Front Shelf for my Req-Tec Stampede RT-590!

 I have had my Stampede (Req Teq RT-590) for almost a year now.  You can buy a folding front shelf off the Req Teq website.  It costs about $100.  The only downside is that there have been reports that the brackets interfere with the cover.  Those not using a cover don't have to worry about this.  I ordered and use the Req Teq cover.  For the record, the cover is awesome and fits the grill perfectly.

 I fooled around with some designs for a front shelf.  I could get a custom stainless steel shelf, without the brackets for 120$.  That price drops significantly if we do a group buy.  For example, a count of 20 would only be 65$ each.  The shelf would be 11GA brushed stainless, bends on the front and sides, and with the word STAMPEDE cut out towards the top.  To do this correctly I would need to:  1.  Buy the one for 120 to show it off.  2.  Get 20 people to pay up front  3.  Then put in the order, which will take some time to complete.  I'm not sure if that is likely.  You can leave a comment if you're interested!  Maybe this goes viral and we get 100 people that want the custom Stampede front shelf!

On to the work!  

I already had the brackets.  To install the bracket, I needed to enlarge the middle mounting holes.  Then I used the existing grill bolt to mount the bracket.  A small hole was drilled and a sheet metal screw was used for the lower hole.   This mounted the folding brackets to the grill.  

 Here is the link to the folding brackets:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M2UYPHS 

I decided to go with a black cutting board.   This particular one is 30x18x0.5 inches and is NSF rated for commercial food service.  When it arrived I laid it on the brackets and took some measurements to center it and keep it slightly away from the grill body.  Then I found some self tapping screws and washers (only need 4) that were less than 1/2 inch long.  I should have drilled pilot holes - the board was a bit tougher than I expected - but I was able to make due.  With the board centered, I drove the screws home and luckily they did not penetrate the top of the board.  

 Here is the link to the cutting board:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083F7VX2T

 Here is what it looks like when it's done!

Engine Swap - Dart SHP based stroker!

The last time I wrote about this motor, there was still a long way to go.  Since then, a good count of parts needed to be changed.  I'll also update the progress after I got the motor home and on the stand.  I'm planning to do the engine swap this off season.  Hoping to get it done before April 2020!

I'll start off with the Probe crank - it was balanced and ready for assembly when inspection showed the thrust was way out of spec.  Basically the crank was unusable.  So we had to trash it.  The replacement is a Scat forged crank.  I'm not upset about this.

The pistons are still CP Billet forged, with Liberty rods. The bore is actually 4.155 and stroke is 3.25 making the displacement 352ci.  So its not a 347! 

Oil pan - the pan I had didn't fit the dart block and had to go with one that did.  Needed a pick up tube also.  The pan has two bungs welded in for oil return - one on each side - just in case.

The AFR 185 heads have been worked over, significantly.  They are now 210's, with bigger intake valves and brand new exhaust valves, new springs, new retainers - basically everything replaced.  The LGM shaft mount rockers are on, but didn't clear my valve covers (at first, more on that later). Needed a 12pt head stud to clear the shaft mount rails.  Head gaskets are MLS by Fel Pro. 

Cam is unchanged - FTI custom grind.  

Still have the Romac balancer and RAM billet steel flywheel.

The Trick Flow R intake lower has been port matched to the heads.

The Dyno session couldn't use my Trick Flow R intake since that is EFI.  What they had on hand was a cheap dual plane intake and a 600 carb, which definitely hurt the numbers.  The motor did make 465 HP and 440 TQ.  Not bad for being restricted.  We were shooting for 500HP and with a good intake and fuel delivery, that would have easily been achieved.

Extra:  

The motor has been home and on the engine stand for some time now.  I've sourced the alternator and power steering brackets, power steering pulley and a new power steering pump.  I've had the pulleys and brackets powder coated wrinkle black and they are mounted to the engine using the stock hardware.  The pulleys have ARP hardware, including the crank, water pump, and thermostat housing.  

