pod right next to them. MMMM tasty carbon fiber!!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/718k-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/o4n9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/3jtq-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

7/13/13

Started modding the single din dash to accept the double din CF bezel. The older dashboards have two mounting ears that need to be cut off, so those got the axe.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/y6pc-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/df85-1.jpg

Cleaned up the cuts with a file and also clearanced the bottom bar a bit for the bottom of the bezel to sit flush. I'll need to make a couple small aluminum brackets for the bottom two spring clips of the bezel to snap into. Once the clips I ordered show up I'll get to work on that.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/sxdt-1.jpg

Couldn't do much more to the dash for now so I turned my attention back to mounting the air tank in the trunk.

Grabbed my profile gauge to copy the area of the trunk opening where the upper brackets for the frame will mount

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/rwv7-1.jpg

Transferred the curve to cardboard

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/qy5s-1.jpg

Cardboard bracket mocked up

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/zxrz-1.jpg

Marked out and ready to cut from a plate of .188" steel

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/4xs3-1.jpg

Got down to business with the band saw and drill press

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/0le1-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/bqqn-1.jpg

The tank brackets needed the bottoms cut off to work how I wanted, so I marked them for a little surgery, I had them marked in this pic to cut the sides to make them circular but ended up deciding I liked them how they are.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/kqug-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/pogw-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/kfmc-1.jpg

Mounted them back on the air tank

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/6hbq-1.jpg

Finished up the other main tube of the mounting frame for the tank today. It was a little nerve racking because I had to make sure they were exact mirror images of each other, and the angle had to be perfect or it will drive me crazy forever, lol. I planned to tack weld the upper mounting brackets in place, but I need to get some bolts to bolt them onto the heim joints first so I can make sure everything will line up before I start welding. So in the meantime they are shown here propped up on some boards and scrap.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/62ed-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/4a6v-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/m06i-1.jpg

Sat the tank in place to give you an idea where I'm going with all this. I'll need to make a couple brackets to weld to the mounting arms for the tank brackets to bolt to.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/brpn-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

7/28/13

Between losing a couple weekends of work on the car going to Mustang Week and then returning home to a pup still needing a lot of attention, progress on the car has been slow but I do have a little update for you guys.

The shoulder bolts I ordered for the heim joint connection came in

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/5mky-1.jpg

Busted out the Millermatic and welded the upper mount brackets under the decklid

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/bfli-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/heth-1.jpg

Then bolted up the heim joints

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Then took some fancy pictures

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/3jdg-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/py0h-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/g44v-1.jpg

Here's a couple fancy shots of the tank resting in place, cutting out the mount brackets for the tank hopefully tomorrow at work. Then I'm hoping to get some time to weld them onto the tubes this weekend.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/j0pb-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/hawa-1.jpg

And since this was a short update, I'll offer a couple fancy pictures of my rear wheel to apologize ;)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/5xl9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/z913-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/5d0f-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

8/3/13

Moving on, I got some time (not much, but I made it count, lol) to get some more done on the air ride setup.

I got the brackets cut out at work on Thursday, then finally got some time to weld them onto the frame arms today. As you can see, the bolts run through existing holes in the tank brackets/clamps. I'll get some fancy fasteners to replace what is shown in the pics, just used some random bolts I had laying around while I welded it all up.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/elsb-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/2i29-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/ywel-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/npwo-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/08/2wls-1.jpg

The tank is mounted solid as hell now. I'm gonna start figuring out where I want to mount the compressors and valves next

[slammedwhitec5vert]

Wow that is one sick pony!!!! Can't wait for your next update.

[ANIMOSITY]

Nice Build Ive always like your car. Seen it over on SVTP for years.

[Martin71RS]

I like the attention to detail and the fact you take the time to take pics and describe it all.... Nice work!

[4eyedconekiller]

Hey, I know it's been months, but any progress? I've always loved your car, and hope one day my '86 or something else will just as clean!

[95riosnake]

Hey, I know it's been months, but any progress? I've always loved your car, and hope one day my '86 or something else will just as clean!

Yea I have some updates, I just forgot to update this thread! I'll try to get the updates added here in the next day or two!

[Krissaint]

Thanks looking forward to it

[Z06killinSBF]

Very nice work!

[95riosnake]

Sorry for the delay, I am so far behind on updates!

9/7/13

Picking up where we left off, I sent the blower back to Procharger back in May to be rebuilt because the seals were leaking, allowing blower oil to enter the intercooler piping and pool in the low areas... add boost under load and you can guess what the result was, lol. Anyway I've had it back in my hands since the 2nd or 3rd week of June but it's been sitting ever since because when it showed up there were scratches everywhere on it, including a 2"x1" area on the compressor side with vice jaw imprints. Needless to say it would need re-polished before it went back on and I was less than excited about the idea so it has been sitting as you see it below for quite a while lol

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/i6te-1.jpg

So today I sucked it up, grabbed several grits of sand paper and polishing compound and went to town. Here's a pic using a mild grit, I ended up sanding down almost the entire exterior of the blower. 600 grit all over to start, and even down to 320 where the vice jaw gouges were, then stepped up my grit until I had it baby smooth with 2000 grit.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ino6-1.jpg

Hit it with some compound, followed by some Mothers Mag & Aluminum polish, ShineSeal Metal Polish and ShineSeal Slick Finish.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/8xdr-1.jpg

All shiny and sexy again

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/qscb-1.jpg

Bolted it back on, filled it up with 6oz of fresh blower oil from Procharger and took a few cool pictures ;)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/otq2-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/tetl-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/6e2o-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/7xxr-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/h0oj-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

9/15/13

Spent a few hours pulling the front bumper cover off, removing all the blower/intercooler piping and cleaning it out. Oil that had been leaking into the piping from the blower had coated the inside of them and pooled in the lower areas and bottom of the intercooler. Not very exciting stuff but it needed done.

On another note, when I got the 98 console installed I kept looking at the e-brake handle and decided it needed a change because the leather had so many scuffs and marks in it. So I pulled it out of the car and sent it off to Dallas Custom Steering Wheel to be wrapped in black alcantara with light gray stitching. I also had them change to a French seam along the top of the handle rather than the stock cross-hatched style. That showed up on Friday, I installed that today but being that the console is still missing a few components I decided I'd wait to post an installed pic until it was all finished up. Here are a couple pics of the e-brake out of the car :thumb:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/mbev-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/cktg-1.jpg

I also picked up a pair of used Baer Eradispeed 2 piece rotors. They are in good shape mechanically but staying true to my OCD tendencies I'm restoring them before I put them on the car.

Here's how they arrived, in overall good but used shape, with the rotor faces lightly cut by Nick before he shipped them out. As you can see the hardware is rusty and the edge of the center hat is pretty dinged up.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/vbn2-1.jpg

Blew them apart to start the process

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/tuzj-1.jpg

Wire wheeled all the remaining rust off the rotor rings' holes, slots and edges

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/5kst-1.jpg

Filed and sanded the dinged up edge of the hat

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/p7h1-1.jpg

I will be having the hats stripped and re-anodized, and I also ordered a new set of hardware from Baer to button everything back together.

[95riosnake]

9/22/13

Since I'm still unsure where to mount the air ride compressors and Fox Racing is taking their sweet time releasing the front Shockwaves and rear shocks, I decided to turn my sights back to the side exhaust rebuild. (I like to skip around between projects on the car when I get tired of one, keeps me from losing interest, haha).

Started out by testing the cut outs before I start ripping into the exhaust, so I figured I'd shoot a little video clip. The good news is rebuilding procharger did the trick to stop the slight smoke coming from the exhaust (it wasn't a lot but it was driving me crazy...). This was the first time I've started the car in about 10 months so please forgive how long it takes to turn over, lol. It's hard to make out in the video because of the acoustics in my garage, but I cracked open the cut outs for a few seconds to test them out... and HOLY CRAP it's loud! If you listen closely in the video after I turn the car off, you can hear me say "...holy ****..." before I climb my way out of the car lol. I had to keep the run time short because I live in a close neighborhood and was trying to be respectful since this was a Sunday evening around dinner time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZufiSEBqtPY&feature=youtu.be

Ok, onto the fabrication fun, lol. Started by pulling the current side pipes off. As you can see they aren't bad but I want them tucked up as high as possible and use oval tubing.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

To simplify the fabrication a bit (and avoid having to buy 2 new V-bands) I cut the V-band ends off them and prepped them to weld the 90 degree round to oval transitions on.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/3fp6-1.jpg

Attached the V-band ends back onto the ends of the mufflers, it's hard to see in the picture but I had to pie cut the driver's side one to get it pointing straight back.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/38it-1.jpg

Tacked the driver's side round to oval transition in place

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/vjag-1.jpg

Then the driver's side. This side needed a pie cut taken out of the outboard end. The floor pan is a bit different on the passenger side so I couldn't position this one the same as the driver's side. A little pie cut and a couple tack welds does the trick though.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/2ws2-1.jpg

That's where I'm at with it for now, lol. I figured I subjected the neighbors to enough noise at this point lol.

