Low and Slow 97 GT Build Thread

[slow90coupe]

I'm sure most of you have seen my build thread on some other sites, but I figure I will post a compressed version of it on here and continue to update it as I change things up on the car. It is a never ending project, and I still have a TON of stuff that I want to do with this car. I'm still very young (I just turned 18) and can proudly say I have turned every nut and bolt on this car myself and paid for every single modification out of my own pocket, no mommy and daddy funding here.

 

It all started back in 2011. I picked the car up from a buddy of mine bone stock with nothing more than a K&N filter and some weld-in mufflers. These pics were after the first full detail it got.

 

 

 

And after I swapped on a set of 03 Cobras I had laying around.

 

Then I bought some Eibach Sportlines.

 

 

Put them in and painted my calipers.

 

How the car looked after that.

 

 

Then I bought some FR500's

 

 

What the underside looked like.

 

 

then I put a UPR x pipe on it with a Flowmaster Catback.

 

 

 

[slow90coupe]

Then I bought some Weld RT-S's.

 

 

Then I decided I had to detail the underside. It was filthy!

 

 

I painted the sway bars silver

 

 

Then I got Tokico Blues and some sway bar bushings/end links

 

[copmagnet]

I'm in love with that little blue lift...

[slow90coupe]

Got my sway bar bushings, end links, and struts installed.

That bone stock engine though...

Then I got some 275/60/15 Nitto tractor tires

The car stayed like this for a while. Then it was finally time to do something to the engine. It was just painfully slow. I couldn't take it any longer. I bought a PI intake that was ported by Modular Head Shop, some PI cams (Which still haven't been installed), a TFS plenum, and some installation pieces.

I then tore the engine down a little bit.

 

 

Cleaned up the engine bay

 

 

New Motorcraft water pump, thermostat, and serpentine belt. I figured I might as well do it while it was apart.

 

And then I painted my intake silver. I really like how it turned out.

 

 

I also painted my plenum black.

 

 

I finished painting my accessories for the plenum and TB.

 

 

Got the heater hose installed, as well as the new water pump.

 

[slow90coupe]

Put in a new set of spark plugs. These were the original 130,000 mile plugs according to the original owner!!!

Painted my alternator

And then got most of the parts installed.

Then I purchased a JLT intake

Also a few pics of the exterior of the car after doing another complete detail

Then I tore the front suspension apart to clean and paint some things and install new balljoints.

New balljoints in.

I cleaned my springs and wrapped the bottoms with electrical tape.

[slow90coupe]

I painted my rotor hats and spindles.

Then I bought a MM steering shaft and offset rack bushings.

I picked up a set of Stepped Lip True Forged Mach 5's

With some 315s

[slow90coupe]

Then I cut some stock springs to bring the rear end down after the first drive and hating the stance so much. The one on the right is one of the springs I used.

It sat pretty good, but not good enough. So UPR was called and I ordered coilovers front and rear.

As you might have guessed, my top mounts were bottoming out on my coilover sleeve in the rear. This is how much suspension travel I had at this point.

Then I polished up my True Forged wheels.

A buddy and I made some drop brackets for the rear end.

I got the drop brackets squared away and got the car sitting just as I want it to.

[slow90coupe]

A pic of my ground clearance just for the heck of it.

I bought some Baer calipers, Cobra rotors and lines, and EBC Redstuff pads.

Then I got a 3-gauge pillar pod and an Autometer Sport-Comp boost gauge and an AEM Wideband.

[slow90coupe]

I picked up my Vortech. It came with an aftercooler setup, so I'm just going to run that instead of messing with an intercooler. The car this setup came off of made nearly 450RWHP, so I'm hoping to see something around 400.

I also picked up a battery relocation kit.

My Aeromotive 340 pump.

And the battery box installed.

And the fuel pump installed and the tank back up.

Installed my 03 Cobra shift knob

Ran my wires for my battery relocation

Polished my head unit (first pic is after 100 grit, 220 grit, and using a grinder)

And 4 hours later

Before of the aftercooler

And after about 4 more hours. The pics make it look foggier than it looks in person.

And I couldn't resist sitting the Vortech under the hood lol

Got my 42lb injectors

Put them in.

[slow90coupe]

Stripped the finish off of the TB to aftercooler pipe.

Painted the Powerpipe

And got the blower mocked up.

Got the aftercooler a little bit more polished. Still not anywhere near being happy with it, but it will be ok for now.

