ArizonaGT
Road Course Member
/thread hijack complete
Vorshlag 2011 Mustang 5.0 GT - track/autocross/street Project
- Thread starter Vorshlag-Fair
- Start date
- Status
Roadracer350
forum member
Terry, how did the new 4" ducts work this weekend?
TheKurgan
forum member
1:21 at Hallett is impressive, but how the hell did a camaro run a 1:18!! Very nice times for that kind of heat.
Costas ( the camaro owner/driver ) is fast, very fast. But to be fair it is a full race chassis with a camaro shaped fiberglass shell.
As far as I know he didn't have any brake problems at all this weekend. While I managed to boil mine both Saturday and Sunday.
The changes we made from Road Atlanta to Hallett on the brakes worked wonders. The prototype 4" brake backing plates we made (above) must have moved a lot more air, as we saw an 80°F drop in max temps at the calipers (down from 490°F before to a peak of 410°F here). We had run the 4" front hoses and front opening at ECR with the 3" backing plates at ECR a few weeks back and saw 430°F peak there, so the backing plate was still a restriction.
And Hallett is one of if not THE most brake intensive tracks on the TX/OK/LA circuit of tracks. We're already making a run of these 4" backing plates now, and they should be done in a couple of weeks. The production plates will have oval ducts to push more air under the rotor ring, to cool the bearings and put the air where it can be pumped through the rotor vanes.
Again, for 99% of the people reading this build thread, our 3" brake backing plate and hose kit is enough. Just avoid the cheesy "partial" brake cooling backing plate designs (see above, right) that let air spill out of the inside of the rotor. The goal is to push the air inside the rotor hat and around the front wheel bearing (see the big gap with the stock dust cover removed, above left) without letting it spill around the backing plate, so that the air is forced through the rotor vanes and out like a centrifugal pump.
After looking at making a custom backing plate out of a CNC laser cut flat sheet it ended up being a better design using an OEM brake backing plate dust cover as our starting point. Then we trim away the excess from the rotor face (except near the tie rod, which needs heat shielding) and it seals the incoming air to the inside of the rotor. It sits as close to the rotor without actually touching it and works so much better than just "stuffing a hose in there" like some brake cooling backing plates do.
We have also made some new bolt-on rear tie-down loops for the S197, which allow faster/easier/better trailer tie strap mounting. We towed 10 hours last weekend with these and the car didn't move a fraction of an inch, and it takes about 1/10th the time to strap the back down than before, when we used axle straps over the solid axle. I also HATE using straps through the wheels to hold a car down, because the tires WILL rotate over a long enough tow and allow the straps to loosen up, not to mention it scratches the wheels - but I'll cover that more in my next post.
Yes, that "Camaro" that set top time for the weekend is Paul Costas' GT-1 tube framed race car. Paul is a good friend of mine and I've worked on this car with him many times...
He ran the fastest lap time of the weekend, from all classes, and won TTU on Saturday and the Super Unlimited races Sunday (he does both TT and W2W).
Most of you have seen this Camaro in my race write-ups before, and he has shocks on the car that we sold him. It runs a 14.5" wide racing slick out back, real aero, weighs around 2500 with him in it, and makes in excess of "lots" of horsepower.
Underneath the vaguely Camaro-like fiberglass skin a tube framed race car, built for the old Trans Am series and GT-1 class. This thing is a beast!
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claudermilk
Senior Member
And Hallett is one of if not THE most brake intensive tracks on the TX/OK/LA circuit of tracks. We're already making a run of these 4" backing plates now, and they should be done in a couple of weeks. The production plates will have oval ducts to push more air under the rotor ring, to cool the bearings and put the air where it can be pumped through the rotor vanes.
It seems these solutions are recipes for cooking your tire rod ends, ball joints, and wheel bearings at minimum. Plus as you pointed out, not directing cooling air where it's needed.
And that "Camaro"? It was obviously a tube-frame Trans-Am silhouette car the first time Terry posted a pic of it--at least for me. I suspect the only shared part with a street Camaro is the tail lights. So it better put in faster times than a street-based and driven Mustang.
2013MustangGT
Budget Boss
We have also made some new bolt-on rear tie-down loops for the S197, which allow faster/easier/better trailer tie strap mounting.
The next time my car is in the shop, I'll have you guys put these on.
Harkening back to the "dimples" in airflow contact surfaces, some MIT dudes have made them morphable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_86mIMPbcDg .
Here's the article.
Here's the article.
Not 20 minutes after I wrote my last post there was another track driven S197 in our shop for an HPDE inspection. The brake duct hoses were routed poorly and had been worn completely through by the front wheels.
The brake duct backing plate was also bent badly, but even once we straightened it out it has a huge gap to the rotor and large areas left uncovered... and also no tie rod shielding. Unfortunately this seems to be the norm and not the exception. Not all brake duct kits are the same.
We replaced this 3" hoses so now the rotors actually see some air flow, which should help him this weekend while he runs at CoTA.
TheKurgan
forum member
Yeah I didn't figure he was anywhere close to stock so was curious what was done. Very impressive. BTW I'm about to pull the trigger on some of the Forgestar wheels(not custom since these will be my daily drivers). I just need to decide what color. Would there be any issues with running those wheels on an 07 ? I noticed that AM sells them staggered and also on the 18x10, it says rear only. Can I run the 18x10 on all four corners without any issues ?
