Obsolescence to Obsession – Tales of the Rented Mule (FPRS GT350 Track Attack #14)

[Epiphany]

Placement was strategic. I should have made a template.

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[brokenblinker]

Placement was strategic. I should have made a template.

Your cuts look super nice and clean. Next time I have my bumper off I'll have to take a look, did you use a dremel?

 

[Muligan]

@Epiphany blazed the trail and set a high bar..... here are my cuts, hopefully they measure up - both to his stellar standards and to the airbox inlet.

After laying out the shape, I drilled some 1/8th inch pilot holes, then used a unibit to open them up to 1/2" for a nice smooth radius. I made the cuts with a very thin coping saw blade so as to avoid heating up the plastic and making a mess, then touched it up with a sanding drum on a Dremel and a paint stick with some adhesive sandpaper.

 

[Epiphany]

Nice work!

I used a couple different sized drill bits for the corners and a dremel for the straight runs, IIRC.

On Edit - a post I did regarding the amount of restriction.
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/intake-question.83344/page-2#post-1881721

 

[Muligan]

Today's focus was getting the replacement rear bumper cover side bracket installed, removing the radiator shrouding, and doing some cleaning.

When I pulled the rear bumper cover off, I noticed that on the left side (which is the one that had poor fitment; i.e., sag) there were a couple of tabs on that side of the cover that were smooshed in a bit. It looked like they didn't quite line up at the factory, so the person on the line just shoved a little harder (perhaps with a persuasive tool) and the result was broken tabs on the bracket that is mounted to the quarter panel. I mentioned previously that it's just a $16 part and I can now say it's worth every penny and way more. There are three pins in the back that hold it in place by protruding into the trunk, but only the middle one requires squeezing the barbs to release it. Also, the five fasteners along the side and the one on the rear (that attaches the side bracket to the rear bracket) have washers attached, but on the suggestion of one of the bumper sag fix threads here, I added some larger washers to spread the load a bit on the five side screws. Also, be aware that these can't take too much torque - one of those just enough is just enough things.

Here are pics of the old bracket and the bumper cover showing the damage. Notice the good clip on the left and how the one on the right is bent downward.

And in this one you can see how the slotted tab deformed when it destroyed the clip.

Here's the new bracket in place - note the larger washers, which surprisingly fit perfectly in the recessed opening surrounding the screw hole. I also sanded down some of the flashing that was on the top of the pads that touch the quarter panel along the underside of the lip in this picture, which allowed the bracket to fit nice and tight.

Something else I noticed on both sides right at the rear of the bracket was a bit of sticky goop with some foil backing. I'm guessing it's something that gives the bumper cover just a bit more friction to avoid sag - but I could be wrong. Anyway, it has the consistency of 3M Strip Caulk, which is an outstanding product made of non-hardening butyl rubber. I have some in the shop, as it gets used on restorations, so I applied a bit to the new bracket as well.

And here's a shot of the now clean and fully disassembled front end. I used compressed air to blow the radiators clean from the back side - I couldn't believe all the clag that came flying out the front of those things!!! Now, all that's left before installing the Ford Performance tow ring is to remove the bumper beam, drill a few holes, trim the radiator shroud, and then reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. Easy peasy.

On second thought, while I'm this deep into it, I'm going to spend a bit more quality time with a rag - cleaning is a great time to get up-close with the car and really inspect it to see what I can find. That peace-of-mind, knowing I've looked it over closely and fixed anything I find (or better yet, didn't find any issues), is golden when at speed on the track.

 

[Tomster]

So whats the plan with the interior? Are you going to gut it down for max weight reduction? Radio? AC?

I would go full out with that car like Nick Smither did with his R.

 

[Muligan]

So whats the plan with the interior? Are you going to gut it down for max weight reduction? Radio? AC?

A/C is coming out now, but the interior is going to remain as-is for this season. Gutting it and having Watson put one of their full cages in are on the table as possible future changes.

