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Apexcarver
Apexcarver PowerDork
5/22/13 2:34 p.m.

As I said the other weekend, actually kill it before you upgrade it. Its gonna have new packs put in before anyone reinstalls it anyways.

The money would be 1000% better spent on an Evo School.

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
5/22/13 3:01 p.m.
Apexcarver wrote: As I said the other weekend, actually kill it before you upgrade it. Its gonna have new packs put in before anyone reinstalls it anyways. The money would be 1000% better spent on an Evo School.

Yep, that's the plan. And I'm hoping the heat-sink diff cover will prolong the life of the stock TracLock.

RexSeven
RexSeven UltraDork
5/22/13 9:04 p.m.
Sky_Render wrote:
Harvey wrote: I've heard it isn't too tough to swap out the clutches in the rear end of those things, but this was coming from someone with a lift, well to be specific Mark Daddio. He had to swap the clutches out on his Brembo equipped GT probably halfway through the season, but he was doing most of the major autox events around the country and the car was on Hoosiers. If you only do local events on streets I doubt you will have a big problem.
You're correct. I could also upgrade to the carbon GT500 clutch pack. But I don't want a "solution" that requires me to rebuild the diff as a maintenance item. So I'm saving up in the hopes of getting an Eaton TrueTrac or Torsen. I'm leaning towards the Eaton unit, as it is a bit stouter and doesn't detonate if you launch hard at a drag strip.

I wonder if an OS Giken LSD can fit. I've been eyeing it as a future upgrade for my V-6. Their website lists one of thier clutch-types as for a 9", 31-spline application. Don't the 8.8s have 31-spline axles? Would an LSD for a 9" fit in an 8.8" differential?

http://www.osgiken.net/products.php?Category2=ford&SubCat2=&submit.x=22&submit.y=13&product=lsd

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
5/23/13 5:09 a.m.

I thought the 9" rear end was used in the '50s through the '70s.

RexSeven
RexSeven UltraDork
5/23/13 5:23 a.m.

Wiki says Ford 9" axle production was until 1986, but it's still available from the aftermarket. I'm going to send OSG an e-mail asking if they know whether or not this LSD would fit in an 8.8" axle. Which would be great because, while expensive, I've heard nothing but good things about OSG's LSDs. They are very effective in auto-x and road racing.

tuna55
tuna55 PowerDork
5/23/13 6:12 a.m.

AAAAAH

What's the world coming to when people don't know what a Ford 9" is!?

It's the rear end that Ford put in damn near everything. It's big. Compare it's strength to just below the Dana 60 and probably above the GM 12 bolt.

Anyway, the differentials do not swap between 8.8 and 9".

Harvey
Harvey GRM+ Memberand New Reader
5/23/13 2:08 p.m.
Sky_Render wrote:
Harvey wrote: I've heard it isn't too tough to swap out the clutches in the rear end of those things, but this was coming from someone with a lift, well to be specific Mark Daddio. He had to swap the clutches out on his Brembo equipped GT probably halfway through the season, but he was doing most of the major autox events around the country and the car was on Hoosiers. If you only do local events on streets I doubt you will have a big problem.
You're correct. I could also upgrade to the carbon GT500 clutch pack. But I don't want a "solution" that requires me to rebuild the diff as a maintenance item. So I'm saving up in the hopes of getting an Eaton TrueTrac or Torsen. I'm leaning towards the Eaton unit, as it is a bit stouter and doesn't detonate if you launch hard at a drag strip.

Like the others have said, break it before you try to fix it. The thing works well in lots of extreme conditions and you really have to punish it before it starts to go. We're talking about many Pro-Solo drag launches on Hoosier A6s when it comes to the situation I described.

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
8/20/13 2:10 p.m.

I installed this the other day. I call it my "passive diff cooler." It also comes with pre-tapped fill and drain plugs and ARP hardware.

You can see how much surface area the fins add. They also extend into the fluid reservoir. The cover is aluminum, which dissipates heat better than the stock stamped steel piece.

Here it is installed. I didn't take pictures of said installation, because nothing has changed in swapping Ford 8.8" differential covers in the past three decades.

z31maniac
z31maniac PowerDork
8/20/13 2:48 p.m.

Keep an eye out for leaks!

My track pack car went back to the dealer 3 times for a leaking diff with them finally replacing it with a new cover and RTV the 3rd time.

RexSeven
RexSeven UltraDork
8/22/13 12:11 a.m.

Haven't seen an update on this car for a while, ether here or on MotoIQ. Glad you posted one. I haven't had much going on with my Mustang but I hope to change that soon.

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
8/22/13 9:17 a.m.

It's been on for a few weeks now with no leaks. I used black RTV.

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
9/24/13 7:47 a.m.

This is why we can't have nice things. This kid had his license for less than 2 days. Apparently he missed the part in drivers' ed where they tell you to look behind your vehicle before throwing it in reverse and jamming down on the gas pedal. He hit me pretty damn hard for only having about 5 feet in which to move.

His insurance already accepted responsibility. Initial damage estimate is "only" $2,310. (Fortunately, he only hit the door.)

