The Albuquerque Stripper - Who says a Mustang can't land a kickflip?

[PaddyPrix]

Just got up-to-date. Hate to hear you missed the last race to a blown fuse. Seems you need to update your troubleshooting guide to add checking all associated fuses...

Any plans on reworking some new aero on the mustang during the down time?

Heh, that's the thing, I did check all the associated fuses. I wouldn't have suspected that a 20a fuse labeled Veh Pwr 4 was part of the fuel system, but oh well, lesson learned. Seeing as it's another 3 minutes to just simply check all of them, might as well just check them all. I could hear the pump clipping out, so it's probably not too far along with the fuel starvation issues.

Re: Aero, I've got a splitter which I'm convinced works pretty good, and with SoCal having 2 arguably the two highest speed tracks (ACS, Willow Springs) and two of the mid-lower (Buttonwillow, Chuckwalla), and losing Auto Club to their reconfiguration for next season, I should be paying some more attention to somewhat focus away from high end speed and into acceleration. The lower speed courses have very small straights, and their average turn speeds are much lower that traditional aero wouldn't really be activated in the 75-85mph turns, unless having some gigantic time attack wings which are borderline illegal.

From my interpretation of the rules, there's nothing straight out against a flat bottom, so I might take a look at what that'll get me. Moving up to a higher class means I get more room to play, ST/TT2 is 8:1 power/weight, and 1 is 6:1, which is a pretty big jump. I know I don't have the funding to produce a reliable 600rwhp car, so I'll have to work on going as low as I can on the weight. Without me in it, it's about 3375 with 1/4 a tank, so I'll have to find another 75-100 in it. The guys who get closer to 3000 are usually swapping the motor/trans which is not in my cards anytime soon.

The next hurdle would be making further body modifications, but that carries a mod penalty that depending on where I am, could still be fine since I'm leaving so much power on the table, but I don't have enough ability/skill to do it, going to a tube frame might be a bit much for somebody who's never even held a welder.

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[PaddyPrix]

Last weekend @wingnutt and a couple of my buddies stopped by, and we made a mess. Kicking myself for not taking one of those slow motion speedup video things, gotta remind myself to do that next time and just fix a GoPro up in the garage rafters. I'm not a vlogger, who knows, maybe next year.

So here's the last bit of the motor in the car, and what a mess it is.

and here it is out of the car, transmission and all.

so at 640 pounds less than what it was, I might go as far to say this is the lightest s550 in the nation right now, since I started off at 3380, we're down to 2740 with an 8 point cage or ... just a few hundred pounds more than what a first generation weighed.

which is nuts, but I've got a few slips and whatnot saying and proving that this is considerably faster than one of those first generations too. amazing at what 50 something years will do, but at the same time, crazy at what it won't. Perhaps it was a little far fetched at the time, but the Jetsons took place in 2062, and I just don't see that happening in 40 years from now. You think the EPA is going to let jet cars literally fly all around? It's bad enough driving 91 in any direction at any time, but add in all the IG Influencers texting their followers LOL at the same time? Although, if you think my offs are exciting now, heh, just you wait.

Got some parts on order, and trying to IG, text, and I guess straight up calling somebody for some of the other ones, going to up the power game a little bit as I plan for ST/TT1, further close the gap on all those fools. For those of you who don't race NASA (or at all? SHAME ON YOU!), we all publicly post what we're doing and it's in a compliance database - https://airtable.com/shrtuIZcugofvmCJZ/tblzOXuQ6j4GJh4nT/viwSP969mSAghNE2Q - with our maximum power and overstating it a touch should a compliance dyno read higher than the shop you went to, and minimum stated weights, weighing after every TT session, or after every ST race. I'm currently at 460/3605, and so when you look at the NASA Southern California TT1 gang, those who are at my weight are generally around 600rwhp, and those at my power are 600-700 pounds less, which makes me in a real awkward place. So knowing that none of my competition are Mustangs and reading this anyhow (FUCK YOU ALE) my plan is to lose about 150-200# and see if I can get to 525-530rwhp.

