ITS Ford Mustang(s) Build - Stripper Stang Part II

[lateapex911]

hey! I've been cheerleading right along!

[Ron Earp]

Oh I'm just giving folks a hard time. If someone else had a build thread I was following and mentioned something not quite right I'd call them out too.

Things are coming together though. If I wasn't headed to the beach for some R&R I could fire it up on Saturday, but that will need to wait a few days.

[Andy Bettencourt]

For those of us who have built cars, or scour the rules for competitive advantages, these things have all gone through our minds. It's interesting to hear new takes.

[Greg Amy]

Careful with the straps Ron: if you end up in the kitty litter, they WILL simply connect their tow strap and pull you out sideways, ripping up/off a bumper cover in a heartbeat (or cut the strap).

Always assume the car will be pulled 180 degrees, not just straight on. - GA

[CRallo]

headed to the beach?!?!? get back to work!

uhoh, here come the critics...

speaking of which, where in the rules does it talk about something like the diamond plate floor? I'd like to do something like this too... Have a ghetto one in there now, in fact.

[Ron Earp]

The strap is a compromise. It is attached to the "frame" huge bolts, but, the bumper cover hangs down a foot below that attachment point. The bumper just isn't strong enough to handle towing (in my opinion), so we ended up with what we got. Tis true, it'll only work for towing straight +- 15 degrees or so, but we were hard pressed to come up with a better solution.

The front one will take side pulling in one direction pretty well, but not in the other. Mustangs do not have great structures for towing. I feel the front radiator subframe is too weak, and the suspension subframe and "frame rails" are too far away from the front to be of much use.

[Eagle7]

Whew, you fellows do read these build threads don't you - not so much for the build but for procedures, protocols, and rules. Eight pages of Mustang build and nary a peep, a mention of a contemplated rules violation and IT rule misquote - bang, five new posts in a day.

Guilty as charged

But I LOVE this thread. Very interesting and educational. Almost feel like I'm hanging out at your place watching you work. And very much appreciate your willingness to share.

[Ron Earp]

Wooo hoo!

Jeff and I did a bit of work on moving cars around and in-between primed the green car and fixed oil leaks. We had a couple of fitting leaks but all is good. Primed it, at high priming RPM pressure would head up to 75psi and then the bleeder would kick in and bleed the excess pressure off. All solid.

I think we're ready for a start up on Sunday.

I don't mind sharing on the internet or the paddock. If you want to crawl around the car, look at it, hell, I ain't shy about letting people I know drive my car - go to it.

[titanium]

The tow strap location on the front is fine.
My STO Mustang has blown-up on-track many times and the tow hook has worked fine.
They have even used it to get the car on the roll-back.

The only thing I added was drilling two small holes in the bumper cover above the strap and a zip-tie to keep the strap from blowing backwards towards the radiator.

Sure the zip-tie breaks whenever the strap is use, but they are pretty cheap.

http://www.titaniummotorsports.com/

[Ron Earp]

The only thing I added was drilling two small holes in the bumper cover above the strap and a zip-tie to keep the strap from blowing backwards towards the radiator.

We did exactly the same so the strap would stay in place. The Mustang isn't an easy car to tow and we've had a lot of discussion about how to best prep it for strapping down to the trailer. It isn't nearly as easily towed or strapped as my old Z was.

The tow strap location on the front is fine.
My STO Mustang has blown-up on-track many times and the tow hook has worked fine.

Now that doesn't sound good! We're hoping to avoid that blow up part.

speaking of which, where in the rules does it talk about something like the diamond plate floor? I'd like to do something like this too... Have a ghetto one in there now, in fact.

True that. It also doesn't say you can cut the floor, but, you ain't getting a modern race seat in a Mustang, level, unless you do something of that nature. You aren't gaining an advantage, unless that advantage is having a off-the-shelf seat and bracket. To me IT is about competing with your friends and your competitive items need to be legal - weight, engine, tranny, suspension, brakes, cage, etc - those things matter. I'm not discounting rules or advocating any such thing, heavens no, but frankly I couldn't care less if you want to delete your wipers, washer bottle, your wiring harness, and all that mess as long as you're legal with the primary things and over minimum weight. It is about power to weight and suspension, make sure that stuff is on the up and up. That said, our intentions are for these two cars to be 100% legal under anyone's definition.

