I have a build thread going on my “home” forum, and thought I’d share here since I’ve been spending more time here lately. Since it’s been going a couple years, this will be kinda long.
I originally bought my car back in May of 2012. I bought is used with 3,900 miles on it from a rich guy who got it off the showroom floor in some dealership in Tennessee, drove it all the way back to AZ, then used it to hold down the garage floor most of the time. I had owned nine other 5.0 mustangs (of the fox and SN95 variety) in my life, but had been driving a Honda Civic for a few years and missed having a cool car. I found the car on Autotrader on Thursday and looked at it on Friday morning. I fell in love with the glass roof and the shiny red paint and bought it.
The car was loaded from the factory:
- Glass Roof
- Brembos
- 3.73s
- Premium Package with 401A leather
- Navigation / Dual Zone AC / Heated Seats
- Accessory Package 5 (hood scoop, wing, side scoops and louvers)
- HIDs
- Shaker 1000
- Tape stripes
Original sticker was $42,650. I paid $36,000 private party with NO TAX! (or other BS dealer fees)
The first thing I bought was a Boss rear diffuser off Craigslist for $100. It would be just a bit before I got it installed though.
Then I got the windows tinted.
Then it was time to get those stripes off. I was never a fan.
Now you see it...
Now you don't!
That was the easiest thing ever. Pick up the corner with your fingernail, then peel. No heat gun. No hairdryer. Nothing. They peeled off clean on the hood scoop and wing, and left a bunch of sticky residue on the hood and trunk. Got the residue off with lacquer thinner, which wiped it off no problem.
Plus my new front valance arrived.
I liked it much better without them. Much cleaner look. Almost looked wider too.
Then it was time to install the new front valance and remove the louvers and scoops. A buddy of mine came by to help with this. The valance was a very simple install, but having two people definitely helped a couple times.
First, we pulled off the louvers. They are attached with very sophisticated velcro. Took about 90 seconds per side once we realized there was no 3M double-sided tape on there.
Then we pulled the side scoops off. These are indeed held on with double-sided tape, but it was nothing some string wouldn't cut through. Then we "rolled" the tape residue off, and cleaned it up with lacquer thinner.
Pull the bumper:
Lots of bumpers and grilles strewn about:
Old vs new:
New GT/CS valance and Saleen grille installed:
Rear GT/CS valance installed: (this is even easier than the front - you can pull the rear bumper in about 10 minutes)
I want to remove that ugly black plastic center thing from the trunk lid, but I would need something to go where the pony "gas cap" goes, so I either need to buy one or figure out a different plan. That's for another time.
Then my buddy detailed the car. He’s a professional, and I don’t have the patience or practice for such things.
With that behind me, it was time for wheels/tires/shocks/struts/mounts.
Since streetability and ride comfort where my chief concerns, I went with Koni Str.T shocks and struts, Steeda Sport springs, and GT500 mounts. This doesn’t lower the car too much, and retains excellent ride comfort.
For wheels, I bought some Forgestar F14s - Brushed Titanium 20x9 and 20x11. Machined face with powdercoated spokes/hoops. I had talked to the Forgestar guys at SEMA, and begged them to make this finish (which had been discontinued) for me. It took six weeks to get them.
The tires were Hankook Ventus V12 Evo Tires, 275/30/20 and 305/25/20. The rear tires were too short, which I remedied before too long.
Old wheels:
New wheels: (nothing had been cleaned/detailed yet, and this isn't the best pic ever)
Koni Str.t shocks and struts were installed, along with Steeda Ultralite springs and GT500 strut mounts. This is a very mild combo that only lowers the car 1" up front and 1.25" in back. The focus here is streetability (not too low) and ride quality.
Other than the coil spring compressor needed to get the strut/spring assemblies put together, this is a really easy job. The shocks and rear springs are stupid easy to do. I think it took maybe 30 minutes.
Strut Install:
Shock Install:
More pics:
There isn't really any caster/camber adjustment on the car unless you buy camber bolts or caster/camber plates. You can slot the struts a little if necessary. We checked toe, and amazingly, it was right about zero. The car tracks straight, isn't twitchy, and we literally did nothing with the alignment. This same shock/strut/spring setup on my buddy’s car produced 1.7* and 2.1* camber if I remember correctly.
The best thing about this was that THE WHEELHOP WAS GONE!!! I hammered on the car multiple times in first, second, and third gear, and never once got even a slight indication of wheelhop. It was so atrocious with the stock Brembo wheels that I didn't even need full throttle to get the axle hopping like a rabbit starting about 4500 rpm.
Now the car just goes. If the tires don't hook, they just spin, the ass end wiggles around a little, and I carry on. I bought the shocks, struts, and springs from Sam Strano at Stranoparts.com. He states on his website that this is the nicest ride quality setup around, and I can't disagree. There is almost no noticeable reduction in ride quality with the new setup, even with ridiculous 305/25/20s out back. I thought those rubber bands would be much more harsh than they actually are.
After that, I continued on with the cosmetic upgrades. Once this was complete, I had run out of ideas on stuff to do visually with the car.
I installed my Boss 302 front splitter, Roush rocker panel splitters on the sides, and GT500 mud flaps on the back. All in all, this is really easy to do. Jacking the car up is probably the most annoying part. The Boss splitter requires that you drill an assload of holes in the bottom of the GT/CS bumper for everything to bolt up, but I guarantee it won't ever come off. It's held on by 16 screws and 10 plastic push pins. The rocker splitters are held in by double-sided tape and 13 plastic push pins.
All in all, this took me about 4 hours to do. Anyway, on to the pics!
Before everything was installed:
After: (not the greatest pics cuz I was losing daylight)
Now the car looks the way I want it too. (save for some taller tires in the back)
After that tremendously difficult car thrash, I was feeling ambitious. So I got these LED bulbs for my dome lights.
Incandescent bulbs make baby jesus cry:
Old school vs new school:
These babies are bright, and the light is pure white as the driven snow:
Tah-dah!
Since this was been my first free Saturday in many months, I decided to clean up the car a little bit, wipe the barrels of the wheels down real good, and snap a few pictures.
With the car looking good, I moved onto some brake work.
Latemodel Restoration Supply (LRS) put the '13 Shelby GT500 brakes on sale, and I couldn't help myself...
When the new Shelby Brakes came out, the cheapest you could get them was through Tousley Ford, who had the fronts for about $1285 (if you knew all the part numbers) and the rears for about $525, so it was about $1810 plus shipping. When Latemodel Restoration first put them up for sale as a complete kit (fronts and rears) they were $2299. I was ready to buy them from Tousley, but decided to wait a little bit because I didn't want to shell out the coin.
Then, a couple weeks later, LRS dropped the price to $1699 for the whole kit, which is a ridiculous price for this setup. Only days later, the price had already increased to $1895, so I defnitely "got while the gettin' was good."
I ordered them on Thursday, June 13th 2013 along with all the stuff I needed for install. (like diff fluid, brake fluid, gaskets, etc) To make things even better, I used a 5% off coupon, so the total order (including all that extra stuff) was $1695.71 SHIPPED.
Here's the breakdown:
- (2) Bottles Motorcraft Brake Fluid - $14.99
- (2) Bottles Royal Purple 75w90 Gear Oil, plus Motorcraft Friction Modifier - $44.99
- (1) Lube Locker 8.8 Rear Diff Gasket - $24.99
- (1) Ford M-2300-T Brake Kit - $1699.99
- 5% Discount Coupon (minus $89.25)
- Total = $1695.71
The brake fluid, diff fluid, and gasket all arrived prompty on Wednesday, June 19th. They are shipped by LRS. The brake kit is shipped via a freight company directly from Ford, and obviously takes a little longer. After a little delay because "the truck driver had exceeded his daily DOT hour limit" I got the brakes the 22nd.
Here's the big ol' box that it comes in, on a pallet. This box is HEAVY.
Lots of stuff inside there:
Here's all the stuff in the crate plus all the fluids I got earlier from LRS.
Another shot:
Dust Shields, brake lines, front rotor boxes, brake fluid and friction modifier:
Boxes full of calipers and anchors:
Diff fluid, new bolts, front brake lines, rear rotor boxes:
Front rotors. These things are shockingly large in person. (and freaking heavy!) It's nice that they're coated both around the center of the hat, and on the edges where the vanes are. They won't rust like crazy and look ugly.
15" and 32 pounds. Each.
Rears are 13.75" and XX pounds.
Boo yah. Front and rear calipers, and rear anchor brackets. I need to paint or powdercoat those rear anchors so they don't rust and look like crap. It looks like there was a little bit of moisture in the box, because one of the anchors already had a little rust on it.
Again - pictures don't do these things justice. They are so freaking huge.
Quick-change pads. Just pull the pins. Pretty cool.
Made it Italy, just for FoMoCo.
An attempt to show how big these calipers are:
Here's the whole front setup:
As a public service, I weighed everything so everyone knows what kind of weight they're adding when putting these things on. I'll also weigh all my old stuff when I pull it off. I used my bathroom scale, so these numbers are obviously just approximate.
- Front Rotors: 31.6 lbs, each
- Rear Rotors: 15.8 lbs, each
- Front Calipers: 16.6 lbs, with pads, each
- Rear Calipers 9.4 lbs, with pads, each
- Rear Anchors 5.0 lbs, each
- TOTAL WEIGHT: 156.8 Pounds
I suspect these will be substantially heavier than the stuff that comes off. Now I need to get a hold of some paint, sandpaper, brembo stencils, and prep stuff. I want to paint these 2000 Ford Mustang Sunburst Gold, with black lettering, and high-gloss clear. I might also buy a GT500 rear diff cover since I have to open the diff and pull the axles anyway. I'm pretty confident you can't get this much braking power at a better price anywhere. This will ensure I can always stop safely in the grocery store parking lot, and impress the ricers with wheels the size of my brakes.
Although I hadn’t installed all the brakes yet, I decided to buy some more visual/comfort mods.
My car had the "401A" premium leather package, which is an upgrade for even the "normal" GT Premium cars, and it comes with a nice leather-wrapped steering wheel with contrast stitching. However, the GT500s come with a SUPER nice alcantara and leather wheel. Levittown Ford had the complete assembly for only $181.21 shipped. This was direct plug-n-play with a simple install.
To go along with that, I bought the '13 GT500 Alcantara shift boot with white contrast stitching, which will match the stitching on my leather. I also got the Alcantara parking brake boot.
This will probably be worth about 20 horses.
At the tires.
Since my car is indeed a daily driver, which includes trips to Home Depot to pick up messy things like potted plants for my girlfriend, I got this handy-dandy trunk mat. I opened the box and it looks like Ford shipped me a Schnauzer as well. I guess that's a free gift.
I still hadn't installed my new '13 GT500 brakes that I got from LRS because I was going to repaint them, and had been trying to gather all the supplies I need for the job.
Here is $220 worth of exact-match paint and paint supplies from the automotive paint store, along with another $40 worth of custom-made stencils so I can paint the lettering back on the calipers instead of using decals, which I didn't really want to do. I bought a pint of Race Red and a pint of 2000 Ford Mustang Sunburst Gold, then had it put into aerosol cans so I can spray it easily. I also got paint supplies, (not shown) VHT Black (for lettering on the gold calipers) and VHT clear. I still need to get some VHT white. I'm going to repaint the 14" Brembos that are coming off just for fun because flat gray calipers are boring. The big set going on the car will be Sunburst gold with black lettering. The old set (going in the attic) will be Race Red with white lettering.
