2008 Mustang GT Senior Project (pic heavy)
#1
2008 Mustang GT Senior Project (pic heavy)
Reason that I am starting this thread is mostly because I like to view peoples builds/projects either for research purposes or for entertainment. I would also like to use this to look back on just in case I lose any information I have. Sorry if this is an overload of text and pictures, I know some people like it and some don't.
For my senior project I decided that I wanted to learn something involving cars because I do enjoy them but I have no idea of what I am doing. Only thing I really know is how to detail but nothing about working on a car. My goal is to add aftermarket parts and make it my own without harming the vehicle. Also I have to have 15 hours of work put into my project. The vehicle that I am choosing is my 2008 Mustang GT.
The Mustang At the Dealership
The first thing I did within a week of having the car was tinting the headlights, fog lights, taillights, and 3rd brake light. It was cheap and easy to do but I did not like how the taillights turned out or the 3rd break light. I will be planning on getting covers instead but this works for now.
Sorry for the blurry picture I was in a rush.
The next thing I did was put stripes on the car. It took me about a week to figure what I wanted since I didn't want to make the car look bad. A friend of mine had silver gt500 style 8 inch stripes so I didn't want to copy him and I thought that they weren't wide enough. So decided that I wanted to do 12 inch stripes in Black Matte so I went on to Americanmuscle.com and ordered their Matte Black Lemans Stripes - 12 Inch. I went to superior auto body and they helped me with the install. Before we even attempted to do the stripes their decal guy told me that the stripes were going to be bad because they were some cheap internet stripes and they usually buy their's from Shelby when they fix gt500's that had body damage. I thought it was going to be pretty easy like all you had to do was line the top and bottom up. Even with the bottom and top lined up to the perfect inch the middle looked awful because it had an additional inch to what we had on the top and bottom. The reason for this is it is hard to make things line up because your not laying the stripes on a flat surface. For example your hood is not exactly flat, it has curve to it and because of that the stripe won't be perfectly straight cause it will follow the curve. To fix this issue we had to use a heat gun to straighten out and surprisingly the stripes took the heat real well. First stripe on the hood I did myself I screwed it up because there was a huge air bubble underneath stripe. We tried to pop it with a needle but it got all wrinkled where the bubble was so we ripped it off and I tried again After some practice I learned that you need to put a lot of pressure down to get all the stripe solution and air out from underneath the stripes before you peel the paper off. In the end the car looked amazing! The guy said that it was some of the best stripes he has worked with and would recommend to anyone looking to stripe their car. This took us 7 hours to do so if you do plan on doing it make sure you have a good time frame. Also DO NOT PUT WAX ON THESE STRIPES
Applying the Stripes
Final Product
If you haven't noticed yet I found out that I had Ford Racing Stinger Axlebacks that came with the car from the previous owner. They sound really good but I want the car to be louder so I will be installing pypes o/r x-pipe to help make the car a lot louder.
Will be posting some more stuff later, if you have any recommendations on things that I can do or any questions I will gladly answer them.
For my senior project I decided that I wanted to learn something involving cars because I do enjoy them but I have no idea of what I am doing. Only thing I really know is how to detail but nothing about working on a car. My goal is to add aftermarket parts and make it my own without harming the vehicle. Also I have to have 15 hours of work put into my project. The vehicle that I am choosing is my 2008 Mustang GT.
The Mustang At the Dealership
The first thing I did within a week of having the car was tinting the headlights, fog lights, taillights, and 3rd brake light. It was cheap and easy to do but I did not like how the taillights turned out or the 3rd break light. I will be planning on getting covers instead but this works for now.
Sorry for the blurry picture I was in a rush.
