Vorshlag S550 & S650 Mustang Development + 2018 GT, 2024 Darkhorse & #Trigger

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Even the two "flex" feed lines from the master cylinder to the ABS brick (which we purchased new for an S550) had to be cut for new S197 tube nuts (both were the larger M12 sizes) and re-flared. This wrapped up the plumbing for the brake system and the ABS brick mounting. Next time we will show the wiring for the speed sensors as well as the additional yaw sensor needed to (hopefully) make this work with the OEM ABS computer.



We want to test the OEM S197 ABS system on this car (to verify that it can work on ABS swapped cars), then we will have found a good, low cost ABS system we can swap onto any car without needing the rare and expensive Ford Racing ABS computer. After we get this tested we can then swap in the Ford Racing ABS computer and retest the brakes with that setup - to see how much better it stops, if any.

CARBON DOORS ADDED + WEIGHT CHECK

Back in 2020 we had "The Carboning" - which was when a huge shipment of carbon fiber arrived from Anderson Composites & Seibon (sister companies) for several of our cars - including this 2015 Mustang. We have already showed the carbon Anderson trunk going on, as well as their carbon "GT500" hood that was transferred over from my 2015 GT.



I had honestly planned on adding the carbon doors AFTER we had a full roll cage, but the weight was already creeping up and I threw caution to the wind and since the lightened steel doors had to come off for the dash removal during the heater core install, it was a good time to drop some pounds.



The door handles and hinges were removed from the steel doors, as well as the stock mirrors and inner release handles. Now we did not add the crash bars from the stock doors, as that involves a lot of surgery and ultimately we want the future roll cage to provide that side intrusion protection. We will likely add some down bars from the main 4-point roll bar as a stop gap solution to this.



There was a lot of grinding, fitting, sanding and fiddly work getting the mirror pockets in the doors to fit the stock side mirrors. These are hand made doors, so this is to be expected. Doug spent a couple of hours creeping up on the right sized pockets, then both mirrors bolted in and fit snug.



The doors went on without any fuss - amazingly they fit the stock hinges and opening without any sanding or grinding, unlike other brands of composite doors we have worked with in the past. These fit like OEM parts, which is likely why Ford has Anderson build some of their factory race car carbon parts.



We have added lots of parts since the last weight check (3060 lbs on 4/1/22) but the carbon doors helped offset some of that and more, with this 3045 lb check (4/21/22). This 3045 weight was with all of the safety gear, both seats, and all of the plumbing. We still lack some wiring work and of course fluids, so a 3100 pound initial race weight is likely.

NRG QUICK RELEASE + STEERING WHEEL

Up until this point we still had the original steering wheel installed, but that was never going to see any track use. To get from the stock wheel to the Momo model 88 wheel with a steering wheel Quick Release AND a working horn, took a bit of work.



I wanted a smaller steering wheel on at this point in the build so we could size and place the digital dash unit. Of course if we are adding an aftermarket steering wheel, and not hoping to keep any airbag or wheel mounted buttons working, we want to add a Quick Release steering wheel hub (aka: "QR").



Normally we would reach into the Sparco/Lifeline catalog and pick one of their beautiful units - but I did want a working horn, and a thinner QR unit. Having driven recently with an NRG branded QR, I rolled the dice and bought the hub adapter and "thin" style QR from them. Unlike other import QR hubs, this brand has an SFI rated unit - so its better than most.



To make the horn button work we needed a clock spring, which was missing along with virtually all wiring on this salvage car. So we went to eBay and bought one for $34, $100 cheaper than the Ford supplied unit. Hey, its just for a horn.



The NRG branded QR hub had a 2 wire pass-thru, which Sparco/Lifeline charge a large up-charge to get. The listing they had for the adapter hub showed "2005-up", but I worried that the 2015-2023 Mustang S550 unit would be different. And it was. I will show below what it took to make their hub adapter fit the S550 with a working clock spring, so we could have a working horn.



Once we bought the clock spring we had to chase down the steering wheel sub-harness, to connect to the wiring of the clock spring once it was mounted. We found that on eBay and only needed one connector - to connect two wires into the clock spring.



This is where the "2005-up" adapter hub from NRG needed major modifications. First up, Doug had to mark and drill the two holes in the hub to align with the clock spring pins, otherwise the tunable clock sprung unit would never rotate. Next up a pocket had to be machined into the back side of the hub to clear the clock spring wiring connector...



You can see the connector on the clock spring, above left. This has to fit within the pocket on the back of the hub adapter. Doug also added a hole for the wiring connector that stays within the hub and sends the wires to the horn button on the Momo wheel.



Details of the steering wheel harness that normally connects to the stock steering wheel, which has a lot of pins for a lot of circuits. We only need two pins for the horn, and those are being connected, above right.



The automotive horn circuit is very simple... it is just a momentary button that closes the circuit, that then triggers a relay that runs the horn. And yes, we use horns on race cars - this has saved me from being backed into in grid TWICE. Thousands of dollars of bodywork damage avoided by a quick "HONK!". The two pass-through contacts for the horn circuit are seen on the open QR hub, above right. again, most QR hubs do NOT have wiring pass-thrus.



We were a bit short on stainless M5 countersunk bolts, so we had a mix of black oxide and SS bolts when mounting the Momo model 88 wheel. I chose the 330 mm version over the larger 350 mm, as it fits my legs and still allows plenty of visibility to a digital dash when looking through it.



All of that work just to have a horn? Yep - hopefully NRG will see this and make a proper S550 hub adapter, so you don't have to drill and machine pockets into your hub if you go with this brand. But this NRG unit is very low cost for the quality of the actual "release" and connection of this unit, and it is also very thin. Moving the wheel away from your body is much more difficult than when using a spacer to move it closer to you. A thin QR setup is tough to find.

SHIFTER MODS, CENTER CONSOLE, & FIRE PROOF SHIFT BOOT

When we were attacking the steering wheel I noticed that the direct mounted shifter on our Tremec T56 Magnum XL was a little too close to the round opening on the S550 transmission tunnel (the "LS" version of this transmission just dropped $400 in price, BTW!) I asked Doug to open that up and prep it for a proper fire-proof shift boot. You can see below how much he cut away, and it now fits perfectly. No, the normal T56 F wouldn't fit this chassis - it places the shifter 5.5" further forward, which would be buried under the dash. And taking a direct shifted trans and adding a remote shifter to it is so backwards that it hurts my brain.



Now there is a bigger hole in the tunnel that needs to be covered up, and the rubber OEM shifter "gasket" wouldn't fit - but it isn't exactly a great fire-proof covering for a hole in the tunnel. We want something better in every race car - to prevent fluids, gasses, heat and fire from breaching the cabin from underneath the car.



I love this Joe's Racing fire-proof and heat repelling shift boot assembly. These are about $125 for the aluminum mounting base + the multi-layer shift boot shown above. This is easy to mount to a flat transmission tunnel like the S550 has, and Doug used 4 riv nuts and bolts to mount the base. The fire-proof shift boot snaps onto the base with 8 snaps.



Now was the time to clean up the center console plastics, which came with this car fortunately. This stuff was pretty gross but Doug cleaned all of this up with some Armor All and rags. This 8.3 pound unit was then placed into the chassis and we looked at the shifter location with the console in place.



Well that added some new restrictions to the shifter path up from the tunnel to the console opening. This led to THREE different shifter extensions which were cut on the CNC plasma table, then threaded and bolted to the shifter base in the transmission and the included shift handle from Tremec. These were each made and tested with the console and stock shift boot in place, then tweaked to fit my driving position.



I will admit that I like a taller shifter, with the knob as close to the steering wheel as possible. But the "S" shaped handle is necessary to allow the shifter to clear the console opening. If you have a gutted interior this won't be necessary, and possibly a T56 Magnum F transmission might fit this swap on a race car. Given enough time I would like to test fit that trans and possibly offer that + the matching driveshaft as an option. Once I drive the car on track we will see how all of this works.

DIGITAL DASH MOCK-UPS

With the Momo steering wheel in place we could finally mock-up some digital dash cut-outs we made to scale off of 4 of the main AiM dash options. And yes, it is no secret that we would rather choose one of this brands digital dash systems if at all possible, simply from how well their on-board PREDICTIVE TIMING systems work. That one feature makes this brand coveted above all others - the ubiquitous AiM lap timer feature.



Of their many sizes we have a handful we tend to use on most race cars - the MXG, the MXP and the MXS. There is also a new wide 10" display that comes with their PDM system shown below that we have been dying to try out on one of our builds. This wide screen is full color and has all sorts of LEDs and icons (or not, you can order it either way) and strangely this would fit well within the S550's dash.



Jason drew these four AiM dash outlines up in CAD and Austin cut them on the CNC plasma table, and these have now been used in a number of cars to size the right unit to fit the dash / driver / steering wheel.



As you can see below, the tall and narrow units did not fit as well as the low and wide - but we have tried to buy the 10" AiM "PDM" dash many times over the last 2.5 years, with zero luck. We keep trying to get one of these from AiM but we keep getting the "well these should be back in stock in 6-8 weeks", which is code for "we have no idea when these will be back in stock". Real lead times have been in the 3-6 month range for this unit every time we try to order. Since AiM is based out of Italy they got really hammered by Covid restrictions, then this new PDM system had some software development delays, this might not be a viable option for a while yet.



We're holding off as long as possible to try to get this 10" digital dash unit - but who knows if we ever will? We might have to punt and try another AiM dash or worse - try another digital dash. The Holley Dominator EFI only works with a handful of brands, and if we do a non-AiM display we would have to utilize an AiM SOLO lap timer separately, which is how we've been doing predictive lap timing in my own cars for 15+ years.

LEXAN BACK WINDOW INSTALL

Thinking we would lose some weight by ditching the rear glass, I decided to go with a Lexan rear window a while ago. We got these from a UK company called Plastics4Performance, and they always produce great fitting Lexan that is pre-cut, curved to shape and pre-painted borders. Even with overseas shipping from the UK their parts cost less than domestic suppliers. We love using P4P whenever we can!



We had Titan Glass (a windshield company) back in the shop in June 2021 and had them pull the rear window, which they got out cleanly and in one piece. Modern glued in windshield and rear glass can be tricky to remove, and tempered side and rear glass literally explodes if you break it - so we let the pros handle removal and reinstallation most times.



Fast forward to Spring 2022 and it was time to get the Lexan installed. Doug mocked these up in the empty back window channel and they fit perfectly. They looked pretty close on the quarter windows as well, but I decided to hold off on installing these for now - seeing how little weight these actually remove.



As you can see the rear Lexan window is only 9 pounds lighter than the stock glass window. Hmm, not much weight loss, which is why I held off on the quarter windows. Remember: glass windows are VERY hard and scratch resistant, but Lexan is the opposite of that.



Doug cleaned out the stock weather strip material and (after the steps below) installed the 1" wide x 1/8" thick, adhesive backed weather strip material we purchased for this install.



Dozens of M4 rivnuts were installed along the perimeter to mount this window in place. We like to use these Tinnerman countersunk stainless steel washers to make the M4 countersunk bolts fit flush to the surface of this window. Drilling the Lexan is easy with a sharp drill bit, and we leave the outer (blue) film on until after all holes are drilled and counter sunk.

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The final Lexan install looks great, but again, all of this work only dropped 9 pounds. We still like these removable Lexan windows for the rear, as they can be unbolted without breaking the glass or needing special cutting tools, which we needed to attack the rear deck lightening and the trunk bulkhead install. Also, when a Lexan window breaks it doesn't shatter, so that's a plus for a race car.

FULL FIRE SYSTEM ADDED

I was going to add a full fire suppression system on this car later, to keep the "initial race weight" down (trying to win a bet with a buddy!), but I just don't like taking chances with fire - so a Lifeline Zero 2000 4.0 liter AFFF Fire Suppression System was added before the car ever turned a tire in anger. With as many plumbing and wiring changes made here, this is just smart insurance. The further from stock your race car gets the more likely you will need to use a fire system. We also added one of these to our old red 2018 GT for the next owner in early 2021 - and some of those images are shown below.



This is the exact same "aqueous foam" system going into our black 2015 GT, and on the red 2018 we mounted the bottle in the trunk, the nozzles in the cabin the same as our '15, and even the engine bay nozzles we well. But we are making some small changes from this point forward. After talking to a fellow racer at PRI in December of 2021 - who had suffered a horrific race car fire fire - we used some improvements based on what he saw. For one, we are changing how we will install the two fire pulls in all cars from here on out. I will pull this section out and make that its own forum post in our "Safety" section, too.



On the red 2018 GT above, which is still very much a street driven car and track car, we put the two fire system "pulls" in the same places we always used to - one below the headlight switch on the driver's left, and a secondary pull in the center console within reach of the driver. Let's call this "driver-centric placement".



That was a common way to place fire pulls for a fire system for a decade of more. But in Mark Patronis' Corvette crash and subsequent fire (his helmet above should tell you a lot), the right side of his car was buried in a tree - which was where his only externally accessible fire pull was located. The other pull was in the middle of the car - which was on fire - but he was knocked unconscious. So nobody could get to either fire system pulls, and precious seconds were lost before the fire truck could arrive.

As you will see below on our 2015 GT, we have started placing both pulls with an emphasis on "corner worker access", with a strapped in driver's easy access as a secondary concern. Hey, you can always grab the fire pull on your way out of the car. Hopefully we can all learn and progress over time to avoid these situations.



After Jason and I went all over the 2015 GT, and the very crowded trunk area, we found a place to mount the Lifeline 4 liter fire bottle, it came down to the back seat area. Instead of mounting this above the factory fuel tank covers, it looked like this could fit right behind the driver's seat and still allow access to the fuel tank cover. Doug made the domed aluminum sheet metal cover for this side of the saddle tank at the same time as he made this fire bottle bracket, which itself bolted to the rear "cross beam" normally under the back seat.



The next step in any fire system install is to locate the best places to mount the nozzles that discharge the fire suppressant. Aluminum sheet metal brackets are mounted and the nozzles are aimed at the common fire source locations - a pair of nozzles are aimed at the two fuel rails, where the fuel injectors live. These are also near the exhaust headers, a high source of heat. In the trunk we mounted a nozzle above the remote fuel surge tank, which houses the two fuel pumps and many fittings for the fuel system.



Inside the passenger cabin we have two nozzles. One points to the passenger's lap and the second points at the driver's lap. These areas are eventually covered in plastic trim, but with holes to allow the nozzles free aim.



With the nozzles all placed it was time to plumb them from the main tank. The system comes with plenty of aluminum tubing, T fittings, and is relatively easy to connect. These are cut with a tubing cutter then pressed into the quick connect fittings. To remove them, a tool is used to release the locking clamps internally.



From the bottle one line goes into the trunk to feed the nozzle there, then another goes forward to feed the cabin nozzles and engine bay nozzles. These were routed to fit underneath the center console, with notches in the plastics to fit these without crimping the lines.



With all of the nozzles plumbed, the final step is mounting the fire system PULL handles. We used to put one in the center console by the driver and another at the driver's side front window front corner - but after hearing about a crash where one side was buried in a tree, we have opted to put one on each side, reachable from the outside but also within reach of the driver (on the left side). You can see the first pull on the above right image, where one of the aluminum panels Doug built fits in place of the outermost air vents. A custom machined bung is attached to this flat panel to point the pull handle at an angle for easy access by a corner worker from the outside.



This type of placement of the two fire pulls allows a corner worker from either side of the car to reach and pull the fire suppression, even if the cabin is engulfed in flames or one side is buried into a barrier or another car. Now there are other safety measures you can take - like an automated (170F) release, which could help a driver who is unconscious to be safe before a corner worker can get there. I will cover this and more in that separate fire system install forum post.

QUICK FRONT END PAINT JOB!

I talked to our painter Shiloh about our multi-colored Mustang. Making this car with salvage yard parts and marketplace finds, it was 4 colors.



The driver's side of the Mustang had black, white, blue and carbon fiber panels. But the passenger side was all black, with the black primer RF fender. It looks a lot better and once we got rid of the steel doors and had carbon doors / hood / trunk, I decided to have Shiloh paint the front nose and front fenders a matching factory black. I took him these panels plus the stock trunk to match the paint to that.



I dropped these panels off in April and picked them up a few weeks later in May, and it was time to install them for a black and carbon car. I will admit that my original plans were to paint this entire car red but my painter and everyone here at Vorshlag talked me into an all black car, and we can just add graphics for some color.



Brad began reassembly of the front end by installing both front fenders, which had both been on the car so they fit up nicely. Next it was time to install the newly painted black nose.



The bumper cover plastics are flimsy but when the grills and lower lip are installed it all "firms up" and takes shape. This is a bit of a fiddly process and it takes 4 hands to get everything popped into place, but once assembled the nose went onto the car - held on at the top by the radiator support and on the sides by the fenders. The headlight assemblies went in last.



The ride heights on the MCS remote double struts were setup for the 3650 lb weight of the 2018 GT, but with 600 fewer pounds on this car the front ride height needed a big adjustment. Brad lowered the lower collars on the struts and got the front end to drop another inch, now with "normal" fender gaps up front.



I am not a huge fan of black paint jobs, but changing colors was going to be a LOT of work and a LOT of expense. I'm glad I let everyone convince me to go ahead and paint the fenders and nose - it was affordable and really looks a LOT better than the multi-colored mess from before.

NARROW BODY C6 - WINNING IN TT?!

The temporary 2006 Corvette light build we did "just to get some track time" has fallen right into a great class for SCCA Time Trial called Tuning 2, or T2. After adding some 2 year old 315mm Yokohama A052 "200TW" tires and then some headers + a cold air, its actually won 3 TT events in a row in T2 class. At two of those, it was the 2nd quickest car of the entire event. Nobody is more surprised about this than me! Getting in a lot of test events in this car helped me blow the cob webs out of my driving, but there is more to it than that.



Why does this matter for this LS550 build? Well the C6 weighs 3117 lbs (virtually the same as this LS550 should weigh in Phase 1) and makes 382 whp, and runs on very similar suspension (MCS RR2), tires (315mm 200TW), but much worse brakes (Z51 2 piston PBR + Mk60 ABS) - yet it has turned a 1:19.702 lap at MSR Cresson 1.7 CCW course, on street tires. That's quicker than we ever ran on 200TW tires on the red 2018 GT - and it did that with 100 whp less than the red car.

The S197 ABS and 380mm 6 piston Powerbrake setup we have for #Trigger are both much better, race weight should be similar or less, and the stroker LS6 should have +150 whp more than the C6's LS2. This all bodes well for my guesstimated performance of this 2015 GT from day one with fresh 305mm RE-71Rs I have on hand. We shall see soon enough!

WHAT'S NEXT?

We are closing in on the last items on the punch list before we attempt "first fire" for the 385" LS6 - when we fire up the engine for the first time. There is a big check list to go through for that milestone, and we will cover that next time.



Most of what lies ahead is wiring - both chassis wiring and Holley EFI wiring, as well as the main battery cable work (which is nearly done at the moment). We have to nail down a digital dash to use as well - but we have something on hand that might work. Tune in next time to see that and hopefully some video of this engine running.

Until next time!

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Project Update for January 25th, 2023: We are now into 2023 but I have been cranking out the forum build thread updates! Several customer cars have been wrapped up and left, our C6 Corvette is pretty much completed all of the testing and product development we wanted, our 2023 BRZ arrived and is already 4 track tests into a detailed modification plan, and the #LS550 swap 2015 Mustang is running, driving, aligned and already been to the dyno.