I've installed Team Z 3/4 inch drop solid motor mounts.  This took some massaging on the block and mounts, but turned out awesome.  I ordered ARP bolts for the mounts too.

I had to do some grinding on the inside of the trick flow valve covers to make them fit with the shaft mount rockers.  Both valve covers were hitting the rocker stand.  Using a micrometer, I measured the thickness of where the interference was on the valve cover.  I used a die grinder with the sanding disk to clearance a little at a time.  Eventually the valve covers fit, and I only removed a couple thousandths of an inch from the covers.  I'm really excited that the valve covers fit!  They offer a ton of clearance with the R intake and look good too.  I have a stainless steel stud kit I made for the covers as well using stainless set screws and shouldered stainless nuts.  

Speaking of the heads, I also have a set of stainless header set screws, ARP 12 point stainless nuts and washers.  The headers will be BBK long tubes with 1 3/4 primaries.  I cut the ball flanges off, which will be modified for a V band clamp and custom mid pipe.  Mufflers are Gibson BM0105, and I'm deciding to go with Pypes or Flowmaster 3 inch tailpipes.  The whole exhaust will be 3 inch.  

I'll put up another post about the K member and steering rack, which is going to be a significant upgrade!

1994 Cobra Suspension Upgrade

 I'm falling behind on the updates.  There's been a few upgrades since the last post.  Full suspension, subs and amp, and even the body work.  This post will cover the suspension upgrade. 

I'll start with the rear suspension, which included swapping the 8.8 rear.  It only has 74k miles on it, so the bolts were not seized.  With the car on the lift and supported in the front by jack stands / jack tray, and the rear supported by the bridge jack, I removed all the wheels, calipers and rotors.  Next was the lower control arms.  These had to be lowered easily using some scissor jacks supported on the lift.  That allowed for removing the springs and isolators. Then the shocks, quad shocks, upper control arms, and the brake lines, and ABS sensors. I realized when removing the rear calipers that the boots were ripped and the calipers were actually different colors.  This will get addressed in a separate post. 

I was able to swap the caliper mounting plates to the new rear, which only required pulling the axles out of each rear to install them.  

Some info on the 'new' rear:  Straightened, welded and powder coated.  Strange 31 spline axles, Torsen differential with 3.55 gears, ARP studs on the carrier caps, GT500 finned differential cover and lubelocker gasket, ARP 3 inch wheel studs, new pinion flange, new timken bearings and seals.  The 8.8 housing bushings were removed and replaced with spherical ARP bushings.  

Luckily I had a bunch of help putting the rear back in the car.  It was installed along with Tokico D spec shocks, Eibach Pro-Kit springs, energy suspension isolators, UPR Double adjustable upper control arms with the urethane bushing on the chassis side, and maximum motorsport weight jacker lower control arms with spherical on the 8.8 housing side and urethane on the chassis side.  I'm simplifying here - this install took a few hours!  

On to the front suspension.  I removed the front sway bar end links and sway bar bushings and removed the sway bar.  Then supported the lower control arm with scissor jacks and removed the strut from the spindle, then pulled the strut from the car.  I lowered the lower control arm down and eventually removed the sprint and isolators.  Then had to pull the tie rods from the spindle.  I removed the nut, used a puller to put pressure on the top of the tie rod, then whacked the spindle with a hammer and it popped right out.  I did the same for the ball joints.  It was at this point that I needed new ball joints on both sides.  next I removed the control arm to chassis bolts and pulled the control arms.  Repeat process for the other side.

I removed the caster camber plates too, as these were getting upgraded as well.  We took measurements to try and get close when re-installing.  

The Maximum Motorsports caster camber plate installation requires drilling of a 4th hole.  The instructions make it easy!  The front lower control arms were ordered from LMR and are OEM stock replacements.  When the engine swap is done, the front suspension will get racecraft k member and control arms.  So these were temporary.  Tokico D Spec struts were installed up front, along with the Eibach Pro Kit springs and energy suspension isolators.  The installation was pretty straight forward, and having the car on the four post lift with it raised up in the air helped a LOT.  