I asked around on eBay to find someone who would make me some custom stencils that are big enough for the massive '13 GT500 calipers, and after having bad luck with one who took my money and didn't ship me anything for over six weeks, I found another who got me exactly what I wanted in four days. At least I got my money back from the first guy.
Since I'd be pulling my axles to install the new rear brakes, I figured I'd get a nice new diff cover.
My rear brakes were totally shot. The car only had 16,000 miles on it, so I find this very odd; however, the dealership says "with these new ABS units" this is common. I dunno, but that's for another tech thread. So here's some pics of the OEM rear brakes before I started the tear down. Notice the damage to the rotors.
Here's the OEM panhard bar and diff cover. Since my car is lowered a bit, my axle wasn't centered.
Factory 3.73s.
My new adjustable panhard bar, which was later replaced by a quality unit from BMR.
After some work and a bit of a mess, the axles came out.
Old brakes and axle brackets removed. I pulled the anti-moan brackets after I snapped this picture since they're not used with the new axle brackets.
New, much larger axle brackets installed. Since my car is an '11 GT, I didn't have to remove the calipers. They are the same as the '13 GT500, so I figured there was no point in installing the new ones and having to bleed the brakes for nothing. Now I have an extra set of calipers. I was going to powdercoat the brackets myself, but since I have to drive the car to work on Tuesday, I decided not to go to all the trouble of getting out all my powdercoating stuff and having to beadblast stuff.
Here's the old rotors vs the new hotness. They are huge!
All finished up! Here's the pics.
New panhard bar installed, along with the GT500 diff cover.
New rear brakes all buttoned up.
I've been keeping track of the weight that comes off / goes on so I can see how much total weight got added. The OEM panhard bar weighs 7 pounds. My new one wasn't heavy enough to trigger my cheapo bathroom scale, so I don't know what the difference is there.
The old axle brackets and anti-moan brackets come in at 11 pounds. Since the new anchors are 5 pounds each, the big brackets are actually a pound lighter than the OEM stuff.
The old rotors are 13 pounds each, and the new ones are 15.8 pounds each, for a total of 5.6 pounds of added weight for the rotors. So taking away the pound saved in the axle bracketry, the 13.75" rear brake setup comes in a total of 4.6 pounds heavier than the old stuff. I probably saved most of that with my new panhard bar, so I think this was almost a neutral weight mod, plus it looks great!
I spent some time scrubbing my wheels down before I put 'em back on. Much better now. Still need taller tires though. The new brakes fill up the wheels much better. Looks like they belong there.
All done! The car looks so much more balanced with "matching" brakes front and back. My next project is to paint and install the new 15" 6 piston units, but that's for another day. Overall, a relatively straightforward install.
After the rear brakes, I tackled the very tough job of installing my GT500 interior bits and a few other things. This included my new '13 GT500 steering wheel, shifter boot, and parking brake boot, along with my rubber trunk mat and license plate frame. This install is worth approximately a thousand horsepowers and eight hundred torks.
So anyway, the new stuff is really nice, and fits well with the rest of my ultra-deluxe interior. I love it. Plus, this whole job takes a whopping half hour to do. Can't beat it, especially for the small amount of money it costs to buy all this crap.
OEM shifter boot from a 401A car:
OEM parking brake boot:
OEM steering wheel:
The center console simply unsnaps and pops out. Then unhook a couple electrical connections. I used a strap wrench to loosen the shifter ball.
The parking brake boot is easy too. Feel around the bottom where it snaps into the center console, and push the little retaining clips in while pulling up on the boot with your other hand. Take 10 seconds. Then it has a little elastic stretchy thing on the end of it that you need to open up a bit to slide it over the parking brake handle.
I did ream out the little plastic ring in the shifter boot a little so the shifter ball would counter sink into it. Not sure if I actually had to, but it seemed like a good idea. Here's some pics of everything installed. I really like it. It's got Alcantara. Say it to yourself... "All-can-tair-ahhhh." Yep, it's that good.
Just to make everyone jelly, here's the view out the roof. I love it.
New trunk mat. Should help everything stay clean. Neato.
Brushed stainless license plate cover. Serious business.
The car was still bone stock, but I thought I’d run it on the dyno to see how it did. After some cool down, the car made more power than I thought it would. The last run was 375 rwhp and 364 rwtq. That's pretty good for bone stock. I was expecting 360-365 rwhp, so I was pleased.
Run conditions were:
- 63 degrees Fahrenheit
- 28.90 in-Hg
- 18% Humidity
- SAE 1.00 Corrected
I also weighed the car at a buddy’s house. Here’s what the car had on it.
- 2011 Mustang GT
- Boss front valance and splitter, and rear valance
- GT/CS foglights
- Saleen grille (in place of stock grille/foglights)
- Roush side splitters
- Glass Roof
- 401A upgraded leather w/heated power seats (not Recaros)
- Navigation package
- Shaker 1000 stereo (NOT the really big one with the subwoofer)
- Brembo brakes (stock 14" 4-piston up front, 13.75" Shelby rear rotors and anchors
- JLT oil separator
- Aluminum adjustable panhard bar (lighter than stock)
- Aluminum GT500 diff cover (heavier than stock stamped steel)
- 20 x 9 and 20 x 11 Forgestar F14 wheels, Hankook 275/30/20 and 305/25/20
- About four gallons of gas in the tank
Very unsurprisingly, the car is a heavyweight. 3617 pounds.
Then it was onto the painting of the big Brembos.
First things first, I disassembled the calipers, removed the bridge pin, caliper pins, pads, and clips. Then I removed some stickers that Ford had on them with a razor blade, and took off the residue with paint thinner. Here's what they looked like.
Once that's done, you have to take a deep breath, and start ****ing up a perfectly good set of calipers. Don't forget to pull the bleeders. I did the face of the calipers with a sanding block, and the rest of it with red scotchbrite. I got a little overzealous on the edges with the scotchbrite and got down to metal. The paint isn't very thick at all.
Here's both the faces sanded off.
Once they were completely scuffed all over and there was no shiny paint left, I blew them off with my compressor, wiped them down a bit, and started masking off the surfaces that shouldn't get painted. I used my fiberglass tape that I use when I powdercoat because it doesn't leave a residue and it's easy to cut clean with a razor blade. Plus, I'm just used to working with it.
I masked off all the pistons, and portions of the inside of the caliper that nobody will ever see.
Don't forget to mask where the bridge bolt passes through the caliper up top.
The first of many light coats of Ford Sunburst Gold paint, with about seven minutes dry time between coats.
Gold paint complete.
Here's what they look like in the sun.
I had some stencils custom made to be big enough for these things.
Then masking...
Started painting the "Brembo" lettering black. I used hi-temp caliper paint, which I later learned would not work. More on that in a minute.
Brembo lettering painted. Time to start on the logo.
Brembo logo is next. I wanted to do this in Race Red to match my car, and have a nice little custom touch.
Here's what it looked like before I peeled off the stencil.
Unfortunately, there is where things went south. The Race Red paint that I had was hi-grade automotive paint that I had aerosolized in a paint store. When I peeled back the stencil, the red logo peeled perfectly and cleanly. However, the black lettering was another story. I didn't take a picture of it, but the black paint was more "rubbery" and peeled up all over the place. It looked terrible. It didn't adhere to the gold base paint AT ALL. It was so bad I was able to peel nearly all of it off just by pulling on the stencil and finishing it off with tweezers.
The rest of the brake install would be left to another day, and I moved onto another project.
I drove 250 miles to Indio Kalifornia to pick up a set of Ford Racing Recaro seats. A guy there had a set of the now-discontinued set that Ford offered for the 2011-2012 Mustangs with the part number M-63660005-MB. The new set for the 2013-2014 cars is PN M-63660005-MC, the difference being the "B" vs "C" in the last letter. The only difference between the two is the shape of the plug for the airbag modules in the sides of the seat, but I wanted mine to be perfectly plug 'n' play with what I have now factory, so this was the best choice. It prevents me from having to swap airbag modules from my current seats to these. Also, you can't simply re-wire the plugs because the wrong modules will result in an airbag light coming on. Don't want to mess with that madness. Plus, I got a decent deal on them at $2500 a set, which is cheaper than you could get them back then.
Strangely, as I've experienced with other Ford parts, they seem to come with pets inside the box. My trunk mat came with a Schnauzer, and these seats seem to have arrived with a certain very overweight gray cat. However, he seemed quite content with his placement, so I didn't disturb him.
The install project for these seats was quite involved, but the end result was awesome.
I picked up my package from FedEx containing 2012 GT500 leather takeoffs. These came from Rehagen Racing. I wanted the black / white stripe ones since my current interior is black with white stripes. I like it. It gives the interior a little definition instead of all black.
Front Seats:
Back Seats:
One of the Recaro covers has a very small tear right above the seam along the back of the seat. I'm not sure how noticeable this will be once it's installed, but I wish it wasn't there. Not sure what can even be done about this.
So it takes a certain level of crazy to start taking apart of a set of expensive seats, but I know in the end this will be awesome. I would eventually have power, adjustable lumbar, heated, leather Recaros. The Recaro seats in the Shelby GT500 are manual, not heated, and don't have adjustable lumbars. These will be the nicest OEM seats never installed in a Mustang, and they will work just like factory. I'm very excited to have this project done.
I removed the FRPP cloth skins last night using the write-up by TOB on SVTP. He's absolutely right that removing the harness pass-through clamshells is the hardest part. However, after you've done the first one, the last three are easy. I can do them in five minutes now. I used a broad, flat prybar (the one in TOBs thread) to push the clamshell up or down so I could see the small clip, then found that a pick or an awl is the easiest tool to pop the little plastic clips apart. Once they're apart, I push the pick right under the plastic tab and through the split between the two shells, and leave it there so it doesn't re-connect while I'm doing the other clips. So keep mind, it helps to have four picks.
I also did not heed TOBs warning about the little metal c-clip that retains the seatback adjustment lever. It popped, and went flying somewhere in my house. I've still not found it. Not sure how I'm going to remedy that situation yet. The other one I was more careful on.
Overall, disassembling the seats isn't hard at all. I was EXTREMELY careful and didn't damage anything at all. The dumbasses who slice the small holes in the fabric where they attach to the hooks in under the harness passthroughs are just lazy bastards. It only takes a minute more to carefully remove them without damaging them. If my new seat warmers were here from Tousley, I'd be knee-deep in doing the whole conversion right now, but I'll have to be patient. I'm sure reassembly is much more difficult than disassembly. Still, it's all pretty straightforward.
Here's my brand new FRPP cloth skins that I eventually sold on eBay for $270.
It would still be a couple weekends before I could start back on the project again.
My 2011 GT had the 401A leather option, but since I was doing the front Recaros anyway with Shelby leather, I wanted to retain the back seat and have it match. My car is a daily driver and boulevard cruiser, so I thought keeping the back seat was a good idea.
I forgot to take a picture of the rear seat installed before I began. To remove the seat cushion, just find the two plastic “posts” under the seat that install to the floor pan. Push on them to release, then just lift up and it comes out. Takes two seconds.
Here’s the seat back after the cushion is removed.
Here’s the pivot sold the seats can fold down. It’s held in a place by one bolt that you’ll need a 13mm socket to remove it.
You’ll also need to remove the two bolts on either side of the seats. Then the whole seat back pops out.
We’ll start with the back seat cushion.
When you flip it over, you’ll see a bunch of plastic clips holding the skin on. The pics below are not all-inclusive, but you get the idea.
There is also on plastic push-pin on either side of the seat.
