Grassroots level racer chasing his dream
Follow the development of The Unicorn, our flagship race car.
I have taken the time to amass a small cache of parts!!
2003 Mach 1 intake manifold + throttle body + throttle/cruise control cables + bracketry:
These parts will come in handy down the line a bit when the Supercharger enters the mix!
2004 Cobra timing cover
Freshly reworked 2003 Cobra cylinder heads
and it…….snowed?
Not much to see but I MADE my brake calipers SUBMIT to my will!! Now they fit the GT500 wheels. Also, installed the steering stuff and now it’s onto swapping the ABS pump and brake lines up front.
There wasn’t any progress made this past weekend due to being on call at work, I did pick up some brake lines, cam covers and a center console from a buddy. Also, since the unicorn was looking particularly crusty, I gave the unicorn a much needed bath. This led to blowing more paint off of the quarter panel but it has to come of anyway.
Finalized the vehicle wiring with the installation of the dashboard, steering column and door wiring. The rear seat belts have to be removed in order for the rear panels to be installed but I need to obtain a star bit set. I should be able to have that done and I can finish the interior with a roll bar and homemade rear seat delete. My buddy Austin has a center console for me from a 2003 Cobra. I’ll have to paint it grey to match before installing it. Soon, I’ll have the driver’s seat back in and it’ll be complete until I have some harnesses to install.
After weeks of researching modular engine combinations and a sneaking suspicion of my engines health, a new plan was hatched. After talking to my good buddy William Luketich, the decision was made to tear the 4V down and install a better rotating assembly. The new plan involves:
Upon engine disassembly, William discovered a few issues that would’ve eventually ruined the engine:
A blown head gasket!!
An exhaust valve was cracked and failure was likely eminent!!
These discoveries justified the rebuild, which I’m not excited for but is obviously necessary. The process will be slow but has the potential for greatness.
Also, the wife and I swapped the doors from Space Ghost to the Unicorn. This way the door locks will match the ignition key, the passenger window won’t fall off the track any longer and the paint is in much better shape. Hard to tell from this picture because it is very filthy. Also swapped in the HVAC box from the donor Cobra.
This past Friday, [9-29-17] I pulled the remaining ’95 specific wiring out of the Unicorn and began the assimilation of Space Ghost. This will take some time due to brake lines that need to be fabricated and other bits I’m sure to be missing.
What a mess!!!
Installing the wiring from the donor Cobra:
The ABS pump needs to be swapped out for the ’98 specific part, also the lower coolant overflow mount and that TFI module needs to be removed
Did not accomplish much Saturday [9-30-17] but managed to complete the wiring swap over.
Casualty:
Today I decided to take a plunge and swap the oil pump. Boy, this was quite the job and I’m very fortunate the engine was on a stand. To begin, the harmonic balancer, cam covers, oil pan and front engine cover had to be removed. Next, the crank trigger, timing tensioners, the chains, guides and crank gears were all removed. The oil pick up and pump were removed. So.. Then I had to phone a friend to set the timing and my buddy William came to my rescue with EXCELLENT information. It turned an intimidating job into a breeze.
All ‘done’
My wife can’t WAIT for me to put this into the car 🙂
Ok, I’ll stick to this and stop trying to be punny. Started the process by removing the remaining wiring harness and began taking the intake. That came to a halt when the coolant crossover protested. So, I moved on with other tasks, starting with the solid engine mounts from SMR.
The other side didn’t fit very well but that’s nothing my grinder can’t remedy.
After that issue, I test fit the header and it fits great. Then, I took the old filter off to install the start of an oil filter relocation setup.
Took a chance on another intake manifold that I happened to find on craigslist. The guy got it from a buddy with the intention to swap his 4.6 2V to a 4V. He lost interest, sold the car and listed the intake. He asked $65 and I happily agreed. As you can see, it has been painted and thoroughly cleaned. What I didn’t know until closer inspection at home was the fact someone cut the bottom off at some point and welded it back together. As it turns out, someone had shortened the intake runners by 1.75″!! For those who don’t know, that job will set you back roughly $700. What does this mean? This results in meaningful horsepower gains in the upper RPM range with a slight loss in low speed torque. This can be remedied with a steeper rear gear but that won’t be decided until after I drive it. Most people with similar modifications report rear wheel horsepower levels in the 285-305 range.
To get where we are going, we must not forget where we came from.
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010-2016
This weekend was quite productive given the fact I had limited time. Finalized the Maximum Motorsports #tubular k member installation after taking delivery of a replacement front control arm. The professionals at Maximum Motorsports take customer service very seriously, Jack Hidley accurately diagnosed the issue I was having and quickly rectified the situation. After that, I started putting the puzzle back together until I ran out of time today. Also had an opportunity to install the coolant crossover kit that Wonder Racing, LLC supplied me with. Kevin Shea offers top quality products at very competitive prices.
