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You Reminded Me of This Local Jackass Restorer, Yea The Title Is a Stretch. Anyhoo He Would Mock Together a Customers Car & Send Pics to them Like Work Was Progressing! What an A-Cavity. He Finally Got Shut Down Some Years Back. There are very Few People I Just Could Not Stand When I Was Working The Ford Parts Counter. I Mean I Got along with 99% of My Customers Very Well But This Guy Just Turned My Stomach He was Such a Lying Putz and To Top it Off He Could Never Provide The Proper Info To Order a Part.
Oh and Don't Forget The Mustang Will be a Lot Lighter Less Powertrain. Does Your Insurance Have Towing Coverage????
KC
Yeesh, I don't think these guys are like that, otherwise my performance shop wouldn't use them, but I know the type.
Yeah that's true on being lighter, between the engine and transmission, fluids, etc...maybe by 400 lbs? Checked on my policy and no towing coverage (rats), but looks like we might not need it after all. The owner of the performance shop sent me an email, he was visiting the machine shop and my engine's being assembled now (short block machined and fully assembled, rest of assembly continues this week). Machine shop said it could be ready for pickup on Saturday, and if that holds, then they could be installing the engine on the Tuesday the 14th.
I pointed it out to the guy at the shop when I stopped by, he said they'll take care of it. They've got a security system too so they can figure out who it was and go after them. But again, they told me they'll handle it. Silver lining, because the cover was on it, there's no scratches and there's no bad crease on the fender. I've seen some pretty gnarly dents taken out with painless dent repair, so I'm optimistic that they'll get it pulled w/o too much of a problem. Still ...
That sucks! I have a customer who had a friend that worked at an Express oil place who said he could do the clutch in his '07 GT500....first there was a problem with the clutch they got, couldn't figure something out then after sitting there for a month a delivery truck backed into the driver quarter and door.
I don't put cars into any sort of traffic area if they are sitting....was bad enough years ago when an employee moved my SVO and parked it where we NEVER parked cars and it got backed into...at least it was my own car but I still see red every time I think about it.
That sucks! I have a customer who had a friend that worked at an Express oil place who said he could do the clutch in his '07 GT500....first there was a problem with the clutch they got, couldn't figure something out then after sitting there for a month a delivery truck backed into the driver quarter and door.
I don't put cars into any sort of traffic area if they are sitting....was bad enough years ago when an employee moved my SVO and parked it where we NEVER parked cars and it got backed into...at least it was my own car but I still see red every time I think about it.
Man that sucks. Yeah unfortunately my shop has literally no where else to put the car, but it really bugs me. I asked them too if this's the first time theyve had this happen and they said unfortunately not (I got feelings on that). They've been a great shop to me since '08 so I know they're great at what they do and they've always been honest and upfront. So I know they'll make good on it, but maaaaaaaaaaan I really wish I'd thought about towing it home sooner.
Just dropped off the stock intake manifold this afternoon, talked to the owner.
> Positives:
>> engine is still on track to be done Friday, if so they'll pick it up Saturday
>> They'll start installing early next week, should take the mechanic (or wizard as far as I'm concerned) 3 days to put everything back together
>> could be ready for pickup as early as the end of next week.
> Negatives:
>> the shop's insurance is saying no-go on covering the damage since none of the shop staff hit the car and the spaces out front of the shop is "public space" and its out of the shop's control. If the insurance was going to cover it he said he'd have no problem paying for it
>> he said they've been doing everything they can to control who parks in the vicinity of the front of ther shop and have chased people away before, but they can't control every minute 24x7
>> he did point out on every printout they did have a disclaimer saying they're not responsible for what happens to the car while it's parked in public spaces (yeah ...sadly that's true it's been on every sheet)
> Silver linings
>> He agrees that should be pretty easy for paintless dent repair and is going to hear back from a trusted place he's used on his personal vehicles
>> Especially in light of me being a 16 year customer, and the fact that this is a big job and we're going to be doing the supercharger next year, depending on what the cost of the paintless dent repair is, he'll see what he can do about making it right. I'm not expecting miracles but if they can at least meet me halfway, it's something.
Unrelated to the dent, they got the blue powdercoated valve covers in and yes they are b-e-a-utiful. Wish I'd gotten them years ago. Now how to keep them clean?
We're also going to put in the GT500 fuel pump now to lay some of the groundwork for the supercharger. Plus when I had the car tuned in 2015, the mechanic said my stock fuel pump was at 90% duty cycle which was going to be a problem if I tracked the car. (said when the engine starts getting really hot, the ECU will start dumping in more fuel for a cooling effect)
ATI harmonic balancer is getting ordered.