I used a trim removal tool to pop this. Besides the 13mm socket, it’s actually the only other tool you need to do this whole job.
A few of the clips push into slots in the plastic seat base, rather than clipping on an edge. The trim removal tool can help with these, or a pair of long-nose pliers might help too. Still, it’s not hard. Once you’ve unclipped everything, you can just pull the skin off. I removed most of them, but the clips on the leading edge were a little tight so I started peeling the skin off from the back all the way around the front, then the clips came off easily. Here’s what you’re left with .
Then grab your new skin, and start re-installing everything. This is a pretty straightforward job, with a bit of tugging to get everything seated just right. (pun intended) Make sure you get the seams driven down into the grooves in the foam so the Velcro attaches and pulls everything tight. Here’s the finished seat cushion.
Sit back and take some satisfaction at completing the cushion, because the seat backs are a little more involved. Still not difficult, but it takes a little longer. Here’s your starting place.
Flip it over, and look at the corner for a small Velcro tab. You’ll need to unhook this.
Moving to the other corner, you’ll have the familiar plastic joints that are used all over the interior upholstery. They’re basically interlocking plastic tabs that you snap together and fold over to hold everything tight. Once you take one apart, you’ll see how they work and go back together. Lift up, and pry them apart. This corner one is easy and you can actually slide the two pieces apart.
More of the same with the large clip at the seat bottom.
Once you get it open, lift the flap and you’ll find some Velcro strips attached in the middle. Detach these.
Now you’re going to need to start pushing the skin up toward the top of the seat. You won’t be able to remove it entirely because it will be stuck under the headrest, which we’ll remove next.
Flip it over and you’ll see the foam pad.
Lift the foam pad and you’ll see a metal box. This whole assembly is what holds the headrests in place.
There are two plastic buttons just above the metal box. It helps to have another set of hands for this part. Push both buttons and have someone pull the headrest out of the seat back assembly.
Here’s a better look at what everything looks like without the cushion in the way.
Now we start on the headrest.
The two flaps at the bottom of the headrest just snap together. There’s a little groove in one flap, and a t-shaped tab in the other.
Seam pulled apart. Hecho en Mexico.
Carefully pull the material out from around the headrest pushbutton.
After that, all you do is pull the headrest internals out of the skin. Very easy. Here’s what you’re left with.
This was not made in America, or Mexico I would guess.
Reinstall the new cover, and your headrest is done. Then, back to the seat back.
Here’s the new Shelby skin installed. Don’t forget to lace the seatback release pull through the side of each seat so you can fold your seats down later.
Do that twice, and you’ll have a complete rear seat all done. Mine still had a few wrinkles in certain places, probably from being boxes up, but I think that will release over time with some good old fashioned Phoenix heat.
Then reinstall them in your car, and voila! Done!
Finally, you’ll have your old skins left over in case you ever want to return to stock, or sell them.
The whole job takes maybe a few hours. It's pretty darn easy I think. Definitely makes the interior look sharp. With the low cost and availability of takeoffs, it is definitely an excellent upgrade. You spend all your time in the interior, so might as well make it look nice.
After the back seats were done, I had some other projects. Some parts arrived in the mail.
Left - new evap system since my charcoal canister is cracked. This happened while the car was under warranty, but the dealer predictably told me to go **** myself. I might have hit something they said. Morons. Like I can hit something with the underside back of my car so hard that it would crack the canister residing safely BEHIND A HUGE PLASTIC SHIELD. Ridiculous. Meh, I don't have time/patience to fight with stupidity. The whole assembly was only $130 from Tousley.
Middle - new seat warmers to install on my Recaros! Planning on finishing up that project this weekend and enjoying my badass new seats.
Bottom - Roush rear splitters. They match my side splitters.
Top - front mud flaps.
Before all that stuff, I worked on my fancy new power, heated, adjustable lumbar Shelby leather Recaro swap.
Not gonna lie, this is kind of a lot of work. I started this project at 11:30 a.m., having already stripped the Recaros down previously, and didn’t finish until after 7 p.m. for JUST ONE SEAT. Of course, I was taking my time and stopped for lunch, but still, it was no picnic. My back is sore and my fingers are cut up.
…and it was so worth it.
Here’s my best shot at a how-to, keeping in mind that I’ve omitted the overwhelming majority of seat disassembly as Tob has covered that exhaustively already in his thread in the Shelby section on this forum. (Tob is the man BTW)
Here is my factory 401A black premium leather passenger seat. My car has the comfort package so both my front seats are power and heated.
First things first, remove the negative battery cable, and prepare yourself for some work. You need to remove the airbag fuse for safety and to help prevent a potential airbag light later. Or so I’m told. Don’t know where the interior fusebox is? I didn’t either. After some Google-Fu on the internetz, I discovered that it’s in the passenger kick panel. There’s a little door that you pull off, then a paper cover that is taped and velcro’d on.
Bam! Fusebox. Pull the red 10 amp fuse - #31. It’s already missing in this picture.
It’s that one – where the hole is. (your car may have less fuses than mine, I have pretty much all the options so virtually every slot is filled)
You can look at the map on the cover.
Then unbolt the four bolts (13mm and 15mm) that are holding the seat in place. If you have power seats, you actually might want to remove these bolts before you pull the batter so you can slide the seat forward/backward for easy access to the bolts. I did. Once that’s done, put on your weightlifting, and prepare to jack up your back. My OEM passenger seat weighed in at 57.8 pounds. (using my ultra-scientific bathroom scale)
I brought it inside, and flipped it on its side on the rug. Here’s what it looks like underneath.
Found this tag with a date on it. Neat.
I highly recommend you have a set of trim tools for this job. I bought this cheap seat at Harbor Freigh years ago and they’ve served me well.
Then, follow TOB’s incredibly detailed instructions on seat disassembly. This will take a little bit. DON’T LOSE THE DANG CLIP THAT HOLDS THE SEAT TILT LEVER! That thing loves to go flying and traverse different dimensions of time and space.
Once I was far enough along to split the seat back and bottom, I snapped a few pics of the seat heater wiring and connectors.
Note that the seat back heater goes through the upholstery. You have to disconnect it at the seat base, then pull it out.
Here’s the two seat heater connectors. The grey one does the seat back, the green one is the seat cushion heater.
Seat back and cushion are officially separated.
When you pull the cushion, it exposes the OCS. (occupant classification system)
Here’s a pic of the cushion and foam.
When you peel the leather back, you can see the seat heater. Note that these are not Velcro’d in like the Recaros. There appears to be a rod and some hog rings retaining the leather skins.
Here are the two bare seat bases before I started swapping stuff.
This is the Recaro OCS sensor. It looks quite a bit different from my OEM one.
It is riveted onto the frame.
This is the OCS sensor from my factory seat. It’s much larger, and held in with three rivets. Two up front and one through the top of the seat frame.
While the Recaro should be totally plug ‘n’ play as far as OCS systems go, I am paranoid, and figured I might as well swap everything since I’m neck-deep in this mess already anyway. Sooo, I started drilling rivets.
Pop the green push-pins holding the OCS bladder in place to reveal the top rivet.
There it is.
To remove the OCS bladder from the seat, you have to slide the connector retainer off of a metal tab on the seat. It’s held in by a very small metal tab that you just pry up gently with a screwdriver. Then it will slide right off. Disconnect the connectors too.
Should look like this.
Seat tracks with OCS removed before swappage occurs.
I don’t have a welder, and even if I did, I’m a colossally crappy welder, so rather than cut and re-weld the extra metal bolster supports from the Recaro to my original seat, I unbolted the “tops” of each seat track assembly and swapped them. Remove the four nuts on each seat track.
This is everything blown apart. Recaro manual track on left. OEM power assembly on right.
Recaro track.
OEM track. There is some wiring that you’ll need to remove using a trim tool so you can reinstall it on the new upper half from the Recaro.
Using my big rivet gun that I got to put new door handles on my foxbody notch, I riveted the OCS modules back onto the now-swapped upper halves. Then I reinstalled all the wiring.
This is the completed power, heated Recaro seat track.
Here are both seat tracks next to each other after the swap.
Now onto the seat warmer pads themselves. On the left is the seat back warmer. Right is seat bottom warmer.
Seat back warmer PN.
Seat bottom warmer PN.
Side-by-side upholstery.
Note that the cushions themselves are different. The Recaros have a Velcro groove in the bottom that the OEM seat cushion doesn’t.
This is problematic because the seat heater covers that groove completely.
The seat heater pads are held in place by double-side tape strips on either side of the pad. Lifting up the OEM pad, you’ll find a small recess cast into the foam to accommodate the heater element terminal thingy. This is also problematic because no such provision exists on the Shelby foam.
Time to get creative. Here you’ll notice the Velcro groove on the Recaro cushion that holds the leather skin tightly in place.
This strip sewn into the covers gets pushed down into that groove.
When I put the heater over the top of the cushion, I paid close attention to where the heater wire passed through the pad. There was a “straight” section where the wire itself didn’t interfere with the groove, but the pad did.
See what I’m talking about? The wires pass on either side of the groove.
I used a sharpie to draw some straight lines across the pad, paying close attention to avoid the heater wires. Then I grabbed my scissors, and got to cutting.
I got most of it out of the way. There was still a section in the center that had to remain because I can’t cut the wires. Still, most of the groove was exposed. This was a good thing.
Next up, I had to do something about making a recess in the foam for the little connector thingy.
After mocking it up, I used a sharpie to mark where I was gonna do some damage.
Then I used a razor blade to cut a little hole with a “pigtail” provision on it.
Then after taking some measurements, I VERY CAREFULLY cut away some of the material that gets pushed down into the groove. My goal was to ensure that it didn’t stick up too much and create a bump in the upholstery once installed. Don’t cut your expensive leather covers!
Then I mocked up the cover to see how it fit before I peeled the tape and installed the heater pad for the last time. It tucks in perfectly, and everything looks nice and toight. Toight like a Toiger.
Pull the cover back off. Flip the heater pad. Pull off the orange film to expose the tap.
Install the pad for the last time.
Install your leather, being careful to ensure that all the Velcro is pushed down into the grooves and is held tightly. If you don’t do this, your upholstery will look like crap.
Seat back heaters were next.
The seat back heaters have this weird gap in the middle, presumably to fit the architecture of the OEM seat backs I’m sure. However, since I didn’t disassemble the OEM seat backs (because they were held together with hog rings and rods) I don’t have pictures. I just tried to figure out how these pads might fit best on the Recaro foam. I used a sharpie to mark the wires to ensure I didn’t cut them.
I cut a slot in the top like I did before to provide for attaching the Velcro.
I didn’t want the big gap in the middle because it pushed the seat heater down pretty far to a section that your back wouldn’t be resting against while driving. I resolved that somehow I would bring the sections together, kinda like this.
So, I VERY CAREFULLY trimmed away all the pad around the wires so I could manipulate everything more easily and not create a lump in the upholstery. Not sure if this was the best solution, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.
Cut away a small section in the upholstery again.
Mock up a provision for the connector thingy again.
Cut the hole.
Made sure that things fit to my satisfaction, then installed the heater pad.
Installed the skin per TOB’s instructions. By the way TOB, thanks for the advice on zip-typing the leather flaps up where the clamshells pass through the seat. Mine were cut just like yours, and your trick worked perfectly. In this picture, you can see the seat heater connector on the left, and the yellow airbag connector on the right.
Bolt the halves together, and reconnect all of the various electrical connectors, harnesses, and clips. Then do any final reassembly per TOB’s instructions.