For fun, you can see where you'd classify by using this here fancy calc - https://form.jotform.com/drivenasa/st-tt-car-classification-form - and see where you fit in. Using that calc, I can have a minimum weight of 3401 and with no mods, have 586rwhp on Hoosiers, 540 on non-DOT (Pirelli/Michelin slicks), or 650 on Toyo RR/100tw+. As much as I'd like to make more power, if you've read this thread by now, you've probably realized that I don't have crazy money to throw at this, and well, you're very right. The 540 number is real nice, because I'll probably take my chances on used slicks for the race, and will have to take a look at how many show up for TT1. For Hoosier, 5-6 starters the winner gets 2 free tires, 7+ starters they also go further and give the 2nd place one tire, regardless of size.

For Toyo

Crazy thing here is that I know I can get a full set of 295/30/18 for just under $900, so a win would almost buy me a full set, whereas the 315/30/18 are slightly closer to Hoosier on price. The other benefit is that I can get 20-24 sessions on an RR, whereas I can get like 8 on an A7. Downside is that the Toyo RR and Hoosier A7 aren't very close in performance, which is why the modifications will allow the same car 540rwhp on one tire, and 650rwhp on another. Yeesh. Anyhow, off to go clean stuff up, toodles.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Nothing much really to report. Still waiting on parts, and trying my best to keep calm and cool. If you've read up until this point, you'll recall the struggles I've had with getting my hands on them, and I don't know whether to blame Covid, Ford themselves, or just throw my hands up and say this is how it's supposed to be. Maybe I need to reset my expectations, but as somebody trying to get a meager car onto the competitive track... it sucks, it really fucking sucks. I don't know. Not trying to be a crybaby, just feels like the whole world is against me sometimes. Everybody else gets to go out and enjoy their cars that work. Look at me smiling and posting to my IG LIKE AND FUCKING SUBSCRIBE BRO.

Oh well, moving on.

Those who do like and fucking subscribe, bro, might have noticed that I got a beautiful intake the other week. Pics don't do it justice, it's actually pretty decently large.

It was plenty more expensive than a replacement 18GT manifold, and slightly more than a ported 18GT, but I'm hoping it'll last for more than one season and will provide exponentially more power on the next motor. Look at how much bigger that opening is, and how it tapers out after the throttle body, compared to the stock one. Downright sexy, that's what it is.

I also got my hands on another bumper, which looks an awful lot like a Dodge Ram 1500 bumper, so, might as well just go through with the Hemi swap instead.

Well, at some angles, it certainly looks like a Dodge Ram 1500 bumper, anyhow.

Trying to end things on a positive note and making any sort of forward progress, I started sanding the cage down and prepping it for paint. Had I not been funds limited, I would have had it painted immediately after I had it installed, but well, shit happens. While I've read that I can just spray over that stuff, I don't entirely trust everything I read, and while it's not really rusted, I might as well just do it to see it through. Oh man, what a pita, especially those spots which are really close to the body. That said, went through a few packs of sandpaper, and I know I'm going to have missed a few spots here or there, but it won't sit at the back of my head and nag me when I've got extra time to think. I'll get some before/after tomorrow or whatnot, but man, that dust gets everywhere.

 

[ice445]

The auto parts network is basically collapsing right now. Can't get dick. Even Toyota is cutting their production by 40% now.

 

[bnightstar]

Nothing much really to report. Still waiting on parts, and trying my best to keep calm and cool. If you've read up until this point, you'll recall the struggles I've had with getting my hands on them, and I don't know whether to blame Covid, Ford themselves, or just throw my hands up and say this is how it's supposed to be.

At least you are in the States and have access to second hand parts market for our babies. In Europe is no go for parts right now. Waiting for my Apex Wheels to arrive which at that point looks like a long shot. Ohlins got hit by the flood so they have big delay in building coilovers as well. Overall getting car parts is a nightmare for me as well. At that point I hope season 2022 to be easier as the Greece circuit got a brand new tarmac all the way can't wait to try it out but both parts are missing and travel is not possible.

I'm guessing this is CJ Manifold by the looks of it ? Hope it will last more.

 

[PaddyPrix]

The auto parts network is basically collapsing right now. Can't get dick. Even Toyota is cutting their production by 40% now.

That's kinda what I was fearing.

I sold my put options anyhow, it's not Ford's fault. That, and their stock price started shooting back up, and I wasn't going to look a gifthorse in the mouth, in at $0.70, out at $2.00... but as I post this, it looks like it's reversing that trend and looks to be going back down. Oh well, green is green.