We should be on track in a few weeks or less, if I can coordinate the tuner and reschedule more dyno time, but I'm happy with where we are. The Mustang makes glorious noises and I cannot wait to get it on track! Let's catch up on the last few months of work, where Doug and Brad have poured some hours into the final tasks, suspension tweaks, massive EFI work, two digital dash installs (ugh), first fire testing and more.



Many lessons have been learned on this build - and as always, I want to share those mistakes, misjudgements, and lapses in experience with you! Hopefully I can prevent one of you from duplicating some of the problems we ran into here. If so, then the work in writing this was worth it. Not trying to take your money with some ridiculous "you have to get us to build your car" fake expertise, just a shop owner who has made plenty of mistakes and is not afraid to share them.

NO FACTORY WIRING = MASSIVE ADDITIONAL WORK

This sentence above might be the best advice I can give anyone on a modern car (2010-up) that you think about turning into a race car. The amount of CAN network wiring in modern cars is staggering, and making any OEM sub-system work without the factory CAN network is daunting. Things like the ABS system, EPAS steering, climate control, factory gauges, or of course the Engine Control Management is extremely difficult and in some cases *impossible.

(*nothing is truly "impossible", with enough time, money and expertise thrown at it. I mean "impossible" in a practical sense. Some CAN systems we ran into were just not worth the extreme effort / cost / time it would take to make them "work" on our completely re-wired car).



Why do you want to re-wire a race car? Well... sometimes people say "to save weight" but that's not real. Sometimes to "make things simpler", and I can see that, but you have to know you will lose a LOT of functionality. I bought this car as a wrecked, salvage title car that had been picked over and put together from multiple leftover parts by The Parts Farm in Lyons, GA. They specialize in parting out cars at The Parts Farm, and they took every shred of wiring. What I asked for is what I got, but I wasn't very clear about the factory wiring - it would have been REALLY NICE to have kept the factory harness and sub-systems, then weeded out what we didn't need. Instead we got a car completely devoid of all wiring, fuses, relays and all computers.



What this lead to was an immense amount of wiring re-work to get the even systems to work as a "stand-alone" system - just having functional brake lights took some work. The S550 Mustang's ABS has not been made to work stand-alone (we tried on another chassis, too), so we swapped in an S197 ABS. The EPAS steering rack was made to work, but we lost some of the factory features. The wipers, turn signals, steering wheel controls, horn and some other systems proved to be so daunting that we have abandoned hope in getting them to work without major loss of features or complete replacement.



If you are building a 100% dedicated race car, maybe a loss of factory functionality doesn't affect you, but the loss of the factory ABS (which is REALLY GOOD on this S550) should not be overlooked. If you want a "dual purpose" track / street car (like we are building here - to be able to run some "street car" classes) you are going to really miss a lot of the features that the factory CAN System controls. Do not just think you can toss the CAN / wiring / ECU without major downsides. PLEASE THINK BEFORE YOU GUT a modern car of wiring! This loss of CAN systems cost us a year of time if not more - this was the most frustrating and tedious aspect of this build. There was a LOT of work to lose the ~20 pounds of factory computers and wires on this build - again, not by choice.

CHASSIS WIRING

There were a couple of weeks spent in the trunk of this Mustang wrapping up wiring, bulkhead connectors, battery cables, the kill switch, circuit breakers, fuel pump and diff cooler wiring systems.



We had to wire in even basic systems like the cooling fan, brake lights, the horn and transponder, and other basic systems. These would normally be existing in a normal car with factory wiring, but again - we had nothing to start with.



Watching someone wire a race car isn't exactly riveting reading material, so I will just show some highlights of this work in these sections and focus on the unique things we have done along the way. The Radium remote surge tank has 2 pumps inside and we kept the stock in-tank fuel pump as a lift pump to feed the surge.



The Cartek GT "remote battery isolator" (remote battery kill) was added to a panel in the trunk, which Brad added a 200 amp main power circuit breaker do. The main battery cable from the Optima yellow top feeds right through this circuit breaker and the negative cable feeds through the Cartek.



The main battery cable goes through the rear seat bulkhead panel via an insulated bulkhead wiring terminal. We added a Deutsch 20 pin bulkhead connector in this same panel for the smaller wiring to pass through into the trunk as well.



This round 20 pin connector was added after a rectangular bulkhead connector was maxed out. Always plan your wiring ahead of time and you won't have to go back and add more bulkhead connectors, like we did here.



Adding this rear seat to trunk firewall was a good idea as we had the Radium surge tank with two fuel pumps, differential cooler pump and other flammable fluids and electrical bits going on back there. This is the trunk wiring almost finished, above. The negative cable goes from the Optima battery to the Cartek kill and then to a big lug on the chassis. If you trigger the Cartek it kills the ground to the battery and shuts down everything.



Once the battery / Cartek / 200 amp breaker were wired in, the main battery cable was run forward through the cabin to another bulkhead pass-thru at the engine bay firewall (can't find the pic), then routed down to the starter. The starter solenoid wires were run from the Painless Harness and to our push button starter.



This is just the same LS1 starter we sell for all of our LS swaps, and it works great. Brad wrapped the areas of the cable and solenoid trigger with some heat wrap, as they are close to the header. If we notice it getting heat soaked by the proximity to the ceramic coated stainless header we will add a heat shield around the starter - but so far, so good.



There are lots of little systems that we have wired in - the AMB transponder, a big loud horn, the brake pedal switch. I will cover the important systems in their own sections.

FUEL PUMP PDM CONTROLLER

Programmable Power Distribution Management or "PDM" systems are all the rage the last 3-5 years in Motorsports. These are used widely in industry (my John Deere tractor has a PDM, and OEM car makers use them also) to minimize discrete wiring runs from every switch to each powered motor. This bundle of wires is replaced with a CAN network that sends commands to the devices, removing a lot of wiring and relays from a vehicle, and allowing some basic ladder logic to control multiple systems - based on alarm conditions or "if/then" logic.



Sounds great, right? Well - it is! Right up until the point when your PDM takes a dump. I've heard from more than a few racers that they always keep a 100% backup PDM on hand for critical race weekends. Instead of a spare relay or switch, you need a spare PDM! Still, the desire to have this build on "the cutting edge" of PDM hotness inspired me to order the AiM PDM32 system. Twice.

After TWO YEARS of waiting for two orders from AiM Sports for PDM systems, starting back in early 2020, we threw in the towel. Each order we sent them was ignored for 6+ months and every time we asked for an update it was "8-12 weeks" out. We cancelled both orders and went another route. AiM Sports, being based out of Italy, had MAJOR supply chain and remote employee work issues getting these new PDM systems launched during the Global Pandemic. Even now in 2023, fully THREE YEARS after this new system was announced and released, they still have very real problems. I do not recommend going this route, for now, until more racers / guinea pigs have helped AiM work out the bugs in their PDM. And with a Holley, well... none of the display would have worked anyway.



Instead of waiting years longer, we ordered this harness from Current Performance. This "mini PDM" was a $225 unit made specifically for the Holley EFI system we are using. This can control 2 Fans 2 Pumps plus an auxiliary system. Pretty basic but it is a programmable "PDM" in the strictest sense of the definition.



We used one Fan control for the main radiator fan, the other for the diff cooler pump and fan, and the two fuel pump circuits control the two main pumps inside the Radium surge. We had the lift pump on the "aux" circuit but removed that and run that separately (some programming issues cleaned up and we will move that back). It communicates directly with and is controlled by the Holley Dominator ECM - which we have mounted right below the Current Performance box.



Brad modified the panel in the glove box area we built to hold the Painless Wiring harness' main fuse/relay panel. This is thru-mounted in this panel for easy access to the relays and fuses, for easier maintenance.



This little mini PDM worked perfectly when we fired up and dyno tuned the car, with the exception of the lift pump. Again, some programming changes should get that cleared up. All of this is hidden behind the glove box door, with the rest of the Painless harness and Holley ECM. And yes, there is an LED light that can be switched on (with the "dome" light circuit), to make maintenance even easier.

ACCUSUMP: PRES SENSOR + SOLENOID

One small oversight when the Accusump was installed - we didn't order the Canton triggering solenoid. This is what electronically "dumps" the pressurized cylinder into the engine's oiling system.



This large 3 quart Accusump unit barely fits between the frame rails so adding this solenoid to the end wasn't possible, but Brad built a bracket out of some 1/2" thick aluminum plate. This was shaped to fit against the frame rail and drilled it to fit the bolt spacing on the solenoid.



This was then mounted remotely and will be triggered by the Holley EFI system or manually from a switch on the center stack dash panel. The Holley EFI was programmed to release the pressure when the engine is running above 2000 rpm and oil system pressure is under 20 psi. Simple, safe, let's go.

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EPAS CONTROL & POWER HARNESSES

Another OEM system we lost with this "CAN-free" car was the Electric Power Assist Steering, or EPAS. The 2011-14 S197 and 2015-up S550 models all went to EPAS, removing the hassles and dangers of hydraulic power steering pumps / lines / coolers.



This car has a junkyard sourced 2015 Mustang EPAS rack. We then purchased a "stand-alone" harness for the S197/S550 racks from Cortex (the blue/white wires coiled up inside the big red/black cables), then a power harness for this from a late model F150 (the outer coiled cables). This Cortex harness has some sort of circuitry to "trick" the EPAS rack to work without CAN signals. We lose speed input changes and the dash-mounted 3-mode selections using their harness, but I don't really care or notice.


The image above left shows both connectors - the control and power harnesses. The main power cable (#4) is fed from the power distribution through a 100 amp circuit breaker before going to the rack (see above right).



All of this works like a champ - I made a demo video last week, which shows how this works, even with the engine off. This is handy when you are pushing a race car around. We just power on the Cartek kill and - VOOM! - we have EPAS.

CENTER STACK SWITCH PANEL

We don't have the factory HVAC controls or radio - which is what takes up a majority of the center part of the dash. I like to call this the "center stack switch panel", and it is valuable real estate in most race cars. If the driver can reach part or all of this we can add buttons, switches and dials. We started with a cardboard template that Brad cut out, then I scanned that for a CAD version that Jason would ultimately create based on my layout.



For the Center Stack Panel on our Mustang, I wanted to spend a little more time on, really get this dialed in correctly. So many times on race car builds the center stack is a flat panel with switches, dials and ports added over a long period of time without any real long term planning or "cohesive plan". This area adapts as things like a cool suit or new systems that need switches get added (see below left).



I also wanted to use a type of rectangular paddle switch that is common in trucking, marine, and lately race car use. These come in 2 position, 3 position and even momentary push button versions, and can be backlit. I had a gaggle of these I got stuck with on a customer's build he flaked out on, so we had some initial switches we could start with. Long term I will get these custom made with laser etched lettering and symbols that are backlit, but these will do for now.




These rectangular holes are a REAL CHORE to cut out manually, so we created a design in CAD that we could cut out quickly on the CNC plasma table. Brad and I planned out the switch placements early on, along with some additional items: a 7" LCD screen (for a back up camera / lose cam), some USB ports, a digital volt meter, push button start, Cartek main battery kill switch, AiM remote memory card holder, and a control panel / readout for a driver cooling system that would we added later. We also had a comms port for the AiM dash.



Getting the shape of the panel to fit the center stack opening on the S550 dash took a couple of iterations, as did the final sizing of the rectangular switch openings. We also changed the layout of a few items after mocking them up in the car - with me strapped in the driver's seat - after finding the limit of my reach. The 4th version was just about perfect and Brad got that one painted up.



To mount the center stack panel into the dash required some custom brackets, which themselves adapt to the radio mounting area - which is further back and at an angle. Brad whipped these out and bolted them into the partially gutted dash structure. Later on the mounting holes to these brackets was added to the CAD file for the panel, to make later iterations quicker to mount up.



Once we had the layout right Brad wired in the various switches to a DW multi-pin connector, so the whole unit can be unbolted and removed quickly. As you can see above left there is a lot going on behind this panel, but the finished unit (above right) looks clean, purposeful and well thought out. Later on as we add more systems we might need another version but I think this one will last us a bit.



Brad also created a lower mounting bracket at the bottom of the opening, then a horizontal filler panel that that ties the bottom of the center stack panel to the lower console - fills in a section that is normally a plastic storage cubby. And that big blank section at the bottom of the panel is for the driver cooling system controller, which we will add later (basically an air conditioner for water that will go through a driver worn cool suit).



This is the completed center stack switch panel, along with the functional 7" LCD screen for a back up camera - which has been surprisingly useful on this car! I use this in my street car daily drivers, and every single time I back up this Mustang it gets used. With Halo style racing seats and a HANS device on this will be a welcomed addition for visibility behind. I bought this screen ages ago and I think it was about $50. The license plate frame with included camera and LED light was about the same amount, so for $100 we have a useful addition - an more D&E points for Optima, haha!

AIM MXG 1.3 DIGITAL DASH (DOES NOT WORK WITH HOLLEY EFI!)

This section of the project was an unpleasant surprise - which we learned about after the fact - Holley doesn't support any other aftermarket digital dash. AiM Sports made it sound like they worked with Holley HP and Dominator EFI systems, so I purchased an AiM MXG dash, but that was a lie. There is a nerfed Holley output that supposedly works on RacePak digital dashes, but you lose ~75% of the Holley data channels with that protocol.



We spent a chunk on this AiM MXG and the remote SD card holder, and spent a chunk of time mounting it all - all for naught. I really like AiM dash units because they (can) log data and I am familiar with their data analysis software. These units also have an industry leading lap timer and predictive lap readout feature. Words cannot describe how pissed off I was at the end of this section of work to realize that we HAD to use a Holley dash...



I will show the steps where Brad made the mounting brackets and panels - because we re-used all of this to mount the Holley digital dash. I wanted the steering column plastics installed, to keep the interior looking "finished" for a few racing classes we had in mind. The trimmed hole above fits the AiM and Holley screens.



I had purchased missing items like the factory gauge bezels, then Brad made a "gauge block off" panel starting with cardboard and going to aluminum. Sections of the angled and round bezels had to be modified to fit this blanking panels.



Mounting brackets for the blanking panel were added inside the back section of the gauge bezels, then the AiM dash template was used to transfer the mounting holes for this screen.



I was happy with the finished install, but very UNhappy to learn this screen won't work with any Holley EFI system. I will use a remote AiM SOLO lap timer for use on track for now, but that is more clutter on the windshield I was hoping to avoid.



We're not giving up all hope, however, and have a CAN integration specialist working on a custom box to help the to devices talk together. Its much harder than just "sniffing the CAN signals", but I will cover this in more detail next time - if we can make this work.

DASH INDICATOR LEDS

One of the things that can happen when you have a LOT of sensors and data displayed on a digital screen is DATA OVERLOAD. So we have some warning indicator LEDs we planned for and I purchased. These cover things like low fuel level and ABS warning lights, but also left and right turn indicators, high beam lights, and even Reverse light indicator. These have already proven useful in testing.



I purchased 6 of these units online at $8.95 each and Brad got to work on the layout and placement of each, testing with me in the car for each one.



These all are wired into another DW 12 pin connector for easier panel removal and work. The first one to be wired in was the low fuel indicator from a level switch in the top of the Radium remote surge tank. This was an optional item when purchasing the surge tank and lets you know as soon as the tank goes from "full" to just a bit under - which means you have about a liter of fuel left. This is a "BACK OFF THE LAP AND PIT RIGHT NOW" light.



We have also added a Reverse solenoid controller and when the transmission is shifted into Reverse the "R" indicator on the dash lights up. We have 4 other indicators that we will wire in as time allows, after the dyno testing is complete.

FLUIDS INSTALLED + STARTER BUMPED

By Mid-November 2022 we were ready to start adding fluids and bump the starter, crank the engine, and check oil pressure. This would also be a full plumbing system leak test.



I decided to use a Motul break-in oil for the first dyno test, which we would change out for proper Motul 5W50 Ester synthetic before the first track test. We needed THREE GALLONS of oil to fill the oil pan, filter, oil cooler and Accusump.



We filled the cooling system with distilled water and a touch of anti-freeze. We used a cheap AC Delco DOT3 hydraulic fluid for the brake and clutch systems - anticipating some small leaks, which of course did happen. This will be flushed and bled with proper Motul RBF600 or 660 once the initial dyno work and test driving is completed.



Filling the diff cooler system was a challenge. We had a "T" fitting high up in the system with a cap, just for this purpose. But since the cooler was above the diff housing, we would have to do a calculated fill. The pump acts as a check valve so once fluid gets pumped into the cooler is stays there (again, this is by design). We had to run the pump to get everything full, until it was coming out of the top hole (the normal fill line). Then added the amount that goes into the cooler. Doug used a long funnel and added the 3.6 quarts of Valvoline 80W90 diff fluid (Motul Gear300 was out of stock globally) and some Auburn Gear limited slip additive.

FUEL PRES REGULATOR MOVE, LOAD START-UP TUNE, CHECK SENSORS

One of the things Brad noticed when he want to add some sensor wiring was that the Aero fuel pressure regulator was in a tough spot to reach and had some plumbing that got a little to close to the exhaust header. After looking at this closely I agreed and set him loose.



After making a new bracket he relocated the regulator, re-routed the hoses, and made one new Fragola hose. That keeps the regulator as far away from the headers as possible without putting it too far from the fuel rail to be useful.



We had somehow missed adding a MAP sensor, so we ordered the correct LS6 style from AC Delco. There are two options for the one O2 sensor on a Holley - NTK or Bosch. We also ordered and installed the wide band Oxygen sensor, the NTK "0.9 Lamda" unit (for NA engines), from MAD Racing.

FIRST FIRE TESTING

All sensors were installed and wired, all fluids filled, now the battery was charged up. The starter had been bumped several times, even cranked, to fill fluids into the oil system.



We took the start-up tune from our tooner and Doug loaded that to the Holley ECM. We added fuel and cranked... checked fuel pumps, checked spark plugs, but it would NOT start.



We had to triple-check major sensors, like the crank sensor. We verified that I had ordered the right 58X reluctor sensor and that we had a 58x reluctor on the crank.



We were getting weird faults and then checked the distance from the crank sensor to the reluctor wheel, using a socket, marking the depth and checking against the sensor. That wasn't it.



After a two days of testing, checking, new tunes, phone calls and more cranking we found the issue - the Holley ECM will LOSE THE TUNE sometimes when the battery voltage to the computer dips below 10V when cranking. And sure enough, the battery would drop nearly 2 volts cranking (see above images) and we had to reload the tune and re-run the TPS setup wizard. This isn't a bug its a FEATURE, haha! (this is a MAJOR bug Holley... major).



On November 18th, 2022 we finally figured out the "tune disappeared" mystery and got it to fire up, which you can see in this ugly video. We still had a massive vacuum leak and the idle was high, but that was found later and the idle RPM calmed way down. We needed to bleed the brakes and clutch systems, but hearing the engine run was huge.

SPL PARTS REAR ARMS

If you followed our 2018 Mustang GT development thread you know that we had some of the earliest SPL Parts for the S550 Mustang on that car. We are an early tester stuff for their parts, and I know Sean and Turner from that company well - they are the current NASA Texas Time Trial directors and TT racers we see on track.



They sent us these upper rear control arms right after they went into production in 2022 and they look amazing - even with a schlub like me "modeling" them. Gorgeous parts they design in-house and have machined here in Texas, with some parts on their own CNC machines at their new facility. I was more than happy to test these out on Trigger!



It didn't take Doug long to swap out the stock, heavy steel upper arms for these new adjustable units. This will allow us to finally get more than -2.2 degrees of rear camber! (We ended up at -3.2 deg when it was aligned - see more below).