BAM! Here you have a heated, power, Shelby leather Recaro passenger seat. This is quite an endeavor, and this is a pretty expensive seat. The completed passenger seat weighs in at 62.2 pounds, which is 4.4 pounds heavier than the seat that came out. These are NOT lightweights.
After installing it in the car, I went for a quick drive with my girlfriend so she could verify that her butt was, in fact, being warmed by my new seats. She did confirm that she had a hot ass, and all was right with the world.
This was quite a bit of work, and even more money. However, the end result is worth it. I wonder if anyone else has done power / OEM heated Recaros yet? If not, hopefully someone will take the writeups by TOB and me and tackle it for themselves.
So a quick wrap up... Here's the breakdown of what it took to do this:
- OEM "Comfort Package" with dual power/heated seats
- (2) Upper and (2) Bottom seat heater pads from Tousley - ~$310
- FRPP Cloth Recaros, I paid $2500 private party. The best I've seen is about $2800 new
- Shelby Leather skins, I paid $800 from Rehagen because I wanted white stripes, which are a little more rare than all black
- About 20 hours of work total I think. You may be able to do it more quickly... I'm slow.
- Various small prying tools, trim tools, picks, screwdrivers, torx driver, 13mm and 15mm sockets
- Lots of patience and attention to detail
Everything works just like factory. The support on these seats is NIGHT AND DAY different from my stock 401A seats. They are so much more comfortable and supportive, and having the adjustable lumbar swapped into the Recaro is nice. It's a little soon to tell, but I have feeling this will be absolute favorite mod on the car. Having a nice seat and a nice steering wheel makes all the difference in a car - especially if you drive it daily like I do. I'm thrilled with the result. The heated seats are really nice too, except on a day like today where it was 85* in Phoenix while the rest of the country is under feet of snow and ice.
Overall, if you have the means, I highly recommend it.
Also, my new front mudflaps.
...and my new rear splitters.
This car has so many wings, it should be able to fly!!
Following that, I had another cheap visual mod. I swapped out the panel between the taillights on my trunk. My car came with the "Accessory Package 5" which included an existing trunk panel thingy, hood scoop, side window louvers, side scoops, and a rear wing. I’d already deleted the louvers and scoops, and I liked the OEM trunk panel on the '13s better than what I had on my car. I picked one up used, and installed it on my car.
Here's what my original one looked like:
I pulled it off, and removed all the residue from the double-sided tape. That took a while.
The '13 panel has a bunch of clips on the back that hold it to the trunk. The '11/'12 have no provisions for these clips, so I broke 'em all off with a pair of pliers, then ground them flat for good measure.
Then I slapped on some 3M double-sided tape used for securing this type of thing. (I subsequently swapped out the 3M double-sided tape, which didn’t hold, for some VHB which holds like crazy)
Then BAM, peel 'n' stick. Done! Easy swap.
My buddy Dan rented out the dragstrip so he and his crew could work the bugs out of his suspension in his super fast Chevy racetruck. It's been 6.90s at 210 mph in Vegas, but for some reason it's wanting to make right turns here at Firebird in Phoenix. It's got a Duttweiler twin turbo aluminum big block Chevrolet and a Chris Alston chassis running on a 10.5W tire. Plus, it's just super cool and I really like it. The paint is killer.
Anway, there were a grand total of three cars racing at the track - Dan's pickup, my mustang, and a slow Chevy. I gotta tell you, I've never been to a private track day, and this is the ONLY way to drag race. No lines. No tech. No hassle. No bullshit. No lines. No ricers. No nonsense. I love it.
I got there around 9 a.m. - the whole track was a ghost town all day. It was awesome.
Around 10:00 a.m., I decided to make my first couple of passes. This is the first time I've been down the track in well over a year, so I was all jittery and excited at the line. I missed third on my first pass and never got the timeslip. I hot-lapped it and lined up again immediately one minute later to make another pass. I left easy, hammered it, and speed-shifted my way down the track...
...and BAM!! My quickest pass ever, but quite a margin. My previous best was 13.282 @ 110.04 mph with a 2.184 60'.
12.917 at 107.34 mph
Here's my timeslip:
This was on a totally unprepped, cold lane, and a race weight of about 3820. My tank was full of 87 octane, but I don't know if that really makes a difference or not on the stock tune. The engine and drivetrain are still 100% factory.
Since changing my shocks/struts/springs, the wheelhop is COMPLETELY 100% gone, and drag racing the car now is night-and-day different. Instead of bouncing the axle up and down so hard that my fillings were about to shake loose, the car just spins the tires and wiggles a bit on the gear change. So much better now. As I suspected/feared though, my crappy 305/25/20 are indeed a problem. With my manual transmission, 3.73 gears, and 26" tall tires - I'm hitting the limiter about 100' from the traps. I ride the limiter the rest of the way out, which is why I'm only trapping 106/107 mph instead of my previously consistent 110 mph. If I had a taller tire, or some more RPM, I'd be able to improve my times some more. As is most always the case, my fastest pass came right away in the morning, and I was unable to do better the rest of the day - even when launching in the other lane on a heavily prepped and VERY sticky surface.
Here are the rest of times for the day:
12.94 @ 105.69 mph - 1.971 60'
13.098 @ 106.18 mph - 2.084 60' (hot lap)
12.980 @ 106.06 mph - 1.989 60'
12.988 @ 106.07 mph - 1.934 60'
13.145 @ 106.04 mph - 2.077 60' (hot lap)
You can tell by the consistency of my mph how much the stock rev limiter is hurting me. Either way, I really had a great time at the track. I had forgotten how much fun it is. I'll definitely be back once I've got some stuff worked out, like tires or a tune. I think on slicks/skinnies I could get into the 12.50s with some work, even being a crappy driver. I'd also want to weld my axle tubes for a little extra comfort.
A little cooldown after the first pass.
Since no one was around. I could park my car pretty much anywhere I wanted and take pics.
What a great day. I wish all track days could be like this.
I ordered an MGW shifter a few weeks back, and it took a while to get here. Remember when shifters were installed with four bolts and it tooks 20 minutes? Not anymore. This thing is some kind of CNC masterpiece/monster.
Anyway, on to the install pics.
Here were are getting started:
Pull the console:
Remove the factory insulation to reveal the OEM shifter boot.
Yank that shifter boot and you can see the stock shifter.
After unbolting a bunch of crap from the bottom, plus the four bolts on top, you can pull it out.
Here's the OEM shifter assembly. It's a lower box, shifter handle, and rear mount.
Here it is next to the MGW monstrosity. The MGW really is a nice piece, and very well thought-out. They keep making improvements to it and releasing new designs. This is the latest.
After a ton of work underneath the car to get everything bolted in and attached to the shifter linkage, you can put this thing in.
OEM dust boot goes back in place.
Additional layer of mass-loaded vinyl lead-core sound deadener is provided. Pretty nice.
Put on the rest of the factory insulation and connect everything.
BAM! Done. Took about three hours on my back in the garage using jackstands. It also somes with a nice heat shield with extra sound deadener.
I only drove the car two miles, but my first impression is good. Only a tiny bit noisier than stock. Shift feel is firm and tight. The 2-3 shifter is VASTLY improved... no more missing third at the track. This thing has a big ol' spring in it to center the handle in neutral, which makes that shift much better. Now that I have a fancy shifter and some big sticky tires, I'm excited to get back to the track sometime.
Following the shifter install, it was time to move back to my old brake project.
The trouble with being a perfectionist is that I won't install anything unless it's just right. I had done the rear brakes a long time ago, and they went in without a hitch. Took about a day (because I'm slow), pulled the axles, installed the bigger anchors on the axle housing, swapped the big rotors on, and boom... done.
The fronts were super easy - except that I wanted to paint them because I didn't want boring black brakes. The flat ugly gray on the stock 14" Brembos was boring, and I wasn't going to go to all the trouble to swap on new ones unless I blinged 'em up a little bit. I went to the paint store and bought expensive automotive paint in 2000 Ford Mustang Sunburst Gold and 2011 Ford Mustang Race Red. I had the paint put in aerosol cans, and ordered custom-made Brembo logo stencils so I could paint the logos back on instead of using lame stickers. The trouble was, the first few times I tried painting the logos, the stupid cheap black spray paint I was using for the "Brembo" lettering kept peeling off or feathering at the edges when I pulled the stencils. The high quality Race Red paint was coming off perfect. After trying multiple times to get red logos with black lettering, I gave up and went with all red lettering. I'm actually really pleased with how it came out. I sprayed eight coats of clear on it too, which toned down the gold a little bit, and made it kind of similar to factory Brembo gold.
Here's the completed calipers after reassembly.
This is how I started off...
The factory 14" 4-piston Brembos were looking a little sad, oxidized a bit from the wheel cleaner my detailer uses.
I pulled everything off, and installed the tiny new heat shields, which essentially just protect the tie rod end from the heat of the rotor.
Here's a bigger shot of everything pulled off. My old calipers are hanging on a bunjee cord.
All my old brakes piled up on the floor.
This is the GIANT 15", 32-pound rotor installed, and my new caliper hanging from a bunjee cord.
Couple pics of the new brakes installed.
After I finished the install, my buddy Richard came by to help bleed them real quick. The kit from Ford even came with some new motorcraft fluid - it's a really nice complete kit. Here's what everything looks like with the wheels back on and the car on the ground.
...and the whole car with the fancy new brakes. I really like them!
This very long build thread brings us finally to February of 2016.
After picking up my shiny new Weld wheels from a buddy over the weekend, I couldn't wait to bolt 'em on and go for a spin. Unfortunately, my garage is a sad state of affairs these days without my giant compressor and associated air tools. To remedy this, I bought myself a Dewalt 18v cordless impact. It works like a champ.
And now, on to the pics...
The install begins:
Then a pile of wheels to be installed. These are Weld RTS model S77B. They're 18x5 up front and 17x10 in the rear, with Mickey Thompson 26x6 S/R radials and 315/35r17 ET Street Radial IIs.
We begin up front with some 15" 6-piston gold Brembo goodness, for it is everything that's right about brakes.
It was important to weigh everything so I could figure out how much I was actually gaining here. My 20x9 Forgestar F14s with 275/30R20 Hankook V12s were 53.4 pounds according to my fancy bathroom scale. The Welds came in at a relatively svelte 37.6 pounds. Not bad for an 18" wheel/tire combo. That's a savings of 15.8 pounds per wheel up front, or 31.6 pounds total.
Using a 1/4" spacer, the Welds clear my monster brakes no problem.
Then onto the rears. These rather large wheels are Forgestar F14s in 20x11 with 315/35R20 NItto NT05Rs. I absolutely love these tires. They are glorious, and tip the scales at 62 pounds. In a tribute to how (relatively) light the massive 20" Forgestars are, the 17" Welds came in only 8.8 pounds lighter at 53.2 pounds for a total savings of 17.6 pounds.
Total Forgestar weight: 230.8 pounds
Total Weld weight: 181.6 pounds
Total weight reduction: 49.2 pounds
Here's the finished product. It looks pretty racecar to me. Too bad it's still really slow. LOL The weight removed is still less than what I added when I installed my giant brakes, but I don't care. It'll look great going slow down the track. Some 2-piece rotors would be nice, but they're over a grand so that probably won't happen anytime soon.
I'm excited to take these to the strip and see what kind of gains I get from 'em. I drove about two miles on them and the car feels a little lighter on the nose to me, but I imagine that's all in my head anyway. Only the ET will tell the tale.