I also put some carbon fiber wrap over the torn and chipped Vortech sticker on the side of the aftercooler.

All mounted up

Got the oil pan tapped

[slow90coupe]

Finished up my battery box.

The finished routing of the oil drain and oil feed. Excuse how dirty everything looks, it's because of the flash lol

The coil pack relocation bracket

The water pump

And the heat exchanger

The big ole powerpipe

Here's a finished shot of everything.

Nothing has changed on the car in the last few months. I've been driving it every now and then, but not much. I have clocked about 1500 miles since putting the Vortech on, so I figured it was time to check everything out. So, I got it into my dad's garage last weekend and inspected everything. I also cleaned the undercarriage a little.

[slow90coupe]

Oil return line is still dry as can be

Very light scraping, but not bad at all.

The k-member brace has been scraped pretty good. But It's protected my oil pan great. It's still in mint shape.

A non-leaking output shaft seal. This is the only one I've ever seen, lol

The engine bay hasn't been cleaned since I got the car together, but it still looks ok.

I ordered a few little parts and have finally started receiving some of them.

FRPP floor mats, a Vortech license plate frame, and some 10-250 springs for the rear and some 10-375 springs for the front. Hopefully this will stiffen the car up and let me go a bunch lower. When I had it sitting halfway decent it had so much suspension travel that the k-member brace and exhaust would smack the ground over bumps.

Since it was about 4 degrees here today and school was closed (lol, yes they closed school for just the temperature) I decided to start on it.

Freakin disgustingly filthy TF wheels. I've got some Chemical Guys metal polish on the way that will hopefully make them shine a whole lot better.

I'm in love with that little blue lift...

 

And I'm in love with the girl in your sig... Lol

[slow90coupe]

Rears torn apart

The difference between a 10-150 and 10-250 is very obvious!

Nasty brakes and fender liners

The drop brackets. I don't think I ever took a picture of them.

Rears assembled and cleaned up.

The difference from a 10-175 and a 10-375.

Fronts assembled and cleaned

#rubbingprobs.

After dusting it off and quick detailing it. I've got some new Chemical Guys products I'm going to try on it. I'm hoping to get a great shine out of the old, tired paint.

Calipers cleaned up a little

Much better. I still need to dress the inner fenders, but they look much better by just cleaning them

Rears installed.

More to come this weekend.

[copmagnet]

I just seriously masturbated to your thread. 

[haterbuilt]

looks good man hope we can go cruisin soon!

[9838stang]

car looks so amazing man, i would love those tf wheels.

 

what coilover kit do you for those tokico blues

[Tony]

your car....gimme it  that is all!

glad to see ya post a build thread over here btw slow! another sick mustang joins the baller status site! 

[95riosnake]

Just read through this and hats off to you sir, you're doing some awesome work on this car! You have an eye for detail, which is the difference between a so-so build and one that breaks necks.

 

I feel you on the fender liner clearance problems lol, mine look like swiss cheese. I'm going to try to make a custom set for mine since it'll be sitting much lower than it ever did before, lol.

 

You probably already know this, but if you do end up finding a set of Fikses for this car, heads will explode at how fantastic it'll look.

[slow90coupe]

car looks so amazing man, i would love those tf wheels.

 

what coilover kit do you for those tokico blues

Thanks man! I used the UPR coilover kit. It works great considering that Tokio Blues aren't supposed to be used with a coilover setup. I have no complaints so far!

Just read through this and hats off to you sir, you're doing some awesome work on this car! You have an eye for detail, which is the difference between a so-so build and one that breaks necks.

 

I feel you on the fender liner clearance problems lol, mine look like swiss cheese. I'm going to try to make a custom set for mine since it'll be sitting much lower than it ever did before, lol.

 

You probably already know this, but if you do end up finding a set of Fikses for this car, heads will explode at how fantastic it'll look.

The compliments mean a TON coming from you. Your car has truly inspired me to want to better my car, but I know there's no way mine could ever be in the same realm as yours. I hope that some day I will have fabrication skills like you have. Your work is amazing.

[Blackmage]

nice ride man.

[Psychorugby]

Wanna come work on a red one in FL?  Your car looks great!

[Det_Riot]

Holy cow! Never realized how much work was into your car. Especially for how young you are already. If you stick with the car for the long run this will be one of the most epic black sn95's out there!

[Schiffy]

looks great man, i love the build and the detail.

[Orange 94]

I've always loved this build one of my favorites!

