Chris' GT Build

[claudermilk]

It's about time to start a build thread, I guess. This will be a slow-moving, and probably relatively unimpressive build in the context of this forum, but what the heck, I'll make you read/ignore my ramblings all the same.

So, to start with the basics. The car is a '13 base GT with the Brembo package, Recaro seats, and 3.73 axle. It was bought new on the 4th of July (because what better day to buy an American muscle car?) in 2012. The plan has been DD also seeing autocross and occasional track day duty.

Up until now, I've left it pretty much stock while familiarizing myself with the platform and identifying improvements I wanted to make. The first mods were mainly cosmentic. Tint, Roush axle-backs so you can hear the car, AEM air filter so I'm not replacing paper ones, and an Epco shift knob just because.

First was to acclimate myself to a 420HP RWD beast after coming from decades in FWD & much lower-power cars. So I spent the first year just doing autocrosses and stinking up the place. At least I wasn't last or DNF. I also jumped at the opportunity to attend an Evolution School event which was a day & money well spent.

I recently ran my first track day and really got a sense of the compromises Ford made to the suspension. Sure, the S197 platform is a great start, but even those uprated Brembo springs were way too soft. Massive nose dive under braking, lots of squat under acceleration, and the car heeled over in turns. I missed being lowered.

Even with that now-obvious limitation, I managed to win the All-American Sunday event at Goodguys. But now the suspension movement was bugging me.

So now for the first actual performance upgrade & start improving hte handling of the car. I spent this last weekend installing Koni Sport dampers, Steeda Sport springs, Steeda adjustable panhard bar & brace, and Vorshlag camber plates.

Before

After

Installed parts

Getting the boy involved

One small isuue I ran into (aside from snapping an 18mm socket getting the spindle bolts off) was the combination of stock strut bar + Moroso oil separator bracket + Vorshlag CC plates = no bueno. The bolts are too short to handle all those layers. For now, I have it ghetto-rigged with zip ties, but need to come up with a permanent solution. Either find a different separator, or come up with a custom bracket bolting somewhere else.

The initial test drive shows a much improved car. The changes appear to have done exactly what I wanted. Dive, squat, and roll are much reduced to non-existent. I am getting a lot more road surface feedback now. I'm still experimenting with the Koni's settings, but full soft does indeed seem very close to stock ride quality, and full stiff is not kidney-busting. The big surprise is running over a section of freeway that is a nasty washboard surface, the new parts ride smoother over much of it than stock.

The next project is brakes. Vorshlag SS lines, Motul 600 fluid, and Carbotech Bobcat pads going on. I have XP10/XP8 ready for track days, and a spare set of Centric front rotors just in case. I ran out of time to get these installed this time around and encountered stuck rotors on the rear. Edit: Done!

There are many future plans that will keep me busy buying and installing for a while.

Current Parts
Performance:
Roush Axlebacks
AEM dry flow air filter
Bob's Auto Sport oil separator
Koni Sport dampers
Steeda Sport springs
Vorshlag CC plates
Steeda adjustable Panhard bar & brace
Vorshlag SS brake lines
Motul RB600 fluid
Carbotech pads (1521 street & XP10/XP8 track)
Bob's Auto Sport axle reservoir

Cosmetic:
LED running lights & map lights
Redline Tuning hood strut
Epco ball shift knob

Planned Parts
Performance:
Brake cooling ducts
Watts link
Coilovers
MGW shifter
Whiteline trans mount bushing
T-2R diff
Adjustable sway bars

Cosmetic:
Steeda side splitters
GT500 wing
RTR rear license mount
Street Scene chin spoiler

Other:
5/6-point harness & Corbeau harness bar or Watson 4-point
Blowfish tow hook

 

[Sky Render]

Welcome to the build thread club!

How do you like the Vorshlag camber plates? And how exactly do you adjust them?

 

[csamsh]

That looks like a good lineup, and good philopsophy.

Sky Render- the Vorshlag plates are very easy to adjust- you take just a little bit of weight off the side of the car, loosen the four top nuts, and slide the wheels in and out to adjust camber. There are hash marks on the plates so you can retain your camber positions.

OP- on catch cans, I like and use the Bob's catch can- it doesn't attach using the camber plate stud, has internal media, and comes in a lot of colors and finishes.

http://shop.bobsautosports.com/Oil-Separators_c4.htm

 

[sheizasosay]

I've seen catch cans bolted to the firewall next to the battery. Rehagen Racing shows this setup on their website. Glad to see you got your boy in on the action.

Brake stuff at the top of your list is smart. Put "seats" in that list.

The dampers and springs you have are plenty to get started with and the CC plates are foundational. Some good picks!

 

[kcbrown]

I've seen catch cans bolted to the firewall next to the battery. Rehagen Racing shows this setup on their website. Glad to see you got your boy in on the action.

Brake stuff at the top of your list is smart. Put "seats" in that list.