At least you are in the States and have access to second hand parts market for our babies. In Europe is no go for parts right now. Waiting for my Apex Wheels to arrive which at that point looks like a long shot. Ohlins got hit by the flood so they have big delay in building coilovers as well. Overall getting car parts is a nightmare for me as well. At that point I hope season 2022 to be easier as the Greece circuit got a brand new tarmac all the way can't wait to try it out but both parts are missing and travel is not possible.

I'm guessing this is CJ Manifold by the looks of it ? Hope it will last more.

I wish there was a firsthand market for the parts Nobody is yet crashing the Mustang GT to the point where they're going to junkyards, all salvages are apparently going to other people trying to repair or race them, and they're probably killing the weak repair part market that I'm relying on.

I tried to not mention the Apex thing, but I hope that you see yours hopefully soon. I had waiting on an EC-7 18x11 set since December or so, and those just came in. In fact, those new ones were on the car when it caught fire, so they have two laps on them. Two

And yes, good eyes, it is the Cobra Jet.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Geesh, I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted here. Some of you follow me on some other places, so none of this will be new. I took some time off after the last bit to figure out really what I wanted, and more importantly, why I wanted. As I'm sure some of you have noticed, winning isn't everything, and even if you do win, it's not like people come out of the woodwork and magically pay the bills... at least not for a car named the Albuquerque Stripper. I think the motivating factor was my dad's birthday coming up, and he was one of "those don't start it if you're not going to finish it" types, and if I was the one who got me into this mess, I'm going to be the one to bring myself out of it. So went on down and pretty much took over my local parts department for a few hours, and for those of you who harp on them for not knowing shiznit, please take a look at the antiquated system they're using, it's fucking terrible. However, it's nowhere near as terrible as the worthless customer facing public Ford part sites which use your choice of poor layouts and stock pictures, wrong pictures, or no pictures. To make matters more complicated, the part numbers that weren't burned off were generally engineering numbers which weren't always a simple direct translation across.

So, what did we learn?

Your parts person may or may not be an idiot. I've been sold a fuel filter for a vehicle that hasn't had one for a decade, only because the computer told him so. There were so many times where it suggested the wrong part, and when you think about it, our Mustang has an awful lot of crazy combinations. From 2018 onwards, we have 6 trims (Ecoboost, GT, GT350, GT500, Bullitt, Mach1) which share 4 motors and 4 transmissions. We further complicated matters by putting some of the GT350 parts into the Mach 1 and to a lesser extent to the Bullitt, which only further confuse people who don't know or care about the Mustang. When you give them the last 8 of your VIN, if it doesn't get them to the exact matching part, there's still some guesswork as the picture which has a part in magenta and another hot pink doesn't zoom in too far to help figure out what is what. Oh yeah, no returns on electrical or fuel parts.

The main engine harness is 35 pounds. I weighed it. I have some crazy anorexia car weight fetish going on, and wonder if it'd be worth the time to unwire, pull, and remove things I know I won't be running from the harnesses, which more often than not were at the far end of the strands, like the 5-6 wire windshield wiper motor. I doubt an extra pound will do anything though, maybe I could just drive more gooder.

I can now curse in 6 languages, (ty pieprzony kupo gowna!)

The battery harness for the s550 is separate from the main engine harness, and is responsible for connecting the battery to the fuse box, and powering the EPAS, o2 sensors, transmission speed sensor, and engine temp sensors, perhaps trans cooling pump if I had an auto.

The end of the main harness that go into the passenger cabin are extremely difficult when you've got the big fat pipes to your 8 point cage in the way. Absolutely no room to temporarily relocate and move the whole panel out of the way just for a connector. Very frustrating and cost me a bunch of time.

The end of the main harness that goes to the driver is slightly easier, but when you're 6'2 and fucking handsome, having the cage and tight space under the steering wheel area give you very little room to move your big fucking lady pleasers around those tight confines. Very fortunate that the power cables there were just straight plugs in, as compared to an ol' RJ-21 cable that the Foxbody probably has. Trying to fish those cables underneath, under, and around the brake cables might come back to bite me, I'll probably figure that out on the 2nd lap, but I've lost brakes on the car a few times now to the point where I'm confident I can drift myself to safety.

