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1000hp Drift/Road race/Drag Daily ups and downs of a newbie

AlexDrifts

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Hey everyone thought I would document my fortay into the wide world of Mustangs.



I am a Japanese car tuner/builder for the past 15 years i LOVE Drifting and Road racing, and my daily for the last 5 years has been a 400HP G37 which is very fast considering it was V6 and NA however the average car I build is 700-1200rwhp so going for weekend drives with them is not always fun to say the least.
All of my Daily driven vehicles for the past 10 years have been vehicles I have done a little of everything, a little drifting, a little road racing, a little drag racing (lost a lot with past daily vehicles. )
so I wanted a new vehicle but Japan has decided it no longer likes making manual vehicles.
So i wanted a vehicle that was:

1. Manual
2. RWD
3. Brand new
4. Driftable

So after looking at all the cars I decided on a Mustang GT premium,

I am use to owning Luxury cars so I wanted Navigation, Leather and fancy gizmo's in my new car. So I picked up a 2020 Mustang GT premium with PP1 and the upgraded sound system.
Your probably asking why I didn't just buy a GT350 considering the price tag was $50k for the Mustang I purchased, at the time I thought the Voodoo engine would pop on me, and thought the only true difference was the body kit and engine.....I now know their are a lot of differences!
So anyways here she is:

20200719_102220.jpg


That was my first run up Angeles crest highway with a few friends, after I put about a 1000 miles on the car to break engine in and put some new oil in her!

Now that I had gotten used to the vehicle I took it to my first track day.


(long video on intro of vehicle)

Now i had my first track day out of the way and knew what she could do my original plan was to build the vehicle piece by piece...however the internet showed me that the general public HATES Mustangs, so out of frustration I just slapped ALL my suspension modifications in at once.

Parts I had purchased for the build :
Ohlins road & Track Coil overs
BMR rear Camber arm (poly bushing)(
BMR rear toe arm
BMR cam lockout bolt
Steeda front camber plates
HRE 20" rims (DO NOT BUY THESE)
toyo R888R 285 front 315 rear
BMR front and rear sway bars with end links
Whiteline Transmission bushing lockout (HIGHLY RECOMENDED)
IMG_20201028_185659_914.jpg


I went to my first HPDE Event with the vehicle,
The car did better however I had A LOT to learn about driving a Mustang i improved my time from 1:31 to 1:27 on streets clockwise however due to Tire/Rim issue i wasn't able to get better.

One thing I learned about R88R tires is they DO NOT LIKE HEAT, after 3 laps they were done and were slipping all over the place. However I still like R88r for the street they work great for that, just not High heat track driving.

My HRE rims also warped from the heat of the front Brembo's (video on my channel..)

She was looking pretty though......
IMG_20201031_092643_698.jpg



Now that I knew what the Stock power could do I figured I would up her just a bit.....

IMG_20201029_120522_107.jpg


Thats right I purchased a Hellion Sleeper kit and might I say they WERE AWESOME!! I can not recommend Hellion enough, they were SUPER helpful and their product is AWESOME!

I optioned for the base turbos with the Hellion Exhaust headers, Black out package.
As for the Fuel system I pieced it together myself which was a headache and If i did it again would use the FORE system instead...

I am using a Radium fuel rail , Radium fuel pump holder with twin hellcat Walbro fuel pumps
Injector Dynamics 1050CC injectors, dual aeromotive FPR, -8 in -6 return teflon AN lines
NGK 6510
Reiche 170 thermostat
and running an AEM failssafe gauge to monitor car and see Ethanol content (Did I mention I live in California ? 91 SUCKS!!!)

So off I went installing it and might I say it took a lot longer than I thought! now keep in mind I build cars for a living. However this was the first Mustang I had built, it took me about 40 hours to do the install however 20 of that was making my fuel system....sooo yeah buy FORE.....

So I got everything in the vehicle and I went off and got the 91 tune.....which made a whopping 640 rwhp at 6psi which was FAST compared to what I was used to however the timing that had to be pulled it really felt sluggish going into boost.

Palm beach dyno had been remotely tuning my vehicle which also great guys! so far its been good.



NEXT up was E85

Now to my Exhaust woes of owning a Mustang, now I am sure 99% of you like your car to make your ears bleed and get the cops called on you by neighbors everyday. I however HATE obnoxious cars. Its called the Hellion SLEEPER kit for a reason!!!!

However to each their own, but keep in mind If I see a straight pipped Mustang I will drive away....

The problem with going e85 was raising the boost and turbo back pressure you need to make sure the vehicle is 3" turbo back.

