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The Engineer's ST

142K views 1K replies 50 participants last post by  Duece McCracken 
#1 · (Edited)
Major update!

After three and a half years and something like 11k in mods (thats not counting things that were removed and sold or consumables 😢) I have decided to trade the ST in for a 2019 Mustang GT performance pack.
Here it is in all its glory:
Wheel Tire Car Vehicle Land vehicle


It is equipped with:
  • GT performance pack
  • the optional black rims you see in the image
  • 6-speed manual
  • active exhaust (which I love, I'm stunned that this is a factory option lol)
  • B&O stereo upgrade
I drove down to CT on 8/2/2022 and picked it up with only 2,500 miles on the dash Ford CPO gold certified. I got 18.5k in trade value for my Focus which at the time was completely stock (except for the exhaust) and had 73k miles on the clock. Not a bad deal! The car is essentially brand new, but unlike a new mustang didn't come with any dealer markup or any excessive waiting period lol.

I got engaged the Saturday before then got a brand new mustang only a few days later! Those few days were a wild ride for sure.

I've really enjoyed my ST, but it was time for me to move onto a more adept and mature platform. My ST served me well through my first two jobs and first two apartments and I couldn't ask for more from the car. My ST also fully changed my perspective on Ford cars, I used to be a diehard Japanese or European car guy before I had my ST and now I'm ripping around in a American muscle car lol. Couldn't be happier!

This thread will remain for anyone wanting to learn from my mistakes in building my ST, please by all means read through and see where I messed up!

The mustang will remain stock for a good while, I have several large financial obligations on the horizon and I will be leaving the mustang as is and leaning on the 21 months of bumper to bumper warranty remaining on the car to reduce any anxiety associated with part failures. In the very long term I like the idea of a supercharger upgrade, but right now there are very few things that I feel need immediate addressing. For those that aren't aware this car comes equipped with dual injections (that's 16 injectors total!) and a twin disc clutch from the factory. This generation also has the slightly improved MT82-D4 transmission so hopefully it will hold together or explode during warranty lol. Factory shifter feels great, factory tires are nice and fat and always hook up, exhaust tone is amazing and fully adjustable.

This truly is a no-compromises car, and unlike the ST there is nothing that I feel the need to upgrade right away.

Thank you all for your support and comments through the years! Its been amazing to build this car with you all!


Hey all,

Decided to throw together a build thread for my car, for fun and archival purposes. The car is not stock, so the build will pick up with the transmission.

Goal:
Make the car as fast as possible, while not sacrificing drivability, reliability, or drawing extra attention to the car. I want the car to put down big numbers, consistently, and reliably. I don't care too much for exterior or appearance mods. I want this car to hook every time, and be well put together. Not looking at doing water or ethanol, as E85 is practically rarer than gold near me, and filling a water tank is extra maintenance that I would like to avoid.

This will be a purely street build as its my daily driver. Perhaps in the future I'll do a few track days or similar, but right now the focus is on street driving.

Car is at 30k miles at the beginning of this thread, will update at 50k 100k etc...

power goal (subject to change of course):
380WHP 380TQ

Current dyno results:
347WHP 358TQ

Future mods:
  • e20 tune (to hit 400 baybee)
  • built motor (rods and pistons)
  • XDI HPFP
  • 3" turboback
  • rear sway bar and endlinks
  • WMI
Car currently has the following mods on it as of 10/18/21:
  • ATP GTX 2867r Gen 2 turbo kit with custom turbo inlet elbow
  • Freektune Dyno Tune
  • Cobb 3" DP with GESi cat
    • genuine Vibrant J Style non fouler
  • Rebel Devil Customs DP bracket
  • locally made custom catback exhaust ( 2.5" with one muffler and one res)
  • Woosh intercooler
  • COBB 3" intake wrinkle black
  • Mountune high flow injector upgrade (V1)
  • CPE Exhale kit with Tial.
  • NGK Ruthenium plugs gapped to .026"
  • CPE Rear motor mount
  • Focus Electric LED tail lights
  • Solid shifter cable bushings
  • Solid transmission cable mount bushings
  • Solid shifter mount bushings
  • Raceng Slammer weighted shift knob, gloss red no markings
  • Built transmission from Clarke Transmissions in FL
    • Synchrotech carbon lined upgraded synchros
    • Wavetrac LSD
    • Motul DCTF
  • AEM Dryflo filter (closed end)
  • Boomba sound symposer delete
  • Focus RS stock short throw shifter assembly
  • Boomba PCV catch can
  • Boomb CCV catch can
  • Rally Armor Mudflaps
  • Mountune PCV plate
  • Redline Goods alcantara shift boot
  • Bilstein B8 dampers
  • Mountune sport springs
  • Focus RS stock wheels w/ pilot sport 4s's

