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

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Here's a pic of a split rivnut that I did as a test pull. It shows how the barrel forms a very wide grip area to spread the load on soft materials.

20220805_183816.jpg


I bought a pack of ten of these from McMaster-Carr for around nine bucks.

20220804_122843.jpg
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Howdy everyone - more updates on the Mule as our next event looms; we're joining Team Shelby for the Gingerman Raceway portion of their "Dearborn Invasion" that coincides with the upcoming Woodward Dream Cruise.

In preparation, the Mule received a bunch of upgrades and maintenance, including those mentioned in the few preceding posts - TSB for tone ring nut, exhaust wrap to help keep differential temps low, and some cool canards. Also on the menu were an oil and filter change (Motorcraft 5w50), new front pads (OEM), brake flush (Castrol SRF), exhaust dampers, suspension tweaks, new wheels/tires, and a track alignment.

Exhaust Dampers -
Once the driveshaft and exhaust were back in place, I removed the buggered-up OEM exhaust weights and replaced them with a new set from B Line. I would prefer to get some OEM versions, but those seem to be unavailable separately. The B Line version seems to be a reasonable alternative, as they apparently are very close in weight and composition. The only downside was that they were on back order for three months.

I checked with FPRS and was told that it was a constant fight keeping those things on the exhaust - I guess the vibrations are such that they can fail on their own and/or get damaged in a variety of ways. I inquired as to any available spares, to no avail.

Here's what my original exhaust dampers looked like when I got the car. It looks like one was cut off, which prompted my initial outreach to the school - I wanted to make sure that they hadn't found that removing them was a better alternative for track driving and header longevity. But, they confirmed that whenever damaged, the school tech typically replaced them as, in their opinion, they do work to preserve the header welds.

Damaged Dampers.jpg


And here is what the B Line version looks like.

B Line Dampers.jpg



Springs, Sways, and End Links -
Although there's lots of opinions out there regarding springs and sway bars, my goal of incremental development and improvements led me to the Ford Performance kit. Although it's not a full race suspension, it was supposedly engineered to be a very slight step up from the standard R components. I'm also intrigued by the approach Ford took with this set-up, by leaving the rear springs soft and upgrading the bar. In theory, this should allow for greater traction under acceleration and then roll control to be handled by the bars (and Magneride), rather than depending on the springs.

I'm guessing this won't be the final iteration of the Mule's suspension, but it should be a good first stop on the improvement ladder.

For the rears, I used the easier method of raising the car and then supporting the IRS subframe with a spindle jack. Doing one side at a time, I removed the two large and two small bolts holding the IRS subframe and lowered the assembly just enough to swap the springs. Having removed the rear sway bar first helped by giving a bit more clearance.

Here is the rear with the new springs and sway bar in place - no end links yet.

Rear Driver.jpg


The front was a bit more involved, as the struts need to come out in order to swap the springs. Also, the front sway bar is an interesting project - access for the bracket bolts is through the engine bay and requires removing the airbox. Even so, the rear mount bolt on the driver's side requires reaching in through a small opening at the bottom of the inner fender, as that bolt is directly under the alternator.

You can see the sway bar bracket bolts in this pic taken from the top once the airbox was removed - be ready to use a really long extension (or a collection of all your extensions).

Driver Front Sway Bar Mount.jpg


Once unbolted, the sway bar needs to be pulled out through that same small hole in the driver's inner fender, so pulling the strut out and moving the remaining suspension down out of the way seems to be a must.

20220807_145222.jpg


In the pic above you can see the brake caliper is hanging out of the way, but not putting any stress on the brake lines. I made a couple of hangers out of some 3/16" aluminum rod I had laying around, which allowed me to position them so that they also don't put their weight on those delicate ride height sensors.

Here's a close-up of the caliper on the hanger - notice the well-used Caliperfexion stud in the foreground of the pic!

20220809_200019.jpg


And here are the dimensions of the hangars, in case anyone wants to make something similar.

20220809_115121.jpg


Once the new sway bar was fished into place and secured - remember that the Ford Performance kit comes with high durometer rubber bushings, so no lubrication is needed or desired - I swapped the springs on the front struts using a commercial grade spring compressor that I got on loan from the local Auto Zone for free. PSA - be careful with those springs.... lots of stored energy when compressed! To use one of these, you'll need a decent sized bench vise, plus an impact wrench makes quick work of compressing and releasing the springs.