[SPiFF]

The front one will take side pulling in one direction pretty well, but not in the other. Mustangs do not have great structures for towing. I feel the front radiator subframe is too weak, and the suspension subframe and "frame rails" are too far away from the front to be of much use.

I am in the same boat. Honestly, sometimes I'd rather take the yelling from the geezers then mess with these stupid tow straps.

[Ron Earp]

I am in the same boat. Honestly, sometimes I'd rather take the yelling from the geezers then mess with these stupid tow straps.

Truth. Ultimately you are paying for anything that happens to your car regardless.

It is what it is. Hopefully, you'll be around if you need to tow the "SuperHondaVTECYOIntregaIGotNoLowEndHorsepowerBeas tButIBeFast"out of the trap and say "Hell no dude, don't tow my car like that".

When you in RDU for some beers?

[FLATKITTY]

Ron Earp ... "The Mustang isn't an easy car to tow & we've had a lot of discussion about how to best prep it for strapping down to the trailer."

Have you considered running the tie-down straps thru the wheels? I had some 4' straps made up by Deist. I just loop 'em thru the wheels & use the standard tie-down straps to hook 'em up to the trailer D-rings. All for corners done in minutes. Another upside to the separate straps is that they are a lot cheaper to replace when they do get worn. BTW, as an owner of a '98 Mustang GT, do any of you know how they were originally tied down to the transporters? Japanese cars have these really neat tie down hooks, but the Mustang has zip.

[Ron Earp]

Have you considered running the tie-down straps thru the wheels? I had some 4' straps made up by Deist. I just loop 'em thru the wheels & use the standard tie-down straps to hook 'em up to the trailer D-rings. All for corners done in minutes. Another upside to the separate straps is that they are a lot cheaper to replace when they do get worn. BTW, as an owner of a '98 Mustang GT, do any of you know how they were originally tied down to the transporters? Japanese cars have these really neat tie down hooks, but the Mustang has zip.

That is what we came up with as well. We plan to get straps of a proper length and run them through on the rear wheels and secure with a clip to the trailer. On the front we'll use straps as well through the wheels but have the ratcheting style up there to pull everything taught.

I've got no solid idea how they held these damn things down. As you mention they don't have convenient eyes for hooks and there are no screw in locations for a hook like some European cars. My best estimate is that they were held to transporters using wheel straps.

[billf]

I've got no solid idea how they held these damn things down. As you mention they don't have convenient eyes for hooks and there are no screw in locations for a hook like some European cars. My best estimate is that they were held to transporters using wheel straps.

Actually, Ron, You have been "tripping over" the mounting points for a while. Post number 187 shows a verticle slot in the front frame horn, outboard side. Yes, you mounted your sway bar originally at that point, then moved it a little farther forward.

Two more are on the nearly-horizontal surface just forward of the front chassis mount for the rear lower trailing arms.

Ford uses a "T" shape hook (connnected to a chain) to hook into the oval slot. The "T" sits at 90degrees to the slot, so it won't slip out. Then the chains are drawn down to compress the springs while in transport.

I know they were used in the '71 Pinto that I built for BS, back in; the day. I'm not sure how much earlier they were used.

Good racing,

Love the build!!

Bill

[Ron Earp]

Whooot, we got a running Mustang 3.8L V6 ITS car!

[CRallo]

yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ron Earp]

One down, one to go. I worked on some wiring that needed to be finished and then we fired it up a few minutes before four pm. There were some teething troubles - air in the cooling system and an oil leak, but other than that she fired up within a crank or two and within 10 seconds was smooth.

It has a weird exhaust note though. On the street cars it is muffled via three chambers, but with a less restrictive exhaust you can hear that funky 90 degree V6 action. A warble of sorts, definitely not as smooth as a V8, but not as blatty as an inline four. I've got a video that loaded up to Facebook easily and I'm trying to figure out how to link it here.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldWD7Unurio[/ame]


All in all we're damn pleased. One down, one to go.

[CRallo]

Good job guys!!!! I know that feeling and it is a damn good one!

[Ron Earp]

A bit more work has been happening in the mornings and evenings. Wiring is being completed, fire system run, radios installed, and the red car is getting its exhaust plumbing wrapped up.