The next thing I did was put stripes on the car. It took me about a week to figure what I wanted since I didn't want to make the car look bad. A friend of mine had silver gt500 style 8 inch stripes so I didn't want to copy him and I thought that they weren't wide enough. So decided that I wanted to do 12 inch stripes in Black Matte so I went on to Americanmuscle.com and ordered their Matte Black Lemans Stripes - 12 Inch. I went to superior auto body and they helped me with the install. Before we even attempted to do the stripes their decal guy told me that the stripes were going to be bad because they were some cheap internet stripes and they usually buy their's from Shelby when they fix gt500's that had body damage. I thought it was going to be pretty easy like all you had to do was line the top and bottom up. Even with the bottom and top lined up to the perfect inch the middle looked awful because it had an additional inch to what we had on the top and bottom. The reason for this is it is hard to make things line up because your not laying the stripes on a flat surface. For example your hood is not exactly flat, it has curve to it and because of that the stripe won't be perfectly straight cause it will follow the curve. To fix this issue we had to use a heat gun to straighten out and surprisingly the stripes took the heat real well. First stripe on the hood I did myself I screwed it up because there was a huge air bubble underneath stripe. We tried to pop it with a needle but it got all wrinkled where the bubble was so we ripped it off and I tried again After some practice I learned that you need to put a lot of pressure down to get all the stripe solution and air out from underneath the stripes before you peel the paper off. In the end the car looked amazing! The guy said that it was some of the best stripes he has worked with and would recommend to anyone looking to stripe their car. This took us 7 hours to do so if you do plan on doing it make sure you have a good time frame. Also DO NOT PUT WAX ON THESE STRIPES
Applying the Stripes
Final Product
If you haven't noticed yet I found out that I had Ford Racing Stinger Axlebacks that came with the car from the previous owner. They sound really good but I want the car to be louder so I will be installing pypes o/r x-pipe to help make the car a lot louder.
Will be posting some more stuff later, if you have any recommendations on things that I can do or any questions I will gladly answer them.
#2
Continued, x-pipe
I decided to go with an x-pipe over an H-pipe because it's supposed be louder and make more power in higher RPM's. I went to Summit Racing and picked up Pypes off-road x-pipe. The install was very easy with a lift, originally I was going to attempt this in my driveway but I asked a family friend if I could use his lift. All you have to do is unbolt the stock H-pipe and o2 sensors which I burnt my arm multiple time trying to get to, and replace with the x-pipe.
I was a little disappointed when I started the car. The idle was about the same and it wasn't as loud as I wanted. I drove the car home and it was loud around 2500-2800 RPM. When I got home my mom wanted to drive it. When she started to drive I realized how much louder the car was. People in my neighborhood were texting me asking what the hell I did to my car. I could hear her all the way down the street and when she drove it hard it was really loud! Overall I am glad that I went with the X-pipe. It sounds really good with the FRPP Stingers.
I was a little disappointed when I started the car. The idle was about the same and it wasn't as loud as I wanted. I drove the car home and it was loud around 2500-2800 RPM. When I got home my mom wanted to drive it. When she started to drive I realized how much louder the car was. People in my neighborhood were texting me asking what the hell I did to my car. I could hear her all the way down the street and when she drove it hard it was really loud! Overall I am glad that I went with the X-pipe. It sounds really good with the FRPP Stingers.
#3
Continued...
Got a free strut tower brace from someone at work. Not to sure what brand it is but install was super easy. Didn't notice any difference in handling just made the engine bay look better.
Guy at work recommended me to buy the JLT Series 3 CAI and Bama tuner combo off of Americanmuscle.com to fix my check engine issue caused by my x-pipe. Tuner came with free tunes for life and was able to hold up to 3 tunes. The tuner would eliminate the o2 sensors with a custom tune. Having the CEL from the x-pipe doesn't hurt the car it's just annoying to see on the dash. The JLT Series 3 and Bama tuner defiantly gave my car some more power. I did the 93 Octane custom race tune. To get the custom tune I had to answer questions about my car and what I have installed on it. Bama Performance made a custom tune and put it on my SCT x3 tuner before I got it. The install for the JLT series 3 CAI was a little annoying. The screw that was used to attach the ABS heat shield to the radiator was too short and fell out. Also I couldn't get my hood to close because it kept hitting the heat shield. I replaced the short screw with a longer one to see if that helped because it held the heat shield down but the hood still wouldn't close. So I trimmed a 1/2 inch off of the heat shield and that ended up working.