[95riosnake]

9/29/13

Finished up restoring/rebuilding the 2 piece rear rotors.

The rotor rings needed repainted, but I also needed to paint inside the cross drilled holes and slots. So a few days ago I drew up some cardboard masks in autocad, cut them out on our cnc box cutter at work and taped them in place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/bc0a-1.jpg

Painted them with VHT Flameproof paint and the masks worked great. The excess overspray on the rotor surface will wipe off easily the first time I hit the brakes so it's all good.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/pqx9-1.jpg

Had a local electroplating shop strip and re-anodize the hats black. Funny side note, when I went to pick them up they said the anodizing they stripped off was for lack of a better term "****ty"...they said it stripped off faster than it should have. Kinda sad that these hats had that crappy of anodizing on them considering how much Baer sells them for new...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

The new hat hardware came in from Baer, so it was finally time to put these things back together.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/9fjy-1.jpg

An hour or so of torquing bolts later, they were back together looking awesome

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/xgl6-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Mounted them on the car

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ubng-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/l3js-1.jpg

Just for kicks, a comparison of the rotors before/after the OCD treatment, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/vbn2-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/xgl6-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

9/30/13

Since my exhaust hangers hadn't yet shown up, I did what work I could on the exhaust. Cut the Borla tips off the old exhaust, then decided to polish them since they were looking pretty rough. I ended up getting one done, planning to bust out the other one before I start fabbing the piping. The other tip has a little damage that needs fixed before I polish it, one of the outer tips is bent from where it smacked the side skirt opening during a dispute between the bottom of my car and the pavement.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Polished tip vs. what I started with...lol

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/518z-1.jpg

These tips were practically made for oval tubing, should work out great

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[95riosnake]

10/12/13

Got the passenger's side pipe fabbed and I'm extremely happy how it turned out

After tacking on this first section I decided to figure out a better way to mock up things to simplify the process since I had a couple more bends to make after this point before I got to the tip. To make the bends I needed to use a series of pie cuts because the cost of stainless oval mandrel bends adds up fast, lol. I'm fabbing it all out of a straight length.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/z7eg-1.jpg

What I came up with was taking two layers of thin cardboard, scoring them so they bent around the oval tubing easily, then laminating one layer over the other with hot glue. Once I pulled the tubing out, the cardboard held its shape perfectly. Then I could basically build my pipe out of cardboard, taping the joints together. This let me adjust the design easily and without wasting expensive stainless oval tubing.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/yc6i-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/nm38-1.jpg

Next I cut the tape joints, then each piece could be slid over the tubing to mark the cuts with a marker.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/2lz6-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/gjmg-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/sbud-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ft9c-1.jpg

I ended up changing the design a little bit, moving one of the pie cuts out closer to the tip to get the angle spot on. Here's the "finished" product tacked together. Once I have the entire exhaust built, I'll take it to work and TIG weld all the joints.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/okgm-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/qjfo-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Back under the car. There's a nice tight 1/4" gap between the pipe and subframe connector, compared to the old exhaust I gained about 2.5" of ground clearance which is awesome. You can also see the super nice Stainless Works exhaust hangers, I just had to modify the mouth of them to fit the oval tubing. I used these on my blower piping and they worked great so they got the nod for round two in my exhaust. I trimmed the pinch weld up about 1/2" to give me plenty of room; this was another problem spot previously that contributed to the ground clearance problems.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/pa7b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/1qad-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/bm6p-1.jpg

I now have a huge amount of respect for the people who build those fancy titanium exhausts and custom intake tubes with hundreds of pie cuts.

[95riosnake]

10/13/13

Today's lesson: When welding above yourself under a car, take the extra 2 seconds to put your welding glove on. Your welding jacket doesn't do any good when the slag of molten metal goes cruising down the cuff of your sleeve. Shake your arm all you want, it just keeps burning until it cools down, you just get multiple burns from it bouncing around lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/v52j-1.jpg

I polished up the other tip, trimmed the driver's side pinch weld and got crackin on building the pipe. Unfortunately I soon realized I was going to come up short on oval tubing, so it's on hold until I get another order of it in.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/zn8b-1.jpg

So I turned back to figuring out where to mount the air ride compressors in the trunk. I bought these compressor mount brackets from Accuair, they have really nice built-in vibration isolation mounts that will team up with the rubber mounts on the compressors to quiet them down as much as possible when mounted (I hope).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/757m-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/5mtq-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/08ve-1.jpg

Then I played around with the trunk layout and landed with this as my favorite

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/2s1m-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/x8wa-1.jpg

Made a mock up mount from cardboard. I'm not totally settled on the shape of it, but once I get the mounting points and locations of the frame tubes laid out in Autocad, I can play with different shapes pretty easily before I load it into the CNC plasma cutter at work.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ukv1-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/p98z-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/fqyf-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

10/15/13

Here is what I've been playing around with for the compressor mount plate. I currently like the last one the most...still coming up with more ideas before I settle on something though. I decided rather than using our CNC plasma at work I'm going to have a local shop water jet it for me. Our plasma will make a mess of the Ridetech lettering.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ci1o-1.jpg

I used our cnc box cutter at work to cut out a mock up of my current drawing of the compressor mount bracket to check the fitment and bolt hole locations. You'll notice a row of bolt holes along the bottom, those will bolt to a bar that I'll weld between the two frame tubes, then two more bolts will go into two holes drilled and tapped in the aluminum tank clamp brackets. I'm going to make a few tweaks to get the fit just right but it's looking good so far.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/5s72-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/8qez-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/sxtp-1.jpg

Changed some things about the bracket based on what I found when mocking it up, a couple things were off, I wanted to locate the compressors a bit lower to the floor, etc. The first has a large area for a logo if I can come up with one, the second would stay blank, and the third has the truss design continuing all the way across. The triangles on both sides represent the compressor mount brackets.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/s5my-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

10/20/13

A couple mock up pictures of the most recent version of the compressor mount. This is the "racecar" version and I popped some allen bolts in the holes to give you a better idea. I decided to give myself a bit of a "shop name" to brand parts I make, so it's time to start working on a logo design for "OCD Fabworks"

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/30v7-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/emgg-1.jpg

A couple weeks ago I looked at something too long...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/om58-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/km3s-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/vu-1.jpg

Remanufactured knuckles from FTBR. New wheel bearings, bead blasted and shot peened knuckles, olive drab zinc coated hubs/splines (olive drab zinc coating is the most durable and rust-resistant zinc coating according to Bruce at FTBR), and 3" ARP wheel studs. I never thought IRS knuckles could be so sexy lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/snla-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/95w0-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ot64-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/or8w-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/xndn-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

10/22/13

Began working on the logo design, first concept:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ag6l-1.jpg

Gave this idea a shot...not too bad. Also played with a different font for "Fabworks". I'm still not in love with it yet so I'm gonna keep messing around with ideas. I might try a completely different approach without the cogs next. If I don't figure something out I'll back burner the idea until it comes to me.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/cslf-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

11/4/13

The past couple weekends have been spent cleaning and reorganizing the garage (which had a layer of metal dust EVERYWHERE).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/j65l-1.jpg

This is about the 100th time I've had to waste a weekend or so doing this, which inspired a new purchase. The root cause of all the mess is cutting everything with a cut off wheel on my angle grinder. It works but it makes a TON of noise and even more dust, making me have to wear a dust mask and resulting in a layer of metal dust on EVERYTHING.

