Monday, December 1, 2014

Plastidip in the Right Places

I am working towards making my 2013 Mustang GT look less stock, and more aggressive while keeping the mods tasteful.

One are that stands out are the hood vents.  The 2013 and 2014 Mustang GT received functional vents on the hood.  These vents are color matched to the factory color of the car, and I wanted them to stand out.

If you look closely in this picture, you can see the factory colored vents

I believe in prepping and taking the time to do a job right, so I decided not to paint my vents in place.  I removed them by unbolting 1 metric bolt that can be accessed from underneath the hood.  This is what it looks like with the vent out.

I used Plastidip Black paint, as well as the Plastidip glossifier to finish the job.  It really made the vents stand out, and I am happy with the finished product:

As you can see in this picture, the black vents now stand out from the rest of the car.

Next up, I felt that the factory chrome "Pony" logo on the front Grille was not aggressive, and the chrome color looked cheap.  Here is the best picture I could find of a stock Grille (not mine):




Properly removing the Grille to paint the emblem would require dropping the front clip, so this one I painted in place, but did a good job of masking off the surrounding parts.  The result is a semi-gloss pony, and I think a more aggressive front end.

Finally, I decided to match the new wheels, the 5.0 emblems should also be black, not chrome:

To accomplish this, I simply masked off the emblem, as well as the red dot in the center of the emblem, and sprayed each logo with Plastidip Black along with two coats of Glossifier.  Below is the result:



The logos need some minor touch ups, but othersie look great with the new AMR wheels!



New Wheels on a Budget




One of my least favorite aspects of my 2013 Mustang GT is the wheels.  I really like the American Muscle / SVE drift style wheels, and have been watching for a deal on them.  Although I like the look of 19" wheels, I don't want to add rotating mass to my car.  Also, I would like to still run the factory tires, as they only have 8,000 miles on them.  For these reasons, I decided to look at 18x9" AMR wheels.

An AMR 18x9" wheel from www.americanmuscle.com



American Muscle ran a special on 18x9" wheels for $69.99 a piece SHIPPED.  Regular price on them is $179.99, and the cheapest I had ever seen them prior was $149.99.  I pulled the trigger, and immediately their status switched to "Sold Out".  I worried that it was a pricing mistake and I would not get the wheels, however the following week they arrived!



It has become obvious that the car needs to be lowered, specifically in the rear.  However, I am very happy with the new wheels, and they have changed the look of the car to be much more aggressive.

My New Racing Platform - A 2013 Mustang GT


After owning two project cars that never made it out of the project phase, I decided that working from 10 pm to 2 am on a project was no longer making me happy.  I sold my 1989 Iroc Z Camaro, and decided to purchase a "finished" newer muscle car that could be daily driven more often than a project car.  Below you can see the criteria I used to select a 2011-2014 Mustang GT, specifically a 2013 Mustang GT Premium A6.


Engine - 
302 cubic inch "Coyote" Modular Engine
Fuel injection w/ Fly by Wire throttlebody
Aluminum block
11:1 compression
420 horsepower @ 6500 rpm, 390 ft lb @ 4250 rpm

Cylinder Heads -
The cylinder heads on the "Coyote" engine are simply amazing, and are a big reason this engine makes the power it makes from a 302 cubic inch platform.  They are aluminum and feature 4 valves per cylinder, and dual overhead camshafts.

Stock Ford "Coyote" Flow #'s:
(Lift, Intake, Exhaust)
.100 99 72.2
.200 180.2 147.8
.300 243.5 180
.400 280.0 189.7
.500 289.4 201.4
.600 298.4 202.1

Weight -
The 2011-2014 Mustang GT weighs significantly less than the Camaro SS and the Challenger SRT8.
  • 2013 Mustang GT Curb Weight - 3,580 lbs
  • 2010 Camaro SS Curb Weight - 3,894 lbs (+344 lbs)
  • 2007 Challenger SRT8 Curb Weight - 4,150 lbs (+570 lbs)
Gauges

The 2013 Mustang GT has all the gauges an enthusiast could want.
  • Speedometer
  • Tachometer
  • Oil Temperature
  • Oil Pressure
  • Air/Fuel Ratio
  • Inlet Air Temperature
  • Transmission 
Track Apps
  •  (0-60, 0-100, 60-0, 100-0, 1/8 mile, 1/4 mile, G-force Sensor)
This blog will follow the process of modding and enjoying my new toy

Sunday, November 30, 2014

2011-2014 Coyote - Best CAI Solution? Airaid Modular Intake Tube is Worth Considering

Traditional bolt on knowledge states that a cold air intake should be at the top of any enthusiast's list of engine mods.