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I like this feature above - the O-rings installed around the spherical bearings will help keep water and grit out of these metal bearings. This is even more important once you get sphericals near ground level. After that was rough adjusted (we had an alignment scheduled soon) you can see all of the many SPL parts we have in the back of this Mustang. Only the lower control arm is stock - and we suspect an SPL replacement will be coming along eventually for that.

HYDRAULIC TOB REPLACEMENT + PEDAL STOP

One of the last mechanical "challenges" we had before we first test drove the Mustang happened when bleeding the clutch. But to get to that point we had to order and install a stand-alone clutch reservoir (see below left), which we sourced from a C5 Corvette. This was mounted to the firewall and allows for a separate source of fluid for the clutch - instead of commingling that with the brake fluid. Segregated clutch fluid reservoirs are always best. We also finished the main vacuum line from the back of the manifold to the Mustang brake booster (see below right).



As I mentioned in a previous installment, back in 2020 I decided to re-use a clutch I had "bought back" from a customer after only a couple of days of use. It was a brand I trusted (ClutchMasters) and I even drove the Camaro it was installed in, and liked the feel. Would this make for a daily driven perfect clutch? Maybe not, but for what I had in mind the "weight / feel / cost" was perfect.



The entire clutch + flywheel assembly was 27.2 pounds - which is a good balance between uber-light 5.5" or 7.25" dia race only "on off" 2-3 plate clutches and stock dual mass flywheel 11" diameter versions. This twin disc ClutchMasters 850 series clutch kit came with an aluminum flywheel, pressure plate, the clutches and the associated hydraulic throw out bearing (TOB) slave.

Two key steps were missed during the install back in 2020 - the first one being MEASURING the thickness of the clutch and shimming the TOB to have the correct gap from the pressure plate fingers when released (clutch pedal out), which helps keep it from over-traveling to disengage the clutch when you press the pedal in. Once it was out we noted that there were zero shims - I should have noticed this when it went together, but I missed it.



PRO TIP: Whenever you are installing any clutch into any car and it is not a 100% factory stock single disc with stock slave, DO THE MATH. Every clutch manufacturer has a worksheet and often some simple template tools to help you get the proper throw and setup depth. Measure, calculate, and know that you have the right stack-up height on your slave. avoid this mistake - it only takes about 10 minutes to measure and shim the TOB!



When Doug and Brad went to bleed the clutch hydraulics, the clutch wasn't disengaging properly - the pedal had to travel too far to release, but this is hard to realize when bleeding. They had assumed that this had been checked and shimmed previously. - to fix this you need to remove the transmission, measure, then re-shim the TOB slave.



But our luck kept turning south - during the bleeding process, after the suction bleed didn't give a good clutch pedal feel, it was time to use the remote bleed hose and manually pump the pedal and release the bleeder, using a 2 man bleed operation. Pump and press the pedal, release the bleeder, close it off, release the clutch, repeat. That's when The second mistake popped up - not having an adjustable clutch pedal stop - and into the bleeding process the slave cylinder over-traveled and blew the seal out...

PRO TIP: Whenever you do not have a 100% stock pedal assembly, clutch / pressure plate / slave (like this car - a GM style clutch in a Ford Mustang with aftermarket clutch and slave!), do yourself a favor and build or buy a clutch pedal stop! Then adjust that to allow proper disengagement and NO MORE pedal travel. Over-traveling a clutch slave can blow the seal out, like we did.



When we had first purchased this clutch in 2017 the TOB slave was 2 pieces - one of which was an adapter that bolted to the T56, the second piece was the hybrid slave / TOB. It was thicker than the new version we ordered to replace it with. The 2022 version was 1-piece and much thinner, and needed to be shimmed to reach the pressure plate fingers. Doug did the math and got the new unit shimmed properly with the new clutch slave.



We had to create a clutch stop for another car (CTS-V) recently, which had an aftermarket clutch master with a stock pedal assembly. On that mess - which was supposedly "working fine" before it came into our shop - it had blown out a Tilton clutch master. We had to re-align the replacement Tilton because it the pushrod from the pedal was way-off-axis from the master. At least on the Mustang here we could reuse the Ford clutch master, so we wouldn't have to mess with that potential issue. But the pedal stop we made on that car was needed on the S550.



I sketched out a simple bracket for Doug and he built it quickly from some 1/8" thick steel sheet. The back of the bracket was bent to fit the very non-flat firewall shape, then mocked up with the pedal (which has massive travel).



That was then removed from the car and drilled for the adjustable stop. An M14 nut was welded to the back side, then an M14 bolt and jam nut added to the top side. A pair of rivnuts were then added to the firewall and the bracket painted, bolted in, and adjusted to have enough travel to completely disengage the clutch.



The clutch system was then bled and the pedal stop adjusted with the car on the lift. When the clutch pedal was pressed in and the wheels stopped spinning, then the pedal stop was adjusted to only allow a tiny bit more pedal travel. This prevents the over-travel situation that blew the seal out on the last slave cylinder. When driving the car you don't even notice the stop, but it just cannot over-travel.



A few weeks later the replacement seal arrived from ClutchMasters, which a FB friend noted was available from them for only $12. Money well spent, and Doug had the old 2017 slave cylinder rebuilt in a few minutes - this will be our spare slave cylinder in case we somehow lose another.



With the working clutch we could finally test drive the Mustang for the first time! I drove it out of the shop and around our parking lot a bit, but a high idle kept me from going too far at that time (mid-December 2022). We brought the car back into the shop to diagnose the running issues and work on some other final details.

FRONT GRILL DUCTING

While we waited the ~2 weeks for the new CM clutch slave cylinder to arrive, Brad tackled the task of ducting the front grill openings to all of the coolers.



This ducting wasn't 100% necessary for the dyno tuning, but it really does help a lot when on track + when the electric fans are running while traveling under 40 mph. Ducting is actually pretty critical between the grill openings and the coolers - air will always take the path of least resistance, and if you allow air to go around the coolers, much of it will.



As always, Cardboard Assisted Design was utilized and after the cardboard was cut to fit around the intricate shapes, Brad transferred that to .063" thick aluminum sheet.



The four main "duct box" pieces were cut, corners bent, the various shapes fitted, and cleaned up with a file and finger belt sander.



A new and better upper radiator bracket was built at the same time - we didn't like an earlier version, so Brad did this thing of beauty, with dimpled dies added. And you won't ever see it.



At this point the duct box was held together by Cleco fasteners and we were ready to get it final bolted and sealed up. The front bumper cover and front crash beam had been on and off several times to check fit.



Now the front tubular bumper beam we had built went back on and the panels were bolted together - with simple nuts and bolts. The fit from the front grills to the duct box panels is exceptionally good. Probably better than most racers would bother with, but like me, Brad is a perfectionist. Why just make it, when you can make it RIGHT.



Lastly this series of panels was built to tie the front left grill opening to feed the cold air filter box. This forces air into the air filter box cleanly, and the back of the hexagonal grill was modified (above right) to open up the entire area for airflow (in stock form this is only about 1/3rd open).



The two Fragola -12AN oil cooler hoses pass through the cold air inlet opening, but that was the safest hose routing and won't impact performance of the engine. After these final air inlet panels were covered in DEI gold foil, the front bumper cover went back on and the ClutchMasters TOB arrived (shown above).

HOLLEY DIGITAL DASH INSTALL (UGH!)

We had been desperately trying to make the ~$2800 AiM MXG digital dash to talk with the Holley, like AiM and others have said works.



We went around and around, triple checking CAN settings in the Holley software, configurations, firmware versions, and on and on. The "Racepak" CAN config in the Holley Dominator system is just one big fat lie - the AiM folks made excuses but they do NOT have a working config for Holley CAN.



I was pretty angry at this point, and was tempted to chuck the entire Holley EFI system altogether and start over with another brand. I know this - I will NEVER use another Holley EFI in my life, not after this. Starting over now would add months to get to our first track test.



Cooler heads prevailed and we borrowed a Holley digital dash from former Vorshlag technician, Even at Pure Performance. He had a Holley 7" LCD dashes new in box and said I could borrow it for as long as we needed. It is roughly the same shape as the AiM MXG so it wasn't hard to swap them out.



We tested the dash while just wired in, and it worked immediately. It seems there is an encrypted CAN handshake between a Holley ECM and Holley dash that nobody else has figured out. Brad got to work and added new mounting holes in the gauge delete panel he built, and the dash was mounted in no time.



Some of you might think - "hey, it works and its 1/3rd the cost, why not just use a Holley dash?" Well there are several down sides to their dash, namely it doesn't log (the AiM dash does). But mostly the AiM has built in lap timing and predictive lap timing that is world renowned. I'm not giving up on the AiM dash, and we started working immediately with a CAN integration specialist on making a "black box" to help the AiM and Holley systems communicate.



He told me to order this PEAK brand CAN sniffer, which I did. It arrived a few days later and we built a serial cable to connect that in series with the Holley CAN network.



We made several 3-5 minute engine running sessions, where we logged the Holley data on the ECM and the CAN data going to the dash via the PEAK sniffer. We are hopeful that someone can create a new product or AiM configuration that works. I am NOT happy about this "Holley EFI only talks to Holley dashes" limitation.

REMOTE RESERVOIR BRACKETS

Up until now we had the reservoirs zip-tied to a lower bumper cover bracket, but it was time to move these into the trunk area. I wanted to be able to access the compression knobs quickly, but the canisters needed to be kept away from heat.



Doug took a simple sketch I made and built these reservoir brackets from aluminum sheet. It is more than the bare minimum needed, but I want to make sure when I pop the trunk that you can see the spendy bits!



Each side of the trunk is different, due to the filler neck on the left side, but Doug managed to make the canisters sit symmetrically - which pleases my ACD mind a bit. Yes, the mufflers are still open to the trunk, but we will make a lightweight metal cover for these before we run SCCA Time Trial Max1 class (which requires a "cover").

CORNER BALANCE + MOTORSPORTS ALIGNMENT

On January 5th, 2023 we had many of the above mentioned problems sorted - the car runs and drives, the clutch hydraulics and pedal stop were working, and we had the brakes bled. The SPL rear upper arms were added and the car now BADLY needed an alignment. But first it was time to set ride heights and corner balance the Mustang.



Brad took the measurements I wanted and set the ride heights, then got a weight. It weighs more than I had hoped at 3256 lbs, but that is "ready to race" with all fluids and fuel in the tank. We added 175 pounds of ballast for driver weight and he got the corner weights to 50.5/49.5%. That's good enough for now (we still have a few things we might change) and we will re-work this before it goes on track.

Brad took the measurements I wanted and set the ride heights, then got a weight. It weighs more than I had hoped at 3256 lbs, but that is "ready to race" with all fluids and fuel in the tank. We added 175 pounds of ballast for driver weight and he got the corner weights to 50.5/49.5%. That's good enough for now (we still have a few things we might change) and we will re-work this before it goes on track. Some people ask me all the time - why doesn't Vorshlag own a laser alignment rack?

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Well I can give you 100,000 reasons. Cost for a good alignment machine plus a proper 4 post rack ranges between $20-100K, and we stopped taking in "customer day work" 5 years ago. We could never justify the cost, so about once a month I haul a car to a nearby motorsports shop that does proper alignments. It gobbles up time (2 round trips @ 2 hours each) but its cheaper than a hundred grand. And with these multi-link rear suspensions, string aligning becomes a REAL chore that gobbles up 3-5 hours and is never quite as accurate.



I drove the car around the shop a bit getting it over to the trailer - wow, the toe settings at both ends were JACKED, it was crab walking sideways a a lot. But I got it winched into and strapped down in the trailer. Adding the front tow hooks makes the front SO EASY to tie down.



On January 9th I drove the ~45 minutes over and unloaded at BSP Motorsports, then gave them my "alignment goals" print out, which we do for any alignment shop. They got to work and the next day they had it all sorted.



As I mentioned, our initial settings on the camber and toe settings were way off. But BSP worked their magic and adjusted the front camber to -4.25 deg, the rear to -3.2 deg, and the rear toe-in that I wanted. They also followed my instructions by adjusting rear upper SPL arms in a way to maximize rear tire clearance, and up front getting the tops of the tires tucked in by juggling the camber plates and lower arms. Perfection.



This makes the 19x11" wheels look downright TUCKED on the back, and the front tires are also well inside the stock fenders. We won't keep the stock fenders for too long, but for now we won't have to worry about any tire to fender contact. This setup just looks aggressive - I'm so ready to get this car on track! But we have some work left...

S197 ABS SWAP: PLUMBING, POWER, AND AIRBAG MODULE

As mentioned above, the S550 Mustang ABS doesn't work "stand-alone" yet - there are necessary CAN channels from the chassis and stock ECU that are needed. Some CAN wizards we know have tried to crack this puzzle, and we have got a number of these S550 ABS units in the shop. When time allows we will try to work with one of the CAN experts to conquer the S550 ABS swap. For now, we have already made a late 2011-14 Mustang S197 ABS swap work stand-alone - using the ford Racing ABS computer and custom tone rings on this C5.



This C5 stops better than any Corvette I've ever driven, and we're now trying to make this S197 swap work withOUT the rare Ford Racing ABS computer. We've also done Mk60 BMW ABS swaps, but that is much older tech (circa 2003) and the more modern the ABS, generally the faster it can cycle and the better it can work. The S197 system from 2011 works VERY well and we will move forward with that ABS swap on our S550.



We already built an S550 stand-alone ABS wiring harness when we tried to swap one of these onto our C6 (it was a total bust). But we can re-use much of that harness for this S197-to-S550 ABS swap (above left). For this S550 install which has zero CAN wiring we need to add a brake pedal position switch (above right).



One thing we are testing with this S197 ABS install is adding the OEM airbag sensor box (above left) to the tunnel, which supposedly allows these 2011-14 S197 ABS systems to work stand-alone without the Ford Racing ABS computer. Since those Ford Racing ABS computers are out of production and getting rare, this is a worthwhile detour to test. If it doesn't work we will stick the racing module in - we know that works. Brad wired that in following a late S197 wiring diagram, and the sensor box sits on the tunnel just like it does on an S197 - hidden under the center console.



Next up it was time to wire in the four wheel speed sensors, which are each two wire twisted pairs that run to the factory S550 sensors at each corner. These come from a plug at the S197 ABS unit in the back left corner of the engine - again, mounted in the same orientation as it is in an S197 (see previous entry showing that).



To power the ABS system requires two high amp fuses - a 30 amp for the ABS valves and a 40 amp for the ABS pump, per the factory manual. To make room for those Brad built this aluminum bracket and mounted those + a 30 amp headlight fuse + two relays that were already mounted nearby. All of this sits above the 100 amp circuit breaker for the EPAS power harness.



The ABS system had been plumbed before just by re-flaring and bending the four S550 factory brake lines and two (big bore) master cylinder feed lines. But the lengths for the two feed lines from the master to the ABS brick were a bit short and had some extreme bends to fit - making for a less than perfect seal. These had been weeping a small amount and I wanted them replaced, so I sourced some 5/16" steel brake hard lines from our local Pirtek supplier.



Brad re-made these two fat feed lines from the master and bent them with some extra length to avoid the shortened bends from before. Strangely the two factory S550 feed lines were of two slightly different sizes but made for the 5/16" fittings, which we re-used from the S197. We will keep an eye on these, but so far these have held pressure after being bled that day. We need to test the ABS system soon, but the car needs to be running better before we tackle any test drives.

REMOTE CARTEK KILL SWITCHES & 3RD BRAKE LIGHT

While we were getting ready for the dyno test I asked Brad to go ahead and install both of the "remote" battery kill buttons for the Cartek. The main kill button and the master RESET is in the center. There are good reasons to place the remote battery kills and fire pulls like this. Namely, a corner worker on either side of the car can hit the battery kill from the two red remotes.



This matches up with the same dual Lifeline fire system pulls, also mounted for easy access from either side. I can reach the left fire pull from the seat, but more importantly I can hit it as I'm bailing or after I have exited a burning car.



Another late update was to the 3rd brake light - which was broken by the salvage yard folks when they stripped this chassis. It was slapped back in place but the circuit board was ruined, and luckily I found a Dorman replacement for around $55. We had also ordered this 3rd brake light module from a trailer towing place many months early to make the 3rd brake light work - as the brake lights are also the turn signals, and it needs a little logic to work correctly.



Brad mounted that in the stock location, which the P2P Lexan window was cut for. He wired that in with the truck/trailer 3rd brake light module, and it worked great. A working 3rd brake light is a "street car" + safety thing, and a nice little feature on this totally re-wired car. We still have front lights and turn signals to tackle, but I can drive around safely like this, at least.

WINDSHIELD COWL COVER INSTALL

One other small detail I wanted to fix was the missing cowl cover - we had one from the original salvage car, but the new placement of the Canton remote coolant reservoir and the C5 Corvette remote clutch fluid reservoir made this not fit.



Brad mocked it up a couple of times and trimmed around those two items, then cleaned up the cuts with a 3" Scotch Brite wheel on a die grinder.



Then the faded black plastic was cleaned up with some Mothers Back to Black liquid, and the roughest parts were scuffed with a light wire brushing. Not only does having this panel look more "street car" having it in place keeps airflow form going out of the back of the hood and instead through the hood vent - but we will see how this works. On the 2018 Mustang with this hood we had some "flutter" at the back of the hood at speeds approaching 150 mph - COTA - and took it out to calm down the carbon hood.

MAKE NEW SHIFT HANDLE + ADD JOE'S RACING BOOT

The mock-up shift handle we showed in a previous post was only meant to be a template for something better - but we forgot about it and I drove it several times like this. With the reverse lockout solenoid not hooked up you had to REALLY push the handle sideways to get it into reverse, and after a while the 1/8" thick shift lever bent. We needed to turn this template into a thicker, stronger, finished shift arm now.



I asked Doug to take the final temporary arm out and modify the design a bit and create one out of 3/8" steel plate - which should be much stronger and no longer bend when going past the Reverse solenoid spring.



Once the 3/8" version was completely cut out and threaded for the Magnum XL's included vertical handle portion, it was cleaned up and bent in the hydraulic press brake to have an offset towards the driver. This will allow the handle to function better and clear the small-ish opening on the plastic factory center console.



The Joe's Racing Carbon-X shift boot base was bolted to the console last time and the flame proof boot installed. The Tremec shift ball was adjusted for height and the ergonomics fit me better than before.



With the Joe's boot in place we at least have a seal from the tunnel's fumes and potential fire, but it doesn't look "street car". The factory shift boot constrains the movement of this shifter so we are working on a custom boot and mounting ring that I will show in a future update.

REVERSE LOCKOUT SOLENOID CONTROL MODULE INSTALL

Not having the factory body control module to "open the reverse shift gate" (which is actually a solenoid that you can PUSH past), its a real chore to get the car into reverse. This module that the guys found uses a speed sensor input from the Tremec and can open the Reverse solenoid when speeds are under 5 mph.



Brad added this module behind the center stack panel (above right) and wired it into the Tremec with the included connectors. And now this $99 kit is going onto every race car we build - so easy and so fool proof. This also triggers the "R" indicator on the dash, to let you know when the Reverse switch is triggered in the transmission - and will eventually drive the reverse lights out back.

TWO AUXILIARY GAUGES ADDED TO DASH

The HVAC on this car is pretty simple - the heater / fan box we showed before feeds the defroster and ONE of the three dash center vents. I can close that one off unless its a really cold day and maybe I want to warm my hands while in grid. The other two vents were removed and I always planned on some discrete gauges going there. We finally found the needed data and the right gauges for the job.