My first step was to prime and paint the spindles prior to installation. This would later prove to be done in error, but we’ll get back to that.
Along the way I managed to snag a nearly unobtainable 2000 Cobra R steering rack from BTM Autosport.
So, I have to drill the spindles out to accommodate the bump steer kit. This was the step I wasn’t aware of and missed early on.
This is the aforementioned coolant crossover mod from Wonder Racing, LLC.
I’m patiently awaiting a shipment from Maximum Motorsports to arrive this coming Friday. Taking advantage of this minor setback, I brought my spindles to work to be blasted and painted. Much to my dismay, the blast cabinet was too low on sand to be of any use to me so i settled for removing the dust shields and brought them home.
Further progress was made this past weekend by installing the MM k-member setup. This brought an issue to light with one of the control arms and after a conversation with Jack Hidley, will be rectified. As you can see in the pictures, the spindles aren’t installed. This is because I’m going to paint them prior to final assembly. Otherwise I need to purchase new sway bar endlinks, scrub some more old grease/grime from the subframe and button it up. During this time, rain bands from Hurricane Harvey were pushing through my area. In between downpours, I removed most everything from the front of the 4V in preparation to install a new oil pump.
Further disassembled the Unicorn to sell of some of the remaining pushrod specific parts. Next weekend I will install the Maximum Motorsports K-member, ’00 Cobra R steering rack and related parts. Also, assembled my engine stand and now the 32V has a sturdy place to live while I work on it. I’m also hoping to send Space Ghost to it’s final resting place next weekend. My intentions are to strip it completely and part ways with her.
The hood that Madd_Motorsports sent was wrapped in flat black vinyl so… We removed it!
Now that I am finished with my wife’s supercharger installation and subsequent tuning, I can shift my focus back to the Unicorn. Did some mid-summer cleaning in my workshop to make room for my 4.6 on an engine stand. Nothing like having a climate control workspace!!
Coming soon:
The DOHC, 4.6 is a very wide engine. In fact, it’s as wide as the old 385 series big block engines [429, 460, etc] and as a result, Ford switch to a hydroboost brake system instead of the traditional vacuum assisted setup. This meant that I had to update my ’95 GT to ’96-04 specifications to accommodate the added girth.
Upon closer inspection, I discovered some surface rust that had accumulated below the brake booster and needed to be dealt with. It appeared that there had been an undiscovered brake fluid leak and it really did a number on the paint.
The easiest way, which wasn’t really that easy at all, to reach the nuts securing the booster/master cylinder to the firewall was to remove the dash board assembly. This also paved the way for the upcoming dashboard and wiring harness swap from the donor car.
After removing the old parts, I was able to fully survey the rust damage.
Luckily, it was very superficial and I was able to clean it up nicely using a wire brush, some “Scotch Brite” pads and “elbow grease”. A quick coat of self etching primer and gloss white paint finished the job.
There is SO much work left to do!! Stay tuned for pictures of the upcoming engine, transmission installation!! We have also acquired a cowl hood to replace the current, well worn Cobra R hood. Next, we will be ditching the abused Cobra bumper and upgrading to something a little more aerodynamically suited for autocross.
Our friends over at Madd_Motorsports [IG: Madd_Motorsports] were happy to make us a deal we couldn’t refuse to trade some Maximum Motorsports suspension parts for this one-of-a-kind hood. Thanks guys!!
Brett and I were tossing ideas back and forth about a livery for my ride. This is a rough draft of what we came up with. He told me he’d be dissapoint if I didn’t do this.
I have been absorbing information on 4.6 4V engines at a rate that would make Johnny 5 jealous. In conversation with friends and different vendors, I have come up with a simple plan of action. I’m going to upgrade the oil pump, the oil pan and install a rear cylinder head cooling crossover mod. All of those are geared towards endurance and prolonging engine life. In addition, a set of long tube headers and an oil filter relocation kit will round out the first wave of modifications before installing the engine.
Vendors used:
Boundary Pump Division: 3V/GT500 oil pump with billet gears
BBK: Long tube headers
Wonder Racing, LLC: cylinder head cooling mod
Maximum Motorsports: oil filter relocation kit
We recently sold the complete engine package out of our ’95 GT after it had been sitting idle for a long period of time. In recent conversation with a friend, a deal was struck for it’s replacement. We procured the entire engine and drivetrain package from a wrecked 1998 SVT Cobra. For those unfamiliar with this particular setup, here are a few brief specifications:
4.6 4V & T-45 Transmission
The Unicorn is a 1995 Mustang GT that has had it’s fair share of abuse and neglect. It is my first Mustang and I’ve owned it since 2006. We’ve been through three engines, multiple suspension setups, took my wife on our “first date” in it, used it as a work car, a storage room and it is the #1 reason I have a few grey hairs in my 30’s. We’ve come a very long way together and still have such a long, long way to go. It doesn’t look like much, but it’s going to surprise a few people.