Lethal Performance 2012 BOSS.. Toned down!

[G.T]

this is air to air with a 3.5" heat exchanger.. although in honesty, i've had good results with air to water before on other systems.. and i believe each style has it's pros and cons.

it's the engine coolant temps that i'm trying to keep down.. after a few back to back WOT runs, coolant temps creep up to 230+ and the engine bay heat soaks, and everything goes south from there

with the hood unvented as it is, i can leave the car off for 5 hours, and come back to it still fully warmed up.

 

[Sharad]

Looking good. I like the graphics change.

 

[G.T]

Yeah I was hesitant at first about changing them.. but I felt the rounded 2012 style graphics took away from the aggressive nature of the car

 

[bullitt6019]

So i'm the proud new owner of Lethal Performance's 2012 BOSS!



Put simply, this car is a monster that put down a whopping 830+whp and ran a 10.31 1/4 mile.. but i run a performance shop out here in dubai (you can see some of my work here) and i just couldn't help but mess with it a bit

my intention was to tame it down a bit so it's slightly more street "friendly"

So for starters, i removed the decommissioned nitrous system which was installed and tried out first before they decided to go with the JT Trim Vortech that finally earned it a 10.31 run..



i got rid of all the PCV crap since i didn't like the one-way check valve going between the manifold and passenger side PCV port.. plus that's two less hoses to worry about

now that i had an unused port on the manifold, i rigged up a custom connection to a braided SS line that runs all the way to the trunk to feed the boost referenced JMS Fuel pump booster.





sure the roadrunner 5.0 is strong, but i don't intend on finding out just how strong it really is with 16 pounds of boost

and given how tight everything was, this meant i had to remove the supercharger unit to swap pulleys, so i decided to go all out.. removed all the pipes going to and from the SC and got everything powder coated wrinkle finish matte black.



i reinstalled everything, trimming here and there to try and tuck everything in as nicely as i could.. put back the Vortech intake tube along with the factory closed intake box drawing air from the grille (no point having a "cold air" intake, if all it's breathing is hot under-hood air!)
while at it, i even managed to install the belly pan (cover under the radiator) without cutting any holes in it (which is usually required for the vortech installation to clear the intercooler pipes)

Now anyone with a Vortech knows how annoying the coolant expansion tank location is.. it sits on top of the passenger side valve cover blocking access to spark plugs, has hoses running to it all the way from the driver side of the engine.. and if that's not bad enough, good luck checking or topping up your coolant if you have a factory equipped strut brace!

so i was on a mission to figure out a place for a new expansion tank.. i wanted a better overall look.. better access, or at least maybe a see-through tank, so i can check the coolant level without having to open it!
the best i could come up with, was to fit a small reservoir in the area left behind by the sound tube diaphragm box near the brake booster.
it's on the driver side too, meaning all the coolant reservoir hoses would be easier to route too.



here's the final engine bay look (before i put back the strut brace)



Finally.. i know some may disagree with messing with the way a BOSS looks, but i honestly never liked the C side stripes, the black hood decal, or the black rear factory spoiler.. so i got rid of all.
i got 2013 BOSS hockey stick side stripes for the fenders and doors.. and made a custom hood accent decal.



as for the spoiler, i got the Laguna Seca spoiler which is also equipped on the GT/CS.
i think it looks menacing, sounds and goes like a beast!

that's pretty much it!



my only issue now is cooling.. this car builds some insanely high under-hood temperatures and the coolant temps climb up quick if you beat on it really hard, then again it's 110F out here in Dubai nowadays.

i did make sure my new coolant tank mod isn't the culprit, put back the "stock" reservoir, and tried a bigger one..
it's better, but i still see 230+ degrees coolant and i wanna put an end to that.

maybe hood vents.. not sure yet

Wow, nice work and dig your tension to detail....very nice.

 

[05gtowner]

I have never liked badges or decals that say turbo, supercharged etc. Love what you did under the hood and the hockey stripe but hood is a no bueno for me. It does look good though.

 

[G.T]

after removing the black 2012 boss decal off the hood, the hood needed something IMO.. so the accents really filled that void
the "supercharged" bit actually served a purpose.. it helped have the car pass the technical inspection.. as the idiots believed it's an OEM standard special edition
i think i'll be replacing them with blank black accents to keep it a bit more of a sleeper

would you like it more then?

