1965 Mustang Coupe Build...

[digitalsolo]

So next up was getting my exhaust cleaned up. These are cast steel "Ford Performance" manifolds that I modified. I picked up a method from a friend a while back of creating the short flange adapters (or just up pipes in this case), then bolting them to the manifold and TIG'ing the whole thing together so that it's solid/doesn't leak. The bolt then weld setup means that the load is distributed well and helps take some onus off of the TIG welds at the flange to the cast part. Anyway, they were originally shot in VHT 2000*, but the storage facility I had my car at all winter was very humid and caused some surface rust, so I figured it was a good time to get them coated properly at a local place. This is their ceramic 2500* coating in satin black, before and after:


Next up is the engine bay starting to come together. Wiring is in place on the driver side coils/injectors/DBW throttle body, plus the leads that run under the intake for the cam/crank/knock/etc. sensors on the rear/valley:



And next, I wanted to put a Haltech IC7 in where the OE radio was, so I designed a bracket and 3D printed it on my big CoreXY machine I designed. This was a pretty complex part to get the CAD right on, but it fits like a glove!



And here's where it goes:

[andrewb70]

Blake,

You're doing an amazing job! I am definitely going to attempt this when I do my next project!

Andrew

[wfo guy]

Looks great. I'm thinking there is quite a bit of money in all the wiring.

[70CougarXr7]

Sharp looking car, love that you did some things which are really not original on the car. ( rear lights for example).

Biggest thing i like is interior, big fan of nice interiors .
Look like comfy seats!

And those door handles, was very close of putting them in my car...

[digitalsolo]

Thanks guys! The seats are great, I really like them a lot! I'm SUPER happy with how the interior came out. I'm hoping to finish the last few details in it this spring/summer and it should be just about perfect for my needs/goals.

The wiring was... well it wasn't cheap. I think materials were around 2200 dollars for everything in the chassis for wiring. Hopefully it's the last time I have to touch 95% of it though!

[blade]

Really awesome build! The work you've done on the wiring and electronics is amazing.

[digitalsolo]

Redid the in-trunk fuel lines, and the main battery fuse.

[andrewb70]

Blake,

What's that little box between the fuel pump relays? Looks like a little power distribution module.

Andrew

[digitalsolo]

Single in, dual out fusebox. It's either an Eaton or a Littelfuse part.

[digitalsolo]

Some updates!

First off, S1 Sequential shifter setup for the TR6060. This is a really slick piece and I'm very pleased with it so far.

Laid out:



In the car:



And trimmed up in the center console:



New exhaust system (dual 3" with a 2" crossover h-pipe). MUCH happier with the sound on this vs. my old true dual 2.5" setup. More mellow, less dB and much less drone.




I was having a ton of issues with my cam sensors. It turned out to be a bent pin in the connector, humorously caused by me TESTING the sensors. Doh. Anyway, it's fixed now. If you're curious, here's what the "square wave" hall effect output of a Coyote intake cam sensor looks like on a scope. If you notice the "soft" rise and hard fall (curved rise and very sharp, square drop) that's why you use a trailing sense on these, you get a more accurate signal.



And finally, the Haltech IC7 mounted up on the dash, and the mock up of the center console HVAC controls and dual trim pots for traction and boost maps.

[digitalsolo]

And a little more center console fab. The black 3d printed trim pot surround will get remade in billet aluminum soon(ish) and the whole center console lid is likely going to be redone in forged carbon with some rework of the rear e-brake setup (might do a Tesla electric parking brake, not sure yet) and a few other details, but it's at least usable now.




Next up is some fuel system rework. I dropped my dual pump setup for a single Deatschwerks DW440 LPH brushless with a pwm controller run by the Haltech. This is fed 18V from the MSD 2351 voltage booster:





And then a VR pickup for front wheel speed, run off of the 2 piece rotor hat bolts. I'm still testing this, but I think it will work well for me to enable traction control:


And finally, a quick release fire extinguisher mount, because fire bad:




Current projects are:

Finishing air conditioning (I'm ALMOST there on this I think).
Redo electric power steering with new torque-feedback ECU controller to make it less... twitchy... on the highway.
Fix knock sensors (they aren't reading)
Finish front sway bar
Finish center console
Tune traction control
Tune E85
Turn up the boost

[andrewb70]

Blake,



Amazing work. What are you currently doing for the EPAS?

[digitalsolo]

Blake,

Amazing work. What are you currently doing for the EPAS?

Thanks Andrew!

I have a Saturn EPAS with the "Gen 1" "Bruno" kit. Basically it's adjustable with a pot on the dash. That's annoying, so I'm planning on just snagging their V2 kit that uses the torque sensor on the EPAS ECU to control boost based on closed loop torque sense feedback. I like it around town now, but it's super over-boosted at >50 MPH with the setting that makes it useful in a parking lot.

They actually have a line you can ground for the newer "automatic" kit that lowers the boost even more, so I will likely run that to a spare output on my EPAS and ground it above say 55 MPH to be sure that assist is off or VERY minimal at speed.

[wickedwood]

What did u do to clean off the aluminum block, and what acid did u use? Great work!

[digitalsolo]

I used "NAPA Aluminum Brightener"

[jaybee]

I missed some of your earlier updates. I see it gets really tight around the trans mount. Things are really busy there with the the u joint, trans mount, exhaust, torque arm, and chassis stiffening crossmember.