He's got Recaros already, which seem to be quite good. Given that, I'd expect it to be better to wait until putting in a roll cage to put in seats (and, of course, harnesses), but if he's moving around in the current seats then yeah, seats should be in the list.

 

[claudermilk]

Thanks guys. I spent a lot of time searching and reading around here, then agonizing over choosing the starting setup. So far I am very happy with it--the changes are doing exactly what I expected & intended.

On the oil separator, I had seen Bob's before, but forgot about that stuff. In my renewed searches, I turned it up again. I am pretty sure that's the route I am going to take. Now to decide to use the basic strut tower mount or spring for the firewall mount. I am also unfamiliar with the heat shrink hose clamps. I see that Rehagen has a fancy "Ultimate" setup, but I think bumping to $200 for AN fittings and fancy hose is mostly for bling and kind of spendy. Not that I mind some bling, but in this case I am leaning to function > bling.

I'll also be getting the Bob's axle breather. As can be seen in the rear axle shot, I am puking oil from the tracking already. Not unexpected.

As mentioned, I do have the factory Recaros, so am set up for a while. They hold me in place darn well for reclining street/performance seats; these really are excellent seats and not a bad deal at $1600 for the option. Chances are I won't need to change these out, just add proper harnesses later. I'm still deciding exactly what to do there, probably go with a simple eye bolt for the lap belts, and start with the Corbeau bar for shoulders. I'm not sure which way I'll go with the anti-sub strap. I'd prefer to not poke holes in the floor of the car, so either wrap around or use the Wolfe Craft Racing piece (http://www.wolferacecraft.com/detail.aspx?ID=297). For that price I couldn't spend much less doing it myself & their welding skills are surely better than mine.

I really like the Vorshlag camber plates. They are the priciest of the lot, but I can see why. They are very stout-looking pieces. The extra-large bearing is part of whay I chose to go with them, and it is really big. I also like that it's somewhat modular. So, when I eventually upgrade to coilovers, I'll just need to order the proper spring seats and swap that over. I was warned that using the '10-style seats that they recommend that I might have to grind the ends the the springs a bit--and I did, but nothing is going to move around. Adjusting seems to be just as simple as csamsh said: loosen the four nuts, unload the corner & push or pull on the spring. Also, as he said, there are marks on the lower plate & a pointer cut into the top plate. I will have the car aligned next week & have the shop do a street setting within OEM specs and a race setting with as much camber as I can get--then mark the plates.

I went with their suggested replacement locknuts for the struts and it was worth it. I can drop the strut all the way until the Koni adjuster hits the edge of the tower hole. I may have to take a die grinder to clearance things to allow more camber later (pending a check on SCCA's rules).


With the brakes, again I have been doing a lot of reading on here--particularly Terry's experience. I have not run into any fade issues as yet-but autocross isn't going to cause that & I only have one track day where I know I wasn't pushing the car to its limits. I did note that I burned off a LOT of OEM pad on that day. I measured >6mm of pad teching the car before, and it's probably about 2/3-3/4 gone. I have rotors frozen to the hubs in back, so ran out of time to do brakes the same day. I plan to get those done next weekend.

I know that Carbotech says that their compound is incompatible with everyone else's and the rotors need to be clean. So, I am planning on hitting them with brake cleaner & an emery cloth to save the cost & hassle of taking them to a shop to be machined. The surface looks good on all four corners, so this should be sufficient to get a clean surface for the new transfer layer. Then with the track pads pre-bedded I should not need to worry too much about the involved bed-in process.

 

[sheizasosay]

He's got Recaros already, which seem to be quite good.

As mentioned, I do have the factory Recaros, so am set up for a while. They hold me in place darn well for reclining street/performance seats; these really are excellent seats and not a bad deal at $1600 for the option.

As soon as you two realize that
A- I don't know how to fucking read
and
B- I like to apologize for being a dumbass
then we can just "move along".

PS- My apologies for "reading fail".

 

[kcbrown]

As soon as you two realize that
A- I don't know how to fucking read
and
B- I like to apologize for being a dumbass
then we can just "move along".

PS- My apologies for "reading fail".

LOL!

No worries. Happens to the best of us.

And it is an excellent suggestion for those who are using the standard seats.


I was similarly enticed by the Recaros. Fantastic upgrade for $1600.

 

[claudermilk]

Yep, no worries. I was thrilled to find this car with the seats already there. I had planned to upgrade seats to something similar before even settling on major options. This just saved me the trouble.

 

[mavisky]

This all looks like a decent start for some fun on the street, but you need to watch your mod choices. The typical street fun stuff doesn't mesh well with the SCCA rulebook and you'll soon find yourself in SM getting wasted by guys with fully built dedicated cone crushers. I did autocross pretty seriously for a few years in my old import and I would have done thing differently in hindsight because those "common mods" for my DSM put me into SM within the first $100 I spent.