 

[Muligan]

Fun continues - but at my typical slow and methodical pace (..... "the Sloth" just doesn't sound as good as the Mule, though).

I was able to spend a few hours in the shop today and the result is that the bumper beams are off the car and drilled for the Ford Performance tow rings - the rear is actually installed and the beam is back on the car. The front is waiting for me to pull the A/C condensor, though, before I install the beam, finish modifying the radiator inlet shroud (to account for the tow ring and the extra gap due to soon-to-be-missing condensor), and then I can finally start to button the front end up again. And, as you can tell, I wiped down the rear end - it cleaned up pretty nicely, and doing so gave me a chance to look a bit closer at all the bumper cover attachment points and the general shape of the unibody.

As mentioned, there's still some work to be done on the front, but with the bumper beam off it really makes it simple to pull the A/C condensor. So, while I was going to leave that for another time, I've decided to yank it out now, along with the compressor and lines. No changes under the dash, but pulling this stuff off the nose of the car will save a bit of weight and provide a bit more airflow through the radiator.

But, as you can tell from this picture, the condensor was doing a great job blocking stuff from hitting the radiator fins - rocks, dirt, rubber chunks, etc. I guess I'll have to work in a screen of some sort - thinking something out of 1/4" stainless wire mesh that is installed just a little bit forward of the radiator.

I also had good luck with straightening out the bent loops on the rear bumper cover - what appeared to be assembly line damage.

Here's a before........

And here's an after pic once I used a heat gun to carefully warm it up until pliable.......

Other than a bunch more cleaning and inspecting, the last thing I tackled today was something suggested by @Tractor Junk to give the transmission and oil coolers a bit more airflow. I used a step bit to open the ends of both the front and rear louvers in the front wheel well liners, then a Dremel to trim the slots. This leaves plenty of rigidity to the louvers, but the wider slots may allow a bit larger pieces of clag to pass through. In an effort to balance the extra inflow at the front, I also opened up the rear louvers - the ones that vent through the fenders.

Here are a couple pics - the first shows the ends of the slots opened to 1/2" with the step bit and the second is a side-by-side comparison between a finished liner and a factory one.

 

[Tractor Junk]

While you’re tinkering with airflow around the coolers, think about this. When air enters the front bumper on either side, it ballon’s into a big cavity that just happens to have an oil cooler in it. There’s no direction, sealing, etc. You can take some sheet metal (painted black in my picture) and fashion some deflectors. Funnel all air through the coolers, then sealed back against the fender liners. This picture was version 1.0.

 

[Muligan]

A very official looking letter arrived from the Tooele, UT County Assessor's Office today...... I guess they finally figured out just how much of their county land mass came home in the Mule, so they sent me a tax bill.... apparently I'm now a non-resident UT land owner. Nobody say anything to Mecklenburg County in NC, though, please.... they'll want their pound of flesh, too.

Seriously, this thing is filthy..... I'm finding sand, gravel, and rubber everywhere!!!!

 

[Muligan]

A few updates -

Oil Change -

I did an oil change today. The engine is a Gen2, so it has the filter cartridge. Given what we know these days, it should have the FL2087 filter element, but here's what I found when I drained the oil and removed the canister (note the plastic liner).....

I'm not sure this is even a Ford filter (FL2062), given that it has no end caps. In any event, a fresh FL2087 with new "O" rings went back in, along with 10 qts of Motorcraft 5W50 full syn. Oh, and the oil was pretty dark when it came out, so I'm guessing that FPRS wasn't following the 4-5 hours of track time rule when it came to changes. I was going to send some out for an analysis, but I think I'll take my baseline from the next oil change after the upcoming event.

