460.465USMC's MK4 Build #9890 - Gel Red is Rad. Blue is Better!

[460.465USMC]

It's hard to believe, but I'm out of aluminum panels, unless the VIN plate is considered a panel. I'll install that once my title arrives.

My last two panels to install were the door sill plates. They're powder coated to match the dash and trans cover. Instead of installing carpet on the sill, I picked up a remnant stick of angled aluminum (1"x1/2"x1/8") from my local metal supplier. Man, I love that place. They always have exactly what I need, and inexpensive. It's become one of my favorite places to shop.

Here are the DS sill edge pieces cut, drilled, and prepped for powder coat. They fit just fine in my little PC oven.




Well, I did my best to cut the aluminum ends to match the slope of the door sill chassis tubes. My goal was no gap between the pieces, but here you can see I fell a bit short between the longer two sections on the DS. Oh, well. My build has never been at risk of becoming a show car, so why start now? A theme of stainless fasteners contrasted against dark powder coat (dash, trans cover, etc.) emerged earlier in my build. I liked it, so just continued throughout the build. These rivets are not stainless, but have the same effect to my eyes.




My battle with the DS rear wheel spacer is now in Round 3. I installed this 1/2" spacer because a 1" spacer caused the tire to rub even during minor suspension travel. The body also happens to sit lower on the DS, so double whammy between (1) the shorter wheel well lip and (2) lower body height. As I noted previously, the DS wheel well lip extends from the chassis about 5/16" less than the PS. (The 1 inch spacer on the PS is working well).



The 1/2" spacer made a big difference, but I'm still not out of the woods. The tire still rubs, but only during extensive suspension travel (i.e. big dips in the road). I would like to keep the 1/2" spacer, so will probably trim the wheel well lip (on both sides to match). This was going to be left for the body/paint pro, but I need clearance on the DS now.

While I was looking for a 1/2" spacer (bought the one above from Speedway), I stumbled across extended thread lug nuts. Who knew? Apparently, designed for situations like adding wheel spacers. (I wasn't looking forward to removing the studs from the hub). In my case, these lug nuts provide about 0.05 inches less (1.3 mm) of thread engagement (0.62" v. 0.67") as compared to the original lug nuts without spacers.

In between all of the above I spent time on a dyno with a tuner. Looking forward to getting my dyno chart emailed over from the tuner. I'll post the results.

Happy building!

[buttsjim]

Bit by bit, you're making an already great car even better. I know that you plan on driving in gel coat for a while, but I'm really looking forward to seeing your car after paint--it's looking great now, I can hardly imagine what it's going to look like out of the paint shop! I've enjoyed your thread, gotten lots of ideas, and always appreciate your encouraging comments on my own build. I'm wishing you the very best of enjoyable driving in that beautiful car!

[460.465USMC]

Thanks for the kind words, Jim. It's been a lot of fun for me to see others' builds along the way. So many good ideas, many of which I've shamelessly tried to copy in my build. I have a lot of appreciation for the craftmanship and ingenuity I see on this forum.

Oh, and did I mention it's fun to drive? My odometer reads 949 miles. I expect to hit the 1,000 mile mark Saturday morning when I meet up with the other local Spokane builder for coffee.

[460.465USMC]

Based upon a number of Coyote Gen 3 experiences I've read here on the forum, I've had it in my head a professional tune is required. My goal for the tuner was to remove the MAF related error codes that occasionally trigger:

• P0507 "Idle air control system RPM higher than expected
• P0100 "Mass or volume air flow A Circuit"

I don't observe any performance degradation when these codes trigger. However, I'm not excited about the prospects of the MIL being active frequently, potentially masking some other issue.

Since my goal for tuning was very basic, I chose to use a local tuner for about half the price Lund quoted me. Plus, the tuner has a dyno, a safe way to run through WOT. After the tuner dialed in the MAF table, I noticed the idle is more consistent around 750 RPM. Bonus. Before the tune, the idle would start at 750 RPM for about five seconds (engine at operating temp), then jump to around 925 RPM and stay there.

Here are the initial baseline pull results (before MAF table optimization)







The Coyote makes sweet music when it winds up to 7K! Here's a 49 second video of a pull on the dyno.




The Coyote continues to run strong. Plenty of power and acceleration for my needs, and then some! Still some window left in driving season here in the PNW. I'm past the 1,000 mile mark (1,050), and couldn't be happier overall. The TKO600 doesn't shift as well as I expected it would, but will work okay for my purposes. It can be a little tricky distinguishing first from third when stopped. And, it took me some time to find the sweet spot when shifting into fifth.