Previous mods (since removed)
  • Mountune uprated recirculation valve
  • Mountune high flow full intake
  • AEM Progressive WMI injection system
    • Devils own 370ml/min nozzle
  • JBR Throttle body spacer
  • JBR 3" intake
  • Black anodized aluminum reverse lockout collar
  • Ford Performance carbon fiber shift knob
  • TB performance torque gusset
  • Tinted tail lights
  • LED light bar
  • Mountune Roll Restrictor
  • Freektune 93 octane dyno tune
  • Monster Tuned 90+ Adapt-X tune
  • Mountune MRX intercooler
  • Nick Baldwin's custom DP bracket
  • 3" catted CJPP DP
  • 2.3L Mustang throttle body

Notes/comments:
The best thing I've done to this car so far was taking the plunge on a fully dyno tune from Freektune, Justin is a really good tuner. I was standing next to the dyno while he worked on the car, he answered all of my questions and explained what he was doing. The old tune was very "unrefined" so to speak, felt rough, and unpredictable at times. Justin's tune is buttery smooth and extremely consistent, every pull feels exactly the same. I love it. Knock count is down a lot from the old tune as well.

After a lot of time on the freektune, I decided to make the switch to the Monster Tuned Stage X tune.

3/18/20
Had a pretty bad issue where the car was refusing to run, loping idle when it did run, CEL, and nasty exhaust smell. Pulled codes (P0015 and P0017) and towed it to the dealer, and apparently my exhaust VCT solenoid was stuck. A few manual actuations of the solenoid and some taps from a hammer and the solenoid was freed up and working again. I'll be keeping my eye on this in case it pops up again, I suspect this part will eventually completely fail.
- Follow on to this item, when the car was brought in, I had an oil change done and the car was down almost a quart of oil. A previous oil change was done with the wrong weight oil at the dealer, they had me take the car right back and put the right oil in, however I suspect they used the amount of oil for a regular focus, which may have starved the solenoids for oil and caused this condition.

11/02/21
Car went on the dyno at freektune, thereby finishing the "big turbo" saga for this built. It has been an incredible journey for me. When I first bought this car I had never done anything other than basic maintenance, repair jobs and some suspension work. I had never modified anything before, let alone my daily driver. But now here I am with a big turbo ST. It puts a smile on my face every time I drive it. The state that the car is in now is how it will stay for a little while, I really want to enjoy the car and have fun with the new setup. Updates will be slower now, but there are a few little things that I still want to do here and there. No more power mods for a little bit but the build isn't dead!

Thank you to everyone who helped me along the way, I seriously couldn't have done it without this forum, if it weren't for this community, I'd be driving a stock car.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
And right into the first update with the transmission:

I bought a 10k mile 6mmt from an online wrecker. Showed up as seen below:

This was $700 shipped

Bought it off eBay, seller swore up and down that it’s a 10k mike trans, ran a carfax on the vin and sure enough the car was wrecked at 10k miles. Score. History on the carfax said the car was wrecked in early 19 and sold to the wrecker a month later. So this trans had been sitting for quite some time and has developed a pretty gnarly coating of corrosion. Working with a local sandblasting shop to have this cleaned off.

Previous owner was also not super nice to the car, see their clutch and flywheel that were included below:

Lots of hot spots, looks like either burnouts or hard launches. I won’t be using these parts on my car but I’ll be holding onto them just in case.

After the trans showed up, I split the case to check for obvious damage and found it all in good shape

There was tons of shavings on the magnet that I would later found out all came from 3rd gear as you’ll see next:



At this point I placed an order for all the parts I need including a new 3rd gear.

  • wavetrac LSD ($1000)
  • diff bearings ($30)
  • measuring shim ($6)
  • synchrotec synchros ($350)
  • replacement secondary shaft bearings (metal cage $50)
  • new 3rd gear (sourced from a UK seller on eBay $70)
  • new slave cylinder ($60)
  • ring gear bolts ($40)
 
#3 · (Edited)
While I waited for the 3rd gear to show up installed the 5th and 6th gear synchros and the new bearing.

I spilled a whole bunch of trans fluid when I put the unit on the bench...





Rented a bearing separator and puller from autozone and after removing the center bolt the race came right off.