Spring Compressor.jpg


I used this state of disassembly to give the spring isolators and the bushings / bearings at the top of the struts a good going over, as well as the struts and the rear shocks. Everything seemed in pretty good condition. In fact, I was surprised that the stock sway bar end links were not bent, given the stresses of going from infield-to-banked track at Charlotte for a couple of seasons. Once the struts were buttoned back up, I reassembled the front suspension using new hardware, as lots of that stuff is called out in the Service Manual as "one-time-use."

The sway bars have two holes for adjustability - the ones nearest the end of the bars are the soft settings. To accommodate that and to provide a bit of future tunability via rudimentary corner jacking, I went with Steeda adjustable end links. These are really nice pieces that allowed me to install the sway bars with zero static preload by setting one side and then connecting the other side once the suspension was settled and my weight was approximated in the driver's seat.

Something to note on the rear bars is that the factory brake line bracket wouldn't fit, as it has a tab that is designed to catch on the end of the OEM bar. I've seen some installations where that tab was ground off, but I just put the bracket in a press and flattened it out. This pic was during mock-up and the end link is in the stiff setting hole.

Modified brake Line Bracket.jpg


After lots of deliberation and valued feedback, I decided to go with both bars on the soft setting for now. Also, thanks to those who have posted in the past regarding set-up of adjustable end links when lowering the car - the rears need to be a bit shorter, but the fronts need to be a bit longer. My goal was to keep the bar ends as closely oriented to the original geometry as possible.

Wheels & Tires -
Now that the Mule has stiffer legs, it needed some new shoes. I posted pics a while back of the new wheels and tires off the car. Although I'll eventually go with even lighter wheels, these Apex SM-10s in 19x11 (with square backspacing and front 25mm spacers so I can rotate front-to-rear) shed quite a bit of weight from the OEM wheels. Combined with the take-off Pirelli DH race slicks, these are just a couple pounds more each than the R carbon fiber wheels with Cup2 tires. There are a set of very light forged wheels in the Mule's future, but I'm still trying to decide if I will do the AP Racing front brake swap that allows for 18" wheels. If I go that route, the potential supply of cheap but nearly new take-off race tires becomes nearly limitless, versus the competition for the sparce availability of 305/690/19s that fit just right for now.

20220810_152342.jpg


Apex's spacers are a work of art - and they passed the paper test. To determine if a wheel spacer fits properly, hold a small tab of paper between the spacer and the rotor and apply light pressure to the spacer with your other hand - then pull on the paper. It should be solidly stuck between the spacer and the face of the rotor.

Spacers.jpg


And here's a pic showing the new ride height, as well.

20220810_152106.jpg


Alignment -
With all the work done, all that was left was an alignment. Although there are lots of nearby shops that do track car work, I decided to try and find a resource that can do the alignment, as well as become my go-to from a future support perspective. My local dealer's service writer's head would likely explode if I wheeled the Mule into their Fast Lane for service. A little research and word-of-mouth introduced me to Middleton Motorsports - part of a Ford dealership just outside Madison, WI. These guys field some really fast cars and support lots of events at tracks throughout the Midwest - especially my home track of Road America. I figured I'd give them a try, so me and the Mule set out at 'o-dark early the other day for a trip.

Early Departure for Middleton Motorsports.jpg


Middleton Motorsports was definitely worth the trip. Chuck and his crew were enthusiastic about working on the Mule and took interest in the back story and my abilities. They made me feel welcome and we swapped swag.... they got "Back in the Saddle Tour" shirts and a 12 pack of Spotted Cow and I brought home a couple of their team shirts, decals, a hat, a keychain, and a complimentary FL-2087 filter (!!!). As a full-service Ford dealership and a motorsports prep and track parts reseller (lots of top brands), these guys have earned my business going forward.

In addition to the alignment, they also checked to make sure the Mule was up-to-date on its shots (err... software upgrades), did somewhat of a nut-and-bolt inspection - especially on my recent suspension work, and reset the ride height sensors due to the lowered suspension.

