SN95 Black Betty Build Thread Profile - SN95 Mustangs

[steve_garnjobst]

I loved the feel of the old RE-71’s. Unfortunately, the new version doesn’t have the same sharp handling dynamics. Still a really good tire, but grip levels aren’t great on asphalt. They were pretty hard to drive at both Michelin Proving Grounds and Route 66 last year, plus all our local sites are asphalt.

In any case, the 200TW tire to have seems to change every couple years - so it pays to be flexible and pay attention to trends.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

Looks like I’m going to be pretty busy working on the Mustang the next few weeks, as parts have started showing up:

1. The Maier Racing fender flares are here. Need to get them fastened to the body, so I can figure out what metal to cut off.

2. The MM torque arm and panhard bar are showing up in a couple days. I’ll install the panhard bar, but have a good chassis shop to do the torque arm. I don’t like welding upside down without a lift, and the install process looks like it would be a bear with just a jack & jack stands.

3. Have Wilwood brake kits with two-piece rotors coming for front & rear. The stock brakes really do suck, so looking forward to the upgrade.

4. Also need to install a new clutch cable with adjuster. The current clutch release point is less than ideal, and I don’t currently have any way to adjust it.

Recently picked up a set of wireless corner weight scales, so should have a baseline car weight this weekend. Ultimate target weight is 2,960 lbs without driver, which would put me right at the minimum for CAMT

 

[steve_garnjobst]

My to-do list for Betty seems to keep getting longer by the day. The Wilwood brakes showed up this morning, and I already had the flares & torque arm to deal with.

Spent the day yesterday clearing out space in the garage and installing a new 30K BTU gas heater. It’s still cold in the Northland and my old bones don’t much care for working in a cold garage.

 

[302BOB]

Steve......My old bones don't like working in any kind of weather any more............and they don't get any argument from me..................

 

[steve_garnjobst]

Some new bling to install!
I’m really looking forward to decent brakes, as the stock ‘98 GT brakes aren’t very good.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

Did a baseline weigh-in for Betty today.
She came in at 3,170 lbs with 1/2 tank of gas.
That’s without the Wilwood brakes or MM torque arm, which probably cancel each other out.

So, Betty’s gonna need to go on a diet, but it will take me a while to trim the 200 lbs needed to be at the CAMT weight minimum. Plenty of other things to worry about first.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

Just finished replacing my clutch cable & quadrant, which was much more of an ordeal than expected. I needed to replace the cable with something adjustable, as the stock cable & upgraded clutch had the clutch engaging with the pedal barely an inch off the floor. Not ideal, and hard to drive.

Anyway, I got a BBK kit with adjustable cable, new quadrant, and firewall adjuster. Everything went in OK, but the pedal effort was ridiculously high, and I couldn’t seem to improve the situation with adjustments. After some research, I discovered this is apparently a common issue. I ordered a Ford Motorsports adjustable cable, and replaced the BBK cable & firewall adjuster while keeping the new quadrant. Instantly, clutch effort dropped and things worked as expected. It’s mystifying how the BBK cable could be so awful, as it seemed to have very little friction off the car. Problem fixed, so I’m not going to overthink it.

One additional note: I added some 1/2” ID nylon spacers to the shafts for the quadrant, to keep it properly aligned. The quadrant is apparently supposed to self-align, but the fit was sloppy enough that it seemed there would be potential for mis-alignment.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

I’ve never been fond of the Hurst shifter that came with Betty. Notchy, stiff & relatively long throws. Honestly, I can’t think of anything nice to say about this shifter.

I replaced it with an MGW shifter over the weekend, and what a difference! I was really surprised at the dramatic improvement in shift quality vs. the Hurst unit.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

The MM torque arm and panhard bar are finally installed! Had to do some exhaust system mods to fit the torque arm. Clearances are super tight - especially with a 3” exhaust.

Discovered the rear upper arms installed by the previous owner had hard poly bushings. No wonder the rear suspension was binding!

Loving the torque arm, but need to increase the rear spring rates. Have a full set of Koni DA coilovers on the way from MM. Couldn’t justify the extra cost for MCS, but wanted something reliable & serviceable. Also ordered new MM camber plates & rear shock mounts.

First event of the year is coming up on 04/27. Still need to install the Meier Racing flares so I have enough clearance for my race wheels/tires in front.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

Maier Racing front flares installed. Plenty of room for wide tires now. Fit was decent, but added a reinforcement bracket to the lower front corners to improve rigidity. Used rivnuts with stainless hardware, so maintenance/repairs should be easy.

