🔧 BUILD LikeABauce302's 427 SBF Twin Turbo Build. 404 Error: LS Content Not Found

General Information

Since I've been on this site for awhile now, I figured its time to post up the project I've been working on. Some of you may recognize the car. The previous owner raced it quite a bit and ran it in the IMSM series.

Here is my 90 Mustang LX hatchback:

Mod list:

Engine:
-Stock block bored .040" over
-Stock crank
-Forged rods
-Forged pistons
-Balanced, machined, and assembled by Opel Engineering
-Edelbrock Performer RPM Heads
-Edelbrock Performer RPM II Intake
-Basically your typical stock block H/C/I SBF

Transmission:
-Freddy Brown Built AOD
-Manual valve body
-Transbrake
-3200 RPM stall converter

Front Suspension:
-AJE K-member and A-Arms
-94/95 Mustang spindles
-Moroso Trick springs
-Lakewood 90/10 shocks
-UPR Castor/Camber plates

Rear Suspension:
-TRZ double adjustable upper control arms
-TRZ single adjustable lower control arms
-stock springs
-Lakewood 70/30 shocks

Chassis and Rearend:
-Welded full length subframe connectors
-Welded torque boxes
-Aluminum driveshaft and safety loop
-Custom 9" rear end
-Roll cage soon to be installed

Brakes:
-Maximum Motorsports manual conversion kit
-94 Cobra master cylinder
-Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve
-Maximum Motorsports braided lines
-99 to 04 GT brakes all around

Wheels and Tires:
-Chrome Pony R Wheels
-Rear: 17x10 with 275/40/17 M/T ET Street Radials
-Front: 17x5.5 (narrowed by Weldcraft) with M&H Racemaster Radial Front Runners

There are probably a few things I'm missing. I bought the car in December of 2009 and it's been a work in progress ever since. It was a solid well built car when I bought it, but it needed some work to make it street driveable.

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How the engine bay looked when I first started working on it:
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Teardown and preparation for cleaning up the engine bay:
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Beginning to fill in all of the holes in the engine bay:
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Engine bay all finished:
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5 lug swap time:
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94 spindles all cleaned up and new hubs installed:
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Maximum Motorsports manual brake conversion with 94 Cobra master cylinder, and new UPR castor/camber plates:
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Finishing installing new brakes up front:
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Test fitting the new wheels
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I've still got some work to go. Before spring I'm going to freshen up the rear end and I'm planning on installing a Holley EFI system. If I have enough time and funds left over, I want to install a roll cage of some sort since I'm planning on running at the drag strip quite a bit.

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LikeABauce302

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2013
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Matt
I ran my wastegate back into the downpipe. Did just that little bit on my back and it was a huge pain in the ass. Because now you’re looking at things kind of upside down/backwards
Yeah I could see that. Perspective and vision is a lot better when you can be standing. I did my downpipes with the car lowered and front suspension loaded to make sure clearance wouldn't be a problem. It wasn't awful, but I did continue raising the car to get a better look at things once I confirmed control arm clearance was good.
 

LikeABauce302

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2013
5,926
16,513
South suburbs
Real Name
Matt
When's this beast making a pass?
I'm optimistic that I'll have it running before this season is over, but I still have a lot of work to do and I only get 3-4 hours per week to work on the car.

My to do list off the top of my head:

- fab the cold side
- plumb the fuel system
- plumb and wire the wastegate solenoids
- plumb and rewire the nitrous system
- figure out how to plumb the turbo oil drain lines with a scavenge pump so it doesn't smoke like crazy.
- install the parachute, window net, engine diaper, and trans blanket

Once I'm finished, my buddy who's going to help me tune it wants me to trailer it to his shop for first startup so him and the engine builder can check everything over.
 

LikeABauce302

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2013
5,926
16,513
South suburbs
Real Name
Matt
I still have some to-dos, I prioritized getting the car drivable.
That's what I'm considering at this point. I may wait to do the safety stuff over the winter and just get the car rolling under its own power this year. Then I can focus on the smaller details over winter and get it ready to make a pass next spring.
 

LikeABauce302

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2013
5,926
16,513
South suburbs
Real Name
Matt
I'm still working on this turd a little by little as I find a spare hour here and there to knock out a couple of welds at a time.

I have about 85% of the hot side fully welded. I finished welding the exhaust and the driver's side downpipe. I still have to weld the passenger side downpipe and the piping between the headers and turbos.

Last night I reinstalled the driver's side downpipe after fully welding it and as expected, it warped just a little bit. It still clears the k-member, but created just enough of a gap at the mid pipe V-band that it probably won't seal. I bought a flex pipe to section into the midpipe to fix the issue.

My welding is starting to get pretty good compared to when I started. I'm learning and improving each time I pick up the torch. The biggest challenge is not having a great welding table or fixtures to hold some of the more complicated pieces. You can see some scratches on the tubing from where I was trying to get the part to stay in place while I weld.

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LikeABauce302

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2013
5,926
16,513
South suburbs
Real Name
Matt
Thank you everyone!

Welding in shoes with no socks?

Real men TIG weld barefoot so you can feel the power going through your sole
I generally make it a habit to break any and all OSHA rules in my home garage. Although I always wear safety glasses when doing questionably safe things with my Harbor Freight tools.

you gonna bring it sunday?

I wish I could. Realistically I could probably have this car running if I called in sick from work and scrambled on the car for the next 4-5 days. I'm getting closer and closer to being able to fire it up. It's been really hard to find more than an hour or two per week to work on it lately.
 

LikeABauce302

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2013
5,926
16,513
South suburbs
Real Name
Matt
Made a little more progress in the last week. I finished welding the hot side yesterday and now I have to make a minor adjustment due to a little bit of warping. On the passenger side mid pipe, I have to cut it and extend it about 3/16" for the V-band flange to meet the downpipe. I also had to cut off the passenger side turbo mount from the frame rail and need to reweld it in a slightly different position.

I'm getting more confident with the welder each time I pick up the torch, so I'm optimistic that I'll be able to figure out how to weld aluminum pretty quickly and I'll be able to get my cold side done myself without much, if any, outside help.

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