2007 Mustang GT Turbo Build

[raredesign]

Installed the MGW GT500 shifter with Blowfish Racing bracket. [emoji106]

 

[raredesign]

Mishimoto makes a solid welded aluminum radiator for a good price, and CXRacing’s bracket worked perfect for mounting the intercooler.
Also seen here are the tiny details that make a difference...powder coated radiator brackets and refinished AC compressor.
As an update, I have since removed the passenger side hanger of the CXRacing bracket in order to run the turbo plumbing through there, but I plan on fabricating another aluminum brace for it.

 

[raredesign]

Everything is matching nicely as planned. Department of Boost’s alternator upgrade is a quality piece!
Lokar makes a 2v/4v braised dip stick which is too long, so I marked it and had them cut it to size, then bent the bracket at 90* at the midway point.

 

[raredesign]

Mike at Full Throttle Finishes did a knockout job powder coating this Ford 8.8 rear assembly in Prismatic Powder’s Silver Artery. Josh Mills at Mills Racing is an extremely talented fabricator and was the right man for welding and assembly. Look at those beads!

 

[RED09GT]

I'd imagine that you've done your research and you have used high quality lines but I would not run braided lines from the ABS block all the way to the caliper as there is still expansion in a braided hose.
Think of the difference in feel when you replace 4 ft of reinforced rubber brake lines with braided lines from the hard lines to the calipers (~1ft at each caliper). This is a good illustration of how much a small amount of flex of the lines impacts the system. Now that there are several ft lengths of hard lines replaced with a more flexible material, you may have issues with brake pedal feel.

 

[raredesign]

I'd imagine that you've done your research and you have used high quality lines but I would not run braided lines from the ABS block all the way to the caliper as there is still expansion in a braided hose.
Think of the difference in feel when you replace 4 ft of reinforced rubber brake lines with braided lines from the hard lines to the calipers (~1ft at each caliper). This is a good illustration of how much a small amount of flex of the lines impacts the system. Now that there are several ft lengths of hard lines replaced with a more flexible material, you may have issues with brake pedal feel.

I appreciate the concern. Yes, this is entirely different. This is stainless braided Teflon which is burstable to 12,000 psi. Master cylinders only produce around 2,000 psi.

As a head up, I’m already driving the car, but just catching up on here.


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[Rick Simons]

Wow, color me jealous! Curious about how the turbo mounting and exhaust plumbing will be done. Can't wait to see more pics as this comes together!

 

[Tyler Gay]

Looks amazing! Can I ask how you found the company in china that does steering wheels? or there contact info?

 

[Snajper69]

Awesome build!

 

[raredesign]

Hey all! It’s been a while, and I sincerely apologize for that.
I’ve had an enormous amount of stuff happen since my last post. Aside from being highly focused and finishing up the build, we came into COVID shortly after which kept me busy with work changes among other things, and I’ve contracted COVID four times so far.
Additionally, as some of you may recall, I battled leukemia, which is suppressed by a bone marrow transplant, but I also have no antibodies due to a condition I was left with called hypogammaglobulinemia requiring weekly infusions of antibodies indefinitely.
Alright, so if that wasn’t enough, I’ve now had 3 mini strokes and a convulsive seizure since last year, at which point they discovered (read rediscovered) that the hospital made a mistake and I’ve been battling heart failure (LVH) since 2013!

So, it’s been a bit of a shuffle. Lol

In some good news, we just had another boy, so 4 kids total now.

Now to move on to the rest of the updates.


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[raredesign]

The center wheel mount in the trunk had to go. With it flat, it’s really a great spot for a battery, nitrous bottle, ice box, etc.

I cut the floor out and used some sheet steel I found at Home Depot. I think it was around 20 gauge if I recall, so I also added a cross brace underneath.

I didn’t have a welder, so reached out to a friend.
We did end up with oil canning (where the panel buckles and makes a loud can noise when pushed from one side to the other) so I used a spot welder for pulling panels, and used it to spot weld without a nail and then quenched it quickly with cold water to cause the metal to shrink. After filling it with a matrix of spot welds that were then shrunk, the panel was perfectly tight.

Since then, I’ve learned that to prevent oil canning, you crisscross spot welds, and work it more gradually.

While in its raw state, I measured where to put the battery box, and used an aluminum bar to brace it underneath the car for added strength.

I then used evercoat filler to smooth it out, sprayed with SPI epoxy, base, and clear.

The battery is now vented by using a grommet in place of a drain plug.

I’m extremely pleased with how it turned out, and I’ll show later how it looks in its final condition.

 

[raredesign]

The BMR upper control arm for the 07 had some quality control issues, as when I torqued it to spec, the metal actually folded in and the UCA was entirely bent.
I upgraded to the later year model… was that 13/14? I don’t recall off hand, but it’s a known upgrade improvement.
The difference was night and day, as it is far more “beefy”.