I drove down the street after I did the tune and it stalled when I put it in neutral. I opened the hood and the air filter fell off. They said your supposed to make it finger tight so I put it on tighter and it stayed on. Started the car back up and headed home. It stalled again now I was just confused. I called the guy at my work and he said to make sure the filter was on the very last inch of the intake tube. This worked and the car doesn't stall. It still stalls sometimes but its not as bad. Next thing I will be doing is pulling the throttle body off to make sure its opening correctly and I will be cleaning it. People said that this could be one of my issues. If this doesn't work then I'm not to sure what the issue is?
Guy at work recommended me to buy the JLT Series 3 CAI and Bama tuner combo off of Americanmuscle.com to fix my check engine issue caused by my x-pipe. Tuner came with free tunes for life and was able to hold up to 3 tunes. The tuner would eliminate the o2 sensors with a custom tune. Having the CEL from the x-pipe doesn't hurt the car it's just annoying to see on the dash. The JLT Series 3 and Bama tuner defiantly gave my car some more power. I did the 93 Octane custom race tune. To get the custom tune I had to answer questions about my car and what I have installed on it. Bama Performance made a custom tune and put it on my SCT x3 tuner before I got it. The install for the JLT series 3 CAI was a little annoying. The screw that was used to attach the ABS heat shield to the radiator was too short and fell out. Also I couldn't get my hood to close because it kept hitting the heat shield. I replaced the short screw with a longer one to see if that helped because it held the heat shield down but the hood still wouldn't close. So I trimmed a 1/2 inch off of the heat shield and that ended up working.
I drove down the street after I did the tune and it stalled when I put it in neutral. I opened the hood and the air filter fell off. They said your supposed to make it finger tight so I put it on tighter and it stayed on. Started the car back up and headed home. It stalled again now I was just confused. I called the guy at my work and he said to make sure the filter was on the very last inch of the intake tube. This worked and the car doesn't stall. It still stalls sometimes but its not as bad. Next thing I will be doing is pulling the throttle body off to make sure its opening correctly and I will be cleaning it. People said that this could be one of my issues. If this doesn't work then I'm not to sure what the issue is?
#4
Great write up! That's a really cool senior project. I love everything that you've done with the car so far! It's really cool to see younger guys get involved in the car industry.
What else do you have planned for this beast?
As far as your car stalling goes, it shouldn't be doing that. The placement of the filter is crucial, make sure the throttle body is in good shape and cleaned up. If these things are both in good shape, it could possibly be something to do with the tune. Give the Bama team a call and we'll make sure you're in good shape!
Hope this helps.
-Dan
What else do you have planned for this beast?
As far as your car stalling goes, it shouldn't be doing that. The placement of the filter is crucial, make sure the throttle body is in good shape and cleaned up. If these things are both in good shape, it could possibly be something to do with the tune. Give the Bama team a call and we'll make sure you're in good shape!
Hope this helps.
-Dan
#5
Thanks Dan! I'm planning on lowering the car, 4.10s or 3.73s not to sure which one to go with and I have few more exterior things that I have sitting in my room just waiting to get the car back in the shop. I would put a staggered set of wheels on it just can't pick a set out too many choices and I'm not working right now because of track so its kinda hard to afford them. You also helped me out I will give them a call as soon as can!
#6
More Exterior parts
Installed the CDC chin spoiler on my car. The install was easy took 15 minutes but I am going to paint the corners once I get my front bumper fixed.
Detailed the car while the weather was nice.
Also got more exterior parts from AmericanMuscle. Tried to install the Billet Grille but I couldn't get the OEM grille off. So I tried to take the whole front bumper off, no luck there. Figured I could wait until I go back to the body shop. Got the Willpak Rear window louver which can wait too.
Detailed the car while the weather was nice.
Also got more exterior parts from AmericanMuscle. Tried to install the Billet Grille but I couldn't get the OEM grille off. So I tried to take the whole front bumper off, no luck there. Figured I could wait until I go back to the body shop. Got the Willpak Rear window louver which can wait too.
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