They tailored the alignment based on the R and GT500 track settings, with a few variances that come from their experience running Chuck's and other customers' GT350s. I'm considering this just an initial set-up and it seems to be a reasonable starting point. Ignore the "before" settings - those reflect the wonkiness of the suspension after I added the new springs and sways, so things were off quite a bit.

Aug 2022 Initial Settings.jpg


Happy Mule at the end of the day, getting ready to load up for the ride home.

Middleton Ford Motorsport.jpg


See y'all next time after Gingerman with some thoughts (or rants) on the recent changes.
 
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Tomster

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I am an honored recipient of the "12 pack of spotted cow" award. I am happy to see that select worthy individuals are still being identified and having this beloved award bestowed upon them.

Congrats on the car Chris. I always enjoy reading about your progress.
 

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Hey, how did the Illinois guy get Cow?

See you this week Chris
 
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Hey, how did the Illinois guy get Cow?
Finally a Wisconsin land owner .... residency to follow soon.

Abdicating my FIB status.
 

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This week on the Mule's continuing saga, we change the title of our story to "Incompetence to Incontinence - fluid trails from the Rented Mule."

The Mule and I joyfully (ignorance really is bliss, I guess) set off for the sandy soil, pine forests, farm stands, and cool lake breezes of south-west Michigan to join Team Shelby (and our arch nemesis, the wicked fast JR265 and its piloti-extraordinaire @Goz To 11) at the kick-off for the Dearborn Invasion at Gingerman Raceway just outside South Haven. Day-one (Monday) was reserved for novices with lots of great track exercises and instruction, so I arrived late that day as the crowd was sitting down to a wonderful BBQ dinner served by the event hosts. One of the first questions I got before even unloading was "what group are you in?" When I replied advanced, there were hearty laughs all around. What everyone but me knew was that the advanced group had been taken over by some pretty seasoned drivers from Ford Performance, KohR, and Capaldi. Fortunately, the organizers must have heard of the legend of my mediocre skills and summarily ignored my registration and placed me in the "intermediate-plus" group with the other mere mortals.

Speaking of the organizers, the Mohawk team was flying the Ford flag super high and setting a new standard for paddock-cred with their Heritage GT..... Yowza!!!! Oh, and giving rides to a few lucky participants, including kids. Super class act, the Mohawk team, for sure.

Mule photo-bombs the GT......

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This was our first event on the new Ford Performance springs and sway bars, Pirelli DH take-off slicks, and that fancy track alignment with lots of front and rear negative camber. I figured it'd either be a total hoot or pure evil and scare the snot out of me, so there was some apprehension as I tried to sleep that night.

Lost at Gingerman
Tuesday dawned picture-perfect.... upper 50's in the morning and clear skies, warming up to mid-70s. After taking to heart the warnings of cold slicks and a cold track for the first morning session, I rolled out a few minutes late and immediately got lost on track. It was worse than when I tried my hand at parking lot autocross back in the late '90s! I hadn't been to Gingerman since September '09 and hadn't actually driven the course since sometime in '08. I guess I should've watched some videos rather than relying on memory and the track map, but fortunately, after pointing by a couple of local fellas who looked like they knew what they were doing, I was able to follow them around a bit and relearn the line.

The second session found me running with friends (@Goz To 11 and @svttim) both in R models and very fast, but fortunately for me they're also patient enough to let me hang behind them and see how it's done. The Mule fell into a rhythm and we were soon keeping up and having a blast.

The rest of the day was more of the same - great weather and fast friends, along with some new ones. By the end of the day we apparently developed a bit of a recognition among some of the other drivers in the group as we rocketed (it's a relative term) around in formation. It was hilarious to see three cars ahead of us all raise their arms in unison to signal a point-by as we approached.... sort of a Pavlovian reaction.

Lower Temps and Aero Cool?
So what about those canards? Well, after talking with one guy who should know way more than me on the subject, I learned that they offer both aerodynamic and cooling benefits. As you can see in the pics, they're somewhat small in the area that curves up around the side of the front fascia, but huge at the bottom - sort of like splitters for the engine and transmission cooler inlets. Sure enough, I saw temps that were in the area of 20 degrees cooler for the engine oil and 10-12 degrees cooler on the transmission from prior outings (at similar ambient temps). Also, in comparison to other GT350s that I was running in close proximity with, my temps were quite a bit lower. From an aerodynamic perspective, my goal for these was to cut down some of the floaty feeling in the steering at higher speeds. Gingerman is a small track, so the speeds for me weren't high enough to determine if the canards achieved that goal. I'll have a better idea when I get to run Road America again near the end of the season.