Norm Peterson
corner barstool sitter
Vorshlag won't sell you a 10" wide wheel that won't fit - I think they'll run about 3/16" closer to the struts than Ford's OE 18x9.5 GT500 wheels (which have ~0.4" clearance).
AM and most other mass-market parts houses are very conservative when it comes to wheel fitment. Partly because there are people who want a particular appearance and don't need to be confused with more than an absolute minimum of information. And obviously AM and the rest don't want to accept scratched/scuffed returns or spend eternities on the phone with individual customers. Just your basic, conservative CYA kind of stuff.
Norm
AM and most other mass-market parts houses are very conservative when it comes to wheel fitment. Partly because there are people who want a particular appearance and don't need to be confused with more than an absolute minimum of information. And obviously AM and the rest don't want to accept scratched/scuffed returns or spend eternities on the phone with individual customers. Just your basic, conservative CYA kind of stuff.
Norm
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Not 20 minutes after I wrote my last post there was another track driven S197 in our shop for an HPDE inspection. The brake duct hoses were routed poorly and had been worn completely through by the front wheels.
The brake duct backing plate was also bent badly, but even once we straightened it out it has a huge gap to the rotor and large areas left uncovered... and also no tie rod shielding. Unfortunately this seems to be the norm and not the exception. Not all brake duct kits are the same.
We replaced this 3" hoses so now the rotors actually see some air flow, which should help him this weekend while he runs at CoTA.
WOW that Blue Boss 302 looks wicked fast
;-)
Not 20 minutes after I wrote my last post there was another track driven S197 in our shop for an HPDE inspection. The brake duct hoses were routed poorly and had been worn completely through by the front wheels.
All better now:
Attachments
Let us know how COTA was, Jerry. Good luck.
Project Update for 28, 2014: In this project build thread update we will be showing more details of the repairs and upgrades to the TT3 Mustang after the shunt I had at RoadAtlanta in May. Next we cover another track day two weeks later at ECR, where Amy drove and tested out the repairs and brake system improvements. I talk a little about wheel bearings and have a video of what a bad S197 front wheel bearing sounds like. We also had a car show to attend in June with our Mustang to support a Vorshlag team member's custom Cafe Racer charity bike build. Finally I'll "weigh in" with more of my thoughts on the S550 Mustang's latest weight revelations. We'll save the NASA event at Hallett for the next installment.
Injury Report and Car Repairs after Road Atlanta Crash
When we got back from RA the car was a bit of a mess, but my back was in a little worse shape. I made a couple of doctor visits, where they X-rays and some pokes and prods, but not much else. I was determined to avoid any surgery and especially spinal fusion surgery. Both doctors said "avoid any load on your back, don't go to the gym, lets look at you again in about 6 to 8 weeks", so I've been sticking to that plan. I dealt with the pain by taking Aleve daily, used an ice pack at night to reduce swelling, wear a lower back almost brace every waking hour, and had to take Hydrocodone about a dozen times when the pain got really bad (all from my doc's advice). Never missed a day of work but there were probably a few times I should have gone home early. Pain makes me more of an a-hole than normal, but Sofi would just yell into my office "you need take a pill!" when I got too far out of hand.
Sleeping has been very difficult, as all I had to do was roll on my side and the broken rib would spear me awake. I mostly slept sitting upright for the first 3 weeks and was getting about 2-3 hours a night. The rib finally felt like it was mended at about week 5 but the fractured vertebrae and nearby disc are taking a bit longer to heal. I don't have to exert myself or lift much weight to aggravate my back, so I keep the brace on most of the day. After 5 weeks away I finally made it back to the gym for some self-imposed physical therapy by week 6 and was off the pain pills and Aleve by then. It is week 7 now, I'm doing better, and have already completed two race weekends without any incident since the crash. It actually feels fine in a proper race seat and 6-point belts. With the next two months devoid of track events I can concentrate working at the gym to strengthen my back again.
The damage to the car actually wasn't nearly as bad - after a lot of checks and measurements it is still perfectly straight and unbent, just taking some superficial, cosmetic damage. This level of vertical impact could have turned many chassis into a banana, but the S197 unibody is a tank. After 4 years of just calling it "The Red Car" around the shop, I think a nick-name of The Tank is more appropriate now.
The gravel trap took the splitter off, and when that left the car it damaged some other bits that were bolted to or nearby it. The bottom edge of the front bumper cover was ripped off, which is a section hidden by the CS lower fascia but still integral to its attachment. The left side's black factory "side skirt" was also mangled and half torn off, plus the lower portions of the front flares were damaged.
The splitter we built is stout, and when it pushed back and came off it poked a hole in the A/C condenser, so that was removed and the lines capped for now. A replacement isn't costly (less than $120) but we have only used the A/C system once this year, during the Optima Street Car road rally, and it is limiting airflow to the Mishimoto radiator. One step of the repairs were to make some templates for patches of red race roll (plastic) to fix the flares. These fender flares are going to be completely replaced at some point (likely with a composite front fender that a buddy's shop is working on) but for now we just patched the broken lower edges - you can't even see the repairs at speed, not with the unpainted black bumper cover on the front to distract you.
A new front bumper cover and side skirt were acquired from Ford, then the bumper cover was modified on the upper edge to fit around the aluminum airbox we have built to route air from the lower grill opening to the (now) front of the radiator. This detail is hidden behind the upper grill block-off plate. We had a spare CS lower fascia (that a customer discarded due to a minor scratch) so that was attached to the new bumper cover and splitter before it was all re-installed. Some minor repairs to the radiator's aluminum duct work were needed as well.