On the fence about the upgraded fuel injectors now, or wait for the supercharger. Wondering if big injectors will cause idling problems on a mildly cammed motor (like trying to mist with a garden hose)
And I got a box of goodies for my Wall of Pain. I'll get a pic of the cam later, it's very obvious which roller failed. The cam's ground down like an 1/16th of an inch. It kind of stuns me how small and LIGHT these pistons are
Meant to keep up with updates more, but it was a bit of a rush this weekend. Long story short, I got a call Saturday morning saying she's ready for pickup and I can come get her anytime. So if course I'm rushing the family to get ready and out the door like a kid on Christmas morning. We talked about the break in, they said 300 miles was enough, just treat it like a new car, vary the speeds, go easy on the clutch (also new), keep it under 3500 RPM. Been driving it all weekend, got 165mi so far. They're holding off on the dyno until the break in is over.
She runs great, the comp cams 127450's definitely run lopier than the 127400's that were in it (feels like a cammed muscle car now instead of the stock-like idle it had before). Seems torquier down low with either these cams or the stock intake manifold back on (vs the FRPP manifold I had before), but the dyno will tell.
Only issue is on cold start, it wants to rev to 3000 RPM, so I've been using the clutch and brakes to hold the RPMs down for a few seconds until it settles down. Something the shop will have to adjust in the tune
Anyway, first start with the keys back in my hands (they put 60 miles on it during tuning so not actual first start)
And I was going through the box o' parts and found my 5-figure roller (at least that's what it cost me for this rebuild). Check it out: (and look at the heat discoloration!)
The passenger side had a few lobes that had advanced wear, but only one had this level of destruction. The driver's side is pristine. Makes me think some kind of oiling issue.
SUPERCHARGED RED ROCKET ------------------Master-Moderator
Joined: May 11, 2006
Posts: 10,645
Likes: 2,512
From: Carnegie, PA
Your Mustang has sure come a long ways since you first began the rebuild process nearly one year ago... Needless to say, I'm really proud of your progress and as Kevin has also mentioned, I'm also very glad you have stuck with the S197 platform... In the meantime, you're "06" GT is looking really sweet...
Your Mustang has sure come a long ways since you first began the rebuild process nearly one year ago... Needless to say, I'm really proud of your progress and as Kevin has also mentioned, I'm also very glad you have stuck with the S197 platform... In the meantime, you're "06" GT is looking really sweet...
Thanks! it's been a trip that's for sure. There's light at the end of the tunnel, just hope it's not a train.
Originally Posted by rocknrod
Great job so far, first startup vid sounds great. And would you look at that rocker? Wow.
Yeah, seriously I wonder if it cooked like that when it failed or if it was the road trip up to NJ that did it in.
As far as what's been going on with it the last week:
Put 150 miles on her memorial day weekend, took it in to get inspected and it FAILED emissions.
Misfire: Complete (last time it passed emissions: Complete)
Fuel System: Complete (supposed to be: Complete)
Components: Complete (supposed to be: Complete)
System Type: Spark (supposed to be: Spark)
Catalyst: Not Avail (supposed to be: Complete)
Heated Catalyst Not avail (last time: Not Avail)
Evap System: Incomplete (supposed to be: Complete)
Secondary Air Sys: Not Avail (last time: Not Avail)
A/C Refrigerant : Not Avail (last time: Not Avail)
O2 Sensor: Not Avail (supposed to be: Complete)
O2 Sensor Heater: Not Avail (supposed to be: Complete)
EGR System: Not Avail (last time Not Avail)
On cold starts, the engine was shooting up to 3000 RPM for 10 seconds. I was having it in gear and ready to start moving when I turned the key so I could let the clutch out and pull the RPMs down.
I talked to the shop about it, they had no idea why emissions was turned off again. We'd gone through this whole thing in 2020 about getting the car emissions compliant again after Virginia changed its rules on what it checks for emissions. He said go ahead and drop it off Friday, should be a quick update. Turns out the tune gave them a little more trouble than they figured. Now it's down to ~ 1800 rpm on cold start, and they've also been messing with a setting called coast back idle (or something like that ... basically when you coast or put it in neutral, how much it lets the RPMs drop).
They've got it 90% there, but everytime they reflash the car, it wipes out the onboard emissions tests. So we decided I've got to get my emissions done since it's expired (it elapsed in March when the engine was at the machine shop). I picked it up yesterday and I'm passing every emissions check except Catalyst and Evap System (still Incomplete). Evap takes forever to pass, so I'm probably going to bring it in for inspection as soon as Catalyst passes.
It's definitely driving better, running smoother and quieter than when I initially got it back.
And 310 miles! WOOT! Past the break-in! Just gotta get these taken care of before I can start having fun again:
Pass emissions
have the shop change the oil from the break-in oil to regular motor oil (it'll be Amsoil, gotta check with them on the recomended weight...probably 10W30)
get the tune dialed in
DYNO
And after that, just a few things before she's whole again:
Get that dent fixed (yeah I can still have fun but it's an eyesore)
get a gouge in my wheel fixed (my own **** fault when I was brining the wheels over in the back of the truck)
I'm pondering if I should go there myself.
