Mods begin again

[Cman01]

Hey J, yeah I'll call it a success even though I didn't get the BMR in yet. The stock K actually came out easier than I thought............GF helped with working the jack while I was underneath checking the control arms and clearances as it came down. Other wood blocks and spare tire jacks helped hold the back part of the K as the front came down.

The BMR K has the parts loosely attached on it (nothing bolted down as of yet), I have to hit a bolts place for some extra washers that BMR didn't supply with the bolt kit (that should've been included) so I'll take care of that first before bolting it back up.

Enough posting for now..................back to the race.

 

[Cman01]

The new K is in!!!!!!

You'll notice my neighbour's bike stand is NOT holding the engine up now. I still have to torque down the K member bolts but they are tightened enough to hold the K.

The rest of the bolts for the engine mounts, suspension, EPAS still need to be torqued but again they are tightened enough to hold them in place. Still have to install my BMR CB004 brace from the K to the Steeda rad support.

No biggie from here on...............the rest of it now is cake.

 

[Bearbo]

Nicely done.

 

[Cman01]

Thanks, seeing it installed with the other stuff attached to it now shows me that I probably could have just installed the K by itself then put the arms on, tighten the bolts then install the EPAS box.

Having everything on there now makes it quite tricky to tighten the front control arm bolts since the tie rods are now in the way (very hard if almost impossible to get my ratchet and torque wrench there to tighten the bolts). I can use my combo wrenches but I doubt I can get up to the 126+ ft/lbs torque this way.

Always a challenge to work around when modding...............(yes pulling the EPAS box now to get the control arm bolts tighten will get it done but not an option now....................not going backwards).

 

[Cman01]

Did some more work on it today. K is torqued down, EPAS torqued down, BMR CB004 brace installed and torqued down. Only have the control arm fasteners left to torque down and this part of the project will be done!!!!

Had to hit a bolts place again to get longer bolts so I can reinstall my Steeda G trac brace to the new K.

I test fitted 1 of the underside splash shields and it looks like some minor trimming will be needed for it to fit like factory, will get to that after I'm done with the VMP HE. I want the 2 OE splash shields to be back on the car after I'm done under there so it's not obvious that I've changed out the K from the stock one. It also keeps the aero working properly under there.

 

[Cman01]

K member is all done, finished up tightening the control arms today (yes I lifted up the arms with the jack before torquing the bolts). Hope I don't get any noise issues with my stock arms once the car comes out.

Tomorrow I'll start the VMP HE install by removing the bumper and also install the rear cover plate for my CHE axle brace.

More pics coming soon......

 

[biminiLX]

Nice work Tony. No noise here stock arms with BMR k- member.
Bring on spring driving!
-J

 

[Cman01]

Didn't get to removing the bumper yesterday to start HE install so I'll get to that later this week, however I did install the diff cover brace part of the CHE axle brace but I have to hit the bolt place again and get longer 5/16" x 18 bolts to replace the stud/nut setup supplied by CHE. I'm supposed to use them instead when removing the lower 5 bolts on the diff cover to install the brace but after looking at it more closely I could just get longer bolts and bolt the brace down to the alum. cover.

When your Shelby has the track pkg, some studs are difficult to install correctly due to the diff cooler lines being in the way and also your wire harness for the sensor on the pass. side of the cover doesn't go back in the original positon like factory. Getting longer bolts will solve the problem.

Since I have changed my diff oil once already, the 5 bolts were a pain to remove and showed signs of silicone sealant near the threads also. I really should run a tap through those holes to clean out the threads so they thread back on easier, again with the diff cooler lines in the way of some of the holes chasing the threads is near impossible. When my car goes in for the gear install I'll ask the guy once he takes my diff apart whether he'll let me in the shop and do the thread chasing myself while he re & re my gearset.

 

[Cman01]

The diff cover plate for the CHE axle brace is properly installed now, picked up 5 5/16" x 18 1/4" longer graded bolts and removed the stud/nut setup that CHE supplied with the brace and installed the purchased bolts.