Happy building!

[Railroad]

Most roadster owners have learned to run lower tire pressures than expected, due to light wt, for the best ride.
You need to correct this for dyno runs. You can pick up or get more accurate hp numbers after this correction.
Nice post.

[Blitzboy54]

Just awesome. So happy for you Chris. I wish I was close I would love nothing more than to go for a drive. The thing that has taken me by surprise is after all the initial tuning and debugging just how reliable it is. Just turn the key and go. It’s been great.

[460.465USMC]

Most roadster owners have learned to run lower tire pressures than expected, due to light wt, for the best ride.
You need to correct this for dyno runs. You can pick up or get more accurate hp numbers after this correction.
Nice post.

Hi Railroad. You're right. I'm running 24 PSI in rear, and 22 up front. So, you're saying if I ran the rear tires up to say 35 PSI or so, the HP results read by the dyno would have been higher and/or more accurate? Is this because the contact patch would be slightly smaller (i.e. smaller contact patch=less friction=less load on the motor?)?

Just awesome. So happy for you Chris. I wish I was close I would love nothing more than to go for a drive. The thing that has taken me by surprise is after all the initial tuning and debugging just how reliable it is. Just turn the key and go. It’s been great.

Thanks, Jesse! I'm really enjoying this part of the build experience. What a blast!

Great to hear yours is dialed in and running as expected. It is fun to hop in on a whim and go for a drive. I'm still volunteering to run errands for my wife.

Road trip?

[Railroad]

Normal tire pressure will reduce the flex in side walls. I won"t try to explain the logic. The fabricator/tuner/chief cook and bottle washer for Kenne Bell, passed this info along to the 99 Mustang Cobra owners that bought KB superchargers for their cars. Dyno's are already all over the place on results for a lot of reasons. This happened to be one he pointed out to us, as we tuned our cars.
I noticed your tire side walls collapsing in the video.
On a conservative side, I would guess 10 more hp. Taller side walls would seem to me to give up more hp.
Enjoyed the video and post!
Hope to get mine on the dyno someday.

[460.465USMC]

Thanks, Railroad. I appreciate your insights. It was my first time on a dyno. I "drove" the first WOT to redline (not the one in the video above). True confessions: it was a little unsettling to run my new motor up to redline. I had dollar signs flashing in my eyes as it approached 7K+ RPM. Probably just my inexperience with the whole thing. Ford Performance told me there's no special break-in required. Anyway, it was a good experience, and I learned a few things.

[John Ibele]

Hi Railroad. You're right. I'm running 24 PSI in rear, and 22 up front. So, you're saying if I ran the rear tires up to say 35 PSI or so, the HP results read by the dyno would have been higher and/or more accurate? Is this because the contact patch would be slightly smaller (i.e. smaller contact patch=less friction=less load on the motor?)?



Thanks, Jesse! I'm really enjoying this part of the build experience. What a blast!

Great to hear yours is dialed in and running as expected. It is fun to hop in on a whim and go for a drive. I'm still volunteering to run errands for my wife.

Road trip?

Fantastic, Chris, very happy the tune worked well. I’m right behind you at about 800 miles, which doesn’t properly represent ‘seat time’ - a fair amount has been at idle, using the laptop software for the Sniper. A deep dive but immensely satisfying. I may get a tune on a dyno at some point but I’ve reached the most satisfying part: a reliable, very street-friendly setup where I can just turn the key and go. Sooo much fun with the right choices and setup.

I like the road trip visual! One of those white dots is Minneapolis, right? Maybe we make it a caravan for the rest of the drive East to Jesse’s

[Nigel Allen]

Hi Railroad. You're right. I'm running 24 PSI in rear, and 22 up front. So, you're saying if I ran the rear tires up to say 35 PSI or so, the HP results read by the dyno would have been higher and/or more accurate? Is this because the contact patch would be slightly smaller (i.e. smaller contact patch=less friction=less load on the motor?)?



Thanks, Jesse! I'm really enjoying this part of the build experience. What a blast!

Great to hear yours is dialed in and running as expected. It is fun to hop in on a whim and go for a drive. I'm still volunteering to run errands for my wife.

Road trip?

That looks truly awesome. Don't suppose you need a passenger?

[460.465USMC]

Fantastic, Chris, very happy the tune worked well. I’m right behind you at about 800 miles, which doesn’t properly represent ‘seat time’ - a fair amount has been at idle, using the laptop software for the Sniper. A deep dive but immensely satisfying. I may get a tune on a dyno at some point but I’ve reached the most satisfying part: a reliable, very street-friendly setup where I can just turn the key and go. Sooo much fun with the right choices and setup.

