Vorshlag 2015 Mustang GT Road Race Build #TRIGGER

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Adding this rear seat to trunk firewall was a good idea as we had the Radium surge tank with two fuel pumps, differential cooler pump and other flammable fluids and electrical bits going on back there. This is the trunk wiring almost finished, above. The negative cable goes from the Optima battery to the Cartek kill and then to a big lug on the chassis. If you trigger the Cartek it kills the ground to the battery and shuts down everything.



Once the battery / Cartek / 200 amp breaker were wired in, the main battery cable was run forward through the cabin to another bulkhead pass-thru at the engine bay firewall (can't find the pic), then routed down to the starter. The starter solenoid wires were run from the Painless Harness and to our push button starter.



This is just the same LS1 starter we sell for all of our LS swaps, and it works great. Brad wrapped the areas of the cable and solenoid trigger with some heat wrap, as they are close to the header. If we notice it getting heat soaked by the proximity to the ceramic coated stainless header we will add a heat shield around the starter - but so far, so good.



There are lots of little systems that we have wired in - the AMB transponder, a big loud horn, the brake pedal switch. I will cover the important systems in their own sections.

FUEL PUMP PDM CONTROLLER

Programmable Power Distribution Management or "PDM" systems are all the rage the last 3-5 years in Motorsports. These are used widely in industry (my John Deere tractor has a PDM, and OEM car makers use them also) to minimize discrete wiring runs from every switch to each powered motor. This bundle of wires is replaced with a CAN network that sends commands to the devices, removing a lot of wiring and relays from a vehicle, and allowing some basic ladder logic to control multiple systems - based on alarm conditions or "if/then" logic.



Sounds great, right? Well - it is! Right up until the point when your PDM takes a dump. I've heard from more than a few racers that they always keep a 100% backup PDM on hand for critical race weekends. Instead of a spare relay or switch, you need a spare PDM! Still, the desire to have this build on "the cutting edge" of PDM hotness inspired me to order the AiM PDM32 system. Twice.

After TWO YEARS of waiting for two orders from AiM Sports for PDM systems, starting back in early 2020, we threw in the towel. Each order we sent them was ignored for 6+ months and every time we asked for an update it was "8-12 weeks" out. We cancelled both orders and went another route. AiM Sports, being based out of Italy, had MAJOR supply chain and remote employee work issues getting these new PDM systems launched during the Global Pandemic. Even now in 2023, fully THREE YEARS after this new system was announced and released, they still have very real problems. I do not recommend going this route, for now, until more racers / guinea pigs have helped AiM work out the bugs in their PDM. And with a Holley, well... none of the display would have worked anyway.



Instead of waiting years longer, we ordered this harness from Current Performance. This "mini PDM" was a $225 unit made specifically for the Holley EFI system we are using. This can control 2 Fans 2 Pumps plus an auxiliary system. Pretty basic but it is a programmable "PDM" in the strictest sense of the definition.

 

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We used one Fan control for the main radiator fan, the other for the diff cooler pump and fan, and the two fuel pump circuits control the two main pumps inside the Radium surge. We had the lift pump on the "aux" circuit but removed that and run that separately (some programming issues cleaned up and we will move that back). It communicates directly with and is controlled by the Holley Dominator ECM - which we have mounted right below the Current Performance box.



Brad modified the panel in the glove box area we built to hold the Painless Wiring harness' main fuse/relay panel. This is thru-mounted in this panel for easy access to the relays and fuses, for easier maintenance.

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This little mini PDM worked perfectly when we fired up and dyno tuned the car, with the exception of the lift pump. Again, some programming changes should get that cleared up. All of this is hidden behind the glove box door, with the rest of the Painless harness and Holley ECM. And yes, there is an LED light that can be switched on (with the "dome" light circuit), to make maintenance even easier.

ACCUSUMP: PRES SENSOR + SOLENOID

One small oversight when the Accusump was installed - we didn't order the Canton triggering solenoid. This is what electronically "dumps" the pressurized cylinder into the engine's oiling system.



This large 3 quart Accusump unit barely fits between the frame rails so adding this solenoid to the end wasn't possible, but Brad built a bracket out of some 1/2" thick aluminum plate. This was shaped to fit against the frame rail and drilled it to fit the bolt spacing on the solenoid.

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This was then mounted remotely and will be triggered by the Holley EFI system or manually from a switch on the center stack dash panel. The Holley EFI was programmed to release the pressure when the engine is running above 2000 rpm and oil system pressure is under 20 psi. Simple, safe, let's go.

 

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EPAS CONTROL & POWER HARNESSES

Another OEM system we lost with this "CAN-free" car was the Electric Power Assist Steering, or EPAS. The 2011-14 S197 and 2015-up S550 models all went to EPAS, removing the hassles and dangers of hydraulic power steering pumps / lines / coolers.