So after a week or so of online research, I pulled the trigger on a Baileigh Industrial BS-128M mitering metal band saw. I drove out to Summit Racing on Thursday to pick it up because I had the day off. Note: the saw itself is one heavy bitch (roughly 200lbs), it was about all I could do to lift it up onto the base after I assembled it. I sat it on my floor jack and lifted it up as far as that would go, then summoned all my manliness to get that ******* wrestled into place lol. Here's the finished product, I am very impressed with the fit/finish/quality. Spent a little time yesterday getting the blade adjusted so it cuts dead nuts vertical and also changed the belt gearing in the motor to slow it down for cutting stainless.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/bur6-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/jtkp-1.jpg

One of the cool features of the saw is you can tilt it up vertically and attach the included table to it, converting it into a regular style band saw that can cut any length of material unlike a regular standing band saw where you are limited to the distance to the frame on the side.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/sppd-1.jpg

The big reason I went with this particular saw is that it is a mitering band saw. Most of the saws like this adjust the angle of the cut by rotating the vise jaws, but this one lets you move the blade itself up to 60 degrees. Since 90% of the cutting I'll be doing will involve angle cuts, this had me sold for sure.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/j7u8-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/u54u-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/pecf-1.jpg

Parked in its spot next to the Miller so I can get back to exhaust fab this coming weekend :thumb:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/uoye-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

11/12/13

With the help of the new band saw (made using an angle grinder/cut off wheel seem like cave man stuff), I knocked out the rest of the driver's side piping on Saturday. Next up will be the tricky part; connecting the cut outs to them. I have a completely over-thought concept in mind that should be awesome when finished but it'll no doubt be tricky... oh well that's how it goes, lol. I really can't wait to get the exhaust all finished and tacked together so I can bring it to work and TIG it up

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/va6t-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/z1nc-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/4ks9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/vccu-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/z4tt-1.jpg

On Sunday I turned my sights to something I have previously only told a couple people about.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/9wdv-1.jpg

This is a Wilwood 356mm (14") front kit, custom built to use the monster W6A calipers from their carbon ceramic brake setups. I had to wait 4 weeks for it, which felt like an eternity. The sheer size of these calipers is staggering. It's been tough keeping it under wraps since they showed up a couple weeks ago, but in lieu of "teasers" I wanted to wait until I could actually install them before I showed any pictures.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/6nl9-1.jpg

6 pots of perfection... I think I stared at these things for about a half hour.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/s5cu-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/z0af-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/orbx-1.jpg

Assembled rotor

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ec65-1.jpg

A couple before photos and a comparison of rotor size, Wilwood vs. Baer 13" rotors:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ty0h-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/hh9l-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/fphj-1.jpg

Took a few tries to get the calipers shimmed correctly, but finally got everything where it needs to be.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/xmdj-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Put the wheel back on to make sure there weren't any clearance issues, none whatsoever

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/kvx9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/drp7-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/d02c-1.jpg

Once the car hits the road and the pads remove the coating from the friction surface of the rotor, these things are going to look insane. Right now they kind of disappear in pictures since they're black.

[95riosnake]

11/17/13

Really put the new band saw through its paces and finished up the passenger's side of the exhaust...today's theme was most definitely pie cuts, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/3xzg-1.jpg

The JD Squared tubing notcher was also cristened with its first use since buying it a few weeks ago. This thing is awesome and money well spent. I'm going to make a removable mount for my workbench eventually, but for today I just put it in my vise and clamped the vise to the work bench.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/7ulm-1.jpg

Here's the result of today's work. I originally planned to have the cutouts' flow tubes cross over each other in an X behind the mufflers before they tied into the side pipes, but when I was laying it all out I realized there simply wasn't enough room for this without sacrificing ground clearance. Since ground clearance is the driving force behind rebuilding this exhaust again, I simplified the design and eliminated the X. The exhaust will still flow through the existing X and mufflers even when the cutouts are open since they aren't a "diverter", so it should sound just fine. The flow tubes will connect to the cutouts using band clamps.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/nbsn-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/0fk0-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/bszv-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ubf3-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/um9s-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/b6d9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/dm9c-1.jpg

^ That last pic reminds me I need to make new side skirt brackets. Back when I was 19 and didn't know any better, I made them out of galvanized steel...they'll be aluminum this time around.

I also decided to order one of Stiffler's redesigned transmission cross members and ditch the factory piece. Brian at Stifflers recently redesigned it to fit Tremec 3550's and a couple other applications it previously didn't support. It showed up this week and I am once again very impressed with the quality. Once I get the exhaust off the car to finish weld it, I'll put this piece on then get crackin on the FIT braces.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/dj0o-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/6cr4-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

12/1/13

Finished up the driver's side. The OCD in me is irritated that the driver/passenger sides aren't symmetrical, but there's not much I can do about it. The shape of the trans/driveshaft tunnel isn't symmetrical so when the mufflers are tucked up into it for maximum ground clearance, they end up off center under the car. It wasn't very noticeable until I added the flow tube for the driver's side cut out but it is what it is. Everything fits tight and clears really nicely. I need to add two more hangers right after the mufflers so the whole weight of the exhaust isn't suspended from the two hangers bolted to the pinch weld. I'm going to fab up a couple brackets to weld to the rear of the back seat bulkhead under the car to give me somewhere to bolt the hangers to. I spent about an hour trying to figure out where I could locate them and this seems to be the only option (the real estate under the car is just about maxed out lol). I made a cardboard template of the brackets that I'll transfer to Autocad this week and cut them on the plasma table. Once I get the hangers in place I can FINALLY take the whole thing off and take it to work to tig weld all the seams...something I've been eagerly waiting to do :).

One thing I needed to do that I forgot to take a picture of when I was doing the other side was cutting down the flanges I got from Spintech. They added too much on top and bottom of the pipe for what I'm doing... for most it wouldn't be a big deal but when you're going for max clearance every little bit counts. I cut 3/8" off the top and bottom. The flanges are 1/4" thick so they will still be plenty strong.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/566h-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/sdzy-1.jpg

( ^ I'll need to make a little filler panel to close up that gap by the tip)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ekr7-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/7tvp-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/kzgo-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/3x30-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/x8ck-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

Built the exhaust hanger brackets during a couple lunch breaks at work, I ended up deciding against welding them on in favor of a bolt-on design.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/b15a-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/6ee9-1.jpg

Here's a couple pics showing the plan for the hangers.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/vnbt-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/9glh-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/3hel-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ya6k-1.jpg

The brackets will mount using three 3/8-16 allen bolts, and the bolts will thread into rivnuts. If you don't know what a rivnut is, it's basically a rivet with threads so you can run a bolt into it. Here's what one looks like and how they look installed:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/5dua-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/qu00-1.jpg

I picked up a rivnut installation tool on eBay a while back for like $17 (the tools are quite expensive) so I ordered some 3/8-16 rivnuts yesterday. I should have them in a few days, so I can get these brackets mounted, then weld the hangers onto the exhaust and FINALLY tig all the joints

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ih51-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/id46-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/ctiy-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

While waiting on the rivnuts to show up before finishing the exhaust, I decided to spend a day doing some garage improvements. I got a great deal on two Gladiator 30" wall cabinets on Black Friday at Sears. I also ordered two 96"x12" GearWall panels.

First thing was to mount the GearWall panels

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/0gby-1.jpg

Then I unboxed these beautiful cabinets. They are silver vein powder coat, which matches my existing shelving perfectly and the diamond plate doors look fantastic.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/6kpm-1.jpg

And finally, the cabinets mounted:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/p4w1-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/wj15-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/xizd-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/odr1-1.jpg

I also added this 36" sound bar to upgrade my tunes in the garage. This thing sounds great! It has an FM tuner, AUX in and can connect to my phone using bluetooth, it also has a wireless remote :thumb: The bass response is pretty impressive as well, which is a big upgrade over the mid 90's tape deck radio it's replacing, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/qfd9-1.jpg

Here's a little side project I've been working on. I picked up this vintage Wilton vise to restore. It has 6" jaws and is 100% made in USA, it's a beast, weighing in at 80 lbs. To buy a comparable new vise from Wilton would run about $600, I'll have about $125 in mine total, including replacing a few parts that have seen better days. When I got it, it had a ton of rust, and about 3 different paint jobs. So far I've disassembled it and stripped it. I'm going to smooth it a bit more, mill the anvil area on the Bridgeport at work to give it a fresh surface, reassemble it and paint it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[raustinss]

You should throw the garage upgrades in the garage thread
Ryan Austin

[CruizinKev]

WOW I love what you're doing man!!! I think I already saw your Cobra on SN95forums or so? I had a DSG SN95 few years back..