Still need to get the rear flares installed, which should be a lot easier than the front.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Looks good , and I assume you are going to flare the rears also in the future? She is going to look awfully intimidating!

 

[dragoon]

Maier Racing front flares installed. Plenty of room for wide tires now. Fit was decent, but added a reinforcement bracket to the lower front corners to improve rigidity. Used rivnuts with stainless hardware, so maintenance/repairs should be easy.

Still need to get the rear flares installed, which should be a lot easier than the front.

View attachment 95757

Be careful with SS hardware with rivet nuts. A bit too tight and the SS could gall internal threads on nuts & then you’re SOL.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

Looks good , and I assume you are going to flare the rears also in the future? She is going to look awfully intimidating!

Rear flares are going on today - just in time for the drive to Peru, IN tomorrow for the SCCA CAM Challenge!

 

[Bill Pemberton]

Have fun, Peru is a great event site for Cone Careening. Good luck and look for DaveW and his SPS trailer there. I am sure he can give you some tips and CAM is such a fun group of wackos to run with -- and I say that with a little bit of envy!!

 

[blacksheep-1]

We had to run the stock rear suspension scheme in the NASA class that I was in. The Steeda 2X ball joints, springs and bumpsteer kit really transformed the handling. I would imagine going to that torque arm would be similar. FWIW, there's a less expensive option for the front brakes, it would be the Cobra R.
I've never been a fan of wilwoods on road course cars, but they have a following on oval track cars.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

The car’s starting to come together. We made it to Peru and back with no issues, and Michael trophied in CAMT with zero suspension tuning before our first runs. Two of three heats were wet, and the car was surprisingly good in the wet. Probably more due to the A052 tires, which really liked the damp, cool weather.


Attended a couple local events last weekend, and ran into a couple issues:


-The trunk-mounted battery box came loose on day one. Did a temporary fix and ordered a more sturdy long-term solution.

-the monster 35mm solid front bar on the car proved too stiff for tighter courses. It’s also not adjustable, so we had to run some fairly extreme shock & tire pressure settings to get the car rotating properly. Installing an adjustable Kenny Brown bar tomorrow, which should help balance the car out better.

 

[Bill Pemberton]

If you want some more " Lincoln, Ne. " seat time prior to the Nationals in September, the Nebraska Region hosts the Midwest Divisionals there in early August. You can check the calendar and at nrscca.com and it is a two day event and we usually run a couple of the past National courses ( sometimes backwards, ha ).

 

[steve_garnjobst]

If you want some more " Lincoln, Ne. " seat time prior to the Nationals in September, the Nebraska Region hosts the Midwest Divisionals there in early August. You can check the calendar and at nrscca.com and it is a two day event and we usually run a couple of the past National courses ( sometimes backwards, ha ).

I was just looking at the NRSCCA calendar for options in Lincoln prior to Nats. August 17-18 would be perfect if I didn’t already have a two day Metallica concert to attend that weekend.

The schedule seems a bit fuzzy on the MidDiv weekend. The NRSSCA calendar shows it on Aug 3-4, but the event isn’t listed on Motorsportreg. Anyone know if MidDivs are actually happening this year? On a related note, it seems SCCA Divisional events are slowly disappearing across the country.

-Steve

 

[PatientZero]

-the monster 35mm solid front bar on the car proved too stiff for tighter courses. It’s also not adjustable, so we had to run some fairly extreme shock & tire pressure settings to get the car rotating properly. Installing an adjustable Kenny Brown bar tomorrow, which should help balance the car out better.

You need to move some of your roll couple percentage to the rear. You almost can't get too stiff on the front with these cars. I'm using the Eibach front bar(which is the stiffest available to my knowledge) and I saw an improvement going from 425 to 450lb springs. Many people running higher than that for autox.

 

[steve_garnjobst]

You need to move some of your roll couple percentage to the rear. You almost can't get too stiff on the front with these cars. I'm using the Eibach front bar(which is the stiffest available to my knowledge) and I saw an improvement going from 425 to 450lb springs. Many people running higher than that for autox.

I’m running 450lb springs in front. My biggest issue with the car has been a lack of adjustability. The previous owner installed non-adjustable shocks and swaybars, which really limited quick in-event tuning options. We run everything from road courses to relatively small parking lots, so being able to easily adjust to site conditions is critical.

I’ve been methodically working my way through the car to improve the situation. Double adjustable struts/shocks were a big help. Getting an adjustable front bar is another step. I’ve also added other tunable parts like bump steer correction.

Been looking at adjustable rear bar options as well. Not sure I have space for the MM bar, which bolts to the axle housings.