This car has a junkyard sourced 2015 Mustang EPAS rack. We then purchased a "stand-alone" harness for the S197/S550 racks from Cortex (the blue/white wires coiled up inside the big red/black cables), then a power harness for this from a late model F150 (the outer coiled cables). This Cortex harness has some sort of circuitry to "trick" the EPAS rack to work without CAN signals. We lose speed input changes and the dash-mounted 3-mode selections using their harness, but I don't really care or notice.


The image above left shows both connectors - the control and power harnesses. The main power cable (#4) is fed from the power distribution through a 100 amp circuit breaker before going to the rack (see above right).



All of this works like a champ - I made a demo video last week, which shows how this works, even with the engine off. This is handy when you are pushing a race car around. We just power on the Cartek kill and - VOOM! - we have EPAS.

CENTER STACK SWITCH PANEL

We don't have the factory HVAC controls or radio - which is what takes up a majority of the center part of the dash. I like to call this the "center stack switch panel", and it is valuable real estate in most race cars. If the driver can reach part or all of this we can add buttons, switches and dials. We started with a cardboard template that Brad cut out, then I scanned that for a CAD version that Jason would ultimately create based on my layout.



For the Center Stack Panel on our Mustang, I wanted to spend a little more time on, really get this dialed in correctly. So many times on race car builds the center stack is a flat panel with switches, dials and ports added over a long period of time without any real long term planning or "cohesive plan". This area adapts as things like a cool suit or new systems that need switches get added (see below left).



I also wanted to use a type of rectangular paddle switch that is common in trucking, marine, and lately race car use. These come in 2 position, 3 position and even momentary push button versions, and can be backlit. I had a gaggle of these I got stuck with on a customer's build he flaked out on, so we had some initial switches we could start with. Long term I will get these custom made with laser etched lettering and symbols that are backlit, but these will do for now.

 

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These rectangular holes are a REAL CHORE to cut out manually, so we created a design in CAD that we could cut out quickly on the CNC plasma table. Brad and I planned out the switch placements early on, along with some additional items: a 7" LCD screen (for a back up camera / lose cam), some USB ports, a digital volt meter, push button start, Cartek main battery kill switch, AiM remote memory card holder, and a control panel / readout for a driver cooling system that would we added later. We also had a comms port for the AiM dash.



Getting the shape of the panel to fit the center stack opening on the S550 dash took a couple of iterations, as did the final sizing of the rectangular switch openings. We also changed the layout of a few items after mocking them up in the car - with me strapped in the driver's seat - after finding the limit of my reach. The 4th version was just about perfect and Brad got that one painted up.



To mount the center stack panel into the dash required some custom brackets, which themselves adapt to the radio mounting area - which is further back and at an angle. Brad whipped these out and bolted them into the partially gutted dash structure. Later on the mounting holes to these brackets was added to the CAD file for the panel, to make later iterations quicker to mount up.



Once we had the layout right Brad wired in the various switches to a DW multi-pin connector, so the whole unit can be unbolted and removed quickly. As you can see above left there is a lot going on behind this panel, but the finished unit (above right) looks clean, purposeful and well thought out. Later on as we add more systems we might need another version but I think this one will last us a bit.



Brad also created a lower mounting bracket at the bottom of the opening, then a horizontal filler panel that that ties the bottom of the center stack panel to the lower console - fills in a section that is normally a plastic storage cubby. And that big blank section at the bottom of the panel is for the driver cooling system controller, which we will add later (basically an air conditioner for water that will go through a driver worn cool suit).



This is the completed center stack switch panel, along with the functional 7" LCD screen for a back up camera - which has been surprisingly useful on this car! I use this in my street car daily drivers, and every single time I back up this Mustang it gets used. With Halo style racing seats and a HANS device on this will be a welcomed addition for visibility behind. I bought this screen ages ago and I think it was about $50. The license plate frame with included camera and LED light was about the same amount, so for $100 we have a useful addition - an more D&E points for Optima, haha!

 

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AIM MXG 1.3 DIGITAL DASH (DOES NOT WORK WITH HOLLEY EFI!)

This section of the project was an unpleasant surprise - which we learned about after the fact - Holley doesn't support any other aftermarket digital dash. AiM Sports made it sound like they worked with Holley HP and Dominator EFI systems, so I purchased an AiM MXG dash, but that was a lie. There is a nerfed Holley output that supposedly works on RacePak digital dashes, but you lose ~75% of the Holley data channels with that protocol.



We spent a chunk on this AiM MXG and the remote SD card holder, and spent a chunk of time mounting it all - all for naught. I really like AiM dash units because they (can) log data and I am familiar with their data analysis software. These units also have an industry leading lap timer and predictive lap readout feature. Words cannot describe how pissed off I was at the end of this section of work to realize that we HAD to use a Holley dash...



I will show the steps where Brad made the mounting brackets and panels - because we re-used all of this to mount the Holley digital dash. I wanted the steering column plastics installed, to keep the interior looking "finished" for a few racing classes we had in mind. The trimmed hole above fits the AiM and Holley screens.



