Black Jack: The show must go on... Installing the TMOSS GT40 Lower

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Just finished up the Cobra brakes, and the pull to the left on initial braking and pull to the right while letting off is gone! The pedal is nicely firm & responsive for normal driving. But, even after bedding the pads & adjusting the prop valve for correct front/rear bias, it takes a ton of pedal effort to get to the braking threshold before lockup... It's too much! My leg would be exhausted on a track day. I think I'll check vacuum & if that looks fine, then I'll convert to the 94 Cobra MC, even with the 93 Cobra booster.

Please help with cruise control:
Biggest problem is the Cruise control no longer works. I've tested continuity in the wiring from the trans through the Dakota converter & back to the point it goes into the wiring harness and everything checks out. Fuses are all good. I noticed the brake lights are just a hair from triggering. Is it possible that the brake switch/signal to turn off the cruise control activates before the brake lights would turn on? Can I pull a fuse or something to eliminate the brake switch from signaling the cruise control to turn off?
Cruise control is working again, and the pedal effort for threshold braking was cut to about 1/3 of the previous effort. No MC swap will be necessary, now. Both issues were thanks to the misadjusted vacuum dump valve on the brake pedal. See this thread for more detail if interested. Thanks, Stangnet!
 
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I do not have a smoke machine.
In case you (or anyone else) ever need one....


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crc6CJ_ni2w&t=21s


Cruise control is working again, and the pedal effort for threshold braking was cut to about 1/3 of the previous effort. No MC swap will be necessary, now. Both issues were thanks to the misadjusted vacuum dump valve on the brake pedal. See this thread for more detail if interested. Thanks, Stangnet!
Glad you got the problem solved, and that it didn't end up being complicated or time consuming. Bonus that it helped you figure out the MC issue before you made what would have been an unneeded change. :nice:


Looking forward to seeing you and the car in a couple of weeks at Foxtoberfest. :cheers:
 
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Had the day off and after installing a T56, the heavier bell-housing, putting in the Kil-mat, new 5-lug brakes, different wheels, all of the things I did last year, etc... I just got to wonderin' how the car's weight changed over that time. So, I stopped in at a gas station and topped off, pulled out all the extras in the car... no spare tire, took out the subwoofer, & all of my gadgets, and weighed the car without me. It came in at 3,220 lbs (scale precision is 20-lbs increments). It did 1,860 up front (58%) & 1,360 on the rear tires (42%).

Before heading over, I asked a friend to over-under 3,250 which was my best guess at where it'd come in. He guessed over. I would have, too. Completely topped off means that race weight with 12 gallons less & my fat azz in there would be closer to 3,400 lbs. All-in-all, I'm pretty pleased!

edit: ya know... I really thought I had weighed it before, way back when I was racing it, but I cannot find any evidence of that in my file or in this thread. Oh well. I'll bet it was at least 100 lbs lighter back then.
 
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So, I found a guy about 75-90 min from me parting/selling a 94-95 Cobra. After the recent 5-lug and Cobra brake swap, this daily driver needs a spare, and I'm gonna go pick it up for $80.

In the next town over, there's this 2.3 with a $5k listing that'sbeen there for at least a month:

Screenshot_20230929-103848_Facebook.jpg


In recent days, I called a local body shop and had a convo in which I asked what I could have done for about $3k. I wasn't looking for the kind of job I'm budgeting $15k for on my other black turbo car, but just wanted to make my daily more presentable again. The body guy told me that just a basic paint job without any work would be ~$5k. Fast forward to now, and I got to thinking that the car above, if the pictures are how it actually looks, would allow me to potentially replace the 1/4 windows (roughed up trim), the hatch (better spoiler, fewer holes), hood (dents & dings), the drivers door (Black Jack's is not original and it was blue), some of the trim, and the front driver's fender which has a totally oxidized the clear coat on Black Jack and is missing a connection to the top rear body tab at the bottom of the a-pillar (next pic). And, it won't look painted, of course, but it would be a nice improvement. Then, maybe I can resell it for close to what I pay. I'm kinda hopin' he'd take $3.5k.

IMG-20230929-WA0001.jpg
 
Well, things didn't go that smoothly. The guy with the cobra spare flaked. Scott, the other guy with the 2.3L didn't entertain $3.5k. However, he was a cool guy and had more fox parts at his shop than I've ever seen. Plus, he clearly has connections in the area. I picked up an Aluminum D/S from him, in case I ever need to reinstall the T5. And, I'll probably link back up with him out at foxtoberfest in 2 weeks.
 
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Can't run Nitto drag Radials & Michelin PS4S tires through the winter on Black Jack.

Anyone know if these would work for my winter wheel?

Screenshot_20231021_153716_Facebook.jpg


Som quick research leads me to believe the stockers were 18×8.5 with a 34mm offset. So, that would make the backspacing around 5.84". That feels like it should be pretty close for my 94-95 front spindles & stock fox length rear axles. Has anyone run em over Cobra brakes?
 
56,736: Oil change... just basic Pennsoil 10W30 for Black Jack. The crud in the oil has finally cleared up. I ran it pretty long... Meant to change it before I went to foxtoberfest, but just had other priorities. My intent is 5k mile oil intervals and to make it easy to remember, I'll just change it again when it reads 60k miles.

Gosh, I don't wanna jinx myself, but I've been so happy with Black Jack, lately. Was able to put my friend's kid in the car and he enjoyed it all week at Foxtoberfest... Between him & I, we blasted down the 1/8 mi dragstrip at Mooresville 7-8 times without issue.

In the near future, Black Jack's to-do list includes:
- E-brake cable adjuster (minor drag on the rear brakes, but can only feel it when backing and only before they warm up.
- 17x8 anthracite or chrome/polished Bullitt wheels with all-seasons or winters
- MSD Digital 6+ (until the nitrous, I'll use the timing retard to enable running 87 octane to/from work
- Moates Quarter Horse
- 150 wet-shot nitrous using the GT-40 intake big shot plate
 
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Winter Wheels/Tires:
Found some winter wheels... Bought a set of standard 17x8" Bullitt wheels from a New Edge with a little curb rash from the Marketplace. Ordered a set of Michelin Cross-Climate 245/45/17s to go on 'em. They won't be my usual snow tires, but they're supposed to be just about the best A/S tire in the snow & should last 60k miles, which I doubt I'll ever wear out. They should allow me to travel long distances year/round without concerns about the weather I run into.

Vid of 1/8 mi best run at Foxtoberfest:
Thanks to Larry, @85GTStangGuy, for finding this vid on youtube of Black Jack laying down a pretty decent 1/8 mi run at Foxtoberfest:

View: https://www.youtube.com/clip/UgkxvIbH5LTRA6Yx2313nQPDirl5IosV-iAn

Here's my post about the runs in the foxtoberfest thread:
Post in thread 'Foxtoberfest 2023' https://stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/foxtoberfest-2023.926036/post-9395260

Minor progress today:
I'm out there trying to eliminate a squeek coming from the passenger rear suspension. I think I found the culprit, a worn lower rear shock bushing allowing metal-metal contact. I've got some bushings on order, and will zap it with a little grease for now. While I've got it on jack stands, I'm also gonna throw on the dust/splash shields I didn't realize I didn't have before I did the 5-lug swap. Put 'em on order about a month ago and just got consumed by other priorities. I spray painted 'em flat black. Not sure they're really good for anything, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the Cobra Brake swap was half-assed without getting a set. I haven't taken any side profile shots since the swap. BJ's dirty, but what the hell... Just my daily, after all:

AfterBrake5lugSwap1.jpg

AfterBrake5lugSwap2.jpg
 
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