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/01/07082009-1.jpg

[Tig]

Man, everything look amazing, underhood, exhaust and all the touches going into your trunk. AWESOME.
That band saw is sweet and the notcher (I have the same one, love it). How do you like the band saw? Performance wise, does it cut straight and true?
Your garage looks nice and organized, hah. Lookin good.

Great job man, keep up the good work.
Lookin forward to your updates.

[95riosnake]

You should throw the garage upgrades in the garage thread
Ryan Austin

Oh ok, I'll check that thread out. I didn't know there was a garage thread on here, I usually find myself in the project updates section 99% of the time so I probably miss a lot of things here.


WOW I love what you're doing man!!! I think I already saw your Cobra on SN95forums or so? I had a DSG SN95 few years back..

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/01/07082009-1.jpg

Thanks man! Yea I remember seeing your car on there (great looking SN btw! Did you sell it?), I haven't been on that site in a long time. I run sn95source now so that is where I usually find myself for mustang-related forum action.


Man, everything look amazing, underhood, exhaust and all the touches going into your trunk. AWESOME.
That band saw is sweet and the notcher (I have the same one, love it). How do you like the band saw? Performance wise, does it cut straight and true?
Your garage looks nice and organized, hah. Lookin good.

Great job man, keep up the good work.
Lookin forward to your updates.

I appreciate it! I'm very happy with the saw, it made the fabrication of this exhaust 1000x easier than when I was using my angle grinder/cutoff wheel. The mitering feature is worth every penny over a traditional fixed saw (paid just a hair over $600 with in-store pick up at Summit Racing in Ohio). It does cut really well, I did some adjustment to the blade tension and belt tension, but that's par for the course with any band saw. It would tend to slip if it bit into the metal too much, but after those couple adjustments it cuts smooth and constant. Regarding the trueness of the cuts, it will slice off some pretty thin wafers, even from stainless which is a bit harder to cut than mild steel.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/7ocp-1.jpg

The only complaint I have with the JD Squared notcher is that the design of the "driveshaft" - or whatever you would call it, places all of the cutting force against the threads of the hole saw, whereas when you're using a medium or large hole saw in a drill, the mandrel has those two pins that register into two holes in the saw to keep the blunt forces from stripping the threads of the hole saw. Because of that, I've stripped the threads out of two 1-3/4" hole saws even when trying to cut carefully. I guess there's no way for the notcher to incorporate the mandrel pins because that would really limit the smaller hole saws you could use with it. I think I'm going to just weld nuts onto the back of my hole saws in the future to give them a bit more thread engagement, hopefully that will solve the problem.

[1965gp]

Insane build- love it

[Buryingthesun]

I hate mustangs, but credit is given where credit is do! Fantastic job buddy!

[Tig]

I appreciate it! I'm very happy with the saw, it made the fabrication of this exhaust 1000x easier than when I was using my angle grinder/cutoff wheel. The mitering feature is worth every penny over a traditional fixed saw (paid just a hair over $600 with in-store pick up at Summit Racing in Ohio). It does cut really well, I did some adjustment to the blade tension and belt tension, but that's par for the course with any band saw. It would tend to slip if it bit into the metal too much, but after those couple adjustments it cuts smooth and constant. Regarding the trueness of the cuts, it will slice off some pretty thin wafers, even from stainless which is a bit harder to cut than mild steel.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/7ocp-1.jpg

The only complaint I have with the JD Squared notcher is that the design of the "driveshaft" - or whatever you would call it, places all of the cutting force against the threads of the hole saw, whereas when you're using a medium or large hole saw in a drill, the mandrel has those two pins that register into two holes in the saw to keep the blunt forces from stripping the threads of the hole saw. Because of that, I've stripped the threads out of two 1-3/4" hole saws even when trying to cut carefully. I guess there's no way for the notcher to incorporate the mandrel pins because that would really limit the smaller hole saws you could use with it. I think I'm going to just weld nuts onto the back of my hole saws in the future to give them a bit more thread engagement, hopefully that will solve the problem.

Any time man, love the build.
Well, I'd say the saw cuts quite well, hah. Nice man.
I use a generous amount of anti seize on the threads and only finger tighten it, haven't stripped any yet.
What kind of cutting fluid are you using?


I think you should post more pics of your car :)

[CruizinKev]

Thanks man! Yea I remember seeing your car on there (great looking SN btw! Did you sell it?), I haven't been on that site in a long time. I run sn95source now so that is where I usually find myself for mustang-related forum action.
thanks! yea unfortunately I sold it. totally regretting it..

[Magic]

Wow! That is one hell of a build. You make me want to take my Cobra apart. Any updates??

[95riosnake]

Wow! That is one hell of a build. You make me want to take my Cobra apart. Any updates??

Thanks! Sorry I've been slacking on the updates, here we go:

12/28/13

Christmas had me busy designing and building a couple gifts for family members, once that was done, I got back to the car. Painted the hanger brackets about a week prior to handling them:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/onoa-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

After one hell of a forearm workout, the rivnuts were finally in

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/jp84-1.jpg

Some nice stainless hardware mounts the brackets:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/crb3-1.jpg

Some notching/modifying on the hanger to accommodate the oval tubing:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/rnm2-1.jpg

Then finally tacked it in place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/5g25-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/v5jp-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

1/19/14

Quick fisheye shot of what most of my Friday and Saturday nights look like, lol:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Ended up breaking the tip for the rivnut gun, so after a new one finally showed up I got the driver's side hanger bracket mounted. I can call the fabrication of the exhaust complete now, I'm sure you guys are ready to look at pictures of something else by now, lol. I'm going to mock up the FIT braces before I take the exhaust off so I can make note of any modifications they'll need to fit around it, then FINALLY take these pipes to work and get down with some TIG action on the pipes

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/w42d-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/4zzu-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/w90o-1.jpg

Some fancy iPhone lens photos:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/x1xm-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/gb5e-1.jpg

It still bothers me that the exhaust isn't symmetrical, lol. It's kind of out of my hands though, the floor pans of these cars aren't symmetrical (mainly the driveshaft tunnel) and when you're going for maximum ground clearance something has to give.

During my time under the car working on the exhaust, I've decided that I don't like the way I have the battery wire routed or how I brought it through the floor. So I'm going to run a new cable (might add a cut off under the bumper also) and use one of these battery cable bulkheads I found to bring it through the floor.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/Pass20Thru20Connectors20Pair-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

2/3/14

Pushing forward toward the day when I can stop sliding under the car 1000x a day on the creeper, I made some more headway under the car.

I've been staring at the box of Stifflers goods for far too long now, so I decided to get some momentum going on those. The first thing was my decision to strip the wrinkle black powder coat off them. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice finish but it doesn't fit into the color scheme I have going on (yes... a color scheme for the bottom of my car... :rolleyes: ). So the decision was made and I got to it. I thought I might be able to just forego using paint stripper and just go at it with my angle grinder wire wheel this time, but it only dulled the finish...I'll give them credit, their coating is tough as nails. After an hour and a half I had the two jacking rails stripped using a palm sander with 40 grit followed by 120 grit, then 220 grit hand sanding. I had enough at that point so I'll hit the web braces with aircraft stripper next weekend since they're too complex to use the palm sander. I also had to cut off about 4" of the rearmost end of each to clear where I located the outboard hangers for the exhaust through the pinch weld, but that's fine with me. The exhaust was planned far before the FIT stuff so it pulls rank.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/jmou-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/b0tk-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/a3kv-1.jpg

Then in an effort to provide some corrosion resistance for the parts that I won't be able to paint once I welded them in, I shot them with some primer and paint. After it cured I wire wheeled the paint off only the areas I would be welding.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/00kv-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/u1eg-1.jpg

After a few four letter words trying to get a clean weld to the ****ty pinch weld metal, I managed some acceptable beads, then shot some primer and paint over the area from the pinch weld to the subframe connectors. Pretty much the same as before, this is in an effort to get paint on areas that will be hard to get at after welding the web braces in place. I'll strip the paint from the necessary areas before I weld them in, then once they are I'll scuff and prime/paint the entire bottom of the car at once.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/58j4-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/0zqd-1.jpg

I also pulled the exhaust off for hopefully the last time, going to start welding up all the seams this coming weekend. I figured this milestone was deserving of a couple pics of it laid out. (disregard the salty garage floor...stupid winter :barf: go away already)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/owiv-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/ubqu-1.jpg

All laid out ready for their date with the TIG and I:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/z49p-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

2/24/14

Moving on, I still needed to strip the powder coat off the web braces. I picked up some Citristrip at the recommendation of a friend and brushed it on, then let it sit over night.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/hiob-1.jpg

Then the next day I got to work stripping them. The stripper didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but it did soften it enough to make it possible to scrape.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/4egs-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/wc9o-1.jpg

Then followed that with a LOT of wire wheel grinder action. A few hours of pretty boring work, but in the end they were good to go.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/k2vm-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Shot them with a quick coat of primer then got started welding them in, finally. Made some good progress on the first brace, but quickly ran out of wire and gas at the same time...ugh.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/6uc2-1.jpg

The welds were pretty decent though. Could be better but I always seem to have a hard time finding the sweet spot with this MM140 mig, our big mig at work welds perfect every time, but alas...there's no way to get my car into the building lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/g8ke-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/zim9-1.jpg

So it sat that way for a few days until I could go pick up more wire and gas.