However, after much research, I quickly discovered that many high horsepower 5.0 Coyote builds still run the factory cold air box.  Most aftermarket cold air intakes require a retune, and there is not really any concrete evidence that the CAI itself actually adds additional horsepower.

The Factory Cold Air Setup

The Airaid Modular Intake Tube (MIT) is a relatively new product.  It reuses the factory cold air box and filter, and removes the silencer from the stock intake setup.

The Factory Intake Tube and Silencer removed from the Engine Bay

Another Shot of the Stock Intake Tube and the Sound Experience Tube Deleted


The Finished Install of the Airaid MIT - Very Clean in My Opinion

One More Pic - The Sound Experience Tube Delete Really Cleans up the Engine Bay

Finally, I Replaced the Stock Paper Filter with a K&N


Overall I am very happy with the installation.  It cleans up the engine bay, doesn't require a retune, removes the sound experience tube, and removes the factory silencer.  Best of all, the factory cold air box is not at risk of sucking in water that leaks through the 13/14 hood vents.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Weight Reduction 101


I plan on using this thread to update the status of my weight reduction efforts for my 2013 Mustang GT.  A lighter car will be faster and easier on drive-train parts.  My goal is to reduce weight, without affecting the overall appearance/quality/experience of the car.

Current Running Total of Weight Reduction

Phase 1 (Purchase - EOY 2016)- Complete
  • Spare Tire - 34 lbs (free)
  • Trunk Tools - 1.5 lbs (free)
  • Factory jack - 3.5 lbs (free)
  • Sound Experience Tube - 2 lbs (free)
  • Axle Weights - 5 lbs (free)
  • Boss Strut Tower Brace - 8 lbs (free)
  • Factory Chassis Brace - 5 lbs (free)
  • Sway Bar End Links/Misc Hardware - 5 lbs (free)
  • BMR Cross Member - Swapped w/ Factory Radiator Cross Member - 16.5 lbs ($89.95)
  • Factory Sway bar - 8 lbs (free)

    Phase 1 total:  88.5 pounds savings
    Total Cost:  $89.95
Phase 2 - (2017)
  • *** Driver - 33 lbs (Free - losing 33 pounds by 4/1/17)
  • Traded Axleback for Roush Axleback - 16 lbs (stock exhaust - 42 lbs - Roush 26 lbs)
  • *** Corbeau FX1 driver's seat (non pro) - 49 lbs (stock seat - 78 lbs, Corbeau 29 lbs w/ bracket) - $430
Phase 2 Total:

Phase 2 total:  98 pounds savings
Total Cost:  $430



Running Weight Reduction Total:



BMR Radiator Support / Sway Bar Delete
The BMR Radiator Support / Sway Bar Delete shaves a lot of weight off of the nose of the car.  In my case, I was able to remove the factory sway bar (8 lbs), End links and hardware (5 lbs), chassis brace (5 lbs), and factory cross member (16.5 lbs).

The BMR piece weighs 5.5 lbs, for a total weight savings of 29 lbs.


Spare Tire/Jack/Tools Delete

The spare tire/jack/tools is usually an easy way to drop significant weight, without spending much $$$.

Pulling the trunk carpet, I found that the factory hold down for the spare tire actually holds the middle of the carpet/floor up in the trunk.  Uh oh, we'll address that later.

First up - the tools in the trunk weigh in at about 1.5 pounds

The factory jack weighs 3.5 pounds, we are already up to 5 pounds

The spare 18" wheel and tire weighs 34 pounds, for a total weight savings of nearly 40 pounds

The next issue to address was how to support the center of the trunk floor. I decided to try using a piece of PVC pipe, cut down to size, and reuse the factory tire hod down assembly.  It works great, looks clean, and weighs under a pound.  I put a shouldered nut on the top, with blue loctite to keep it from backing off.

I already had the PVC laying around, and as you can see the cut height isn't critical.  So for very little time and money, you can easily shave 40 pounds off your 2013 Mustang GT, and still have a fully functional rear trunk at your disposal.


Sound Experience Tube Delete
The sound experience tube weighed in at 1 pound 13 oz, we'll put this delete in the category of "Find 2 lbs in 100 places".

Axle Weights
The axle weights came off during the LCA bracket install.  These weighed 4 lbs 14 oz, so right at 5 pounds.  I did not notice any harmonics after removing them, even at freeway speeds.