We need a fuel level gauge and a diff fluid temp gauge, as those are both pretty critical. I also wanted to be able to log this data, and I found these full sweep discrete gauges from Classic Instruments. This is now a Holley company (groan) but these 2-5/8" diameter "Autocross" series gauges do everything I want - they are programmable for the sensors you have (fuel gauge), have two colored warning back lights (red and yellow, see below) that can be programmed, and they also have a 0-5 volt output that can go to your data logger (Holley ECM in this case).



Once the gauges arrived Brad got to work mounting, wiring and programming them. Making them fit the two center vents was relatively easy, as these 2-5/8 units just needed some 1/8" weather strip foam to seal up against the cylindrical openings in the dash panel. Brad also modified the clamps to fit the dash pod shapes.



He wired these in with a 12 pin DW connector for easier removal, of course, and moved the functional heater vent to the right. This makes it easier to see the fuel level and diff temp gauges, close to me. The programming button for each unit (for various functions) was mounted just inside the glove box door, as shown above right.



We need to remove the left side fuel tank's level sensor to program the Ohm range for the fuel level gauge, but the diff temp sensor was swapped into the housing to replace the cheap ~$50 Glow Shift gauge and sensor from the 2018 GT. These are closer to $200 gauges, but the additional functionality and 0-5V output signal is a game changer and worth the up-charge.

FINAL PREP FOR DYNO TUNING

By January 17th we were ready for the dyno tuning day I had scheduled at LG Motorsports. They have a 5 hour Saturday schedule and I rented their Dynojet for the day, hoping to tune both the S550's HPR built 385" LS6 and my 2000 Silverado truck's HPR built 347" LS1 engine. The engine was running a bit rough so we installed a fresh set of NGK TR6 plugs into the engine right before loading into the trailer, and that seemed to help. They looked "very rich" but we only had a start-up tune in there, and had just fixed a big vacuum leak, so that might explain it?



This time it drove a lot better getting to the trailer, with the alignment squared away. I left the 4 year old 305mm Bridgestone RE-71R tires on the 19x11" wheels, as I had panned to do some ABS testing after dyno tuning, and wouldn't mind a flat spot on these throw away tires.



I was so excited for our January 21st dyno tuning session for the S550 and my truck, and across town at Dotson Tuning they would be tuning the 2010 Mustang with a Gen-2 Coyote swap that we had finished late last year. So pumped!

WHAT'S NEXT?

I finished writing this right after the 1/21/23 dyno test at LGM and things, well, didn't go to plan. We chased issues all damn day - Doug and I changed plugs, moved the O2 sensor, checked for exhaust leaks, changed strap points for the dyno and more - that ended up being traced to two bad plug wires. The custom length plug wires we built for the remote mounted coils were popping off. Long story short, the engine made 409 whp on 6 of the 8 cylinders. So first thing Monday morning I ordered a different brand of plug wires which I will personally test on each plug - this won't happen again. Long, expensive, fruitless day. At least the 2010 Mustang made good power!



Next time I will go into more detail from that frustrating dyno day and hopefully soon the SECOND tuning day where all 8 cylinders fire. Then it will get a fresh set of A052 tires installed with the 18x11" Momo wheels and off to the track we go for our baseline lap tests at MSR Cresson. We have a LOT of events scheduled for this season with local SCCA Time Trial (Max1 class), NASA TT (TT2), SCCA autocross (Cam-C) and Apex Lap Attack events. All of these classes allow aero, so soon after we get the baseline laps in we will tackle adding the wing and splitter, looking for more time.

Thanks for reading!

[Fair!]

Project Update for September 4, 2023: I started writing this post in July, but we got super busy and didn't finish until early September. After we unexpectedly lost the 6.3L engine in a February at a dyno session, we swapped in a 7.4L engine and got that dyno tuned and on track by June 29th. It has really been a whirlwind ever since - with 5 track and one autocross event over the course of 6 weeks in #Trigger, with massive changes between each one. But this time her in the Build Thread I am going to cover this build from January 21st through June 29th, our first track test.



The trials and tribulations of this #LS550 swapped 2015 Mustang took me to the edge of sanity several times - once you read below, you might understand? The 2nd dyno test in February led to a failed main bearing, then we scrambled to put in a borrowed 454" stroker engine, added a dry sump oiling system, fought numerous battles with this and other sub-systems, had more Holley ECU problems, oil pressure / tuning issues, some battery issues, and even Holley dash issues.



This has not been a "fun" journey in 2023, from the strange engine failure on the 6.3L LS6, to the other many challenges, but the results are starting to finally come. We changed intake manifolds (from the red BTR to the MSD) and throttle bodies (from 112mm to 103), re-tuned and re-dyno'd the car, fixing many of the driveability issues with the crazy 112mm throttle body. Before that driving this thing was scary to drive - it always felt like it was trying to kill me.



We've seen our share of challenges, but we tried a LOT of new things on this build - and not all of them paid off. So many lessons learned here, that I want to share what I can, so you don't have to learn them the hard way. And we had some positives, too! We've come a long way in the last 8 weeks since that first track test, but there is too much ground to cover - again, I will only tackle 6 months worth of this build in this entry. Let's get to it.

1ST DYNO SESSION WITH 6.3L - JAN 21, 2023

On a cold Saturday in January we had the car running well enough for a dyno session, or so we thought. I had rented the dyno for a few hours and we had our tuner Jon meet us there. I had two of our crew there and myself, and we were all cold and frustrated, with rain falling outside.



We fought with the dyno (traction issues on their rollers), and the engine just wasn't running right. It made a dismal 409 whp - running on 6 cylinders. Both custom plug wires and some Holley wiring issues bit us at this round of dyno tuning - HUGE waste of time.

MAKING CUSTOM PLUG WIRES SUCKS

I like uncluttered valve covers, and these shiny red "CHEVROLET" units looked great. To use them we needed to remote mount the coils. Don't do this - as it requires that you make custom plug wires for an LS. That's the best advice I can give - DON'T. We tried two brands of wires (ICT Billet and Taylor) and had issues with both (if you do this buy the MSD kit we ended up with on the 454, below).



I've made custom wires for other cars in the past but the aftermarket offerings for LS wires just aren't the greatest right, as we later went to a third brand and even had to remake some of those. In the end I paid for FIVE plug wire kits and who knows how much in shop labor - all to have remote mounted coils!



It shouldn't be this hard, not when you have the right crimping tools and parts, but the wires come with one end pre-crimped then you cut the wire to length and crimp on the coil end. It didn't seem to matter - the ends kept popping off of both ends. Never had this much trouble with plug wires in 35+ years of wrenching with cars.



We got one set to work off the car perfectly and the ends stopped coming off when removed, and eventually (after writing to the manufacturer) we received spare parts to put the original set back together, leaving us with two working plug wire sets. But the car still ran on 6 cylinders.

HOLLEY WIRING HARNESS ISSUES - FIRING ON ALL 8 NOW

After multiple plug wire sets were built and tested off the car, we were still missing 2 cylinders. At this point I got more personally involved, as one of my technicians who was supposedly checking all of this was missing big clues. We pulled each plug and checked that each was firing away from the engine. I wanted to SEE THE DAMN SPARK. They all had spark, all 8.



And that may have never been the real misfire issue on this 6.3L all along - at this point I pulled Brad into this more, had him install this Noid light checker onto each of the 8 cylinders' injector output connectors, and 2 injectors weren't lighting up. Again, I wanted to see with my own damn eyes, as the former tech was just going 'round and 'round in circles. How did we get this far without knowing that the harness was pinned wrong? There's only so many mistakes and needless delays I can stomach, and we have one less technician working here now.



Hours of tech support calls with Holley (nightmare) finally produced this injector harness diagram above left. And sure enough, they had two pins swapped at this connector, which we de-pinned and finally fixed. If I had a dollar for every Holley wiring harness that was pinned wrong, I'd have about 7 bucks! 4 for 4 systems, some in multiple ways, were pinned wrong from the factory. There was major f#ckery afoot, and I have learned to TRUST NOTHING and TRUST NOBODY.

ADDING NICK WILLIAMS 103MM TB + OTHER UPDATES

Another issue that the tuner didn't like was my cheap $100 Chinese102mm Drive By Wire throttle body. He pushed me to replace it with the $750 Nick Williams 103mm unit, which we did.



This one had the more modern LT style servo motor and it fit around the serpentine belt tensioner SO much better, and of course it wasn't some Amazon sourced unit. Hopefully that would help the car idle better? (It didn't) We had to change the harness end to make this work, and it took a little Holley EFI change, too.



Above is a random, low priority thing - the missing upper shift boot bugged me. Sure, we had the Joe's Racing NOMEX lower boot and flange in there under the center console, but it was still noisy. I found an Amazon leather "universal" shift boot and Brad built this custom bracket above, to hold it in place.



The thick chrome flange around the factory leather shift boot wouldn't fit around our custom shifter for the T56 Magnum XL. This new boot cleaned up the install and allowed the shifter to easily engage all 6 forward gears and reverse.



Another item - I never liked the fire bottle mount that this former tech installed, so I had Brad remove that and improve the bracket with another support flange. He added the additional vertical portion and more bolts holding it to the chassis. Wouldn't be fun if that came loose in a crash!



Of course Brad went above and beyond, adding dimple die shaped holes, real hardware, and brush finished everything. Then when he reinstalled the bottle he actually hooked up the two pull cables, which my former tech had left just dangling there nearby. Glad we didn't have any fire issues at the January dyno.



The jankiness kept coming - this major fuel leak was found at the surge tank overflow plumbing. This was simply not acceptable, when it leaked when I filled the stock fuel tank to the top before the upcoming February dyno test. Again, I had a fresh set of eyes take a look - Brad had the front seat out and fire bottle removed anyway, so it was a good time for him to inspect this work. The leak was at the hole drilled at the top of the plastic fuel pump assembly lid, which had no gasket of any kind under this -8AN bulkhead fitting. This did not make me happy.



I ordered some Earl's Statoseal 3/4" gaskets and Brad managed to whittle one down into a hex head shape, which then fit within the super tight confines of the flat plastic spot there, which finally sealed between the bulkhead fitting and the bottom of the plastic housing. We were out of time to get another pump assembly, ran it with the new gasket in place, drained out about half of the fuel, and vowed to fix this RIGHT after the dyno session. At least this time we had a working fire system.

TRUNK AREA DETAIL WORK

None of this area of work was critical, but just some rushed earlier work that needed some detail done, and Brad was the right man for the job.



The "thru the back" muffler exit is a very popular feature of this car (and yes, it "shoots flames" on shifts) but the fit of the large 3.5" dia pipes changes as the exhaust heats up - the tubing grows in length and diameter slightly, and it then rattles against nearby sheet metal. Brad removed the rear bumper cover, opened up the holes, and re-mounted the mufflers with additional high temp bushing mounts.



The exhaust also generates heat, so Brad re-routed and re-wired the trunk lighting harness, and made the reverse light work. He also added all of the missing hardware that attaches the rear trunk plastics to the fenders, which were flopping around in the 1st dyno test. Just got overlooked before, but it was something I saw clearly when on the dyno.



One more area of clean up was the lower portion of the rear bumper cover, which was also flapping in the breeze before - if we left this unsecired it would allow the bumper cover to "parachute" once at speed on track. When we cut away the spare tire well we needed new structure to mount to, so Brad bent up some .080" aluminum sheet and made a pair of brackets to attach the rear bumper cover along the bottom. No more flappy plastics!



This was a big detail thing to me - the custom "MagnaFlow" exhaust exit covers were tweaked in CAD by Jason, then CNC plasma cut by Austin, and finally finished with a brushed finish and installed by Brad. I was a nosy boss during this whole process - but this little flourish makes me very happy, and covers up the ugly holes in the bumper cover cleanly.



These two covers should be made from stainless steel, but this aluminum version will do for now. And yes, these are riveted in place with "exploding" rivets made to attach to plastic. They have been on now for months without issue.



Two other missing items included the 3rd brake light, which was destroyed by whoever "salvaged" parts off of this car. Bought a brand new one from RockAuto at a great price in a Ford marked box. That was wired in and installed, then we chased down all of the fiddly bits to attach the trunk's rear cover in place. Lots of searches, some special hardware, and a bracket that were all missing from our stock trunk (again: they had been "salvaged").



The Anderson carbon trunk needed a good bit of filing on the square holes to attach the clip-in square threaded inserts. I spent about 2 hours one Saturday with a tiny file getting these holes to fit the square inserts - a test of my vision and patience!



Brad installed the final 3-bolt plastic Ford bracket on the Monday after, and that allows the smooth black plastic rear cover to be held in place properly while the bolts from the inside attach.



This was very fiddly but worth it in the end, as the trunk now looked "finished". And yes, there were carbon rear covers we could have purchased but I was not about to drop more $$$ on the back of this salvaged car, with the bumper cover as scuffed up as it was. All of these little details were done while we killed time awaiting a hole in our tuner's schedule, which we finally got in late February.

2ND DYNO TUNING SESSION WITH 6.3L - FEB 11, 2023

Three weeks after the first dyno session we had again rented the same dyno at LGM and had our tuner Jon meet us on another cold Saturday. Erik the engine builder was with us this time, too. We had the Mustang running on all 8 cylinders and it seemed to work much better straight away, and I was hopeful of a 480+ whp number from this 6.3L LS6. If this went well today we could still be on track in March (and make the NASA TT event at MSR) and get the car sorted before the two April SCCA TT events, where I needed to score points at. I had a good feeling.



We got it strapped to the dyno and it made 430 whp on the first few pulls, spinning the tires like mad. The engine note sounded good, as did the customer's CTS-V we had there with a nearly identical 6.3L engine, which was also being final dyno tuned - it was making nearly a identical 430 whp number, also suffering from wheelspin.



The knurling on their roller was worn and we were about to start adding more 3" straps at the rear. Jon was making small adjustments between pulls, then he fired up the 6.3L for one last time - and it was making bad noises. "End of Life" noises. It was shut down quickly. We all knew that sound - a rod knock, or two.

There goes my 2023 TT season, boys! I was physically ill.



We pushed the Mustang to the trailer, I winched and loaded it, then took it back to the shop. Once there I pushed it over and winched it up the ramp inside the shop. There I pulled the valve covers, but nothing was obvious in the top end, and it sounded like bottom end noises from the relative speed. On Monday we did a cylinder leak down and looked at the plugs - the top end was fine, as were the rings. We had stopped running the engine just seconds after the problem sounds started, which was at idle. Oil filter was Glitter City, though.



We got the engine out and it was torn down a few days later, showing loss of oil pressure at the #4 main bearing and #7 and #8 rod bearings. Which didn't make sense, as the Holley data logger showed 84 psi at the top of the last dyno pull, and the Accusump never discharged. This is still a mystery, a fluke - there was nothing unusual about this build, other than a used 4.000" stroke forged Callies crank (that had been turned). The sister 383" LS6 engine in the CTS-V that also dyno'd that day has been running fine ever since, but it has a dry sump oiling system, not the wet sump we had on this Mustang.

continued below

[Fair!]

continued from above

At this point, my 2023 season of racing with the Mustang was FUBAR. And sadly, we had just finish prepping and painting the 2006 C6 Corvette for sale, along with fresh paint, so I wasn't going to race that again (it moved to the same Max1 class as the Mustang, after we added heads/cam/intake to that in early 2023).



This was the worst feeling in racing - after a long thrash to get this much anticipated Mustang ready for a race season, it was all over in seconds. I was resigned to co-driving with Amy in her 2023 BRZ, which was fun, but... just not the same as a car with power.

UPGRADING THE FUEL TANK LIFT PUMP ASSEMBLY

At this point my head was still spinning, and I didn't have a solid plan for what to do next. I was lost. The 6.3L engine was supposed to be our "training wheels" engine for the 2023 season, an easy 480 whp lump that we could run while the suspension was sorted, ABS perfected, while we added aero, and we made the Mustang just a fun all around track car. That wasn't possible now - so I tried to concentrate on other unfinished business on this car while coming up with contingency plans for the engine.



Before the 2nd dyno day we had the leaks from the top of the plastic drop-in fuel pump assembly. Instead of buying another plastic unit and drilling the overflow / return line for the -8 AN bulkhead in another new plastic fuel pump lid, I decided to upgrade to the proper parts - this $740 Aeromotive billet aluminum drop-in fuel pump assembly was ordered.

This is a very well made part that is made explicitly for the S197/S550 Mustang fuel tank, and I highly encourage anyone attempting the fuel system upgrades we did to go with this route. Save yourself the hassles and potential leaks / fire problems with drilling the stock plastic piece!



At the same time I opted to buy the proper tool to remove the locking ring that holds these fuel pump assemblies into S197/S550 tanks, instead of using a pair of screw drivers and a lot of cursing. We have needed this for years, and it was worth every penny.



Instead of having a hole drilled in plastic, this billet aluminum piece has two -8 AN ports in the top, as well as these wiring pass-thrus built into the unit. There's also a bracket built in to take the stock S550 fuel level float, which Brad transferred over from the stock assembly. This Aeromotive unit is made to take as many as 3 pumps - it can be your main pump assembly for up to 1000 hp - but we're only using one pump as a lift pump to feed the Radium remote surge tank. That can work then at lower pressures / higher flow, which is more than enough pump for a lift pump.



We ordered this with one 340 LPH Walbro pump for the lift, then dropped it into the tank and began wiring and plumbing to the top. We could not use the plastic bowl that the OEM pump assembly uses, of course, nor the jet pump line from the other side. The overflow from the surge tank feeds down onto this side of the saddle, so the crossover tube to the other saddle hasn't been a big concern on track (again, after 6 events now).



This was plumbed and wired up cleanly with the supplied connections at the top. And Brad really wanted to replace the "randomly placed" M6 rivnuts, but we left them for now - the top aluminum cover panel we have more than covers the hole in the floor. The Fragola -8 AN hose ends lined up perfectly with the AN-to-ORB fittings we added at the Aeromotive junction, shown above. The cleanest, safest install I could think of for the stock fuel tank. We might not have an engine for the car at this point, but we no longer need to worry about a fuel leak when the stock gas tank is filled!

BORROWING AMY'S HPR454 ENGINE??

In January of 2021 the folks at HPR started building this 454" stroker engine for Amy's 2013 FRS - which we were doing an LS swap with. This '12 FRS used to be her primary track car, and was now being built for the Optima series with a Darton sleeved gen IV block, big Brodix heads, an 8 CW crank with 4.125" stroke, and an unusual "pin guided" rod and piston setup.



We had a small part in this craziness as we machined both the width of the big end of the lightened rods to make them even lighter, as well as make room for these aluminum spacers that were needed to fit into the custom designed Wiseco pistons - which were cut with a "square" opening for this pin guided setup. So instead of the rod being located at the crank on the big end, the piston would be located the rod fore-aft at the small end, on the piston pin.



This was done to remove bob weight from the rotating assembly, and this 3D milled piston and lightened rod combo have a lower bob weight than a titanium rodded LS engine. We had originally planned on a 4.250" stroke 468" engine, but being one of the partners at HPR, I agreed to test out a new 8CW 4.125" forged crank from a new supplier. We made that into a long snout version to utilized an LS7 style dry sump pump - as this car intended to have an air conditioner where an external belt driven dry sump would be (see Optima series use).



Amy and I helped Erik assemble the short block throughout early 2021, at nights and weekends, and we got this 454" bottom end put together and ready for more parts in Feb 2021. Amy paid for all of this craziness, and it was to be her engine for the next several seasons.



Erik had installed and degreed the initial .660" lift hydraulic roller cam, and the shortblock was bagged up - awaiting a new cylinder head to test. Then the supply chain totally broke down, we couldn't get valves and some other parts for a long, long time.