Tow Rings -

I finally finished the tow ring installation. This was delayed for the past couple of weeks, as I was doing a bunch of cleaning and inspecting, along with other work, while the bumper covers are off the car. Here's the last of the tow ring work, which was reinstallation of the front bumper beam, the ring itself, and modification of the plastic radiator air deflector / shroud. The instructions call for slotting the top of the air deflector / shroud, as well as drilling 1 1/4" holes in the plastic both above and below the bumper beam. The slots make room for the 90 degree downturns of the tow ring, which sits flush on the rear of the bumper beam (the air deflector overhangs the bumper beam a bit) and the large holes make it so the spacers on the top and the nuts on the bottom are on the aluminum beam and not the plastic.

I mocked up the front bumper cover a bit to ensure that the slot in the grille matches up with the tow ring and found that I needed just a bit more clearance - so out came the paint stir stick with adhesive sand paper to provide that little extra room.

One thing to point out about drilling the bumper beam for the looooong bolts that hold the front tow ring in place - the instructions suggest using a drill press, as each bolt needs four holes drilled directly in line with each other. I can't imagine doing this with a handheld drill and having all of those line up properly - I concur with their suggestion.

Here are a few pics before I reinstall the bumper cover......

A/C Removal (or not) -

Well, I decided to leave the A/C in place for the time being. There were a couple of things that played into this, but most of all it was a combination of available time, possibility of the car illuminating the CEL due to a DTC related to the A/C system, and the fact that I'd only be able to get a portion of the system out (condensor, compressor, and lines). Plus, it would have necessitated further modification of the radiator air deflector / shroud to bridge the gap that would be left when the condensor was removed (although I did find that there are two base-R model non-A/C versions of that shroud available in the country - one in Georgia and another in Arizona, but figured I'd leave those to the base-R guys). Instead, I simply removed the belt to avoid issues with the compressor seizing during high rpm operation and melting the belt, which appears to have occurred once already on this car. Since FPRS ran the cars with no belt, I figured that was the easy way out for now just to avoid a potential mess.... not really for any hp gains. More to come on A/C removal someday when / if I decide to gut the interior and pull everything at once.

Undertray Hardware -

I found that a bunch of the tiny captured nuts were missing from the front subframe - they are there to hold the undertray (belly pan) in place. On the Mule, four of the ten were missing and another was damaged beyond repair. At some point, somebody simply added a few zip ties to the undertray to hold it in place. After scouring the internet and ordering a bunch of different parts that were each touted as the right captured nut, I found that none of them would work. So, I did the next best thing and hit the local hardware store to look for alternatives. What I found were these nylon license plate nuts and some M4.2 (7mm head) screws with captured washers just like the originals. The nylon nuts snapped right into place and look to be just the ticket to reattach the undertray securely. These measure just under 1/2" inch at the square part and have notches / tabs on the four tangs that are perfect for the relatively thin steel of the subframe.

That's about it for now.... more to come as work continues and I get the Mule saddled up and ready for its debut at Road America later this month.

 

[Epiphany]

I remember as a kid eagerly awaiting the month's issue of R&T, Hot Rod, Super Ford, etc, to show up. Now I just come to this thread.

 

[Jbraun2828]

I agree, awesome thread!

 

[barstowpo]

I drilled my bumper bars with a hand drill. It took forever but it wasn't hard to keep things lined up.

 

[Tomster]

A few updates -

Oil Change -

I did an oil change today. The engine is a Gen2, so it has the filter cartridge. Given what we know these days, it should have the FL2087 filter element, but here's what I found when I drained the oil and removed the canister (note the plastic liner).....

I'm not sure this is even a Ford filter (FL2062), given that it has no end caps. In any event, a fresh FL2087 with new "O" rings went back in, along with 10 qts of Motorcraft 5W50 full syn. Oh, and the oil was pretty dark when it came out, so I'm guessing that FPRS wasn't following the 4-5 hours of track time rule when it came to changes. I was going to send some out for an analysis, but I think I'll take my baseline from the next oil change after the upcoming event.

It looks like a FL2062A version. People were using these during the shortage as a replacement

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