The same splitter that came off in the crash was virtually unscathed, save a couple of rear mounting holes that tore out along with the mounting bolts. We made some new holes to move the rear mounting plate 1/2 inch forward, sprayed some paint on the scratched lower face, and it all went back on. Nobody said 3/16" 6061-T6 aluminum plate was light, but it is damned sure strong. I've seen plastic and composite splitters that came off in similar crashes, usually doing as much or more associated body damage, but the splitter is almost always completely destroyed in the process. Not this beast - it also cuts grass like a mofo!
Of course I am determined to not have this type of brake system failure again, and we've taken measures to that end, as shown in my last post. The 3" brake ducts, while more than adequate for so many S197 track drivers and racers, were not keeping the 14" front Brembos cool enough on our exceptionally heavy TT3 car (3802 pounds with driver). The Alcon temp strips indicating 490°F temps at the caliper should have been a BIG red flag, which I ignored (and we saw the results of that). That's near the boiling point of most hydraulic fluid and was just not a safe condition to leave the brakes at. So we have upgraded to larger 4" front bumper front duct opening using aluminum tubing and opening up the CS lower fascia from the 3" foglight hole with some careful cutting. You can see the new rear splitter mounting stanchion in the picture above right, and also where the old mounting holes in the splitter were torn out in the crash. That's all of the damage the splitter took.
The new front brake cooling duct openings were routed with 4" hoses but necked down onto the old brake backing plates' 3" ducts. We ran out of time to make new brake backing plates before the ECR track event. I was also curious to see if the larger hoses and front openings would help the brake cooling when even with that smaller restriction at the rotor. Our guys here at Vorshlag got everything repaired, new brake pads/rotors/fluid, nut-and-bolt checked, re-aligned, weighed and corner balanced, and the front brake ducts/hoses upgraded in about 2 days time, then loaded the car into our trailer to verify the repairs at a local HPDE event at Eagles Canyon on May 24th - less than 2 weeks after the crash.
Front Wheel Hubs - Diagnosis and Repair
One of the common wear items on an S197 Mustang, and all cars for that matter, is the front hubs. We recently had to replace the fronts, so I made this little video to show what bad bearings sound like, and what it takes to replace them.
The video above shows what you should do for quick diagnosis, and should be on your pre-track check list. Every. Time. We check the hubs whenever we do any track inspections here, and we've found bad front hubs on Mustangs a number of times. This is actually the 4th set that we've replaced on our 2011 GT since we picked it up in August of 2010. As the grip levels and brake heat go up the lifespan of the hubs goes down. 4 sets of hubs in 4 years ain't bad, considering the lap times this heavy beast puts down and the brake heat numbers we've seen.
We actually replaced these hubs after the ECR event (detailed below) but before we went to Hallett. They were fine before ECR but they weren't afterwards. Vorshlag stocks and sells this FMS-M-1104-A motorsports hub kit, which comes with the 3" ARP hardened wheel studs installed plus new spindle nuts (which are one-time-use nuts that need 250 ft-lbs of torque to seat). This kit is cheaper than buying new hubs and wheel studs separately, and they are already pressed in place.
We also have a variety of wheel spacers for the S197 and our reduced (17mm) hex/enlarged taper lug nuts for this chassis. These are the same 1/2"-20 right hand lug nuts a Ford uses, but with a smaller hex drive to fit inside aftermarket "lug wells" with a deep socket with more clearance to the wheel. The larger OEM (19mm) hex lug nuts often won't work with some wheels with a tighter lug well (like Forgestars). These lug nuts and wheel spacers are what we use on our car, and they are located in a new section of our shopping cart we have created here.
continued below
Injury Report and Car Repairs after Road Atlanta Crash
When we got back from RA the car was a bit of a mess, but my back was in a little worse shape. I made a couple of doctor visits, where they X-rays and some pokes and prods, but not much else. I was determined to avoid any surgery and especially spinal fusion surgery. Both doctors said "avoid any load on your back, don't go to the gym, lets look at you again in about 6 to 8 weeks", so I've been sticking to that plan. I dealt with the pain by taking Aleve daily, used an ice pack at night to reduce swelling, wear a lower back almost brace every waking hour, and had to take Hydrocodone about a dozen times when the pain got really bad (all from my doc's advice). Never missed a day of work but there were probably a few times I should have gone home early. Pain makes me more of an a-hole than normal, but Sofi would just yell into my office "you need take a pill!" when I got too far out of hand.
Sleeping has been very difficult, as all I had to do was roll on my side and the broken rib would spear me awake. I mostly slept sitting upright for the first 3 weeks and was getting about 2-3 hours a night. The rib finally felt like it was mended at about week 5 but the fractured vertebrae and nearby disc are taking a bit longer to heal. I don't have to exert myself or lift much weight to aggravate my back, so I keep the brace on most of the day. After 5 weeks away I finally made it back to the gym for some self-imposed physical therapy by week 6 and was off the pain pills and Aleve by then. It is week 7 now, I'm doing better, and have already completed two race weekends without any incident since the crash. It actually feels fine in a proper race seat and 6-point belts. With the next two months devoid of track events I can concentrate working at the gym to strengthen my back again.
The damage to the car actually wasn't nearly as bad - after a lot of checks and measurements it is still perfectly straight and unbent, just taking some superficial, cosmetic damage. This level of vertical impact could have turned many chassis into a banana, but the S197 unibody is a tank. After 4 years of just calling it "The Red Car" around the shop, I think a nick-name of The Tank is more appropriate now.