I like the road trip visual! One of those white dots is Minneapolis, right? Maybe we make it a caravan for the rest of the drive East to Jesse’s

Hi John. Very cool you're getting the bits and bytes squared away on your tune. I imagine your winter starts even earlier than mine, so the clock is ticking on 2023 drives. We best keep at it, grinning at every turn and satisfying acceleration. Boy, this part is fun!

P.S. Of course one of those white dots is Minneapolis. Two Cobras heading East. I love it!

That looks truly awesome. Don't suppose you need a passenger?

It would truly be an excellent adventure. I tend to make wrong turns at virtually every opportunity, so yes, a passenger would be required to keep me pointed in the right direction!

[460.465USMC]

Over the last several days Spring showed up in a big way in my neck of the woods. Temps in the mid- to upper-sixties! Time for the first Spring Rumble.

Boy did it feel good to stretch her legs out on the open road. Even better, I had the chance to give a first ride to a little guy. Look closely and you'll just barely make out his head in the passenger seat. He was all smiles. Upon return, he made sure I agreed to drive the Roadster (with him as passenger) to pick up the pizza. We did.

30 second first ride video: https://youtube.com/shorts/ctSnqxdus1s?feature=share


The V.I.N. is in: in even bigger news, after a short wait of two-hundred-thirty-seven days my title arrived. I won't revisit here what turned out to be a long slog through the WA state titling process. But happy to share my trials and tribulations with any Washington builder if they're interested. I plan to hand stamp the VIN on the F5 VIN plate and rivet to the top of the PS FB. Visible from inside the engine bay.

My plan for the winter was to work on some minor punch list items. Also, I wanted to enjoy some non-Roadster things I haven't done in a long time. That was Plan A. My better half had Plan B: Moving. Locally.

Suffice it to say no work on the Cobra over the winter. Instead, winter found me diligently making over a new-to-me-garage: interior wall framing, insulation, paneling (OSB), painting, and ceiling fans. The new digs are 45% of the square footage of my last garage. Admittedly, a first-world problem. Woe is me. And, I say diligently because the calendar says my next project shows up in April.

I hope others up north are getting their first Spring drives logged in the books. Perhaps our southern friends are smiling as they change oil, brought on by miles and miles of driving over the last few months?

Happy building!

[buttsjim]

I was wondering how it was going for you...congratulations on receiving your title!

[460.465USMC]

I've been driving the Roadster every chance I get. Longest trip so far was my inaugural drive last summer (200 miles), just after getting my license plates. Yes, it's a blast to drive. Yes, I'm smiling the whole time. Yes, I can't believe I'm driving a car I put together with my own hands. Very satisfying.

The odometer recently flipped past 2,000 miles. so thought I'd muse out loud on a few aspects of my build now that I've had some seat time.

• Coyote (Gen 3): running flawlessly so far. Push the start button after sitting during the winter, and it roars to life. Starts immediately hot or cold. Very happy with it so far.
• TKO 600: it works fine, except I've often had issue getting it into 5th gear. More recently, however, it seems to have broken in or something. It's latching into 5th now about as well as the other gears. I chose the 0.64 ratio, and really like it for cruising on the highway. A big jump from 4th (1.0) down to 5th as others have mentioned, but not an issue for this lightweight Cobra.
• IRS: no complaints. Happy I chose it. I will say this car loves smooth pavement. It's not as happy (nor am I) on uneven pavement often found in rural country roads. It's a race car after all, so I should expect nothing different.
• DIY alignment: car is still tracking straight as an arrow. Very happy overall with my alignment. This was another very satisfying part of the build for me. It took me a lot of time and was tedious, but I enjoyed the education. Not to mention I can dial it in again in the future if needed.
• Brake bias and braking: I installed the Wilwood remote brake bias. It's been very handy to dial in the brake bias. However, it doesn't feel like I've found the sweet spot in forward braking bias even though it's at the adjustment limit. So, I may see if there's any further adjustment available directly at the pedal box.
• Rear tire clearance: I don't like how close the body is to the top of the rear tires. I may increase ride height to gain a bit of clearance. Question: does raising the ride height impact the alignment?
• Detours: I took some detours during my build to make some improvements, which extended the build time considerably. But, I don't regret the extra Mods, nor the extra time.

Enjoy the build process!

[cc2Arider]

Nice update Chris

It's also encouraging to hear you remind us again to enjoy the build. My build is "leisurely paced", but I don't mind. I'm also doing what I want, in accordance to my skills/talents...