Speaking of the center bolts...
That was a NIGHTMARE to get off. I ended up putting all three spools back in the trans wrapping them tightly with a ratchet strap and having my two (fully grown adult) brothers hold the whole thing while I wailed on it with a breaker bar. Got them out with no casualties but I don’t want to do it again. I don’t have a big enough vice to hold the assembly.

I’m going to pull the 2nd assembly apart tonight and get a better look at 3rd gear...


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#4 ·
While I waited for the 3rd gear to show up installed the 5th and 6th hear synchros and the new bearing.

I spilled a whole bunch of trans fluid when I put the unit on the bench...





Rented a bearing separator and puller from autozone and after removing the center bolt the race came right off.

Speaking of the center bolts...
That was a NIGHTMARE to get off. I ended up putting all three spools back in the trans wrapping them tightly with a ratchet strap and having my two (fully grown adult) brothers hold the whole thing while I wailed on it with a breaker bar. Got them out with no casualties but I don’t want to do it again. I don’t have a big enough vice to hold the assembly.

I’m going to pull the 2ns assembly apart tonight and get a better look at 3rd gear...


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Lol, yeah the countershaft bolts are a pain. You really want an impact gun for them. I had to carefully apply heat to one, and weld a nut to it to blast it off with a bigger impact than the first one. Them being locktited really keeps them in there as intended.

Yeah that 3rd synchro interface is beat up, you really need to inspect the shift hub for matching damage. They get mauled together, and you may be replacing that as well.
 
#6 ·
A few manual actuations of the solenoid and some taps from a hammer and the solenoid was freed up and working again.
One of my favorite new phrases that I recently learned the proper name of: Percussive Maintenance.

This looks like its going to be a good thread, keep it up! I wish the synchro's were available when my trans was last opened, i really dont want to have to do that job :)
 
#14 · (Edited)
Update 3/23/20

Quick update, I’m still waiting on the new gears and selector ring but in the meantime I got the diff preload set.


Those are the old ring gear bolts, just used them to temporarily hold the ring gear on while I wait for my new ones to come in.


I used the 36mm kobalt socket as described in the LSD install guide to hammer the bearings on, I threw the diff in the freezer for a few hours to make it easier.


Another large socket was used to hammer out the axel seals from the inside, worked like a charm.

Always check your measurement shims, my “1.44mm” shim was actually 2mm, almost a 30% error. When I pulled the race out I found that the shim already installed in the case was 1.7mm. Both of the shims I had ended up being too big to use as a measurement shim, neither of them left any slop in the bearings for me to measure.

So I did the next best thing and hammered both races in with no shim and measured the slop like that.

There was 1.5mm of slop with no shims. Add .2mm to that as per spec and we get 1.7mm so I put the stock shim back in place, hammered the bearing races home and called it done.

If it wasn’t clear, I didn’t use the feeler gauge method to check slop. I used a dial indicator.

In addition I pulled the races out of the passenger side case half and replaced them with the new races. It felt unwise to me to replace the cage bearings on the counter shafts and not replace the races.

I still need to devise a method to measure the slop on the countershafts, but that may be for another day.



This case definitely needs to be sand blasted...


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#15 · (Edited)
Small update tonight, new 2nd gear and 1-2 selector ring came in, threw those on tonight. Waiting for my 3rd gear to show up before I put that last horrible retaining clip on.

More photos

New selector hub and 2nd gear, all the way from the UK because these parts are impossible to get in the USA.



Re-assembled, waiting for 3rd gear.


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#16 ·
Another small update:
Got the new ring gear bolts installed. Which was damn near impossible. Torquing them to 37 was easy, turning them 90* was not. I don’t have a big vice to hold the diff in. So I used a big piece of webbing and a long piece of wood. to makeshift a huge strap wrench. And hold it by the ring gear

What the consensus on red loctite on these bolts? A lot of guides I’ve seen don’t mention loctiting these, and the bolts on the stock diff didn’t have loctite on them either, but the Ford performance guide asks for red loctite. Either way it probably would have set before I had got them totally torqued down.

I did 37ft lbs and 90* no loctite. I definitely don’t think they’re going to come off any time soon.




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#18 ·
I figured that would likely be the answer, most of my google searches end up in people saying to use red loctite as well. I really don't want to have to order these bolts again, but that may be my only option.
 
#25 ·

When I got the case opened up it was coated with a nice layer of glass bead stuck to the residual oil. A shot with some degreaser and the hose and it all rinsed right out. This thing is sparkly clean now.

If only it wasn’t pouring rain when I did this lol.



