Donovans Rio Red 94 GT Convertible Build
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I'll be over for a ride soon.
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Ok. Make sure to bring some depends.
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Looks really good man. I fought the NT05 vs NT555R delima back and forth and decided NT05 in the end.
So what pin out problems did you have? I have my entire harness from ECU to each component laying on a table right now. My plan is to check each line one by one to make sure they are correctl; then check again.
So what pin out problems did you have? I have my entire harness from ECU to each component laying on a table right now. My plan is to check each line one by one to make sure they are correctl; then check again.
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So I had a few electrical problems. The first major issue was a loose alternator feed wire bolt. This smoked the plastic around the alternator and melted down the rectifier. This was easily fixed by PA for a few bucks. The second major issue I had was a loose engine ground and also a loose fuse box feed wire. I was able to reterminate the wires to get these working.
I also had an issue with the map going out intermittently. I thought it was a bad sensor but the intermittent issue went away after I wiggled the connections at the ECU. I went ahead and bought a new EEC 4 harness side connector and a new AEM 12 pin connector and will likely switch them when the harness comes out for the installation of the boost solenoid.
The other problem I had was with the coolant overflow. I had too small of a vent line on there and it was always steaming out. When it was at the dyno it lost enough coolant to not register on the coolant sensor OR the crappy plastic napa coolant sensor went bad. Not sure on this, but i got a new ford sensor and added a bit of coolant and all is well.
My car has always had a bit of fluctuation on the coolant level. Frankly I am not sure that a 1 quart overflow is big enough. I might look at making something custom with a bit more capacity out of aluminum sheetmetal and drop it in the factory engine fuse box location down the road.
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I have a few updates.
I ended up switching to a carbon fiber cowl. After a LOT of work expoxying the clips, adding mesh material and edge trimming (from a fender flare kit) it looks ok. Basically i took all of the clips from the factory cover, cut them out with a dremel and epoxied them in. Of course i was very careful to line them up but they didnt line up for $%^& when I got it on the car so i had to use screws to get it fastened down. Good times....
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With regards to the stereo I had a problem with my xtant x604 so I trashed it for a Kicker that works:
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I had a problem with my xtant x604 so i trashed it for a Kicker that works:
Now last but not least I finally got the recaros. It took 3.5 months to get them as I ordered them back at the end of August.
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I ended up switching to a carbon fiber cowl. After a LOT of work expoxying the clips, adding mesh material and edge trimming (from a fender flare kit) it looks ok. Basically i took all of the clips from the factory cover, cut them out with a dremel and epoxied them in. Of course i was very careful to line them up but they didnt line up for $%^& when I got it on the car so i had to use screws to get it fastened down. Good times....
With regards to the stereo I had a problem with my xtant x604 so I trashed it for a Kicker that works:
I had a problem with my xtant x604 so i trashed it for a Kicker that works:
Now last but not least I finally got the recaros. It took 3.5 months to get them as I ordered them back at the end of August.
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I got it off of ebay from specialcarbonfiber . Here is the listing:
94-98 MUSTANG CARBON FIBER WIPER COWL WHIT VENTS UV NEW | eBay
Basically it comes with the air ducts cut in, but that is it.
There was a lot of work required to dial it in. I got the stainless mesh from racer parts wholesale and painted it black. I ended up using some small strips of aluminum bent to 90% to hold on the hinge rubber clips (not shown). The pic above shows my firt attempt to attach the high cover rubber using trim adhesive which didnt work. The edge trim on the windshield needed to be added. I used bushwhacker part gp1-0008 . For the expoxy I used some two part plastic stuff i got at autozone. Seemed to work fine...maybe even better than regular expoxy for this.
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Took it for a drive with the new Recaros fully installed. I cannot believe how much of a difference those seats make. I should have done it years ago!