So i ordered the Magnaflow Street series catback, which sounded actually WAY to quiet with the turbo's and the X-pipe it was actually quieter than stock.
There was also another issue the center resonator was 2.75" in and 3" out so there was a restriction.

So i ordered their 3" x pipe resonator and welded it in ......it took me a few days to realize just how stupid I was. My last daily was NA so i remember the importance of X-Pipe with mid range and top end. I completely forgot I AM TURBO NOW!!!! so i cut the freshly welded in X-pipe and replaced it with 2 18" vibrant resonators now the exactly was 3" ALL THE WAY TO THE TAIL PIPE!!!!


Also I will mention I purchased the active valve adapters from magnaflow as my vehicle came with active valve exhaust, and to this day IT DOES NOT WORK!!!!



Here is what she sounds like now, however I would be happy if my ACTIVE VALVE SYSTEM WORKED!!!!

Also After my debacle with the HRE SHIT wheels I purchased some Forgestar rims which have been on the car ever since. Might I say they are awesome HIGHLY recommended!

I also installed an Andersons composite front carbon fiber lip which again AWESOME QUALITY!

here is how she looks

20201231_143827.jpg


I am keeping true to the SLEEPER status!

Now after driving around for a bit I decided to do a quick pull one day leaving work WITH TRACTION CONTROL ON!! and I knew i was going to replace my clutch however being the vehicle had 2k miles on it figured I could baby it till next track day I WAS WRONG!!

IMG_20210123_164728_140.jpg


Pressure Plate release springs snapped, sooo I had to install the Mcleod clutch ....
however something I noticed when removing and re-installing my Mt82 was it had this little rod sticking out the right side, Now I do a lot of Porsche so I figured maybe its something left over from the porsche side???

s-l400.jpg


Notice that big black hammer looking thingy....yeah mine did'nt have that from the factory.....

so off I go installing mcleod clutch RXT and throw everything else in there and I figured
I would throw a Driveshaft Shop aluminum one piece drive shaft for good measure.

1 week later....



one viral video later and I need a new transmission and I also registered for round 1 of optima street car challenge so I needed a solution.

i was going to do a T-56 magnum swap however I have rev match and if I did one it would throw a million codes, after calling around I got ahold of Callimer transmissions.

Again STRONGLY suggest using these guys over doing t-56 swap.

They told me that the weight and also the non- slippage of the RXT is what may have contributed to the failure. So i purchased the Lethal performance clutch kit. My biggest problem with the RXT was the clutch didnt slip at all it would jerk a lot from a stop and just drove REALLY aggressive. The Lethal Kevlar clutch kit feels like a BONE stock clutch. highly recommended!


So off my transmission went to Calimer and I started getting my car ready for the track day.
I decided on going for a OS Giken 1.5 way LSD as the vehicle would be kind of unpredictable when losing traction (which it did a lot!)
also I noticed something...

20210318_120624.jpg



The diff bushing had been destroyed from the Torque!!!

So I had to also install BMR diff bushing poly set and had to do some brakes which comes to my next AWESOME thing

HAWK brake pads sponsored the car and sent me their DTC brake pad kit, and holy crap talk about G-force feeling when stopping.

so off I went and installed all my new stuff and also adjusted car into track mode settings I like for road racing are:

-4 front camber
0 toe

-2.5 rear camber
.05 degree toe in

these cars need A LOT OF CAMBER!!!

so I threw everything in and off I went to Las Vegas speedway.


I lined up for the first Gymkhana event, and off I went....however something was wrong no matter what I did the car would wanna over rotate and the rear end was steering me right.....

I was Struggling to stay on course the whole day..

AND HERE WAS MY NEXT MUSTANG ONLY LESSON!!!!



The rear subframe bolts have a 2" hole so when you re-install the subframe you have to SOMEHOW align it correctly.
In my stupidity I completely forgot to measure front to back alignment and was focused on side to side....

I had the subframe installed pointing to the right. SO I retired from day 2 which was the full course as I had no way of getting it straight at the track!

IMG_1243.jpg


So I had a VERY bad time.....

So i purchased the BMR alignment kit and also their subframe bushing lock out kit.
I now was kind of over track racing so I figured I would go drifting!






Now we are getting to Today I was driving the vehicle last week and doing a quick drive and there is something through this WHOLE STORY that I haven't mentioned

Alex, What about your Oil Pump Gear??????????

WHAT ABOUT IT!!!!