The shift tower wouldn’t even move from all the glass bead in it, but it feed up with no issues after rinsing it out.

Hit everything with a coating of gear oil to prevent rust.
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#28 ·
Sometimes things don’t go to plan

My new 3rd gear arrived, and it was the wrong part, so I will be sending it back.

I assembled the half shaft and hammered the bearing on, but when I did that I didn’t properly seat 4th onto the tabs of the synchro ring. So it was entirely seized and wouldn’t spin. This meant I had to pull off the brand new half shaft bearing, destroying it in the process.

The synchro was jammed together but a quick tap from a hammer and punch separated the parts.






Did some investigating into the state of the input shaft seal, it looks good, but for $13 it’s an easy replacement.

However I didn’t take note of how far into the hole it was pressed, if you press it in too far it blocks the oil passage to the input bearing.

I assume you just push it in far enough so that it seals on the shaft but not too far that it blocks the oil passage.


Now I wait for a new half shaft bearing.


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#29 ·
happened to me as well after putting my brand new bearing on. 4th wouldnt spin. my assessment was that the c-clip did not seat correctly causing the above parts to not seat in their position correctly. hence causing 4th to become pinched.
more time and more money. ugh, but gotter dun!
good luck man!
 
#30 ·
Green loctite so I don’t have to buy new ring gear bolts






Wanted to be sure I got a good bond, so I used primer.

Waiting on the new bearing and seal still


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#31 ·
Do you happen the part numbers or links to the bearings?
 
#32 ·
Yeah do you mean the half shaft bearings?

I buy them from 123bearing.com

123Bearing - Online Bearing Expert

Shipping is $30, but even with that expensive shipping both bearings shipped is less than the cost of one from jacks transmissions. Honestly if we could get part numbers for everything this would be the appropriate place to buy all the bearings, these guys also stock input shaft seals.


I would like to buy the needle bearings as well but I don’t know how to find them.
 
#33 · (Edited)
I’m running into an issue, this is the sound the trans makes when I spin the input shaft by hand



This is with no oil and the trans in neutral, I’ll have to crack it open tomorrow and see what’s going on, any ideas?

Tried it with oil and got the same thing, I found that if I put it in gear and hold the selector arm just a smidge away from its end stop its quiet, but it makes a ton of noise in neutral.


She does look pretty though...





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#34 ·
Sounds like the gears are meshing together. I don’t know if that sounds bad or not lol. Did you try and repositioning on a different end it and spinning it?

Edit could it be the LSD gears working?
 
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#35 ·
Tried positioning it a few ways, switching through all the gears.

I don’t remember if I ever fully torqued the shift tower bolts. I snugged them by hand while I waited for the RTV to begin setting up, but I think I forgot to crank them down. That could be my issue.


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#38 ·
You would think with how technical a trans is that it wouldn’t be able to put things in upside down lol glad you found the problem
 
#47 ·


Got some fluids in, I’m gonna run standard 75w90 instead of DCTF. At least in the short term to see how it goes.

Motul 75w90 won’t violate the warranty on the diff, and I’m hoping it will make for smoother engagement especially with the upgraded synchros. I’ll probably loose some fuel efficiency by switching to a thicker oil.

Worst case scenario I’ll drain it out and go to dctf.
 
#48 ·
It’s off the bench! And that means it’s built. I also got in the parts required to do the install.

No more clicking sound when rotated either!





Though this is an exciting moment, it’s one I’ve been dreading, the install of this is very non trivial. And it would be the single biggest job I’ve ever done to a car (2nd place being a total suspension overhaul I did on an e39 530i a few years back...)


I’m seriously debating having a shop do the swap, but that feels very not in the spirit of the build....


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#50 ·
....Though this is an exciting moment, it’s one I’ve been dreading, the install of this is very non trivial. And it would be the single biggest job I’ve ever done to a car (2nd place being a total suspension overhaul I did on an e39 530i a few years back...)


I’m seriously debating having a shop do the swap, but that feels very not in the spirit of the build....
Can you phone a friend?
 
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#51 ·
Do you want a copy of the helms manual? It will show you all torque specs and proper instructions to install the trans and actually just about everything in the car
 
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#52 ·
Actually yeah that would be pretty helpful I’ll send you a PM.


I have my brother, I think I’ll be able to get it done, I have all the parts needed. I’m betting it could take up to two days, possibly one if I start early in the morning.


The only thing is that I don’t have a transmission jack, so I’m likely going to try and balance it on a floor jack.
 
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