Glad you found one...

Went into Rockauto.com to see if they have any (curious) and found this...

Apparently that hanger is also used on the Volvo's...

 

I found options online, including Rock Auto. Their shipping never works out for me. It was going to take like 6 days for $10 shipping, or I could expedite to Thursday delivery, and pay more than I just did. WMW had really good pricing, but it would be the weekend before I got them from the east coast.

Parts are on hand, install should be finished tonight.

 

Nice! There is a RockAuto wearhouse nearby, not sure exactly where but I recall ordering something for the ram and having it the next day.

so now that my right side axle is done, onto the next problem, intermittent p1498. Research says could be a vacuum leak. I did note that at idle it only pulls 8" of vacuum which seems low to me. Going to do some drive testing to see if I can narrow it down. When the bad axle was in there, did not have the code and I suspect it was because I was kind to it lol. Was not so kind yesterday.

 

Install 95% complete...

The tips still touch the black plastic.

Took it for a test drive anyway, because it wasn't rattling, and who knows--maybe I'll get lucky.🙄

We'll, the plastic has now been heat-contoured to match the curves of the tips. 😲😂

Other than that, I'm really happy!

1. I got my burbles and pops back! When I installed my CAI, my exhaust smoothed out, and was hard to hear over the whine from the front. Now, it's a sweet duet!
2. Possibly just the power of suggestion, but it happened 3 different times on a familiar stretch of test road, so it might be real--it seems like I'm winding/revving a lot faster. I bumped redline 3 times when I wasn't ready for it yet.
3. She sounds sweet!!! Like a proper British street punk should. 😁👌

I'll adjust over the weekend. For now, I'm happy.

 

Finally got time tonight to get the car back on jackstands.

I adjusted the tips away from the rear bumper by putting spacers in the inside rear hangers (the ones I had to replace).

Also had an issue to address with the cat hitting my X-brace under hard acceleration. I loosened the clamp joining the two pipe sections, then pushed the front pipe forward about 1/2". I also did a little clearancing on the brace itself.

The final step to eliminate any contact between exhaust and X-brace was installing the new Vibratronics engine mount. I didn't have signs of leaking, but got $100 off a new mount from a member in the marketplace. I assumed with 90k on the car, it was just a matter of time, and who can pass up a good deal on performance mods, right?!

The combination of exhaust adjustment, clearancing, and new motor mount eliminated my contact. The mount does add a little more NVH, but nothing too objectionable. Between the new upper mount, my lower mount, the X-brace and srut tower brace, I'm really liking how tight and solid the front end feels.

I was surprised to find that the mount I took out looks like new, which means it probably is. I'm guessing when I had the engine and trans out when I bought it a year and a half ago to do the clutch, and all the other leaks fixes, etc, I must have had them put in a new mount too. 🤔🤦‍♂️

Stop me before I mod again!

 

We at NA kindly refuse this request :P

Keep on modding!

 

@Husky44 you need a tint... had mine done not long ago before parking it, $200 for all 5 windows.

 

Finally installed the cabrio braces this weekend.

Also doing some interior dechroming and painting, but that is not ready for publication yet.


Trying to be DONE under the hood. At least for a while. 😉

 

Just a follow up for anyone who might surf in here one day looking for info on the cabrio braces.

Stiffening up the chassis was one of my biggest priorities. My general philosophy with motorsports has always been I wanted the flexing to take place in the suspension components that are designed to flex, and everything else to be as rigid as possible.

I've been running the strut tower brace and X-brace for a while, and have been pretty happy with how those tightened up the chassis flex. I had been wanting to do the cabrio braces for a while, as I had read so many positive reviews, and because it makes sense from a design standpoint.

After install, I have to say that the cabrio braces on top of the strut tower brace and X-brace doesn't seem to make a discernable difference. The previous two mods both gave me a noticeable difference in reducing flex, and eliminating some of the noise that seems to come with the flex. All that to say, those two mods I believe add value; and I believe that others have had a perceivable difference with the cabrio braces without the X-brace, but if I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't spend the money on the cabrio braces.