The gravel trap took the splitter off, and when that left the car it damaged some other bits that were bolted to or nearby it. The bottom edge of the front bumper cover was ripped off, which is a section hidden by the CS lower fascia but still integral to its attachment. The left side's black factory "side skirt" was also mangled and half torn off, plus the lower portions of the front flares were damaged.
The splitter we built is stout, and when it pushed back and came off it poked a hole in the A/C condenser, so that was removed and the lines capped for now. A replacement isn't costly (less than $120) but we have only used the A/C system once this year, during the Optima Street Car road rally, and it is limiting airflow to the Mishimoto radiator. One step of the repairs were to make some templates for patches of red race roll (plastic) to fix the flares. These fender flares are going to be completely replaced at some point (likely with a composite front fender that a buddy's shop is working on) but for now we just patched the broken lower edges - you can't even see the repairs at speed, not with the unpainted black bumper cover on the front to distract you.
A new front bumper cover and side skirt were acquired from Ford, then the bumper cover was modified on the upper edge to fit around the aluminum airbox we have built to route air from the lower grill opening to the (now) front of the radiator. This detail is hidden behind the upper grill block-off plate. We had a spare CS lower fascia (that a customer discarded due to a minor scratch) so that was attached to the new bumper cover and splitter before it was all re-installed. Some minor repairs to the radiator's aluminum duct work were needed as well.
The same splitter that came off in the crash was virtually unscathed, save a couple of rear mounting holes that tore out along with the mounting bolts. We made some new holes to move the rear mounting plate 1/2 inch forward, sprayed some paint on the scratched lower face, and it all went back on. Nobody said 3/16" 6061-T6 aluminum plate was light, but it is damned sure strong. I've seen plastic and composite splitters that came off in similar crashes, usually doing as much or more associated body damage, but the splitter is almost always completely destroyed in the process. Not this beast - it also cuts grass like a mofo!
Of course I am determined to not have this type of brake system failure again, and we've taken measures to that end, as shown in my last post. The 3" brake ducts, while more than adequate for so many S197 track drivers and racers, were not keeping the 14" front Brembos cool enough on our exceptionally heavy TT3 car (3802 pounds with driver). The Alcon temp strips indicating 490°F temps at the caliper should have been a BIG red flag, which I ignored (and we saw the results of that). That's near the boiling point of most hydraulic fluid and was just not a safe condition to leave the brakes at. So we have upgraded to larger 4" front bumper front duct opening using aluminum tubing and opening up the CS lower fascia from the 3" foglight hole with some careful cutting. You can see the new rear splitter mounting stanchion in the picture above right, and also where the old mounting holes in the splitter were torn out in the crash. That's all of the damage the splitter took.
The new front brake cooling duct openings were routed with 4" hoses but necked down onto the old brake backing plates' 3" ducts. We ran out of time to make new brake backing plates before the ECR track event. I was also curious to see if the larger hoses and front openings would help the brake cooling when even with that smaller restriction at the rotor. Our guys here at Vorshlag got everything repaired, new brake pads/rotors/fluid, nut-and-bolt checked, re-aligned, weighed and corner balanced, and the front brake ducts/hoses upgraded in about 2 days time, then loaded the car into our trailer to verify the repairs at a local HPDE event at Eagles Canyon on May 24th - less than 2 weeks after the crash.
Front Wheel Hubs - Diagnosis and Repair
One of the common wear items on an S197 Mustang, and all cars for that matter, is the front hubs. We recently had to replace the fronts, so I made this little video to show what bad bearings sound like, and what it takes to replace them.
The video above shows what you should do for quick diagnosis, and should be on your pre-track check list. Every. Time. We check the hubs whenever we do any track inspections here, and we've found bad front hubs on Mustangs a number of times. This is actually the 4th set that we've replaced on our 2011 GT since we picked it up in August of 2010. As the grip levels and brake heat go up the lifespan of the hubs goes down. 4 sets of hubs in 4 years ain't bad, considering the lap times this heavy beast puts down and the brake heat numbers we've seen.
We actually replaced these hubs after the ECR event (detailed below) but before we went to Hallett. They were fine before ECR but they weren't afterwards. Vorshlag stocks and sells this FMS-M-1104-A motorsports hub kit, which comes with the 3" ARP hardened wheel studs installed plus new spindle nuts (which are one-time-use nuts that need 250 ft-lbs of torque to seat). This kit is cheaper than buying new hubs and wheel studs separately, and they are already pressed in place.
We also have a variety of wheel spacers for the S197 and our reduced (17mm) hex/enlarged taper lug nuts for this chassis. These are the same 1/2"-20 right hand lug nuts a Ford uses, but with a smaller hex drive to fit inside aftermarket "lug wells" with a deep socket with more clearance to the wheel. The larger OEM (19mm) hex lug nuts often won't work with some wheels with a tighter lug well (like Forgestars). These lug nuts and wheel spacers are what we use on our car, and they are located in a new section of our shopping cart we have created here.
continued below
continued from above
Five Star Ford at ECR, May 24th, 2014
We had planned on attending this event many weeks earlier and I was bound and determined to make it back out there in our car, even if I wasn't going to be doing any driving. A big chunk of the Vorshlag crew came out to this Five Star Ford sponsored event at ECR on what turned out to be a beautiful Saturday in May.