And that header wrap on the exhaust near the differential? Well, that wasn't as much of a success story, but it does appear to have lowered diff temps by a few degrees, so I'll call it a win, too.

Moving On
Wednesday brought more of the same weather - i.e., perfect - but lots of the guys were packing up for the next phase of the Dearborn Invasion, the run across the state to Detroit for tours of the Henry Ford Museum and the River Rouge factory, as well as wining and dining with Ford execs and general hooliganizing at the Woodward Dream Cruise.

Rode Hard and Put Up Wet
Unfortunately, it was also late in the morning on Wednesday when I noticed something odd on the Mule's left rear wheel - wet spots in that tell-tale radial pattern that usually indicates a wheel bearing / hub going bad. Then, I noticed lots of wet dirty fouling down low on the leading area of the quarter panel flare and door jamb and, as I bent down, saw that it was all along the underside of the rocker, too. The Mule is low enough that I couldn't get a good look, so a dab with white paper revealed it was pink; definitely transmission fluid. Only, with the cooler lines running forward on the passenger side, I was at a loss as to how this was showing up on the driver's side starting way up at the front of the rocker. M6G and some other resources to the rescue, though, and a little research led me to the transmission vent located behind the driver's side cylinder head on the firewall (it's the little bulb shaped thing with the spring loaded vent at the end).

Blurry pic, as it's hard to get a clear shot.....

20220820_134153.jpg


The bulb (breather chamber) and vent, along with the surrounding area, was very wet with transmission fluid and it was clearly running down the firewall and front subframe and then back along the subframe rail and the plastic guard that protects the fuel/brake lines and fuel filter. Rather than risk spinning in my own fluid and also to avoid putting any more fluid on the track than I likely already had, I deemed the Mule done for the day and we loaded up for the trip home.

Once home and on the lift, it was obvious something was amiss......

20220820_101050.jpg


I checked the fluid level in the transmission and it seemed a bit high. Since I have no one to blame but myself, I shrugged and simply removed a few ounces with a vacuum pump. After a bit of clean up, the Mule is good as new (sort of). I'll monitor this closely at the next event to ensure that the issue is resolved.

Suspension Impressions
Even with the damper on the event (sorry), it was a great outing. The Mule handled incredibly well on the new FP suspension - I actually like the softish rear springs - and the Pirelli DH slicks are out of this world sticky! No clunks or other unexpected noises - and it appears I even cured the occasional clunk I was hearing previously. I'm going to continue running the current alignment (see second to last pic in post #197) and watch how those slicks wear before making any changes. Turn in was very crisp with no wander at higher speeds on the straights, grip levels from those slicks were out of this world compared to anything I've ever driven, and I'd call the balance neutral. There was only a slight hint of understeer when pushing too hard on entry speed in the decreasing radius corners and only once did the rear end step out on me at corner exit under full throttle (running in Track mode) and that was probably from too much steering input as I was using all the track and then some at that point.

I'm running the sway bars on their soft settings and the Steeda adjustable end links are set with zero static pre-load, meaning that there's still a ton of adjustability in the suspension if I want to start playing with things. For now, the Mule's limits are so far above mine that making changes is unnecessary, unless I see uneven tire wear.

Parting Shots
That's about it for this go around; thanks for stopping by and catching up. Here are a few more glamour pics from Gingerman.

20220818_062554.jpg


20220817_095734.jpg


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Oh yeah - the Mule is happy.

ET3nTZxWkAAbLWJ.jpg
 
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Goz To 11

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You're a class act and a very good driver, bud! Thanks for not punting me when my tire went down right in front of you!
Really enjoyed running Gingerman with you and looking forward to Barber!!!
 
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Thanks for not punting me when my tire went down right in front of you!
That was quite exciting to watch from my perspective. Talk about a skilled driver - very fast left-hand sweeper putting all the stress on the front right tire and, of course, that was the one that went down just as you approached the exit point along the outside edge of the track. Not sure how you kept it gathered up and going in the proper direction, as I was waiting to see one side or the other of your car. Well done!!!
 