I DIDNT DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



So my engine is TOAST right now after 6000 miles, and right now I am in search of an engine but apparently NOBODY HAST ANY PARTS!!! So my car sits on the hoist until I can get the parts I need to fix it.

Rods
Crank
Cams
Hydraluic lifters
obviously new oil pump

the damage is BAD I mean REALLY bad

Right now I am trying to get a Ford Performance Aluminator short block as I know they have them in stock while MMR sleeves my engine but....that has been an issue!

So I have been through the ringer with this car learning a new EXPENSIVE lesson as I go with this car....I only have myself to blame for every failure so please don't take this post as complaining about any company or other group. I take SOLE responsibility for the failure.

However I am not done yet as soon as I can get either a new short block or some manley rods I will rebuild and she will be stronger than ever!!!

WE CAN REBUILD, IT WILL BE STRONGER, FASTER, BETTER!!

And I also have to do a drag race still......

also here is my dyno numbers on a Dyno pak dyno calibrated to SAE




I have more to post as this story is not over, I still have Hoonigan video and a few more events that I hope to make!!

I am trying to get myself in to New Media so please check out my channel the more support I get the more time I can put into my videos

THANKS!!

https://www.youtube.com/c/alexdrifts
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olaosunt

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Subscribed and welcome .
Great first post !
 
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AlexDrifts

AlexDrifts

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Posted some more today please let me know what everyone thinks of my stupidity!! My wallet hates my STUPID BRAIN!!
 

olaosunt

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Oh man!
Just saw the carnage . Don’t feel bad . I have been there a lot ... hence code name “coyote killer “

Fortunately coyote parts /rebuilds are relatively cheap compared to exports .

I have 4 S550’s (including a GT 350) and I actually keep at least a “ spare “ long block for each ...so not a bad idea on the alluminator while your block is being sleeved by MMR(they would not have been my first choice )
 
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olaosunt

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I am not going to bad mouth any vendors but I will say if I was in Cali ... no question RPG racing would be my first choice .
They (MMR) do have a bad rep around here but I personally don’t believe it’s deserved .
I have had 3 motors built by them over the years with variable results .
The first motor was non sleeved Boss long block for my 12 that’s I hear is still running strong .
Less luck with the sleeved stuff -both sleeved 5.2’s- one needed a rebuild after only a few hundred miles after a blown head gasket and another dropped sleeves but fortunately was able to fix and reuse the rotating assemby . It’s in a fox body swap now making 1200 hp and is very healthy .
I lost the other when the crank snapped with the Hellion TT (replaced with the Non sleeved RPG ).

I was able to salvage the block and rods and had it rebuilt (it’s now one of my “spares” )


RPG has built me a couple of motors including a sleeved voodoo and non sleeved cross plane 5.2
The non sleeved motor has been super with a Hellion TT so far . I just sent the voodoo back as it was eating oil /coolant ... issue seems to be the Diamond pistons used in that build .

Shipping a long block to Cali from Indiana is not cheap ($580 each way) so fortunately I have another great builder closer I have been using for my other builds .
 
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AlexDrifts

AlexDrifts

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2020 Mustang GT
Comp cams valve springs with titanium retainers ordered also
factory cam set
new rockers
ford performance aluminator NA short block
Cometic headgasket kit
arp camshaft bearing bolts
gaskets

hopefully be here in about 2 weeks so I can make ford festival at irwindale!
 
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AlexDrifts

AlexDrifts

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2020 Mustang GT
9 Months later..................

Yeah so I installed an aluminator short block with comp cam springs with Ti retainers. I drove the aluminator about 500 miles to break it in and the thing was blowing a cloud of smoke everywhere I went.

The Comp Cam springs came with viton PRESS ON valve stem seals. and even after removing them and reinstalling brand new ones they blow RIGHT OFF.

So i installed the factory valve stem seals and problem was fixed.

car now revs out to redline at max HP

so that car was all done

THAN I SPOKE TO A FAMOUS MUSTANG DRIFTER

20210819_145445.jpg



and I bought a Base GT 2020 with around 20k miles on it bone stock
 
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AlexDrifts

AlexDrifts

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he sold me his entire suspension kit minus the wide body he runs


DL212 - @lspecauto 06.jpg


First competition Practice,

I tried to be to gangster with it and slammed her into the wall

DSC03040.jpg


Now I run the Andersons composites wide body and my rear end is tube chassis with a fake rear end so now I can slam walls without major damage!

270516840_10226549791148910_3322462918654299962_n.jpg


DSC03104.jpg


 

olaosunt

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That is definitely “gangster “!
Welcome back .
 

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