wheee!

The cowl drain that runs into the front fender "dogleg" then drains into this rocker area too. I added a drain spout from the inner footwell out to the fender area.

Well, as some have heard through Facebook etc, my stroker motor developed rod knock on cylinder 4. This in turn ended up with me pulling the motor and taking it in to be assessed. Good news and Bad news: The good news is that the LD28 stroker crank is not severely damaged and can be saved. Bad news is that the block and the pistons are done. I have arranged for my builder Reg Sumaru, a racing and engine building legend in Canada, to build me another stroker. So for now, the plan is to use a spare F54 block from Reg and bore it out for the larger pistons and accommodate the stroker. Pistons are currently being sourced and then the reassembly will begin. I will be replacing the monster camshaft with something a little more subtle, just so I can make it able to idle and hold vacuum under 1300 RPM. This one is a great race cam but not the best street cam. Colt Cams in Vancouver will be grinding me a better cam based off of @Chickenman recommendations. New and refreshed will be the result, and I will be installing it into SASSZ as soon as I am home from deployment. Enjoy the pictures of the strokers destruction... (oh, and the cause seems to be historical oil starvation that finally caught up to the bearing by the time I installed the motor last year).

No damage after a summer of driving...!

IMG_7052.MOV Getting ready for the first drive of the year

I’ve been away a bit, but still tinkering…!

Late to the party, but here is SASSZ…

Wow… unbelievable build! Outstanding!

I see. I have the full TTT GTX2 front end TC rods and LCA's so I have no issues there.

Also, do you have a speed sensor on your kit? One that turns off power assist above a certain speed? Otherwise you have full power assist at Hwy speeds which is dangerous. I have a GPS speed sensor on mine now. The speedo cable unit I had originally was flaky and caused my speedo to have issues.

I have the original dealer installed louvers with the hinges drilled into the body work sitting in my garage. I spent years looking for a set of the Interpart louvers and mounting hardware. Cost way more than it should have but in the end I am thrilled with the look.

The hood graphic was a custom one off car wrap I had made. It’s detailed back in the thread somewhere. Thanks for the compliments on the car! It’s not perfect but I love it too.

Well, I took a shortcut and bought a built engine. Added fuel injection and performance mods like a crank angle sensor and coil on plug. Of course any mods to a FI car require a new computer, so I went Haltech. According to my baseline tuner, I have left a lot more HP on the table and will retune in the spring. Should be closer to 300 HP and 290 TQ in that block.

Working on it. I will be taking the fenders off to adjust the door hinges.

That would indicate an alignment issue I think. When I’m moving at a decent speed it returns to centre.

Incredible build and well deserved award!

Here’s the dyno graph. 6000 rpm pull.

The mustang dyno came in at 210 HP and 252 TQ, but the load sensor was flaky and I’m not really sure where we ended up. We spent 8 hours tuning and each better than the last. I feel like a true number would be closer to 250 hp and 290 TQ. With a bit of mechanical advance on the timing chain, it might make a little better power under 4000 rpm. I will redyno in the spring. Overall the car runs great now.

Well, dyno day came and the car did quite well. Despite a dead O2 sensor that needed replacing, my tuner Matt did a stellar job clearing up the fuel tables and working his magic making the car run smooth and idle properly. IMG_5656.MP4

Dyno tune coming up next week… crossing fingers that everything works as it should and I make good numbers!

Doors and hatch are fitting much better. Still some adjustments to make.

Here we have the famous Kia Sportage seal on the right and the MSA Z Store door seal on the left. The first picture is relaxed normal size. The second and third pictures are compressed. Note the difference in the compression rate of the KIA seal… much tighter. This is why they make great replacements for the stock seal!

Finally got around to a few things this week. Changed the fuel filter before the pump… only about two hours of driving on it and it was filthy! New lines and a completely sanitized and coated tank meant I must have missed cleaning the inside of the rubber fuel filler neck. Only place for the crud to have come from. after that, I drove it around a bit tonight and 5th gear works perfect with new shifter and welded shaft! Yay!

All my modern clutch cars are like that so it is a good “safety” feature for when the wife drives/starts the car. Plus it is part of the wiring of the push button and I have no issues keeping a safety feature installed. I have five grandkids climbing around in there at times and one of them is bound to push the start button eventually….

Why not just go coilovers? Prices are reasonable for good street sets like CXRacing. Not that difficult to do overall.