Thanks for reading my build thread.
Paul.
I originally bought my car back in May of 2012. I bought is used with 3,900 miles on it from a rich guy who got it off the showroom floor in some dealership in Tennessee, drove it all the way back to AZ, then used it to hold down the garage floor most of the time. I had owned nine other 5.0 mustangs (of the fox and SN95 variety) in my life, but had been driving a Honda Civic for a few years and missed having a cool car. I found the car on Autotrader on Thursday and looked at it on Friday morning. I fell in love with the glass roof and the shiny red paint and bought it.
The car was loaded from the factory:
- Glass Roof
- Brembos
- 3.73s
- Premium Package with 401A leather
- Navigation / Dual Zone AC / Heated Seats
- Accessory Package 5 (hood scoop, wing, side scoops and louvers)
- HIDs
- Shaker 1000
- Tape stripes
Original sticker was $42,650. I paid $36,000 private party with NO TAX! (or other BS dealer fees)
The first thing I bought was a Boss rear diffuser off Craigslist for $100. It would be just a bit before I got it installed though.
Then I got the windows tinted.
Then it was time to get those stripes off. I was never a fan.
Now you see it...
Now you don't!
That was the easiest thing ever. Pick up the corner with your fingernail, then peel. No heat gun. No hairdryer. Nothing. They peeled off clean on the hood scoop and wing, and left a bunch of sticky residue on the hood and trunk. Got the residue off with lacquer thinner, which wiped it off no problem.
Plus my new front valance arrived.
I liked it much better without them. Much cleaner look. Almost looked wider too.
Then it was time to install the new front valance and remove the louvers and scoops. A buddy of mine came by to help with this. The valance was a very simple install, but having two people definitely helped a couple times.
First, we pulled off the louvers. They are attached with very sophisticated velcro. Took about 90 seconds per side once we realized there was no 3M double-sided tape on there.
Then we pulled the side scoops off. These are indeed held on with double-sided tape, but it was nothing some string wouldn't cut through. Then we "rolled" the tape residue off, and cleaned it up with lacquer thinner.
Pull the bumper:
Lots of bumpers and grilles strewn about:
Old vs new:
New GT/CS valance and Saleen grille installed:
Rear GT/CS valance installed: (this is even easier than the front - you can pull the rear bumper in about 10 minutes)
I want to remove that ugly black plastic center thing from the trunk lid, but I would need something to go where the pony "gas cap" goes, so I either need to buy one or figure out a different plan. That's for another time.
Then my buddy detailed the car. He’s a professional, and I don’t have the patience or practice for such things.
With that behind me, it was time for wheels/tires/shocks/struts/mounts.
Since streetability and ride comfort where my chief concerns, I went with Koni Str.T shocks and struts, Steeda Sport springs, and GT500 mounts. This doesn’t lower the car too much, and retains excellent ride comfort.
For wheels, I bought some Forgestar F14s - Brushed Titanium 20x9 and 20x11. Machined face with powdercoated spokes/hoops. I had talked to the Forgestar guys at SEMA, and begged them to make this finish (which had been discontinued) for me. It took six weeks to get them.
The tires were Hankook Ventus V12 Evo Tires, 275/30/20 and 305/25/20. The rear tires were too short, which I remedied before too long.
Old wheels:
New wheels: (nothing had been cleaned/detailed yet, and this isn't the best pic ever)
Koni Str.t shocks and struts were installed, along with Steeda Ultralite springs and GT500 strut mounts. This is a very mild combo that only lowers the car 1" up front and 1.25" in back. The focus here is streetability (not too low) and ride quality.
Other than the coil spring compressor needed to get the strut/spring assemblies put together, this is a really easy job. The shocks and rear springs are stupid easy to do. I think it took maybe 30 minutes.
Strut Install:
Shock Install:
More pics:
There isn't really any caster/camber adjustment on the car unless you buy camber bolts or caster/camber plates. You can slot the struts a little if necessary. We checked toe, and amazingly, it was right about zero. The car tracks straight, isn't twitchy, and we literally did nothing with the alignment. This same shock/strut/spring setup on my buddy’s car produced 1.7* and 2.1* camber if I remember correctly.
The best thing about this was that THE WHEELHOP WAS GONE!!! I hammered on the car multiple times in first, second, and third gear, and never once got even a slight indication of wheelhop. It was so atrocious with the stock Brembo wheels that I didn't even need full throttle to get the axle hopping like a rabbit starting about 4500 rpm.
Now the car just goes. If the tires don't hook, they just spin, the ass end wiggles around a little, and I carry on. I bought the shocks, struts, and springs from Sam Strano at Stranoparts.com. He states on his website that this is the nicest ride quality setup around, and I can't disagree. There is almost no noticeable reduction in ride quality with the new setup, even with ridiculous 305/25/20s out back. I thought those rubber bands would be much more harsh than they actually are.
After that, I continued on with the cosmetic upgrades. Once this was complete, I had run out of ideas on stuff to do visually with the car.
I installed my Boss 302 front splitter, Roush rocker panel splitters on the sides, and GT500 mud flaps on the back. All in all, this is really easy to do. Jacking the car up is probably the most annoying part. The Boss splitter requires that you drill an assload of holes in the bottom of the GT/CS bumper for everything to bolt up, but I guarantee it won't ever come off. It's held on by 16 screws and 10 plastic push pins. The rocker splitters are held in by double-sided tape and 13 plastic push pins.
All in all, this took me about 4 hours to do. Anyway, on to the pics!
Before everything was installed:
After: (not the greatest pics cuz I was losing daylight)
Now the car looks the way I want it too. (save for some taller tires in the back)
After that tremendously difficult car thrash, I was feeling ambitious. So I got these LED bulbs for my dome lights.
Incandescent bulbs make baby jesus cry:
Old school vs new school:
These babies are bright, and the light is pure white as the driven snow:
Tah-dah!
Since this was been my first free Saturday in many months, I decided to clean up the car a little bit, wipe the barrels of the wheels down real good, and snap a few pictures.
With the car looking good, I moved onto some brake work.
Latemodel Restoration Supply (LRS) put the '13 Shelby GT500 brakes on sale, and I couldn't help myself...
When the new Shelby Brakes came out, the cheapest you could get them was through Tousley Ford, who had the fronts for about $1285 (if you knew all the part numbers) and the rears for about $525, so it was about $1810 plus shipping. When Latemodel Restoration first put them up for sale as a complete kit (fronts and rears) they were $2299. I was ready to buy them from Tousley, but decided to wait a little bit because I didn't want to shell out the coin.
Then, a couple weeks later, LRS dropped the price to $1699 for the whole kit, which is a ridiculous price for this setup. Only days later, the price had already increased to $1895, so I defnitely "got while the gettin' was good."
I ordered them on Thursday, June 13th 2013 along with all the stuff I needed for install. (like diff fluid, brake fluid, gaskets, etc) To make things even better, I used a 5% off coupon, so the total order (including all that extra stuff) was $1695.71 SHIPPED. Here's the breakdown:
- (2) Bottles Motorcraft Brake Fluid - $14.99
- (2) Bottles Royal Purple 75w90 Gear Oil, plus Motorcraft Friction Modifier - $44.99
- (1) Lube Locker 8.8 Rear Diff Gasket - $24.99
- (1) Ford M-2300-T Brake Kit - $1699.99
- 5% Discount Coupon (minus $89.25)
- Total = $1695.71
The brake fluid, diff fluid, and gasket all arrived prompty on Wednesday, June 19th. They are shipped by LRS. The brake kit is shipped via a freight company directly from Ford, and obviously takes a little longer. After a little delay because "the truck driver had exceeded his daily DOT hour limit" I got the brakes the 22nd.
Here's the big ol' box that it comes in, on a pallet. This box is HEAVY.
Lots of stuff inside there:
Here's all the stuff in the crate plus all the fluids I got earlier from LRS.
Another shot:
Dust Shields, brake lines, front rotor boxes, brake fluid and friction modifier:
Boxes full of calipers and anchors:
Diff fluid, new bolts, front brake lines, rear rotor boxes:
Front rotors. These things are shockingly large in person. (and freaking heavy!) It's nice that they're coated both around the center of the hat, and on the edges where the vanes are. They won't rust like crazy and look ugly.
15" and 32 pounds. Each.
Rears are 13.75" and XX pounds.
Boo yah. Front and rear calipers, and rear anchor brackets. I need to paint or powdercoat those rear anchors so they don't rust and look like crap. It looks like there was a little bit of moisture in the box, because one of the anchors already had a little rust on it.
Again - pictures don't do these things justice. They are so freaking huge.
Quick-change pads. Just pull the pins. Pretty cool.
Made it Italy, just for FoMoCo.
An attempt to show how big these calipers are:
Here's the whole front setup:
As a public service, I weighed everything so everyone knows what kind of weight they're adding when putting these things on. I'll also weigh all my old stuff when I pull it off. I used my bathroom scale, so these numbers are obviously just approximate.
- Front Rotors: 31.6 lbs, each
- Rear Rotors: 15.8 lbs, each
- Front Calipers: 16.6 lbs, with pads, each
- Rear Calipers 9.4 lbs, with pads, each
- Rear Anchors 5.0 lbs, each
- TOTAL WEIGHT: 156.8 Pounds
I suspect these will be substantially heavier than the stuff that comes off. Now I need to get a hold of some paint, sandpaper, brembo stencils, and prep stuff. I want to paint these 2000 Ford Mustang Sunburst Gold, with black lettering, and high-gloss clear. I might also buy a GT500 rear diff cover since I have to open the diff and pull the axles anyway. I'm pretty confident you can't get this much braking power at a better price anywhere. This will ensure I can always stop safely in the grocery store parking lot, and impress the ricers with wheels the size of my brakes.
Although I hadn’t installed all the brakes yet, I decided to buy some more visual/comfort mods.
My car had the "401A" premium leather package, which is an upgrade for even the "normal" GT Premium cars, and it comes with a nice leather-wrapped steering wheel with contrast stitching. However, the GT500s come with a SUPER nice alcantara and leather wheel. Levittown Ford had the complete assembly for only $181.21 shipped. This was direct plug-n-play with a simple install.
To go along with that, I bought the '13 GT500 Alcantara shift boot with white contrast stitching, which will match the stitching on my leather. I also got the Alcantara parking brake boot.
This will probably be worth about 20 horses.
At the tires.
Since my car is indeed a daily driver, which includes trips to Home Depot to pick up messy things like potted plants for my girlfriend, I got this handy-dandy trunk mat. I opened the box and it looks like Ford shipped me a Schnauzer as well. I guess that's a free gift.
I still hadn't installed my new '13 GT500 brakes that I got from LRS because I was going to repaint them, and had been trying to gather all the supplies I need for the job.
Here is $220 worth of exact-match paint and paint supplies from the automotive paint store, along with another $40 worth of custom-made stencils so I can paint the lettering back on the calipers instead of using decals, which I didn't really want to do. I bought a pint of Race Red and a pint of 2000 Ford Mustang Sunburst Gold, then had it put into aerosol cans so I can spray it easily. I also got paint supplies, (not shown) VHT Black (for lettering on the gold calipers) and VHT clear. I still need to get some VHT white. I'm going to repaint the 14" Brembos that are coming off just for fun because flat gray calipers are boring. The big set going on the car will be Sunburst gold with black lettering. The old set (going in the attic) will be Race Red with white lettering.