I had purchased missing items like the factory gauge bezels, then Brad made a "gauge block off" panel starting with cardboard and going to aluminum. Sections of the angled and round bezels had to be modified to fit this blanking panels.



Mounting brackets for the blanking panel were added inside the back section of the gauge bezels, then the AiM dash template was used to transfer the mounting holes for this screen.



I was happy with the finished install, but very UNhappy to learn this screen won't work with any Holley EFI system. I will use a remote AiM SOLO lap timer for use on track for now, but that is more clutter on the windshield I was hoping to avoid.

 

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We're not giving up all hope, however, and have a CAN integration specialist working on a custom box to help the to devices talk together. Its much harder than just "sniffing the CAN signals", but I will cover this in more detail next time - if we can make this work.

DASH INDICATOR LEDS

One of the things that can happen when you have a LOT of sensors and data displayed on a digital screen is DATA OVERLOAD. So we have some warning indicator LEDs we planned for and I purchased. These cover things like low fuel level and ABS warning lights, but also left and right turn indicators, high beam lights, and even Reverse light indicator. These have already proven useful in testing.



I purchased 6 of these units online at $8.95 each and Brad got to work on the layout and placement of each, testing with me in the car for each one.



These all are wired into another DW 12 pin connector for easier panel removal and work. The first one to be wired in was the low fuel indicator from a level switch in the top of the Radium remote surge tank. This was an optional item when purchasing the surge tank and lets you know as soon as the tank goes from "full" to just a bit under - which means you have about a liter of fuel left. This is a "BACK OFF THE LAP AND PIT RIGHT NOW" light.



We have also added a Reverse solenoid controller and when the transmission is shifted into Reverse the "R" indicator on the dash lights up. We have 4 other indicators that we will wire in as time allows, after the dyno testing is complete.

FLUIDS INSTALLED + STARTER BUMPED

By Mid-November 2022 we were ready to start adding fluids and bump the starter, crank the engine, and check oil pressure. This would also be a full plumbing system leak test.



I decided to use a Motul break-in oil for the first dyno test, which we would change out for proper Motul 5W50 Ester synthetic before the first track test. We needed THREE GALLONS of oil to fill the oil pan, filter, oil cooler and Accusump.



We filled the cooling system with distilled water and a touch of anti-freeze. We used a cheap AC Delco DOT3 hydraulic fluid for the brake and clutch systems - anticipating some small leaks, which of course did happen. This will be flushed and bled with proper Motul RBF600 or 660 once the initial dyno work and test driving is completed.

 

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Filling the diff cooler system was a challenge. We had a "T" fitting high up in the system with a cap, just for this purpose. But since the cooler was above the diff housing, we would have to do a calculated fill. The pump acts as a check valve so once fluid gets pumped into the cooler is stays there (again, this is by design). We had to run the pump to get everything full, until it was coming out of the top hole (the normal fill line). Then added the amount that goes into the cooler. Doug used a long funnel and added the 3.6 quarts of Valvoline 80W90 diff fluid (Motul Gear300 was out of stock globally) and some Auburn Gear limited slip additive.

FUEL PRES REGULATOR MOVE, LOAD START-UP TUNE, CHECK SENSORS

One of the things Brad noticed when he want to add some sensor wiring was that the Aero fuel pressure regulator was in a tough spot to reach and had some plumbing that got a little to close to the exhaust header. After looking at this closely I agreed and set him loose.



After making a new bracket he relocated the regulator, re-routed the hoses, and made one new Fragola hose. That keeps the regulator as far away from the headers as possible without putting it too far from the fuel rail to be useful.



We had somehow missed adding a MAP sensor, so we ordered the correct LS6 style from AC Delco. There are two options for the one O2 sensor on a Holley - NTK or Bosch. We also ordered and installed the wide band Oxygen sensor, the NTK "0.9 Lamda" unit (for NA engines), from MAD Racing.

FIRST FIRE TESTING

All sensors were installed and wired, all fluids filled, now the battery was charged up. The starter had been bumped several times, even cranked, to fill fluids into the oil system.



We took the start-up tune from our tooner and Doug loaded that to the Holley ECM. We added fuel and cranked... checked fuel pumps, checked spark plugs, but it would NOT start.



We had to triple-check major sensors, like the crank sensor. We verified that I had ordered the right 58X reluctor sensor and that we had a 58x reluctor on the crank.

 

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We were getting weird faults and then checked the distance from the crank sensor to the reluctor wheel, using a socket, marking the depth and checking against the sensor. That wasn't it.



After a two days of testing, checking, new tunes, phone calls and more cranking we found the issue - the Holley ECM will LOSE THE TUNE sometimes when the battery voltage to the computer dips below 10V when cranking. And sure enough, the battery would drop nearly 2 volts cranking (see above images) and we had to reload the tune and re-run the TPS setup wizard. This isn't a bug its a FEATURE, haha! (this is a MAJOR bug Holley... major).



