Coyote Competition Coupe

[tcoon]

Many of you followed with great interest the construction of Karen Salvaggio's awesome competition coupe. I took delivery of mine at the same time with the idea of completing two West Coast cars to start a new coupe based series. While mine has been somewhat delayed in process, construction is now well underway, nd I hope to have it ready to race for the upcoming season!

The process started with simultaneous construction of the nascar style door bars and frame reinforcements for both cars, mine requiring a lot of grinding and powder coat removal because it was precoated at Factory Five. The end result however is a strong and beautiful frame worthy of a new racecar! Many thanks to ace builders Rick Anderson and Hank Lopez for their outstanding workmanship on this frame!

[tcoon]

Over the last month I have been busy with installation of the sheet metal. Over the summer I had major issues with engine reliability in my challenge car, the new 100 hp upgrade leading to 2 bent crankshafts and consequent engine rebuilds. in light of this problem and the fact that the "old school" 302's are now 20 years old and good blocks and parts getting harder to find, I decided to switch to the new Ford Coyote power plant. If Carroll were racing a coupe today what would HE do? More power, less weight, higher RPM...all sounds like a winner to me! And it turns out that the price is about the same for comparable power levels.

The biggest difference is the much wider profile of the new coyote powerplant. This requires the coyote roadster upgrade kit from FFR, which includes most of what you need to make the conversion, including importantly the mods to the drivers's footbox for the big a** engine! also note the drive by wire throttle pedal, for which I fabbed a mounting plate from 1/8" aluminum to mount the Lokar pedal, which is smaller and cleaner than modding the Ford pedal as recommended by FFR. I also put an access door in the top of the footbox to allow for later brake adjustment if necessary. Also note the cool brake duct mount from Agent 47, modified with a band saw to fit the FFR spindles.

[tcoon]

One of the big issues with the coyote is the advanced engine computer and engine management system. This requires a slightly different engine bay arrangement from the standard Ford 302 EFI setup. Additionally, the coupe has a different frame arrangement from the roadster, and with our race cage mods we changed things even more. Where to mount the computer? The computer is required to be mounted within the engine compartment because of the short engine harness, so I fabbed a mount to fit on the passenger footbox. Clearances are tight with the defroster installed (necessary to defog the windshield on those damp Sonoma mornings) but there is adequate room for the components and a wiper motor as well. The "black box" is mounted under the dash next to the defroster, and fuse panel in the standard location.

[tcoon]

With the computer and defroster using up the footbox real estate and a planned Accusump going behind the x member, the only remaining place to put a battery is in the trunk. Our previous Fuel Safe install used the spot normally reseved for a trunk mount, so I made a new small battery box for a lightweight racing battery to fit under the floor just to the left of the pumpkin of the three link rearend. While the weight distribution is not ideal, it is the only feasible solution in this case. Should also make for a very clean install!

The remaining rear sheetmetal is in process, and I plan for removable panels over the fuel cell to allow for easy access at the racetrack. The fuel lines and brake lines are finished...now its time for the powertrain!

[Scottseibs]

Looking good. I have the bug just waiting for the next sale from ffr.

[bil1024]

Nice work!

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

Very nice work! I am thrilled to see the new Coyote going into a coupe ... especially in a comptetition coupe. I'll be following this thread closely.

Garry

[jkrueger]

Looks great! I'm racing to get my competition coupe done before next season as well. Can't wait to see yours done.

JC

[riptide motorsport]

With out a doubt...excellent work.

[tcoon]

Thanks all. I am impatiently awaiting the arrival of the oil pickup for my Moroso coyote FFR pan. Had to be shipped from the East Coast (bummer). Once it arrives I can install the pan and complete the drivetrain. Then it's on to the gokart stage! I can't wait! Now if the rain will just let up a little...

[Movieman]

subscribed :D

[Hammink Performance]

Love it allready! From our experience I know a Coyote race car is a lot of fun!

Subscribed as well!

[johngeorge]

Tom, very very cool!! that coyote engine will be awesome power and very reliable for you. Cant wait for you to get on track and get your opinion of it :)

[Movieman]

Tom, very very cool!! that coyote engine will be awesome power and very reliable for you. Cant wait for you to get on track and get your opinion of it :)


I'm waiting for YOU to get one so I just have to jump on Rt102 and drive over the Merrimack River to see one!:D

[rj35pj]

My coupe will only be a street car so I love seeing the full race versions born and built on the forum. Looks great.

[KodiakCoupe]

Very sweet build Tom. thanks for the post. I'm also anxious to see your progress.

[tcoon]

Thanks a lot for all the great comments! This is a really fun project. So on with the build progress...

This weekend I focused on odds and ends while awaiting the rest of my engine components. I completed the rear sheet metal, setting up the area over the fuel cell with removable panels to be fitted with Dzus fasteners so I can go tank diving when necessary. the fuel filter and pump are also accessed here for quick replacement if needed.

Moving to the front of the car I fabbed a mount for the Accusump in front of the front crossmember, and also mounted the remote oil filter above it, to reduce hose length. For now I'm using regular hoses but may switch to braided stainless or nylon later once i get all the logistics worked out. The Coyote requires a remote filter because of the location on the engine block of the stock filter very close to the frame rail. I doubt an oil cooler will be necessary.

I decided to trial fit the engine sans tranny and bellhousing just to see if this monster would fit. I am lucky to have an electric overhead engine hoist, so that makes moving the engine in and out very easy! It is one FAT engine! As you can see from several of the photos, there is contact on the right rear valve cover, so it looks like I'll be hitting the sheet metal shears a little bit more! Oh well, no one said this would be easy. Good news is the driver side footbox mods work well, just a little massaging required there; the new FFR headers by BBK are awesome and fit great on both sides. Also a big plus in the coupe...this engine is really low and hood clearance should not be an issue. Best of all the engine harness is long enough with my chosen computer location, so no change of the mount is needed. YAY!

Enough for now, tranny is off at the shop getting the midshift kit installed, and further parts are in the pipeline. I'm loading the trailer and off to Thunderhill this weekend to drive the 25 with Team Thunder Valley Racing and the speeding Saturn of Roman and Ryan. Stay tuned!

-T

[Hammink Performance]

I'm jealous!

[kabacj]

Awesome build Tom. Best of luck in the 25.

John

[Mark Dougherty]

well done Tom
I hope to catch up at the 25
later
Mark

[ClemsonS197]

The Coyote requires a remote filter because of the location on the engine block of the stock filter very close to the frame rail. I doubt an oil cooler will be necessary.
-T

I'd bet the coupe is the same, but you can run a CTS-V filter instead of remote mount. It's the same as the stock filter, only shorter. If you run in to any issues, there's a Coyote forum on here now that's been very helpful. Good luck.

[tcoon]

Thanks for the advice, need to run a remote anyway for the Accusump...I'm planning on LOTS of sustained high G forces with this car! Can't wait to hit the high banks at Fontana! Let's see...130 mph in the challenge car with 230 hp...factor in 400 RWHP and the coupe's aero...spells fun for me!!!

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

Thanks for the great pictorial update. That is gonna be one flyin' coupe! Sorry I couldn't make it out for the 25 Hours. I was really looking forward to that.

Garry

[Rick Masters]

Tom, The coupe looks great, good luck at Thunderhill this weekend.
Rick

[Jacob McCrea]

This looks great. I appreciate all the details regarding what goes where, e.g., the battery, Accusump, etc. Thanks for taking the time to share the knowledge and good luck at the races.

[turbodon]

Tom

Great progress. I am glad you decided on the power plant.

The build looks great.

[tcoon]

140881408914090140911409214093With the 2012 25 hours of Thunderhill now history, I have been able to get back to work on the coupe. The goal this weekend was to complete the engine preparation and install the drivetrain. Excitement!

First the passenger footbox area of conflict noted in the last installment was cut out, and a stepped box fabricated to allow room for the valve cover and the tubing connections for the defroster which were hitting as well. This intrudes a moderate amount into the passenger footwell, and will need to be addressed later.

I started by flipping over the engine on the engine stand and removing the oil pan and oil level sensor. The pan features a reusable gasket/windage tray, so no new parts were needed. I installed the special Moroso oil pickup which mates with the low profile Moroso road racing pan, necessary with the shallow FFR frame depth. I then installed the oil pressure and water temperature sending units on the lower left side of the engine block, per the FFR instructions.

Next I turned to the front of the engine, and installed the March serpentine belt system. This is quite pricey, but includes the Ford alternator, tensioner, and a Gm/Saginaw power steering unit. Of course, the polished aluminum bling looks great as well, but probably won't stay looking that way long in the racing environment.

Moving to the back of the engine, the flywheel, clutch, Quick Time bellhousing and TKO 600 RR tranny were installed. I had the Tremec mid shift kit installed professionally last week, so the shifter will be right at hand. The Coyote requires an extra tranny mount extension plate, supplied in the FFR kit. It also requires you to cut off the extra mounting boss on the bottom of the tranny. I removed this with the trusty sawzall.

Finally the powerplant was dropped in without incident, and the heart of the beast was home at last! Fitment was checked on the driveshaft and all clearances examined. I probably will use the Whitby motor mount pads, as thing are very tight around the bottom of the engine, particularly in the j-pipe area. 3/8" extra should not effect my hood clearance, and will make plumbing the exhaust much easier and more free flowing. The footbox cutout on the passenger side gives great room for the engine, but I may add a drop footbox to the floor to gain back some of the lost foot space.

Next weekend...finish up the million small details in the fuel system, plumbing, electrical...and fire it up!

-T

[tcoon]

First weigh in has total weight at 1878 lbs... not bad for all major components minus body, seats, fuel and driver. and 50% cross weight with simply setting the ride height at 4" all around. What a great design! Thanks FFR!

Yep...it's lookin' like a racecar! Can't wait to get her on the road!

[Movieman]

Looks at pictures, notices my drool cup seemed to fill by itself..:-)

[frankeeski]

All I have to say Tom is WOW! What progress you have made. I remember being in your shop back in July during the discussion about the tantrums the challenge car was having, throwing belts. At that point you had just mounted brakes on the coupe and gotten the frame reinforcements all welded in. Considering all of the set back you had with the challenge car and engine issues I think you are making tremendous progress. Looks like you are on your way to first class build. Wish I had found this thread earlier. Keep up the great work brother.

[jkrueger]

Great progress! That left rear is heavy already even without the driver???

JC

[johngeorge]

very cool Tom! keep up the good work

[WIS89]

What an awesome job!

The car looks like a beast already, and I can only imagine how it will look as you finish things up! Congratulations on a FINE build and exciting progress on what I am sure will be a work of art with the heart of a beast!! Well done, and continued good luck!

Regards,

Steve

[tcoon]

Yes a little heavy left rear...I was forced to place the battery there with all the other items dictated by engine logistics. It weighs 25 lbs. Guess I'll need to go on a diet! Haha! I will shift the fire bottle off to the right hopefully to offset that imbalance a little.

[tcoon]

The Christmas Holiday has given me several days of extended work time to address the million small details in completing a finished car. I spent most of this weekend dealing with completion of the fire safety system, dash wiring and gauge installation, and completion of the cabin sheet metal.

First I addressed the fire safety system. A must for approval and a life saver if needed, this system is best integrated into the basic layout of the cockpit, so I chose to install it now while the engine was removed for some final part installation, thus freeing up the trans tunnel access. The fire bottle was placed right rear to help offset the weight of the left mounted battery, and 1/4" aluminum tubing routed to the engine compartment and fuel cell area, with a third nozzle in the driver footbox. The pull release is placed on the dash just to the right of the steering wheel, within easy reach of the securely belted driver. I have driven a few cars in the past where the pull lever is just out of reach, and that is NOT a comfortable feeling! Notice the fire pull, horn and master cut-off...all major safety controls...are within easy reach of a belted in driver.

