Andrewg's Guard GT Build

[Andrewg]

Hi guys,

Been a lurker on here for a while but post a fair bit on other forums so thought it was about time to start a thread, get involved and get that ol' post count up

Bit about me, I'm 32 from the UK (so excuse my spelling of the words tyre, colour, labour and aluminium :lol: ) but lived in Dubai for the last 10 years and work for Ford Middle East and Africa. On my second Mustang and just got rid of a 2014 F150 FX4 in favour of an Escape (wife's car). Previously had a modded 2007 GT with a lot of custom work including hand made fender flares and exhaust which was written off by a prick not stopping at a top sign and taking my front end off.

Very sad day as i'd bought the car new and had no intention of getting rid of it. Even had a turbo kit part paid for but being a die hard mustang fan I couldn't be out of a mustang for long. Ended up picking up a manual GT in Guard Metallic on the 22nd September. They only had Ingot Silver, Ebony Black, Ruby Red, Deep Impact Blue, Triple Yellow or Guard Metallic with a manual in stock and seeing as we don't get the Performance Pack over here there weren't many options. I was originally looking for Magnetic but always liked the Guard Metallic in photos so went with that. Not usually a fan of darker colours due to the immense effort to keep them looking good but happy with my decision as it's a beautiful colour.

Went straight out and snapped a couple of photos.

Before i'd even taken possession of the car i'd already bought some mods to get started. JLT catch can, FRPP decklid spoiler and Diode Dynamics interior LED kit went straight on. Never been a fan of chrome and the car was loaded with it so planned to remove them all one bit at a time.

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[Andrewg]

Going from long tube headers, an off road H pipe and straight through Borlas, the asthmatic sound of the stock exhaust just wasn't going to cut it. So next up was a Magnaflow cat back. Went with Magnaflow as it was one of the only exhausts at the time with full 3" piping and the deep sound was what I was looking for. Only available with an X though I would have preferred an H. Love the heat coating on the mufflers and tips. Goes with the stealth theme i'm ultimately looking for and I can touch the exhaust tip within 5 minutes of driving.

Also had a few issues quick shifting to 3rd and so bought a Whiteline bushing insert which made a huge difference. Had an MGW on the previous car and can't say enough good things about the company, customer service, quality of the part etc. so decided i'd be going the same route with this one.

 

[Andrewg]

Spent a bit of time this weekend doing a few cosmetic mods.

First was the swap from chrome 5.0 badges to black ones. Took a while as the residue left behind from the stock ones was a b*tch to get off even with a tonne of elbow grease, Goo-Gone and a hairdryer. Kind of annoying the 2016 mustangs come with a black accent package and have black badges included!

Added switchback LED turn signals because I have Anchor Room light tints (haven't got around to putting them on yet) so decided to go the LED route as the added brightness will negate the darker tint and switchbacks seemed like a cool option.

Also picked up a set of front grilles (top and bottom) from Dusold Designs. Thanks guys! Took a few hours as you need to remove the front bumper and the tabs to get the stock piece off are a pain but overall very pleased with the look. Now just got to get rid of that ugly license plate bracket and get a smaller license plate.

Apologies for the crappy pics taken with a busted iphone.

 

[Andrewg]

"What's next?" I hear you ask.

MGW shifter arrived after 2 weeks of back order. Super excited to get that on the car.

Took the car to our local track, the Autodrome, recently which was originally built as a F1 track but Yas Marina won the bid. It runs in 4 configurations and has a pretty good team behind it.

Wasn't too impressed with the braking and body roll and the stock tyres (PZero All season) are absolute crap. Dropped down to about 26psi expecting the tyres to heat up to about 33-34psi and they never went above 29 even after 4 consecutive hot laps despite getting greasy and losing a lot of traction.

That, the wheel hop under hard acceleration and the fore/aft bump when shifting hard was the trigger for some suspension upgrades. In a perfect world i'd buy a part at a time, install it and see what a difference it makes/how much faster I am but i'm not a track junkie and probably get down for track days 3 to 4 times a year. I'm under no illusions i'll ever be anything other than an amateur and the car is predominantly a daily driver, plus we don't have anything like the SCCA here so happy to throw parts at the car just to cure the issues I can feel under regular driving.

