RinerAutomotive's SN95 Autocross Mustang

[RinerAuto]

Hi Pro-Touring,
My name is Stephen and I've been a member since 2020. I enjoy reading about everyone's builds and figured it was time I share my build on this forum. This first post will just be an introduction. I'll do some dedicated posts later to fill in more details.

The car is a 1994 Ford Mustang specifically built for autocross. I mainly compete in the SCCA Classic American Muscle Traditional (CAM-T) class. I've also made several trips to UMI Motorsports Park running in either the mid or late class depending on the event.



Some of you may already know my car or have seen some of my YouTube videos. I started a YouTube channel (RinerAutomotive) in 2021 that covers many aspects of my build and autocross adventures.

Some details about me, I am a mechanical engineer and have been autocrossing since 2012 with this car. I work in the mining industry, testing off highway haul trucks. So, most car maintenance and race setup I've had to learn.

Current car setup at this time:

Custom short long arm (SLA) front suspension designed and built by myself
Maximum motorsports torque arm/panhard bar rear suspension
Engine is still a small block ford, 306ci, with aftermarket heads, cam, intake, all controlled by a custom junkyard sourced ECU distributor-less ignition setup
Homebuilt aero and vinyl wrap

Probably see a theme that I'm big into DIY. Which is one of them things I like about this forum as well. Thanks for checking out my build thread. I'll go into more detailed posts in this thread to get caught up on the car build. But a project car is never done right? Especially a race car as there is always the pursuit for more speed. This will not be how to build a show car thread. But I have taken the car to some shows a won a judge's pick at Ponies in the Smokies.

[jaybee]

Nice car! I went looking for your YouTube channel, lots of content there.

[RinerAuto]

Before getting into updates on this car, let's look back to why this car.

My very first car was a 4cyl automatic fox body. Great learner car but slower than molasses. When I turned 18 I bought a 1991 Mustang GT with a 5.0 5-speed. I loved that car. It was lowered on springs and I built a 347 SBF for it. In late 2011 I tried my first autocross with that car. It was fun but it didn't handle too well and was overpowered. Also at the time I was interested in getting into W2W racing. I decided buying a new car to build as a dedicated racecar was the correct option.

I loved fox bodies, but I couldn't bring myself to cut up mine or any fox body to make into a racecar. At the time SN95 were cheap and plentiful for sale or in the junkyard. Plus they are better base to start with in suspension, brakes, and chassis. I found a 1994 V6 Base that had a seized engine for $500, aka the perfect candidate. Then found someone on CL parting out SN95 GT, so I bought the engine and everything I needed to swap in.

By the start of 2012 I had a running Mustang 5.0 with very soft suspension. I convinced my dad to codrive autocross with me. That started it all.

For this car I was going to follow a completely different philosophy from my fox body...don't touch the engine and put all the work into the suspension. Each year I slowly upgraded the car moving from stock class to E-street prepared to C-prepared running on Hoosiers.

[RinerAuto]

Nice car! I went looking for your YouTube channel, lots of content there.

Thanks, I would have included a link but I need a few more posts.

Small world though, I see you're listed as Chesapeake. I grew up there and graduated from Hickory. Live in P-Town now.

[RinerAuto]

One of the limitations of the SCCA ruleset is that some simple modifications bump you up classes. Without building to the max of the rules or having the "right" car it's difficult to be competitive. In the early days I wasn't competitive and didn't think the Mustang could be competitive. Then came the creation of Classic American Muscle (CAM) class. However, the rules clearly stated (at that time) that cars must be licensed and insured. My car was not and could not be in Virginia due to emissions and airbag removal. Until 2021 when the car became 25 years old and eligible for antique plates.

Off came the Hoosiers and on went some 200 TW tires. This also was the same time I launched my YouTube channel (@RinerAutomotive) where I have documented all the modifications and racing I have done with the car since 2021.

Last picture before the car went in for a major revamp:


With the move to CAM I decided to do a large transformation of the car. I built a plywood front splitter, boxed in the radiator, vented hood, fixed the front roll center, reinstalled the interior (luckily I'm a hoarder), and vinyl wrapped the car.



While the car still looks the same now as it did in 2021. Up close the vinyl wrap is starting to look tired from all of the cone hits.

[Vimes]

Who makes those hood locks? Those are nice.

[Pingar]

Nice car. I’ll give your YouTube a look too.

[jaybee]

Thanks, I would have included a link but I need a few more posts.

Small world though, I see you're listed as Chesapeake. I grew up there and graduated from Hickory. Live in P-Town now.