I thought you guys might get a kick out of the following. I'd previously been using several 2lb spools that came with the welder as a package, but decided I'd get a 10lb spool this time instead. Upon getting home, I found out that I somehow lost the adapter that came with the welder for the larger spools...so I had to get creative.

Cut down a caulking tube that fit inside the spool, then wrapped a couple layers of duct tape around it so it would fit snug. Then I took one of the empty spools and cut it down to fit inside the tube.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/jwdj-1.jpg

So far so good...

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Then I needed something to hold the spool in place on the shaft so I grabbed a scrap piece of aluminum.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/bxpe-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/chvs-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/xvz8-1.jpg

Works like a charm! And much better than waiting for something to show up in the mail.

Anyway, now that I was back up and running with gas and wire, I could get back to business. One issue I ran into was these weren't designed specifically to fit my Spintech subframes, and to add to the complications I had to cheat the rear brace toward the front of the car quite a bit to clear where my side pipe passes under the subframe connector. Sounds simple enough, but I ended up having to section and bend almost every tube of the braces to change the angles so they would line up, then re-weld them, grind them smooth, etc. It ended up adding a solid couple extra hours in all but they fit perfect now.

Still in the process of welding them in here (blue line was to represent where my side pipe passes through the area so I could make sure to avoid it).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/djzo-1.jpg

Then all finished up and primed/painted.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/ngo3-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/3tnm-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/i4oy-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/sy2x-1.jpg

So that's where I'm at for now. I'm still working the driver's side so I'll hopefully have another update for you soon. I can't fully express with words how sick I am of crawling around under this car welding **** though...ugh. I really can't wait to finish the braces and exhaust and move back inside the to the interior/trunk.

[Dalamar]

Rio, I have always liked your car.
After seeing how much detail and fab you're putting into it, I'm very impressed!
I love all the details and time you're taking to fit everything and build it right.

Great work.
Like the chassis stiffening a lot. Keep rockin man!

[95riosnake]

Rio, I have always liked your car.
After seeing how much detail and fab you're putting into it, I'm very impressed!
I love all the details and time you're taking to fit everything and build it right.

Great work.
Like the chassis stiffening a lot. Keep rockin man!

Thanks Dal, I remember following along when you were building your 96, I've always considered it one of the nicest SN95 builds out there :cheers:

I spent about 5 hours yesterday on the driver's side and have it about 90% finished. I ended up having to modify 5 of the 6 triangulation brace tubes pretty extensively, as well as the weld-on brackets. Had my subframe connectors been normal ones (non-side exhaust style), this kit would have welded right on in a day, but due to the design of my Spintech ones being pretty drastically different, I'm running into quite a few clearance issues. Nothing an angle grinder, band saw, torch, big hammer and some welding can't fix though! All in all, I'm pretty sore from sliding in and out from under the car 1000x, and crawling around welding. All of you guys with lifts, go out to your shop and give them a hug, they're worth every penny! lol. Once we sell this house and buy our next house, I'm determined for it to include a lift ;)

[Dalamar]

Thanks Dal, I remember following along when you were building your 96, I've always considered it one of the nicest SN95 builds out there :cheers:

I spent about 5 hours yesterday on the driver's side and have it about 90% finished. I ended up having to modify 5 of the 6 triangulation brace tubes pretty extensively, as well as the weld-on brackets. Had my subframe connectors been normal ones (non-side exhaust style), this kit would have welded right on in a day, but due to the design of my Spintech ones being pretty drastically different, I'm running into quite a few clearance issues. Nothing an angle grinder, band saw, torch, big hammer and some welding can't fix though! All in all, I'm pretty sore from sliding in and out from under the car 1000x, and crawling around welding. All of you guys with lifts, go out to your shop and give them a hug, they're worth every penny! lol. Once we sell this house and buy our next house, I'm determined for it to include a lift ;)

Thanks Bro.

Looking over your thread motivated me to go stare at my IRS... and I had to do a little clean up and painting to get closer to your level of hotness.
(67 build - on this site if you haven't seen it)

My neck hurts just looking at all that work off the floor. Props man.
Your lift comment made me lol, i'm sure glad we sprung for it while equipping the garage. (took me 2 years)
after going through all this, and having a side exhusted, slammed SN you deserve one!

I feel your clearance issue pain. imagine the extra wide modular, with all the turbo piping in the front half of your car.... it's almost Jaguar tight....

BTW, I totally love how you reworked the front of the car to fit your plumbing. top notch man.
Where did you get your band saw? could you shoot me a link I wanna check it out.

[95riosnake]

Thanks Bro.

Looking over your thread motivated me to go stare at my IRS... and I had to do a little clean up and painting to get closer to your level of hotness.
(67 build - on this site if you haven't seen it)

My neck hurts just looking at all that work off the floor. Props man.
Your lift comment made me lol, i'm sure glad we sprung for it while equipping the garage. (took me 2 years)
after going through all this, and having a side exhusted, slammed SN you deserve one!

I feel your clearance issue pain. imagine the extra wide modular, with all the turbo piping in the front half of your car.... it's almost Jaguar tight....

BTW, I totally love how you reworked the front of the car to fit your plumbing. top notch man.
Where did you get your band saw? could you shoot me a link I wanna check it out.


I'll have to check out your 67 build! Yea it sucks doing all this work on jack stands but it is what it is for now, hopefully in the near future my shop situation will get an upgrade, lol.

Here's a link to the band saw, I got it through Summit Racing so I could go pick it up and save myself $150 in freight shipping charges:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/bai-bs128m/overview/

And some more in depth info on it:

http://metal.baileighindustrial.com/band-saw-bs-128m

[95riosnake]

3/24/14

I finally finished up all the welding under the car, prepped everything and it's all primed and painted. I didn't bother taking photos of a lot of the work I've been up to since the last update because it's been just more of the same I already showed when I was doing the passenger side. There's nothing very photogenic about sanding, rust removal, prepping for paint and masking lol. Just a lot of time consuming work. Good news is the paint fumes have finally cleared out of the house, much to the delight of my wife lol. I found some time yesterday to go pull the masking and shoot some photos. I'm very happy to finally check this project off the list. All I have left to do under the car is run a new battery cable and install the Stifflers trans cross member :twothumbs

Before pulling the masking:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/yd3l-1.jpg

Kind of like a pile of wrapping paper on Christmas morning isn't it? At least that's how it feels to me every time, haha.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/n9v4-1.jpg

Finally looking crispy clean again :2thumb:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/xj25-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/hjvm-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/aer4-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/s9m5-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/llqe-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/z3r5-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/ue0i-1.jpg

And a few obligatory fancy iPhone lens shots:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/0z20-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/4wq0-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/03/p317-1.jpg

[Dalamar]

I like it!