We brought our 2011 GT test mule to test the new brake upgrades and to verify the repairs after RA. Amy was driving all day and gave lots of people ride-alongs. Our crew worked on nearly 20 cars during the day, doing a lot of brake fluid flushes (replacing crap fluid), Carbotech brake pad swaps and other various trackside repairs.
Since Amy drew the short straw and didn't get to drive at Road Atlanta at all, this was to be her day of testing and track fun. We mounted up a set of 315mm A6 scrubs and had her on track for over 6 sessions that day - taking runs in all of the Red group sessions as well as some in Blue group.
She took over a dozen riders that Saturday, which Jason and I kept funneling into the right seat of the Mustang - as well as funneling fuel into the Mustang's gas tank. I was also taking some pictures, talking to customers, and trying to help the guys work on a few cars (more on that in a second). Brad Maxcy, our shop manager and a racer himself, shot most of the pretty pictures in this write-up while working a long day fixing cars and brakes. You can see the images and video from this event in the gallery below.
Vorshlag's ECR picture and video gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/
I was itching to drive but Amy was hearing none of it, and in truth my back wasn't up for the somewhat bumpy ECR circuit. That didn't mean I took it easy, oh no... I was seriously stupid and helped work on a handful of the 20 cars that needed brake flushes, brake pad replacements or other work that day. Fully one third of the cars at this event needed help from our crew, and I'm glad we were there with some parts and the technicians to help install it all.
Brad, Kyle and even our sales manager Jon were busy all day wrenching on cars, from the moment we got there until we left at around 5:30 pm. We knew we'd work on a few cars but this was a bit more than expected. Luckily we brought two cases of Motul brake fluid, lots of Redline synthetics, and 4 sets of Mustang brake pads - and we sold and installed every single one. I had warned the entrants at the driver's meeting that ECR would eat stock brakes, and we always try to put the word out beforehand to warn people to upgrade at least their fluid, but it still happens. Stock brake fluid SUCKS and has no business on a race track.
It ended up being a long day for our guys, and my back was killing me from even just working the jack or some other trivial tasks. I didn't drive or ride in any cars that day, which hurt me even worse, though. I was going nuts just watching all of these folks have fun. I am a terrible spectator and a worse patient, heh.
Amy drove in fairly heavy traffic all day, and managed only one or two clear laps. She had riders on every session so she was only pushing the car 8- to 9/10ths but still managed a 1:59.0 on a lap shown in the video above. There's also some shots in there of Mike D spinning in his twin turbo 67 Camaro and some footage of my old ChumpCar teammates in the 1998 Firebird I helped them with for a bit before bowing out and letting them take over.
This gutless 3.8L V6 powered 4th gen Firebird Chump racer looked pretty good out there and I was glad to see them finally get it back on track, as it hasn't run in about a year. The cage was welded in and completed by our friend Kurt at Janco Fab, using a cage kit I had purchased from Blainefab. Paul and Jason (shown above) took over the remainder of this build and finished up a lot of safety upgrades and other little odds and ends. It held together almost the entire day before the old transmission mount broke - and yet they kept driving it, heh.
I won't give away their lap times but they passed a lot of cars and a few 5.0L Mustangs in this 200 hp behemoth. Above right you can also see Shannon's 5.0 S197 on track; she had just started working at Vorshlag as our summer Engineering Intern. Her new True Street built motor was roaring down the front straight and she ran strong all day.
Mark C was quick, when he managed to stay on track and get a clear lap, heh. He had a quick off-and-on in Turn 11 and I barely caught the pic! Heather (Shannon's sister) was darned fast in the V6 5th gen Camaro, but she keeps burning the brakes off of this poor car. It needs a boatload more negative camber up front, as well.
By the end of the day we were all exhausted but we had a lot of fun. Corey White and Jerry Cecco put on a heck of a good event and with 60+ drivers there were lots of smiles to go around that day. Thanks to Five Star Ford for sponsoring the lunch, too! A bunch of us went into town and ate dinner at Fuzzy's Taco Shop before heading home, which was delicious. The food was great and Jason somehow managed to keep the queso from that giant burrito out of his beard.
We had some good test data and learned that the larger brake cooling ducts in the bumper cover and the 4" hoses made a significant difference, with max temps at the caliper seeing only 430°F all day, and Amy was brutal on the brakes. She actually finished off the rear pads we had on from Road Atlanta after her 2nd session and our guys put on a fresh set of Carbotechs to let her finish the day (and they are still on the car 2 events later). We also learned that we can NEVER bring too many sets of brake pads to an event like this held at ECR... it we would have had 4 more sets we could have installed them all for folks. This track eats brakes, and the car's wheels above were gold before the day started.
Lots of fun and I'll post up the next time FSF holds an event at ECR. Great place to do your first event, and you'll see a lot of pony cars and other vehicles at this low key fun track event.
continued below
Five Star Ford at ECR, May 24th, 2014
We had planned on attending this event many weeks earlier and I was bound and determined to make it back out there in our car, even if I wasn't going to be doing any driving. A big chunk of the Vorshlag crew came out to this Five Star Ford sponsored event at ECR on what turned out to be a beautiful Saturday in May.
We brought our 2011 GT test mule to test the new brake upgrades and to verify the repairs after RA. Amy was driving all day and gave lots of people ride-alongs. Our crew worked on nearly 20 cars during the day, doing a lot of brake fluid flushes (replacing crap fluid), Carbotech brake pad swaps and other various trackside repairs.
