The wait is over, she is here and I love her!

[Centurion07]

You just wanted to show off your sto'n'show!!!

Front looks really clean without the plate.

I've done over 1200 miles now with no front plate at all & only once have the police shown any interest and that's only because they pulled up alongside me in a traffic jam, they didn't actually pull me over, just wound their window down.

Considering leaving it off.

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[NornIron91]

I've done over 1200 miles now with no front plate at all & only once have the police shown any interest and that's only because they pulled up alongside me in a traffic jam, they didn't actually pull me over, just wound their window down.

Considering leaving it off.

Wound their window down and asked you to rev it

 

[Centurion07]

After pointing out I might want to get it reattached (they assumed it had just fallen off as I had it in the car with me, I wasn't going to correct them was I?!) they did say it was a nice car.

 

[Manders Mustang]

After pointing out I might want to get it reattached (they assumed it had just fallen off as I had it in the car with me, I wasn't going to correct them was I?!) they did say it was a nice car.

Odd question, but can you hold it in the front windescreen? A traffic can detecs the specific letters and then does a check, if someone was to 'track you' then they could still do it as the plate is visible...? Just a thought...

 

[Gibbo205]

Hi there


Was not happy with the allignment on my bonnet, looked too pinched in centre and was sitting lower than front bumper, very hard to see, but well I knew it was there. Yet another failing on Ford's QC checks, the car might be great value but build quality on exterior panel allignment is an issue on these cars, though I've seen some far worse where it is so easily noticable. Luckily it is easily fixed by adjusting the bonnet catch and the bonnet stops.


BEFORE!

AFTER!

It is now flush with the front-end, an equal gap all across, we even measured everything to ensure absolutely spot on. Easy to do so kind of sucks Ford did not sort it to be frank when they built the car.

Also the chrome horse, is gone, for me it was making the front-end not aggressive enough, so now it has being replaced with a new horse, a black pony and I am very happy with result, front of car looks a lot more meaner and aggressive whilst still remaining completely factory specification.

Also a shot of the rear lights illuminated.

Weather has vastly improved to wet and warm, tyres clearly switched on, no more grease in them and starting to get more of a feel for the car, she handles above expectations to be frank and the LSD works very well and the front end really turns in very well and is very confident inspiring and I am finding feedback really not bad at all, to the point I can feel the road surface in the wheel, which I was not expecting as Dave reported his Shelby is completely lifeless on the steering and its not that I don't know what to look for I own a solid bushed M3 with hydraulic steering and have gone from a 911 (997.1) with hydraulic steering. The Mustang of course is not as good as either of those for steering feel, but it has feel and the weighting is spot on. I've managed to fully get on it second gear a couple of times now and wow does it shift it feels an incredibly strong 415BHP, I'd not be surprised if it has more horsepower than stated.

 

[Gibbo205]

HI there


Some more parts fitted to the car today, hood lifts and some colour added to engine bay:

BEFORE!

AFTER!

No more hood prop in the way and I even removed it. Blue coil covers which match the colour of the Whipple super charger, guess you can tell I am leaning towards a Whipple.

The hood lift kit also means closing the bonnet is easier as just lower the bonnet and let it fall using its own wait against the gas struts and it closes perfectly every time.













I then gave the car a real good clean, snow foam, followed by wash and then I allowed the car to dry by itself and no sunlight. Once dry my intention was to get a good sealant on the car and something I could use without putting any swirl marks into the paint. So I used Autobrite Project 32 sealant which is what the 911 was done in. What makes it so good is you literally spray it on the paint like a quick detailer on a body panel at a time, wipe it over and then turn the cloth and buff it off. Not only very easy to apply but also easy to remove and results in no rubbing or polishing kind of action on the paint. I managed to get two layers on today and already on a brand new car I can see the difference in depth and mirror/glass like look. It is great stuff.

Some photos:

Now I have washed and waxed the car I have being able to fully inspect the paint, no marks or blemishes, but unfortunately a small chip on drivers side rear quarter clearly from a stone, will ask Ford if they can touch it up, though it is not noticable I now know it is there. :(

The good news is the paint is completely swirl and marr free, no need for a detail or paint correction, just need to try and keep it that way and only using Project 32 along with two bucket method should certainly help, todays washing and waxing session did not introduce any marks into the paint.


Though it is hard to show here is a real close up of the paint:

Very happy with the car, yes it sits way too high and yes I really want to fit my FRPP handling suspension kit and fit my wheel spacers to get rid of those voids in the arches. However as hard as it is for me to resist I am enjoying the car on standard suspension for a few more weeks to fully understand how it handles from factory and to then start changing suspension parts one at a time.

 

[Wobs]

I love the bonnet strut mod, the standard support is really antiquated, and the colour is growing on me ....especially when its clean and shiny.

 

[Gibbo205]

I love the bonnet strut mod, the standard support is really antiquated, and the colour is growing on me ....especially when its clean and shiny.