[95riosnake]

4/7/14

With the chassis bracing and under body painting finally done, it was time to finally get the new Stifflers trans. cross member installed.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/6cr4-1.jpg

As you can see, it's a slight upgrade over the stock junk ;)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qsyo-1.jpg

MUCH better IMO, and with the supplied spacers my Tremec is finally sitting at the correct angle (the tail of the trans. was angled down too much using the factory cross member and was resulting in a tiny bit of U joint noise at certain speeds which really irritated me).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/0lir-1.jpg

Next up was running a new battery cable because I wasn't happy with how I had previously routed it, and the grommet through the floor wasn't really up to par. To refresh your memory, this is how it was routed before:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/oj43-1.jpg

After looking at it with disappointment while working under the car, I ended up ripping the whole cable out. I picked up a nice big 2 gauge battery cable to replace it with and got to work.

I found a really nice through-panel bulkhead to neatly pass the cable through the floor from CE Auto Electric Supply. The big selling point to me was the included weatherproof boot that slips over the ring terminal. None of the other bulkheads I found had provisions to be weatherproof, most likely only intended for engine bay/firewall use. The 1/2" stud is rated to handle 500 amps so it'll conduct virtually the same current as if it was uninterrupted wire.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/8kx7-1.jpg

The first issue was the fact that where I drilled the hole to pass the wire through previously wasn't a flat area of the floor. I looked around my tool box and found my IRS bushing installation tools, so I combined a 1/2" bolt, nut and two of the thick bushing installation washers into a makeshift press to flatten the floor sheet metal.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qgry-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/coj4-1.jpg

The next hurdle was cutting a hole for the bulkhead to pass through. The problem was that due to the big hole I previously drilled, there was nothing for the hole saw's pilot bit to start into, so I tacked a washer in place and hit it with the hole saw, a fresh coat of paint and popped the bulkhead in place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/6kuz-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

With the bulkhead in place, the battery cable was next. I always worried about the wire insulation of my previous cable wearing through from rubbing on sharp edges, so I found a great product from wirecare.com called Techflex to protect it. Very nice stuff!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/n2z1-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/z76y-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/8wf3-1.jpg

Lastly I ran the new cable following the brake lines above the chassis bracing, very happy with how it turned out.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/863w-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/2vrb-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/p6ny-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

4/20/14

In keeping with the theme of tying up loose ends while waiting for the rear brakes, Ridetech stuff, etc. I turned to finishing up the double din radio conversion. I'd been putting it off for a while because I knew it would involve a lot of figuring to find a good way to support the radio.

So I had previously done quite a bit of trimming on the dash to allow the double din bezel to clear, but I needed somewhere to accept the two lower push pins of the radio bezel. So...I just did some more cutting.

Before and after:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/2u2b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/p4p5-1.jpg

Picked up a piece of 1/8" thick aluminum flat bar then got to work adding an aluminum piece bolted in place of the plastic I had just cut out.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/zh2q-1.jpg

Next I had to figure out something for the lower pins of the bezel to snap into, so I bent up a couple arms with holes for the pins, then riveted them on.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/py54-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qup5-1.jpg

With the bezel all squared away, I finally got out this beauty that has been on the shelf for months waiting patiently for its turn to join the build.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/p18g-1.jpg

So there is literally NOTHING inside the dash to mount the radio to, and unlike the older model single din bezels, the radio is not supported by the bezel. So after a couple rough models, a lot of measuring and a couple hours of head scratching, I came up with this. The radio's bracket bolts to the two tapped holes in the front piece of extruded aluminum (I've had a huge chunk of extruded aluminum angle sitting around for years, and was pretty excited to finally be able to use it for something lol), then the slotted holes attach to the lower bracket I previously installed and the steel dash structure. The slotted holes provide some vertical adjustment to let me fine tune the position to get it to line up perfectly in the bezel.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/fjc9-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/2l17-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qhse-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/y18r-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/znha4-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qapv-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ln69-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/fq7d-1.jpg

I still need to play around with a couple things to get everything exactly how I want it, but the hard work is done. I still need to transfer the vent assembly over from the stock radio bezel, then I'm going to cut a small groove around the perimeter of the shifter bezel, then paint the outer edge flat black so it will line up with the dash.

[95riosnake]

4/28/14

This update begins with this pile of stainless.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/pjx4-1.jpg

I finally finished welding the exhaust! It took me a while because I have been working through a lot of my lunch breaks lately (I usually try to knock out some welding during lunch) and sometimes it's hard to motivate myself to go to work on my days off lol. You may also notice the virgin set of SVO side exhaust skirts in the pic that I have been hoarding for about 6 years. I decided to use them finally, but more on that in future updates...

I couldn't resist laying everything out on the garage floor, it seems like I always see other people take this photo so I'll play too. As I've said before, the non-symmetry still bothers me a bit, but in the end ground clearance is king and I couldn't have symmetry while still keeping everything tucked up nicely.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/0l36-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/6249-1.jpg

And some detail shots, a pro could probably do better but being self-taught I'm pretty proud of how it turned out

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/r8ir-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/sc5n-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/t207-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/cvkf-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/fh74e-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/4n98-1.jpg

In case anyone is wondering, the oval flanges that connect the cut out flow tubes to the side pipes are welded on the inside.

I did my best to reduce any movement of the pipes when welding them, but some movement was inevitable. Couple that with the new cross member raising the tailshaft of the trans up where it should be (which raised the collectors upward...), and I had some fitment issues to sort out. I ended up having to cut the front legs of the X pipe off and mod them quite a bit but in the end everything fits perfectly. I didn't take any photos when I was modding the X because I was pretty irritated and a bit disgusted. Anyway, here are the installed pics, after months of fabrication on this exhaust, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ymhan-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/bkrq-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/e1bzk-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/d9t6-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/72vh-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/w7m6-1.jpg

I'm currently shopping around for a couple things to put my mind at ease on a couple small issues. If you notice, the passenger side muffler is VERY close to the fuel/brake lines so I'd like to find a heat sleeve that I can wrap around them. Most that I'm finding require you to slip them over the end of the lines, but I'd rather not go through all that trouble. Ideally I'm looking for something you wrap around and secure with stainless ties. I'm also going to use some stick-on heat shields on the floor board where the cut outs are close (about 3/4" from the floor) to reduce them heating up the floor. But first I have to pull it all off again and get the stainless stuff to my buddy Troy who will be doing the polishing honors for me.

Lastly, after running the new battery cable, my OCD kicked in last week and I decided to add a few things. First up is a pair of 200A circuit breakers that I'll put at both ends of the cable. Should anything happen to the cable and cause a short, they'll pop immediately. I also picked up a distribution block to make it easier to connect everything up front. I'll run the 2 gauge cable from the battery into one side, then have separate 4 gauge wires going from the distribution block to the starter, alternator and fuse box. I haven't decided where to mount it yet but there aren't many accessible, yet hidden spots available so I'm guessing it will end up inside the fender well.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[95riosnake]

5/27/14

After a few weeks of real life getting in the way, I finally got back on this thing over the long weekend and finished up the wiring.

I brainstormed where to locate the distribution block for quite a while and ended up deciding to mount it near the passenger side lower corner of the radiator. I wanted it to be somewhat easily accessible within a reasonable amount of time so I didn't want to mount it in the fender well, and there's already too much under the hood so that was out too. Since I was going to be mounting it where it would be indirectly exposed to splashes of water here and there, I decided to make a splash shield to keep water from getting to the connections.

Made a couple quick cardboard mockups to decide on a design and ended up with this. The top cover slides down to cover the distribution block, then the allen bolt locks it in place.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/sjtt-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/gx08-1.jpg

Next I fabbed the box out of some sheet aluminum. You can't see it in this picture, but the top two corners are tig welded to seal them up.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/32ei-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/8yv44-1.jpg

As you can see, it fits nice and tight, I even had to notch where I rolled the bottom edge of the shield lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ahrrc-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/sk7a-1.jpg

With the box built, next I had to figure out how the hell to mount it, lol. After a bunch of head scratching I decided to weld a steel bracket onto the bottom of the ABS pump bracket, then attach a piece of aluminum to that, then mount the box to it.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qkll-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/3n0g-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/x4jx-1.jpg

Then came the long process of running 4 gauge wires to the fuse box, alternator and starter. Sounds easy enough, but the alternator wire is snaked behind the blower bracket, heater lines and blower piping. Then to anyone who has long tubes and a stock K member, I invite you to notice how hard it is to get to the terminal for the starter wire, lol. Add those things up and a couple hours later I had new wires routed and sheathed in more beautiful Techflex. A nice added benefit is I now have an open 4 gauge slot if I ever need to power something else in the future :2thumb: You can also see the 200 amp circuit breaker I added to the battery cable.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/bhal-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/eycwb-1.jpg

All covered up nicely with the shroud!

