88 XR Build Thread - Rose

[John Brennan]

"Well, will 'ya look at that?"

Lots of nice work on the car-- I feel appropriately guilty. But, it's just too damned hot to work on the car in the Southern Arizona Summer. I've got an mc2racing diff mount like that one that's gonna go on here SOON, 'cause we're finally seeing temps under 100* forecast for the next week...

I happen to believe that 215/45 16 is the perfect size for a hard-driven XR. Too bad the size is hard to find. Fronts for an NSX, I know that.

[cmouta]

Some photos from Track Night in America at Thompson Speedway Sept 2:





It was really rad when I noticed the coupler on the IC outlet was sitting on the ps bracket tensioner pulley and halfway eaten. Thank goodness for that Silicone Intakes 4ply construction. Fixed it up and made it in for the last half of my last session.

I felt bad for guys with really nice cars like that 911 or a Ferrari that was there. They were so worried about damaging their cars(rightfully so) that they weren't opening them up at all. Even on the straightaway I was walking this Ferarri and all happy for myself and then thinking "oh...he's not trying." It makes me so happy to have the XR as a second car that I just absolutely abuse as much as I can with my terrible driving.


And a video of one of my laps. Not very impressive driving but it was stupid fun. Two things I definitely need if I want to continue doing that sort of thing are better seats and a tach that doesn't bounce up and down on bumps and generally aggressive driving. Telemetry and knuckle cam were done by my Samsung Galaxy S3 and Harry's Laptimer App(thanks Ray, for posting that video and reminding me to download it). The data is a little off but it was hard to line up. You'd get one turn perfect and all the others would be off. Videos and data were all cut together on a PC using Racerender demo which has a 3 minute limit on the file you produce.

https://youtu.be/Vkxd0OXsMSA

[cmouta]

Last fall I drove my XR through a torrential downpour and my electrical started going a little crazy. I definitely plan to go through my grounds but I was also thinking my alternator is a bit exposed in the AC spot and no splash shield underneath.

I came across this guy's web site:
http://www.billsgarage.info/MustangMods.shtml

where he swings the alternator from the stock position over to the fender while still using the stock mustang belt. I emailed him and he says he has no problems with his power steering even though pulley contact is reduced. expanding on that, I started this mockup yesterday:



I think you can have your cake and eat it too. Seems to clear the hood fine. access to PS reservoir is there. I think the hanging weight of the alternator will keep it in place despite using only the pivot bolt for securing it. One could definitely make a little bracket to attach the alt to one of the PS pump bolts if so inclined.

My only hangup is the plumbing for my 2wd RS intercooler. Naturally I'm doing this for my 90deg rotated intake but I the couplers rub the belts a decent bit. Has anyone ever modified a 2wd cossie IC to push it closer to the front of the car? I was thinking of cutting the mounting brackets and and welding some beefy L brackets in the opposite direction to gain a little more engine bay access. has anyone tried anything similar?

[cmouta]

Looking at that tensioner photo..I wonder if relieving tension to change a belt will actually put tension on it in the opposite direction. I would need the tensioner to go left-right, not up-down in this situation. hrm.

[John Brennan]

This is an old Turboford trick they refer to as "flipping the alt." I hadn't seen a picture of it up 'til now, but it's as I expected-- and a way to make room for a 90* intake.

As to the 2WD Cossie IC and clearance, are you keeping A/C? If not, I'm sure the brackets could be shaved/relocated to push the thing forward.

[cmouta]

All the AC stuff is long gone. I hate to mod stock parts but I think I'll end up doing that next week. I need to get off my butt and install all these damn parts sitting on the shelf!

[cmouta]

Tried the stock 61.5" mustang belt and it is just a hare too short for the flipped Alternator. Also, I'm really really starting to hate using the pulley bolt to relieve tension. feels like I'm going to strip it out every time, especially when trying to fit a belt thats too small. I don't know how one would get it to fit unless it was a bit worn so I ordered a 62" that should be in soon.