 

[05gtowner]

Don't let my personal taste reflect whatever you want to do with the car. It is your car. I would never force my style on anybody. You do good work and already have the car looking better. I do like the sleeper look.

 

[G.T]

So i finally had a chance to work on my car again as i've been absolutely swamped with customer cars

i relocated the battery to the trunk using a universal Taylor kit.
made adjustable mounts with M10 studs.. so i could raise and lower each corner of the tray till i got it sitting exactly right:

and i did something similar with the original battery tray, added two adjustable mounts for the factory coolant reservoir.. and rerouted the hoses:

and here's how the engine bay looks now

it runs MUCH better.
coolant temps with normal driving are around 200-210F max (considering 110 ambient temps and high humidity in August here in Dubai)

When i get on it, it can go as high as 230.. but cools back down.. so no more overheating.

however i noticed that when my temps are hovering around 220 or so.. if i rev and hold RPM around 3,000 without load.. coolant temp drops below 210 in seconds.. meaning the mechanical pump doesn't flow enough at low engine speeds.

now i'm thinking on whether or not to add an inline electric pump.. something like the EMP Stewart 55GPM pump.
i've had this on other cars with great results

of course i'm still thinking about ways to extract heat from under the hood.. but i'll get to that once this is done

 

[toorbeenee]

Nice work bud. When we racing ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Louis awesome as always.

 

[UltraKla$$ic]

of course i'm still thinking about ways to extract heat from under the hood..

Move out of the desert!!! LOL........of course that would affect your wallet alot more than the temps under your hood.

 

[BEAST]

I love that car! Cool to see it making its way overseas. How do you deal with the dust/sand? Any special filters you run for FI applications? I see lots of dust on your Facebook, got to be hell to deal with.

 

[G.T]

i just clean and replace the filters more often.. nothing more to it

 

[MilehighGT]

I like what you are doing with the set-up. I was actually trying to find out what Lethal had done with the suspension on this car, do you have a sense of the modifications to the rear suspension?

 

[G.T]

absolutely bone stock suspension.. just the adjustable shocks that come from Ford on the BOSS!
The stock diff was swapped out for a FRPP Traction-lok LSD with upgraded carbon fiber clutch plates

 

[silverpoison]

Nice work bud. When we racing ?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

is this a dubai s197 shootout? lol

 

[G.T]

lol.. there's a huge S197 fan base out here!
i wouldn't race torbeenee as i stand no chance after toning this baby down! he'd be just wasting gas, and i'd be wasting rubber

 

[silverpoison]

lol.. there's a huge S197 fan base out here!
i wouldn't race torbeenee as i stand no chance after toning this baby down! he'd be just wasting gas, and i'd be wasting rubber

you guys should organize a shootout there! it would be a nice race, add more boost

 

[G.T]

and she's up for grabs, with free worldwide shipping
please spread the word
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201283491762

 

[Pentalab]

If you want more air into the front upper grille, toss the oem upper grille..and replace it with a 7 bar grille. The oem grille with the blocked off fogs restricts air like crazy. Even the version that has removable fog covers (with the wire mesh behind it) restricts air way too much. Between the fog covers, and everything outboard of each fog cover, and the tri-bar pony in the center, airflow is restricted. Folks who track the boss, on hot days have resorted to removing the upper grille altogether. Their fix was the 7 bar grille.

It really needs heat extractor louvers on the hood... and just aft of the rads, like the GT-500. That and a 7 bar grille would make for a huge increase in airflow through the rads...and get rid of underhood heat..and underhood air pressure.

Something else that would work is ceramic coated headers. Then even if cats are used, any cats would reside underneath the car (below driver + pass seat). Between oem cats @ base of eng bay + oem exhaust, the eng bay will cook. Cats run very hot, like 1800-1900 F on an aeroforce gauge.

I manage to reduce my underhood temps by 40F, with the ceramic coated LT's and catted H. That was b4 the 7 bar upper grille was installed.

I realize you have the car for sale. If its still having heat issues, some of these fixs may well help. That boss "oil cooler" doesn't appear to cool very much at all. It just uses eng coolant to cool the oil. That results in eng coolant temps rising.... hence the eng rad on the boss is thicker to begin with. It really requires a proper oil cooler... rad type, with a T stat....... IF it will fit in there with your existing blower etc, etc.