On November 18th, 2022 we finally figured out the "tune disappeared" mystery and got it to fire up, which you can see in this ugly video. We still had a massive vacuum leak and the idle was high, but that was found later and the idle RPM calmed way down. We needed to bleed the brakes and clutch systems, but hearing the engine run was huge.

SPL PARTS REAR ARMS

If you followed our 2018 Mustang GT development thread you know that we had some of the earliest SPL Parts for the S550 Mustang on that car. We are an early tester stuff for their parts, and I know Sean and Turner from that company well - they are the current NASA Texas Time Trial directors and TT racers we see on track.



They sent us these upper rear control arms right after they went into production in 2022 and they look amazing - even with a schlub like me "modeling" them. Gorgeous parts they design in-house and have machined here in Texas, with some parts on their own CNC machines at their new facility. I was more than happy to test these out on Trigger!



It didn't take Doug long to swap out the stock, heavy steel upper arms for these new adjustable units. This will allow us to finally get more than -2.2 degrees of rear camber! (We ended up at -3.2 deg when it was aligned - see more below).

 

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I like this feature above - the O-rings installed around the spherical bearings will help keep water and grit out of these metal bearings. This is even more important once you get sphericals near ground level. After that was rough adjusted (we had an alignment scheduled soon) you can see all of the many SPL parts we have in the back of this Mustang. Only the lower control arm is stock - and we suspect an SPL replacement will be coming along eventually for that.

HYDRAULIC TOB REPLACEMENT + PEDAL STOP

One of the last mechanical "challenges" we had before we first test drove the Mustang happened when bleeding the clutch. But to get to that point we had to order and install a stand-alone clutch reservoir (see below left), which we sourced from a C5 Corvette. This was mounted to the firewall and allows for a separate source of fluid for the clutch - instead of commingling that with the brake fluid. Segregated clutch fluid reservoirs are always best. We also finished the main vacuum line from the back of the manifold to the Mustang brake booster (see below right).



As I mentioned in a previous installment, back in 2020 I decided to re-use a clutch I had "bought back" from a customer after only a couple of days of use. It was a brand I trusted (ClutchMasters) and I even drove the Camaro it was installed in, and liked the feel. Would this make for a daily driven perfect clutch? Maybe not, but for what I had in mind the "weight / feel / cost" was perfect.



The entire clutch + flywheel assembly was 27.2 pounds - which is a good balance between uber-light 5.5" or 7.25" dia race only "on off" 2-3 plate clutches and stock dual mass flywheel 11" diameter versions. This twin disc ClutchMasters 850 series clutch kit came with an aluminum flywheel, pressure plate, the clutches and the associated hydraulic throw out bearing (TOB) slave.

Two key steps were missed during the install back in 2020 - the first one being MEASURING the thickness of the clutch and shimming the TOB to have the correct gap from the pressure plate fingers when released (clutch pedal out), which helps keep it from over-traveling to disengage the clutch when you press the pedal in. Once it was out we noted that there were zero shims - I should have noticed this when it went together, but I missed it.



PRO TIP: Whenever you are installing any clutch into any car and it is not a 100% factory stock single disc with stock slave, DO THE MATH. Every clutch manufacturer has a worksheet and often some simple template tools to help you get the proper throw and setup depth. Measure, calculate, and know that you have the right stack-up height on your slave. avoid this mistake - it only takes about 10 minutes to measure and shim the TOB!



When Doug and Brad went to bleed the clutch hydraulics, the clutch wasn't disengaging properly - the pedal had to travel too far to release, but this is hard to realize when bleeding. They had assumed that this had been checked and shimmed previously. - to fix this you need to remove the transmission, measure, then re-shim the TOB slave.

 

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But our luck kept turning south - during the bleeding process, after the suction bleed didn't give a good clutch pedal feel, it was time to use the remote bleed hose and manually pump the pedal and release the bleeder, using a 2 man bleed operation. Pump and press the pedal, release the bleeder, close it off, release the clutch, repeat. That's when The second mistake popped up - not having an adjustable clutch pedal stop - and into the bleeding process the slave cylinder over-traveled and blew the seal out...

PRO TIP: Whenever you do not have a 100% stock pedal assembly, clutch / pressure plate / slave (like this car - a GM style clutch in a Ford Mustang with aftermarket clutch and slave!), do yourself a favor and build or buy a clutch pedal stop! Then adjust that to allow proper disengagement and NO MORE pedal travel. Over-traveling a clutch slave can blow the seal out, like we did.



When we had first purchased this clutch in 2017 the TOB slave was 2 pieces - one of which was an adapter that bolted to the T56, the second piece was the hybrid slave / TOB. It was thicker than the new version we ordered to replace it with. The 2022 version was 1-piece and much thinner, and needed to be shimmed to reach the pressure plate fingers. Doug did the math and got the new unit shimmed properly with the new clutch slave.