In Feb of 2022 this first set of HPR / Brodix BR7 series set of heads arrived, which Erik had worked with a leading CNC head porter to come up with various port styles with various volumes and valve sizes. Parts took months to arrive but in early 2023 hpr started getting a steady flow of these custom Brodix heads in, Titanium valves started flowing again (Ukraine supplies a lot of Titanium for valves), their in-house valve guide machine was online, and in early March of this year we had the final heads for Amy's engine.

After the February dyno disaster, Amy saw how distraught I was over losing the 6.3L engine. I explained the still lingering engine parts shortage would extend that rebuild for many more months, and I was going to be dropping out of TT events this season.

Then this saint of a woman offered up her 454 engine for use in #Trigger... I didn't dare ask her for that earlier. My head exploded, and this "doomed 2023 season" was no longer over! Amy freagin rocks.



A few planning sessions at lunch with Erik and we changed what intake the 454 would use, and Erik spec'd out a shorter duration camshaft but with .750" lift, using these Crower 1.9 ratio shaft rockers. On March 31st of 2023 I picked up the complete 454 engine - and it was going into my Mustang!

ADDING A DRY SUMP OIL PAN

Normally at this point you might think we would be out shopping for a 5+ stage external dry sump oiling system, but this engine was stuck with some decisions made 2 years earlier for another series in another car. And this was not my engine, it was borrowed from my wife from her real race car, so we decided to stick with the same plan: use the GM LS7 based 2-stage pump, which is driven off the front of the crank.



We looked at various aftermarket dry sump pans that were made to work with the LS7/LS9 pump and were not sure we had the room to fit any of them with the stock crossmember / mounts / headers from our LS550 swap. So after much discussion, I went looking for a stock LS7 pan. These are NLA new from GM, so I went looking for a good used pan, and after a couple of weeks of fruitless searches, the folks at LGM hooked me up. I cleaned that used pan up in our parts washer (it had been on an engine that didn't live), then I ran it for a few cycles in the sonic cleaner at HPR. We also replaced the pickup screen with a new GM unit (which luckily is still available).



Then I ordered every piece Improved Racing makes for the LS7 - a drop in oil pan baffle, their windage tray and their crank scraper. The drop in pan baffle was installed and I took the cleaned up pan and the rest to HPR for installation (this was done in mid March, before I picked up the engine - showing the story a bit out of order here, apologies).



The fine folks at HPR then clearanced and tweaked last two these items made for a little 427" LS7 (4.000" stroke) to fit this higher stroked 454" version (4.125" stroke), and they got all of these items safely installed on the bottom with ample clearance. Does this crank scraper and windage tray help with oil flow slosh in corners? After a number of events I can say this: No, it seems like it does not. I will cover these oil pressure issues we saw in long left hand covers with this setup - not dire, but concerning - in another post.



I then bought yet another ATI balancer and hub to fit the longer LS7 style crank snout, then the Katech red 2 stage oil pump. This is unlike a traditional wet sump oil pump for an LS - the LS7 style system used a unit that has two pumps in a longer package, and these work in tandem.

One pump is the "scavenge" pump, which sucks oil from the pickup screen in the oil pan and pumps it out the side of the pan to go to the top of a remote oil settling tank (or dry sump tank). The "second stage" pump sucks from oil the bottom of the remote settling tank and pumps it through the engine to create oil pressure. I will show more and label the lines when we get to the plumbing of the system, further down in this post.



One of the last items HPR modified for this 454 long block was the LS7 oil pan, which has 3 ports cast into the pan for the various stages and pass-thrus. Brian at HPR "port matched" the pan ports to the LS7 oil pan gasket, which matches up with the port matched Katech 2-stage pump. This ensures we have the most flow and least pressure drop possible with this setup.



There were dozens of other little parts and details that went into this engine, some of which I will share later in the build thread and others that would bore you. This covers the main chunk that involved the dry sump oiling system, at least on the engine itself.

MOUNTING THE DRY SUMP TANK

In early March, when we had decided to move this 454" engine with an LS7 style dry sump into the Mustang, it was time to purchase and mount the dry sump settling tank. We searched for days and looked at many factors, but in the end picked this "short and fat" Peterson fluid systems 3 gallon tank. A taller / skinny tank would have been a better for actual oil settling, but it came down to the final placement we picked and our lack of allowable height there.



What I thought would take a coupe of days to find the final location and mount, actually spanned 2.5 months. Some of this was us having to wait on other items, but the final fitting of the hood happened in the first week of June. These various parts delays made me nearly crazy, as I missed competition event after event, borrowing cars to try to bank some points for the Texas region SCCA Time Trial series in Max1 class. This was a very frustrating time, but we had other delays outside of this oil tank mounting.



Most of this mounting work was completed before the engine even left HPR for the last time on March 31st. Frankly we needed the engine out of the way to do some of this fabrication work, often working inside the engine bay to access a cut here and there. This giant tank was not easy to mount - not even a little easy.



The first round cut put the tank too close to the tire, so we had to move the tank back into the edge of the outer firewall. We had to chop out that "shelf" (see above left), then relocate some wiring pass-thrus we had already wired and run with the 385" engine. But eventually the cuts were made and the tank fit around and above the tire. The top of the tank would still hit the hood, but I had a plan for that.



To cover the hole in the firewall shelf we had cut, Brad made some paper templates then transferred those into cardboard. This CAD template was mocked up and perfected before going to aluminum. This cover would sit very close to the tank, to maximize clearance to the hood.



Austin worked with Brad to get these 3 pieces TIG welded into an assembly that fits in the bottom back corner of the engine bay. It took some patience, cooling between welds, and some skill, but he got it all seam welded together perfectly. Brad then sanded and smoothed the welds to make it look like art which nobody will ever see once installed.



This final assembly essentially made just another firewall block off plate, with integrated mounting flanges that were part of the original design. This perfectly seals off the cone shaped hole in the shelf and attaches to the back of the firewall as shown. Then it is sealed off with seam sealer.



Once Brad riveted and sealed this in place, the engine bay side was masked and painted in a matching semi-gloss black. And all of this will be well hidden underneath the Peterson tank, but I'll still know it was done right.



With the oil settling tank mounted (and with plumbing added a little later), Brad crawled through the engine bay and marked where the hood would touch. We had the hood just mocked up in place, as it was interfering with the oil fill cap and that upper forged 90deg -12 AN fitting.



And this was the last little bit that waited until June - cutting two clearance holes in the inner skin of the Anderson Composites carbon hood, By then the engine ran and it was time to add the hood for track testing, so this leftover hood from my 2018 Mustang GT got a little trimming, as did the plastic firewall cowl panel, which you can see above right. Whew!

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Ah, one more thing! We had to make some changes to the ECU mounting tray, which sits just behind the glove box, as the slight change to the firewall required an extra touch of clearance.



While it was out to be trimmed, Brad added a dimple die holes, too - he can't be stopped! So yea, adding that dry sump tank was a journey, but mounting it close to the engine and as high as possible is extremely helpful for feeding oil to the main pressure pump. We will show more of that plumbing below.

454 LONG BLOCK INSTALLED

On April 3rd we got the longblock weighed and then started rounding up any missing pieces we needed to attach the same flywheel and clutch from the 6.3L before, which barely had any use or wear.



Since it had a new crank there was no pilot bearing installed, so we went with the F-body style SKF option for this, which was tapped into place. Should have had that sooner to allow HPR to press that in place before the crank went in, but that was 2 years ago.



Now the TOB should always be measured and checked, and sure enough we needed to shim the back of that for proper engagement with the RAM HD unit we had. More parts to order, another week long wait, but eventually that was done right. Brad got the flywheel installed and torqued the new ARP bolts, then the twin disc pressure plate and clutch discs.



With the clutches and slipper plates aligned, the transmission was stabbed and bolted to the bellhousing. We always want to do this out of the car if we can, as it makes the alignment of the input shaft so much easier. We then took the engine + transmission assembly and put it on the adjustable engine tilter, then got the engine hoist ready to shove this lump into the engine bay.



To save time we kept the radiator + upper support in place, and it all went in fine. Brad (with a grimace!) and I got this assembly tilted / shoved / angled / and bolted to our LS550 swap drivetrain mounts in about 20 minutes, without scratching anything at the firewall or radiator. The engine bay is enormous and an LS engine is pretty small.



We had the drivetrain bolted in on April 12th, and Brad went on to connecting some wiring and oil system plumbing - but the BTR intake manifold was the big delay. It would be 2 months before that was finally here, modified, and ready to go in - and I was losing my mind with these delays. I made a terrible decision to use this BTR intake.

ADDING ACCESSORIES + CRANK POINTER

We wanted the tuner to have a proper timing pointer for use with a timing light, as stock LS engines have nothing. HPR had set TDC when they installed the cam and ATI balancer, so we wanted to just reinstall the pointer that was on the 385" LS6 engine onto the LS7, and set that based on the timing marks on the balancer.



Well of course the old timing pointer kit made for the "short snout" LS timing cover didn't fit the LS7 style cover, which has the extra oil pump stage inside. This PRP-8527 kit was made for the longer front timing cover of the LS7, so I bought one of those.



We swapped this in place of the Mighty Mouse pointer made for the LS1/2/6, and it was lined up with TDC on cylinder one, which had been marked by HPR when they built the shortblock and installed the ATI balance.



The various accessories were installed again - alternator, LS7 style water pump, thermostat housing, ICT Billet power steering delete pulley and the ICT manual serpentine belt tensioner.

MOUNTING OIL CATCH CAN AND COOLANT RESERVOIR + CRANKCASE VENTING

On the wet sump 6.3L setup, we had mounted the Peterson vented air/oil separator catch can and Canton coolant reservoir in the back right corner, where these were both then at the highest part of the engine bay - as shown below.



This was supposed to be how the engine bay would be setup for the first season, but instead it lasted for a couple of weeks when the 6.3L expired. Now the massive 3 gallon Peterson oil settling tank takes up that coveted spot in the engine bay, so we needed to relocate both of those items to a new home.



Brad and I looked at the spaces we had left to fill and decided to push the coolant reservoir to the front right corner, and fit over gap in the engine bay sheet metal. So he made a template, then an aluminum bracket, which bridged this gap - and pushed the top of the tank away from a depression in the hood structure above.



The Canton coolant tank bolted right to this new bracket with its unmodified bracket holes. Then it was time to mount the Peterson vented crankcase vent - air / oil separator can (shorten all of that to "catch can"). The previous bracket got one additional panel and some rivnuts, to hold the clamp for the round catch can.



Above you can see the Peterson round clamp, which has a flat bracket that attaches to the new panel. Then the catch can was slid into place with the Vibrant 1/4 turn ball valve on the bottom for the drain. This later got a hose that was routed under the fender line - and we now drain the liquid oil and water out of this tank after every track day (it captures very little liquid oil). One of the two "inlet" ports on the oil catch can was blocked, as we had planned to only feed this from the dry sump tank, instead of from both valve covers like we did on the wet sump 6.3L.



Venting the crankcase and dry sump tank was tackled next. This is a somewhat complex subject that might get its own tech article later - I am going to give the highlights here. We started by running a -12 AN Fragola hose from the TOP VENT port on the dry sump tank (the highest port on the conical upper portion) downhill to the oil catch can.

Yes, this tank will be under pressure at times, likely NOT under vacuum. This is only a 2 stage LS7 based dry sump system with a single scavenge stage, and its working on a big 454" engine. Ideally we would have 2-4 scavenge stages and an external dry sump pump, but I also want a toilet made of gold - we don't always get what we want, baby!



Next we added a low cracking pressure check valve (see above) that we sourced from Earl's (not cheap). This opens when the crankcase makes more than 1 psi of positive pressure, and the hose that passes through this leads uphill and allows excess crankcase pressure (including water and oil vapor) to travel from this valve cover port to the normal tank scavenge inlet port at a "Y" with a -12 AN line. The check valve prevents any backflow from the dry sump tank, if the crankcase briefly does make vacuum.



Now when we first posted this arrangement on social, we got some negative feedback from the less informed portion of the peanut gallery, but again - this is not a textbook perfect dry sump system. "Everything in racing is a compromise", which this is. Pretending that we would see sustained crankcase vacuum with this 2 stage dry sump pump setup is just a fairy tale.

The reality is MOST dry sump systems (even 3-4 stage) on bigger LS engines like this do not see a vacuum in the crankcase, so that pressure has to be vented properly, or you will start blowing out seals and gaskets. We've seen people with similar systems that had to add 3 or 4 oil catch cans and fighting oil spraying everywhere - we're doing this right.



We've preemptively accommodated this positive pressure and routed it through a proper check valve into the correct port on the dry sump tank. And any excess pressure / vapors from the big dry sump tank can then leave the very TOP of that tank (where there should be no liquid volume) and then go to the Peterson catch can. At the time we built this oil crankcase plumbing, with input from HPR, the folks at both that shop and Vorshlag were confident this would work.

And indeed it has worked, to the point that we haven't leaked a DROP of oil from this engine bay - not from the dry sump tank, lines, or catch can or engine, in 6 events to date. You can see the amount drained from the catch can after a full 4 sessions at a Time Trial event we won on 8/12/23, above. It is a couple of ounces, and the most we have ever pulled out of this catch can.

CUSTOMIZED BTR INTAKE, NEW INJECTORS, FUEL RAILS, AND VALVE COVERS

Now a big cause of delay in getting this 454 engine running, and added tremendously to costs incurred, is this monumentally bad idea: a modified BTR Trinity intake. We customized this BTR Trinity short runner intake manifold to work with the 454 engine / Brodix heads / 112mm throttle body. This ranks now as the second biggest mistake of this build, right behind just the thought of "use a Holley EFI" on anything! DON'T USE THIS INTAKE MANIFOLD on any Naturally Aspirated LS engine. It is an utter abomination of bad design choices.



Dozens of hours of custom machine work, welding, porting, and other details which spanned 8 freagin weeks piled up to make this terrible intake manifold setup. It was a huge mistake, which I will show in multiple dyno graphs (next time). While it might look "pretty", this does not make something FAST.



The first problem was the "get the next version coming" wait - this intake had been out for barely a minute with a 102mm TB opening, but supposedly a 105mm version was coming. We blew 3 weeks and many blown promised deliveries, so we punted and bought the only "old" 102mm version that was in stock anywhere, which arrived April 27th. Really wish I could get those wasted 3 weeks back - I trusted the wrong sources. We also got this HUGE 112mm Nick Williams DBW throttle body.



Some poor advice I listened to was to lop the 102mm TB flange of the BTR intake off and make this 112mm TB fit. Maybe you can see what we wanted to do here: above is the BTR intake mocked up with a 112mm TB and our existing 4.5" intake tube. "Easy!"



We have heard many times that the 102mm TB is choking these over-427" LS engines, so sure - "More airflow!" is better, right? A massive amount of work began, where we first designed and machined this adapter on our CNC mill.



Everyone hustled to make this happen, both here and at HPR. Jason designed then Hodges CNC machined these 112mm adapters, Austin welded them on and did some porting, and Brad did all of the final fitting and assembly.



After we had the Trinity in hand, Brad started by lopping the 102mm flange off one day and we had a new 112mm flange welded on 2 days later. After a mock-up check and some measuring here at the shop, it all went to HPR for final port matching.



There Brian did some internal porting and sanding on the throttle body inlet - simply beautiful work. He brought all of this back to Vorshlag for another mockup and measuring on the engine to mark the BR7 Brodix heads intake ports.



He scoped down each port, marked the mismatch, then took the two pairs of intake port sections back to HPR for port matching and more sanding / clean-up.



All 8 intake port flanges were blended to match the Brodix head's CNC machined intake ports and the newly enlarged 112mm intake opening was blended to perfection. This doesn't get any better for smooth airflow - and I was very hopeful we could finally outpace the typical MSD + 103mm TB with this very customized Trinity + 112mm. Ha!



We got it all mocked up and installed the optional BTR fuel rails, which fit well enough. These were installed with a new set of ID 1080 injectors, which we needed over the smaller injectors we had on the little 6.3L.



Brad got the Nitrous Outlet 4 port steam vent kit installed and fitted around the BTR intake, which has plenty of room everywhere for this system with the main "tower" mounted at the front right corner of the block. With the intake and 112mm throttle body mocked up Brad was then able to finish the mods to the existing 4.5" cold air system we used before, which used to neck down to 4.25" for the 103mm TB. We also spec'd the pieces needed to hook the BTR fuel rails into the existing fuel system - which we had built with -10 AN feed and -8 AN return line sizes, in anticipation of a bigger engine someday.



The amount of metal we added to the neck of this Trinity upper plenum was significant - and now it was time to blend the outside for aesthetics. Both Austin and Brad spent some time with die grinder and sanding wheels getting this smoothed out before powder coating, and Brad did additional work to get the flange flat and drilled/tapped for mounting the 112mm throttle body.



Brad then used our new media cabinet to blast the black painted finish off the BTR intake's 3 main sections, then I took it all to our powder coating shop nearby. By now 5+ weeks have been gobbled up waiting on and modifying the Trinity intake, and I'm missing more and more SCCA Time Trial competitions, but I keep telling myself all of this added cost and delay will benefit the car in the end, with much more power than the plastic off-the-shelf intakes and small throttle bodies...

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A week later the red powder coated parts were done and shiny - I went by the powder coat shop 3 times trying to hurry them along.



Its now late May and I am pushing hard to get this car to the tuner in a week, so I can hopefully make the June events? Brad reassembles the now RED AF intake and I'm getting excited, as it looks really good.



Yes this is a 24.1 pound behemoth and its 5.4" runner length makes for math that is way too short for NA engine use under 10,000 rpm, but I still think all of this work will be worthwhile. There is no 112mm gasket so Brad makes one from this Fel-Pro gasket material - tracing the CAD drawing we made for the flange adapter and cutting out out with a razor.



Literally the same day we got the intake back from powder it was installed and looked AMAZING. We got the Katech tall valve covers powder coated red as well and this really makes the engine bay "pop", but in the end, would the added work to make this fit help performance?

FUN WITH THROTTLE BODIES

Then we lost TWO MORE WEEKS fighting a wiring problem in the new throttle body - which was beyond frustrating. Time was just slipping away, and every month I didn't have this car was another missed SCCA Time Trial event - where I was now "bumming rides" in the wrong cars, not scoring many points for the regional Max1 championship. I won the first event in a borrowed 2020 GT500 with 2 laps behind the wheel, but my luck at finding co-drives soon ran out.



Holley EFI has a certain procedure to check DBW throttle bodies within their EFI system. When we connected the NW 112 it just would not get through the TPS Autoset wizard. You have to do this before you can even think about starting the engine. We called Holley, then did a bunch of testing on the TB, and even put it on my C6 to test it there with a "known good engine harness".



Nothing was working right - there are two TPS circuits inside each Drive By Wire throttle body, and one was simply dead. We tested it on the C6 and nothing. We tested the Ohms and it was dead. We boxed it up and sent it all to Nick Williams. We got it back over a week later, still broken but with a note that the jumper harness it came with is pinned wrong. Not re-pinned or with a note how to fix it, just that it was pinned wrong. Nice!



It arrived back from at 5 pm one Thursday, after Brad had already left, but Stephen and I were still here at the shop. So we checked the wiring on my C6 LS2 engine harness (see above left) and sure enough, this jumper harness was just made wrong. Again, it came with the throttle body, and was supposed to be wired to GM color coded protocols. Two wires were swapped, but once we found the problem I tried to de-pin and re-pin this myself, but my close up vision is shot with my contacts in. Stephen was able to see things clearer and got this harness re-pinned that night - on June 2nd.



