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2000 Steeda Mustang GT #48 build thread

121K views 1K replies 51 participants last post by  scottydsntknow 
#1 ·
Brought it home today finally. Anyone not following my other thread, I only paid $5500 for 34k original miles because it has a blown motor. Looking for replacement motors already and found a ton of real low mile Vic engines locally. Car is not perfect... Little nitpcky things that drive me bonkers that I will get on immediately.

Honestly... Not really much to do after I swap the motor out and cosmetic stuff. I'll list the build sheet when I get on a computer.

Pics!
 

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#1,195 · (Edited)
Set the TPS to as close to 1V as I could without going over. Car starts up from dead cold in 40 degre weather just fine now. Idles high but tuner can fix that.

Next up is to sort this suspension in this car, its REALLY bad. I mean the IRS is great but mismatched front and rear and I'm pretty sure I've got some binding in the heim joint swaybar endlinks. Car feels like it wants to go sideways when I punch it. Also could be beause the diff is original 1999 which also needs changed...

New parts list:

HR Red Springs
Tokico D specs
Moog greasable problem solver swaybar endlinks
BMR A arms
UPR K with perches

And I really want an Eaton diff but... hard to justify the price when a rebuild kit is $100 and would let me retain the halfshafts I have vs having to get termi ones. That is eventually something to do, but out here I don't plan on the car making more than 375rwhp on street radials at most so 0 need to spend the money.

EDIT: Just going to rebuild the stock diff with new carbon fiber clutches for $100. Leave the 3.27s in there since 90-100mph on the highway here is normal left lane speed for traffic. No leaks or whining from the rear so not even going to screw with anything but the clutches. Getting the damn IRS pumpkin out without dropping the subframe is harder than actually doing it lol. I'll probably do it when I do the springs/shocks so the IRS will be half out. Kicking around putting my trunk mounted battery box in at that time too.

Already ordered the swaybar endlinks, that's cheap and easy. Suspension will get done in a few months. Diff I need to see if any shop here is competent enough to do a gear install in an IRS pumpkin that is removed from the car OR if I can buy a new pumpkin in the states that is already done with gears. Or just buy the tools to do it my damn self and DIY which is probably what I'll do.
 
#1,196 ·
If there is nothing, otherwise, wrong with the diff, I would just replace the clutches and clean out the housing real good.
I don't really mind the 3.27's in my car. You have more power, and your engine revs higher than mine... I don't see the problem.

Have you been getting pulled on by some tuned diesels over there Scotty?
 
#1,198 · (Edited)
Yeah but when you want to cruise at 100mph and not be whirring down the road at 3500 or 4k for extended periods... That's the main reason I have not done 4.10s yet... The diff makes 0 noise and 0 leaks so the pinion and all the bearings are good AFIAK. The guy whol swapped it with my SRA claimed it had 70k on it but I have 0 way to verify this and there was a lot of jacked up **** on it I had to fix.

Lol Stray, there have been a few of these little Spanish hatches that have tried to race and its just... sad...
 
#1,199 ·
Found a set of near new Steeda IRS springs on a FB group. Even with $$$ shipping out here it's gonna be almost $100 less than HR springs new.

I am kicking around 4.10s... issue is I need to go find a shop that rents bays that has presses and bearing separators etc... Parking the car on the street for a few days is not ideal but not really an issue. No room to work on it when it's in the driveway.

As far as the rear kicking out if I punch it sometimes, that's my **** up keeping the stock tie rods and getting a factory alignment. Needs toe in and the beefy ftbr or mm tie rods.

And I'm still considering just bending over and taking it as far as the k member. Want to do longtubes in the future so might wait till then to do it but have to do BMR a arms soon. Plus a MM steering linkage and a bumpsteer kit.

Lot to do... I also want to see if I can find a harbor freight style store within an hour of here. They have everything else here including what is damn near a 100% clone of a Home Depot so I'm sure one exists somewhere.

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#1,200 ·
That makes sense.
You don't really need an alignment shop to adjust the toe. You can just use a piece of string aligned with the front and rear wheels. If you just make small adjustments to the tie rods, of about 1/4 of a turn at a time, the toe should remain fairly even on both sides. Once you get it to where you want it, you can then go to an alignment shop to verify the amount of toe in, and they can even up the toe on both sides, if necessary.
 