I asked around on eBay to find someone who would make me some custom stencils that are big enough for the massive '13 GT500 calipers, and after having bad luck with one who took my money and didn't ship me anything for over six weeks, I found another who got me exactly what I wanted in four days. At least I got my money back from the first guy.
Since I'd be pulling my axles to install the new rear brakes, I figured I'd get a nice new diff cover.
My rear brakes were totally shot. The car only had 16,000 miles on it, so I find this very odd; however, the dealership says "with these new ABS units" this is common. I dunno, but that's for another tech thread. So here's some pics of the OEM rear brakes before I started the tear down. Notice the damage to the rotors.
Here's the OEM panhard bar and diff cover. Since my car is lowered a bit, my axle wasn't centered.
Factory 3.73s.
My new adjustable panhard bar, which was later replaced by a quality unit from BMR.
After some work and a bit of a mess, the axles came out.
Old brakes and axle brackets removed. I pulled the anti-moan brackets after I snapped this picture since they're not used with the new axle brackets.
New, much larger axle brackets installed. Since my car is an '11 GT, I didn't have to remove the calipers. They are the same as the '13 GT500, so I figured there was no point in installing the new ones and having to bleed the brakes for nothing. Now I have an extra set of calipers.
I was going to powdercoat the brackets myself, but since I have to drive the car to work on Tuesday, I decided not to go to all the trouble of getting out all my powdercoating stuff and having to beadblast stuff.Here's the old rotors vs the new hotness. They are huge!
All finished up! Here's the pics.
New panhard bar installed, along with the GT500 diff cover.
New rear brakes all buttoned up.
I've been keeping track of the weight that comes off / goes on so I can see how much total weight got added. The OEM panhard bar weighs 7 pounds. My new one wasn't heavy enough to trigger my cheapo bathroom scale, so I don't know what the difference is there.
The old axle brackets and anti-moan brackets come in at 11 pounds. Since the new anchors are 5 pounds each, the big brackets are actually a pound lighter than the OEM stuff.
The old rotors are 13 pounds each, and the new ones are 15.8 pounds each, for a total of 5.6 pounds of added weight for the rotors. So taking away the pound saved in the axle bracketry, the 13.75" rear brake setup comes in a total of 4.6 pounds heavier than the old stuff. I probably saved most of that with my new panhard bar, so I think this was almost a neutral weight mod, plus it looks great!
I spent some time scrubbing my wheels down before I put 'em back on. Much better now. Still need taller tires though. The new brakes fill up the wheels much better. Looks like they belong there.
All done! The car looks so much more balanced with "matching" brakes front and back. My next project is to paint and install the new 15" 6 piston units, but that's for another day. Overall, a relatively straightforward install.
After the rear brakes, I tackled the very tough job of installing my GT500 interior bits and a few other things. This included my new '13 GT500 steering wheel, shifter boot, and parking brake boot, along with my rubber trunk mat and license plate frame. This install is worth approximately a thousand horsepowers and eight hundred torks.
So anyway, the new stuff is really nice, and fits well with the rest of my ultra-deluxe interior. I love it. Plus, this whole job takes a whopping half hour to do. Can't beat it, especially for the small amount of money it costs to buy all this crap.
OEM shifter boot from a 401A car:
OEM parking brake boot:
OEM steering wheel:
The center console simply unsnaps and pops out. Then unhook a couple electrical connections. I used a strap wrench to loosen the shifter ball.
The parking brake boot is easy too. Feel around the bottom where it snaps into the center console, and push the little retaining clips in while pulling up on the boot with your other hand. Take 10 seconds. Then it has a little elastic stretchy thing on the end of it that you need to open up a bit to slide it over the parking brake handle.
I did ream out the little plastic ring in the shifter boot a little so the shifter ball would counter sink into it. Not sure if I actually had to, but it seemed like a good idea. Here's some pics of everything installed. I really like it. It's got Alcantara. Say it to yourself... "All-can-tair-ahhhh." Yep, it's that good.
Just to make everyone jelly, here's the view out the roof.
I love it.New trunk mat. Should help everything stay clean. Neato.
Brushed stainless license plate cover. Serious business.
The car was still bone stock, but I thought I’d run it on the dyno to see how it did. After some cool down, the car made more power than I thought it would. The last run was 375 rwhp and 364 rwtq. That's pretty good for bone stock. I was expecting 360-365 rwhp, so I was pleased.
Run conditions were:
- 63 degrees Fahrenheit
- 28.90 in-Hg
- 18% Humidity
- SAE 1.00 Corrected
I also weighed the car at a buddy’s house. Here’s what the car had on it.
- 2011 Mustang GT
- Boss front valance and splitter, and rear valance
- GT/CS foglights
- Saleen grille (in place of stock grille/foglights)
- Roush side splitters
- Glass Roof
- 401A upgraded leather w/heated power seats (not Recaros)
- Navigation package
- Shaker 1000 stereo (NOT the really big one with the subwoofer)
- Brembo brakes (stock 14" 4-piston up front, 13.75" Shelby rear rotors and anchors
- JLT oil separator
- Aluminum adjustable panhard bar (lighter than stock)
- Aluminum GT500 diff cover (heavier than stock stamped steel)
- 20 x 9 and 20 x 11 Forgestar F14 wheels, Hankook 275/30/20 and 305/25/20
- About four gallons of gas in the tank
Very unsurprisingly, the car is a heavyweight. 3617 pounds.
Then it was onto the painting of the big Brembos.
First things first, I disassembled the calipers, removed the bridge pin, caliper pins, pads, and clips. Then I removed some stickers that Ford had on them with a razor blade, and took off the residue with paint thinner. Here's what they looked like.
Once that's done, you have to take a deep breath, and start ****ing up a perfectly good set of calipers. Don't forget to pull the bleeders. I did the face of the calipers with a sanding block, and the rest of it with red scotchbrite. I got a little overzealous on the edges with the scotchbrite and got down to metal. The paint isn't very thick at all.
Here's both the faces sanded off.
Once they were completely scuffed all over and there was no shiny paint left, I blew them off with my compressor, wiped them down a bit, and started masking off the surfaces that shouldn't get painted. I used my fiberglass tape that I use when I powdercoat because it doesn't leave a residue and it's easy to cut clean with a razor blade. Plus, I'm just used to working with it.
I masked off all the pistons, and portions of the inside of the caliper that nobody will ever see.
Don't forget to mask where the bridge bolt passes through the caliper up top.
The first of many light coats of Ford Sunburst Gold paint, with about seven minutes dry time between coats.
Gold paint complete.
Here's what they look like in the sun.
I had some stencils custom made to be big enough for these things.
Then masking...
Started painting the "Brembo" lettering black. I used hi-temp caliper paint, which I later learned would not work. More on that in a minute.
Brembo lettering painted. Time to start on the logo.
Brembo logo is next. I wanted to do this in Race Red to match my car, and have a nice little custom touch.
Here's what it looked like before I peeled off the stencil.
Unfortunately, there is where things went south. The Race Red paint that I had was hi-grade automotive paint that I had aerosolized in a paint store. When I peeled back the stencil, the red logo peeled perfectly and cleanly. However, the black lettering was another story. I didn't take a picture of it, but the black paint was more "rubbery" and peeled up all over the place. It looked terrible. It didn't adhere to the gold base paint AT ALL. It was so bad I was able to peel nearly all of it off just by pulling on the stencil and finishing it off with tweezers.
The rest of the brake install would be left to another day, and I moved onto another project.
I drove 250 miles to Indio Kalifornia to pick up a set of Ford Racing Recaro seats. A guy there had a set of the now-discontinued set that Ford offered for the 2011-2012 Mustangs with the part number M-63660005-MB. The new set for the 2013-2014 cars is PN M-63660005-MC, the difference being the "B" vs "C" in the last letter. The only difference between the two is the shape of the plug for the airbag modules in the sides of the seat, but I wanted mine to be perfectly plug 'n' play with what I have now factory, so this was the best choice. It prevents me from having to swap airbag modules from my current seats to these. Also, you can't simply re-wire the plugs because the wrong modules will result in an airbag light coming on. Don't want to mess with that madness. Plus, I got a decent deal on them at $2500 a set, which is cheaper than you could get them back then.
Strangely, as I've experienced with other Ford parts, they seem to come with pets inside the box. My trunk mat came with a Schnauzer, and these seats seem to have arrived with a certain very overweight gray cat. However, he seemed quite content with his placement, so I didn't disturb him.
The install project for these seats was quite involved, but the end result was awesome.
I picked up my package from FedEx containing 2012 GT500 leather takeoffs. These came from Rehagen Racing. I wanted the black / white stripe ones since my current interior is black with white stripes. I like it. It gives the interior a little definition instead of all black.
Front Seats:
Back Seats:
One of the Recaro covers has a very small tear right above the seam along the back of the seat. I'm not sure how noticeable this will be once it's installed, but I wish it wasn't there. Not sure what can even be done about this.
So it takes a certain level of crazy to start taking apart of a set of expensive seats, but I know in the end this will be awesome. I would eventually have power, adjustable lumbar, heated, leather Recaros. The Recaro seats in the Shelby GT500 are manual, not heated, and don't have adjustable lumbars. These will be the nicest OEM seats never installed in a Mustang, and they will work just like factory. I'm very excited to have this project done.
I removed the FRPP cloth skins last night using the write-up by TOB on SVTP. He's absolutely right that removing the harness pass-through clamshells is the hardest part. However, after you've done the first one, the last three are easy. I can do them in five minutes now. I used a broad, flat prybar (the one in TOBs thread) to push the clamshell up or down so I could see the small clip, then found that a pick or an awl is the easiest tool to pop the little plastic clips apart. Once they're apart, I push the pick right under the plastic tab and through the split between the two shells, and leave it there so it doesn't re-connect while I'm doing the other clips. So keep mind, it helps to have four picks.
I also did not heed TOBs warning about the little metal c-clip that retains the seatback adjustment lever. It popped, and went flying somewhere in my house. I've still not found it. Not sure how I'm going to remedy that situation yet. The other one I was more careful on.
Overall, disassembling the seats isn't hard at all. I was EXTREMELY careful and didn't damage anything at all. The dumbasses who slice the small holes in the fabric where they attach to the hooks in under the harness passthroughs are just lazy bastards. It only takes a minute more to carefully remove them without damaging them. If my new seat warmers were here from Tousley, I'd be knee-deep in doing the whole conversion right now, but I'll have to be patient. I'm sure reassembly is much more difficult than disassembly. Still, it's all pretty straightforward.
Here's my brand new FRPP cloth skins that I eventually sold on eBay for $270.
It would still be a couple weekends before I could start back on the project again.
My 2011 GT had the 401A leather option, but since I was doing the front Recaros anyway with Shelby leather, I wanted to retain the back seat and have it match. My car is a daily driver and boulevard cruiser, so I thought keeping the back seat was a good idea.
I forgot to take a picture of the rear seat installed before I began. To remove the seat cushion, just find the two plastic “posts” under the seat that install to the floor pan. Push on them to release, then just lift up and it comes out. Takes two seconds.
Here’s the seat back after the cushion is removed.
Here’s the pivot sold the seats can fold down. It’s held in a place by one bolt that you’ll need a 13mm socket to remove it.
You’ll also need to remove the two bolts on either side of the seats. Then the whole seat back pops out.
We’ll start with the back seat cushion.
When you flip it over, you’ll see a bunch of plastic clips holding the skin on. The pics below are not all-inclusive, but you get the idea.
There is also on plastic push-pin on either side of the seat.
I used a trim removal tool to pop this. Besides the 13mm socket, it’s actually the only other tool you need to do this whole job.