 

[Sky Render]

This all looks like a decent start for some fun on the street, but you need to watch your mod choices. The typical street fun stuff doesn't mesh well with the SCCA rulebook and you'll soon find yourself in SM getting wasted by guys with fully built dedicated cone crushers. I did autocross pretty seriously for a few years in my old import and I would have done thing differently in hindsight because those "common mods" for my DSM put me into SM within the first $100 I spent.

Look up the rules for the "Classic American Muscle" class. Plus, most SCCA events won't care if you have "illegal" mods unless you're actually to the point of being competitive. I just drive slow and enjoy my car.

 

[mavisky]

See i've been out long enough that Classic American Muscle wasn't even a class at that point and I agree on the tech. We had great success for a few years with an SMS class that our local region ran as a non-official class. Basically all the mods allowed in street mod, but restricted to 200 treadwear street tires. It was basically a catch-all class for all the people with modified street cars and weekend toys so they could come play and still try to be competitive with one another within their class.

 

[Sky Render]

That sounds very similar to CAM, actually.

 

[claudermilk]

This all looks like a decent start for some fun on the street, but you need to watch your mod choices. The typical street fun stuff doesn't mesh well with the SCCA rulebook and you'll soon find yourself in SM getting wasted by guys with fully built dedicated cone crushers. I did autocross pretty seriously for a few years in my old import and I would have done thing differently in hindsight because those "common mods" for my DSM put me into SM within the first $100 I spent.

Don't worry, I've been keeping the rulebook in mind with what I am planning. Notice no LCAs/relo brackets on the list? For Watts, there is Fays2, the new update to the Griggs setup, and it looks like BMR is working on a similar solution.

Right now I am in STU, and most of the stuff I have planned for the moment will allow me to stay there. Not that I really expect to be competitive anyway. I'll likely end up an under-prepped ESP one of these days.

Then, of course, there is now the option to just go to CAM and do whatever you want (at least until the rules get changed & half the common mods get outlawed...).

So far what I have listed should leave me in STU. Besides, like Sky said: they probably won't care what I have since I'll be in the bottom half of the field anyway.

 

[Sky Render]

That CAM class isn't available in all regions, and some regions seem to handle it differently than others. For instance, Terry Fair down in Texas runs in the class, but it's called "Modern American Muscle" to separate it from the older cars in the "Classic" class. Up here in the DC area, we're all lumped into CAM.

I like the class, though. Show up in your hopped-up muscle car, drive, and go home. No slicks means no swapping tires in the parking lot, which I frakking hate doing.

 

[2008 V6]

Nice Blue color –
Keep your rulebook close. Every Club has different rules.
I was going to run in the Redline Time Attack when I was at Auto Club Infield on the 18th - Enthusiastic Class – Our car would have fallen in well but the transmission gears made it questionable and stile mostly stock engine. I do strongly believe in creative rule interpreting but not braking them even though I checked some of the other cars and I’m sure no one would have checked my trans.
My Second outing 1:20.8 in slower traffic with an easy 1 to 1.5 seconds better on that time.
A V8 - S197 would have done very well in that field.
Reline Time Attack Enthusiastic Group RWD top time 1:19.19 (S2000) so I would have been competitive even with my narrower / street friendly tires. I’ve always liked the S2000s – They are great cars and exceedingly well thought out / light.

 

[claudermilk]

Next project is about done. I got the Vorshlag SS brake lines, Motul fluid, and Carbotech pads in. That has been an adventure as I managed to botch the install & had to pass my mess on to pros to fix. Ultimately, I didn't torque anything down enough. At least the fluid is well bled. SMH. Lesson learned.

Currently I'm still chasing a knock in the front. The shop couldn't figure that out & put some generic pads in temporarily (surfaced the rotors after I pointed out Cabotech's warnings about uncompatible compounds). I felt & heard hte same issue under moderate braking, but over the last week it got better. Bedding in? I'm not sure. They did fine under the abuse of an autocross, so I think I'll swap back to the Carbotechs & spare rotors ASAP and just suck it up through a week or so.

A few pics of the install.

Red parts=fast?

Rotated blurrycam pic of the front--the Carbotechs look correct here.

Ah, this carnage is why you always replace the washers. Suckers didn't want to come off the banjo bolts.

I do owe Jason at Vorshlag some pics of the front pads, but nothing looks amiss that I can see.

 

[TGR96]

Good start to a build thread, Chris. If you ever decide to go with full on racing seats, a know a buyer for your Recaros..he's just a PM away

 

[Surfstang2020]

Yeah great build so fR

 

[claudermilk]

I have the Bob's catch can & axle breather on their way to me, so I should be able to install next weekend. I would have done it this weekend, but someone decided to sit on the order for a week before giving it to UPS.

LOL @ the seats. Yeah....no. I'll be keeping them for a while. I do need to get harnesses though. With the new improved suspension I found that I was holding myself in the seat again. In the middle of a run I'm thinking "crap, I need harnesses now"