Ah, nice. Been here going on 7 years now and I'm really liking it. I spent most of my life up to that point in Iowa. I don't miss the weather, especially in Jan-Feb. This year I plan to get to more shows and other car-related events.

[RinerAuto]

Who makes those hood locks? Those are nice.

The hood latches are Aerocatch. I have heard to be careful of fakes on Amazon, I bought directly from Aerocatch, which is located in the UK.

[RinerAuto]

Ah, nice. Been here going on 7 years now and I'm really liking it. I spent most of my life up to that point in Iowa. I don't miss the weather, especially in Jan-Feb. This year I plan to get to more shows and other car-related events.

I try to get out to a few cars and coffee, but usually I'm either fixing something on the car or autocrossing. If you're interested in autocross or HPDE check out Tidewater Sports Car Club. 2026 season isn't announced yet but in the past events have ranged from Suffolk Executive Airport, NCCAR, and Virginia Motorsports Park. They also have 3 HPDE event at VIR this year.

[jaybee]

Very cool, I've got their website up right now. I'm an easy drive to Suffolk Executive Airport.

[RinerAuto]

I need to update this thread to the latest car spec, but last weekend I had my first event for 2026 and it was the Charlotte National Tour at ZMax. Not what I would have wanted my first event of the season to be and with finishing the car only one week prior. Luckily the test and tune during the week went well and I was feeling confident. Overall there were 277 drivers but my class had 7 drivers.

The upgrades for this event include completely replacing the ABS system, new rear 2-way MCS shocks from Vorshlag and upgrading the electric steering from a 2nd Gen to 3rd Gen Prius column.

Day 1 was cold and extremely windy. Luckily CAM-T ran in the 4th heat so it had warmed up some and wind died a little. On run #1 I had an uncharacteristic DNF when I got slightly lost coming out of the corner. Run #2 was a clean 55.367 sec and put me second place in class by 0.3 seconds. Third and final run Ashley said go get a 54s. I pushed a little harder but still wanted to make sure it was clean. I came through the finish with a 54.844s! Dropping 0.5s and taking the lead by 0.25s.


Day 2 still started cold but with light wind. Again running in the 4th heat allowed it to warm to the 60s. The course was reversed from day 1 and was looking faster. Overall results are from combining times from day 1 and day 2. First run was a 54.249s which kept my lead but the competition was close. I was having a lot of issue with the inside rear tire spinning on corner exit. Tried adjusting rear shocks and my driving. Second run was slower than first. Last run again Ashley said go get a 53s, lo and behold I came through the finish with a 53.829s which after combining both days gave me a 1 second lead. To win my second National Tour event in CAM-T!



Additionally, I worked more with the AI script that would run on my RaceCapture and use the shock position sensors to give recommendations on what shock adjustments to make. This time it worked but I only have shock position sensors on the front working. Looking forward to dialing that in better.e this thread but

[Raszaron]

Good to see CAM-T builds! Maybe I'll see you out there some day if you come to Lincoln, NE, in the future.

[RinerAuto]

Good to see CAM-T builds! Maybe I'll see you out there some day if you come to Lincoln, NE, in the future.

I've gone to Nationals the last two years and plan to again this year. I need redemption for last year (I was in the trophies before I broke my front suspension).

[RinerAuto]

I recently upgraded to an ABS system from a 2011-2014 S197 Mustang. When paired with the RCM they can operate purely standalone. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's working as expected at the moment.



Here is a list of all the parts that I bought for this install. In total I spent close to $700 on this swap. I don't know how much the MK60 swap costs, but looking up just the module, I'm seeing $1000 for it alone. The Delta Motorsport ABS kit is close to $5000. This is very affordable, at least for now.



Video:

[Vimes]

I recently upgraded to an ABS system from a 2011-2014 S197 Mustang. When paired with the RCM they can operate purely standalone. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's working as expected at the moment.



Here is a list of all the parts that I bought for this install. In total I spent close to $700 on this swap. I don't know how much the MK60 swap costs, but looking up just the module, I'm seeing $1000 for it alone. The Delta Motorsport ABS kit is close to $5000. This is very affordable, at least for now.



Video:

Could you go into that just a bit more? A standalone ABS system is interesting.

[jaybee]

Nice, great start to your season. Thanks for the update.

[RinerAuto]

Could you go into that just a bit more? A standalone ABS system is interesting.

Yep I created this post to help cover everything. Although formatting on this forum is difficult.

https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...79#post1405079

[Vimes]

Excellent, thanks!

[RinerAuto]

Nice, great start to your season. Thanks for the update.

Thanks, yea I'm happy with it. And I haven't installed all the improvements to the car yet