A few of the clips push into slots in the plastic seat base, rather than clipping on an edge. The trim removal tool can help with these, or a pair of long-nose pliers might help too. Still, it’s not hard. Once you’ve unclipped everything, you can just pull the skin off. I removed most of them, but the clips on the leading edge were a little tight so I started peeling the skin off from the back all the way around the front, then the clips came off easily. Here’s what you’re left with .
Then grab your new skin, and start re-installing everything. This is a pretty straightforward job, with a bit of tugging to get everything seated just right. (pun intended) Make sure you get the seams driven down into the grooves in the foam so the Velcro attaches and pulls everything tight. Here’s the finished seat cushion.
Sit back and take some satisfaction at completing the cushion, because the seat backs are a little more involved. Still not difficult, but it takes a little longer. Here’s your starting place.
Flip it over, and look at the corner for a small Velcro tab. You’ll need to unhook this.
Moving to the other corner, you’ll have the familiar plastic joints that are used all over the interior upholstery. They’re basically interlocking plastic tabs that you snap together and fold over to hold everything tight. Once you take one apart, you’ll see how they work and go back together. Lift up, and pry them apart. This corner one is easy and you can actually slide the two pieces apart.
More of the same with the large clip at the seat bottom.
Once you get it open, lift the flap and you’ll find some Velcro strips attached in the middle. Detach these.
Now you’re going to need to start pushing the skin up toward the top of the seat. You won’t be able to remove it entirely because it will be stuck under the headrest, which we’ll remove next.
Flip it over and you’ll see the foam pad.
Lift the foam pad and you’ll see a metal box. This whole assembly is what holds the headrests in place.
There are two plastic buttons just above the metal box. It helps to have another set of hands for this part. Push both buttons and have someone pull the headrest out of the seat back assembly.
Here’s a better look at what everything looks like without the cushion in the way.
Now we start on the headrest.
The two flaps at the bottom of the headrest just snap together. There’s a little groove in one flap, and a t-shaped tab in the other.
Seam pulled apart. Hecho en Mexico.
Carefully pull the material out from around the headrest pushbutton.
After that, all you do is pull the headrest internals out of the skin. Very easy. Here’s what you’re left with.
This was not made in America, or Mexico I would guess.
Reinstall the new cover, and your headrest is done. Then, back to the seat back.
Here’s the new Shelby skin installed. Don’t forget to lace the seatback release pull through the side of each seat so you can fold your seats down later.
Do that twice, and you’ll have a complete rear seat all done. Mine still had a few wrinkles in certain places, probably from being boxes up, but I think that will release over time with some good old fashioned Phoenix heat.
Then reinstall them in your car, and voila! Done!
Finally, you’ll have your old skins left over in case you ever want to return to stock, or sell them.
The whole job takes maybe a few hours. It's pretty darn easy I think. Definitely makes the interior look sharp. With the low cost and availability of takeoffs, it is definitely an excellent upgrade. You spend all your time in the interior, so might as well make it look nice.
After the back seats were done, I had some other projects. Some parts arrived in the mail.
Left - new evap system since my charcoal canister is cracked. This happened while the car was under warranty, but the dealer predictably told me to go **** myself. I might have hit something they said. Morons. Like I can hit something with the underside back of my car so hard that it would crack the canister residing safely BEHIND A HUGE PLASTIC SHIELD. Ridiculous. Meh, I don't have time/patience to fight with stupidity. The whole assembly was only $130 from Tousley.
Middle - new seat warmers to install on my Recaros! Planning on finishing up that project this weekend and enjoying my badass new seats.
Bottom - Roush rear splitters. They match my side splitters.
Top - front mud flaps.
Before all that stuff, I worked on my fancy new power, heated, adjustable lumbar Shelby leather Recaro swap.
Not gonna lie, this is kind of a lot of work. I started this project at 11:30 a.m., having already stripped the Recaros down previously, and didn’t finish until after 7 p.m. for JUST ONE SEAT. Of course, I was taking my time and stopped for lunch, but still, it was no picnic. My back is sore and my fingers are cut up.
…and it was so worth it.
Here’s my best shot at a how-to, keeping in mind that I’ve omitted the overwhelming majority of seat disassembly as Tob has covered that exhaustively already in his thread in the Shelby section on this forum. (Tob is the man BTW)
Here is my factory 401A black premium leather passenger seat. My car has the comfort package so both my front seats are power and heated.
First things first, remove the negative battery cable, and prepare yourself for some work. You need to remove the airbag fuse for safety and to help prevent a potential airbag light later. Or so I’m told. Don’t know where the interior fusebox is? I didn’t either. After some Google-Fu on the internetz, I discovered that it’s in the passenger kick panel. There’s a little door that you pull off, then a paper cover that is taped and velcro’d on.
Bam! Fusebox. Pull the red 10 amp fuse - #31. It’s already missing in this picture.
It’s that one – where the hole is. (your car may have less fuses than mine, I have pretty much all the options so virtually every slot is filled)
You can look at the map on the cover.
Then unbolt the four bolts (13mm and 15mm) that are holding the seat in place. If you have power seats, you actually might want to remove these bolts before you pull the batter so you can slide the seat forward/backward for easy access to the bolts. I did. Once that’s done, put on your weightlifting, and prepare to jack up your back. My OEM passenger seat weighed in at 57.8 pounds. (using my ultra-scientific bathroom scale)
I brought it inside, and flipped it on its side on the rug. Here’s what it looks like underneath.
Found this tag with a date on it. Neat.
I highly recommend you have a set of trim tools for this job. I bought this cheap seat at Harbor Freigh years ago and they’ve served me well.
Then, follow TOB’s incredibly detailed instructions on seat disassembly. This will take a little bit. DON’T LOSE THE DANG CLIP THAT HOLDS THE SEAT TILT LEVER! That thing loves to go flying and traverse different dimensions of time and space.
Once I was far enough along to split the seat back and bottom, I snapped a few pics of the seat heater wiring and connectors.
Note that the seat back heater goes through the upholstery. You have to disconnect it at the seat base, then pull it out.
Here’s the two seat heater connectors. The grey one does the seat back, the green one is the seat cushion heater.
Seat back and cushion are officially separated.
When you pull the cushion, it exposes the OCS. (occupant classification system)
Here’s a pic of the cushion and foam.
When you peel the leather back, you can see the seat heater. Note that these are not Velcro’d in like the Recaros. There appears to be a rod and some hog rings retaining the leather skins.
Here are the two bare seat bases before I started swapping stuff.
This is the Recaro OCS sensor. It looks quite a bit different from my OEM one.
It is riveted onto the frame.
This is the OCS sensor from my factory seat. It’s much larger, and held in with three rivets. Two up front and one through the top of the seat frame.
While the Recaro should be totally plug ‘n’ play as far as OCS systems go, I am paranoid, and figured I might as well swap everything since I’m neck-deep in this mess already anyway. Sooo, I started drilling rivets.
Pop the green push-pins holding the OCS bladder in place to reveal the top rivet.
There it is.
To remove the OCS bladder from the seat, you have to slide the connector retainer off of a metal tab on the seat. It’s held in by a very small metal tab that you just pry up gently with a screwdriver. Then it will slide right off. Disconnect the connectors too.
Should look like this.
Seat tracks with OCS removed before swappage occurs.
I don’t have a welder, and even if I did, I’m a colossally crappy welder, so rather than cut and re-weld the extra metal bolster supports from the Recaro to my original seat, I unbolted the “tops” of each seat track assembly and swapped them. Remove the four nuts on each seat track.
This is everything blown apart. Recaro manual track on left. OEM power assembly on right.
Recaro track.
OEM track. There is some wiring that you’ll need to remove using a trim tool so you can reinstall it on the new upper half from the Recaro.
Using my big rivet gun that I got to put new door handles on my foxbody notch, I riveted the OCS modules back onto the now-swapped upper halves. Then I reinstalled all the wiring.
This is the completed power, heated Recaro seat track.
Here are both seat tracks next to each other after the swap.
Now onto the seat warmer pads themselves. On the left is the seat back warmer. Right is seat bottom warmer.
Seat back warmer PN.
Seat bottom warmer PN.
Side-by-side upholstery.
Note that the cushions themselves are different. The Recaros have a Velcro groove in the bottom that the OEM seat cushion doesn’t.
This is problematic because the seat heater covers that groove completely.
The seat heater pads are held in place by double-side tape strips on either side of the pad. Lifting up the OEM pad, you’ll find a small recess cast into the foam to accommodate the heater element terminal thingy. This is also problematic because no such provision exists on the Shelby foam.
Time to get creative. Here you’ll notice the Velcro groove on the Recaro cushion that holds the leather skin tightly in place.
This strip sewn into the covers gets pushed down into that groove.
When I put the heater over the top of the cushion, I paid close attention to where the heater wire passed through the pad. There was a “straight” section where the wire itself didn’t interfere with the groove, but the pad did.
See what I’m talking about? The wires pass on either side of the groove.
I used a sharpie to draw some straight lines across the pad, paying close attention to avoid the heater wires. Then I grabbed my scissors, and got to cutting.
I got most of it out of the way. There was still a section in the center that had to remain because I can’t cut the wires. Still, most of the groove was exposed. This was a good thing.
Next up, I had to do something about making a recess in the foam for the little connector thingy.
After mocking it up, I used a sharpie to mark where I was gonna do some damage.
Then I used a razor blade to cut a little hole with a “pigtail” provision on it.
Then after taking some measurements, I VERY CAREFULLY cut away some of the material that gets pushed down into the groove. My goal was to ensure that it didn’t stick up too much and create a bump in the upholstery once installed. Don’t cut your expensive leather covers!
Then I mocked up the cover to see how it fit before I peeled the tape and installed the heater pad for the last time. It tucks in perfectly, and everything looks nice and toight. Toight like a Toiger.
Pull the cover back off. Flip the heater pad. Pull off the orange film to expose the tap.
Install the pad for the last time.
Install your leather, being careful to ensure that all the Velcro is pushed down into the grooves and is held tightly. If you don’t do this, your upholstery will look like crap.
Seat back heaters were next.
The seat back heaters have this weird gap in the middle, presumably to fit the architecture of the OEM seat backs I’m sure. However, since I didn’t disassemble the OEM seat backs (because they were held together with hog rings and rods) I don’t have pictures. I just tried to figure out how these pads might fit best on the Recaro foam. I used a sharpie to mark the wires to ensure I didn’t cut them.
I cut a slot in the top like I did before to provide for attaching the Velcro.
I didn’t want the big gap in the middle because it pushed the seat heater down pretty far to a section that your back wouldn’t be resting against while driving. I resolved that somehow I would bring the sections together, kinda like this.
So, I VERY CAREFULLY trimmed away all the pad around the wires so I could manipulate everything more easily and not create a lump in the upholstery. Not sure if this was the best solution, but it was the best I could come up with at the time.
Cut away a small section in the upholstery again.
Mock up a provision for the connector thingy again.
Cut the hole.
Made sure that things fit to my satisfaction, then installed the heater pad.
Installed the skin per TOB’s instructions. By the way TOB, thanks for the advice on zip-typing the leather flaps up where the clamshells pass through the seat. Mine were cut just like yours, and your trick worked perfectly. In this picture, you can see the seat heater connector on the left, and the yellow airbag connector on the right.
Bolt the halves together, and reconnect all of the various electrical connectors, harnesses, and clips. Then do any final reassembly per TOB’s instructions.