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We had to create a clutch stop for another car (CTS-V) recently, which had an aftermarket clutch master with a stock pedal assembly. On that mess - which was supposedly "working fine" before it came into our shop - it had blown out a Tilton clutch master. We had to re-align the replacement Tilton because it the pushrod from the pedal was way-off-axis from the master. At least on the Mustang here we could reuse the Ford clutch master, so we wouldn't have to mess with that potential issue. But the pedal stop we made on that car was needed on the S550.

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I sketched out a simple bracket for Doug and he built it quickly from some 1/8" thick steel sheet. The back of the bracket was bent to fit the very non-flat firewall shape, then mocked up with the pedal (which has massive travel).



That was then removed from the car and drilled for the adjustable stop. An M14 nut was welded to the back side, then an M14 bolt and jam nut added to the top side. A pair of rivnuts were then added to the firewall and the bracket painted, bolted in, and adjusted to have enough travel to completely disengage the clutch.

 

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The clutch system was then bled and the pedal stop adjusted with the car on the lift. When the clutch pedal was pressed in and the wheels stopped spinning, then the pedal stop was adjusted to only allow a tiny bit more pedal travel. This prevents the over-travel situation that blew the seal out on the last slave cylinder. When driving the car you don't even notice the stop, but it just cannot over-travel.



A few weeks later the replacement seal arrived from ClutchMasters, which a FB friend noted was available from them for only $12. Money well spent, and Doug had the old 2017 slave cylinder rebuilt in a few minutes - this will be our spare slave cylinder in case we somehow lose another.



With the working clutch we could finally test drive the Mustang for the first time! I drove it out of the shop and around our parking lot a bit, but a high idle kept me from going too far at that time (mid-December 2022). We brought the car back into the shop to diagnose the running issues and work on some other final details.

FRONT GRILL DUCTING

While we waited the ~2 weeks for the new CM clutch slave cylinder to arrive, Brad tackled the task of ducting the front grill openings to all of the coolers.



This ducting wasn't 100% necessary for the dyno tuning, but it really does help a lot when on track + when the electric fans are running while traveling under 40 mph. Ducting is actually pretty critical between the grill openings and the coolers - air will always take the path of least resistance, and if you allow air to go around the coolers, much of it will.



As always, Cardboard Assisted Design was utilized and after the cardboard was cut to fit around the intricate shapes, Brad transferred that to .063" thick aluminum sheet.

 

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The four main "duct box" pieces were cut, corners bent, the various shapes fitted, and cleaned up with a file and finger belt sander.



A new and better upper radiator bracket was built at the same time - we didn't like an earlier version, so Brad did this thing of beauty, with dimpled dies added. And you won't ever see it.



At this point the duct box was held together by Cleco fasteners and we were ready to get it final bolted and sealed up. The front bumper cover and front crash beam had been on and off several times to check fit.



Now the front tubular bumper beam we had built went back on and the panels were bolted together - with simple nuts and bolts. The fit from the front grills to the duct box panels is exceptionally good. Probably better than most racers would bother with, but like me, Brad is a perfectionist. Why just make it, when you can make it RIGHT.



Lastly this series of panels was built to tie the front left grill opening to feed the cold air filter box. This forces air into the air filter box cleanly, and the back of the hexagonal grill was modified (above right) to open up the entire area for airflow (in stock form this is only about 1/3rd open).

 

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The two Fragola -12AN oil cooler hoses pass through the cold air inlet opening, but that was the safest hose routing and won't impact performance of the engine. After these final air inlet panels were covered in DEI gold foil, the front bumper cover went back on and the ClutchMasters TOB arrived (shown above).

HOLLEY DIGITAL DASH INSTALL (UGH!)

We had been desperately trying to make the ~$2800 AiM MXG digital dash to talk with the Holley, like AiM and others have said works.



We went around and around, triple checking CAN settings in the Holley software, configurations, firmware versions, and on and on. The "Racepak" CAN config in the Holley Dominator system is just one big fat lie - the AiM folks made excuses but they do NOT have a working config for Holley CAN.



I was pretty angry at this point, and was tempted to chuck the entire Holley EFI system altogether and start over with another brand. I know this - I will NEVER use another Holley EFI in my life, not after this. Starting over now would add months to get to our first track test.



Cooler heads prevailed and we borrowed a Holley digital dash from former Vorshlag technician, Even at Pure Performance. He had a Holley 7" LCD dashes new in box and said I could borrow it for as long as we needed. It is roughly the same shape as the AiM MXG so it wasn't hard to swap them out.



We tested the dash while just wired in, and it worked immediately. It seems there is an encrypted CAN handshake between a Holley ECM and Holley dash that nobody else has figured out. Brad got to work and added new mounting holes in the gauge delete panel he built, and the dash was mounted in no time.

 

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Some of you might think - "hey, it works and its 1/3rd the cost, why not just use a Holley dash?" Well there are several down sides to their dash, namely it doesn't log (the AiM dash does). But mostly the AiM has built in lap timing and predictive lap timing that is world renowned. I'm not giving up on the AiM dash, and we started working immediately with a CAN integration specialist on making a "black box" to help the AiM and Holley systems communicate.