The next day Brad re-checked the Ohms of both TPS circuits and found that this was working now - Gah! Two weeks burned for another wiring harness problem! Brad cleaned up the jumper harness with proper wire sleeve and heat shrink at both ends, then we got ready to install that onto the otherwise completed intake setup.



On Friday, June 3rd we had the NW harness re-pinned, connected, and the Holley EFI would finally register both TPS circuits and allow us to perform the "TPS Autoset". And as soon as I heard that throttle blade "thunk" I knew we had a working throttle. WOO! This was a breakthrough after another couple of weeks of massive frustration and delay. It would soon be time to crank it!

OIL SYSTEM PLUMBING

Earlier I showed some of the new oil line plumbing work, namely the crankcase venting from the valve cover to the oil sump tank and then from there to the catch can. But there were also lines from the LS7 pan to and from the dry sump tank, and changes to the lines from the oil pan to the thermostatic bypass/remote oil filter housing. Much of this happened when the intake manifold was being built, or during another stage where we were waiting for someone else to complete work.



Let's start back at the end of the 6.3L engine era, where we pulled the Accusump - we're going to a dry sump, so why would we need that?? (ha! we would later add this back in August 2023, but that's a whole other story for next time). The dry sump tank itself has 4 ports, 3 of which we utilized.



At the left side of the LS7 oil pan we purchased and installed this Setrab oil filter adapter (above left) and added a port for another oil temp sensor. On the right side of the pan we utilized a Peterson adapter manifold, which goes to the 2-bolt LS7 oil pan outlet to two AN-12 fittings. Brad built the "in / out" lines from the dry sump tank with -12 AN Fragola 3000 series hoses.



Finding the markings for what port is what on the LS7 pan proved difficult, so once we verified that we marked them on the pan for reference - in the picture above left, the port marked "IN" is coming from the bottom of the dry sump tank to the suction side of the pressure stage pump - hopefully with a big head of oil that has settled to liquid. The forward port on the pan marked "OUT" goes from the scavenge pump's outlet out to the top inlet at the dry sump tank, where the possibly foamed oil settles down through the screens in the tank to become liquid again.

NOTE: We later upsized the "IN" hose from the bottom of the settling tank to a -16 AN (see above right), which I will describe in a later post. Yes, even with only a -12 hole at the oil pan, going up to this larger -16 AN line STILL HELPS FLOW and should be the standard for the "feed" line to the pressure stage pump for any external dry sump system on a V8 engine. PLEASE OVERSIZE YOUR OIL FEED LINES.



The external oil lines were all -12 AN at this point, and everything was far enough away from exhaust heat to not be a worry, as you can see - except for the Setrab filter adapter itself, visible above left, which was near one header primary.



Brad pointed out how close we were getting with this I agreed that a heat shield here would be a good idea. He built this from a scrap piece of a stainless steel sheet and covered the "hot side" with DEI gold foil reflective covering, to keep radiated heat away from this area. The oil temp sensor wire that was added to that upper port was wrapped in thermal tape and routed behind this shield, too.



Last thing I will show in this section is one of the reasons why we bought this Peterson dry sump oil settling tank - it has an actual dipstick! THIS IS INCREDIBLY RARE in the aftermarket dry sump oil tank world (we have had to make dipsticks for both ARE and Aviad tanks), which is sort of baffling. The availability of an actual dipstick and measuring procedure was a big plus! I wanted to NEVER lose the dipstick (it happens on dry sump cars!) so Brad made this dipstick holder, located near the tank.



The way to check the level is to get the car running and the oil warmed up, then either at idle speed (1000 rpm at this point) or running at 3000 rpm (some discrepancy here), you stab the dipstick into the small hole in the upper screen in the tank, until the handle bottoms out on the filler neck flange (see above). You can make a mark "between 2/3 to 3/4 full" and run it there. Again, this is FAR from an exact science, but it is this way with all dry sump systems. There is NO clear guideline on the perfect level among any brand of aftermarket dry dump tank.



How much oil do we need to run in our dry sump tank? We started at 10 liters of oil filled through the tank, then run through the engine and cooler. After issues on track we ended up with 16 liters of oil - in a 3 gallon tank!

Obviously that is more than 3 gallons, but there is more oil in the cooler, filter, pan, hoses and elsewhere. We used advice of "keep adding oil until it starts to puke from the breather line, then you are full". Well we haven't found that yet, but we're running out of dipstick length. We added a mechanical oil pressure gauge above for "first fire", to verify the new sensors we added to the Holley (which hadn't been programmed yet).

FIRST FIRE OF HPR454, MORE HOLLEY DASH AND TUNE ISSUES

By now its June 5th and I'm really trying to get the engine started, then to the dyno, then track tested, and ready for an SCCA TT event June 17th and an Apex Time Attack on June 24th. Neither of those events happened in this car, of course, because of problems we encountered that were traced back to other issues. I will explore more of those items in the next post, which took a while to resolve after we got the car on track.



First step was getting the new tune loaded, after we fixed the Nick Williams throttle body issue. Once we had a working throttle body we loaded the new start up tune Jon sent and tried to get the dash to work, so we could monitor oil pressure during priming. It wasn't playing nice.



We made a series of videos to document our frustrations and to send to our tuner for help. The Holley dash was rebooting constantly while trying to crank the engine - with the coils and fuel pump disconnected - to build oil pressure. When voltage dropps below 10.0 volts cranking, the Holley dash would not only reboot, the "tune" in the ECU would just go away - we would then have to resync the laptop with the Holley software / tune to the Holley ECU, then re-run the TPS Autoset, or it would NEVER start. It would pop up errors to "Run TPS Autoset before starting".

It kept doing this dash reboot / TPS issue until we would top off the battery overnight. Much later we chased down this to a bad battery (a nearly brand new Optima yellow top) AND an intermittent short in one of the Holley supplied CAN cables. This was found many weeks later, after much frustration and cursing and pulling my hair out at various events where the engine wouldn't start.



Eventually, after all of this cranking, we did get an oil pressure prime - and then our first oil leak from the Katech valve covers. We talked to HPR and they suggested to switch over to some Yella Terra YT5132 extra wide gaskets, which they had in stock down the road from us. That has been leak free ever since.



On June 6th, after a few tweaks to the start-up tune, we got it to crank and fire - as shown in the video linked above. Throttle response was all wrong (it was setup for the 103mm) but it was running well enough to idle, build temps / pressures, and test some things before going to the dyno. But we still needed to fix a few things before my first drive with the HPR454 engine.

MORE TEDIOUS REPAIRS BEFORE DYNO TUNING

As the engine was getting fire up we noticed a few leaks and things that needed to be addressed. Another rear axle CV boot was leaking grease, which had happened with the 6.3L engine and we didn't catch it. How? The spring was touching the CV booth - and this is something we literally machine custom MCS parts to avoid!



I ordered yet another pair of GT350 rear axles, as this is still the most cost effective fix for a bad boot (read my 2018 GT build thread to see why a "boot kit" repair isn't feasible). We tracked it down to a mis-match of parts that a former technician missed, but once the shock was removed I saw it immediately - we then swapped in our correct "super offset" lower T-bars on the right rear. No more interference.



While that axle was out Brad noted some fluid coming out of the inner axle shaft, at the seal on the axle housing itself. Looks like it was nicked the last time a tech installed the axle on that side. This $8 seal was delivered from the Ford house on June 9th and Brad got that installed, with the axle was out.



With the axle seal fixed on the housing, the new GT350 (with an intact CV boot) was installed and the nut torqued at the rear hub. It was getting close driveable now, but since we would go from here to the tuner right to the track to test, I wanted to make sure we had some other aspects updated.



We swapped the 190F thermostat for this 180F unit a week earlier, then all of the stem vent lines were purged and the system topped off with a vacuum fill.



Our last performance / reliability upgrade before dyno tuning was adding our production S550 brake cooling deflectors. I didn't want to run the PP1 undertray at this point, as we wanted to see ANY leaks from the new engine and so many changes in plumbing, so there were no splitter ramps to feed these deflectors. I wasn't too worried - I didn't plan to run more than a few laps after dyno tuning, and these will still scoop some turbulent under-car airflow and shove that towards the brakes.



A silly nod to vanity - the "6.2L" badging on the sides had to go. I had ordered up a few options (above left) and went with the boomer style "454" badges. Easy fix to denote the new larger engine change.



Here we are on June 8th, the Mustang has a new heart transplant, and is running and leak free. It seems to be running well enough for a start-up tune, so we do another weight check - and the 3362 pound is about where we were before, now with 1/2 a tank of fuel. Brad had reinstalled the nose and the car was ready to drive.



We ran the engine for about 10 minutes at idle to make sure cooling fan worked, the Improved Racing bypass thermostat opened and circulated oil in the oil cooler, and to clean up a few loose ends. It was running well and ready for a test drive...


At this point it is Friday June 9th and I was ready to test drive the car with the new engine - and it was a complete DOG on my first drive. The throttle response was terrible, but even when that came in, the engine felt like it had 80 hp. Would not even turn over the rear tires in anger. I shortened the test drive and loaded this car into my trailer, right after I parked it next to Joe's 2010 Mustang GT, which we had just wrapped up. That also went out to MSR Cresson a couple of weeks later, and I ended up driving them both on track the same day, back to back.



The black S550 went to my new garage out at MSR Cresson on June 10th, where it would sit in my garage there for a couple of weeks while it was initially tuned, plug wires were built for it (twice), then tuned further.

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HOW ARE WE STILL FIGHTING CUSTOM SPARK PLUG WIRES??

The car sat in my MSR garage for a number of days while tuner Jon was busy with other projects. He got the throttle mapping cleaned up for the 112mm pretty quickly (below right video), and that made the engine much more responsive. But when he drove the car, it was still a total dog. Barely running, but it idled great. We all scratched our heads and wondered WTF could be wrong? It was firing on all 8 cylinders during our First Fire tests at idle - I checked the header primary temps myself.



This was the same set of plug wires we built and verified with the 6.3L engine to 430 hp before it died, but Jon insisted that the wires were the culprit. Maybe they were damaged somehow during the engine swap? It would be my luck. On June 14th I bought the first set of MSD's 8.5mm "build your own" LS plug wire sets and shipped it to him.



Jon built a new set of wires based on the lengths we utilized for our remote coil wires. Then when one got buggered up, a second kit was ordered, then he got all 8 cylinders firing under load. Pulled the plugs to show the proof and sure enough, the MSD plug wires did it. I ran 100X better. WEIRD!



The two videos above had me jumping for joy! The engine was idling cleaner and "hitting harder", and after a little bit of tuning he had the 454 laying stripes of rubber on the MSR paddock. WOOO!!!! I told him to "MURDER THOSE TIRES!" It was finally time for dyno tuning, June 22nd.

PAINFUL LESSON LEARNED: Avoid custom plug wires on LS engines, but if you insist on unusual coil placement and custom wires, use this MSD plug wire kit shown above. We had continuous problems with the Taylor and ICT plug wire kits along the way, costing us 4+ weeks of delays and mountains of frustration.

3RD DYNO SESSION - JUNE 27, 2023

On June 27th Jon got the 454 engine dyno tuned for the first time, but it burned pretty much an entire day. Swapped plugs once to verify that they were not fowled, and some more time was spent with the intake tube we built. He did the initial tune on his old Hub dyno and finished up on the Dynojet 248 wheel dyno.



He struggled with some of the aspects of the Holley, but mostly it was the numbers, which were simply NOT what we expected, so he kept at it. We chatted with him and the HPR folks during the dyno tuning day, and he finally bypassed our 4.5" cold air inlet with this bell mouth inlet and corrugated hose setup, which was straighter and had less MAP drop over a pull - barely.



On both dynos it made 627 whp and 525 wtq on 93 octane fuel. These numbers were far below what we had expected - given the specs of the heads / cam / and the insane amount of work we spent on making this BTR intake and 112mm throttle body come together. Compared to a similar HPR 468" he had tuned before on the same hub dyno (Meeker M3, which made 686 whp) it was down about 60 from that MSD intake / 103mm TB equipped car.

Peak power was made between 6850 and 7100 rpm, depending on the run. Temps were just awful in the dyno cell - 105F degrees - and the correction factors can only fix the air so much. But still, this was frustrating AF. I'm still searching for the missing 60 whp on this thing.

TRACK TEST #1 - MSR, JUNE 29, 2023

As disappointed as I was in the ultimate power numbers, I was excited to finally come drive the car on track. I loaded up Joe's blue 2010 Mustang GT and hauled out to MSR Cresson on an early Thursday morning member day.



I got out there by 7:30 am, unloaded the blue 2020 Mustang, then went to pick up the 2015 Mustang from the shop at the track where Jon tuned it. I drove over to the Sunoco station and filled up #Trigger with some 94 octane fuel - enough to make sure I could make enough laps to matter without fuel starve. I can fill the tank now without spillage, yay.



My goal was to just get initial test laps - not FAST laps - in both Joe's 2010 Mustang Gen2 swapped widebody S197 and my 2015 Mustang LS454 on this balmy June Thursday. I took two sessions in #Trigger and one in Joe's Mustang, just checking things for rub, weird noises, smells, temperatures, etc. These were first laps ever in either build, so I came in and jacked up both cars after driving, looking for any issues. I was by myself, so I had nobody there to help check temps / take pics / support in the hot pits, so it slowed things down a bit.

I took it very easy in both cars. This member day they were running the 1.7 mi course "backwards" (1.7 CW), so the lap times would be meaningless to our normal 1.7 CCW test times. There were also some serious race teams out there, so I just stayed out of their way and made "installation laps" in both cars. Took a lap, came in, got out and checked temps and pressures, went out a little faster, came in to for checks, etc.



I had to get my laps in early, otherwise I'd get overheated and the temps that day got into the 105F range. I took all 3 of my sessions in both cars in the early morning hours, before 11:00 am. I had a cool suit with ice in Joe's S197 and used that, but we had yet to install the chiller in the S550 - and I have to wear full driving suit on these member days. It got hot a muggy fast!



During the 4 hours that I was on site, Jon ran over and made some quick tuning changes to the Holley EFI tune on the Mustang. Once I took some laps the 5 year old Bridgestone's finally chewed through the outer "crust" they had built up, but my best lap in the #LS550 was still with me starting on pit lane, ha! More importantly neither car had any issues and neither leaked a SINGLE drop of fluid. That was amazing for two brand new builds, both of which had diverged so far from stock.



I almost didn't even post this video, but its kind of funny. It shows a number of things - the weird "tuning glitch" where the engine shuts off (more on this later), but the video camera slips and ruins the video halfway through, then I had a spin - my first in ages (the engine shutting off mid-corner will do that). I kept it on track, and nobody else was driving at the moment so it didn't slow anyone down. But the forward acceleration was brutal, the ABS brakes worked (there was some question! more on that later also), but the throttle response on and off was VIOLENT.



Jon worked on the throttle response a couple of times and pulled logs to check the oil pressure issue, which we fought for another 2 months after this point. But the handling was great, as expected since this was the same MCS RR2 setup we pulled off my red 2018 GT in 2019. I drove #Trigger back into the trailer unbroken. Also drove Joe's 2010 into my garage out there without issue - that thing is a GRIP MONSTER with the 335/345mm Hoosiers and big aero.



This was our very first test of an S197 ABS swap onto any car with just the junkyard sourced ABS brick from a 2011-14 GT - not using the Ford Racing computer - which was a big deal, even with modest 1.12g stops on these crappy tires (compared with the modest 1.21g avg peak lateral grip, this was a win). And the forward acceleration of .58g in 3rd gear was pretty monstrous, so that made me pretty happy - when the engine didn't shut off after left hand turns. So this was a relatively successful "quick test" for both cars. I was back at Vorshlag by 1:30 pm, exhausted but ready to dig into the next round of fixes.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Yikes, that was all pretty negative and a downer - but that was the first half of 2023 for me with this car. This grew into a 5 part post, getting us from late January through the end of June. I will stop here, as some of you might not have the endurance to read a longer post. As I write this we have completed 5 more events in Trigger, and two of those 5 events were wins, so it does get better as we go. No other disasters - yet!



We really got busy with fixes and upgrades over the 8 weeks that followed this late June track test #1, including: a change of the intake manifold and throttle body and retuned the car for MUCH better drivability, made oil system changes, changed the entire front end (fenders and nose), changed to GT500 spindles, upgraded to Hoosiers on 18x11s, then went a new front end, then to 18x12" wheels with 315mm A052 tires, added a driver chiller, tie down hooks, changed batteries, added cameras, swapped ABS computers, and more.



We also added some "minor aero upgrades" - I will cover that next time.



I better stop here before my fingers fall off from typing. I likely have over 30 hours tied up in writing this update, not including all of the videos and pictures and edits it took to get here. So much more to share and lessons to impart - learn from my mistakes!

Until next time,

Terry @ Vorshlag

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Mustang Darkhorse Project Introduction - Dec 26, 2023: Our brand new S650 chassis 2024 Mustang Darkhorse arrived October 8th. I thought about posting a new thread for the last two months, but the end of the 2023 Time Trial season was just bonkers - wrapping up updates to #Trigger (our 2015 Mustang with a 620 whp LS swapped engine) and running that at a bunch of local TT events. I am way behind on build thread updates!



And don't worry - contrary to the meme above, I'm not letting this DARKHOSS distract me from continuing to build and improve Trigger (below left), which really came on strong at the end of the 2023, with 3 "Fastest Time of Day" Time Trials in a row. I will write a separate update on that car shortly. But we have had the DH on track FOUR times already and it has exceeded expectations - and we already have a pair of competition classes picked for the 2024 season in this car, with Amy as the primary driver (see the last section of this post).



Instead of creating an all new build thread for this car + S650 development, I merged two existing S550 build threads (S550 development + Trigger and my red 2018 GT, shown above) and decided to add our new S650 Darkhorse to this new mega S550/S650 thread. The S650 chassis is just too similar to the S550 (it's mostly a reskin). I just did the same thing with 3 threads dealing with C5 and C6 Corvettes earlier this month. I will keep the various posts I make on S550 or S650 subjects as separate entries, but keep them all in one place here in this thread.


We did a lot with the S650 in the first two months of ownership, and uncovered some real potential with this "new" chassis. Let's kick off our first S650 Darkhorse update with lots of pictures, video, and (hopefully) useful tech in this massive 4 part post!

DECIDING TO ORDER AN S650 DARKHORSE

Let's back up to 2022, when the S650 Mustang was announced. Mustangs are a big part of our business at Vorshlag and we needed to get our hands on one, and for various reasons - nobody makes a better product tester for suspension development than me. Why? We just never know what a "customer tester" is going to do - how they will drive, how many events they will attend, and how far they are willing to push the car to win a class. We understood early on that the S650 was more of a revised S550, but didn't know exactly what changed, so we decided to order one as soon as we could - then see if we could make it better.



Being the first year for the S650 we didn't expect to have any special "halo" models, then Ford announced the Darkhorse model. It would have more power, the best brakes, best wheel/tire combo, and some unique suspension bits.



I ran Ford configurator builds with my dealer for the 2024 GT and DH, and while there is still a $20K delta, I had a feeling it would be worth the stretch goal to go for the DH. Once we decided on the DH we reached out to some fellow racers, Ryan and Tom Harness, who are part of Riser-Harness Ford in Arkansas. They agreed to sell us their ONE allotment for the Darkhorse, and Ryan helped me put the order together and we got it input on DAY 1.