Since Amy drew the short straw and didn't get to drive at Road Atlanta at all, this was to be her day of testing and track fun. We mounted up a set of 315mm A6 scrubs and had her on track for over 6 sessions that day - taking runs in all of the Red group sessions as well as some in Blue group.
She took over a dozen riders that Saturday, which Jason and I kept funneling into the right seat of the Mustang - as well as funneling fuel into the Mustang's gas tank. I was also taking some pictures, talking to customers, and trying to help the guys work on a few cars (more on that in a second). Brad Maxcy, our shop manager and a racer himself, shot most of the pretty pictures in this write-up while working a long day fixing cars and brakes. You can see the images and video from this event in the gallery below.
Vorshlag's ECR picture and video gallery: http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Racing-Events/Five-Star-Ford-ECR-052414/
I was itching to drive but Amy was hearing none of it, and in truth my back wasn't up for the somewhat bumpy ECR circuit. That didn't mean I took it easy, oh no... I was seriously stupid and helped work on a handful of the 20 cars that needed brake flushes, brake pad replacements or other work that day. Fully one third of the cars at this event needed help from our crew, and I'm glad we were there with some parts and the technicians to help install it all.
Brad, Kyle and even our sales manager Jon were busy all day wrenching on cars, from the moment we got there until we left at around 5:30 pm. We knew we'd work on a few cars but this was a bit more than expected. Luckily we brought two cases of Motul brake fluid, lots of Redline synthetics, and 4 sets of Mustang brake pads - and we sold and installed every single one. I had warned the entrants at the driver's meeting that ECR would eat stock brakes, and we always try to put the word out beforehand to warn people to upgrade at least their fluid, but it still happens. Stock brake fluid SUCKS and has no business on a race track.
It ended up being a long day for our guys, and my back was killing me from even just working the jack or some other trivial tasks. I didn't drive or ride in any cars that day, which hurt me even worse, though. I was going nuts just watching all of these folks have fun. I am a terrible spectator and a worse patient, heh.
Amy drove in fairly heavy traffic all day, and managed only one or two clear laps. She had riders on every session so she was only pushing the car 8- to 9/10ths but still managed a 1:59.0 on a lap shown in the video above. There's also some shots in there of Mike D spinning in his twin turbo 67 Camaro and some footage of my old ChumpCar teammates in the 1998 Firebird I helped them with for a bit before bowing out and letting them take over.
This gutless 3.8L V6 powered 4th gen Firebird Chump racer looked pretty good out there and I was glad to see them finally get it back on track, as it hasn't run in about a year. The cage was welded in and completed by our friend Kurt at Janco Fab, using a cage kit I had purchased from Blainefab. Paul and Jason (shown above) took over the remainder of this build and finished up a lot of safety upgrades and other little odds and ends. It held together almost the entire day before the old transmission mount broke - and yet they kept driving it, heh.
I won't give away their lap times but they passed a lot of cars and a few 5.0L Mustangs in this 200 hp behemoth. Above right you can also see Shannon's 5.0 S197 on track; she had just started working at Vorshlag as our summer Engineering Intern. Her new True Street built motor was roaring down the front straight and she ran strong all day.
Mark C was quick, when he managed to stay on track and get a clear lap, heh. He had a quick off-and-on in Turn 11 and I barely caught the pic! Heather (Shannon's sister) was darned fast in the V6 5th gen Camaro, but she keeps burning the brakes off of this poor car. It needs a boatload more negative camber up front, as well.
By the end of the day we were all exhausted but we had a lot of fun. Corey White and Jerry Cecco put on a heck of a good event and with 60+ drivers there were lots of smiles to go around that day. Thanks to Five Star Ford for sponsoring the lunch, too! A bunch of us went into town and ate dinner at Fuzzy's Taco Shop before heading home, which was delicious. The food was great and Jason somehow managed to keep the queso from that giant burrito out of his beard.
We had some good test data and learned that the larger brake cooling ducts in the bumper cover and the 4" hoses made a significant difference, with max temps at the caliper seeing only 430°F all day, and Amy was brutal on the brakes. She actually finished off the rear pads we had on from Road Atlanta after her 2nd session and our guys put on a fresh set of Carbotechs to let her finish the day (and they are still on the car 2 events later). We also learned that we can NEVER bring too many sets of brake pads to an event like this held at ECR... it we would have had 4 more sets we could have installed them all for folks. This track eats brakes, and the car's wheels above were gold before the day started.
Lots of fun and I'll post up the next time FSF holds an event at ECR. Great place to do your first event, and you'll see a lot of pony cars and other vehicles at this low key fun track event.
continued below
continued from above
GT Moto Bike Build Reveal at GMBG, June 15, 2014
Vorshlag's own Sofi had an event we attended at Gas Monkey Bar & Grill. This place hosted her "bike reveal" where the Cafe Racer style motorcycle she and her dad hand built on June 15th, 2014. Many of the Vorshlag staff and friends came out to support this charity event, bought shirts and raffle tickets, and had a great time.
"Texas Dave" was in town with his Pikes Peak EVO and he brought it out and showed it in the GMBG parking lot. We brought the Vorshlag TT3 Mustang and had it parked in the the small show area during the party as well. KC from the Fast-n-Loud show had his truck in the same area later that day, as he knows Sofi and came to the party.
Sofi is our operations manager here at Vorshlag and schedules customer service work and supplies our shop guys with parts. She is also a decent fabricator and bike mechanic and races her various motorcycles as well, including her throw-back Cafe Racer style Honda (the blue one, shown above left). A lot of her friends and fans came out to support this event, and she's raised over $25K for charity with this bike build so far. We're all proud of her and respect the cause she's raising money for.