[Rudders331cobra]

Car is always a pleasure to look at Ryan. Keep up the great work. Maybe when nice weather comes we can all take a cruise.

[slow90coupe]

Thanks for all of the compliments guys! Hopefully I can get back to work on the car tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping to get my subframe connectors welded in Sunday as well as polish up my wheels, try out some new products from Chemical Guys on the paint, and get the car back on the ground.

 

Here's a pic of the detailing products. Sadly this is nearly $100 of products, lol.

 

[WildWillyWalker]

Very nice and clean! You pay a lot of attention to detail (and it pays off!) and all the painting you do makes the car look brand new. Its true that a set of wheels greatly changes the look of a car and those Mach 5s are bitchin! They're easily one of the best five spoke wheels out there. The welds look great too but I'm definitely digging the current setup.

[slow90coupe]

Very nice and clean! You pay a lot of attention to detail (and it pays off!) and all the painting you do makes the car look brand new. Its true that a set of wheels greatly changes the look of a car and those Mach 5s are bitchin! They're easily one of the best five spoke wheels out there. The welds look great too but I'm definitely digging the current setup.

Thanks man! I really appreciate it! Your Saleen is awesome btw.

 

 

I recieved my Lug nuts today.

 

 

 Not bad for $40.

 

 

 I threw a wheel on to see how it would look (excuse the wheelgap)

 

[Psychorugby]

Man I hope I have the money when you want to sell those wheels. They look soooo good.

Or maybe I beat you to the punch and get the Fikses I am looking at.

[Rudders331cobra]

Thanks man! I really appreciate it! Your Saleen is awesome btw.

I recieved my Lug nuts today.

Not bad for $40.

I threw a wheel on to see how it would look (excuse the wheelgap)

Dude those lugs. Me rikey....

[Schiffy]

Thanks man! I really appreciate it! Your Saleen is awesome btw.

I recieved my Lug nuts today.

Not bad for $40.

I threw a wheel on to see how it would look (excuse the wheelgap)

Explain the lugs to me please? lol... Do you have extended wheel studs or is the whole thing for show? They look cool. Just don't understand the concept. I'm not real bright though, soooo.... Haha

[Det_Riot]

Are the lug nuts threaded all the way though and open on the ends?

[slow90coupe]

@Schiffy @Det_Riot

 

They're just for show mainly. I like them because they're slimmer than the regular lugs I had before. They're threaded about halfway through the nut, but not all the way. They are open on the end though.

[Det_Riot]

PM me the link of where you got them if you don't mind! =]

[slow90coupe]

I got my subframe connectors installed and got the car fully detailed. The Chemical guys products did amazing on the paint and the wheels!

 

Up on blocks

 

 

 

And welded up and sprayed with a little bit of paint.

 

 

The floormats

 

 

Plate bracket

 

 

And a few pics of it on the road.

 

 

I've still got tons of ground clearance! I'm going to go lower in the front since the k-member wasn't smacking the ground over bumps since the springs are stiffer.

 

 

The reflections are now crystal clear.

 

 

And a quick idle/small rev vid because I was bored. The car was smoking like crazy because it had been sitting and it was cold outside.

 

PM me the link of where you got them if you don't mind! =]

Here ya go

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-BLACK-50MM-ALUMINUM-EXTENDED-TUNER-LUG-NUTS-LUGS-FOR-WHEELS-RIMS-1-2X20-B-/321186507476?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4ac8352ad4&vxp=mtr

[WildWillyWalker]

Love the lug nuts. I have the same ones in blue. I have extended wheel studs in the rear so I needed an open ended, skinny lug nut and I really wanted something in blue. They're anodized aluminum. Seem to be pretty decent for the price.

[Tony]

man your shit is slammed haha! if you threw a 20 on there you would be tuckin those black lugs  

[haterbuilt]

nicest gt ever i love it. just needs moar black, the lug nuts set it off so much.

[slow90coupe]

Well, some big changes are going to be happening with this thing in the next few weeks.

Tuesday I took the car out and drove it about 100 miles. Then I pulled it into the garage and yanked all of the suspension out of it.

 

The last 2 pics of the car looking anything like this.

 

Suspension out.

 

 

The new hotness that I put in. Stock shocks/struts and cut foxbody springs.
 

What it looks like now. Bouncy AF and fugly to boot.

 

 

 

[Tony]

why did u put that setup in it? and why are we not seeing a full shoot with those hre's in place?