Well I cannot wait to see the colour in direct sunlight, it looks great under our dull skies, in direct sun it should pop like crazy as it is full of metallic flecks in the paint.

 

[Wobs]

Mines only been on order for 5 weeks and I'm already impatient, so I'm enjoying everyone's threads on their new car experiences and mods.

 

[Lone Survivor]

Nice Gibbo , remind me again what struts you went for? No issues fitting?

 

[Gibbo205]

Nice Gibbo , remind me again what struts you went for? No issues fitting?

Had MMD, don't fit and AM gave me a full refund, great company.

Got Redlines, they fit, but not perfect but enough to work and look fine, $99 from most places.

 

[Lone Survivor]

What's the imperfection? The last time I had struts on a car that were perfect was my old RX8, can't remember what ones they were, but I've tried two different sets on my Nismo and both were shit.

Just want to make sure that if I get a set for the 'Stang, that are the puppies plumbs!

 

[Gibbo205]

What's the imperfection? The last time I had struts on a car that were perfect was my old RX8, can't remember what ones they were, but I've tried two different sets on my Nismo and both were shit.

Just want to make sure that if I get a set for the 'Stang, that are the puppies plumbs!

Watch this video:
[ame]


Where he says the new kit has a hole to line up for the washer fluid hose, well the hole is there but because our hoods have larger hinges due to EU regulations the hole won't line up. No big issue I just bolted it down at slight angle so half the original hole for the washer hose was still exposed and as such I was still able to attach the washer hose. Make sense?

 

[Ian whu]

I just enlarged hole a little bit on hood strut

 

[Gibbo205]

Hi there


So today I decided to get back under the car again and get her up on axle stands, made incredibly easy with the Steeda jacking rails I must say, effortless to jack the car very high on the driveway now.

Even though I have no complaints about the transmission, it is a joy to use, I rate it better than my 911's gear change, but 2-3rd at over 6000rpm can on the rare occasion be a little hard to get 3rd if you going for a quick shift. So as I already had the Steeda transmission mount and transmission bushing insert I decided to get them installed.

I started with the transmission mount, thinking this would be harder as people say its hard to get off and to get the new one in you need to undo transmission cross member and drop the transmission an inch or two.

Well I decided to try without undoing the transmission cross member or lowering the trans/gearbox. I got the old one out and the new one in place all OK, yeah it was a little fiddly but it only took me about 45 minutes. I used a 10mm socket with several extensions to make it easy undoing and tightening back up.

I then did the bushing insert, support gearbox with a jack and undid cross member, this bushing is a real tight fit, it took a lot of persuasion, it would probably go in easier with something like WD40 but I wanted to only use the energy suspension grease which is very tracky and no doubt makes it a little harder.

Couple of images of the new parts and old parts:

You can see the stock part is a rather flimsy cheap looking item and you will also see I drilled a hole into the bushing insert to cut down on any potential NVH. So the drive, at first it is really hard to notice anything, maybe the gears a tad less notchy and slot in easier, but if the case then it is real slim. High RPM shifts seem spot on now, though before they were pretty fine, just 2nd-3rd you had to be mindful if doing it fast, so now its a bit easier.

NVH really quite unsure, I think there could be some which will be coming from bushing insert but I am not sure, so that is how minor it is, we shall see on my commute to work tomorrow as today I was simply having to much fun driving the car.

So the jury is out on these parts, I am not witnessing any vast change to how the car changes gear, it was always superb and still is, these parts any improvement is very minor and if they were over £100 I would not recommend them, as such the pair cost me £60, would I do it again, probably not as I found my gear change lovely, it still is but I cannot say this part has transformed the car in any way, it might for others and at £60 it is not breaking the bank. So make your own minds up but unfortunately it is not a part I can turn around and say OMG its made the car epic, or ruined the car, there is an improvement, but it is minor at best.

I was having some fun on a national speed limit road, now the Pzero's have got 250 miles on them and the fact it is 13c outside and wet/damp all of a sudden they are working quite well, full throttle in second gear and she just goes, even 1st gear traction in the damp is actually fantastic, this car can really get up and go from a dig. Loving the car in race mode to be honest, like my 911 the traction systems are dialed way out so they do not interfere, but I've not really pushed the car to hard yet. Then a guy came running out of his unit waving at me, I assumed me flying up and down the road upset him, but he was smiling, pulled into his car park and we got talking. His excitment was because he has a V8 Auto on order and cannot wait to get it, he also has a garage full of parts waiting to go on. Not only that he has a rather impressive garage, Lambo, GTR, Escort RS Cosworth, 911 and he just sold his M4, said he did not like it and the Mustang essentially replacing it. A good guy and someone handy to know as his business is working on cars, vans and trucks.

Couple of photos from tonight of the Stang:

A crowd started to develop, people only had positive things to say, they absolutely love it and it seems common that most people think the rear of the car looks very 60's Mustang and Aston Martin, not a bad thing at all.

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