Tried the stock location setup and I can't seem to figure out why the belt is rubbing the pivot bolt head. anyone have any ideas? Alternator won't go any more counter clockwise than that. it's resting on the ps bracket. It's better flipped, but still pretty damn close.


Is it a difference in PS brackets and tensioner pulleys? This PS bracket was from a 92 mustang 2.3. Maybe the 87-88 TC ones have better fit?
Pulled this image off google:

[cmouta]

Went back to AC location alternator. Replaced old leaky battery with new Walmart unit and my dimming headlight problems seem to have subsided. I've been battling with a screaming belt on startup that eventually goes away after warm-up since doing the serp conversion. Put a straight edge on crank to PS pulley and found I had it pressed in too much, apparently this one doesn't sit flush with shaft end. Pulled it out, still screamed so I finally replaced the dayco belt with a Goodyear gatorback which is actually now called Continental Elite belt:




No more belt noise! And only 20 bucks shipped on Amazon prime! Very impressed with a product that actually does what it claims and really wasn't that much more expensive than the regular belts.

After a track day last year where the car ran great, the car started bucking under boost like when I had the knock sensor plugged in. Except now I dont. Replaced plugs, wires, FPR and fuel filter and problem still exists. Lowered boost to 10psi from 17.5 and no more problem. Walbro fuel pump came in today from mc2racing so hopefully that will go in soon. Of course I filled the gas tank when going for a test drive so I have to DD the car to get back to low fuel. Thank God for the Continental belt!

[cmouta]

Finally got around to aligning my driveshaft this christmas break. I have a custom two piece T9 driveshaft with a T5 yoke welded on it that I picked up several years ago. Since I don't have a guibo, I can't do the stock procedure so per some comments somewhere on this forum, I used an android phone app called "bubble level" to measure the difference between the two shafts and shimmed the center support bearing down until they both read the same. I ended up at around -1.6 for both. Original alignment:


It very noticeably eliminated alot of highway vibration when I get on the go pedal. No more rear view mirror trembles! For side to side alignment I just moved the CSB until the U-joints at the tailshaft output were centered to each other, crudely measured with a digital dial caliper.

Its still pretty noisy on decel but I think that may be the nature of the beast. I don't have any experience with any other t5's to know for sure. My only thought was maybe there is too much play in my CSB? Choppy video for reference:


I also talked myself out of buying a used local 86 SVO T5. I think the gearing would be good with a 3.64 rear but my 3.36 rear with the high 1st and 2nd from my 88 2.3 T5 seem to do fine. I suppose I'll wait until I can't tolerate my 2nd gear popping out any longer before I make a switch.

[Matt01]

it looks like you're really set on installing a rotated intake, why not leave the alternator stock and go around it with the piping. Stinger sells the set up. 120 degree rotation.

http://www.stinger-performance.com/Pics/Rotated4.jpg

[cmouta]

Already have a nice rotated 90, the only hard part is going to be removing the egr pipe but that'll be easier with the Cossie housing install and maybe an e6 port job at the same time

[Matt01]

Already have a nice rotated 90, the only hard part is going to be removing the egr pipe but that'll be easier with the Cossie housing install and maybe an e6 port job at the same time

thats a 0/10 in difficulty. hammer a nickel into the EGR port on the intake. Go to a hardware store and buy a pipe thread plug for the exhaust manifold.

[cmouta]

the rotated intake already has the egr port welded up and I already have a plug for the exhaust. Its removing a rusty pipe fitting on the exhaust manifold without destroying the egr tube that is challenging. Cutting the pipe off at the manifold and getting a socket on the compression fitting is probably the easiest but I hate to destroy parts if I don't have to.

[Esteban]

Did you try installing the upper alternator mount to pull it closer to the engine so the belt doesn't contact the bolt head?

[cmouta]

Nope, I bailed on it, went back to AC location and bought a new battery. Had a ford sierra RS cutaway come up on my work laptop background with an alternator in the same place and thought "well if its good enough for those blokes, its good enough for me"

Seems to have cured my dimming headlight problems for now but I'm sure there is room for improved grounding and wiring.