Phoned up Kelly at BMR and discussed what would be best for my needs. Always great service from those guys. I'll be going with an Airlift kit so shocks and springs are off the list. We agreed vertical links, bearings, cradle bushing lock out and differential bushing kit should firm up the rear end, get rid of the wheel hop and give the car a bit more of a solid feel. Also a set of sway bars for the lateral motion (Airlift kit comes with endlinks so no need for them at this stage). Added a set of jacking rails to the list to make life easier getting under the car in future.

 

[MagnaFlow]

Looks like you aren't wasting any time getting started on the new mustang!

Let us know how you like the sound of the new Competition system.

 

[5pointOh]

haha can I get a a plan code

 

[Andrewg]

Looks like you aren't wasting any time getting started on the new mustang!

Let us know how you like the sound of the new Competition system.

Love the sound of the system. Deep and bass-y, especially on sport mode. When I picked it up the only option was an X pipe and couldn't see anything on your website but do you guys do a 3" H midpipe as well?

Especially love the heat treatment. Couldn't believe I could touch the tips within 5 minutes of turning the engine off after a half hour drive.

haha can I get a a plan code

Sorry man. Sadly i'm in the U.A.E. and we don't do x or a plans here :tsk:

 

[MagnaFlow]

Love the sound of the system. Deep and bass-y, especially on sport mode. When I picked it up the only option was an X pipe and couldn't see anything on your website but do you guys do a 3" H midpipe as well?

Especially love the heat treatment. Couldn't believe I could touch the tips within 5 minutes of turning the engine off after a half hour drive.

Glad to hear that! At this time our catback systems dont use H pipes since they generally do not yield as much power as X's do, and we are able to achieve the same deep H-pipe-style sound with the tuning of our mufflers!

 

[Andrewg]

Glad to hear that! At this time our catback systems dont use H pipes since they generally do not yield as much power as X's do, and we are able to achieve the same deep H-pipe-style sound with the tuning of our mufflers!

No worries. More than happy with the sound as it is. Looking forward to getting the car tuned as i've heard that changes the exhaust note on a stock car, making it a little deeper and I can imagine that being magnified by your system.

 

[John577]

Nice car and nice looking place you live now

So in Dubai you also get Export 'Stang with this big side mirror and clear tail lights ?

I'm asking as I see that you have the Tri-bar working and hood vents and the mirror seems to be like our European model...

 

[Andrewg]

Nice car and nice looking place you live now

So in Dubai you also get Export 'Stang with this big side mirror and clear tail lights ?

I'm asking as I see that you have the Tri-bar working and hood vents and the mirror seems to be like our European model...

Thanks mate. Yes to the mirrors (we only get the premium models here. I assume the smaller mirrors don't come with BLIS which is standard here) but the tail lights are the same as the US.

 

[Zemedici]

My god that view. I'd love to see that every day.

Need any more coworkers?

Fantastic progress.

I liked the 3V fenders too.

 

[Andrewg]

My god that view. I'd love to see that every day.

Need any more coworkers?

Fantastic progress.

I liked the 3V fenders too.

Thanks mate. Here's a couple more for you...

 

[John577]

Thanks mate. Yes to the mirrors (we only get the premium models here. I assume the smaller mirrors don't come with BLIS which is standard here) but the tail lights are the same as the US.

Thanks mate for the pictures. Seems that you got a mix of piece of every model from the 2015 (EU big Side Mirrors, US hood vent + tri-bar LED and the tail lights looks like the one on the 50th anniversary package with the chrome surrounding).

Do you also have the electric folding mirrors ?

Dubai is such a beautiful place, I was there last year for my holiday and the view is so amazing, I stayed at Jumeirah Beach and went to the Atlantis Hotel at the Palm Jumeirah (what a crazy hotel and a nice view in front of Dubai).
I'll definitly plan other Holidays there

 

[Andrewg]

Thanks mate for the pictures. Seems that you got a mix of piece of every model from the 2015 (EU big Side Mirrors, US hood vent + tri-bar LED and the tail lights looks like the one on the 50th anniversary package with the chrome surrounding).

Do you also have the electric folding mirrors ?

We're pretty limited on trims available here in the Middle East. No GT/PP and the manual 2015 GTs were only available with the 50th anniversary package hence the chrome trim on the tails, interior etc. and the original rear panel had the 50th anniversary badge. nOtherwise the spec is almost the same as the US (regarding the vents, LED, tailights etc) with the exception of the EU mirrors to comply with local legislation and a few homologation items like the speedo in KPH not mph.

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