Janosh's S/C'd Mustang

[Janosh]

I recently purchased my first Mustang so much like my previous cars wanted to start a thread which more than anything allows me to keep track of my ownership journey.

For reference my previous Holden thread is here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

When I started looking at Mustangs I felt it was a 'now or never' moment to own something silly powerful.

After a few false starts driving both 'charged and more stock cars, I finally found mine on the FB owners forum:



The spec in brief (updated as it evolves):

Roush stage 2 supercharger (730bhp / 610lb-ft)
Uprated Mcleod twin-plate clutch
Mishimoto oil and charge coolers
Corsa cat-back exhaust
Pedders XA Coilovers with camber plates and roller bearings
Steeda adjustable ARB’s with billet mounting gear
Whiteline adjustable drop links
Ford Performance strut brace
Polybushed and cross ‘k’ braced with BMR CB006
BMR rear subframe braces CB010 & CB005 (cradle bushing lockout kit)
BMR 'Super Low Profile' Chassis Jacking Rails CJR002
Ford Performance short shifter
Steeda billet reverse collar with Ford Performance shift knob
19” Project 6 GR staggered wheels
GT500 bodykit
Vland smoked sequential taillights
Diode dynamics smoked sidelights
Rockford Fosgate 8” sub in OEM enclosure
JBL Club 34F centre speaker

Here she is alongside the outgoing VXR8



I don't have any major and or immediate modification plans, just a few road trips to get fully acquainted... possibly an upgrade to KW coilovers in due course.

Any comments and advice for a Mustang newbie will be gratefully received!

Edited by Janosh on Thursday 26th September 12:50

[DodgyGeezer]

hopefully this'll be as interesting as your Holden journey (though I do prefer the red rocket!)

[Janosh]

What coilovers do Mustang owners recommend? Are KW V3’s worth the outlay?

[djone101]

The go to set are Pedders - single adjustable damping and really good value for money.
KWs are good but V1s lack the adjustment and some people find them a bit firm for UK roads and V3 are good but significantly more expensive.

[Janosh]

A few weeks in and I’m really starting to enjoy the car.

The power and delivery was pretty intimidating for the first few drives, even with T/C on it will break traction in the first 3 gears! I’ve had to learn to respect it a little and maybe one day soon I’ll be brave enough to switch the T/C off!

Over the weekend I also ordered my first modification, a Steeda billet alloy reverse collar to address the annoying shifter rattle from my Ford Performance short shifter. Hopefully it’ll be an easy fix as the NVH is currently spoiling an otherwise very well built car.

[Janosh]

A few minor tweaks today:

- Raised the front coilovers by 10mm to reduce the chances of damaging the splitter (which I love)
- Replaced the incorrect 72.6 - 70.1 spigot rings with the correct 72.5 - 70.5 rings. It’s a tiny difference but the previous ones were squashed and deformed, probably not very effective at keeping the wheels square and secure!

A side shot before I raised the front:

[Janosh]

New ride height, with an added bonus of making the arch gaps look a little more even

[Janosh]

And for reference on the OEM wheels



I like the OEM wheels but they’d need a full set of PS4s rubber, new TPMS and 25mm spacers to fill the gaps, so I’m going to stick with the Axe 20’s for now..

[Janosh]

I finally fitted the Steeda billet reversing collar, along with the heat shrink that’s advised for isolating the return spring in this guide: https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=613&...

Here’s the new item alongside the old plastic one:



In this picture I’ve removed the return spring in order to fit the heat shrink between the return spring & shifter shaft:



Has it fixed the NVH? It’s better, but not perfect. The vibration is still there but now considerably dampened by these modifications. I guess I’ll learn to live with it for now.

[Janosh]

Lovely drive down to the coast via Goodwood today

[Janosh]

Next modification was some hub-centric spacers. The front wheels had some cheap generic ones so these were removed as soon as I bought the car.



Front sitting pretty now

[Janosh]

I’ve continued my investigation into coilovers as I’ve discovered that one of the rear dampers is weeping and an adjuster appears to be seized..

It turns out that I have a very early set of Pedders shocks that have a 44mm body. These were replaced with a revised and improved 50mm version.

At around £400 for the new Pedders units vs £2k plus fitting and geo for some KW V3’s…. I decided to save a few quid and ordered the revised shock units.

Fitting and report to follow…

[Janosh]

The dampers were a special order from the Pedders factory so took a few weeks to be shipped from Australia.

Here’s the leaky NSR damper alongside the new revised design:



The OSR was working fine but looking a bit sorry for itself and the adjuster was seized so this was a perfect time to replace both:



Work in progress:

[Janosh]

The car had a basic Halfords battery which had gone flat after a week of standing, so I made one other addition while I was tinkering yesterday, I upgraded to a S5 A05 AGM battery.

These are a little taller than stock, but apparently the best battery that you can fit in the stock battery compartment.

They’re not the cheapest option, but hopefully I won’t have any battery related issues for the foreseeable future!

[Janosh]

Minor update, just a little PDR to remove a random dent from the rear quarter panel

[Janosh]

My windscreen washer suddenly gave up over the weekend.. with a little research and troubleshooting I discovered that the nozzles were blocked.

An overnight soak in vinegar and they’re working perfectly again!

Here are the part numbers for reference:

[url|https://thumbsnap.com/ez2nqQNW[/url]

Next on the tinkering list is a sticky handbrake cable or return spring…

[Janosh]

The sticky handbrake was easily fixed by using it a few times and manually pushing the mechanism back! I park in gear against a brick on the driveway and apparently the handbrake needs regular use or else it starts to seize up.

If only all ‘5 min jobs’ were that simple!

[DodgyGeezer]

Janosh said:

If only all ‘5 min jobs’ were that simple!

[Janosh]

Lovely run down to Goodwood yesterday

[Janosh]

I removed the side scoops and sourced a stock bonnet without a vent… much better and feels more like my vision of a perfect Mustang