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/h18s2-1.jpg

Also added another 200 amp circuit breaker next to the battery. With a circuit breaker at both ends of the cable, if anything ever happens to the cable under the car, they'll pop and stop anything catastrophic from happening. :2thumb:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ips9q-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

6/1/14

Started the weekend addressing some exhaust heat, first up was shielding the fuel/brake lines and battery cable where they passed very close to the passenger side muffler. I picked up some Summit Racing Heat Sleeving (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-350137) and cut it down to the length I needed. The velcro closure is really easy to use, but at the ends, the lines spread apart a bit too much for the velcro to attach so I used some stainless safety wire left over from my rotor hardware to hold the sleeve together. This stuff is rated to 1500 degrees so it should be more than enough for my needs.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/q2jzf-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/em69-1.jpg

Next up was adding some Heatshield Products HP Heatshield Mat (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hsp-721202) to the floor pan where the cutouts are pretty close. Made some paper templates to plan out my cuts then transferred them over to the shielding. It's adhesive-backed so installation is super easy, then I used some left over Dynamat foil tape on the edges to prevent any fraying of the fiberglass material.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/hhy7t-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/uz04b-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/3tha-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/m2xy-1.jpg

The electric motors and wiring for the cutouts were close enough to the X pipe legs that I wanted to add some insulation to help prevent the heat from taking its toll on them so I picked up some DEI Titanium Exhaust Wrap (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dei-010123) to keep the temps down. Installation was simple, although I wish I had gotten a bit longer roll so I could have done the entire X pipe. The only complaint I have is the included stainless ties they supplied to secure the ends wouldn't get tight enough regardless of how much I tried, and ended up breaking. I looked around the shop and found a couple stainless band clamps that did the trick. The wrap isn't going anywhere now lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/lgzi7-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Then the trunk got some love. You may recall this cardboard mockup I made of the bracket I designed for the compressors from a while back.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I got the bracket water jetted from 0.375" 6061 aluminum. I put a quick brushed finish on it, it'll be staying brushed, I just need to hit it a few more times with a sanding block to get the brushing to look consistent.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/5yc6-1.jpg

The first step for my plan to mount it was to pull the tank and the tank clamps out and drill and tap two holes for a couple M8x1.25 allen bolts

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/4zxk-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/txky-1.jpg

Then mocked everything back in place to double check clearances and such

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/7eol-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/a65pj-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ttmy-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Then added the compressor brackets and sat the compressors in place

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/bkck-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/869z-1.jpg

[95riosnake]

You may notice the row of 5 mounting holes along the middle bottom area of the bracket, that was the next thing to address. My first thought was to just weld a bar between the two bent frame tubes and run bolts/nuts through that. But in the interest of easy disassembly/reassembly I changed the design a bit to make things easier on myself in the future.

Cut a piece of flat bar to length, then welded nuts onto the back of the middle 3 holes.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/7f2k-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/4pk5r-1.jpg

The outer two holes bolt to two tabs that will be welded onto the frame tubes in the trunk.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Welded the tabs in place (fiberglass welding blanket FTW)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/f6kg-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/xo5m-1.jpg

Then finally mounted everything

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/8vi7-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/yukj-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/95y0l-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ebv7-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/t0oi-1.jpg

You probably noticed the blank area in the middle of the bracket, that will be home to an OCD Fabworks logo. I finalized a logo a while ago, and I have something in the works to mount to the middle of the bracket. Stay tuned for more on that soon. Next thing I need to do is start figuring out what fittings I need for the tank, etc. I got word that the E3 management will be on its way in a couple weeks (I'm buying it from a friend) and RideTech tells me that I should have the new Shockwaves in hand very soon, so hopefully I'll be making some good progress on this air ride in the near future!

[95riosnake]

6/4/14

The next thing on the list I wanted to get the ball rolling on was a nagging clearance issue with the long tubes. One primary of the passenger side header was touching the starter...not just close, touching. And on the driver side header, one primary was touching the bell housing where the clutch cable goes in. The plan is to take them off then apply some strategic BFH clearancing before sending them back to Jet Hot for a fresh ceramic coating. The finish on these has seen better days, especially after the dip stick blew out under boost on the highway once and dumped oil on the primaries.

After a couple hours I had them off... and in the process I rediscovered one of my most hated bolts on the entire car; the driver's side rearmost header bolt, nestled in next to the brake booster. About the only way I've found to get at it is from the bottom of the car, shoving my arm up between the bell housing and header. Anyway, here's the car with officially no exhaust now, lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/6eo5-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/hhul-1.jpg

I'm going to replace the starter while they're out. This one is a few years old now, and has failed to crank the car a few times from getting heat soaked, not worth leaving it, only to have it crap out on me sometime and have to pull the headers again. I'm also going to add a heat blanket to the new starter to keep it nice and cool.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/d0xje-1.jpg

This picture shows where the primary is touching the bell housing, despite a bit of trimming that was done when the trans went in, it's still touching. Plus, I can't run the cover that's supposed to be there. I'm going to either fabricate a new, lower profile cover or buy one and modify it to fit. I don't want the heat to take its toll on the clutch cable.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/chst-1.jpg

I might cut off the EGR tube and weld a patch in its place while the headers are off, haven't decided yet.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/nehvd-1.jpg

Marked the primaries where they need clearanced before I took them off.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/zr3g-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/ljod-1.jpg

Got started with some BFH work on the headers. Heated them with a propane torch, then used my 3lb sledge to "massage" them a bit lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/xqtc-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Next up was addressing my lack of a clutch fork cover.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/jlty-1.jpg

The Ford piece is waaaaay too big to fit with the long tubes, so I made my own low profile version. As I'm sure you guys have come to expect, the first step was to make a cardboard mockup lol.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/rn9w-1.jpg

Decided to change it a bit for more clearance to the firewall

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/o1iq-1.jpg

Everything looked good, so the cardboard template was traced onto some aluminum sheet.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/lgy6-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/qliu-1.jpg

Drilled out the existing hole in the bell housing a bit, then tapped it for an 8mm x 1.25 allen bolt.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/7d2d1-1.jpg

Bent the cover into shape, then bolted it up for one last fitment check.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/lmvz-1.jpg

The cover would no doubt substantially reduce the header heat on the clutch cable, but since I have a good bit of heat shield left over, I decided to go a little overkill on it, lol. This will be the coolest clutch cable on the planet now, haha.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/g4mj-1.jpg

And the finished product:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

As much as I'm not excited about the idea, I'm gonna drop the trans soon and change the rear main seal, so when I do I'll drill and tap another hole in the bell housing to bolt down the rear tab of the cover that extends down. I couldn't get a drill in there to drill it with the bell housing in the car.

Lastly, this happened again.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

I ordered a new tool for said snowballing, it showed up yesterday.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/06/gojl-1.jpg

[bryant]

a starter motor can pull over 200 amps. wont that trip your circuit breakers?

[95riosnake]

a starter motor can pull over 200 amps. wont that trip your circuit breakers?

That remains to be seen. I did a bunch of research online and found many mustang guys with battery relocations running 150-175 amp circuit breakers with no issues, so I went a bit higher because 150-175 didn't seem like enough. Once I get the exhaust back on the car I'll test it out. If they do trip when starting the car I can just swap them out for ones with a higher amp rating.

[bonecrrusher]

So is your super loud exhaust with cutout flowing into the same tips as the muffled exhaust?

[95riosnake]

So is your super loud exhaust with cutout flowing into the same tips as the muffled exhaust?

Yes when the cut outs are open, they will flow through the same tips as the muffled exhaust. Just something to have fun with really, most of the time the car will be driven with the cut outs closed.

[bonecrrusher]

Cool - took a bit of head scratching to see what was going on there.

Clean build man!

[95riosnake]

Cool - took a bit of head scratching to see what was going on there.

Clean build man!

Thanks, I just never liked how most cut outs dump under the car. Kind of turns the area under the car into a big drum, stirs up a lot of dust, etc. Thought I'd go outside the box a bit and tie it all back into the side exhaust. I'm a little scared of hitting WOT with them open for the first time, might need to bring some ear muffs lol.