The powder coating was nice and thick, so I can’t fault it, and simply sanded it down around the spindle.

We also went with BMR lower control arms with spherical rod end bearings, LCA relocation brackets, adjustable pan hard bar, GT500 drag springs, Viking Crusader B326am shocks, and new bump stops.

I may have neglected to mention earlier, but the rear has an Eaton Trutrac with 4.10 gears, and a pinion spacer instead of a crush collar.

I later did a four wheel alignment using a tape measure, level, string, and some chairs.

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[raredesign]

Alan at Speed of Sound did an excellent job mirroring the center console template I sent him and the placement was spot on.

The buttons are from Billet Automotive Buttons, and I made both the boost by gear and line lock on/off in photoshop for them to laser etch.

In order to supply power to the buttons and the items they serve properly, I have a relay send power to the bus bar, which was then placed under the center console and adhered with 3M locking strips so it’s removable as needed.

Around the time the speed of sound console panel arrived, I was also finishing up the wiring of the battery box now that everything fit well in the trunk.

I started with the CE Automotive battery relocation kit, and extra enhanced grounding wire kit. The breakers are each 200 amps, but can handle temporary spikes enough for starting the vehicle, so in parallel handles 800 amps.

https://ceautoelectricsupply.com/ba...plete-electrical-protection-10-awg-and-2-awg/


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[whitmanink]

wow,, just wow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, whats the total so far you spent on the engine ,body parts ect ext?

also , whats your hp numbers looking like (planned hp) when you get the turbo going

i think the car is beautiful,,, so much infact id be scared to drive it due to drunk drivers and idiots ,,lol ,,like thats alot of money and time ,, dont get me wrong tho,, if i had the funds , id be right there with you lol

 

[stkjock]

Alan at Speed of Sound did an excellent job mirroring the center console template I sent him and the placement was spot on.

He's one of the best!

 

[raredesign]

wow,, just wow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, whats the total so far you spent on the engine ,body parts ect ext?

also , whats your hp numbers looking like (planned hp) when you get the turbo going

i think the car is beautiful,,, so much infact id be scared to drive it due to drunk drivers and idiots ,,lol ,,like thats alot of money and time ,, dont get me wrong tho,, if i had the funds , id be right there with you lol

I appreciate the kind words. I don’t want to spoil it by jumping ahead of the post, but the goal is to see 1000rwhp.

I was keeping a spreadsheet for a while, but have some updates to make to it. I believe it’s around $50,000 in parts, but a lot of them were discounted as well.


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[raredesign]

He's one of the best!

Agreed. We have plans to do a trunk interior access panel, so it will look clean, yet allow me to see the battery / fuel pump controller area, and easily access it.


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[raredesign]

I ran high flex silicone coated 1/0 cable in a Techflex silicone coated fiberglass sleeve from a front power distribution block to the battery in the trunk.

Some 4awg high flex cables sleeved in Techflex for the power bus fuse block and alternator.

I went with the Denso alternator upgrade made by Department of Boost, and repainted the water tunnel crossover as well as some other parts such as the AC compressor with Eastwood aluminum paint.

The power distribution block also serves two auto-resetting breakers with 8awg wire, which I then use to power a relay panel.

I went with the Painless Performance 70217 dual relay panel, and made an aluminum ground plate which I mounted under the passenger dash.

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[raredesign]

Quite a bit of rewiring went into this, so I took the HP Academy wiring courses so I could better understand the proper methods. In turn, I used durable open barrel crimps rather than solder.

Weather pack connectors on all external applications.

I read all the device manuals ahead of time, so addressed wiring needs while everything was apart, including the N2MB, reverse lockout module, Aeroforce gauge, and eBoost 2 controller.

A pin-out was added for a clean tach out, and splices made for the crankshaft position sensor, clutch position, etc.

The wiring is run under the passenger fender and connects with weather pack connectors for a secondary run into a grommet to enter the vehicle. This makes it more serviceable in segments.

The loom was then wrapped up nicely again in Techflex 360 and Tesa tape, and used the less fibrous heat resistant Tesa tape so the material doesn’t melt from engine heat.

Inside the vehicle I used traditional quick connectors, and dremmeled the bottom of the cup holders off the console so the wires could run through it for access to the button panel.

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[raredesign]

Rather than bolt metal to metal, or drill holes that result in rust and flaked paint, I did my best to utilize what was available, but created insulated brackets to prevent damage and vibration noises.

The regulator seems to work well here.

This offers a little preview into my method. Throughout the build, I heavily relied on photos, time stamps, notes kept in Apple Note and Google Keep, as well as used my iPad to sketch details and sort out parts ahead of time.

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