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Short update on the transmission vent and fluid spewing issue -

As I cleaned up all the fluid that made its way outside of the transmission, I was wondering if the vent line was in the right position. The Mule has a replacement engine and transmission, so it's possible that someone either got lazy, didn't know any better, couldn't fit their hands into the tight space, or it popped loose during reinstallation. Although I wasn't successful with my own research - including searches here and reviewing the CD Service Manual - @honeybadger to the rescue with a fast response to my separate post.

I found that the vent line had a couple of those plastic mounting tabs that stick onto an exposed threaded stud, but there were a few studs in the rough vicinity of where the line was laying behind the left side of the engine against the firewall and I wasn't sure which was the correct location. Thanks to this schematic provided by HB, the vent line is now moved up and over quite a bit from the prior nearly horizontal position flopping around and making a mess to a secure point that is probably 6" higher - and the vent outlet is now vertical.

Vent Line Routing.JPG


This correct mounting point, combined with the few ounces of fluid I removed from the transmission due to a slightly overfilled condition, should (hopefully) resolve the issue.

In the pic below, the yellow arrow points down to where the vent was located and you can just see it in the upper left corner - now securely located in the proper spot.

Vent Mount Vertical.jpg
 
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That was quite exciting to watch from my perspective. Talk about a skilled driver - very fast left-hand sweeper putting all the stress on the front right tire and, of course, that was the one that went down just as you approached the exit point along the outside edge of the track. Not sure how you kept it gathered up and going in the proper direction, as I was waiting to see one side or the other of your car. Well done!!!
I was wondering why you loosened his valve stem?
 
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Yes sir, that's a fine bunch of automobiles.
 
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Today, we find the Mule experimenting with something seen at the recent Gingerman event.

One of the very serious GT350s (what can only appropriately be referred to as a clone of the FP350S, only turned waaaaay up) had a GT4 style fully vented hood, with a Lexan cover on the airbox. Besides the obvious advantage of keeping clag and rain out of the airbox, the owner said he saw a pretty significant drop in intake air temps as it allows the engine to only breath the air that is coming in from the nose.

I haven't ventilated my hood yet - still on the fence as to whether I'll get an aftermarket carbon hood for that operation - but I wanted to give this mod a try. My goal was do to this with as little modification to the airbox as necessary, just in case it doesn't do anything and I decide to go back to stock or take some other route, such at AJ Hartman's cover.

I ordered a piece of 2'x2'x3/16" Lexan (polycarbonate) for around thirty bucks, which was enough for two covers - I can probably even get a third out of it if I'm creative with placement. The 3/16" thickness was a bit of overkill - if I do it again I'll just use 1/8".

Template -
I started by making a template out of cardboard. The rough dimension is 14"x16", but the finished version is just a bit smaller than that.

20220830_171753.jpg


Cutting -
Although the Lexan comes with clear cling on it, I added a layer of tape to protect it from the hand-held jigsaw I used to cut it.

20220904_150137.jpg


Securing tabs -
In the pic above, you'll notice a small tab at the bottom. on the left side, and at about the 2 o'clock position - I used these to hold the cover in place down inside the factory hood seal after making three small slits in that seal.

20220904_152953.jpg


Finished -
The Lexan cover is just a bit oversized so that it's a tight fit down in the rubber seal, which has a ridge that holds the cover in place - this is where 1/8" thickness would probably be a better choice. The tabs add a bit of extra security, as I'm concerned about what will happen at very high speeds when I let off on the throttle, closing the throttle body and resulting in high pressure in the airbox. As a bit of belt/suspenders/safetypins engineering, I added a small bead of 3M strip caulk around the inner ledge of the airbox housing, and then pressed the cover down onto it, making a pretty good seal. The 3M strip caulk is non-hardening butyl rubber and withstands heat very well and cleans up easily with mild solvents, such as adhesive remover.

20220904_154417.jpg


As you can see in that last pic, there is a bit of a gap where the foam sidewall doesn't quite meet up with the rubber seal, which I'm sorta figuring will act as a pressure relief for those times mentioned above.

The Mule's next event is at Barber Motorsports Park, so we won't be seeing any crazy high speeds, but it'll be back at Road America at the end of September, so I'll be reporting on how this mod holds up at 150+ when letting off the throttle approaching corner one.
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