Next I spent a few days wiring the dash, including placement of the windshield wiper motor and wiring of the heater/defroster unit, and welding on a quick release steering hub. All connections were soldered and covered with heat shrink tubing, as I have had issues in the past with loosening of crimp connectors in the high vibration environment of a race car. I used the Classic gauge set from FFR, and found them to be very easy to wire, having all the lighting for both gauge faces and needles set up with plug and play daisy chain connectors, so I did not have to make an endless number of jumper wires to connect all the dash lighting. This is a big improvement. It did necessitate changing the sensors on my engine to the ones from the classic gauge kit, which are wired a little differently from the standard gauges, but this was easy to do with the engine removed. I also wired the speed dial adjuster, required for the coyote engine to tell the computer the car is moving and hopefully reduce the need for custom dyno tuning. (i'm sure that will be needed anyway). I did add in an extra switch for auxiliary lighting, to be wired to the fog lights and perhaps even a light bar for enduro night driving!

My final day was spent finishing the (modified) cabin sheet metal to fit around the roll cage, bleeding brakes, and fitting the front tow hook. I chose to use the standard tow hook from the challenge series cars, which will protrude slightly from the hood and require slight notching of the hood when it tilts forward. According to my calculations it should stick up through the hood opening and if I got the height right require a minimal slot. We'll see! But hey...its a race car! function first, cosmetics second. a good tow hook is critical to track safety and a requirement for that all important log book.

i'm currently awaiting arrival of power steering hoses and fittings, and a few other assorted engine supplies.
Next installment...final engine install, seats, fluids and then its go-kart time. Woohoo!

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

Looks like a very productive Christmas vacation! Looking good!

Garry

[Made_In_America]

What rear gear ratio are you using with the Coyote/TKO 600 RR combo?

[tcoon]

I ordered my kit with the Moser 3 link, which comes stock with 3.31 gears. That should be about right. Ordered the tko with .82 5th gear, so it should be really useful on those high speed road courses such as AAA speedway. actually having a useable 5th gear and power to push it will be a novel experience for me. Also the coyote winds to 7500, also much more than the previous challenge car with stock 302.

[Made_In_America]

Thanks, I wasn't sure which ratio would be best with the Coyote. I know the new Mustangs are 3.31 but they are also 6 spd so I wasn't sure if maybe a 3.55 would be proper.

[frankeeski]

More progress. Looks great Tom!

[tcoon]

I really don't know which ratio is best. Past experience with the challenge cars showed us running out of rpm at the end of long straights with 3.27 gears and no useful 5th gear, that with the factory rev limiters at 6200 rpm. Using a similar tire size, the 3.31 gears and 1500 more useful Rpm should be a big benefit.

[tcoon]

Thanks Frank! Looking forward to bringing her down to Huntington Beach this spring for the big FFR West Coast Weekend.

[johngeorge]

Tom,

You'll be good shifting at 7500 with 3.31 gears :) We put a TKO600 with .82 in FFR#85 (3.27 gears) and I actually had to use 5th at Watkins Glen on the back straight! Such a weird motion going from 4th to 5th, I think my shift took over 2 seconds to make sure I did it right, but hope you dont have to use 5th with that high of a red-line.

Will you run a G2X? I believe Racepak make an OBD2 connection to the data logger that will grab all of the ECU data, a real nice to have.

[ClemsonS197]

Keep in mind the new 6 speed is an odd duck. It's a 6 speed with only 1 overdrive. And the overdrive it does have is deep. The 2011+ Mustang MT82 ratios are:

1st 3.66
2nd 2.43
3rd 1.69
4th 1.32
5th 1.00
6th 0.65

The cars come standard with a 3.31 ratio. But 3.55 and 3.73 are optional. Also note that the 17" halibrand tire sizes are about 5% smaller than the stock Ford rubber.

[frankeeski]

Thanks Frank! Looking forward to bringing her down to Huntington Beach this spring for the big FFR West Coast Weekend.

We're looking forward to it, also this years "Wine Country Cobra Tour". Keep at it you're doing great work.

[tcoon]

Thx John I'll check into the data logging. Its probably a good idea!

[Mark Dougherty]

Nice to see Tom
keep up the great work.

also please please please remove that wiper kit now and replace it with a marine wiper or 2 if you wish. do a quick search on here for it.
it is well worth it.
You will be disapointed with the FFR supplied unit.
I have installed a dozen of the FFR units on coupes, and done all the known tricks. It will fail you when you need it the most.
This is not bashing FFR. I love them. Its just that unit is not good.
Later
Mark D

[loeffler1]

Mark

My body is off awaiting a slot at the painters. I have FFR's wiper motor installed. Please detail what you find wrong with the kit. Is it the motor only, or wiper boxes, or cable drive. Some mentioned earlier the tube covering was too large. I don't want to replace with Marine wipers as I would have to redo everything under the dash and really don't have the room for an arm operated system. What about "Specialty Power Window Company", they sell a wiper motor that has 300 in lbs of stall torque, 2 speed and adjustable sweep from 60 degrees to 120 degrees in 10 degree increments. Part #WWJ at $89.00 or motor, cable and wiper boxes, part #WWK at $239.00. Some people I've talked to seem to think, properly installed, the FFR wipers work fine in conjunction with plenty of Rainex. I don't want to have to replace anything in this department once the body gets reinstalled. You would have to be Houdini to get at the wiper motor!! What is your take on all of this? Thanks in advance for your answer.

Bill

[tcoon]

The extended Christmas weekend yielded a lot of build time to allow progress toward my goal of a New Years' Day go kart. After my several previous trial fitments the engine install went ahead without a hitch. I then spent most of the weekend making all the final connections, rerouting wires and hoses to avoid things like hot exhaust headers, and adding fluids to the transmission and differential. Didn't want to miss THAT one right Ricky Bobby?!

The right side O2 sensor harness is about 3 feet too short, so I took the leap and spliced in a 3 foot harness for all 6 leads, carefully marking , soldering, and heat shrinking all 12 connections. The remote reservoirs for coolant and power steering were mounted and coolant hoses routed; the FFR coyote J-pipes are beautifully crafted stainless works of art. Note the VERY tight quarters about the driver side exhaust/alternator/oil pressure sender...definitely need the Whitby 3/8" motor mount spacers...they're on order.

After all hookups were completed the big moment came...and it started right away without a hitch! Thank you Ford Racing! The instructions must be right on the money. I then spent the next morning chasing leaks, which always seem to appear seemingly from nowhere, and working on the seat install and modification of an OMP seat slide to fit with the Salvaggio seat modification made months ago. By narrowing the space between the seat tracks about 2" (cut 2" out of the release handle and re-welded it) I was able to affix the track on both sides to the underlying frame rather than sheet metal, a critical safety feature in any race car. A 3/4" square tube was used under the front of the seat for increased rake, and my 6' frame seems to fit quite comfortably. There is about 4" of seat travel which should allow other drivers to pilot the car for longer endurance events ( are you in Karen?).

Go Kart was one day late on Wed 1/2 as I needed a longer seat bolt to secure the seat track clear through the frame and no hardware stores were open on the first (where is your friendly Ace Hardware man when you need him?). Kart was uneventful and the extra time spent on front end alignment was invaluable. This thing is stink fast! Hard to beat 390 ft lbs of torque! And it sounds crazy with no mufflers! HeHe!

Initial suspension settings standard Challenge fare, -2 camber, 6 caster, 1/8" toe out, 4" ride height. Springs were pirated from my Challenge car, front 750# rear 550#, shocks set to max hard. She tracks straight and true with minimal effort, even though the power steering remains disconnected as I still await the appropriate hoses.

first start video: http://youtu.be/zdwlxCDHiRs

A few more details remain then its on to body work. The goal is race track by March. Stay tuned!

[frankeeski]

Congrats Tom! You continuing to make leaps and bounds forward. Your progress is making me feel inadequate, 5 years and still building. Keep up the good work my friend! :)

[loeffler1]

Mark Dougherty

You must have missed my questions in thread #48 regarding the FFR windshield wiper motor kit. Would you be so kind as to respond to what ails them as my body is off right now and this would be the time to correct this issue if required.

Sorry to hijack the thread.

Bill

[tcoon]

This weekend brought a major milestone in the coupe project...the body! With the expert assistance of ace coupe builders Rick Anderson and Karen Salvaggio, I tackled the next phase of construction, placement and fitting of the body and nose. First the body was retrieved from the top rack of storage and the door sills and fuel cell area were trimmed to fit the competition mods to the door and fuel cell areas. the body was then placed and fit surprisingly well. A little extra trimming to pass over the driver side intrusion plate, and we were good to go.

In the process it was noted that the previously placed brake reservoirs and heater unit were too high, preventing the body from seating properly. They were disconnected and moved aside, to be repositioned lower as a later time.

Following that the process of nose fitment was begun. Under the watchful eyes of Rick a jack was placed under the nose and it was carefully aligned to the pontoons. The length was adjusted first, with approx 1/4" being trimmed off the rear edge of the nose so that the wheel arches lined up properly. The top edge of the nose was then shimmed with rubber bumpers until even, and side fitment examined. It was clear that the passenger side of the nose was way too tall to fit properly. To correct this, a 3/8" section was removed from the lower passenger side, thus aligning the top, side and bottom with much improved gaps. The area was carefully trimmed and fiberglassed, and should finish nicely with excellent final fit and finish, at this point only needing a little more final rear edge trim to achieve a perfect fit, which will be done after final secure mounting of the body is completed. Finally a slot was cut for clearance of the Challenge Series Spec tow hook, which fits quite nicely.

The hood hinges and side locks were then placed, and adjusted for smooth and solid latching. Under hood clearance is excellent with the Coyote, and I must admit its very tempting to cut out the hood bubble and put in a plexiglas panel to show off that gorgeous engine! Now for filling, sanding, and a cloud of dust!

[frankeeski]

It's looking really good Tom!

[jkrueger]

Thanks for the pictures. You are correct we are in about the same spot. I wish I had your experienced team helping me. Want to do a road trip :)

He have the same problem on the hood with the passenger side being high. The drivers side is a little high, but I think livable for a race car. I may do the same thing as you with cutting a chunk out to lower it. I'm not sure I can live that even if it is a race car. I like what you did with the door hinge area, just cut it all out. That is a good idea.

JC

[Bob Cowan]

Wow, I am so impressed. I would almost be willing to sell my car just to build one like yours.

[tcoon]

Thanks guys...this is really getting fun! I agree that show quality body perfection is not the goal in this dedicated track car. Thats's why I elected to go with the tried and true challenge series tow hook. Not elegant but strong and effective! But I do want the nose to fit well and be very secure for those thriple digit speeds! The door frame cutouts will make door fitment much easier, and can be covered with aluminum trim plates if necessary. Likewise some of the cockpit and wheel well areas will be filled in with more aluminum panels. I am told I may need to refashion the internal door frames to allow them to fit well over the NASCAR bars. We'll see this weekend.

[turbodon]

Really nice progress Tom. Fun watching the progress. I really need to come out and see it first hand.

[tcoon]

Absolutely! I would greatly value your input. A few more weeks of sanding/prep then the body comes off for paint. At that time I will make a number of final adjustments that have come up, then it's racin' time!

[Martin]

I think this is the marine wiper solution Mark was talking about

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/278099-threw-out-cable-drives-went-synchronized-marine-wipers.html#post2535748

[Mark Dougherty]

yep it is Martin
YOUR CAR IS ON ITS WAY. Loaded it into the container yesterday.
The marine wipers are not my idea but an awsome one that works.