What pisses me off most is that I installed some new parts which I haven't told you folks about yet because I wanted to test them at a few events first. Well, now I'm going to miss the last events of the year, unless I manage to get the car back from the shop on Friday (doubtful).

fasted58
fasted58 PowerDork
9/24/13 7:50 a.m.

Aw man, that stinks

RexSeven
RexSeven UltraDork
9/24/13 9:04 a.m.

That sucks! :(

pinchvalve
pinchvalve GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
9/24/13 9:07 a.m.

Suckage.

bgkast
bgkast GRM+ Memberand HalfDork
9/24/13 2:23 p.m.

Ouch!

Drive the events with the crunched door?

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
9/24/13 2:29 p.m.
bgkast wrote: Ouch! Drive the events with the crunched door?

Kinda hard to drive it any distance through precipitation with no passenger window.

mazdeuce
mazdeuce UltraDork
9/24/13 2:45 p.m.

I've seen literally hundreds of pony cars with side windows made of plastic and duct tape. It's as natural as a mullet.

fasted58
fasted58 PowerDork
9/24/13 2:51 p.m.

this is not your average pony car

z31maniac
z31maniac UltimaDork
9/24/13 3:44 p.m.

BOoooooooo!

mazdeuce
mazdeuce SuperDork
9/24/13 3:45 p.m.
fasted58 wrote: this is not your average pony car

So now it's too good for mullets and duct tape? Well I never!

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
9/29/13 9:51 p.m.

Happy Pony is happy.

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
12/27/13 8:16 a.m.

Updates! I been busy. First things first. The sock GT brakes and pads were actually beginning to warp a bit. I was getting a pulsing when coming to a stop.

A few months ago (right before that accident, actually), a friend of mine was parting out his '05 Mustang, which he had built into basically a street-legal (barely) clone of an FR500S road race Mustang. He gave me a good deal on these brakes for helping him wrench on the car. They are the 4-piston OEM Brembos that came stock on '07+ GT500s, FR500Ses, and the BOSS 302 cars. Those are Centric rotors, and the pads are Hawk HP+ semi-race compound.

To go with the brakes, I installed J&M stainless-steel lines both front and rear. The lines are coated in Teflon to help protect them from the elements and prevent chafing:

To top if off, I purged the brake fluid and replaced it with one of the last bottles of ATE Super Blue around.

Here are the brakes installed behind the 18" TSW wheels. (Yes, the 4-pot Brembos will clear some 18" wheels.)

So we took the car out of the garage, got it up to 30 mph, and stood on the brakes...

Holy E36 M3, that thing stopped so fast it made me dizzy.

The nice thing about OEM brakes is that it is 100% fully compatible with everything: the ABS, the stock brake lines, and all the hardware literally bolts right up. All we had to do was remove the stock caliper, rotor, and lines (technically, the stock rubber lines would actually work, but I wanted a complete brake upgrade), slide on the new rotor, then bolt the bigger caliper onto the stock brackets. That's it.

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
12/27/13 8:19 a.m.

Remember I said they'd clear some 18" wheels? Well, they do clear the 18" wheels I use for racing, almost...

That right there is a picture of my stick-on wheel weights smacking the caliper. I had to have the wheels rebalanced and have the weights all put on the back of the wheels using "static" balancing.

Overall these brakes are SWEET. But the pads on them squeal like a motherberkeleyer, and in cold conditions the stopping power is reduced a bit (but it still stops at least as good as the stock brakes, even when cold). I don't mind the squealing, though. Squeaky brakes means I drive my car hard enough to need squeaky race brakes!

Sky_Render
Sky_Render Dork
12/27/13 8:33 a.m.

My cars always get Christmas presents, because there's something wrong in my head. The Pony got this:

That is an Aeroforce Interceptor scan gauge. It reads OBD-II codes and CANBUS communications. What that means for the layperson is that by plugging this into the OBD-II port, I can view RPM, Alternator voltage, coolant temperature, cylinder head temperature, knock retard, and--because the Coyote is equipped with two wideband O2 sensors from the factory--wideband Air/Fuel ratio for both cylinder banks. Sweeeet.

Not much to the gauge, just a single cable:

To hold the gauge, I got a genuine Roush "Vent Pod":

Installation is about as simple as it gets. Remove the gauge cluster by just pulling it out:

Pull the vent out and remove the airflow thingies:

Then replace the airflow thingies with the vent pod and reinstall it into the bezel:

Now, pull the gauge wiring through the dash and reinstall the bezel:

Plug the OBD-II port in, then start the car.

Select a couple parameters, and you're done.

Two parameters are shown at a time on the gauge. You can change the visible parameters yourself, or the gauge can scan through them automatically. Currently, the gauge is showing wideband Air/Fuel and cylinder head temperature for bank #2.

You can add two separate auxiliary analog sensors to view other things besides what's monitored by the engine (for example, Oil Temperature and Oil Pressure are not monitored). I haven't decided if I want to add those sensors to this (which would make it difficult to see everything I want to monitor, since only two things show up at a time), or if I want to go with a few analog gauges in a Laguna-Seca-style dash pod.

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