Looks much better and makes re & re ing the plate a lot easier, wire harness reinstalled back into the OE locations (not possible using the studs).

VMP HE install is on deck!!!!!

 

[Cman01]

Front bumper is removed, I'll continue the VMP HE install tomorrow. Would like to get it on the car and wire harness installed and call it a day. Pics tomorrow.

 

[me32]

Looking great. What is the silver/grey brace on the rear of the kmember?

 

[Cman01]

My car has the Steeda lightweight rad support brace and G trac brace. I was using the G trac brace with the stock K and kept it on the car with the BMR K.

 

[eagle eye]

Looks great Tony. Is there much of a weight reduction going with the BMR K member?
It appears you found a way to make the winters just a little shorter.

 

[Cman01]

Stock K with engine mounts weights 50 lbs. BMR K is half that weight + my Steeda rad support and Odyssey lightweight battery mod means I'll drop about 50 lbs. off the front end of the car.

Yeah I'm trying to make it shorter. This winter was kinda brutal. These parts have been sitting in the house for like months or so before I started installing them on the car. I would like to get the garage mods done before the end of the month so I can get the car back in 1 piece and driveable.

 

[Cman01]

VMP HE is in. Not totally done yet should be able to finish it up tomorrow. Right now gotta hit a parts place and/or hardware store to find a fitting to connect the driver's side hose to the bottom fitting on the HE.

Some pics (I'll be back later to explain a couple things re: my particular VMP HE install.

 

[Cman01]

I should be able to finish up the VMP install tomorrow. Didn't get that elbow fitting I needed so I removed the OE hose from the IC pump and installed the supplied 3/4" heater hose cut to length to the bottom HE fitting on the driver's side. It was a total PITA to remove and install those hoses but in the end it was better to do it that way vs. keeping the OE hose there and adding an elbow barb fitting and having 2 places that could leak.

The stock pass. HE hose was rerouted up over the frame rail following the instructions provided but the opening where the hose goes through I find that the metal rad support area there would pitch the hose a bit so I bent it away from the hose.

Everything with the wire harness bolted up pretty nice and zipped tied out of the way of things.

Overall the VMP HE installed pretty nice on my Shelby and looks pretty good. I just need to trim those 2 grille pieces, add coolant, jump the relay to test operation and check for leaks then I can put the bumper back on and my garage mod fest will be done.

Can't wait for the warmer weather to get here and have the car out.

 

[Cman01]

Added my coolant back into the reservoir earlier today and jumped the relay and it works!!!!!!

The fans aren't as loud as I was expecting so that's a plus and the IC pump started sucking the coolant in as I continued to fill the tank, at a certain point the coolant level stabilized but I could still see tiny air bubbles coming out of the hose in the tank and level would slowly drop so I keep adding tiny amounts of coolant till it reached the bottom line.

I will jump the relay again later in the week and see if the level drops or not but right now it works and there's no leaks. Pretty happy with that.

Should be able to put the bumper back on this coming weekend, then deal with the splash shields underneath and this part of my garage mod fest will be done.

 

[Cman01]

Bumper is back on and the front splash shield is attached. Amazingly that piece doesn't need any modding for it to go back on however the rear one will need some modding.

For now I'm going to leave that piece off and will try to find another one from the boneyard and I'll mod that one to use.

Car is pretty well ready to come back out from storage now, only 1 more thing I need to do before that happens.........................brake fluid flush.

Tony

 

[Cman01]

The rest of my CHE axle brace will get installed tomorrow at my friend Mr. GM Freak's work and also my Lethal OTA pipes.

I've made an appointment with the shop I chose to do my 3:90 gear swap that will be happening in the middle of June (have a week off work during that time).

In the process of finding some tires/slicks for my RPF1's so after the above stuff is done I can try it out at the strip.

 

[Cman01]

Brace and axle pipes are in. The brace took a little longer to install than it should, again welcome to the world of modding things that "bolt in" don't always "bolt in".

I have pics and more explanations later today I got home late last night after everything was done and wasn't in the mood to deal with posting pics and explaining stuff.