#1,201 · (Edited)
Did some more digging. Yeah the irs tie rods are *** in stock form. Also bumpsteer is a ***** with the irs which the aftermarket ones fix.

I did decide to go "budget" for the front for right now. Just new remanufactured a arms for $80 each, leave the factory k for now, new tie rods/ends, rebuild the 19 year old Steeda cc plates for $50, low mileage Termi Bilstein HD struts up front for $100 to match the back and I found a set of Steeda sport springs for the IRS for $150 with 4k on them off a garage queen.

Can basically overhaul the front suspension to last a few years for $500 and then if I decide to go coilovers or whatever later on I can have not sunk a ton of cash into it.

I'll contemplate doing the K when I do longtubes or do coilovers. If at all... The factory piece is the strongest and the roads here are not all exactly the best so leaving it for now.


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#1,202 ·
So update... been dailying this thing as much as I can. Stone cold reliable, sounds great, drives great, turns a lot of Spanish heads.

Issue... front end is squeaking like crazy now. 20 year old front suspension=needs total overhaul.

Moving funds around this month and next to get all the parts over here and do the install and I'm gonna do it all right the first time so I don't have to do it again later.

-FTBR rear tie rods, Steeda IRS Sport Springs and Tokico blue shocks to match the front struts(only things left to fix on the rear till I do the diff)
-BMR tubular front A arms
-UPR Mild Steel K with perches
-Max Motorsports CC plates to replace 3 bolt Steeda plates
-New inner and outer tie rods
-New front endlinks

Then... Probably 4.10s out back, replace all the diff clutches and redo the entire exhaust next spring. Longtubes, new midpipe with dummy cats (or maybe real ones), brand new IRS catback (not sure what brand yet), delete EGR and delete PCV. Also probably move battery to trunk.

Inspection here in Spain for American cars is literally just making sure all the lights work, they do a visual for cats and then check the brakes and look for leaks. The JY engine I have in this thing has been awesome and I spin it to 7k routinely.
 
#1,204 · (Edited)
I didn't know it existed? If it has perches I might but if it's coilover only then no. Also I get a really good mil discount from upr and the upr is a proven piece that works and is made in Florida by an actual legit shop.

Edit:. Just went on the bmr site... Didnt see a sn95 k anywhere.

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#1,206 ·
I just looked as well, no K member. There was a guy on Instagram that had just bought a set of new A arms. He said he had a BMR K member. I guess he didn't lol. I'm not sure if he was unsure as to what he had or what.

I like BMR's stuff and was kinda getting excited. I see they have A arms with spring perches. Are those the ones you would get?

---------- Post added at 01:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 PM ----------

I just looked as well, no K member. There was a guy on Instagram that had just bought a set of new A arms. He said he had a BMR K member. I guess he didn't lol. I'm not sure if he was unsure as to what he had or what.

I like BMR's stuff and was kinda getting excited. I see they have A arms with spring perches. Are those the ones you would get?
 
#1,207 ·
BMR has a S197 K...

Yes the A arms with the cups are the ones I'm getting. With the tall (X2) balljoints if they are still in stock anywhere... I think Lethal has some still.

Yes stray I am doing the bushings lol. Whole thing is gonna be a cluster but worth it in the end.
 
#1,208 ·
Damn I love New Edges...
 

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#1,210 ·
Update... sorta...

Moved houses! This new one has more space, no moisture issues and... space to work on vehicles! Actually has a driveway long enough to fit 3-4 cars

Now that I can actually work on the thing securely in my own yard/driveway vs on the street I'm going to finally be doing the full suspension.

UPR mild steel K, BMR A arms with the tall balljoints, new inner/outer tie rods (bumpsteer kit) on the front, Full Tilt bumpsteer/tie rod kit out back, Steeda springs for IRS on all 4 corners and either Bilstein or Koni shocks/struts all around. Also replacing the old 3 bolt weak CC plates on this with Max Motorsports CC plates. Also will probably do the strut tower brace.