[tcoon]

Its been quite a while since my last post, but the shop has been humming with lots of excitement! That is if you're excited by grinding, filling, sanding...repeat! At my last installment, we had fitted the body and nose, and she began to look like a car. Over the ensuing weeks i have fitted the doors, glass, mirrors, and done a ton of smoothing and blending.

First I started with the doors. Thanks to good advice from other forum members, I started by fitting the doorframes and dialing in the latching mechanism. It a good thing I tried this first, because the passenger side NASCAR bars interfered greatly with the lower doorframe. My solution...cut off the lower frame bar and fabricate a new one higher up, then re-weld the frame. After both frames were easily and securely latching, the next step was to fit the doors to the openings. This requires judicious trimming with a cutoff wheel and a lot of final adjustment with a belt sander. The belt sander is probably the best tool here but makes a TON of dust. The door bars also require large cutouts from the bottom of the doors , but this allows the bars to recess into the door when closed, giving a very clean look.

After installing the doors and latches, a large amount of time was spent evening out door gaps and fine tuning the latch mechanism and alignment. Once the best possible fit was achieved, the remaining mismatched areas were adjusted by filling low areas and removing high areas until there was a smooth transition of all body panels one onto the other. This is a tedious process, but makes for very smooth looking (and aerodynamic) car.

Finally after all panel fitment was done to satisfaction, mirrors and glass were placed to be certain no additional body modification would be required before final paint.

The car was then taken to Doug Marino at Raptor Racing in Fresno, CA for fabrication of the custom Stainless sidepipes. Because of the coyote powerplant, the standard (and restrictive) dual sidepipes won"t work, therefore I went for the large single pipes. Because of increasingly strict sound limits on California road courses, we opted to add 4 inches to the length of the muffler section, and the result is a mellow basso profundo which should make noise limits but still sounds amazing! Kudos to Doug, these pipes are stainless works of art that belong in the Smithsonian!

Pipes on then body off! I must say its somewhat crushing to take it all apart after months of putting it together! But the beauty wrap is yet to come! The body was removed and final smoothing and surface prep is underway. Many thanks to factory five owner and ace body man Mike Bertolucci for his expertise and help in this tedious process! I am ready for the Slick Sand heavy filling primer this weekend, and final paint the following one. Then its off to the track!

[Movieman]

Your "Princess" is a 38-22-35 in my book..IE: Perfect! :D

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

Your coupe is really coming along beautifully! Great work! The side pipes just make me drool!

Garry

[jkrueger]

Looking good!

JC

[frankeeski]

Wow Tom! What a beauty you are building.

[mr-pantera]

That is a nice car. I have always wanted a coupe.

I have a challenge car and was wondering what organization/class are you going to be running in?

[tcoon]

Current plan is to run ST1/TT1 with NASA and possibly ES enduro. I would love to have a more open FFR class because the challenge series is dead on the West Coast. Along with Karen Salvaggio (vnmss) and Hank Lopez (Hankl) I am trying to revive it with a coupe iteration. Shooting for my frost track day/shakedown run the weekend of March 15...

[Daytona Dan]

Great work...keep it up! Hey, is that a Monza I see up above your roadster?

[tcoon]

Spec E30 BMW...

[mr-pantera]

Good luck. I hope to see coupes in the racing series.

[tcoon]

I apologize its been nearly a month since my last post. I assure you the time has not been wasted! As of the last installment we had finished the body finish work in preparation for paint. The subsequent weeks have seen a seemingly endless sequence of paint, sand, and paint some more, in hopes of bringing a beautiful finish to our coupe. I say our because the team of Mike Bertolucci, painter extraodinaire, Amir Khalil, team KneedAdjustment Racing crew member, and myself have worked tirelessly often until the wee hours to bring this project to fruition. Many heartfelt thanks to these great friends!

We began the paint with 2 layers of Slick Sand, a heavy polyester filler/primer that dries to a hard plastic finish which is then wet sanded with 400 grit paper to a glass-like finish. This fills and seals the underlayers of body filler and glazing compound, giving the first true look at the quality of the body finish.

The primer was followed by 2 coats of sealer, chosen carefully to be compatible with our planned waterborne color coat. Mike is the super painter of the group, but i was able to lend a hand with several of these undercoats, gaining much needed experience wielding the paint gun. Since waterborne paint is known to be very thin and show even fine sanding scratches, the sealer was "nibbed" with 1000 grit paper, giving a smooth finish.

Now for the big moment...COLOR! I have thought about the color scheme for months, wanting a traditional livery to properly represent our new coupe series, but shying away from traditional blue/white because so many cobras are painted these colors. What to do? After searching and consulting with Daytona guru Peter Brock, I decided on the colors and livery of the 1965 LeMans entry of Scuderia Filipinetti, that being Swiss red with single white stripe. After months of searching and researching several historic texts, only 5 archival photos were located, and two of these are black and white! No paint codes were available, just the term "Swiss Red". I discovered that the Germans did a tribute Mini in 2008 and decided to use the colors they chose. My colors are 2008 VW Tornado Red and 2011 Toyota Super White.

The waterborne red went on fast and thin. It was a new experience for our seasoned painter, and he took it in stride. While the waterborne covers quickly, it shows every tiny scratch and fuzzy, so we eventualy settled on the sequence of paint 3 coats, wait a day for drying, then nib out the surface and repeat. Each successive coating gave an improved appearance, so we kept going, eventually finishing with 8 coats of color.

After a full day of drying, it was on to stripes. Wow we were excited! I must say it is nearly impossible to put straight stripes on this sexy, curvy car. Since there was no good reference for the livery, we had to wing it a bit on the stripe size, finally hitting on the formula of 20" gumballs an a single 10" stripe. You can judge for yourself, but i think we hit a home run! After 5 hours of taping and masking by 4 people, the stripes were "in the bag", and we were finally ready for paint. 3 quick coats of Toyota super white, a half hour of flash time, and the stripes were revealed. And we were thrilled!

After all this work, the clearcoat seems almost an afterthought, but is indeed the layer that gives the paint its depth and beauty. Mike dusted down a quick coat of clear over the stripes, and they seemed a little rough. We therefore waited a day for drying time and yet ANOTHER buffing out with 1000 grit before proceeding with the final 4 layers of clear.

Final tally...1 gal of rage, 1/2 gal metal glaze, 23 coats (7 1/2 gal) of paint! Approx 350 hours bodywork time. I truly have a new respect for those who do this for a living. Hats off to custom car painters, you earn every penny!

Final results...amazing! Next step, final assembly, cut/buff paint, finish sb-100, then its off to Huntington Beach!

-Tom

[Mark Dougherty]

Tom
Thanks for the update.
you are truely doing a great job. I just love the color combo.
I cant wait to see it in person.

[jkrueger]

That looks great Tom!

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

That coupe is a stunner and can't wait to see it at speed, side by side, with Karen's coupe. Love what you guys are doing to keep the coupes flying as relevant racecars.

Garry

[Mike-66]

That was an incredibly fun car to paint and probably the coolest car I have ever painted. There was a little bit of a learning curve for me on the waterborne paint system, but I must say that it is pretty easy to use once you get it down and understand it. The car looks great in the photos and absolutely gorgeous in person. My favorite shot is when the last coat of clear went on. :cool:

http://i47.tinypic.com/29e3or9.jpg

[QSL]

love it!

[frankeeski]

But........But..........But...........It was Red when you started.


Just kidding Tom. The car looks beautiful and again, you are doing and awesome job!

[Mike-66]

The car looks incredible in person and is probably the coolest car I have ever painted.

*not sure why my first post with a photo wasn't posted?

[loeffler1]

Absolutely stunning. It's wonderful to see a traditional color.

[Hankl]

I think it should be called,


Wile E Coyote Red!


Hank :cool:

[tcoon]

Thanks everyone for the kudos. It really has been a team effort to get this paint done, and I'm eternally grateful to all who helped out.

Hank...I like that! Coyote Red, a fitting name. I'll put that in the mix with all the other suggestions. Right now it's still a bit of the f*******car! At this stage it's always a love/hate relationship. Right now it's more love , last week it was AAARRRGGGGHHHH!

Such is the car hobby.

[Mike-66]

last week it was AAARRRGGGGHHHH!

Such is the car hobby.

Yeah, we definitely had a couple of those "AAAARRRRGGGHHH" moments last week. Little hand prints come to mind... :rolleyes:

[Fluge]

Hey Tom...I am getting caught up in old threads on this site...just started coming more regularly here...I enjoyed reading through this one...Nice car!

Marc

[tcoon]

At my last installment, we had just finished the long road to paint perfection. In the ensuing month while the clear coat was hardening, I performed the myriad of tasks which is lovingly called "final assembly". And what a task list it is! Somehow it seems so much more difficult drilling holes, installing parts, and generally working around the car when there is new soft paint to protect.

One of the big and challenging jobs with the coupe is installation of the glass. I was very pleased to find my glass fit very well, both front and rear. I had trial fit the glass before final paint, and was rewarded with a smooth even fit of the glass all around. The rear glass took only a bit of adjustment to the latch mechanism. The front glass fit the opening so tightly that a standard T style molding would not even fit into the gap. I had prepared the glass by blacking the outer 1 1/2" of the backside as recommended by others on the forum, then took the car to Advanced Auto Glass in Santa Rosa. They hit upon the idea of using a hidden molding like a rear backlight, and the result is an extremely smooth and clean look, with no visible rubber molding...very aerodynamic!

Once the glass was installed, attention was turned back to the final cut and buff of the paint. Once again, kudos to those who do this for a living! Wow what a job! Long story short, the entire car was color sanded (that means sanding the shiny clear coat until its dull and smooth) a very painful thing to do after you spent months making it shiny! The entire car was sanded with 1500 and 2000 grit paper until all the visible orange peel was gone. After that the laborious process of polishing with polishing compound, then" Perfect it II" polish was performed over the period of a week, taking approximately 30 hours. Oh my achin' shoulders! The result is a beautiful finish, much more that a race car deserves...but its a coupe!

Once paint was finally finished, it was time for stickers, Lights, and that first real shakedown run! WooHoo! I must say this coyote engine absolutely screams from 5000-7000 rpm, and that passes in a heartbeat!

Our sites were set for Huntington Beach as our big debut, and we were not disappointed! What a great event! I felt highly honored to be featured alongside the stunning coupes of Ron Stebles and Karen Salvaggio, and there were throngs of interested enthusiasts around the car all day long.

After a successul shakedown mini track day at the HB auto cross, I headed home to finish the work of preparation for real road racing. The car was dyno'd today and I'm very pleased to report 398 hp with the stock Coyote engine, FFR intake and exhaust, and a power tune from JMS Chip in Mississippi. The dyno technician was quite uneasy...we were posting 160 mph on the dyno at 7000 rpm! and that's only 4th gear...don't think I'll be seeing that any time soon...

video link...http://youtu.be/eZnZ7ndsQys
Next week off to the tech inspector for that all important log book!

[frankeeski]

Car is absolutely stunning in person Tom. Job well done!

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

That is one amazing coupe! Looks and sounds absolutely wonderful. Great job on the build!

Garry

[WIS89]

Tom-

Love the beast!! She is just stunningly beautiful! Love the color, and she just looks so mean just standing still. It must be a thrill to get behind the wheel after all the hard work! Congratulations on a wonderful build. I like Coyote Red too, but don't forget Yosemite Sam; he could be a cool decal on the car too!

Great build and thanks for sharing. Enjoy the heck out of her!

Regards,

Steve

[John Dol]

Great looking coupe! Does the butt dyno comfirm the numbers?

John

[bansheekev]

Tom, I can't believe I missed you in Huntington Beach. I definately wanted to chat. Oh well, maybe another time. I am probably 4-6 weeks from first start. Can't wait!

