Grabber Lime 2020 GT Build Thread

[Entai]

Well at least its got some protection on it now ...

I opted for Megs ultimate quick wax as A) I had a bottle in the garage and B) this stuff is so easy to use on wet panels / in damp conditions.

It beads really well and lasts quite well too, which is good considering the weather we have coming in this week.

In fact, I forgot how impressed I was with this stuff, how quick it is to use and the looks it provides - I'm now considering using it as a drying aid every few weeks to get me through the winter season

I still found a few areas that needed a little more spot claying and I would still like to spend a bit more time on the rear lights. Other than that its just the front bumper that's not been touched - I want to leave that as long as possible due to the transport damage respray.

I think I've got about 12 hours invested in the paintwork now, but remember that I took this car from the ford dealer 'untouched'. Judging by what the dealers seem to turn out it's been well worth it, (IMHO) the paintwork is now to a much higher standard than I have seen on anything in the local showroom

Wheels are the next thing to get detailed - not really looking forward to that job ...

WD

That plus engine bay were the two of the reasons I had mine professionally detailed, that and I have zero patience for something like that .

Detailer collected it straight from the dealer.

Full paint correction, car, wheels and engine bay.
Then Xpel self healing PPF to the front bumper, front wings, the bonnet, the "A" pillars, and the mirror caps.
Then Roof wrapped in gloss black.
Then Gtechniq Crystal Serum ceramic over the car, wheels, and engine bay, and Gtechniq Halo ceramic on the PPF, and wrap.

£1800 all in, took him almost 12 days.

But over a year later, and a quick pressure wash and dry and everything just flows off. There is not a scratch on the car, the wheels are spotless after washing, the brake dust does not cling.

Bird muck and tree sap (we get a lot where we live) you can literally brush off with a hand and not leave a mark or stain.

Best money I have yet spent on the car.

Sponsored

 

[WD Pro]

Ignoring the cost which would be a bit of a stumbling bloc for me, I still have two personal issues with that route :

A) The pride and sense of achievement in detailing the car yourself.
B) The 'mental health' or 'personal relaxation time' benefits that come from detailing a car.

I've done the ppf route on the sportage and I'm still on the fence, as with most things you just have to pick whats right for you.

There's currently a great PPF / ceramic thread going on in the GT500 forum, it's interesting to see the different opinions

I do have some PPF for the mustang but its only for selected high impact places and it will be self fit (when conditions allow), but that's a story for another post.

WD

 

[WD Pro]

The sound tube got silenced today, but no test drive yet so don’t ask how much of a difference it made ... lol

I plugged mine in a slightly different way to the normal ‘rip it out’ method as I wanted to keep the OE look :

Everything went back together and it looks completely ‘normal’

I followed that up by fitting a AEM dry filter and I took the opportunity to remove the carbon trap at the same time :

If you do any work in that area and whilst the parts are stripped out, check the duct fits flush to the air box as mine was virtually disconnected, it’s now back flush :

That barb on the left hand side where the duct meets the air box was completely disconnected and there was a gap on the left side of the duct.

To be fair, refitting the lid and the flexible hose opened the gap back up a little more than shown in the photo, but the parts still mate and aren’t open anymore

Following on with the poor assembly / alignment theme, anyone read this thread ?

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/urgent-check-clutch-line-at-brake-master-cylinder.84132/

Well it looks like RHD don’t escape this issue either ...

And I’m guessing it’s more tricky to get too than on the LHD’s as it’s under the bulkhead brace and inboard of the master cylinder

Glad I opted for the white flags rather than the coloured versions, I was hoping they would take on the ambient lighting colour at night and it looks like I was in luck :

But if I had a red, white or blue car I would have bought the coloured versions for sure ...

WD

 

[raptor17GT]

nice on the sound tube mod, any more details on this as I'd like to do this too.

 

[WD Pro]

nice on the sound tube mod, any more details on this as I'd like to do this too.

I wanted to have a test drive before commenting more on the sound tube mod

I think most people just rip the sound tube out and then plug the original connection points (throttle body elbow and bulkhead), I wanted to retain the factory look AND silence a noise that was bugging me ...