[R32Jordie]

Awesome updates as always. (easily one of my favorite builds on here)

I "borrowed" your remote battery terminal idea and incorporated it into my Skyline build

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/05/13954764067_343a07e52d_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ng8Pbt)

Keep it up.

-Jordie

[95riosnake]

Awesome updates as always. (easily one of my favorite builds on here)

I "borrowed" your remote battery terminal idea and incorporated it into my Skyline build

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2014/05/13954764067_343a07e52d_c-1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/ng8Pbt)

Keep it up.

-Jordie

That means a lot! Glad to hear you like the build, and glad I could contribute an idea to yours! I'll check out your skyline build later tonight :cheers:

[Silver_Stang]

This build is truely EPIC! I have been surfing these forums for a few years now & became a member just so I could comment on this thread. Your attention to detail is amazing, something you don't see often.
I'm working on an SN platform car as well. Mines an 03 GT (or whats left of one). Anyways, great job & i look forward to the updates!

[PANTYEATR]

greetings 95Riosnake,

I am one of your biggest fans and your biggest competition. I have bee viewing your project log for a few months now and during the last few months I have been building my own "OCD machine"... your machine is amazing, but I think we should battle for the title of who is the most OCD.

I will post all of my project log here to be viewed and maybe we can swap notes and eventually meet.

again great job on your build...

[BlackMachOne]

Wow, your car is by far the best SN95 out there. I have seen your car for years on SN95Forums.com (94Pro-5.0) but have never seen a build thread. I had no idea it was done to this level. I will be using a lot of ideas you have done on your car with my 94 once my 69 is done.

Here's mine

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://s275.photobucket.com/user/94Pro-5-0/media/73af9f53-0ea8-4596-a390-91289fd83377_zps557c0847.jpg.html)

[95riosnake]

I have a couple things in the works for the car currently. Unfortunately I ran out of things to do while waiting for several key parts to become available that I've been waiting forever for (front bags, rear wilwoods, E3 management, etc.) so the car hasn't been touched in about a month while I continue to wait. Some parts are due to roll in soon so I'll hopefully be back to making progress shortly.


This build is truely EPIC! I have been surfing these forums for a few years now & became a member just so I could comment on this thread. Your attention to detail is amazing, something you don't see often.
I'm working on an SN platform car as well. Mines an 03 GT (or whats left of one). Anyways, great job & i look forward to the updates!

Thanks for the kind words!


greetings 95Riosnake,

I am one of your biggest fans and your biggest competition. I have bee viewing your project log for a few months now and during the last few months I have been building my own "OCD machine"... your machine is amazing, but I think we should battle for the title of who is the most OCD.

I will post all of my project log here to be viewed and maybe we can swap notes and eventually meet.

again great job on your build...

Thanks! I look forward to seeing your build, is it an SN95 mustang?


Wow, your car is by far the best SN95 out there. I have seen your car for years on SN95Forums.com (94Pro-5.0) but have never seen a build thread. I had no idea it was done to this level. I will be using a lot of ideas you have done on your car with my 94 once my 69 is done.

Here's mine

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif (http://s275.photobucket.com/user/94Pro-5-0/media/73af9f53-0ea8-4596-a390-91289fd83377_zps557c0847.jpg.html)

I remember your car from there, I don't really go on that site anymore (I'm an admin on sn95 source so I spend most of my mustang internet time there and SVTP). Glad you like what I've been up to! Your 69 and 94 are both badass!

[Josh@Ridetech]

Well, you already know I love your car...

[PANTYEATR]

Thanks! I look forward to seeing your build, is it an SN95 mustang?

yes, it's a SN95, check it out

[BlackMachOne]

What happened to Rio?

[95riosnake]

What happened to Rio?

My wife and I bought a new house and moved at the end of September. I haven't given up on the car, just haven't had a chance to get my shop set up and my tools organized enough to get back to work on it yet. It bums me out big time that I haven't driven this car since October 2012... I need to get back on it ASAP!

[DrFraZZy]

Good to see this thread back up and running! I am looking forward to the updates soon

[brawls43]

Just came across this thread, I really like how you did your exhaust cutouts.

[dangina]

The more I come back, the better the underside of your car looks!

[PANTYEATR]

damn, that's nice about the house and stuff, but that sucks not being able to work on your car bro.

feel free to check my thread out to get your juices flowing again... I have more pics to post and maybe an old video from when I finished the seam welding inside and out.

[LERM]

I admit, I first looked at your exhaust and thought, "good luck fitting a torque arm through all that..."

...but then saw all the beautiful IRS stuff and instantly felt ashamed of myself for doubting you. Strong work sir. This whole ride is pretty slick.

[Dalamar]

I hear ya Rio, Haven't driven mine for 16 months....


Man cave = Garage. get on it bro!

[PANTYEATR]

any updates bro???

[95riosnake]

Well hello everyone, long time no talk.

I think it’s not uncommon that builds fall to the back burner due to life circumstances, and unfortunately this build joined those ranks. I want to summarize what happened with this build, and let you know what the future holds.

I bought a house in 2015 with my now ex wife. I spent the first 4 years dumping all of my time, energy and money into renovating the house. The garage did get some upgrades and paint, getting it ready to start working on my car, but alas, that never happened. My ex wife’s brother was born with muscular dystrophy, and after 23 years of battling that disease, he passed away and it sent a shock through our family and especially my ex wife. This sent my her into a spiral of depression, self destruction, survivor’s guilt… you name it, culminating with adultery and then leading to divorce in 2019. In the divorce, I was fortunate enough to keep the house that I loved and had poured so much effort and work into. I spent the last 4 years hustling to afford that house on my own, minus her income. This yet again left no budget or time for the mustang and it continued to sit and collect dust.

Fast forward to March 2022 - I met a wonderful woman who also happens to be from my hometown of Wheeling, WV (I was living in Pittsburgh, PA at the time and had been since 2007). We hit it off big time and I decided it was time to move back to my roots. I landed an amazing job in November 2022 as a research engineer with a significant raise and with the added benefit of doing something I’m wildly interested in. I then started to get the house ready to sell. This included finishing up projects I had left unfinished during the last few years hustling to afford the house. This drug on a bit longer than expected because of the hour and a half trip between locations, but I kept plugging away.

Around the end of May/early June 2023 I started having severe intestinal pain. Eventually this pain reached a level that landed me in the emergency room. This ER visit set in motion a series of events that still don’t feel real to me. After many, many scans, scopes and tests I was told that I have stage 4 rectal cancer (at the age of 39 - which is very, very young for this type of cancer). I have already completed radiation treatments and am currently almost half way through chemotherapy. If all goes well, I hope to avoid surgery and have a full clinical response to the chemo. My fingers remain crossed on that topic.

In the meantime, my father, who is the reason I grew up with a love for building things, especially cars, has been trying to do anything he can to help. Since he’s not a doctor, he has been helping me finish getting the house on the market (should be listed within the next week or so) and wants to help me get back to my love of building this car once I’m no longer sick. At his house, he has a total of 5 garage bays. 2 of those bays are a detached shop with 12’ ceilings, a 4 post lift and every fabrication machine and tool you could imagine. On the side of the shop, there is a 12’ x 28’ carport. He has decided to close in that carport and make it part of the shop. This new part of the shop will be the new home for my mustang, and will be where it sees its long-awaited rebirth.

I apologize for the long post, but I wanted to fully explain the events that led me to where I am now, and share my excitement for the future. It’ll be a bit longer before I get fully back to work on the car, but I’ll post any updates I have until then. We’re getting the car flat bedded to my dad’s house this Thursday so it’ll at least be local to me, and as we start construction to close in the carport I’ll post some updates on that as well.

Life has absolutely thrown me a few curveballs over the past few years, but it’s nothing that I can’t handle. I’m too stubborn to let this sickness beat me, and once I’m out of the woods I’ll be getting back to making this car all that I’ve ever wanted it to be. I’m very much looking forward to sharing the rest of this journey with all of you. Stay tuned.

[badbu68]

Glad you're still here, that a hell of a past few years!

[95riosnake]

Glad you're still here, that a hell of a past few years!

Thanks, not planning on going anywhere! I can’t wait to get better and get back in the shop and working on the car again. My brain is overflowing with ideas and I can’t wait to start making them happen.

[jaybee]

Wow, that's a lot of "stuff." Thanks for bringing us up to speed. You're spending your time and attention doing the right things, and when the time is right I hope to see you making more progress on the project.