Finally, longtubes and a new mid pipe. Gonna cheap out here most likely because I don't need to spend $1500 on Kooks or something. Pacesetter Armorcoat longtubes fit fine and will be more than ok in a no snow/no salt environment. Matching catless mid pipe and do all this after the annual inspection out here so I can worry about cats/dummy cats later on in the summer. Will get a re-tune from my tuner to hopefully get a little more juice out of the engine. Keeping the 3.27s because I like doing 100+ on the highways here not spinning some stupid high RPM.

After that... probably better tires, these Riken tires I have on here were cheap and what I needed to get the car on the road at the time but they are pretty much Sumitumos when it comes to traction. Probably will get some Mickey Thompson Street Comps shipped out here and installed. Then I'll start concentrating on body mods/paint. And I might even start putting my spare motor together... But the JY motor I have runs so well I'm really kicking around getting an Eaton swap setup shipped out here or even the Cobra Engineering adapter plate to run the M122 instead of the M112. There is 0 need for more than 400rwhp on these roads out here, that with a good suspension and tires will toast basically anything here. The fastest things are usually the $$$$ Mercedes and BMW euro sedans tbth.
 
#1,211 ·
Jegs Xmas sale=headers and mid pipe ordered.

Debating on the suspension setup still.
 
#1,213 ·
You as well.

And Lethal is having a sale on the BMR A arms but I might just go UPR coilovers with MM cc plates instead.
 
#1,215 ·
Nah my suspension is still a frankensuspension. Stock springs and shocks out back, 20 year old front suspension and worn everything lol.

But yeah, swapping the tires for sure too. Probably the Mickey Thompson street comps.

And yeah no moisture issues at all. The huge carport is all wood and absorbs a lot of moisture out of the air. Like I can come out in the morning and dew on everything except the Stang under the carport lol.
 
#1,216 ·
Found some new Cobra IRS Tokico D specs on the evilbays... Grabbed those. Um... Headers and pipe are backordered on jegs so we'll see how long that takes. Now I just gotta decide on if I'm gonna keep the big heavy stock stamped k or replace it... Would likely be the upr mild steel with perches. Ppl bash on them but I've known a few ppl with them and they are solid USA made pieces. Also most ppl who bash suspension don't actually own the suspension they bash...
 
#1,217 ·
Crawled under the car the other day, definitely just gonna replace everything. Inner/outer tie rods, new rack bushings, MM steering shaft, MM CC plates, new swaybar bushings and endlinks, bumpsteer kit, BMR A arms with X2 style joints, UPR K and then out back the Full Tilt tie rods to stiffen up the IRS all the way and the exhaust will be longtubes to catted or dummy catted H pipe to a new catback. Probably a Steeda stainless catback or Magnaflow stainless catback. Steeda Sport Springs I already have and the Tokico D specs set to a pretty stiff settting should work well for the street. After that honestly its gonna be better tires and then paint... I found a way to get a hood shipped out here for not a ton of money so I might grab a new hood as well but still looking to see if there are any imported 03/04 V6 parts cars showing up in the Spanish version of Craigslist that I could grab that hood from. Still mad at myself for not forcing the time before I left to grab one of the zillion ones out of a JY in NJ and have it put in my household goods.
 
#1,218 ·
I suppose that it must be difficult to find a place with a two-car garage like we are accustomed to here in the states. I have always had one; but they have rarely been used to work on vehicles.... Typically, everything gets done in the driveway, and there have been many times when I wished that there was a carport style roof over my head!

That sounds like a solid suspension setup

If i remember correctly, you just barely got the car running to send it over there. Between that, and getting ready to move out of the country, you must have had plenty of more important things on your mind than car hoods.
I can't remember you ever mentioning what is wrong with your current hood?

Anyway, Happy New Year Scotty!
All the best to you in the next decade!
?
 
#1,219 ·
Lol nothing wrong with the hood except its the stock 99/00/v6 style hood. I dun like it. I can always get a scoop to put on it I suppose... Clearance issues if I get an Eaton swap is also something to worry about but I know ppl who have done that and with a small pulley and a little dremel work it fits.

Happy new year to you too, hopefully this one is a good one!
 
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