I think the noises that the sound tube makes are very 'individual' - we all like different things, we all have different driving styles and we all have variances in our hearing range and ability to pick out (or not ignore ... lol) certain noises. There's a lot of threads on here about the sound tube mod and opinions vary a lot, here's a example thread that's running at the moment : https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/sound-tube-what-exactly-am-i-supposed-to-hear.105537/

For me, the noise I was hoping was coming from the sound tube was only noticeable under low speed driving / low revs / low stereo / exhaust in quiet mode i.e. me coming home at night through a 20mph zone with speed humps (light acceleration / brake / repeat).

The noise sounded a bit like a hissing air leak kind of noise coming from behind the dash ? I've also heard it described sounding like a small electric motor which I can also associate with.

People have also mentioned that the sound is induction roar. Having had an open topped car with the carb stuck out of the hood and a Cosworth with an open K&N about 8" from the turbo, I would defo describe the (standard) mustang noise as more of an induction 'asthmatic wheeze' rather than 'roar' ...

People have also theorised that the noise could be louder with a more free flowing filter and the big mouth etc. Whilst that seems logical for noises outside of the car, I cant see how it would affect the noise coming from the sound tube as the sound tube take it's feed downstream of any inlet or filter mods i.e. it's listening to the throttle body rather than the induction system inlet.

Anyhow, my car had a big mouth on it from new / before I drove it and the AEM filter went in at the same time as I blanked the sound tube so possibly not the fairest of tests, but the drive home last night confirmed that the noise I was hoping to silence is now eliminated i.e. it doesn't sound like I have an air leak behind the dash anymore

It's possible that the cabin may also be marginally quieter when cursing, but my gut feeling is there are far greater noise influences under 'normal' driving than what the sound tube makes and I may be looking for something that really isn't there ?

The plug I used was a generic plastic protection cap typically supplied on machined parts or parts that need their internals to be kept clean (hoses and fittings etc). Having messed around with cars and bikes for years I keep all the protection caps / plugs and throw them in a box in the garage, every so often one comes in useful ... The one I used for the sound tube plug was a very tight fit, I had to boil it in water to soften it enough to squeeze it in place. It cant get sucked in as it has a chunky flange, it cant get blown out as its held in place buy the original sound tube hose and clamp

Overall, yes, I am glad I did this mod and for me it made the difference I was looking for under a very specific set of circumstances with zero downsides

Hope that helps ?

WD

ps : Thanks to @Vlad Soare for providing me the dimensions of the sound tube boss, he saved me having to potentially strip it down twice whilst I sourced the correct sized plug (Vlad measured 20.60mm ID / 26.24mm OD / 27.88 over the barb)

 

[MAD MATT]

" It's possible that the cabin may also be marginally quieter when cursing..."

 

[WD Pro]

Made me laugh, I’m not even going to edit my post for that one ...

WD

 

[Supersolo]

After collection, each time I drove my GT, I heard an air sound, as if one of the windows was slightly open & I'd keep looking to see a gap & checking the window switches.
Very disconcerting!

Sound tube deleted & skipped now!

 

[WD Pro]

Only a little update

I noticed the rear markers appeared a little loose and rocked a bit, mostly at the front ‘clip’ end. Wondered if there were slight differences in the US and euro spec so popped one out to find they are 100% identical. Maybe they all do it or maybe I’ve just got an odd car ... lol ?

Anyhow, with a bit of fiddling, working blind behind the bumper and a bit of finding what would fit, I found the perfect combo was an M5 stainless bolt and some old silicon tubing :

Nothing to rot or vibrate, no undue stress on the clip and the bolt head catches on the back of the bumper moulding to stop the assembly working downwards with time and vibration.

Keeps the ends tucked in nice now and they sit firm with zero movement. A small mod but one that keeps me happy ... lol

Wash day :

Still got cavity wax dripping out of the doors so I cleaned that up (again) and also cleaned lots of splash’s of it from the plastic arch liners.