Kevin

[johngeorge]

love it!! very very nice Tom :)

have you scaled it? whats it weigh?

[tcoon]

She scales at 2650 with me and 3 gal of gas, perfect 50% cross weights. That puts me at 6.65 lb/hp. My class min is 6.4 (ST1/TT1, -.4 aero penalty and -.5 weight penalty) so I should be very competitive. May be able to squeak out another 10-15 hp from exhaust improvement but I don't think that will be necessary. The butt dyno says YEEHAA!

Kevin, sorry I missed you at HB. Maybe we can hook up sometime I'm just a few hours up the road. Would be happy to help out with your build any time!

Tom

[TimBoss351]

I was thinking about getting a Cobra ony because I wanted to build the Coupe with a Boss 302 engine and most people said it could not be done. Now I see it can, but....certainly not easily. For someone with no car building skills, is this an impossible task? I don't want to screw with carbs (great altitude fluxuations where I live and I don't want to be changing jets all the time) and would love the livability of the new coyote engine and 6 speed. Tcoon, would you steer me away, or will it be worth the time and trouble to get what I really want? I will just be on the streets, driving it to work (secured paring lot) and ocasional track days, but not really competing in anything.

I passed one in Castle Rock last Friday and talked to the owner for a bit. Such great looking cars. Love the race car on the street look, and love the roll cage protection for when my kids are with me.

[tcoon]

The coyote build was really not particularly more difficult Than the standard old school 5.0. Just some differences. You need the coyote footbox, headers, etc from FFR, but they're readily available. The control pack computer from Ford Racing is stand alone, and requires a prett straightforward 4 wire hookup. Mating the coyote to the Ron Francis harness has a few wrinkles, but the steps are well laid out in the FFR instructions. By the way I have a 5 speed, and would not go for a six. Way overkill, on the street I rarely get out of fourth, which redlines at 160 mph! The power band on this engine means you really don't need to shift much, it pulls all the way down to 800 rpm.

The Boss intake will not fit under the coupe hood, but I'm making 398 RWHP so I'd save your money...the Boss crate motor is several thousand dollars more for only 50 hp! The power/weight ratio of this car (minus driver using rwhp) is equal to the zr1 Corvette at 6.3...and it costs about $80,000 less! This is a stone cold reliable daily driver with the heart of a lion, and I wouldn't do the car any other way! The package is just a killer combination of power, reliability, light weight, and pure adrenaline!

[CHOTIS BILL]

Tim, over the years I have discovered that if you have a dream and settle for something less you will most often be disappointed and always wonder how it would be if you had stuck to your dream. For me I knew how I wanted my build to be done even though it will mean taking longer to complete the car but when it is done it will be the way I want it. Without knowing you but do know all the help that is on the boards I would think you should be able to fulfill your dream.

Bill Lomenick

[johngeorge]

Tom, great job! cant wait to see incar videos :)

[jkrueger]

Tom,

The car looks stunning. Great job! Your car ended up 200 lbs lighter than mine. I do have AC, an accusump and a fire suppression system, but that doesn't seem to add to that much. Great numbers out of that little 5.0!

JC

[TimBoss351]

So the intake for the Boss is an issue huh? I was more wanting it for the 4 bolt mains as well as the extra HP. Crud. I certainly don't want to change the hood as it is perfect as is. Now I seeing the famiy build (Mike and ??) and looking at all the extra welding, the side impact work they are doing. I love that, I am all about protection for my girls when they ride with me, but have ZERO skills to pull that work off. So now I am wondering if this is the right project for me or not.

Then I look at the pics and videos of the coupes and am ready to pick your brain to get it done.

[Hankl]

Tim,

Where are you located, we have several Competition Coupes being built around the country, so someone to help you might just be around the corner.

Hank :cool:

[tcoon]

JC - you must have an iron block LS? Mine is all aluminum. I do have an accusump and fire systsem, but no AC. All else would seem to be about the same...the coyote is one light and powerful package!

Tim...the stock coyote 302 also has 4 bolt mains, etc. I believe the only difference is a very slightly warmer cam in the boss and perhaps slightly better pistons, and of course the intake. I MAY have issue with this in road racing but doubt you will ever see an issue with a street car. A long history of racing the old school 5.0 leads me to think the new bottom end of the stock coyote will ne plenty strong as well, but alas only time will tell...

By the way, don't be too afraid of the competition coupe cage mods. They are pretty easily done in a weekend by any competent cage builder, and I'm sure there are some located near you. The cost should not be great. No other serious welding required, and if you do the standard kit format no welding at all.

[ClemsonS197]

I believe the only difference is a very slightly warmer cam in the boss and perhaps slightly better pistons, and of course the intake.

The Boss has different connecting rods, no piston cooling jets, different cams, different intake, improved heads, different pistons, and spins an additional 500 RPM. I think that's all of them, but I might be missing one or two.

[Made_In_America]

factory 5.0's are being boosted well past 500 rwhp so yo don't need a BOSS motor even though it sounds cool. If you want to add more power without a supercharger (that wont fit) just change the cams and tune your VVT on the dyne. Cammed and tuned mustangs are getting upper 400's at the wheels which makes them a rocket and they weigh 1,000 lb. more. Im defiantly going the Coyote route.I just need to find one at a yard where they don't charge almost the price of a new one from Ford. I may have missed it but are you using the electronic accelerator pedal and throttle body from ford and how does that work with the other pedals you are using?

[tcoon]

When I last posted a progress report, we had just finished the Huntington Beach Show and AutoX for a brief shakedown of the car. While it performed well on the street, this baby was built for the track, so immediately on returning home preparations were made for the long awaited track debut.

First order of business was finalizing the NASA legality and class of the car, and that requires a trip to the dyno. So off to RPM Engines of Santa Rosa I went, and came home with a consistent 398 RWHP and a big smile on my face! That's a pretty good number for a bone stock Coyote with only a power tune. The FFR J pipes kink rather abruptly at the frame rail, so if power becomes an issue later (Haha) more gains are there with a custom header setup.

Next comes the ritual of sticker application, and now that we had weight and HP numbers, decided on classes TT1. ST1, and possibly ES for endurance racing later this year. An AIM solo lap timer was added, right side net and window net installed for the final time, belts adjusted and all the terminals covered, etc, and off to the tech inspector we went. I am happy to say the cage design passed with flying colors, and the car was highly complimented for its build quality and completeness. Log book received!

Finally the big day arrived! Thunderhill Raceway Park was to be the testing ground for the beast. I know the track well, it has lots of room for mistakes, and the plan was to run TT only and take it slow to allow me time to adjust and sort out any potential mechanical issues.

Day 1 dawned clear and pleasant, with temps most of the day in the 70's and 80's, approaching 90 by mid afternoon session. I headed out for the morning session with great anticipation, and I was not disappointed! This car rocks! The engine sounds great, and it pulls like a freight train from 4000-7000 rpm. I am used to a falloff of power above 5000 with the old style challenge car, but this thing takes off like a shot from a gun. I routinely saw 120 mph on the short straights in third gear, and was passing the flag stand on the front straight at 140 mph in fourth and still accelerating! Unbelievable! Needless to say, with such a tremendous performance differential from my previous cars, the learning curve was steep. I blew many braking zones, and in fact picked up a brake mechanical issue, an accelerator mounting bolt which was blocking the brake pedal from fully depressing, thus allowing only about 70% brake force to be applied. Not cool when you're approaching a 90 degree right turn at 120 mph!

Problem was fixed but I retired the day with two major off road excursions, determined to take it even more slowly on Sunday and avoid any more grass mowing!

Sunday I awoke to high winds and hot temps. With the brake issue solved, I focused on a slow start and gradually picked up speed, working to improve braking accuracy and trying to determine best shift points. With the wide rpm range of the coyote, I finally decided to just leave it in third gear for almost all the track, only shifting to fourth at the end of the front straight. Using this technique I posted my best lap of the weekend, 2:10.058...my personal best on this track. This is generally a slow time but MY personal best by 5 seconds. the pacesetters of the group were running about 2 sec off pace due to the heat and high winds, so I figure the "adjusted" time is about 2:08. a huge victory for me at 7 sec off my best! And I am certain there is a ton of improvement to come. This package has amazing potential and with a talented driver the times will really fall quickly! John George this car is made for you!

The coupe mystique lives on. All weekend there was a constant stream of lookers and questions, and at least two people went home to order build manuals. Race on Sunday, sell cars on Monday is alive and well!

[Movieman]

tcoon: Great read and you write very well! :D
Best of luck with that Beast!

[jkrueger]

Awesome job Tom! The pictures and write up are great. I can relate to blowing through braking zones, I did the same thing. You are just going so much faster in these cars.

Can you post some pictures and details on your front brake ducts? What backing plate did you use on the spindle and where did you mount the inlet? I need to do something. I went through a set of 20mm pads during the one lap that last for an entire year on my Mazda.

JC

[johngeorge]

Way to go Tom!! now where is the gopro footage?? incar INCAR!! ppplease

[tcoon]

Videos from the weekend. Sorry but I was having technical issues with my new camera...didnt' realize a 4 GB card would only record one session with the HD format, so only got the first session of each day...certainly not my best performance! But I think you'll get the picture. The Coyote package is just flat awesome!

http://youtu.be/dK_mFPFtzJ4

http://youtu.be/u3eIuA3NlGQ

[tcoon]

I used backing plates/mounts from agent 47 for a mustang GT, cut down to fit and mounted to steering arm. they work very well. Also would recommend Carbotech xp10 pads. We have used these for years on the challenge cars even in the 25 hour race and they hold up extremely well. Once I got my pedal mounting issue resolved on Saturday the brakes were very powerful and fade free over the 20 min sessions in 90+ degree heat.

[tcoon]

17814By the way I am very pleased with the suspension setup on my car. Check out the suspension angle of the two cars in this photo...

Thank you factory five for a great chassis design!

[johngeorge]

Tom, boy does it pick up speed fast! glad to see it out there and you having a ball with it. Can you tell what the car was doing? oversteer/understeer?

[tcoon]

You are so right! The closing speed with this car is off the charts! I was driving around spec Miatas like traffic cones. Overall chassis balance feels very neutral, end of day Sunday I was sliding it through the turns pretty hard and it felt really stable, none of the challenge car squirreliness. I am using a pretty standard challenge setup, front sway bar, 750# springs front, 550# rear, three link rearend. My biggest issue is power application. Accelerating out of turns 6 and 9 in third gear I was doing a major burnout, with rearend squirming around all the way to turn 7. Crazy feeling doing a burnout at 70-100 mph! I may need to go from 315 hoosiers up to 335? Don't think that would even help. there is just crazy power at higher rpm. Its really been a major adjustment hitting every single major corner at 20-30 mph higher speeds. This is gonna take a little time...:)

[johngeorge]

Very cool! You will get used to the added power over time, problem is now you cannot go backwards... :) 5 inches more on wheelbase then the challenge car makes it less twitchy. Was the swaybar on full stiff? More tire will help, but now with that much power you will might need to play with aero to overcome those kind of issues. #85 had 380hp to the wheels and was very stable at speed and it had aero.

[tcoon]

sway bar on farthest hole...I believe thats full stiff. car is very stable at speed, just need more rear downforce under hard acceleration.

[CHOTIS BILL]

tcoon,

Thanks for the report and congratulation on getting your car on track. There are many major points when building a car such as first starting the engine and finishing the painting and I think getting the logbook is right up there with any of them. Comparing you lap times to the fastest guys is interesting but comparing them to yourself is the most important. I am not familiar with the 3 link rear suspension but I would think if you could add more anti-squat to it that might help the traction under acceleration

Best of luck in the future,

Bill Lomenick

[johngeorge]

Tom, are the rear lower control arms mounted on the top holes or bottom holes at the axle? also is your panhard bar as far down as the slot can go on the right axle side mount?