The engine harness isn't too bad, but I should have assumed more was destroyed so I didn't have to go back a few times to get additional parts which stopped me and killed forward momentum while I wait for more.

On removal of the intake, I let some of the fire retardant flakes into the intake ports, but truth be told, there was plenty of it on top. I'm not yet good enough to take heads off, but concerned that the fire retardant flakes either sit on the valves and shift the weight even the tiniest amount, or make their way into the combustion chamber and either on the cylinder wall or piston itself, figured out a way to remove it. The shop vac is just too fat (giggity) and while my household attachment is plenty long (giggity giggity), the problem is that it's hitting the valve stem and not doing a great job with applying the suction. Solution - handful of straws jammed into it, which mean you can dance your way around the stem, get right at it, and if you really wanted to, scrape things up since the plastic should be flexible enough to bend and conform. I was impressed on how well it worked.

Patrick P (@paddyprix) • Instagram photos and videos

All in all, it was actually a great learning experience that I won't forget the good and the bad of. I cleaned up the car along the way and while I'm happy and impressed with that it's clean, it's Southern California, and all of our tracks are in the desert, it'll sadly be on its way soon enough.

Next up is to put the motor back in, toss in the radiator, and of course the intake. I do have the CobraJet ready, but don't yet have an intake for it as the opening is that much larger, and don't have a tune for it, which has me leaning towards a stock 18 manifold which is a known quantity since I had been racing one all season long, but also it's one that I'm tuned for, and since I've been racing on a more or less stock motor and nestling up to the class limit by all the weight modifications. I'm not sure how good the motor is after all this, but I'd wager a bet that it'd be smart with leaving the power level where it is for a little bit.

The best part about this big hunk of wires is that there has got to be a few bucks of copper in here. Need to find a recycler around here, any guesses how much I'll get from this?

 

[Ewheels]

Definitely click on all these Russian links above.

 

[PaddyPrix]

Definitely click on all these Russian links above.

What I find most fascinating is that I wrote something in Polish.
Which triggers a post written entirely in Russian.
Which contains a link to korea-oil.ru...

I guess that's like a yo momma joke, which triggers a post written in Spanish, advertising a French tickler?

 

[Ewheels]

Your build thread is so multi-cultural now! That's gotta give you brownie points being in California

 

[PaddyPrix]

Your build thread is so multi-cultural now! That's gotta give you brownie points being in California

Philly tough guy living in Southern California with a stripper from New Mexico.

Tupac doesn't get around -- I do.

 

[wingnutt]

Good to see you tearing into it!

i was JUST wondering what happened to you the other day, when an eerily similar early s550 flew past me at “go directly to jail” speeds…then cut across all four lanes to bail out at the very next exit

 

[PaddyPrix]

Good to see you tearing into it!

i was JUST wondering what happened to you the other day, when an eerily similar early s550 flew past me at “go directly to jail” speeds…then cut across all four lanes to bail out at the very next exit

If they didn't swerve off the road or go up onto two wheels then it definitely wasn't me

Got the intake manifold, starter, evap core/coolant hoses, and Motul DCTF all supposedly here by Friday, so should be starting her up rather shortly. Who knows, if I can get my hands on a trailer, might even consider making a quick test trip to Auto Club this weekend with Speed Ventures. Been too long, that's for sure.

 

[ice445]

Geesh, I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted here. Some of you follow me on some other places, so none of this will be new. I took some time off after the last bit to figure out really what I wanted, and more importantly, why I wanted. As I'm sure some of you have noticed, winning isn't everything, and even if you do win, it's not like people come out of the woodwork and magically pay the bills... at least not for a car named the Albuquerque Stripper. I think the motivating factor was my dad's birthday coming up, and he was one of "those don't start it if you're not going to finish it" types, and if I was the one who got me into this mess, I'm going to be the one to bring myself out of it. So went on down and pretty much took over my local parts department for a few hours, and for those of you who harp on them for not knowing shiznit, please take a look at the antiquated system they're using, it's fucking terrible. However, it's nowhere near as terrible as the worthless customer facing public Ford part sites which use your choice of poor layouts and stock pictures, wrong pictures, or no pictures. To make matters more complicated, the part numbers that weren't burned off were generally engineering numbers which weren't always a simple direct translation across.