Good news - The Megs ultimate quick wax still seems to dislike water as much as the day it was applied. Rinsing with an open hose pretty much made needing to dry the car off redundant

Bad news - Revenge of the ford car cleaner (I will not say detailer ...) ? I do wonder if he took a dislike to the instruction not to touch the paint ... ?

I suspect this is an old school acidic wheel cleaner that has been sprayed and left to dry ?

‘Nice’ wheel cleaners won’t touch it. Paint cleaners will take it off but it takes ages. Mineral spirits etc won’t touch it.

Resorted to old school wheel cleaner (hydrochloric acid i.e. brick acid) which pretty much instantly removes it. I’ve been doing it in sections every time the car is moved / re parked as I only do about a three spoke section at the bottom to keep well away from wheel nuts and callipers etc. Slowly getting there :

There good enough for now, at least until the wheels come off to get all the underseal overspray off them ... (mostly the backs).

WD

 

[Vlad Soare]

I see you replaced your side badges and grille pony with the black version. What did you do with the rear GT badge? Have you found a solution to blacken that as well?

 

[WD Pro]

I see you replaced your side badges and grille pony with the black version. What did you do with the rear GT badge? Have you found a solution to blacken that as well?

I've done nothing with it yet - and it bugs me every time I look at the back of the car ...

I've decided that I like the completely flat and de badged look best

I asked about aftermarket blank deck lids here https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/mp-concepts-deck-lid-panel.149525/ with mixed responses.

I'm pretty sure now that I want an OE Ford panel and if they start to make them again due to the Mach 1 rear panel, a completely flat one without the two lines moulded into it.

I have asked Ford Performance if they will start to stock that panel as a blank, but I haven't had a response yet ...

WD

 

[Vlad Soare]

I think I stumbled upon a blank OEM decklid on Steeda's web page. Can't remember whether it was in stock, though.
I'm also considering getting an American-style OEM decklid and black GT badge. I don't think I'd get away with just the badge, because the chances that the orientation pins are the same for the American and Euro GT badges are next to nil. So I'd probably need a new decklid, with the correct holes.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-GT-...691006?hash=item2ad6f02dbe:g:ZT8AAOSwoiFdpE4J

In the meantime I've ordered a can of Plasti Dip. I'll try that first. It might turn out OK. If not, then it can be easily removed.

Edit: I've found it. There seems to be one in stock:
https://steeda.eu.com/collections/mustang-s550-gt/products/s550-mustang-rear-deck-lid
Quite expensive for a piece of plastic...

 

[WD Pro]

Just a couple of things I've found along the way (if anyone disagrees please shout up ) :

A) New blank ford panels are currently easy to get hold of. New blank ford panels without the lines are hard impossible to find. I think the only difference in part number is with / without an 'A' on the end ('A' being the newer panel with the lines). Even if a shop has the photo showing the completely flat panel, check with them as its most likely an old photo and they will supply the panel with lines.

B) The GT badge fits in the same holes as the euro gas cap badge, but the euro badge uses additional holes that wont be covered by the GT badge. You can see on the back of the Ford panel all the badge mounting positions, but they only drill them through to suit the required badge (or not at all in the case of the Ford Performance blank panels).

WD

 

[Vlad Soare]

A) New blank ford panels are currently easy to get hold of. New blank ford panels without the lines are hard impossible to find.

Oh, I get it now. When you say blank, you mean really, really blank, not just without a badge.
Then how about this one?
https://steeda.eu.com/collections/mustang-s550-gt/products/s550-mustang-blank-rear-deck-lid

Edit: never mind. I didn't notice it was out of stock.

B) The GT badge fits in the same holes as the euro gas cap badge, but the euro badge uses additional holes that wont be covered by the GT badge. You can see on the back of the Ford panel all the badge mounting positions, but they only drill them through to suit the required badge (or not at all in the case of the Ford Performance blank panels).

I see. So I would clearly need a new deck lid.
That will be expensive.

 

[mike3105]

I got an Ali Express one, it's exactly the same construction as the Ford one, no lines, and a perfect fit. Came in less than two weeks. Also got a GT badge. Didn't like the big bulky round EUUS spec badge, and my car (bought used) had scratches all along the bottom where it'd been used to close the boot lid.

Sponsored