[Garry Bopp]

Awesome coupe, Tom. Someday, I'm going to have to see you running that on a track ... hmmm, Road Atlanta comes to mind! Well done!

Had fun at the Carlisle show ... lots of interest in the coupes and the 818.

Garry

[tcoon]

John-yes the control arms are in the bottom holes and Panhard bar full to the bottom. It hooks up great from a stop, just extra power at the top

[tcoon]

When I last posted after my first track outing there were some issues that needed to be addressed, specifically the loss of rearend traction at high speed power application and engine oil overheating under full power conditions.

The oil heating problem was addressed by addition of a B&M oil cooler placed in front of the radiator and connected in series with the accusump and remote oil filter. If nothing else, this setup gives me a larger reservoir...along with the Moroso road race pan and accusump, my oil capacity is now about 12 quarts! I guess that's good but oil changes with synthetic racing oil are muy expensivo!

The second problem, rear end traction, is a little more complex. John George said aero, and I agree. I sent pics of my car to Daytona designer Peter Brock and he said to add a rear diffuser. When you get advice from one of the great automotive aero genius' of all time, and he's the designer of the car to boot, the question is not IF but "how quick can you get it done!" And indeed, almost all the competitors in my TT1 and ST1 classes have major aero...if you're not running it, you will lose.

So, I bought a 2' x 3' sheet of 16 ga aluminum and proceeded to do my best Phil Remington imitation, beating the sheet into grudging submission with a large rubber mallet. This car is supposed to be hammered aluminum, right? Keep in mind this is a real, competing, functioning race car, not a show piece. I chose aluminum because I can reform it when necessary, and the first time I do a tank slapper on the Carousel at Infineon I can beat it back into shape or make a new panel. It is definitely not a fiberglas piece of art as others on the forum have made, but is aerodynamically correct (I think), with the belly pan at 7 degrees to the ground and the side fins extending as close to the ground as practical, even with the sides of the car in front of the wheels. The panel required no body changes, and can be easily removed with 2 bolts and a few pop rivets if necessary. It looks quite good, and being black is hard to see and harder to photograph! I think it will work well.

Moving to the front, a spoiler was fabricated by using the chin spoiler from a c4 Corvette, and making filler panels at the sides from aluminum, so the chin spoiler now runs 3 1/2" ground clearance with my 4" ride height. This seems to function quite well, and still allows me to raise and lower the nose without hitting the ground.

Next road test is 2 weeks in Sonoma, but the real tests will be Laguna Seca in July and the high banks of AAA Speedway in August!

The purists out there may crucify me for violating the classic looks, but Hey, its a race car! And if Peter Brock says go for it, its good enough for me! If Carroll were running this car today, he'd have the baddest aero package he could find!

-T

[CHOTIS BILL]

Thanks for the update and good luck on you next outing.

To me all your new part look really cool and should help but every car shape react a little differently. Testing new aero bits is always fun but not always with the results you expect. One thing I found helps see what the air is doing is to spray a light film of WD-40 on the whole body for the first test and make several laps. Dust will collect on the surface and you can see where the air is going and if it is still attached to the body. Air doesn’t always go where you think it does. After the first test when you know where the air is going you only need to spray the areas affected by the new test pieces and not the whole body. I never had issues with not enough rear down force because I always ran at least one rear wing but I found small dive plains on the front sides made a big difference in front end grip without affecting top speed.

Please keep us updated,

Bill Lomenick

[tcoon]

NASA NorCal had a nearly pure HPDE weekend over Father's Day so I took the opportunity to have a "simple no stress" driving weekend to get some seat time and continue the development of the Coyote track beast. It turned out to be not so simple after all!

Saturday dawned cool and pleasant and promised a great day of track action. since no TT groups or normal NASA race groups were running, I elected to join HPDE 4, which allows open passing but you are strongly advised to avoid aggressive driving, dive-bomb passing, etc. It seemed a perfect chance to buid confidence in the new car!

Session 1 was great. I started off slowly, gradually increasing speed and learning the new brake points/shift points for this dramatically faster car. It was quite fun, with a lot of slower traffic present to promote many passing opportunities, and I took care to pass one car at a time in very safe areas so as to avoid freaking out any newbies. Overall it was great fun, and the car performed well. For those of you looking for a track day machine, check out the closing rate and ease with which this car can pass just about any HPDE machine...only full on race cars can keep up! And I'm still street legal!

I was particularly pleased with the performance of the new aero mods; the front spoiler, rear diffuser, and central air tunnel combined to produce an extremely stable and planted ride, very noticeable on the front straight and particularly on the Carousel, a decreasing radius increasing speed downhill 120 degree turn which starts at about 70 mph and shoots you out onto the back straight at 100! previously this turn has always been a white-knuckler for me, with the Challenge car squirelly and unforgiving. With the aero I could take any line at will, and kept adding speed each lap with ease.

The second session started off even better, with increasing speeds and dropping 4 more seconds off the previous lap times, now down to 2:04 with a LOT of slower traffic. Not great times, but considering the traffic and run group pretty respectable. There were a few spec E30 drivers and others running rough shod over the group, but they were later chastised for their antics. Unfortunately about 2/3 through the session I blew a power steering pump, and was forced to retire for the day to undertake repairs. When I went to move the car later that day after repairing the pump, I found the clutch cable was completely locked up, apparently having melted the inner liner on track, then welded tight once it cooled down. So a clutch cable replacement was in order as well! what a day! With the extra width of the Coyote motor, the cable necessarily runs VERY close to the exhaust, and apparently even my heat shield tape was not adequate.

Sunday brought another great day, and after a few parts runs and some serious thrashing, a new cable was procured and installed. I managed to make session three of the day, and was accompanied by Dr Jeff Awender as passenger, previous Challenge racer and driving partner. We had a blast for 1 1/2 laps of the alternative "NAS/Indy" configuration, and the new clutch cable melted completely in half and failed catastrophically, leaving us stranded on the back side of the track. Oh well, at least I got to test out my new tow hook! so its back to the drawing board for clutch cable routing options, or possibly even a switch to hydraulics...stay tuned for the next chapter!

videos uploading...

http://youtu.be/EI-mNOFrjIM

http://youtu.be/b_2sNLCGrh0

http://youtu.be/ArbtpgTYkhg

[CHOTIS BILL]

tcoon

Sounds like you had a good time and that is what it’s all about. The mods look great and it sounds like they are working as you hoped they would. I found that enclosing parts, like the clutch cable, from the air stream will cause unforeseen heat problems. I tried some “Fire Sleeve” around the clutch cable which helped some but ended up going hydraulic which cured the problem. Another aero bit that I have used in the past is to run a lip that points down made from 3/8”-1/2” aluminum angle which runs along the outside edges of the under body from just behind the front wheels to just in front of the rear tires. This acts as a vortex generator that helps form an air curtain along the side that help prevent air from entering from the sides and disrupting the airflow to the rear diffuser. The smaller the gap from the lip the ground the better it will work. Have you considered getting a data accusation system to be able to quantify the affects of your changes?

Thanks for the update,

Bill Lomenick

[Made_In_America]

Too bad you had troubles but thanks for posting your issues. It will help us future Coyote Coupe builders avoid some headache.

[tcoon]

thanks for the comments Bill they are greatly appreciated. In fact my next step is to complete the belly pans and add side skirts, I am thinking down to 4" or so from the ground, to reduce side air intrusion. I will eventually add data, although frankly I am not a good enough driver at this point to tell my inconsistencies vs. aero improvement. I just know the car feels amazingly fast and stable! so I'll keep forging ahead. Probably will have o switch to hydraulic clutch as there is just not enough real estate for a cable setup.

[tcoon]

MIA that's the plan...plow the ground with the development work so future coyote coupe builders can avoid some of the frustrations!

[CHOTIS BILL]

tcoon,

Adding data is not just for the pro drivers. It is a great tool to improve you driving skills especially if you have a system that you can share data with other drivers. Being able to compare braking points, turning points, when you are back on the throttle, and speed through a corner can improve your driving very quickly. The last system I had was a GPS system and the data could be downloaded to Google Earth and I could compare how different lines affected lap times and how they compared to others. On top of this you can collect all kinds of data about how a change to you setup changes performance. You can make sensors using inexpensive rotary linear pots to check ride height on each corner, throttle position and steering angle which can give you a massive amount information about how you are driving and what the car is doing. Just something to keep in mind.

Keep us in the loop,

Bill Lomenick

[tcoon]

Thanks for the comments. I am definitely aware of the value of data. I ran a traqmate for two years on my challenge car but it was constantly broken. Am trying to decide now which system to buy, and really just focusing on learning the car and getting it reliable, then I will proceed to making the nut behind the wheel less dysfunctional!:)

[kabacj]

Thanks for the comments. I am definitely aware of the value of data. I ran a traqmate for two years on my challenge car but it was constantly broken. Am trying to decide now which system to buy, and really just focusing on learning the car and getting it reliable, then I will proceed to making the nut behind the wheel less dysfunctional!:)

Hi Tom

In am really enjoying your build. I'm in a similar stage working out the bugs in my track focused GTM.

Regarding data acquisition. I decided to go with the Stack DVL. It wil log all of your ecu parameters as well as 3 cameras of video all on a compact flash card . This way at track all you need to do is swap cards and you can record data endlessly. It also has software for analysis that seems pretty good.

I wanted a video/data recorder that is absolutely hands off and trouble free but very flexible and feature rich. Hopefully I got that.

Ill let you know. Keep up the good work.

John

[CHOTIS BILL]

If and when you are ready for another data system I would suggest talking with Veracity Racing. http://veracitydata.com/Veracity_Racing_Data/Welcome.html I have no connection with them except we were race track friends when I was racing. They handle many different systems and are very knowledgeable and helpful. They are also good people. They sometimes have used systems people have traded in on newer ones.

Bill Lomenick

[johngeorge]

I run Racepak's G2X or IQ3 dataloggers and find them great! they have obd2 so they can datalog ECU stuff.

[kabacj]

If and when you are ready for another data system I would suggest talking with Veracity Racing. http://veracitydata.com/Veracity_Racing_Data/Welcome.html I have no connection with them except we were race track friends when I was racing. They handle many different systems and are very knowledgeable and helpful. They are also good people. They sometimes have used systems people have traded in on newer ones.

Bill Lomenick

HA thats where I got my Stack setup! Very VERY good experience. I have no connection with these guys either. I just found them on the internet.

John

[Tom Mauldin]

Thanks Tom for all of the information! I have to say that you messed me up when I saw your coupe in Huntington Beach. I had it all planned out, but after seeing your coupe I have decided to go the Coyote route as well. Keep the info coming, as I plan to order the coupe kit once I finish the 4 roadsters that are in the garage now. Thanks.

[tcoon]

Thanks guys for the info on data...there is so much out there it's hard to make a choice. that will likely be my next major purchase.

Tom...glad to hear I rocked your world! I must agree this coyote package has far exceeded my expectations. I have to give credit to Dave Smith...he really encouraged me to go this route after putting the coyote in his roadster, and Man was he right! This baby rocks! Once the sorting is complete this will be a track monster.

Hydraulic clutch setup on order from Mike Forte, that should fix the clutch cable melting issue...then on to whatever the next problem is that pops up!

[Born in wrong Era]

I am doing research prior to starting my build. Were there any modifications needed to the engine mounting area in order to get it to fit? (i.e., motor mounts, shifts in the welded tabs on the frame forward or backward) What is the clearance between the top of the intake and the bottom of the hood? One more question. You mention in a previous post "This requires the coyote roadster upgrade kit from FFR..." Where can I find information on this upgrade kit? Is it in the parts catalog? Is it something you ask them about during the ordering process?