Finally adjusted the shocks and struts to the starting point recommended by Tokico.  I found this to be a little stiff, but I'm still getting used to how the car handles with the new suspension.  It feels great, handles well, and since I had some help adjusting pinion angle and centering the rear under the car, it hooks from a dig.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

Detailing - Clay Bar Paint in Minutes!

Anyone in the detailing world will tell you that taking a clay bar to a car's paint is the best thing you can do prior to paint correction / polish / sealant.  This pulls out all the industrial fallout from the paint instead of driving it into the paint during the paint correction / polish / sealant process.  The problem with the clay bar process is that it takes a considerable amount of time and energy.  Finally there is a solution that slashes that process considerably.

Now it is possible to use a foam pad on a DA polisher to 'clay' the paint in a fraction of the time.  There's two components to this process (Also there is the DA - I use a porter cable 7424).  

First, lets talk about Optimum No Rinse Wash and Shine.  Anyone in the detail business should have this on hand.  In different dilution rates, it will act as a waterless car wash, clay lube quick detail spray. There are plenty of Quick Detailer sprays and clay bar lubes out there.  This is my personal preference. 

Here are those concentrates for ONR:
Wash solution: ratio 1:256 or 1 oz/2 gallons or 30 ml to 7.68 liters of water (3.9 ml per liter)
Clay lube: ratio 1:64 or 2 oz/1 gallon or 60 ml to 3.84 liters of water (15.6 ml per liter)
Quick Detailer: ratio 1:16 or 8 oz/1 gallon or 240 ml to 3.84 liters for water (62.5 ml per liter)
Note the source for those ratios:  Optimum Forums

Personally, I just use the QD as the clay bar lube.  For the wash solution I use tap water (yes I know distilled is best, but I'm not actually washing the car with this solution).  Note - never put a dirty MF towel into the wash solution!

Next, lets talk about Nanoskin Autoscrub pad.  There are multiple manufacturers of a synthetic clay pad out there.  I use the Nanoskin Autoscrub pad Nanoskin (AS-003) AutoScrub 6" Medium Grade Foam Pad for DA Polisher 

The Nanoskin will attach to the same backing plate I already have for the DA.  I use it on a low speed.

Finally, lets talk about the process!

1.  First step is to wash the vehicle thoroughly.
2.  Put a few clean MF towels into the 2 gallon waterless wash solution.  Take one MF towel and ring it out a bit.  You want it damp.  Fold it in half, then in half again.  This will give you 8 usable sections of the MF towel.  Do the same for a second MF towel.  Towel number 1 will be to clean the pad.  Towel 2 will be used on the paint.
3.  With the QD in a spray bottle, mist a section of the car (2x2?  3x3 foot?).  Then mist the pad.  Take the machine to the paint and work the section you just misted.  The important part here is to make sure there is sufficient lube.  If not, micro-marring can occur.
4.  Once done with that section, take MF towel 1 and wipe the pad.  Make sure NOT to use that section of MF towel again - its dirty now.  You still have 7 sections left!
5.  Take MF towel 2 and wipe the section you just completed.  Same thing in previous step, don't use that section of MF towel again.
6.  Repeat steps 3-5 for the next section.  Section by section work your way around the car until its done.

That's it!  If you are able to have someone help you with steps 4 and 5 while you concentrate on step 3, the process can be done in less than 30 minutes.  You could also use the Nanoskin as a mit and do this process by hand. 

1994 Cobra: Big Bore 347 Engine Build Update

It is hard to believe that the last time I wrote about the Big Bore 347 build was November of 2017.  But yes, it really was that long ago!  Things are moving along again now that I pumped some additional funds into the motor.  There have been some other changes also!  I thought it would be a good idea to outline those.  The 94 GT is for sale since we've picked up a 94 Cobra.  The 94 Cobra is where the engine will eventually find a home.  I've built a pretty stout 8.8 rear - read about it in another blog post.  And the TKO500 will be the transmission.