She and one of our fabricators Olof built the exhaust for this new bike at Vorshlag a couple of weeks earlier and used the same ICE Engine Works kit we use to make custom headers for our V8 swaps.
The bike reveal went really well and there were close to 100 people there to see the bike for the very first time. I hadn't seen it with the painted tank and trim work installed and it really came out looking amazing. This bike is being given away via a raffle, with a drawing on July 5th, and all proceeds go to St. Jude's hospital for cancer research. You can see more info about the raffle here: https://rafflecreator.com/pages/1379/gt-cafe-for-cause We all bought several tickets, and if I win it I'll do wheelies in our parking lot, then probably fall off and break my back.
GMBG itself was actually really nice, even on this super hot day (it was well into the high 90s). There was a 90 minute wait to get a table inside but luckily for us, all of the folks who came for the Moto GT bike reveal had a private 2nd story air conditioned bar with front row seats to the bands that played on stage that day. The deck out over the pond surrounding the restaurant was also pretty nice. We ate and drank and had a great time. We've met most of the guys at GMG and they are all friendly, professional and passionate about hot rodding - and they provided the facilities for this party and raffle free of charge. He might be a little abrasive on the TV show but Richard Rawlings knows how to party and his bar and grill is a hopping place. I'm glad we could come out and bring a lot of friends to help support Sofi's charity. Again, if you want to purchase a raffle ticket the drawing is this weekend on July 5th, so good luck!
The New 2015 Mustang - What Does The S550 Chassis Weigh?
The last few weeks have been full of rumors and speculation about the new 2015 Mustang and what it will weigh. Steeda got a huge black eye when they "guessed" it the S550 would actually be gaining a few hundred pounds over the last generation, contrary to Ford's pronouncement of a weight loss. Motor Trend also had some guesstimations that were apparently pretty unflattering, and also not based on fact. Turns out Steeda never actually weighed a car, and the whole thing became an internet scandal labeled "2015 Mustang Weightgate".
image above found on Jalopnik
The automotive car websites were going nuts, and even I got a call from a reporter at Jalopnik looking for real data - of which I had none. Turns out they finally got to the root of all of the mystery, the car gained less than 100 pounds, which was shown after Ford leaked some semi-official weights, shown below.
image above found on Jalopnik
So it was much ado about nothing... of course the S550 didn't lose weight. That wasn't really a possibility, and few if any new car models are getting lighter than any older generations - due to rising crash standards, technology complexity, and customer demands for more creature comforts. The Mustang would have to make a radical change in the chassis goals to lose pounds (remember the Ford Probe disaster??). No, the S550 is staying somewhat the same in size and power but getting new features and upgrades - like the Independent Rear Suspension and bigger 15" front brakes - so it gained a few pounds in the process. The 3704 pound number being thrown around is still 130 pounds lighter than a stripped 2014 Camaro Z/28, a $75K track toy that comes with race tires but no air con.
What strikes me as the most odd is the wild variety of car models that some folks are comparing the Mustang to, or trying to. Look at how much bigger the S197 is compared to a Genesis Coupe (which is fat and heavy too), a BRZ and an MX5, above. Am I supposed to believe that car people cross-shop Miatas with Mustangs? If they do, then they are VERY confused about what they want from an automobile. Even the turbo 4 and V6 Mustang will be so far removed from a flyweight 2 seat roadster like the MX5 as to be not in the same league. The S550 is really more of a new and improved S197, which itself was a RADICAL improvement over the Fox/SN95 chassis it replaced. The Fox/SN95 was based on a 1977 Ford Fairmont, and that's saying a lot.
Of course Vorshlag will weigh several S550s when the first ones arrive at local dealerships, and our car will be here hopefully before the end of August. We have aggressive plans for track testing then upgrading the suspension, wheels, tires and more. Stay tuned for that new build thread, which I will link in this S197 thread.
What's Next?
As the summer gets hotter here in Texas the track schedule falls way off, to keep drivers from overheating, so we don't have any NASA events scheduled again until September (unless we go to NASA Nationals East, August 31st at Road Atlanta). The "summer track break" around here means we have some openings on our service schedule. If you need some race prep, fabrication, seating, cooling, brake system or safety upgrades you've been putting off, let us know. Several of our long term development projects for V8 swaps are getting more attention as shop time is freed up, so we'll stay busy either way.
That's all I have time for in this sitting, but I'll cover the Hallett event and the TMS road course "drift vs grip" event in my next write-up.
Thanks,
GT Moto Bike Build Reveal at GMBG, June 15, 2014
Vorshlag's own Sofi had an event we attended at Gas Monkey Bar & Grill. This place hosted her "bike reveal" where the Cafe Racer style motorcycle she and her dad hand built on June 15th, 2014. Many of the Vorshlag staff and friends came out to support this charity event, bought shirts and raffle tickets, and had a great time.
"Texas Dave" was in town with his Pikes Peak EVO and he brought it out and showed it in the GMBG parking lot. We brought the Vorshlag TT3 Mustang and had it parked in the the small show area during the party as well. KC from the Fast-n-Loud show had his truck in the same area later that day, as he knows Sofi and came to the party.
Sofi is our operations manager here at Vorshlag and schedules customer service work and supplies our shop guys with parts. She is also a decent fabricator and bike mechanic and races her various motorcycles as well, including her throw-back Cafe Racer style Honda (the blue one, shown above left). A lot of her friends and fans came out to support this event, and she's raised over $25K for charity with this bike build so far. We're all proud of her and respect the cause she's raising money for.