I love what have done with the car, and hope to be driving my own in a few years.

[tcoon]

Born in wrong...no modifications to the engine mounts were required, it uses the same mounts, bell housing as the previous mod motors. The engine does sit 1 1/2" more forward than old school 5.0...a good thing! The footbox mods, headers and j-pipes from ffr can be bought with a phone call to them, not yet in the catalogue. Great clearance at the top of the engine, that's one of the beauties of this setup. I actually had to RAISE the engine 3/8" with Whitby motor mount spacers to gain clearance at the bottom for the j-pipes, but still over an inch of space at the top. There is probably not room for the Boss intake though.

[Born in wrong Era]

With your response sparked new questions. The next set of questions is predicated on the notion I would design and fabricate my own headers. Would you have needed to raise the engine if you had fabricated the headers? If you did not need to raise it, could it (the engine) be lowered at all? I do not want to use the Boss intake but do have a similar one in mind. Thank you so much for your insight and thorough response. I really appreciate it!

[tcoon]

Header design on your own could be done but the space is VERY tight. Stainless headers makes a very cool set I may change to, as they seem to fit higher in the frame and should give more horsepower, eliminating the current j pipe kink at the frame. Don't think you could Lower the engine much more, as it already hangs at the bottom of the frame rails with the oil pan in jeopardy if you go lower...and I already used the shallow Moroso pan. Everything already designed to very close tolerances!

[Born in wrong Era]

Thank you so much for your help and knowledge. I wish you the best of luck in your racing endeavors.

[tcoon]

My last race weekend was marred by a faulty power steering pump and melting clutch cables x 2. I have spent the last week resolving those issues and completing the aero mods started prior to the last race.

The clutch cable issue was rather vexing. I had tried to pass the clutch cable in the safest possible way away from heat, but to no avail. There is a serious shortage of room for the cable with the Coyote install, and the engine sits 1 1/2" farther forward than an old school 5.0, so the cable is just a little short to begin with.

Enter a hydraulic clutch kit from Mike Forte. The install was straightforward, a simple bolt on, but since the car is done and body installed, a little more complicated to get inside the footbox. I decided to cut an access panel in the side of the footbox, and combined with the hinged door already installed at the inside top of the box, there was plenty of room to make the switch. I am pleased to say the new clutch feel is a dream, and I cant believe I didn't make this switch years ago!

The power steering pump was already replaced at the track, so that left time for me to complete my aero package. Two individual side belly pans were fabbed from 16 ga aluminum, and mated to the front inner fender wells. a 1 1/4" lip extended down laterally just at the edge of the outer frame rail, and to that are bolted removeable polycarbonate panels that extend to within 2 1/4" of the ground. This should act as an air dam to keep the low pressure air under the car and high pressure air out. at least thats the theory! The result is a smooth underbelly with a clean exit to the diffuser, the ultimate goal being increased rear downforce.

AS a final finishing touch I added front "Coonards" to add some needed downforce there particularly on those high speed sweepers. They were made from the same aluminum and sprayed with truck bed liner coating for a little protection.

The result...invisible side skirts, minimalist spoilers and canards, an integrated diffuser and minimal disruption of the classic good looks! Now its off to the races!

[frankeeski]

Looks great Tom. Julie and I are looking forward to seeing you and the Coupe on track next weekend. We can't wait!

[CHOTIS BILL]

Looking good. You should notice a difference all those mods but only testing will tell for sure. One problem I ran into when I closed off the bottom of the engine compartment was higher oil temps because of not enough air could pass through and I had to open up an area to let more air out.

Good luck and let us know how you did.

Bill Lomenick

[tcoon]

Yes I did notice higher oil temps even before the pans so I have added an oil cooler. This should be an interesting weekend! Hopefully lots of test and not much tune!

[tcoon]

I have had a number of PM's regarding the brake setup I chose for my competition coupe. I had previous experience with the stock Mustang Cobra brakes on my Challenge car, and they were pretty good...but since this car is much faster and a little heavier, I was concerned they would not be up to the task. Karen Salvaggio had a lot of problems with brake failure on her previous racing coupe, and they were Wilwoods designed for street, not racing use. I did some research and found that 85% of professional road race teams use AP Racing brakes, so that is the choice I made, since the ultimate plan is to use this car for endurance racing.

I ordered a Stillen front brake kit designed for 1998 Mustang Cobra, picked to match the stock Mustang master cylinder. I figured this would mate well with the Wilwood setup in the coupe and that has been correct. This is a 4 piston caliper, and has very thick pads, great for endurance racing. Since the calipers are also very thick however, wheel choice is an issue...the FFR Halibrands will not fit without spacers. I am using Enkei RPF-1, a lightweight fairly inexpensive racing wheel with a good track record; this combination gives about 1/4" clearance between wheel and caliper...tight but adequate. I chose the 13" 2 piece DBA slotted rotors, the largest that will fit with 17" wheels. Don't use drilled rotors, they crack.

On the rear I am using SN95 Mustang Cobra calipers with the 11" Moser big brake kit, vented rotors.

With the Wilwood pedal box, my MC's are screwed about midway in, with approx 1/4" thread still showing. The balance bar is slightly biased toward the front (with pedal depressed), but overall fairly even. I also use a Wilwood cable adjuster for the balance bar for fine tuning, but little has been necessary.

I am using Carbotech xp10 pads front and rear, and man do they grip! We have many years experience with these in the Challenge Series, and they last extremely well. On the street they feel almost like power brakes. On the track they STOP. And they never fade.

They are still manual brakes, but they are powerful and easy to modulate. There is a lot of talk on the forum (mostly by people who have not built a car or driven on a track) about the rear weight bias and need for bigger rear brakes. So far that has not been necessary. Years of experience racing the Challenge series has proven the stock Mustang rear brakes are enough..let face it, they're backed by a hundred years Ford design experience and $millions development. That beats armchair engineering every time!

[Hammink Performance]

Good wright up on the brakes, that was helpful!

[Jacob McCrea]

I really appreciate the overview of the brakes, Tom. After reading various threads and comments I believed that the Mustang rear brakes were misplaced on these cars, but that doesn't seem to be accurate. I haven't posted photos due to time constraints, but after reading a lot of comments I am (at least as I type) planning to use the same Wilwood 13" brakes front and back, with custom brackets to make the front calipers work on the back. The parking brake setup I fabbed up to get more flexibility in rear brake choice uses a pinion rotor from Superformance, a Wilwood hydraulic spot caliper mounted to the driveshaft loop and a hydraulic "drifting" brake handle from eBay. It was a lot of fabrication and rigamarole, and I'll be shocked if it works well, but the plan was to allow a ton of flexibility with rear brake choices. Hopefully the work wasn't wasted. Anyway, thanks for the great information.

By the way, it must be the coolest thing for Peter Brock to see folks still building, racing and developing these cars nearly fifty years later.

[tcoon]

Thanks for your input Jacob. The best indication for me that the rear brakes are adequate is that I have no difficulty locking the rear wheels with a small tweak of the balance bar. If they weren't strong enough that would not be the case. Remember racing is ALL about managing weight transfer, and with threshold braking 90% of the weight goes to the front brakes. Ever go over the handlebars on your bike from braKing too much on the front? Same principle. Even with 315 rear tires I can lock the rears first with those tiny Cobra brakes! Seems crazy but it's true. The real challenge is trying to achieve balance and ideal adjustment so the fronts lock just prior to the rears. if I begin to have excessive heat fade or wear on the rears, I would consider going to a larger caliper, but so far that has not been the case.

[tcoon]

And yes, Peter Brock has been very engaged!

[tcoon]

BTW...the car made it to Kit Car Builders Magazine! Woohoo!

https://www.factoryfive.com/whats-new/kit-car-builder-magazine-covers-2013-hb-cruise-in/



[CHOTIS BILL]

That is cool.

Bill Lomenick

[Daytona Dan]

Hey Tom, the recent mods you have been making are inspiring and I am even more impressed at your rapid rate of development!

Aero is high on my list for this coming off season and I like your subtle approach.

On the data, I second John George (and Karen I believe) with the RacePak G2X system. While monitoring your personal performance over time is probably most important, by using same the system we are able to exchange data files and overlay laps to see what's possible and try to identify unlock the secrets of speed. JG sent me his killer laps from Watkins Glen last year and my high level analysis was that I needed some aero and bigger balls! Seriously though, Craig and I overlay our laps and closely analyze what sectors we perform better on, can run a few mph faster in particular turns etc.

On the rear brake lock up I am curious how much nose dive you have when the rears are locking? We went with a Tilton setup very similar to the Wilwood with dual masters for brakes and the proper balance bar for bias adjustment and have found it to be invaluable. When I experience too much nosedive and start locking the rears due to lack of friction I am now able to dial in more bias to the rear until the car squats down flat under full braking. Can't believe we lived without it for so long!

[Slider]

I have a question about the Hydraulic Clutch from Forte. I have the same setup from him, with the Coyote, TKO600 and the Quicktime Bellhousing... however, the way the hydraulic mounts, I'm having issues with the hydraulic line actually sitting lower than the transmission, which is making me nervous that I'm going to tear it off on a bump someday. My setup looks identical to yours (please confirm), but yours appears to have all cables above bottom of the transmission... Can you confirm? I'm not sure how to fix, as Forte's mount only works in one spot, and that lines up with where the fork is, so that has to be correct... Any thoughts?


...

Enter a hydraulic clutch kit from Mike Forte. The install was straightforward, a simple bolt on, but since the car is done and body installed, a little more complicated to get inside the footbox. I decided to cut an access panel in the side of the footbox, and combined with the hinged door already installed at the inside top of the box, there was plenty of room to make the switch. I am pleased to say the new clutch feel is a dream, and I cant believe I didn't make this switch years ago!...

[xlr8or]

Slider,
Notice the 90 on the line. This keeps it higher. If you don't have one in the line you can put one on the cylinder.
I've used two of those setups and they work great.

[tcoon]

Dan thanks for the kudos! I think this aero package is very functional, wish I had a day in a wind tunnel to actually get some real data...I second the wish for larger cahones! Once I dialed out the rear lockup the stopping has been flat and consistent, just searching now for that sweet spot...

Slider I agree the low hydraulic line is a potential issue, and I did switch ends on the line so the 90 is at the bottom, rotating the upper hose end at the MC so it points sideways and the line runs through the top of the footbox, that keeps it away from engine heat, which has been my biggest issue so far.

Looking at various data system options now.

[tcoon]

Slider also note that with my setup the slave cylinder was very close to the tranny and aligned with the fork at a very acute angle. To fix this and line things up better I fashioned some 1/2" spacers and used longer bolts to move the slave cylinder further away from the tranny, now making a straight shot to the clutch fork. I did have to shorten the pushrod quite a lot.

[Slider]

Thanks. I have the 90 on as well, but the line does loop below the transmission and frame. My set up looks quite similar to yours. We ended up making a skid plate to cover this area as added protection for the hydraulic line.


Slider also note that with my setup the slave cylinder was very close to the tranny and aligned with the fork at a very acute angle. To fix this and line things up better I fashioned some 1/2" spacers and used longer bolts to move the slave cylinder further away from the tranny, now making a straight shot to the clutch fork. I did have to shorten the pushrod quite a lot.

[loeffler1]

How about wrapping some heat resistant tape or heat sleeve on the hydraulic line. I did that with mine.

[jkrueger]

Tom

Good progress with your car! Do you have a part number for the Moser 11" rear kit? I'm not very happy with my Wilwood set up and am thinking of going to the floating caliper stock set up. I assume you used calipers from the SN95 car?