BAM! Here you have a heated, power, Shelby leather Recaro passenger seat. This is quite an endeavor, and this is a pretty expensive seat. The completed passenger seat weighs in at 62.2 pounds, which is 4.4 pounds heavier than the seat that came out. These are NOT lightweights.
After installing it in the car, I went for a quick drive with my girlfriend so she could verify that her butt was, in fact, being warmed by my new seats. She did confirm that she had a hot ass, and all was right with the world.
This was quite a bit of work, and even more money. However, the end result is worth it. I wonder if anyone else has done power / OEM heated Recaros yet? If not, hopefully someone will take the writeups by TOB and me and tackle it for themselves.
So a quick wrap up... Here's the breakdown of what it took to do this:
- OEM "Comfort Package" with dual power/heated seats
- (2) Upper and (2) Bottom seat heater pads from Tousley - ~$310
- FRPP Cloth Recaros, I paid $2500 private party. The best I've seen is about $2800 new
- Shelby Leather skins, I paid $800 from Rehagen because I wanted white stripes, which are a little more rare than all black
- About 20 hours of work total I think. You may be able to do it more quickly... I'm slow.
- Various small prying tools, trim tools, picks, screwdrivers, torx driver, 13mm and 15mm sockets
- Lots of patience and attention to detail
Everything works just like factory. The support on these seats is NIGHT AND DAY different from my stock 401A seats. They are so much more comfortable and supportive, and having the adjustable lumbar swapped into the Recaro is nice. It's a little soon to tell, but I have feeling this will be absolute favorite mod on the car. Having a nice seat and a nice steering wheel makes all the difference in a car - especially if you drive it daily like I do. I'm thrilled with the result. The heated seats are really nice too, except on a day like today where it was 85* in Phoenix while the rest of the country is under feet of snow and ice.
Overall, if you have the means, I highly recommend it.
Also, my new front mudflaps.
...and my new rear splitters.
This car has so many wings, it should be able to fly!!
Following that, I had another cheap visual mod. I swapped out the panel between the taillights on my trunk. My car came with the "Accessory Package 5" which included an existing trunk panel thingy, hood scoop, side window louvers, side scoops, and a rear wing. I’d already deleted the louvers and scoops, and I liked the OEM trunk panel on the '13s better than what I had on my car. I picked one up used, and installed it on my car.
Here's what my original one looked like:
I pulled it off, and removed all the residue from the double-sided tape. That took a while.
The '13 panel has a bunch of clips on the back that hold it to the trunk. The '11/'12 have no provisions for these clips, so I broke 'em all off with a pair of pliers, then ground them flat for good measure.
Then I slapped on some 3M double-sided tape used for securing this type of thing. (I subsequently swapped out the 3M double-sided tape, which didn’t hold, for some VHB which holds like crazy)
Then BAM, peel 'n' stick. Done! Easy swap.
My buddy Dan rented out the dragstrip so he and his crew could work the bugs out of his suspension in his super fast Chevy racetruck. It's been 6.90s at 210 mph in Vegas, but for some reason it's wanting to make right turns here at Firebird in Phoenix. It's got a Duttweiler twin turbo aluminum big block Chevrolet and a Chris Alston chassis running on a 10.5W tire. Plus, it's just super cool and I really like it. The paint is killer.
Anway, there were a grand total of three cars racing at the track - Dan's pickup, my mustang, and a slow Chevy. I gotta tell you, I've never been to a private track day, and this is the ONLY way to drag race. No lines. No tech. No hassle. No bullshit. No lines. No ricers. No nonsense. I love it.
I got there around 9 a.m. - the whole track was a ghost town all day. It was awesome.
Around 10:00 a.m., I decided to make my first couple of passes. This is the first time I've been down the track in well over a year, so I was all jittery and excited at the line. I missed third on my first pass and never got the timeslip. I hot-lapped it and lined up again immediately one minute later to make another pass. I left easy, hammered it, and speed-shifted my way down the track...
...and BAM!! My quickest pass ever, but quite a margin. My previous best was 13.282 @ 110.04 mph with a 2.184 60'.
12.917 at 107.34 mph
Here's my timeslip:
This was on a totally unprepped, cold lane, and a race weight of about 3820. My tank was full of 87 octane, but I don't know if that really makes a difference or not on the stock tune. The engine and drivetrain are still 100% factory.
Since changing my shocks/struts/springs, the wheelhop is COMPLETELY 100% gone, and drag racing the car now is night-and-day different. Instead of bouncing the axle up and down so hard that my fillings were about to shake loose, the car just spins the tires and wiggles a bit on the gear change. So much better now. As I suspected/feared though, my crappy 305/25/20 are indeed a problem. With my manual transmission, 3.73 gears, and 26" tall tires - I'm hitting the limiter about 100' from the traps. I ride the limiter the rest of the way out, which is why I'm only trapping 106/107 mph instead of my previously consistent 110 mph. If I had a taller tire, or some more RPM, I'd be able to improve my times some more. As is most always the case, my fastest pass came right away in the morning, and I was unable to do better the rest of the day - even when launching in the other lane on a heavily prepped and VERY sticky surface.
Here are the rest of times for the day:
12.94 @ 105.69 mph - 1.971 60'
13.098 @ 106.18 mph - 2.084 60' (hot lap)
12.980 @ 106.06 mph - 1.989 60'
12.988 @ 106.07 mph - 1.934 60'
13.145 @ 106.04 mph - 2.077 60' (hot lap)
You can tell by the consistency of my mph how much the stock rev limiter is hurting me. Either way, I really had a great time at the track. I had forgotten how much fun it is. I'll definitely be back once I've got some stuff worked out, like tires or a tune. I think on slicks/skinnies I could get into the 12.50s with some work, even being a crappy driver. I'd also want to weld my axle tubes for a little extra comfort.
A little cooldown after the first pass.
Since no one was around. I could park my car pretty much anywhere I wanted and take pics.
What a great day. I wish all track days could be like this.
I ordered an MGW shifter a few weeks back, and it took a while to get here. Remember when shifters were installed with four bolts and it tooks 20 minutes? Not anymore. This thing is some kind of CNC masterpiece/monster.
Anyway, on to the install pics.
Here were are getting started:
Pull the console:
Remove the factory insulation to reveal the OEM shifter boot.
Yank that shifter boot and you can see the stock shifter.
After unbolting a bunch of crap from the bottom, plus the four bolts on top, you can pull it out.
Here's the OEM shifter assembly. It's a lower box, shifter handle, and rear mount.
Here it is next to the MGW monstrosity. The MGW really is a nice piece, and very well thought-out. They keep making improvements to it and releasing new designs. This is the latest.
After a ton of work underneath the car to get everything bolted in and attached to the shifter linkage, you can put this thing in.
OEM dust boot goes back in place.
Additional layer of mass-loaded vinyl lead-core sound deadener is provided. Pretty nice.
Put on the rest of the factory insulation and connect everything.
BAM! Done. Took about three hours on my back in the garage using jackstands. It also somes with a nice heat shield with extra sound deadener.
I only drove the car two miles, but my first impression is good. Only a tiny bit noisier than stock. Shift feel is firm and tight. The 2-3 shifter is VASTLY improved... no more missing third at the track. This thing has a big ol' spring in it to center the handle in neutral, which makes that shift much better. Now that I have a fancy shifter and some big sticky tires, I'm excited to get back to the track sometime.
Following the shifter install, it was time to move back to my old brake project.
The trouble with being a perfectionist is that I won't install anything unless it's just right. I had done the rear brakes a long time ago, and they went in without a hitch. Took about a day (because I'm slow), pulled the axles, installed the bigger anchors on the axle housing, swapped the big rotors on, and boom... done.
The fronts were super easy - except that I wanted to paint them because I didn't want boring black brakes. The flat ugly gray on the stock 14" Brembos was boring, and I wasn't going to go to all the trouble to swap on new ones unless I blinged 'em up a little bit. I went to the paint store and bought expensive automotive paint in 2000 Ford Mustang Sunburst Gold and 2011 Ford Mustang Race Red. I had the paint put in aerosol cans, and ordered custom-made Brembo logo stencils so I could paint the logos back on instead of using lame stickers. The trouble was, the first few times I tried painting the logos, the stupid cheap black spray paint I was using for the "Brembo" lettering kept peeling off or feathering at the edges when I pulled the stencils. The high quality Race Red paint was coming off perfect. After trying multiple times to get red logos with black lettering, I gave up and went with all red lettering. I'm actually really pleased with how it came out. I sprayed eight coats of clear on it too, which toned down the gold a little bit, and made it kind of similar to factory Brembo gold.
Here's the completed calipers after reassembly.
This is how I started off...
The factory 14" 4-piston Brembos were looking a little sad, oxidized a bit from the wheel cleaner my detailer uses.
I pulled everything off, and installed the tiny new heat shields, which essentially just protect the tie rod end from the heat of the rotor.
Here's a bigger shot of everything pulled off. My old calipers are hanging on a bunjee cord.
All my old brakes piled up on the floor.
This is the GIANT 15", 32-pound rotor installed, and my new caliper hanging from a bunjee cord.
Couple pics of the new brakes installed.
After I finished the install, my buddy Richard came by to help bleed them real quick. The kit from Ford even came with some new motorcraft fluid - it's a really nice complete kit. Here's what everything looks like with the wheels back on and the car on the ground.
...and the whole car with the fancy new brakes. I really like them!
This very long build thread brings us finally to February of 2016.
After picking up my shiny new Weld wheels from a buddy over the weekend, I couldn't wait to bolt 'em on and go for a spin. Unfortunately, my garage is a sad state of affairs these days without my giant compressor and associated air tools. To remedy this, I bought myself a Dewalt 18v cordless impact. It works like a champ.
And now, on to the pics...
The install begins:
Then a pile of wheels to be installed. These are Weld RTS model S77B. They're 18x5 up front and 17x10 in the rear, with Mickey Thompson 26x6 S/R radials and 315/35r17 ET Street Radial IIs.
We begin up front with some 15" 6-piston gold Brembo goodness, for it is everything that's right about brakes.
It was important to weigh everything so I could figure out how much I was actually gaining here. My 20x9 Forgestar F14s with 275/30R20 Hankook V12s were 53.4 pounds according to my fancy bathroom scale. The Welds came in at a relatively svelte 37.6 pounds. Not bad for an 18" wheel/tire combo. That's a savings of 15.8 pounds per wheel up front, or 31.6 pounds total.
Using a 1/4" spacer, the Welds clear my monster brakes no problem.
Then onto the rears. These rather large wheels are Forgestar F14s in 20x11 with 315/35R20 NItto NT05Rs. I absolutely love these tires. They are glorious, and tip the scales at 62 pounds. In a tribute to how (relatively) light the massive 20" Forgestars are, the 17" Welds came in only 8.8 pounds lighter at 53.2 pounds for a total savings of 17.6 pounds.
Total Forgestar weight: 230.8 pounds
Total Weld weight: 181.6 pounds
Total weight reduction: 49.2 pounds
Here's the finished product. It looks pretty racecar to me. Too bad it's still really slow. LOL The weight removed is still less than what I added when I installed my giant brakes, but I don't care. It'll look great going slow down the track.
Some 2-piece rotors would be nice, but they're over a grand so that probably won't happen anytime soon.I'm excited to take these to the strip and see what kind of gains I get from 'em. I drove about two miles on them and the car feels a little lighter on the nose to me, but I imagine that's all in my head anyway. Only the ET will tell the tale.
Thanks for reading my build thread.
Paul.