[wfo guy]

I love the use of technology. Are you planning on a dyno trip to tune the car?

[digitalsolo]

So, I've not updated this in a minute, but the car has gotten a lot of work (and a bunch more in progress). I'll try to get pictures together shortly, but the list is:

Completed Updates/Changes:

• Transmission was having issues in 3rd, so it went to Tick for an entire "full tilt" build with everything worn replaced, everything upgraded to 3 pad billet forks, updated synchros, carbon blockers, cryo treatment, micro polish, yada yada. Shifts fantastic now.
  
• battery was swapped to an Odyssey after having my 3rd optima die (with their fancy charger, keeping it tended, etc...). The Odyssey is smaller and lighter and has been fantastic for >12 months. Very happy with it.
  
• Tesla Model S electric parking brake calipers were installed. I never liked the Wilwood "hat" style parking brake, and I like to overcomplicate things, so I have a set of Tesla Model S parking brakes on the rear now. They're managed by an ECUMaster H-Bridge that just uses a time/current drive to push them to closed and release them, and I built a small microcontroller on the CAN network that tracks status and sets the indicator for "parking brake set" on the IC7 dashboard. It's all controlled by...
  
• Haltech 15 position CANbus keypad. This is mounted in the center console and runs a bunch of functions. Namely cruise control (FINALLY), A/C, parking brake, EPAS override (so I can lower assist or disable it if I wish), traction control, etc.
  
• I've also completely redone the electrical system. Again. The old ECUMaster PDU is gone (I loved it, but Haltech has some that integrate into their system now). I now have a Haltech Nexus R5 under the dash for the engine management and power for everything in the front half of the car, and a Haltech Nexus PD16 (PDM) in the trunk that runs everything back there.
  
• "Blinkstop" wireless steering wheel controls with CANbus. I added these this spring for turn signal controls after the OEM style Ford steering wheel cancel mechanism broke and half jammed up my steering. No thanks on that. This is a racecar style button plate with 4x buttons, I use them as headlights, left/right turn signals and horns. It uses a small receiver to put the data on CANbus and I added functionality to my microcontroller to intercept these CAN messages and spoof being a second Haltech keypad, so that the Haltech can receive these messages and run the functions properly.
  
• Turbochargers have been upgraded from the On3 journal bearing units with .81 A/R housings to similar sized VS Racing dual ball bearing units with billet compressor wheels and 1.01 A/R housings, to make sure I'm not choking the exhaust up high.
  
• Power window controls have been totally redone. Previously I had a relay bank (8x relays for 4x windows) that ran them. Now I have Pontiac G8 controllers that are run off the BMW switches I had before. These give me one touch down functions and are a LOT cleaner setup. They're easier to mount as well, so I moved them under a plate behind the glovebox, allowing the glovebox to be the central point for my CAN network, which is helpful when I need to access things.
  
• Lots of minor things, all of my generic "ebay" transducers have been replaced with either "WHP" or "Low Doller Motorsports" pieces that don't randomly die on me. Fuel lines have been redone with PTFE everywhere, etc.

That's the "Done" list. There's also the "WIP" list...

Engine is getting some upgrades, all reliability stuff.
For reference, the starting point is:
2013 Coyote (F150) - ~35k miles
ARP head studs, cam tower bolts, phaser bolts, balancer bolt
Boss 302R valve springs/retainers
Billet Oil Pump Gears
Innovators West crank pulley/balancer

Upgrades coming:
2020 GT500 Oil Pan/High Volume Pump
New MMR billet gears for that ^
MMR Billet main timing gear
MMR billet timing guides
MMR billet rear cover
MMR billet reluctor wheel
MMR billet secondary chain tensioner relocation bracket
MMR coolant crossover mod
MMR oil crossover mod
Comp Camps HD timing chain set
Ford Racing Boss/Cobrajet chain tensioner set

Hoping that keeps it all in happy condition. Next year I might do a forged bottom end and some bigger cams, but we'll see. The ~650 RWHP it makes now is more than enough for the chassis. Oh, yeah, the chassis...

Chassis Upgrades Coming:
I have never been very happy with the Mustang II based setup I put in the car years ago, and I think something in the setup is (slightly) mis-aligned at the mounts, so it's always a struggle to dial the alignment in perfectly. So I'm cutting the front of the car off (mostly).

I'm putting in a Speedway Motors "G-Comp" front subframe kit. This includes an entire subframe that will get welded in place of what was there before, and then everything forward of it, below the aprons/core support I'm going to just fabricate out of round tube to pull some weight out and improve clearance overall. The G-Comp kit uses a C6 style knuckle and C6 hubs, which I'm re-drilling for 5x4.5 to match my rears. I ordered new hats for my 2 piece brake rotors to fit these properly and I'll fabricate new brackets on the knuckles to take my Wilwood 6 piston calipers from the old setup.

It has a DSE power rack (so the ratio I want) which I will de-power to run via my EPAS, and I've got a set of single adjustable QA1s coming (DS401) for coilovers.

I think that catches up on the last... 2 years. I'll snag some photos shortly.

[digitalsolo]

Fired it up on the Nexus ECU today. I had a few minor brain farts, but once I cleared those from the air it fired right up and idles great. Now to tear it all apart for the suspension work...

[andrewb70]

Blake,

Great to se some progress on this build. Are you using a Freewheel transmitter for anything? I was looking at their website and was thinking of using them for paddle shifting my 4L80.

Andrew