We ordered this 2024 Mustang Darkhorse in March of 2023, with no idea how the mandatory "black and blue" interior wold look on the Race Red painted exterior. I gave some thought to transmission choice (10 speed auto vs 6 speed Tremec), interior choice (base or Premium), and then the "must have" options of Recaro seats and the Handling Package. It was almost exactly $67,000 sticker, which is what we paid in October 2023 when it arrived.



How does it compare to a Shelby GT350 price? Well I had someone argue this with me, as he paid $62,000 in January 2016 for his 2016 GT350. This was an early GT350 (model built from 2016-2020) with the "Tech Package" (missing the diff coolers and some other upgrades). But still, we will compare the cheapest and oldest 2016 GT350 to the 2024 Darkhorse we ordered. Our DH has ALL of the performance options and is nearly identical to the best track version of a GT350 in every way - Tremec 6 speed, diff / oil / trans coolers, giant brakes, special aero/bodywork, Recaro seats, 19x10.5/19x11" wheels.

Then remember that EIGHT YEARS of cumulative inflation has happened, and that $62,000 from January 2016 equals $79,312 in October 2023 dollars. In reverse, our $67K 2024 Darkhorse would be $51.5K in early 2016. So yes, it really is a bargain and yet as quick or quicker than any stock GT350/R we've ever driven or seen at MSR Cresson on the 1.7 CCW course.



Then let's look at my 2018 Mustang GT, which we purchased the Poverty Spec version of in 2018 for $35,795 MSRP (but we paid $34K). That $34K is almost exactly "half as much" as the DH cost, right? Well no - again when we check the CPI calculator: that $34K in Feb 2018 is $42K in Oct 2023, and then factor in the many months of work and mods (+$35K in parts and labor), and its not a great dollars comparison.

Plus the 2018 GT was bloody awful in stock form, with 235mm all season tires you could spin in 3rd gear on track. Brakes that literally caught on fire with pads that *came apart* in 2 track sessions. Super sloppy suspension. We spent 18 months and over $35K in mods + labor making it better (we've already exceeded that car's modified pace in less than 2 months with the DH).



The track time comparison seals it. In stock form on the same MSR 1.7 CCW track the 2018 GT barely managed a 1:31.4 before the brakes caught fire. The best it ever ran on 200TW tires after 2 years of hard work and testing was a 1:20.3 - after power mods to make 474 whp, MCS remote doubles, a giant BBK, and all manner of other weight and suspension upgrades totaling $35K in parts and labor. I ran it on Hoosier R7s to the tune of 1:19.2 on the same day, the best it ever ran at MSR Cresson, after 18 months of hard work and upgrades.

The 2024 Darkhorse has already run a 1:18.4 lap there with stock everything + added front camber (see Track Test #3, below), after just 2 months of testing. Maybe it pays to avoid the Poverty Spec?

DEALER PREP AND TRACK SIDE DELIVERY

The moment the car arrived at Riser-Harness Ford, Ryan Harness started texting me pictures of the "make ready" process. This is where the car is inspected, plastic coverings are removed, and any loose items are installed at the dealership.



These were some of the first images I had seen of the Darkhorse underneath, as this was a very early build and allocation. Their crew got everything detailed and ready for delivery.



Seeing the black and blue interior (only option the DH!) on the red car for the first time was a bit jarring, but I got used to it. The twin throttle bodies on the Gen4 coyote looked pretty slick, but I was skeptical about the 500 hp power claims.



This series of vanes are part of the under car aero and come uninstalled, likely so as not to get damaged in transport. These were installed by the Riser-Harness crew. Making me think of some uses on other cars!



In an strange twist of fate we happened to be upgrading Ryan Harness' 2020 GT350 from SCCA Time Trial S2 class to M2 class, adding MCS RR2 coilovers, a 9LR wing and custom splitter. The DH arrived right as he was about to come get the Shelby so we arranged a track test at MSR Cresson where I dropped off the GT350 and he trailered the DH down, so we could test both and swap cars for our return trips. Winning! More on this below.

TRACK TEST #1 - OCT 8, 2023

This was the first track test for the Darkhorse and we picked a date when we could actually bring 4 different cars out for testing. This was a member day on Saturday at Motorsport Ranch Cresson running the 1.7 mile CCW course - which is our test layout for all cars. The track had just had moved to "winter hours" so first car out was at 8:30 am, but we still got there at 7 am to get cars unloaded, electronic gear installed and ready to go out in the first session.


3 of the 4 Mustangs we tested on this day: Ryan's 2020 GT350, the 2024 Darkhorse, and Stan's 2022 GT500

We ended up having a simply EPIC test day, with 4 Mustangs put through their paces with 7 different drivers. Our 2024 Darkhorse arrived at the track and made laps, as did a borrowed 2024 Mustang GT 6-speed "Brembo" car. Ryan's GT350 and Stan's GT500 also made laps. Perfect weather, and that made for some good test times. And yes, the first time I ever drove our new Darkhorse was from paddock to the track, with 5 miles on the clock, then in 4 sessions of hard running. We did drive it to lunch later that day...



Corey White of Five Star Ford also brought this matched red 2024 Mustang GT "Brembo" car, which is a package that has similar Brembo 6 piston front / 4 piston rear brakes to the Darkhorse - except with absolute trash OEM tires. These 300TW 255mm all seasons really hurt that car's performance on track - esp when compared with the 305/315mm Pirelli Trofeo RS 180TW tires that came on the Darkhorse optional "handling pack". But I did get to drive them back to back, and there were more differences than just the tires...



The lap times above are not fake - the Darkhorse really was that quick out of the box, and the Brembo car was THAT slow (almost exactly what my Poverty Spec 2018 GT ran!) At least 6-7 seconds of that time differential was tires alone (just looking at the lateral g numbers), with the Brembo car having just straight trash 300TW factory rubber. If you want a 2024 Mustang GT and don't want to blow $55-70K on the DH, just get the Performance Pack car - that at least comes with 255/275mm tires that are 220TW. Those also come with several other upgrades, like a Torsen diff and better bars / springs.



Now this Brembo car wasn't cheap, as you can see from the window sticker from the car in question, $54,630 - which consists of $7000 in options: $2900 for the 401A premium interior, $1695 for the Brembo big brake upgrade, and $1225 for the active exhaust. Of course the $67K Darkhorse we have includes all of that, plus the MUCH BETTER optional Recaro seats, much wider wheels / tires, Magneride dampers, and more power and.... you get it.



Apart from the huge delta in the tires, the experiences in the two cars on track couldn't be more different. The Premium seats are NOT suited for track use. Bite the $1700 bullet and get the optional Recaros in whatever S650 you buy, or plan on an aftermarket seat upgrade. The spring rates are likely better on the DH (we will show those tested spring numbers soon) and the ride height was lower. I suppose there is some benefit from the Magneride dampers, which try to mimic spring rate. The gearing was MUCH better in the DH vs the Brembo car, too. And there was some difference in the two 6 speed transmissions - the DH having the same Tremec as the GT350 and Mach I, whereas all other S650 5.0 cars get the old Getrag MT82-D4 6 speed box.



I have in-car video from both cars, linked in the images above. The session where I wrung the best time out of the DH was also a frustrating one - I was just beginning to understand how to put the car into Track Mode, and shut off all of the nannies, but they kept turning back on! That was super frustrating (which is evident in me cursing up a blue streak in the DH video, sorry). The auto-blip rev matching on both cars was top notch - really makes it easier to downshift without having to think.



The Brembo GT was so much slower that by the time I got into the Brembo GT the technique to switch it back into track mode when it did the same thing was more easily accomplished (buttons on the steering wheel). The tire limits were so easily hit in the Brembo car that I only needed one session to get to the peak time, and I ran within the same tenth of a second in back to back laps - fully ELEVEN seconds a lap slower than the DH!

I've since found that to get the most out of the DH that I need to smooth out my driving, take a calmer approach, and avoid triggering the nannies that kick it out of Track Mode. More on that in track test #2, below.

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DH BASELINE WEIGHT + FRONT SUSPENSION AND BRAKE OVERVIEW!

Normally we would show this FIRST, but since the car was delivered to the track we did the track test before we ever weighed or looked at anything. Let's get a starting weight with no fuel, then look at the various suspension and brake components. This isn't meant to be some "internet bible" or all encompassing Super YouTube Certified expert chassis overview, just pointing out the highlights based on our own measurements and observations.



The weight above was achieved after getting rid of ALL of the fuel. And yes this is somewhat heavy for a Mustang at 3853 pounds (until we start to look at S550 GT500 weights). This is fully TWO HUNDRED pounds heavier than my Poverty Spec 2018 GT. But again, this has 19x11" wheels not 18x8", trans / diff / engine oil coolers, a MASSIVE brake upgrade, fancy Recaro seats, and many more upgrades over that '18 GT. This is also 6 years newer, with increased crash standards and such.



Up front is a familiar S550 based McPherson strut front suspension with a "double ball joint" pair of lower control arms. This is a common setup for both the S550 and 6th gen Camaro, which nicked all of this from BMW 5/7 series cars of the mid-1990s. Lucky for us the struts / shocks / top mounts are all interchangeable with the 2015-23 S550 Mustang, so no need to redesign too many things for the S650 chassis. It works well - why reinvent the wheel?



Out back we see the familiar lower control arms, with inboard springs wound in opposite directions (ala: GT350). But the vertical link is the shorter version from the 2020-22 GT500, which has some positive rear geometry effect. The same "super 8.8" rear differential housing is unchanged, as is the basic rear geometry. Again - if it works, why change it?



One of the first questions we had for the Darkhorse was the lower shock mount spacing - luckily the DH has the wider 3.6" hole-to-hole spacing of the S550 Mustang GT350/GT500/PP2 models, not the narrower "rest of S550" Mustangs' 2.9" spacing. This makes running a rear coilover MUCH easier and won't require the special "super offset" lower T-bar mounts that we machine for every non-Shelby S550 rear MCS coilover we sell. This is covered extensively in the 2018 GT build-up in this thread, but basically the narrower spacing makes it difficult for a coilover rear spring to clear the rear axle CV boots, which leads to quick CV failure.



Now we have talked about the front spindle differences of the GT350R/GT500 (in aluminum), which carried over to the 2021-22 Mustang Mach I (in steel). We upgraded to the Mach I front spindles and hubs on #Trigger to get this improved geometry up front. The Darkhorse has what look to be the exact same Mach I spindles - the closer spacing between the "double ball joints", different steering arm angle, and the improved front cartridge wheel bearing that bolts on with 4 bolts rather than a single spindle nut torqued to 250 ft-lbs. Good stuff - and we made quick work of this better bearing to go to longer wheel studs with this car (shown next time).



The front brakes feature a Brembo 6 piston caliper surrounding a massive co-cast aluminum hat / iron rotor, 15.4" in diameter (very similar to the GT350, but NOT with radial mounted calipers). The rear caliper is a 4 piston Brembo on a vented 1-piece rotor, it is radial mounted, and features a separate electronic parking / drift brake caliper. Many new cars and trucks have electronic parking brake calipers, of course.



Unlike the GT350/GT500, the Darkhorse DOES include the small front brake cooling deflectors from the 2015-23 Performance Pack cars. The Shelbys had the holes cast into the arms, but were never drilled or equipped with the deflectors. Which is a real shame, as these work pretty dang well. During one of our installs detailed below Brad removed the front caliper and it is SIMPLY MASSIVE. It is hard to grasp how big and heavy this thing is - its a TANK!



While the rotor was off we weighed it, and at 31.8 pounds it is one of the heaviest rotors we have ever seen (save for the S550 Mustang's optional PP1 front 15" dia 1-piece brake rotor, at 34.1 pounds). Likewise the 20.8 pound front caliper is also a hefty piece (the PP1 6 piston was only 14.4 lbs). But man-o-man, can this car STOP! It has braking performance that TOPS THE CHARTS for all OEM cars ever tested by MotorTrend - 60-0 mph in 86 feet.



Some of this magic is more than just the physics of the larger rotors/pads/calipers, but buried in the programming of the Ford's First brake-by-wire system, electronic power assist brakes, and ABS algorithm. I am a BELIEVER. Anyways, we will of course strive to make the handling and brakes even BETTER - and we already have the track test data to back this up. The clocks don't lie.

BRAKE DEFLECTORS ADDED BEFORE TRACK TEST #2

While we had the front suspension under a microscope in the section above, we noticed that the front control arms have the same bolt pattern for factory brake deflectors as the 2015-23 Mustang GT PP. There was also a small deflector for the two lower ball joints, which we called the "Bikini Spacer" on the S550. This removes the giant brake rotor "dust shield" that many cars have, which tend to block airflow to the rotors.



We didn't waste any time and immediately installed some of our much larger and more effective Vorshlag S550 brake cooling deflectors, to see if they would work on the S650 chassis. And of course they did fit, because this is more S550 than anything new - which is great.



We have run the Darkhorse with these brake cooling deflectors for 3 additional track days since installing them, and even have our 4-bolt version on the SPL Parts lower arms we added before Track Test #3. Zero issues, and we think these contributed to the INCREDIBLY good brake pad wear.



Like on the S550, the brake cooling deflectors are fed by an under car tunnel (actually a PAIR of tunnels on each side) in the undertray PLUS from a smooth bore direct brake cooling air tubes, built into the front end of the car. Couple this with the massive 15.4" rotors it is HARD to overheat the brakes (I've tried!)

TRACK TOW HOOK TESTING

Most track organizers are becoming sticklers about having external tow hooks on your car, at least on the front. Some track groups even mandate them front and rear. Why? Well if you get stuck off track and need a flat tow into the pits, not having a tow hook can REALLY slow down an event. Not wanting to be "that guy", we made sure we had a front tow hook quickly.



Luckily, like all late 2021-23 S550 Mustangs, the S650 cars also have a front tow hook threaded bung in the front bumper - thanks to some German TUV requirements. The 2022-23 Mach I and the 2020-22 GT500s had a provision for this and came with a factory tow hook - as does the 2024 Darkhorse. If you cannot find it in your car, look for the hook in the factory "trunk junk". There is a painted panel that pops off to access this threaded bung.



We were hoping the aftermarket already had a better "folding" front tow hook, and a buddy had one on his GT500, so we reached out to Raceseng and sent them some measurements. We then bought their 2022-23 Mach I version - great machine work and very well built, compare to some of the "show hooks" we've seen in the past.



Well its a wee bit short and you cannot fully thread this into the Darkhorse without the ring bumping into the opening in the bumper cover. No worries, we'll cut / machine / weld in an extension to the steel shaft and make an extended version. If enough people ask for it Raceseng will make a run of these to fit the Darkhorse with the measurements we shared with them. We are also looking at a Vorshlag rear tow hook, like we make for the S550 chassis.

WHAT 18" DIA WHEELS CLEAR THESE 15.4" FRONT BRAKES?

The giant front brakes on the DH makes fitting various 18" wheels a real challenge. One of the first questions we were asked online was - which 18
wheels fit?



First we slapped on a set of 19x11" Forgestar "S550" offset wheels, which we used to spec with different front / rear offsets. Those bolted right on without any issue. So s550 19" wheels fit without the need for spacers or other tricks.



Next up we tested these 18x11" wheels and 315mm tires that we used on both my 2018 Mustang and my 2015 Mustang Trigger, earlier this year. Those cleared the 15" / 380mm BBK we had on both of those S550 builds, but they did NOT clear the 15.4" brakes on the Darkhorse.



Next we test fit these 18x10" Forgestar CF5 wheels, which fit great. Then the Jongbloed flow formed 18x10.5" wheels, which also cleared. These Forgestar SuperDeep concave 18x11" wheels didn't clear.



Finally we test fit the 18x12" Apex forged wheels we run on Trigger now, with a 315/30R18 Yokohama A052 tire (which is really wide). That also cleared the brakes, but was too wide for these fenders. As nice as it would be to run 18" diameter wheels (for costs, weight, and that magical 315mm Yokohama), the barrel diameter is just a little too close to the caliper for comfort. Apex actually has more wheel offerings and widths in 19" diameter, including some 19x11.5" wheels that might just fit.

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ADDING FRONT CAMBER, ROUND 1: VORSHLAG PLATES!

As mentioned above, we noticed that the S650 suspension was largely repurposed S550 bits - and we mocked up our S550 plate on top of the S650 tower on Day 1. So yes, of course we were going to put Vorshlag camber plates on at the first opportunity. After Track Test #1 (baseline stock everything), we dove right in. And while the Darkhorse optional handling pack has "adjustable top mounts", they have many faults, which we will go over below.



Before Track Test #2 we wanted to add what most folks will want as their first mod with any S550 or S650 they are going to track more than once - a set of Vorshlag camber-caster plates! Before that we took the car for a "spot check" alignment at a shop across the street. Their rear toe numbers were wonky (or so we thought) - and we show the "after" alignment, too.


This was a little shop we're trying to work with to be able to do our customer alignments, and we are making progress but they need to calibrate their machine's rear heads. But their front camber numbers matched what we saw on our SmartCamber tools. We went from -1.1 deg front to -2.8 deg with the camber plates maxed out. Let's show some installation steps...



Same procedure to remove and replace as on the S550 - put the car on a lift, front wheels and brakes come off, support the bottom of the strut, bust loose the two strut to spindle bolts, and then remove the 3 top nuts. Out comes the strut, we compress on a spring compressor, remove the top nut, swap to our camber plates and perches, then reassemble.



The optional" handling package" Darkhorse comes with an "adjustable" top mount, but it has several downsides: 1) it only has about 1/2 the total camber travel of our Vorshlag camber-caster plates. 2) It has no caster adjustment. 3) It is impossible to adjust on the car, so these have to come off to adjust. Every. Time. 4) Its still a big hunk of rubber in the top which will still deflect under load. It is far from ideal and we never bothered to test that maxed as its own "Track Test".



We used some of our tricks to push the top of the strut shaft under the top of the tower to maximize camber travel - which we can do for almost any strut, when you aren't allowed to "cut the towers" with our tower cutting fixture. For SCCA "STU" class we cannot cut the towers, so we left them alone and it did not affect our total camber. We WILL get more camber once the front ride height is lowered and via the MCS struts' slotted mounting holes - and as you can see from Track Test #2 (above right) we DO need more front camber... the accelerated front tire wear proves this also.

NEW WHEELS FOR SCCA TIME TRIAL T2 + SOLO STU

We have noticed heavy front tire wear after 3 track days (2 drivers per) and the factory Pirellis are both expensive, less than 200TW (180), and don't come with much tread depth (4/32"). As quick as they are on track, I suspect that the Yokohama A052 (which comes with 8/32" of tread) is going to be faster. All costs below are from TR wholesale, but they aren't much cheaper than TR retail when you factor in the "free shipping" the retail site passes along.




We looked at two competition classes for this car to run (SCCA Solo STU and SCCA Time Trial T2 - see last entry in this post) and made a compromise decision for our first set of aftermarket wheels for the DH: These forged 19x11" VS-5RS wheels in ET52 with a brushed clear finish, plus four 295/35R18 Yokohama a052. STU limits wheel widths to 11" and I didn't want to try to squeeze a 305 or 315mm tire onto an 11" wheel. I was also worried that the 18" wheels would be really easy to catch a rock between the barrel and the caliper...



The 295mm tire is also a tick taller but that could help gearing at some key tracks and for autocross. Might not be the last set of wheels or tires we order, but it will be what we test with next. You can see the weights these 19" wheels and tires above right - dropping nearly 10 pounds per corner while gaining 3/4" more tread width than the "315" factory rear tires.