Even though I haven't aligned my Roadster yet, I'm pretty sure the rear will be mis-aligned a little by raising the ride height. Certainly not as bad as the front would be. My experience has been only observing while I had engine in the car versus without, and jacking up to put on stands versus on the ground supporting its own weight...

Craig C

[Blitzboy54]

Brake bias and braking: I installed the Wilwood remote brake bias. It's been very handy to dial in the brake bias. However, it doesn't feel like I've found the sweet spot in forward braking bias even though it's at the adjustment limit. So, I may see if there's any further adjustment available directly at the pedal box.

I found this to be true as well. Right up until I upgraded from the stock pads into something more aggressive. Woah boy did that wake the system up. It stops like a race car now as well. I have already contacted Wilwood on my next kit about changing out the pads right out of the gate. For a high end custom set of brakes the stock pads are simply disappointing. The stock pads are BP-10, I moved up to the BP-20 for the fronts. The next build I will run PB-20 in both front and rear. You won't regret it.

[Mike.Bray]

I upgraded to Hawk HB pads, huge improvement over the stock Wilwood pads.

[Jeff Kleiner]

... Question: does raising the ride height impact the alignment?...

Yes, raising the rear will result in the front caster going more negative and depending on the geometry of the rear IRS upper and lower control arms may have an effect on rear camber. That said, although the difference may be measurable a small ride height adjustment such as 1/2" will not drastically change front caster or rear camber.

Jeff

[Jim1855]

You can "tune" brake bias with pads, fortunately rear pads are not that expensive once you find the fronts that work to your expectations. I didn't like BP-10s but did like BP-20s at all corners. Good reports on Hawk pads as well but my experience is limited with these. A friend ran one of the EBC pads on his Backdraft and really liked them, but this was a whole different brake system.
I like reading the current reports as most will apply to my car with Wilwoods. All if my guessing is from past experience and lots of miles and a variety of pads in the Wilwoods.
Jim

[460.465USMC]

I found this to be true as well. Right up until I upgraded from the stock pads into something more aggressive. Woah boy did that wake the system up. It stops like a race car now as well. I have already contacted Wilwood on my next kit about changing out the pads right out of the gate. For a high end custom set of brakes the stock pads are simply disappointing. The stock pads are BP-10, I moved up to the BP-20 for the fronts. The next build I will run PB-20 in both front and rear. You won't regret it.

Great info! Thanks, Jesse.

I upgraded to Hawk HB pads, huge improvement over the stock Wilwood pads.

Thanks, Mike. I've read some other positive review on these as well. Sounds like a good option.

Yes, raising the rear will result in the front caster going more negative and depending on the geometry of the rear IRS upper and lower control arms may have an effect on rear camber. That said, although the difference may be measurable a small ride height adjustment such as 1/2" will not drastically change front caster or rear camber.

Jeff

Jeff, thanks for chiming in on this one. Very helpful. The impact of ride height to alignment is not very intuitive to me.

You can "tune" brake bias with pads, fortunately rear pads are not that expensive once you find the fronts that work to your expectations. I didn't like BP-10s but did like BP-20s at all corners. Good reports on Hawk pads as well but my experience is limited with these. A friend ran one of the EBC pads on his Backdraft and really liked them, but this was a whole different brake system.
I like reading the current reports as most will apply to my car with Wilwoods. All if my guessing is from past experience and lots of miles and a variety of pads in the Wilwoods.
Jim

Some trial-and-error might be in order to improve upon the stock Wilwood pads. Good to know your experience. Thanks, Jim.

[460.465USMC]

As much as I enjoyed the build, this thread just didn't seem to have a proper ending. Especially after the countless hours (detours!), blood, sweat, and tears that went into it. That is until I received an email from the new owner.

Long story short, I sold my Roadster last year. There were a number of reasons. A significant part of that decision is sitting in my garage now in the form of my Coupe build. My MK4 Roadster was still in its original gel coat red when I sold it.

The new owner picked it up from paint and was kind enough to share some pictures. Although blue was not on my short list, I can say (in full honesty!) I really like the color the new owner chose. I hope he gets as much enjoyment in driving it as I did.







This seems like a more satisfying way to close out this build thread. So many memories over the 2.75 years it took to build. I still can't believe I did it.

Build on!

[Blitzboy54]

Great Job Chris,

Really nice to see her out in the wild.

[TrackDay17]

I like that color, I'm looking at Grabber Blue with black stripes for my upcoming MKV build and blackout trim.