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

[Ron Earp]

The car is somewhat of a challenge. Weight is coming out of it but unless the driver weighs zero, and the cage too, it'll never make 2480 lbs weight. But the engine will also respond better than 25% so I'm thinking if I can get a racing weight around 26XX lbs, and all signs point to that being possible, then the car might be competitive in S. I think it could probably hit the 25XX pound zone, maybe, but time will tell.

I don't think it'll be the car to have in S, but if you want to race a particular brand of car, as I did, then you take what you get. I'd not advise someone to strike up a build just yet unless they are dying to race an IT Mustang.

Now the ITR Mustang, I think that one is a full on go. It'll make a lot of power and I know that is can make weight in ITR if the builder is careful. Prices for 1999-2004 Mustangs are dirt cheap too, so if you want a safe bet the ITR V6 Rustang is the way to go.

[Ron Earp]

Busted out the vinyl cutter and did a little stripe work on the Mustang so we'd have a change of pace in workflow. Getting large stripes cut and affixed to the car with no bubbles or runs is not a trivial task. After two false starts and about 12 feet of wasted vinyl I got the hang of it and put the orange stripe with silver trim on the hood. Looks not half bad.

[Ron Earp]

Quite a bit has been happening in Mustang land over the last week or so. We've torn into the transmission for a rebuild and the rear end. Both of these are new builds for me and I've a question for the Ford guys.

The rear end in the car is of course the 7.5" unit. I've prepped the axle and now we're ready to re-install a new R&P, LSD device, and new bearings.

Have a look at this picture:

Hatch Pattern on Bearing Shells

One bearing shell and one bearing race, the driver's side, has a match pattern. The other side does not, it is smooth. I have found no mention of this pattern in the shop manual or other sources.

Q: Is the pattern there to mark the bearing cap so that it doesn't get mixed up, or, was it there to help grip the bearing and one side is wiped out? Any Ford 7.5" rear guys here have some knowledge they wish to share?

Other than that things are going well. Motor got shipped out to the motor guy and the car is ready for the cage pending the builder being free to do the job.

[Ron Earp]

Lots of things are happening with the build but I'm not doing all of them. Rear end is being assembled, cage being installed, and engine being built. The engine builder is about half way through the build and sent a few pictures. Heads are rebuilt and parts are all about ready to go back in.

I hope the rear axle will be done this weekend and I suspect the cage is a few weeks out. I've got the transmission apart and will rebuild it myself. So in theory sometime in November I should have lots of sub assemblies to reassemble.





I've collected a great many of Mustang parts via the second hand market - numerous camber/caster plates, multiple intakes, heads, shocks, struts, bearings, and the list goes on. Typically fairly inexpensive but good quality parts. Having a large number of different items available allows you to pick and choose for your criteria.

For example, I had the standard issue Maximum Motorsports camber/caster plates and they are nice pieces, but, VERY heavy. All steel. A Mustang strut isn't like a standard McPherson strut car because the spring isn't on the strut itself, therefore you can use a lighter piece. The Hotchkis parts are all ally and much lighter than the MM plates which are really designed for a full coilover conversion, which I can't do.

[Ron Earp]

Still waiting for the cage to be finished up and that should be done next weekend. However, in the meantime Jeff G procured another ITS Mustang and it is in my garage being prepped for cage installation. Invasion of the domestics into ITS has begun.



Unfortunately it is exactly the same year and color - 1998 Ford FU, a dark green color. He's going to have the entire car repainted though. White or yellow are the current choices.

2012 might see three new Mustangs debuting in the NCR SCCA. Two ITS Mustangs and one ITR Mustang (V8, not V6). Should be interesting.

[CRallo]

LOVE it!! Keep up the good work!

[FLATKITTY]

Just a couple of pennies worth of thought here ... 1) The dead pedal is retained w/3 sheet metal screws. You might consider replacing them w/larger (grade 5) nuts & bolts; 2) The more weight you remove, the worse your F/R weight distribution becomes. Kind of a odd Catch 22 for prepping a race car. Factory spec (SN95 Mustang w/V6), based upon a weight of 3,071 lbs, is 56.4/43.6 (F/R). After removing everything from the trunk & interior (except the OE driver's seat, door panels & dash), the weight distribution was 59.1/40.9 (F/R) w/out driver. It will be interesting to see how much your roll cage will factor into this. Anyone looked at FIA approved carbon-fiber roll cages for IT? Maybe it can be approved along w/the requested C/F hood & fenders for the ITS Mustang.