So, what did we learn?

Your parts person may or may not be an idiot. I've been sold a fuel filter for a vehicle that hasn't had one for a decade, only because the computer told him so. There were so many times where it suggested the wrong part, and when you think about it, our Mustang has an awful lot of crazy combinations. From 2018 onwards, we have 6 trims (Ecoboost, GT, GT350, GT500, Bullitt, Mach1) which share 4 motors and 4 transmissions. We further complicated matters by putting some of the GT350 parts into the Mach 1 and to a lesser extent to the Bullitt, which only further confuse people who don't know or care about the Mustang. When you give them the last 8 of your VIN, if it doesn't get them to the exact matching part, there's still some guesswork as the picture which has a part in magenta and another hot pink doesn't zoom in too far to help figure out what is what. Oh yeah, no returns on electrical or fuel parts.

The main engine harness is 35 pounds. I weighed it. I have some crazy anorexia car weight fetish going on, and wonder if it'd be worth the time to unwire, pull, and remove things I know I won't be running from the harnesses, which more often than not were at the far end of the strands, like the 5-6 wire windshield wiper motor. I doubt an extra pound will do anything though, maybe I could just drive more gooder.

I can now curse in 6 languages, (ty pieprzony kupo gowna!)

The battery harness for the s550 is separate from the main engine harness, and is responsible for connecting the battery to the fuse box, and powering the EPAS, o2 sensors, transmission speed sensor, and engine temp sensors, perhaps trans cooling pump if I had an auto.

The end of the main harness that go into the passenger cabin are extremely difficult when you've got the big fat pipes to your 8 point cage in the way. Absolutely no room to temporarily relocate and move the whole panel out of the way just for a connector. Very frustrating and cost me a bunch of time.

The end of the main harness that goes to the driver is slightly easier, but when you're 6'2 and fucking handsome, having the cage and tight space under the steering wheel area give you very little room to move your big fucking lady pleasers around those tight confines. Very fortunate that the power cables there were just straight plugs in, as compared to an ol' RJ-21 cable that the Foxbody probably has. Trying to fish those cables underneath, under, and around the brake cables might come back to bite me, I'll probably figure that out on the 2nd lap, but I've lost brakes on the car a few times now to the point where I'm confident I can drift myself to safety.

The engine harness isn't too bad, but I should have assumed more was destroyed so I didn't have to go back a few times to get additional parts which stopped me and killed forward momentum while I wait for more.

On removal of the intake, I let some of the fire retardant flakes into the intake ports, but truth be told, there was plenty of it on top. I'm not yet good enough to take heads off, but concerned that the fire retardant flakes either sit on the valves and shift the weight even the tiniest amount, or make their way into the combustion chamber and either on the cylinder wall or piston itself, figured out a way to remove it. The shop vac is just too fat (giggity) and while my household attachment is plenty long (giggity giggity), the problem is that it's hitting the valve stem and not doing a great job with applying the suction. Solution - handful of straws jammed into it, which mean you can dance your way around the stem, get right at it, and if you really wanted to, scrape things up since the plastic should be flexible enough to bend and conform. I was impressed on how well it worked.

Patrick P (@paddyprix) • Instagram photos and videos

All in all, it was actually a great learning experience that I won't forget the good and the bad of. I cleaned up the car along the way and while I'm happy and impressed with that it's clean, it's Southern California, and all of our tracks are in the desert, it'll sadly be on its way soon enough.

Next up is to put the motor back in, toss in the radiator, and of course the intake. I do have the CobraJet ready, but don't yet have an intake for it as the opening is that much larger, and don't have a tune for it, which has me leaning towards a stock 18 manifold which is a known quantity since I had been racing one all season long, but also it's one that I'm tuned for, and since I've been racing on a more or less stock motor and nestling up to the class limit by all the weight modifications. I'm not sure how good the motor is after all this, but I'd wager a bet that it'd be smart with leaving the power level where it is for a little bit.

The best part about this big hunk of wires is that there has got to be a few bucks of copper in here. Need to find a recycler around here, any guesses how much I'll get from this?

About tree fiddy

 

[PaddyPrix]

About tree fiddy

looking at your profile pic, I can't help but notice that you're about 8 stories tall and a crustacean from the paleolithic era.

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