JC

[tcoon]

Not sure of the part no. I ordered the moser rearend and it came with 11" brakes, sn 95 rear calipers. So far braking has been good, currently at Laguna SECA which is a big braking track and am experiencing some brake fade...may need to switch to a different brake pad...balance good but brakes get spongy after a few laps. Stay tuned...

[johngeorge]

Tom, I switched to Hawk DTC-60's all around, really like the feel/balance and there is no brake fade (I dont run brake duct cooling). Maybe give those a try..

[tcoon]

Hmmm..that sounds like a great idea. Had a lot of fade this weekend; after 5 laps or so the pedal got really soft and nearly went to the floor, came back after cooling off so I don't think the fluid was boiling. How are the Hawks on rotor wear? I also had carbotech xp20 suggested. Anyone have any experience with these?

[tcoon]

July 4th weekend brought the first NASA event at Laguna Seca in at least 5 years, and Competition Coupe drivers Tom Coon and Karen Salvaggio were not about to pass that one up! We brought both cars and had a blast, over the course of the weekend getting both cars sorted and well on the way to competition readiness.

Saturday morning brought the usual coastal mist and a damp track. I had never been there before, so tackling the legendary corkscrew for the first time was a bit un-nerving, but I must say it is a kick in the pants! I was thrilled to find my new hydraulic clutch setup a dream to operate, and had no problems with it or the corrected power steering issues all weekend! Hurray!

Karen struggled early with suspension setup issues, but over the course of a few sessions got the ride height and toe settings dialed, and began posting some very fast times. She was co-driving with beau Rupert Bragg-Smith, professional racer and driving instructor, and he had great tips and insight into this challenging course for all of us. We are excited and proud to welcome him to the FFR family.

I am likewise thrilled with the aero mods I have been developing. I was particularly interested in the polycarbonate side skirts, figuring they would probably disintegrate after a few laps. But no! they held up beautifully, lasting the entire weekend, even enduring an off road excursion and a constant pounding from rubbing on the pavement. As hoped, they simply ground off slowly at the bottom, seeking a height of ideal clearance. And the aero seemed to be great! The car is very stable at high speed, and sticks like glue.

For the last session Sat, I recruited Rupert to take her for a spin, and the result was magic! He started at the back and passed everything in sight, including Karen when she faded due to a dislodged spark plug wire. Video to follow, the yellow/red BMW is piloted by Donny Edwards...he was quite surprised to see the Daytona coming up fast in the rearview! Rupert retired a lap later due to brake fade.

http://youtu.be/Lb1YkGy8FDU


Sunday brought another great day, unfortunately marred by me being rear-ended by an overly aggressive TTU driver who forgot what the middle pedal is for. The first test for the new safety cage was however a great success, with only cosmetic rear fascia damage and a broken taillight on my coupe. I was able to drive the rest of the day. The mustang driver had significant damage to the hood and front fascia. These FFR cars are tough as nails!

I finished the weekend a happy camper, with a personal best lap of 1:54.4, first time I've been under 2:00 on any track, anywhere; i took home podium finishes of 3rd in TT1 both days. Rupert posted 1:44.4 in the car after only a few laps of familiarity. He is an amazing driver. He then turned the same time in Karen's car, proving that even though there are differences in engine, brakes, and tires, its really more than anything the driver that sets the pace. I think a new series with some diversity and imagination would be an incredible good time!

http://youtu.be/bswlwRTiX78

[CHOTIS BILL]

Thanks for the update and congratulation on the success of your new aero bits. I stopped going to Laguna many years ago because of the way SCCA ran their show but it sounds like NASA does a much better job. I ran brake hoses to the front brakes for many years but then discovered that adding a small deflector on the upright to divert the air to the center of the disk work just as well but I still needed the openings in the front body work to let the air in. If you have enough air flow in that area that might help your brake fade. You might try temperature indicating paint to see how much cooling is needed. https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/productdetails.asp?RecID=862. They also make labels to do the same thing. If you are not already using it they make a very high temp brake fluid which is quite expensive but may fix you problem. https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/group.asp?GroupID=BRAKEFLUID

Keep us updated,

Bill Lomenick

[tcoon]

I am running DBA rotors which have paint indicators on them, although I must admit I did not pull the wheels to check it out. I am using Wilwood 600 fluid, and don't think it was boiling. This seems to be primarily a pad problem, so I will be switching to the Hawk DTC-60's as suggested by John George...who's to argue with the national champion? By the way brake balance and stopping power were excellent with the small rear brakes, at one point I missed a braking point going into the corkscrew and locked up all four wheels, going off track in a straight and controlled fashion. No apparent need for bigger rear brakes. If you can lock all four Hoosier slicks at will, you have max braking capacity of the package!

[johngeorge]

WOW thank you so much for the incar video!! that was super cool, its like playing Forza, but real :) As for the brake rotor wear with the hawk pads, I haven't noticed anything different to the Carbotech pads.

Have you tried to bleed the system again? Maybe you have a tiny leak somewhere.. mushy brakes are either air in the system, or rubber lines from caliper to frame flexing.
The pedal shouldnt ever go to the floor (I do a confidence tap with my left foot while still on the straightaway before a heavy braking area just to make sure I have brakes - have that happen to me once, not a happy feeling at all, turned out to be a problem with my master cylinder).

[johngeorge]

On second thought, another option to hawk pads is Pagid Yellow. Its the same pad we used on Ed's #85, a true Enduro pad with great feel, and it will last you forever. We didnt have to change pads at all in the 25hr. They should have them for your front calipers, but not sure about the rears...

http://www.braketechnology.com/catalog/pages/pagid-rsl.html

[turbonut48]

Man, Rupert sure is a smooth driver. I enjoyed watching the video.


The Nut

[tcoon]

I think I do have a tiny leak at right front caliper, the plan is to chase that down and bleed again. Ordered the hawk pads this morning. Hopefully that will solve the problem...

[Owlknight360]

Very cool. I thoroughly enjoyed watching you pass other cars! Kind of relavent, kind of not, but also cool to see the real Laguna Seca. I've raced it on Gran Turismo 5, so I could actually picture the track as you went having never been there.

[jkrueger]

Awesome videos Tom! I'd love to drive on that track some day.

JC

[kabacj]

Boy are you guys lucky to have a track like that in your back yard! Thanks for posting the video. Driving there is on the bucket list for sure.

John

[tcoon]

Lucky indeed! I have been trying to get on this track for 5 years. Usually they have extreme sound restrictions, but were lifted for this event! And to drive it in a new Daytona, and on track with Karen in her awesome coupe...priceless! This is one for the memory book for sure.

[narkosys]

wow! nice runs!

the more I listen to that beautiful rumble your car makes the more I am toying with going with a coyote instead of the 427 I am envisioning! Hopefully this one (http://www.fordracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=23300) will fit :cool:

P

[tcoon]

It does indeed sound great and revs like there's no tomorrow! Not like any big block you can name...

[tcoon]

Racin' is rubbin'...well, not supposed to be that way in time trial, but s*** happens! Last weekend at Laguna Seca my new Daytona was unceremoniously baptized in the rear by an overzealous TTU driver. While I was not pleased with the incident, I was quite pleased with the performance of the back part of our previously-untried safety cage. I am happy to say the rear internal bumper did its job and protected me, the car, and the fuel cell! Thank you Rick Anderson and Hank Lopez!

As you can see from the photos, the damage was fairly superficial and limited to the area above and lateral to the bumper. This was quite a hard hit, as I was going about 60 MPH and the approaching driver substantially more...and he forgot about the purpose of the middle pedal! My car looks bad but his looks way worse. These cars are tough as nails!

On to the repairs...first all hardware, stickers, internal aluminum panels were removed to allow assessment of the damage. The rear panel had substantial cracks and misalignment, and the left rear corner was pretty crushed and the panel sprung apart.

The cracks were chased down with a cutoff wheel and damaged glass removed. The crushed area of the lower panel was completely cut out. the inside and outside of the panels were ground to bare fiberglas about 2" back from the cracks.

Next the panels were re aligned and held in place with either tape or manual pressure, and the inside of the panels were reinforced with multiple layers of fiberglas mat followed by cloth. The result is a solid panel once again moving as one solid piece, and hopefully resistant to further cracking.

Following this the cracks were filled from the outside with "Bondo-hair" body filler reinforced with fiberglas fibers, to fill the crack and provide further structural support. This has made a very solid feeling construct.

Finally everything was sanded smooth, and the routine bodywork process of filling, sanding, and more filling was applied. The lower corner previously crushed has been built back with an underlayment of fiberglass mat followed by sculpting with filler and glaze. Overall it has come along nicely and will be ready for paint in a few days. Then its back to the track at Fontana AAA Speedway for the high bank thrill ride of a lifetime!

[rj35pj]

Sorry for your bad luck. Excellent photos and descriptions. That is a lot of fine repair work.

[frankeeski]

Seeing you come back in the pit after the on track incident nearly brought tears to our eyes Tom. Glad you have the repairs underway and under control. We look forward to seeing you at Cal. Speedway in a couple of weeks.

[68GT500MAN]

I can't wait to see this car on the track.
Doug

[CHOTIS BILL]

Tom,

Nice repair work. That is why race car gain weight over time just like some drivers. I have found when repairing flat panels you can take a piece of scratch free aluminum, wax it, and rivet it close to damage on the finished side. When you remove the aluminum piece there is very little work left to finish the outside. This also holds the parts in alignment while the resin kicks.

When is the Fontana race? It is hard for me to get away but I would really like to see you run.

Bill Lomenick

[QSL]

we plan to hit Fontana with frank. We are really excited.

Glad we are doing that bumper mod too. Cool to see how well it worked!

[tcoon]

Thanks all! I also thought of using a piece of aluminum as a template but we didn't need it, all lined up quite well. Fontana race is the first weekend of August. I signed up today so now I HAVE to gitter done!

[tcoon]

It's really great to see the Coupey crowd involved! I'm lovin ' your posts and love the new dash! Keep up the good work!

[MRSQSL]

Oh Tom! I would absolutely cry. I'm going to request that Scoopy and Coupey skip the baptism. You are brave to get right back out there. Thank goodness you weren't seriously injured but how frustrating to have it happen and so soon after you finished the car. I'm so sorry! Looks like the repairs will make it good as new. I don't suppose you have pictures of the other car. Would be curious to see what kind of damage it suffered.

[tcoon]

I don't have pics but the hood and front fascia were pretty messed up. I'll see if I can get photos and maybe the video...

[vnmsss]

Tom....I love what you're doing with your Coupe, and have to admit it was tremendously awesome to have both Coupes on track at Laguna Seca! You've done an amazing job with your build, and I know the FFR community appreciates all of the documentation and information you've shared in this build thread.

I will have the #28 Coupe at Fontana as well, and look forward to spending the weekend running on track and hanging out in the pits with you and our FFR friends. We ran my Coupe in Portland last weekend, and it was a great track for the car. We developed clutch issues later in the day on Saturday, and I'll be heading out to the garage to work on it this evening. Really proud of everything you've done with your build!!! You truly rock, my friend!! Karen (Big thanks to Frank and Julie Maslowski for the Laguna Seca track support...You two are awesome!)

[xlr8or]

When is the Fontana event?

[68GT500MAN]

First weekend of August.

[tcoon]

Hey Karen...really glad to hear your car is rockin on! What kind of clutch issue? I have to say so far I am THRILLED with the hydraulic clutch from Forte...and your install would be even easier with the old school 5.0 setup...your bell housing works a little simpler than mine for the slave cylinder. I have had intermittent clutch cable issues with my challenge car previously and this seems to be a good fix.

[tcoon]

Btw...that may be the first time two Daytonas have been racing on track together since 1965! How cool is THAT!

And Peter Brock loved the POM photo!