This is another reminder that THE NUMBERS ON THE SIDEWALL MEAN NOTHING - we always look at published measurements, and remember to check what wheel width it was measured on. The staggering differences between this Yokohama "295" and this Pirelli "315" are shown in this video, which you can click on above.



It took some crazy long wheel studs and spacers up front to fit these 19x11ET55 wheels to the Darkhorse, but we will show that step next time.



I am skipping ahead a bit here but it applies to this section - the stock tires are VERY short lived. The front 305/30R19 Pirellis got trashed after just 4 track days, with much of the wear likely happening at Track Test #1 when it only had -1.0 deg of front camber.



These 180TW tires aren't legal for the two classes we plan to run, and the front replacements cost me $1100 shipped (wholesale), but I went ahead and bought another new pair. Why? So we could test new Pirellis tire back-to-back against new Yokohama A052s. Sure, we could have just tested the A052s on the same track and compared times from differing days, but this way it is a better, more scientific test. Stay tuned for that next time!

CHASSIS DYNO TESTING - OCT 11, 2023

Less than a week after picking up our 2024 Darkhorse we had only seen a few dyno DH dyno videos, and each one was flawed in some way, some sort of "issue" that prevented a realistic number. I called our friends at True Street Motorsports to schedule some pulls on their DynoJet 248 chassis dyno. They had dyno'd an automatic trans Darkhorse already but it had some limitations and could not make pulls in the 1:1 gear (7th out of 10 on the 10-speed auto).



Our dyno pulls were in the 1:1 gear on a 6 speed manual (5th), so no automatic / slippage / excuses. The bone stock engine made 449 whp STD / 440 whp SAE. I show several pulls in the video below. Sorry for the cheesy video quality - but when asked online, people said they wanted to see more videos from us. Be careful what you ask for!



We then swapped in the K&N filter replacements on the dyno, made pulls, and it consistently lost 3 whp, so we un-did that filter "upgrade" for now. We left the "carbon traps" inside the intake tubes, which you can see below right. I've seen folks claim that removing these is worth +10 whp, and others that say they lost power. I mean they cannot HELP add airflow, but we're going to leave all of this alone until HP Tuners make a custom tune available for this car.



Since NASA and other racing groups that require dynos want to see SAE correction factors on Dynojet chassis dynos, we went ahead and showed the SAE versions of the stock (below left) and with the K&N "upgrade" (below right). We have used this same exact chassis dyno at True Street for every Mustang we have ever owned, so there is dyno consistency there, too.



This 440 whp number is tiny bit more power (+5 whp) than we made in stock form on our Gen3 Coyote powered 2018 GT, and about even with our Gen1 Coyote in our 2011 GT with headers, exhaust, and a cold air and tune. I feel that we can add more power to this Gen4 Coyote with the typical bolt ons allowed in the classes we want to run (long tubes, cold air and a tune). The 2018 GT made 435 whp SAE in stock form and 474 whp SAE with long tube headers, cats, CAI + a custom dyno tune (+39 whp peak gain). I feel like the Gen4 will respond similarly - stay tuned for that.

TRACK ALIGNMENT AND PREP BEFORE TRACK TEST #2

It was late October and my shop manager Brad was on vacation, and I just didn't trust the alignment shop across the street's work yet. We left the old 19x11" Forgestar wheels and crusty 5 year old Bridgestones on the car that we installed for the dyno test (so as to not trash the stock tires with unnecessary street driving cycles) and drove the car to BSP Motorsports, who does our performance alignments. And sure enough they found some issues that needed to be fixed.



Turns out the Before alignment numbers they took (ie: untouched out back - from the factory) had some wonky rear toe issues, which they sorted. They dialed in -2.67deg front camber, which had gone up to -2.85 on one side up front, but we pulled it back to match. Then they dialed in -2.0 deg rear camber, and set the rear toe at the ".28 deg total toe in" that I like on S550 cars.



We picked up the car and back in the shop, Stephen, our operations manager, helped me swap back to the stock wheels, which I cleaned and added aluminum tape to the stock stick-on weights (they were already starting to slip around). With the stock Pirelli tires aired up, it was loaded into the trailer for the track test.

TRACK TEST #2 - NOV 3, 2023

I hauled the Darkhorse to MSR Cresson to tackle Track Test #2 on a cool Friday morning. I brought two friends with me to help (Jason and Paul), since I had knee surgery one week earlier and was still in a knee brace, hobbling around. I bribed them both with laps in the DH, and Jason took me up on it.



I took the DH out in the very first stint, but sadly with 1/2 of a tank, so it started to fuel starve right as the stock Pirelli tires "switched on". So I came into the paddock, tossed 5 gallons into the tank from fuel we brought, bled the tires down to 33 psi hot, and rushed back out there and took 2 more laps. And that's all I needed. This was the first time I had experienced fuel starve in the car.



The Darkhorse REALLY woke up with some fuel in the tank, and the tires switched on for my first hot lap on the second part of that stint - where I saw a 1.1 second drop from the already outstanding Track Test #1 best lap of 1:20.6. Initial turn-in was improved as was the overall handling balance at all speeds. What used to be a slight push was now neutral, just by going from -1.1 to -2.67 deg front camber and to -2.0 deg rear camber. This lap below tells the story.



After that 1:19.5 lap followed by a 1:20.2 lap, I came into the hot pits and hot swapped driving duties with Jason. He went out and took a number of laps in the same session, then we loaded up and were gone by 10 am. A quick test but it was very informative!



As you can see, my first few laps weren't fast, but I was in some traffic and fighting fuel starve for the first time. It is REALLY bad once you load the tires up hard in a long left-hander, and the MSR 1.7 CCW course has several long left-hand corners. With 3/4 tank of fuel or more, it was fine, and I found that fast lap immediately.

Jason has been out of a race car for a bit but he took to it quickly and enjoyed the laps. He and I both commented on incredible balance and brakes this car has. Again, the only mods were Vorshlag plates + track alignment as well as our brake cooling deflectors. These 18 laps were all made in the same 30 minute session and none of us noticed ANY brake fade.

ADDING FRONT CAMBER, ROUND 2: SPL PARTS FRONT ARMS!

If the pace of development doesn't seem "ultra fast" you have to remember, this was all done in THE busiest part of the Time Trial season while I am competing in Trigger and Amy is competing in her 2023 BRZ, so we're running a LOT more track events than you can see here (we did a total of 29 track days or competitions in 2023).



At one of the NASA events we attended in October (the day after my knee surgery) we ran into the guys at SPL Parts out of Austin. Sean and Turner are both the NASA Texas Time Trial directors and the guys who design and build the SPL arms, and they wanted us to test fit the S550 arms to see which of 3 optional tapers the S650 Darkhorse used - or if it needed a 4th iteration.



These are the same front lower control arms that fit the various S550 Mustang models, and this was the first S650 these were ever tested on. Of course I took weights but you don't do this to drop "ones of pounds", you do these arms to gain more camber and caster adjustment, as well as remove some LARGE rubber bushings - which deflect under braking and lateral loads. This part above is the TC rod, which is used to alter caster.

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[Fair!]

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We figured out which taper in the spindles that the S650 had and conveyed that to SPL for their records, for the main lateral arm above - the second of two lower control arms.



This is the one that is adjusted most often, to alter camber. Now fair warning - we aren't going to use these SPL arms long term, because they currently are not legal in SCCA TT Tuner classes or Solo Street Touring classes - due to the metal spherical bushings in some locations. This is something I am writing letters to the SCCA to try to get changed, as allowing racers to have adjustable arms BUT forcing them to use non-metal bushings SEVERELY limits their choices, and sometimes pushes them to lower quality / sketchy parts.



Brad installed the two arms and swapped the Vorshlag brake deflector to this 4-bolt style, which we make to connect to round SPL arms with U-bolts. We sell a decent number of these SPL arms and these 4-bolt deflectors to the S550 crowd, and I have all of the exact same parts on #Trigger.



Now instead of spending most of a day shuttling the Darkhorse to BSP and back just to tweak the front camber, Brad did this in-house. Why? Well it saved a lot of time and some $, and we will be taking these front arms off as soon as the MCS coilovers arrive, due to class rules restrictions. We were also SLAMMED working to complete the Time Trial season in Trigger and Amy's '23 BRZ. But using our SmartCamber gauge and toe plates, Brad got the front changes we wanted dialed in: -3.5 deg front camber!

ADDING DATA LOGGING AND PREDICTIVE LAP TIMER + VIDEO

Taking video and capturing data from track events has been a constant chore for me over the past 19 years of running Vorshlag. Lately I've had more luck with a Garmin Catalyst video camera / GPS data logger / predicative lap time readout screen. The onboard AI interactive coach with voice has really helped brush up Amy's track skills after being out of the driver's seat for a few years, too.



The Garmin doesn't tap into any CAN channels and only has GPS and accelerometer data. But just like on her 2023 BRZ, we decided to add an AiM SOLO2 DL to the Darkhorse to capture engine data with that. Since we had planned on not running both the BRZ and Darkhorse at the same events in 2024, I simply ordered an extra RAM mount for the Catalyst + some cabling to attach the SOLO2 to the CAN wiring on the DH.



Brad got to work on the mounting and layout of the two devices and we settle on a mounting bracket that slipped into the gap between the glove box door and dash, for a "bolt free" install. Technically there is one hole drilled into the dash, but its under a shelf inside the glove box, so nobody will ever see it. Another factory bolt affixes this aluminum bracket, then a RAM mount 1" ball mount bolts to that, as well as a steel plate that fits the SOLO2 magnetic mount.



With the glove box door closed, the mounting bolts disappear (above left) and with the Catalyst on the quick-release mount and SOLO2 magnetically mounted, it makes for a clean install away from the MASSIVE factory digital dash. We can tilt the Garmin towards the user for a quick visual of predictive lap timing, but the AiM is kept perpendicular to the chassis for more accurate accelerometer readings. I can then manipulate the AiM GPS + accelerometer data in 3rd party software (RaceRender) and it makes for a more useful video (see track test #3, below), overlaid the Garmin video/data.



Now wiring the SOLO2 into the 2024 Darkhorse's CAN network to grab engine data proved to be a REAL challenge, and we had no less than 3 attempts of cables and parts before we finally punted and ordered an OBD2 to 7-pin AiM cable (see p/n V02589040 below - it was only $60 retail). Normally we would use a direct 2-wire CAN interface, but the '24 DH is too new to have good wiring documentation on where to tap in just yet. So we went to the OBD2 port for the easy install.



Once we did get the AiM connected to the CAN network, I attempted to program the SOLO2 interface with the correct protocol - sadly I found that nothing newer than the 2015 Mustang protocol, and that didn't work AT ALL. We brought up these concerns with AiM Sports at the 2023 PRI show in December and found "Slash" in their booth (above right) who said he is working on this Darkhorse CAN protocol. We might try to use a CAN sniffer and send them data to reverse engineer. More on this soon.

TRACK TEST #3 - NOV 25, 2023

So with more camber dialed in via the SPL arms and our Garmin Catalyst + AiM SOLO2 connected, it was back to MSR Cresson with Amy and I both on a Saturday member day. A lot of friends were there to get some track time on this unusually beautiful weekend member day. Sadly the Garmin had a discharged battery and was flaky all morning, even plugged into USB power (it needs some initial charge to keep from crashing constantly).



We got to the track at 8:35 am, just missing first session - but it was cold anyway, with 41F temps and windy. I finally went out at 9 am, the track super crowded, and found the problems with the Garmin not charged / rebooting. I came in, swapped to my dual 1080P camera, and went out at the end of the 9 am session, with it still super crowded. Towards the end I came in and gave a ride along with a local Mustang TT racer who stopped by to buy some used tires from us. Reset and went out again at 9:30, but it was still super crowded, 30-35 cars, no point-bys, a real mess. I mean, with weather this good on a weekend member day, it is to be expected.



I came in after 4 laps, hot swapped in the pits with Amy, and she drove the Darkhorse for 8 laps. For session 3 Amy went out with 3/4 tank and drove 10 laps, came in to swap in the pits. I hopped in, took a warm up lap, but halfway through my first hot lap the car is fuel starving like mad (1/2 tank showing). ARG!!! It was super frustrating after 3 attempts and not getting ONE GOOD LAP, either with traffic, no fuel, or a dead Garmin, or some combination of those factors.



With the fuel starve I aborted that session and went to the local Sonoco to get fuel and topped off the tank with 94 octane. We were gonna grab a bite for lunch but the BBQ joint next to the track was closed. At least we had been charging the Garmin between every session in the truck, so when I went back out for 4th session at 12:30 every electronic device finally worked. It had warmed up to 59F but was still overcast, so not terrible conditions.



I got to grid a few minutes early (12:25pm), waved to the grid control worker Garrett, who let me out for 5 minutes early BY MYSELF (2 hot laps!) and that literally MADE MY DAY. On hot lap one, with tires cooled off and a full tank of fuel, everything just clicked - the car threw down a 1:18.41 lap... which was pretty shocking! Dropping 1.2 sec from Track Test #2. I backed that up with a 1:19.47, right as the 12:30pm crowd came out. Counted my lucky stars and took a cool down lap, hot swapped with Amy on pit row, and she went out and took 10 more laps. She was on a mission, just passing EVERYBODY, it was crazy.



She had a blast out there and got a lot of seat time, running some 1:21s passing 3-4 cars per lap. This is when she found the confidence to commit to the 2024 SCCA TT season in this car, which was excellent (she will run her '23 BRZ in other events, or sell it). It was overcast all morning until we loaded up at 1:15 pm, before the sun finally peeked out. Four sessions with 2 drivers made for a somewhat long day, with a lot of wind burnt skin. Still we had no rain, an amazing 1:18 lap in the DH, and lots of Personal Bests set by several folks (when they could get a clear lap).



Very successful test and a great showing of the car, thanks to those 2 solo laps in my 4th session. That 1:18 lap would have set FTD at some events this year, and is already quicker than our T2 prepped C6 (which just sold and went to a new home in November). We will come back in the Darkhorse after adding G-LOC pads and test the Trofeo RS tires vs the A052s in Track Test #4.

CLASSING DISCUSSION: T2 AND STU?

There are two series we want to build the Darkhorse to compete in for 2024, both within SCCA: Time Trial and Solo (autocross). We had a ball running Tuner 2 in our 2006 Corvette in the 2022 season (winning the Texas Region championship) as well as the 2023 season in Tuner 3 in her 2nd gen BRZ (scoring that regional championship) and Max1 in Trigger (scoring that region championship).



We never really autocrossed either car too much, which was shame - as they both scored wins the few times we ran them in Solo. And Amy and I are both missing the challenge of autocross, which we used to do almost exclusively, but with nearly 30 events in each of the last 2 seasons we've only autocrossed a few times. That is a perishable skill, and one we plan to revive in 2024.



Back when we did 20+ autocross events a year, we had the most fun in the Street Touring category, and more specifically, STU - where Amy came home with multiple National Championships. And SCCA has tried to make Time Trial "Tuner" category cross over to Street Touring - and it almost works. We also can do ALL of the suspension mods we want (minus a few details) in either category, showing off our products to the full extent. And both series run 200TW tires.



After a little lobbying, we were able to get the SCCA TT board to class the Darkhorse into Tuner 2, which is where the GT350, Mach I and other fast S550s go. We won that class in Texas Region SCCA in 2022 our 2006 Corvette but there are several potentially more competitive cars that could give us fits in T2, including the modern M2 / M3 / M4 (see the chart, above left). The V8 powered "cars to beat" are the widebody C6 Grand Sport, C5 Z06, 6th gen 1LE and of course a GT350. So far we haven't seen one of the modern twin turbo BMWs prepped fully to Tuner class rules in SCCA Time Trial, but it will eventually happen. The Supra is another potential weapon in this class to watch out for.

You can also read the piece I wrote in 2022 about "PICKING A TIME TRIAL SERIES & CLASS FOR THIS C6 : SCCA TT TUNER 2" at the linked forum post.



In both Tuner2 and STU we can add remote reservoir coilover dampers with any spring rate, swaybars, bushings (non-metallic!), and more. The allowed wheels and tires are appropriate for the cars we want to run, and basic "bolt on" power mods are allowed (headers, cold air, exhaust, tune).



Both Tuner 2 (above left) and STU (above right) are limited to a 315mm tire. Time Trial doesn't limit wheel width (thankfully) but Solo STU does, which is where the 11" wheel width restriction comes in early in this post. That STU rule, and the massive front brakes of the DH, pushed us to the 19x11" wheel and the 295" tire from Yokohama. Hopefully my logic is clear here?



Now as of this writing the 2024 Darkhorse isn't yet classed in SCCA Solo - no 2024-up Mustang has been classed in any Street Touring class yet. I've written the Solo rules board (SEB) a letter, and made a case for this to logically go to STU. We shall see, but for the early part of the 2024 season Amy will run it in STU regionally. If that car gets punted straight to CAM-C, then... well Amy can run it there, but I will be competing with Trigger there, as that is fully CAM legal with the crazy aero, engine swapped 620 whp, and carbon body panels.


LAP TIME COMPARISON

For a quick reference of "where we're at" I like to list lap times with video links for the car in the forum post plus a few others to compare to at our MSR-C 1.7 CCW test track. I drove all of these laps at the same track / same configuration, with either AMB transponder or AiM Solo lap times. The cars include our SCCA T3 prepped 2023 BRZ, our SCCA T2 prepped C6 Corvette, our NASA TT3 prepped 2018 GT, 2015 Mustang #Trigger, and of course the 2024 Brembo GT and 2024 Darkhorse (all 3 tests) from this post.

• 1:31.619 - 2024 "Brembo" Mustang GT, 255mm 300TW tires, bone stock, Track Test #1
• 1:25.174 - 2023 BRZ, light SCCA T3 prep, 225mm Falken RT-660 + camber, Track Test #3
• 1:23.498 - 2023 BRZ, light SCCAT3 prep, 225mm Falken w/ MCS, Track Test #4
• 1:22.730 - 2023 BRZ, SCCA T3 prep, 255mm A052 with MCS + RacerX arms, Track Test #5
• 1:20.348 - 2018 Mustang GT, NASA TT3 prep, 305mm RE71R, MCS RR2, 474 whp, fastest this car every ran on 200TW!
• 1:20.677 - 2024 Darkhorse baseline stock, 180TW Trofeo RS tires, Track Test #1
• 1:19.586 - 2024 Darkhorse, -2.65 deg camber (Vorshlag plates), 180TW Trofeo RS tires, Track Test #2
• 1:19.702 - 2006 Corvette C6, SCCA T2 prep, 315mm A052 200TW tires, MCS remotes, headers + CAI + tune
• 1:18.417 - 2024 Darkhorse, -3.5 deg camber with SPL arms + Vorshlag plates, 180TW Trofeo RS tires, Track Test #3
• 1:14.693 - 2015 Mustang #Trigger, SCCA Max1 prep, 620 whp, first aero test (balance = terrible), 200TW tires 315mm A052

WHAT'S NEXT?

We did another track event in the Darkhorse in December but the weather and some other factors kept me out of the car. I'll cover that next time, as well as the upcoming Track Test #4 with the A052 tires up against a new set of Trofeo RS factory tires. If I hadn't been sick with a mega flu the last 3 weeks we would have already done that dang tire test. Oh well, we are finally planning on this test later this week.



I've also got a lot of video footage that I will try to compile (Darkhorse vs 2024 Mustang GT) into something worth watching over the next few weeks as well. And more steps to show, like the GLOC brake pads and MSI wheel studs / spacers needed to fit the 19x11's up front. We'll cover that and more next time.

Thanks for reading and here's to a happy 2024 for everyone!