He told me to order this PEAK brand CAN sniffer, which I did. It arrived a few days later and we built a serial cable to connect that in series with the Holley CAN network.



We made several 3-5 minute engine running sessions, where we logged the Holley data on the ECM and the CAN data going to the dash via the PEAK sniffer. We are hopeful that someone can create a new product or AiM configuration that works. I am NOT happy about this "Holley EFI only talks to Holley dashes" limitation.

REMOTE RESERVOIR BRACKETS

Up until now we had the reservoirs zip-tied to a lower bumper cover bracket, but it was time to move these into the trunk area. I wanted to be able to access the compression knobs quickly, but the canisters needed to be kept away from heat.



Doug took a simple sketch I made and built these reservoir brackets from aluminum sheet. It is more than the bare minimum needed, but I want to make sure when I pop the trunk that you can see the spendy bits!



Each side of the trunk is different, due to the filler neck on the left side, but Doug managed to make the canisters sit symmetrically - which pleases my ACD mind a bit. Yes, the mufflers are still open to the trunk, but we will make a lightweight metal cover for these before we run SCCA Time Trial Max1 class (which requires a "cover").

 

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CORNER BALANCE + MOTORSPORTS ALIGNMENT

On January 5th, 2023 we had many of the above mentioned problems sorted - the car runs and drives, the clutch hydraulics and pedal stop were working, and we had the brakes bled. The SPL rear upper arms were added and the car now BADLY needed an alignment. But first it was time to set ride heights and corner balance the Mustang.



Brad took the measurements I wanted and set the ride heights, then got a weight. It weighs more than I had hoped at 3256 lbs, but that is "ready to race" with all fluids and fuel in the tank. We added 175 pounds of ballast for driver weight and he got the corner weights to 50.5/49.5%. That's good enough for now (we still have a few things we might change) and we will re-work this before it goes on track.

Brad took the measurements I wanted and set the ride heights, then got a weight. It weighs more than I had hoped at 3256 lbs, but that is "ready to race" with all fluids and fuel in the tank. We added 175 pounds of ballast for driver weight and he got the corner weights to 50.5/49.5%. That's good enough for now (we still have a few things we might change) and we will re-work this before it goes on track. Some people ask me all the time - why doesn't Vorshlag own a laser alignment rack?

Well I can give you 100,000 reasons. Cost for a good alignment machine plus a proper 4 post rack ranges between $20-100K, and we stopped taking in "customer day work" 5 years ago. We could never justify the cost, so about once a month I haul a car to a nearby motorsports shop that does proper alignments. It gobbles up time (2 round trips @ 2 hours each) but its cheaper than a hundred grand. And with these multi-link rear suspensions, string aligning becomes a REAL chore that gobbles up 3-5 hours and is never quite as accurate.



I drove the car around the shop a bit getting it over to the trailer - wow, the toe settings at both ends were JACKED, it was crab walking sideways a a lot. But I got it winched into and strapped down in the trailer. Adding the front tow hooks makes the front SO EASY to tie down.



On January 9th I drove the ~45 minutes over and unloaded at BSP Motorsports, then gave them my "alignment goals" print out, which we do for any alignment shop. They got to work and the next day they had it all sorted.



As I mentioned, our initial settings on the camber and toe settings were way off. But BSP worked their magic and adjusted the front camber to -4.25 deg, the rear to -3.2 deg, and the rear toe-in that I wanted. They also followed my instructions by adjusting rear upper SPL arms in a way to maximize rear tire clearance, and up front getting the tops of the tires tucked in by juggling the camber plates and lower arms. Perfection.



This makes the 19x11" wheels look downright TUCKED on the back, and the front tires are also well inside the stock fenders. We won't keep the stock fenders for too long, but for now we won't have to worry about any tire to fender contact. This setup just looks aggressive - I'm so ready to get this car on track! But we have some work left...

 

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S197 ABS SWAP: PLUMBING, POWER, AND AIRBAG MODULE

As mentioned above, the S550 Mustang ABS doesn't work "stand-alone" yet - there are necessary CAN channels from the chassis and stock ECU that are needed. Some CAN wizards we know have tried to crack this puzzle, and we have got a number of these S550 ABS units in the shop. When time allows we will try to work with one of the CAN experts to conquer the S550 ABS swap. For now, we have already made a late 2011-14 Mustang S197 ABS swap work stand-alone - using the ford Racing ABS computer and custom tone rings on this C5.



This C5 stops better than any Corvette I've ever driven, and we're now trying to make this S197 swap work withOUT the rare Ford Racing ABS computer. We've also done Mk60 BMW ABS swaps, but that is much older tech (circa 2003) and the more modern the ABS, generally the faster it can cycle and the better it can work. The S197 system from 2011 works VERY well and we will move forward with that ABS swap on our S550.



