Bull's street "go-kart" build

[Bull Run]

Installed the plug for the rear wiper delete along with the Ford logo for the rear hatch. For some reason, I couldn't find any US based sellers with this type of plug, so ended up buying one from a GB based shop and waited a couple of weeks.

 

[Bull Run]

Had Whoosh store credit for sending in my stock turbo and manifold, so ended up getting a couple of cosmetic mods in addition to some supplies for the eventual clutch job. Ford Performance CF shift knob feels better than the stock one and goes along with the CF hood and hatch. I wasn't a fan of the giant antenna and the 2" stubby one looks so much better. I wasn't crazy about the shiny lettering but some wiping some Ultra Black RTV silicone gasket maker on it took care of that.

 

[Bull Run]

I bought a very lightly used Spec aluminum flywheel (SMF) and Stage 2 clutch (sprung) from a forum member some time ago at less than half price, just in case I wanted to play around with a lightweight SMF setup in the future. Did some research and found that people are divided into two groups regarding LW SMFs; ones that love it and others that hate it for street driving and/or had transmission issues soon after the swap. I even have friends that are brothers and one of them loves his LW SMF setup, while the other dislikes it.

Anyhow, I was practicing flat foot shifting and must've messed up badly as, instead of accelerating faster while maintaining boost, I felt the clutching slipping badly with a nasty burning clutch smell. The clutch seemed mostly OK after cooling off, but I noticed later that it started to slip when boosting in higher gears. Upgrading tires just exasperated the issue. Since I was on a borrowed time, I took this as a sign to try the LW SMF setup to further enhance that "go-kart" feeling. The plan was that, if I ended up hating it, swap it to a new OEM DMF and clutch. If I love it but end up with transmission issues, go with a Clark rebuilt unit with carbon synchros and LSD. As I don't have a lift nor a knowledgeable second-pair of hands to assist me, I outsourced the job to my friends with a shop and lift while I was on a vacation. I heard about bad experiences with new OEM slave cylinders so decided to go with the RTS CSC unit and also swapped out the old axle seals that were sweeping fluid.

First driving impression was great. New clutch feels a little “grabbier” than stock, but otherwise, was easy to operate. Throttle response was noticeably improved on the acceleration, and engine stops spinning quicker when I turned the ignition off. My friends' friend was also there, so I asked him to do a test drive to get his opinion, and his impression was the same as mine. I had to get wheels realigned as the 4-point brace and LCAs had to be disconnected from spindles as part of the job. Even the alignment tech (who didn't know about the FW swap), who remembered the car from previous alignments, commented on how it seems to take off quicker now. I told him about the FW swap and asked him if the clutch was harder to operate, and he didn't even noticed it. Added bonus is that this shaves off about 13 pounds from the front on a front-heavy car.

I have AWR PSMM and TMM, and Cobb RMM, along with stiffer bushings for about everything, so the car has more vibration than stock. Maybe because I'm NVH insensitive but I didn't feel any extra vibration or noise after the swap. The rev-hang kept the RPM up between shifts and shifting felt the same as before the swap. I will post updates here if I notice something else or an issue develops later. The next plan is to upgrade the HPFP and injectors to go E50+ once I run out of WMI mixture to max out the stock block and see if Spec Stage 2 clutch can handle it.

Below are pictures of the old flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate. They looked about as bad as I pictured them to be.

 

[Bull Run]

Saw a post on a FB group about using Weatherseal to fill in the gap around headlights and decided to try it out myself. I'd say it turned out pretty well.