She and one of our fabricators Olof built the exhaust for this new bike at Vorshlag a couple of weeks earlier and used the same ICE Engine Works kit we use to make custom headers for our V8 swaps.
The bike reveal went really well and there were close to 100 people there to see the bike for the very first time. I hadn't seen it with the painted tank and trim work installed and it really came out looking amazing. This bike is being given away via a raffle, with a drawing on July 5th, and all proceeds go to St. Jude's hospital for cancer research. You can see more info about the raffle here: https://rafflecreator.com/pages/1379/gt-cafe-for-cause We all bought several tickets, and if I win it I'll do wheelies in our parking lot, then probably fall off and break my back.
GMBG itself was actually really nice, even on this super hot day (it was well into the high 90s). There was a 90 minute wait to get a table inside but luckily for us, all of the folks who came for the Moto GT bike reveal had a private 2nd story air conditioned bar with front row seats to the bands that played on stage that day. The deck out over the pond surrounding the restaurant was also pretty nice. We ate and drank and had a great time. We've met most of the guys at GMG and they are all friendly, professional and passionate about hot rodding - and they provided the facilities for this party and raffle free of charge. He might be a little abrasive on the TV show but Richard Rawlings knows how to party and his bar and grill is a hopping place. I'm glad we could come out and bring a lot of friends to help support Sofi's charity. Again, if you want to purchase a raffle ticket the drawing is this weekend on July 5th, so good luck!
The New 2015 Mustang - What Does The S550 Chassis Weigh?
The last few weeks have been full of rumors and speculation about the new 2015 Mustang and what it will weigh. Steeda got a huge black eye when they "guessed" it the S550 would actually be gaining a few hundred pounds over the last generation, contrary to Ford's pronouncement of a weight loss. Motor Trend also had some guesstimations that were apparently pretty unflattering, and also not based on fact. Turns out Steeda never actually weighed a car, and the whole thing became an internet scandal labeled "2015 Mustang Weightgate".
image above found on Jalopnik
The automotive car websites were going nuts, and even I got a call from a reporter at Jalopnik looking for real data - of which I had none. Turns out they finally got to the root of all of the mystery, the car gained less than 100 pounds, which was shown after Ford leaked some semi-official weights, shown below.
image above found on Jalopnik
So it was much ado about nothing... of course the S550 didn't lose weight. That wasn't really a possibility, and few if any new car models are getting lighter than any older generations - due to rising crash standards, technology complexity, and customer demands for more creature comforts. The Mustang would have to make a radical change in the chassis goals to lose pounds (remember the Ford Probe disaster??). No, the S550 is staying somewhat the same in size and power but getting new features and upgrades - like the Independent Rear Suspension and bigger 15" front brakes - so it gained a few pounds in the process. The 3704 pound number being thrown around is still 130 pounds lighter than a stripped 2014 Camaro Z/28, a $75K track toy that comes with race tires but no air con.
What strikes me as the most odd is the wild variety of car models that some folks are comparing the Mustang to, or trying to. Look at how much bigger the S197 is compared to a Genesis Coupe (which is fat and heavy too), a BRZ and an MX5, above. Am I supposed to believe that car people cross-shop Miatas with Mustangs? If they do, then they are VERY confused about what they want from an automobile. Even the turbo 4 and V6 Mustang will be so far removed from a flyweight 2 seat roadster like the MX5 as to be not in the same league. The S550 is really more of a new and improved S197, which itself was a RADICAL improvement over the Fox/SN95 chassis it replaced. The Fox/SN95 was based on a 1977 Ford Fairmont, and that's saying a lot.
Of course Vorshlag will weigh several S550s when the first ones arrive at local dealerships, and our car will be here hopefully before the end of August. We have aggressive plans for track testing then upgrading the suspension, wheels, tires and more. Stay tuned for that new build thread, which I will link in this S197 thread.
What's Next?
- NASA at Hallett, June 21-22 - This event went really well, and we beat our 2013 lap record by 3 seconds, but I borked the splitter in an "off" during the first Saturday session!
- Repairs and Improvements after Hallett - I'll cover the upgrades and repairs we made after this last NASA event. My hack driving knows no limits... not even the TRACK limits.
- Lone Star Drift at TMS, June 29, 2014- Drifter vs Road Racer Battle, aka: Drifters go Derp!
As the summer gets hotter here in Texas the track schedule falls way off, to keep drivers from overheating, so we don't have any NASA events scheduled again until September (unless we go to NASA Nationals East, August 31st at Road Atlanta). The "summer track break" around here means we have some openings on our service schedule. If you need some race prep, fabrication, seating, cooling, brake system or safety upgrades you've been putting off, let us know. Several of our long term development projects for V8 swaps are getting more attention as shop time is freed up, so we'll stay busy either way.
That's all I have time for in this sitting, but I'll cover the Hallett event and the TMS road course "drift vs grip" event in my next write-up.
Thanks,
Mr. WHO
forum member
Love the write ups!
Glad your doing better, as that looked like a nasty "jump."
So with the new car coming, whats the plan with "tank?" Selling or holding onto for more fun? Maybe a side-by-side race?
Glad your doing better, as that looked like a nasty "jump."
So with the new car coming, whats the plan with "tank?" Selling or holding onto for more fun? Maybe a side-by-side race?
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