[vnmsss]

Not really sure why, but the clutch diaphram seems to have collapsed.....Will finish pulling it today...Considering switching to hydraulic as well, as the whole cable set-up has been nothing short of a PITA on this car.....Looking forward to seeing you in Fontana! K

[tcoon]

Mike Forte sent me the hydraulic setup in just a few days and was very available for technical help. He has the master/slave diameters etc already dialed in. For your old school 5.0 type block he has a slick pull style slave that minimizes any external hardware. Took me about 2 evenings to do the install and the clutch feel is excellent, with greatly reduced effort on my center force racing clutch.

[bansheekev]

What size master/slave is Mike recommending now? Just curious what you did...

Kevin


Mike Forte sent me the hydraulic setup in just a few days and was very available for technical help. He has the master/slave diameters etc already dialed in. For your old school 5.0 type block he has a slick pull style slave that minimizes any external hardware. Took me about 2 evenings to do the install and the clutch feel is excellent, with greatly reduced effort on my center force racing clutch.

[tcoon]

I'm not really sure...just called him up and he sent it out the next day. It is a Wilwood master which fits the pedal box perfectly and I believe a proprietary slave. There are photos in an earlier post. mike has the details re cylinder size.

[CHOTIS BILL]

I have got the push type setup from Mike and the master cylinder is 7/8” dia. but don’t know what size the slave cylinder is.

Bill Lomenick

[tcoon]

At my last post we had completed the fiberglas repairs and were preparing for paint. With the next scheduled race weekend fast approaching, the paint booth was fired up once again and beauty brought back to the beast.

First the areas were smoothed and filled with rage and metal glaze until all traces of the damaged areas were eliminated. The areas were then spot primed with high build primer. All areas planned for new paint or clear were hit with the DA sander and 500 grit paper. It was decided to paint the rear fascia and entire rear quarter, thus minimizing the required blend area.

The rear panel was painted with a new batch of the VW tornado red, and the quarter color blend was done with the tiny amount of remaining red from the original mix, to optimize the color match. The striping was once again laid out, and several coats of Toyota super white later the striping was complete! Finally several coats of clear were applied, and blending solvent sprayed over the rear roofline area in the blend zone.

After a few days of hardening the blend area was sanded and feathered, but the remaining quarter panel will wait a full month before color sanding. Stickers and internal aluminum panels were refitted, and the tail lights and tow hook reconnected.

Tonight the car is loaded in the trailer and later this week its off to Fontana!

[CHOTIS BILL]

Looks ready for the fight.

Thanks for the update,

Bill Lomenick

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

Looks good as new! Have a great weekend at Fontana.

Garry

[QSL]

Awesome tom!! We will see you this weekend. Julie and I are going to head that way sat afternoon.

[tcoon]

Thanks all, looking forward to a great SoCal weekend!

[vnmsss]

Awesome work, Tom! The #28 Coupe is loaded in the trailer and ready for competition in Fontana as well....Looking forward to a great weekend!

Karen

[frankeeski]

Looks great Tom, looking forward to this weekend.

[tcoon]

This weekend past brought my first outing to Cal speedway in Fontana, CA in two years. It is a "roval" track, combining the NASCAR high banks of turn 1 and 2 with a fast and twisty infield road course. This is perhaps the ideal venue for a GT car like the Daytona coupe, so I was anxious to give it a try!

Saturday dawned slightly overcast warm and humid with a light breeze, and the first warmup session went well. I had a lot of difficulty figuring out the braking zone coming off the 140 MPH runs on the oval, and blew through turn 3 several times, heating up my new brake pads and flat spotting the new Hoosier slicks over the course of several sessions. The brake pedal once again became spongy after about 5 laps, so I am now thinking this is a fluid boil problem rather than pad compounding. I believe I have located the problem, as my front brake line runs just under the J-pipe of the coyote, which sits very close to the frame. I believe this line is getting overheated and boiling the fluid, causing loss of brake function. I will reposition the line prior to my next event.

Later that day as the temp climbed and speeds increased I began having overheating problems, the first time with this package. I believe this to be due to the restrictive belly pans I placed under the engine and transmission for improved aerodynamics. The aero worked great, as the car was rock solid on the oval...but after 5 laps or so at a consistent 6000 rpm the engine began to overheat. I then had the upper radiator hose come off at speed blasting through turn 13 with a passenger, and she got the thrill of a lifetime as the car became a fountain of steam! Racing is full of surprises!

I was trying out a new video/GPS system from traqmate, and by Sunday morning managed to get a presentable combination with decent synchronization for your viewing pleasure. Not my best lap times of the weekend, and a I once again blew turn 3 requiring me to wait for passing traffic to get back on track. But at least I then got practice passing cars and working traffic.


http://youtu.be/d95LnOB2Yx0


Frank and Julie Maslowski, QSL and MRSQSL along with a whole contingent of Cobra owners came to the track on Saturday and helped make the weekend overall a great outing. Thanks all for your kind support!

Once again it was a great race weekend, and allowed continued sorting of this new competition Coyote engine package, which is proving to be the most fun ever!

[Garry Bopp]

Tom,

Thanks for the write-up. Great pics and great video. Thanks for posting! Hope I get to see you driving Coyote Red some day.

Garry

[SoCalMike]

Tom,

It was great to watch you and Karen race your coupes this weekend. Sorry about the radiator hose.
Love the video. Thanks for posting.

Mike

[CHOTIS BILL]

Thanks for the report.

How did you lap times compare to your old car? I found that even when running the same layout things would change like the little jog before the bridge was not always as pronounced and the barricades at the end around turn 13 would be moved closer to the track sometimes. When braking for turn 3 I used a hole in the fence that is on top of the wall to drivers right. After I updated my brakes I could go a little past the hole before starting to brake. I also found that it is more important to have a good line for the next turn after 3 rather that trying to carry more speed between the two turns. The turn that took me a long time to figure out was the dick turn. If you aren’t familiar with that turn just look at a track map and it will be clear. It is about a 180 degree decreasing radius turn that is off camber and goes slightly down hill. I found I could enter the chicane before that turn flat at around 120 and be around 125 exiting. As soon a the car was stable and I took a breath I would aim for the curbing on the inside of dick turn and hold the inside until the exit. Your car my respond differently than mine but that worked the best for me by far. For the engine over heating after adding a belly pan I found increasing the size of the engine bay air exit did the trick. I don’t know how much air you have coming in but it needs to also get out. Opening up the side vents may help.

Hope to make it out to see you soon,

Bill Lomenick

[tcoon]

Thanks so much for your comments, they all sound like great advice! Times were the same as last time I was there 2 yrs ago, after building up over a whole weekend at that time, so I'm ok with that considering everything. Every time I started to go faster something would overheat or I went off, so I guess it's back to the drawing board for next time! am considering putting exit vents in the hood, but that would require yet more paint work...ugh!

T

[kabacj]

Great report Tom.

I know it is annoying that the rad hose came off, however the picture with all the water blasting out is priceless!

As we all know developing a new race car has its challenges, but it sure looks like you are having fun.

One of these days ill get out there to see you all on the track.

John

[MRSQSL]

Love the pics and video. I have to admit it actually looked like fun. Even the turn three miss didn't look too scary. I hope you get all the little issues out of the way so you can really enjoy driving. It was fascinating to see things from inside the car. I won't race mine, but can't wait to drive it. Thanks for the inspiration!

[EEP]

Hey guys, I just ordered my Coupe today,


I am investigating the addition of a supercharger with a coyote. The supercharger is 2.625 inches taller than the intake manifold on a stock Coyote. Can anyone with a Coyote installed on a coupe measure the clearance they have to the hood scoop from the intake without the plastic cover.

Larry

[tcoon]

I will try and measure the clearance tomorrow, but there is definitely NOT enough room to put a supercharger on the coyote without a hood bubble. I would guesstimate the clearance at 1". But let's face it...why do you need more power? This car is stink fast as it sits and the only two limiting factors are tire grip and the nut behind the wheel! I recently ran 140MPH at Fontana in 4th gear at 5500 rpm with lots of power left and another gear to go....and no guts! There is no place in North America you can run beyond that short of Bonneville, or maybe a quick sub 10 second blast at the drag strip. I spend most of my time trying to keep OFF the throttle to keep traction under control. Superchargers are cool...also loud, expensive, unreliable, and in this case totally unnecessary. I had one and blew 3 short blocks with it. I'm just sayin'...

[EEP]

Thanks Tom, If the Clearance is 1" to the cover, its going to be close. I think you said you added a spacer to the F5 Motor Mounts. My thought process was to go the other way and go with a shorter motor mount. While this will give me problems with the J-Pipe and Headers supplied, I was going to change that setup regardless to put in a cross-pipe. The Supercharger with its own packaged intake is only about 1.375 over the cover of the stock coyote.

I have a long history with Superchargers working on Eaton's application on the Thunderbird S/C 3.8L V-6.
I will be putting in the Aluminator -A50SC version of the Coyote which is upgraded from the Stock Mustang Version for High Performance Applications. Upgraded with Mahle Hard Anodized forged pistons with Graphal low friction coating & Manley H-beam connecting rods

The Stock Coyote which is tuneable upwards of 450 HP was not designed for race use. They even discourage the use of Tuners in the Stock Version even though its the #1 aftermarket seller. I hear their Tear-down Bay at the plant is full of this kind of return. The Supercharger I am running is low boost 7 PSI.The A50SC is a lower compression by 1.5 points, and will have both more potential, and more of a safety margin. It will give me a chance to try out the technology and if its too much for the car, I will swap it out with a "Stock" Version or a return from the plant and put the S/C version into the next project.

Since I was going half way with the upgraded internals with the Aluminator, I figured I would just cap it off with the S/C.

I see you did it right with your Oil setup as this is the first improvement on the Boss Engines.

So...... Tell me more about these Hood Bubbles in case my hard thought out Engineering using Factory Five's "Rough Numbers" Doesn't Work out.........lol

[tcoon]

Just another thing to think about...even with the Moroso low profile oil pan and 3/8" motor mount spacers the oil pan is right at the bottom of the frame rails. Any lower and you may have an unwanted surprise at a speed bump...

[loeffler1]

How about a couple of turbos in the exhaust system down lower like someone else previously did, then your hood clearance issue should disappear?

[tcoon]

Yes that would definitely work and, unlike anywhere else in the coupe, there is plenty of room in front of the foot boxes for twin turbos, and plumbing for the intercooler would be a challenge but possible...

[EEP]

Well for 1" of Clearance that doesn't sound like much of a fix. There is a reason that Shelby and Aftermarket Tuners prefer S/C Setups on a Coyote.

If it doesn't work out, I will stuff it into a 69 Fastback and rescue a Tear down PowerPlant for the Coupe, just upgrade the rods, pistons and valves and bearings. The next generation Coyote is getting rid of the Steel Piston bore sleeves and going to a hardened coating on the aluminum bores. Will be interesting to see how that works out. I know they are working on it right now. That will be another weight reduction.

So Tom what are you using to Stop that Rocket. I have heard so many different opinions on setups. I figure you would know best from first hand experience throwing it around the track.

[tcoon]

I have AP Racing 4 piston calipers front and mustang cobra rears with the wilwood pedal box. I am using currently Hawk DTC-60 racing pads. Brakes are excellent but I have struggled with pedal getting soft after 4-5 hot laps at speed (140 mph braking down to 20 mph at Fontana super speedway). I believe I have isolated the problem to the front brake line running very near the 90 deg bend in the left j-pipe on the lower portion of the front frame rail. Were I doing this again I would reposition the brake line. For now I have wrapped j-pipe and header in asbestos wrap and fashioned a heat shield. I will see next track day how this works out. See earlier post and photos for brake and ducting photos.