The difference between the factory seats is amazing:
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Here are some better installed pics:
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The difference between the factory seats is amazing:
Here are some better installed pics:
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409 Posts
Those Recaros look great man. I feel your pain on the carbon cowl, mine was a lot of work to get it installed, your pics bring back so many fond memories of doing mine haha. It really sucks that epoxying the clips didn't work out for you. All of mine except one were lined up pretty well, I just ended up forcing it down to get that one to snap in and it fits good enough that nobody would ever notice.
Where did you get your Setrab cooler from? I'm looking into one for mine while I have it ripped apart.
Where did you get your Setrab cooler from? I'm looking into one for mine while I have it ripped apart.
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I got it from racer parts wholesale. Racer Parts Wholesale - Racing Parts, Safety Equipment & Motorcycle Accessories They have good prices on quite a few things including aeroquip. Unfortunately the cooler was not in stock so it took a while. I also purchased the setrab oring to -10 socketless fittings with it as well since the cooler didnt have standard npt or an fittings on it to begin with.
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Donovan - bringing it back to the top to hear how it is running.
With a start up tune mine should turn over this weekend.
With a start up tune mine should turn over this weekend.
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1,294 Posts
It's running. 
It has never really been tuned properly though.....and it has a inconsistent misfire at around 5k the origin of which I have not been able to identify. Originally I thought it was an ignition problem so I replaced the plugs but that was not it. It's most lilkely a fueling issue I am thinking.....
I also have some startup delay which has been frustrating. It usually takes 3-4 seconds to fire. This is partially the startup enrichment and partially the time it takes to get a crank sensor signal that is strong enough to fire the ignition. I worked with AEM on this which made it a bit better but it still needs improvement.
I also have some serious vapor coming from the charcoal canister or through the fuel lines which is a bit irritating. I have a new charcoal canister that i need to pop in to see if that will help....
Lots of finishing details.....
It has never really been tuned properly though.....and it has a inconsistent misfire at around 5k the origin of which I have not been able to identify. Originally I thought it was an ignition problem so I replaced the plugs but that was not it. It's most lilkely a fueling issue I am thinking.....I also have some startup delay which has been frustrating. It usually takes 3-4 seconds to fire. This is partially the startup enrichment and partially the time it takes to get a crank sensor signal that is strong enough to fire the ignition. I worked with AEM on this which made it a bit better but it still needs improvement.
I also have some serious vapor coming from the charcoal canister or through the fuel lines which is a bit irritating. I have a new charcoal canister that i need to pop in to see if that will help....
Lots of finishing details.....
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Do you think your problems would still be there had you used the EPM instead of the ford parts? How helpful have the guys at AEM been?It's running.
I also have some startup delay which has been frustrating. It usually takes 3-4 seconds to fire. This is partially the startup enrichment and partially the time it takes to get a crank sensor signal that is strong enough to fire the ignition. I worked with AEM on this which made it a bit better but it still needs improvement.
I also have some serious vapor coming from the charcoal canister or through the fuel lines which is a bit irritating. I have a new charcoal canister that i need to pop in to see if that will help....
Lots of finishing details.....
As soon as I can get someone to sell or give me a start up tune I will be starting mine this weekend. Then on to the finishing details for me too.
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Just scrolling up I noticed the P/S post. It looks very good. What did you use to paint the resivior?
I ditched the factory lines in favor of steel braided teflon and -an fittings. So much nicer now. Figuring the return from the cooler to the bottom of the pump was a little bit of a challenge though.
I ditched the factory lines in favor of steel braided teflon and -an fittings. So much nicer now. Figuring the return from the cooler to the bottom of the pump was a little bit of a challenge though.
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Take some pics of your lines and post it. I would love to see how that worked out. The factory lines are real cheap to replace, but are not routed right at all imho.
With regards to paint on the resi, I used standard auto paint . I cleaned it real good with brake cleaner, smoothed out the casting lines and generally roughed it up a bit. I then threw some primer on and hit it with 2 coats of the same auto paint that i have used in the past on the engine compartment. If you take yours apart make sure to pickup a seal replacement kit which has the right o-rings so that its nice and leak free when you put it back together. The seal kit is less than $10 from Napa or your local auto parts store.
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