Block is a Dart SHP, bored to 4.120.
Rotating assembly:  Probe crank, CP Billet Rods and Pistons. Looking for 10.5:1 Compression.
Heads - AFR 185s, resurfaced and ported.  LGM shaft mount rockers, PAC racing springs
Cam - Custom grind by FTI
Balancer - Romac Gold, 28oz

The rotating assembly is being balanced, and the head work is in progress.  Once that is done the final assembly will begin.  Before I take delivery, it will be broken in on the dyno!  I was told this should make around 460 on the engine dyno.  I'm hopeful! 

Clutch and Related

I see a lot of questions come up about clutch and related components.  I thought it would be a good idea to share my personal preferences since I’ve been through a lot of different venders and combinations.

Let’s start with the flywheel.
I prefer a billet steel flywheel.  The lightweight aluminum ones are nice, but there’s just something about the billet steel that feels ‘sturdy’.  Also the aluminum ones come with a wear plate that is often hard to remove if it needs to be surfaced.

Clutch / pressure plate
I’ll preface this by stating that most of my builds have been less than 500HP, so that is where my experience is.  I’m a big fan of RAM clutches.  I’ve had their muscle car clutch, HDX, and power grip setups.  When in doubt, call their tech line or email them.  They will recommend their clutch that is right for you.  Comes with the TOB, which I’ve also had good luck with.

Pilot bearing
Dont skimp - just get the Ford Racing pilot bearing (M7600A is for the 5.0L Windsor).

Clutch Cable
The maximum Motorsports cable is the one to have, its the OEM cable and it will work absolutely perfectly for years.  There is also a spacer MMCL17 - make sure you get that too as some clutches will require it.

Quadrant and Firewall adjuster
Not all are created equally.  I like the UPR speed release quadrant (UPR-3004-08).  And I’ve been through a LOT of different quadrants over the years.  It has a great pedal feel and travel.  The firewall adjust I use is also UPR called a quick click (3004-17).  

Things to check - make sure you check the wear on the clutch fork and pivot ball.  Also maker sure to check out the rear main seal, although without a sleeve they typically continue to leak even after replacement.

1994 Mustang SVT Cobra

Well, it finally happened.  I came across a 1994 SVT Cobra that was worth buying.  It is now in the garage undergoing some upgrades and maintenance.  It already had some tasteful upgrades, but some were not really done correctly.  I've created a trello board to track the work on the 94 Cobra.  If you're not familiar with Trello, check it out, it is a fantastic organizational tool. 

To start with:
The suspension is stock. 
The brakes have been upgraded to cross drilled and slotted.
Engine has aluminum heads and a cam.
Stock T5 trans, with king cobra clutch
Rear has 3.73 gears in it, but I don't think that anything else has been done to it. 
30 lb injectors and mass air calibrated for 30s.  T4M0 ECU.

Other than the little things that need to be addressed, its a great starting point for a project car!  Here's a quick list of the upgrades that are going to happen over time.

Engine - dart SHP, about 460HP.  More details on this to come.
Trans - TKO500 with RAM HDX clutch.  will be upgraded to billet flywheel and powergrip with new motor
Rear - just built welded and braced 8.8 with TruTrac and strange 31 spline axles, 3.55 gears.
Suspension - tokico D-spec shocks struts, eibach pro kit springs with MM isolators.  UPR double adjustable upper control arms, maximum motorsport weight jacker lower control arms.  Subframe connectors, full length maximum motorsports powder coated.
Fuel system - new tank, quantum hanger with 450 pump, 80's, aeromotive rails and regulator, new feed / return lines.
Stereo system - two JL w6 10's with zapco power, new head unit. Mach system is already in place and sounds nice.
Exhaust - ceramic motorsport shorties and offroad H pipe pre-motor swap.  post will be BBK 1 3/4 primaries to 3 inch exhaust.
Tune with the quarterhorse
Various other things will be changed along the way.  Here's the trello board!

Trello Board 1994 Cobra