lowblustang00

Took the car on a fun road trip to Gatlinburg, TN. Went the back way through the mountains. It was nice and twisty.

lowblustang00

So I haven't installed or done anything to the car in while, but that is about to change. I have ordered a couple of items. The first is custom adapters that will allow me to run 13.8" rotors in the rear. It will probably be a while before I install these. I am planning on ordering GT500 Brembos to compliment them at a later date. Sometime at or around the next pad change.

lowblustang00

The second is Prothane polyurethane replacement bushings. Got them from American Muscle, and am thankful for the forum discount. Anyway a while back I had a squeaky bushing in the rear, and couldn't figure out which one and sprayed white lithium grease on all the bushings in the rear. Worked great for a time, but it seems to have also expedited the deterioration of the stock bushings. Replaced the control arms due to this, but the time has come to replace others. The bushings at both ends of the upper control arm have become mush. Tomorrow I will begin the slow replacement of all the stock bushings.

lowblustang00

The stock upper control arm bushing is out. It was kinda dry and brittle, so you know it didn't come out all in one piece.

mrkabc

Thinking of bushings myself. How much work is involved in the replacement? Never done bushings before.

lowblustang00

The new bushing in place.

lowblustang00

Well the one bushing took about 5hrs today. First one I have ever done. I had access to a press which helped a lot. The biggest problem today was getting rid of the old bushing. It came apart in pieces, and had to use a torch to burn out the rest of the old bushing out of the upper control arm.

Wanted to get the differential bushing replaced as well, which attaches to the other side of the upper control arm. Unfortunately I think I'll have to pay some one to do that one. Hard to get too and can't use the press on it. Also don't want to use a torch on it while it's still under my car.

I don't have to worry about the lower control arms, as I have already replaced them and they came with new bushings.

The sway bar bushings look easy, and won't need a press to change out.

I haven't even bothered looking at the front yet.

All and all I I think my work today was worth it it made quite the difference in the way the car rode and drove. I didn't realize how much the rear end was moving around back there. It will only get better when I have the other one done.

The rest I will probably slowly do over the next few months.

lowblustang00

Took the car in yesterday to have the differential bushing replaced. Instead of pushing out the rubber they pushed out the metal sleeve with the rubber. Of course they chewed up the metal sleeve in the process.

So, the guy calls, "your bushing doesn't fit."

I'm thinking BS.

Got down there, and I say, "I have to tell yea it doesn't fit, but that's because it goes in the metal sleeve that is supposed to stay in the differential casting.

"Where is it?" I ask.

"In the trash," he responds.

So a trip to a ford dealer for an oem replacement bushing, and I'm without my car waiting on it to arrive today. Hopefully the local ford it getting the right part, and the chassis shop doesn't screw it up getting it in.

I can assure you I will be standing over his shoulder today.

Will have pictures of it later today.

lowblustang00

Pic as promised.

You can see the one they screwed up, the oem replacement, and the polyurethane that was supposed to go inside the metal sleeve.

lowblustang00

They got it all fixed and I'm back on the road. Due to the mix up on the other bushing they decided it wouldn't be right to charge me. So I told them thank you and I would see em' again.



It is never the screw up that makes me mad, cause mistakes happen. It is how it gets handled that determines my opinion of people and companies.

Sg06

Nice car man! A blackout panel would look great on your vapor GT!

SpectreH

Agreed! Everyone makes mistakes...it's how they fix it that matters. Glad they got you up and running.

lowblustang00

Thanks, and yea my wife keeps saying the same thing.

I just have never been able to decide on one.

lowblustang00

It's Christmas in August.

Brembos just came in. Really want to install them before I go back to work, but I think I will wait until I'm off again.

Also still trying to decide if I am going to order dust shields or run without them. When I upgraded to the bullitt brakes on old blu (SN95) I ran without them, and had no issues.

lowblustang00

So after doing some research on the dust shields I decided to get some. Mostly, because they are also heat shields for the ball joints.

Looked for OEM stock replacements and the are $30 dollars each at both LMR and American Muscle. However the ford racing ones which so happen to be OEM on 13-14 GT500s are $50 a pair.

So I ordered the Ford Racing ones from American Muscle using our forum discount code for a little cheaper price. They should be here next week and I hope to have these Brembos on the car next weekend when I am off again.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/frpp-g...elds-0513.html

lowblustang00

Photo Opportunity:

When I was leaving work yesterday there was a pretty sunset and some clouds rolling over the mountains and thought I would take some pics. Everything is a little wet as it has rained nearly all day.

lowblustang00

GT500 backing plates are in. They are smaller than I imagined in my mind.

Looking forward to getting these front brakes installed this weekend.

lowblustang00

Pulled out the brakes and made a few rough measurements just for a little more piece of mind. Shouldn't have any issues in clearance from the diameter. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the rotor, caliper combination is around 14.5 inches, and the inside diameter of the wheel is around 15.5 inches give or take a quarter inch on both.


I believe the only clearance problem I might have will be between the face of the caliper and the back of the spokes on my rim. However, my wheel supplier is confident my wheels will clear.

Hoping to have these on the car by the end of the weekend.

laserred38

Those GT500 rep wheels should fit no problem. Look at the various pics of them on AM's site (customer pics). You should be good to go. Are you going to clean them up and/or paint the calipers before installing?

lowblustang00

I plan on cleaning them up real good, but I like the current finish overall. There are a few chips on one, but for now I'm ok with that.