We already built an S550 stand-alone ABS wiring harness when we tried to swap one of these onto our C6 (it was a total bust). But we can re-use much of that harness for this S197-to-S550 ABS swap (above left). For this S550 install which has zero CAN wiring we need to add a brake pedal position switch (above right).



One thing we are testing with this S197 ABS install is adding the OEM airbag sensor box (above left) to the tunnel, which supposedly allows these 2011-14 S197 ABS systems to work stand-alone without the Ford Racing ABS computer. Since those Ford Racing ABS computers are out of production and getting rare, this is a worthwhile detour to test. If it doesn't work we will stick the racing module in - we know that works. Brad wired that in following a late S197 wiring diagram, and the sensor box sits on the tunnel just like it does on an S197 - hidden under the center console.



Next up it was time to wire in the four wheel speed sensors, which are each two wire twisted pairs that run to the factory S550 sensors at each corner. These come from a plug at the S197 ABS unit in the back left corner of the engine - again, mounted in the same orientation as it is in an S197 (see previous entry showing that).



To power the ABS system requires two high amp fuses - a 30 amp for the ABS valves and a 40 amp for the ABS pump, per the factory manual. To make room for those Brad built this aluminum bracket and mounted those + a 30 amp headlight fuse + two relays that were already mounted nearby. All of this sits above the 100 amp circuit breaker for the EPAS power harness.

 

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The ABS system had been plumbed before just by re-flaring and bending the four S550 factory brake lines and two (big bore) master cylinder feed lines. But the lengths for the two feed lines from the master to the ABS brick were a bit short and had some extreme bends to fit - making for a less than perfect seal. These had been weeping a small amount and I wanted them replaced, so I sourced some 5/16" steel brake hard lines from our local Pirtek supplier.



Brad re-made these two fat feed lines from the master and bent them with some extra length to avoid the shortened bends from before. Strangely the two factory S550 feed lines were of two slightly different sizes but made for the 5/16" fittings, which we re-used from the S197. We will keep an eye on these, but so far these have held pressure after being bled that day. We need to test the ABS system soon, but the car needs to be running better before we tackle any test drives.

REMOTE CARTEK KILL SWITCHES & 3RD BRAKE LIGHT

While we were getting ready for the dyno test I asked Brad to go ahead and install both of the "remote" battery kill buttons for the Cartek. The main kill button and the master RESET is in the center. There are good reasons to place the remote battery kills and fire pulls like this. Namely, a corner worker on either side of the car can hit the battery kill from the two red remotes.



This matches up with the same dual Lifeline fire system pulls, also mounted for easy access from either side. I can reach the left fire pull from the seat, but more importantly I can hit it as I'm bailing or after I have exited a burning car.



Another late update was to the 3rd brake light - which was broken by the salvage yard folks when they stripped this chassis. It was slapped back in place but the circuit board was ruined, and luckily I found a Dorman replacement for around $55. We had also ordered this 3rd brake light module from a trailer towing place many months early to make the 3rd brake light work - as the brake lights are also the turn signals, and it needs a little logic to work correctly.



Brad mounted that in the stock location, which the P2P Lexan window was cut for. He wired that in with the truck/trailer 3rd brake light module, and it worked great. A working 3rd brake light is a "street car" + safety thing, and a nice little feature on this totally re-wired car. We still have front lights and turn signals to tackle, but I can drive around safely like this, at least.

 

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WINDSHIELD COWL COVER INSTALL

One other small detail I wanted to fix was the missing cowl cover - we had one from the original salvage car, but the new placement of the Canton remote coolant reservoir and the C5 Corvette remote clutch fluid reservoir made this not fit.



Brad mocked it up a couple of times and trimmed around those two items, then cleaned up the cuts with a 3" Scotch Brite wheel on a die grinder.



Then the faded black plastic was cleaned up with some Mothers Back to Black liquid, and the roughest parts were scuffed with a light wire brushing. Not only does having this panel look more "street car" having it in place keeps airflow form going out of the back of the hood and instead through the hood vent - but we will see how this works. On the 2018 Mustang with this hood we had some "flutter" at the back of the hood at speeds approaching 150 mph - COTA - and took it out to calm down the carbon hood.

MAKE NEW SHIFT HANDLE + ADD JOE'S RACING BOOT

The mock-up shift handle we showed in a previous post was only meant to be a template for something better - but we forgot about it and I drove it several times like this. With the reverse lockout solenoid not hooked up you had to REALLY push the handle sideways to get it into reverse, and after a while the 1/8" thick shift lever bent. We needed to turn this template into a thicker, stronger, finished shift arm now.



I asked Doug to take the final temporary arm out and modify the design a bit and create one out of 3/8" steel plate - which should be much stronger and no longer bend when going past the Reverse solenoid spring.



Once the 3/18" version was completely cut out and threaded for the Magnum XL's included vertical handle portion, it was cleaned up and bent in the hydraulic press brake to have an offset towards the driver. This will allow the handle to function better and clear the small-ish opening on the plastic factory center console.