But now that their painted and installed, they're staying.

 

Looking very sharp!

For what it's worth, I did the cabrio braces and OMP braces first, and they made a large noticeable difference. I later added the M7 strut brace and another mid-cross brace, and each addition was less and less noticeable.

 

Been working on this for a few days now. I initially wrapped my dash pieces with a 3M blue wrap. It was a bigger challenge than I expected, but it came out pretty good. However, the blue wasn't an exact match to Hyper Blue. I thought since it was in the interior, I could live with it, but it was noticeable to me. So I took out the dash panels and all of the chrome rings so I could paint them.

Lessons learned: the "patina look" dash is a wrap-like coating. Don't paint over it. Paint causes the coating to release from the plastic underneath, and cracks like a shattered window when it does. If you're going to paint anything with the "patina look" finish, strip it ALL THE WAY DOWN. Even then, I had challenges with the finish. Best advice: Take your time. Let your primer cure for a few days, then go back and apply your base coat and clear.

Painting the chrome bits was MUCH easier. I went with a good scuff, adhesion promoter, then base coat directly over that (no primer). Clear coat can go on an hour later, but let everything sit for a few days to cure (don't get in a hurry like me... It'll look like it's cured, until you start doing the install, then you'll smoosh finger prints into the clear.

I had planned to do the plastic on the door skins as well, but, I'm taking a break for a while.

I decided I wanted to bring the red accents into the interior as well... But I knew I needed to be careful, because a little red can go a long way. Initially I was thinking the console upright tubes, chrome rings in the center console, all sorts of stuff. I decided to scale WAAAYYY back. I did some red accent stripes on the hazard switch and whatever that other button is on the left of the Nav screen (what the heck is that thing???). Also did the plastic bits on the e brake handle, and the trim between the two column gauges (not sure I like that, but I'm leaving it for a while--it doesn't necessarily look bad, but it's distracting while driving).

The final piece is my new Raceseng shift ****. I looked and looked for a decent quality replacement **** for our cars. My factory **** was, in British technical terms, "knackered." The leather had peeled off, the chrome was trashed... I thought about trying to do a custom paint job, but at the end of the day, getting paint to adhere well to something that's designed to have your grubby hands all over it repeatedly forever just didn't seem like a good plan. After a whole lot of searching, and finding either really cheap crap, or really, really expensive, and not much in between, I kept coming back to Raceseng. ECS sells them, but you can order direct from Raceseng for the same pricing, and they give a military discount if you email them proof of service. That got me into the realm of not-insanely-expensive, and it's my birthday so Happy Birthday to ME!!! I picked their gloss red Slammer model. Holy crap, this thing could be a weapon! It's HEAVY! But really well made.

So, on to the pics:


Shift **** color might not be an exact match to the red paint I used for the accents, but if you say anything about it I'll take the **** off and beat you with it.



I'm taking a break for a while. I've got a catch can on the bench, but it can wait. I do need to get the hood opened--the DS latch isn't releasing. I'm guessing I managed to mess it up when I installed the cabrio braces. And I've got an annoying knock in the rear suspension that I need to chase down. But then it's back to the Mustang for a while.

 

Nice paint work on the interior.

The button is the dimmer switch for the dash and gauge lights. It’s sequential and will dim with each push (4 levels??) and holding the button will increase the brightness. Not sure, but it might also roll back to full brightness when pushing the button through the dimming levels.

 

Thanks!

I figured it was a dimmer switch by looking at the picture. Funny how many times I've taken the trim ring off and on, and do 9 think I've ever once paid attention to its actual function before. 🤔🤣

 

Changed out my headlight rings for body color. I like it better than the blacked out look I had before.


Previous look

 

Yep looks way better on your paint scheme!

 

" ECS sells them, but you can order direct from Raceseng for the same pricing, and they give a military discount if you email them proof of service." We do military discounts also, just have to call in.