Mustang newb here

[Flusher]

Hello,

I pulled the trigger on an '05 V6/automatic last weekend. I have been admiring that body style since I first saw the concept car. Since it will be primarily a commuter, hopefully the MPG will balance out the fun factor of a V8/manuel.

Aa a machinist by trade, I have been involved with everything from snowboarding to space craft. I am new to being a Ford owner, but not to the high performance would. Currently I am involved with various types of jet boat racing, mostly drag racing. If anyone is curious to see some of my work, it can be seen here

http://m.b1racing.net/#/Photos

 

[Flusher]

It's a little rough. The main needs besides a little TLC are a new fender and bumper cover.

I have only really driven it once, but it is sure a lot more fun to drive than the Volvo that has been eating away at my soul.

Cheers,

Joe Ratcliff

 

[weather man]

Welcome! V6 mods are few in number, but out there.

 

[Flusher]

Oh, yeah, the name...

It is a derogatory term for jet boats because the the swirling motion of water through a mixed flow pump resembles a toilet flushing.

Welcome! V6 mods are few in number, but out there.

Thank you

I will do a swap or buy a different car when the time is right. I really like the new body style.

 

[stkjock]

This is not like most other boards -

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30272

http://s197forum.com/forum/announcement.php?f=19

http://s197forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89602

 

[5.SLOW]

welcome

 

[Dustin@LMR]

Welcome to the site!

If you ever need anything, such as the forum discount code, feel free to shoot me a PM, and I'll be happy to help you!

In the meantime, you are more than welcome to browse our website for all of your Mustang parts, and needs!

https://lmr.com/2005-09-Mustang

 

[whosyurdaddy]

welcome

 

[Wicked GT]

Welcome!

 

[Flusher]

Thank you all again for the welcome.

So here is what I had in mind. In 2007, I was hot and bothered to buy a GT500. Riverside was the only dealership that had one on the lot however, when I walked up to it, it just sold and was removed to be detailed. I test drove both the Saleen and the Roush, but I just wasn't satisfied with the performance. An opportunity to buy the jet boat that I wanted was made available and I had to jump on that. My Mustang dreams went on hold.

My neighbor, who is a used car dealer had this V6 parked in front of my shop and I couldn't stop looking at it. A deal was made to park it in front of my shop permenantly

The car tracked straight and felt solid. Yes, I wish it was a V8, that's not really practical right now as I am putting 160 to 320 miles on it a day. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my foot out of it if I got the V8 and I wouldn't feel bad about modding something special like a GT500. I could build this car the way I wanted without worrying about killing its value.

 

[Flusher]

A little update on my progress or rather my regress.

I dove into repairing the broken head lights and wrinkled fender. What I found was, the core support was bent pretty good and I didn't yet have a replacement fender. The misalignment between the mounting holes in the head light bucket and the corresponding holes in the core support were off by approximately 1-1/2".

This was more than I was prepared to do myself, so I took it to the collision repair that my neighbor uses. He was to pull the core support; correct and align the hood, fenders, and headlights so that the front bumper and grills could be upgraded at a later time.

When I picked up the car, the alignment of the driver's side headlight was horrible. I understand that the bumper is still damaged and therefore isn't straight and that drove decision to "split the difference" in the gap.

The gap between the fender and the head light is about 1/2" and the top doesn't follow the hood line, appearing high and rotated clockwise in the pictures. The beam is very high. I haven't spent any time adjusting it, but I'm not feeling hopefull. I also don't believe that the headlight bucket has 1/2" of alignment to make it align with the hood and fender.

I'm not sure if I should mess with it because, if I align the bucket to the fender, there will be a 1" gap between the headlight bucket and the bumper. I'm not even sure this is possible with the tiny mounting holes.

 

[Flusher]

So, as I am driving home, it pulls pretty hard now and the tires grab ever groove and crack in the road. I knew the tires had significant wear and I intended to replace them before I start driving the car regularly.

In less than 11 miles, the right front tire disintegrated. So I am sitting here at my favorite alignment shop with some issues weighing heavily on my mind.

I looked the car over pretty thoroughly before I bought it and since to familiarize myself with the chassis. I pretty specifically remember the rear end being centered. The driveway is at about a 5-10 degree angle, but that really shouldn't matter. The rear end appears to be shifted to the left about 1-1/2" total. Looking at it where it is, the LCA appear to not be shifted. We won't know anything for sure until the new tires are installed and the car is on the rack.

The collision guy said that everything looked within spec when he had it on his rack. My alignment guy said, "the car is through!"

Hopefully I will have good news.

 

[Flusher]

Good news.

I'm happy that numbers all ended up in spec and the car drives nice. I was shocked at how different the car drove after pulling on the core support. Just good to know that I have a good foundation to start with.

I still have my concerns about the head light bucket alignment, but I will move forward. Leaning towards the LNR front bumper from BBR.

Now to contact Terry for shocks, struts, springs, and go through any worn suspension components.

Cheers,

Joe