The Joe's Racing Carbon-X shift boot base was bolted to the console last time and the flame proof boot installed. The Tremec shift ball was adjusted for height and the ergonomics fit me better than before.

 

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With the Joe's boot in place we at least have a seal from the tunnel's fumes and potential fire, but it doesn't look "street car". The factory shift boot constrains the movement of this shifter so we are working on a custom boot and mounting ring that I will show in a future update.

REVERSE LOCKOUT SOLENOID CONTROL MODULE INSTALL

Not having the factory body control module to "open the reverse shift gate" (which is actually a solenoid that you can PUSH past), its a real chore to get the car into reverse. This module that the guys found uses a speed sensor input from the Tremec and can open the Reverse solenoid when speeds are under 5 mph.



Brad added this module behind the center stack panel (above right) and wired it into the Tremec with the included connectors. And now this $99 kit is going onto every race car we build - so easy and so fool proof. This also triggers the "R" indicator on the dash, to let you know when the Reverse switch is triggered in the transmission - and will eventually drive the reverse lights out back.

TWO AUXILIARY GAUGES ADDED TO DASH

The HVAC on this car is pretty simple - the heater / fan box we showed before feeds the defroster and ONE of the three dash center vents. I can close that one off unless its a really cold day and maybe I want to warm my hands while in grid. The other two vents were removed and I always planned on some discrete gauges going there. We finally found the needed data and the right gauges for the job.



We need a fuel level gauge and a diff fluid temp gauge, as those are both pretty critical. I also wanted to be able to log this data, and I found these full sweep discrete gauges from Classic Instruments. This is now a Holley company (groan) but these 2-5/8" diameter "Autocross" series gauges do everything I want - they are programmable for the sensors you have (fuel gauge), have two colored warning back lights (red and yellow, see below) that can be programmed, and they also have a 0-5 volt output that can go to your data logger (Holley ECM in this case).



Once the gauges arrived Brad got to work mounting, wiring and programming them. Making them fit the two center vents was relatively easy, as these 2-5/8 units just needed some 1/8" weather strip foam to seal up against the cylindrical openings in the dash panel. Brad also modified the clamps to fit the dash pod shapes.



He wired these in with a 12 pin DW connector for easier removal, of course, and moved the functional heater vent to the right. This makes it easier to see the fuel level and diff temp gauges, close to me. The programming button for each unit (for various functions) was mounted just inside the glove box door, as shown above right.



We need to remove the left side fuel tank's level sensor to program the Ohm range for the fuel level gauge, but the diff temp sensor was swapped into the housing to replace the cheap ~$50 Glow Shift gauge and sensor from the 2018 GT. These are closer to $200 gauges, but the additional functionality and 0-5V output signal is a game changer and worth the up-charge.

 

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FINAL PREP FOR DYNO TUNING

By January 17th we were ready for the dyno tuning day I had scheduled at LG Motorsports. They have a 5 hour Saturday schedule and I rented their Dynojet for the day, hoping to tune both the S550's HPR built 385" LS6 and my 2000 Silverado truck's HPR built 347" LS1 engine. The engine was running a bit rough so we installed a fresh set of NGK TR6 plugs into the engine right before loading into the trailer, and that seemed to help. They looked "very rich" but we only had a start-up tune in there, and had just fixed a big vacuum leak, so that might explain it?



This time it drove a lot better getting to the trailer, with the alignment squared away. I left the 4 year old 305mm Bridgestone RE-71R tires on the 19x11" wheels, as I had panned to do some ABS testing after dyno tuning, and wouldn't mind a flat spot on these throw away tires.



I was so excited for our January 21st dyno tuning session for the S550 and my truck, and across town at Dotson Tuning they would be tuning the 2010 Mustang with a Gen-2 Coyote swap that we had finished late last year. So pumped!

WHAT'S NEXT?

I finished writing this right after the 1/21/23 dyno test at LGM and things, well, didn't go to plan. We chased issues all damn day - Doug and I changed plugs, moved the O2 sensor, checked for exhaust leaks, changed strap points for the dyno and more - that ended up being traced to two bad plug wires. The custom length plug wires we built for the remote mounted coils were popping off. Long story short, the engine made 409 whp on 6 of the 8 cylinders. So first thing Monday morning I ordered a different brand of plug wires which I will personally test on each plug - this won't happen again. Long, expensive, fruitless day. At least the 2010 Mustang made good power!

Next time I will go into more detail from that frustrating dyno day and hopefully soon the SECOND tuning day where all 8 cylinders fire. Then it will get a fresh set of A052 tires installed with the 18x11" Momo wheels and off to the track we go for our baseline lap tests at MSR Cresson. We have a LOT of events scheduled for this season with local SCCA Time Trial (Max1 class), NASA TT (TT2), SCCA autocross (Cam-C) and Apex Lap Attack events. All of these classes allow aero, so soon after we get the baseline laps in we will tackle adding the wing and splitter, looking for more time.

Thanks for reading!