[Gbeck]

It's LEGAL!!! PA inspection done!

Since the trip to the inspection station was the first time the car was on the road (beyond first gear) I talked my mechanic friend into following me as I drove it to his shop. Good thing! The upper rad hose connection came apart en route. Fixed and burped. It’s all good now.

I interrupted the ten mile drive home to let it cool down and top off the coolant. I guess the engine was not quite done burping!

I drove very carefully, but it's obvious that this is going to be a lot of fun! It's a beast! I'll be busy for quite a while with shakedown drives and trying to make the interior road trip ready.

Untitled by Team Limer, on Flickr

 

[Gbeck]

These are my reflections on my first drive. It was just over ten miles driving the coupe back home after it's PA state inspection. This is not a rant or a complaint. I'm just assessing where things stand now and considering what I might do to make my coupe into the road car that I want it to be.

Every time I've heard Dave Smith talk about the coupe kit he describes it as "race car". Now I get it! The car makes all the right sounds, has all the right smells and demands your undivided attention. The body seems to pick up, contain and amplify all the sounds, smells, vibrations and heat the car makes.

With nothing but a bit of fiberglass between me and the rear wheel and with the doors not sealed, the tire noise dominates the cockpit. I intentionally went cheap on my first set of tires because at the time I wasn't certain that this project would ever see the road. These Sumitomos are noisy.

The exhaust sounds great from the outside of the car. Inside is another matter. I routed the pipes under the car to get the exhaust sound behind me. I suppose it's quieter than side pipes would be, but short chambered mufflers are all there's room for at the back of the car. I think the body and the rear glass might be reflecting the sound inward.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of drive line noise except when the Torsen differential engages but that shouldn't be a problem on the highway.

After about 10 miles I could definitely feel the engine compartment heat blowing through the gap between the top of the firewall and the body. The transmission tunnel also got a little warm.

The power from the Coyote comes in very smoothly and predictably. The stage 2 clutch is a little aggressive but manageable. I'm used to the notchy shifter in my Mustang so I feel right at home with the TKO-600. The electric power assisted steering can be dialed from nothing all the way to parking-with-your-pinky.

It's gonna take some work to make this into a road trip car. There are gaps to close, seams to seal and sound deadening to be applied. I'm going to go over the exhaust system again to check for leaks, contact with the frame and to see if there might be space somewhere for resonators. Carpet and upholstery are off in the future somewhere.

I love this beast! With probably over 400 hp to the wheel in a 2600 pound car and 47/53 weight distribution it's a blast to drive. I just need to take some of the edge off it to get it where I want it to be.

 

[John Dol]

Glenn,

That's great congrats! Bedliner the tub before you final mount it if that's still an option and once you seal it it will be much better. Headliner is a must with padding preferably. Don't forget the foam on the edge of the dash bar to seal against the body. Like you said it will always be a race car, but a lot of fun at that.

John

 

[Gbeck]

Life got in the way quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. But I managed to get in some garage time.

First up was to deal with the cooling system. The coolant got pretty diluted from me having to add so much water when the radiator hose came off, so I drained the system and refilled with the Ford yellow coolant. It's the stuff they recommend for the Coyote now and is supposed to be compatible with any residual Ford orange stuff that might be left in the system.

I sealed up all of the gaps between the body and the chassis at the firewall, hatch and wheel wells. The gaps were small enough that I could close them up with strips cut from a sheet of Dynamat Extreme. I would recommend this technique. It worked out very nicely. The butyl rubber sticks well, like s*** to a blanket as they say around here, and the aluminum facing hides the sticky side. I expect that it will stand up to the heat at the firewall just fine. It's not pretty, but really not visible unless you're under the car.

I also applied a couple of coats of Lizard Skin Sound Control inside the wheel wells hoping that it might reduce the road noise and the reverberation of the body panels.

I took a little drive to check my work and to visit with The Travelling Builder at his new shop. I can always count on Mark for a few words of encouragement and advice! The cooling system is behaving just fine, so no worries there. The changes made a big difference in the road noise and heat intrusion in the cockpit. But the exhaust noise, even with the undercar exhaust, is still literally deafening. I'm going to look into pipe wraps and muffler wraps, but quality hearing protection is definitely a must!

There are more than a few things on the punch list. Investigate MIL light on. Wiring and connectors for the overhead panel. New connectors for the wiper motors to replace the Molex connectors. Dashboard top panel and end panels.

More later.

 

[Gbeck]

I'm still working the punch list. But it's really nice to wrap up a few tasks and take it out for a test drive ... whether or not its needed. I'm getting more comfortable and confident in the car, and that feels real good!

Note to self: NEVER, EVER put anything but premium fuel in the tank! The ECM goes bonkers trying to keep it running. Then it just gives up!

Visiting a buddy:

The Team Limer Mustang meets The Team Limer Daytona Special:

 

[Gbeck]

I find myself continuing to assess and develop the car. My goal is to make it a scary fast road trip car. I have a couple of massive trips lined up this year and I want this to be my ride for them.

I have almost 400 miles on the car now, including a few trips over 50 miles and one of 100 miles. The scary fast part is certainly taken care of! I did a couple of strong second/third gear pulls and had to back out before 5000 rpm. And it corners like nothing I've ever driven. I can't wait to get this thing on a track!

As for the road trip part I'm continuing my efforts to take the edge off the NVH (Noise, Vibration, Harshness).

First off, hearing protection will be necessary ... I just see no way around it. I have tinnitus and a bit of hearing loss, so I need to preserve what hearing I have left. My shop hearing protection did a good job of killing almost all sound, but I was oblivious to sounds that I need to hear to drive safely, e.g. the sound of a vehicle coming along side and the sound of a siren. I tried out a borrowed set of Bose A20 headphones. These are noise cancelling headphones designed for aviators and can be used with a control box for connection to a co-pilot and the plane's onboard systems. They are awesome! I can hear what I need to hear but at $1,000 a pop think I'll keep looking. I have pair of consumer grade noise cancelling headphones on order. This will be an interesting comparison!

The 100 mile cruise showed that heat is also a problem. No surprise here! You might know that I did a lot of heat shielding with Lizard Skin, reflective film and heat barriers. It seems to have helped quite a bit. For example, while the exhaust manifold is about 1-1/2" from the footbox, it only gets (really) warm to the touch. Other hot spots are the transmission tunnel and the floor near the undercar exhaust pipes. I'd planned to use DynaDeck for my flooring instead of carpet. I tested a piece of it on the inner side of the footbox and it worked well.

FYI, DynaDeck is a Dynamat product. It is a 3/8" thick blanket of closed cell foam with a 1/8" thick surface of wrinkle-finish vinyl. It should help a lot with heat and noise and it's pretty easy to work with, but it doesn't like to bend sharply.

I still have a lot to do to prep for the road trips ... the punch list keeps growing! But I think I'll get there!

 

[Gbeck]

685 miles on the odometer and making good progress. This thing is a blast to drive! Once it's all sealed up the NVH should be lots better. I can feel and hear the difference already.
I fabricated an eBrake boot, applied some more sound deadening and heat blocking materials and installed weatherstrip in the hatch and the doors. I still have some work to do adjusting the doors and getting the weatherstrip to seal but it's getting lots better.
I delivered it to the shop of The Travelling Builder today for a short punch list of items, the kind of thing that would take me forever and that Mark can knock out in short order!
More later.

 

[generationY]

Thank you for sharing your hard work and experience about this build.