Lucky for me, a good friend (Boots) was kind enough to give me his old M50 motor from his 1992 BMW. He recently had an S52 swap into his car and offered me his motor as a good gesture. Needless to say, I did not waste any time. Friday night at 7pm I started working on the car and by 12am the replacement engine was in place and bolted down. It would have been sooner however, I swapped over some key parts like my: Turner Motorsports Lightweight Flywheel, Clutch, UUC Pullies, Changed the Plugs, Oil, Tightened the oil pan bolts, Installed the OBD2 headers etc.

The car sat for Saturday and Sunday morning me and my buddy flushed and bled the coolant and got the front end of the car bolted back on in efforts to catch up with the 2010 opening cruise for MaxBimmer . We were running a little late and unfortunately no one was able to provide us with route information as it is always kept a secret until the cruise starts. All we knew is that the cruise was to come through my town of Peterborough later in the day. Me and my buddy set out to start driving to key points to figure out where we might intercept them but had no luck. We drove approximately 100kms and just as we gave up and were heading towards home we intersected the cruise right in the middle! What Luck.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and my arm is burnt to prove it. There was about 50+ BMWs that were on the cruise and although a few bad apples that don’t know the difference between a race track and a cruise made things a little stressful, there were no tickets given. Near the end we were confronted by the O.P.P (State Police) and they pulled us all over on the side of the highway. No tickets were given, just an hour wasted.

The car never skipped a beat and ran beautifully. Approximately 4000rpms most of the time due to the 3:91 LSD. With the fan delete mod and no back up cooling the car performed amazing and never overheated or gave any issues. We ended up travelling a total of ~400kms (250miles) and only used just shy of 1/2 tank of fuel. I was very impressed.  Below are a few more shots from the cruise.

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Here is what I started out with today, with the help of a Dremel and a cut-off wheel I was able to separate the lenses from the housings. After that I masked off the areas I wanted to paint and scuffed down the areas that I wanted to paint. You can see in the pics I had the center pieces masked off but I ended up painting them in the end.I used Dupli-color trim paint which is a Satin Black finish which matches the headlamps.

After the paint dried I used a soldering iron to “Plastic Weld” the lenses back to the housings. They came out pretty good. I think they compliment the headlights rather well however I am not sure that I am sold on them yet. I am considering painting them silver to match the trim now and doing the housing portions of the headlamps too. We’ll see but this is what I have for now, I am very satisfied with the results. They are different but better than Amber, cleaner than the Clears and flow better than the Smoked.

The rest of the day was spent detailing and setting up at the show. It was nice that all 3 cars managed to be positioned next to each other to make set-up and sharing of detailing products very easy! I had a few friends help me out, so big thanks to: Mike, Chuck, Andrew, Jordan and my Wife! Everything went smoothly, just took up a lot of time. Had to jack up the cars once they were inside to adjust the coil overs and of course the detailing took forever! The cars had collected quite a bit of dirt, dust etc. I would like to give a huge thanks to Carpolish.CA for providing the ZAINO products used to detail the cars. The instructions were intense but WOW does it ever work great!

Friday was the first day of the show and it was great to meet people and answer questions to those who had been following the project along. It was also my Birthday so I managed to take full advantage of free meals at local restaurants. Saturday and Sunday were some long days but friends, family and fans kept me busy. Here you can see a few pictures taken by myself, friends and others who have been kind enough to send over their pics.

Sunday was the awards day and I am pleased to say that the 1992 BMW ACS and the 2000 Ford SVT Lightning came Runner-Up in their respected classes. Unfortunately the Mustang was up against some pretty fierce competition and did not bring home any awards. I am very proud to have not come home empty handed, it’s been a long few months but I feel great knowing I had finished this project and possibly look forward to another in the future!

I want to personally thank everyone who has sponsored, contributed and/or followed along fun. You all definitely made this project worth while and kept me motivated to work on these cars every night after my full time job! TIP2?

Installation of this kit is super simple and the hardest part is finding a good spot to mount the Ballasts. They are what provide the power needed to properly power the lights. With the headlights out I found a great spot on the actual bumper re-bar to mount them. I had to file out the mounting hole of the ballast just enough to get the bolt used to go through the hole I found on each side of the bumper!

The picture above shows the hole I used. Using this hides the ballast and keeps it away from all the elements! I did not need to extend any of the harnesses, it was completely plug and play! I did have to modify my headlight housings some to allow the wires to pass through the housings and connect to the bulbs. As shown in the picture below.

As you can see, the results are fantastic and a good alignment will light up the road wonderfully! Again a big thanks to HID Canada! These are definitely stand up kits and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to upgrade their lighting.

My plans were to drive both my Lightning and the BMW and trailer the Mustang, however due to insurance issues I will be having to trailer the BMW. It seems that State Farm has finally pulled the plug on my modified vehicles and its only a matter of time before my Lightning gets denied as well. Needless to say I will be insurance shopping next week as the weather is just awesome and it’s time to be driving something nice again.

Well I am running out of time so I better get back to work. I hope see you guys at the show! Be sure to come check the cars out in person! Parking is free too. www.performanceworldcarshow.com

This chip should make a significant difference in the performance of the 1992 BMW and Mark is excited to hear the results when I drive it up to the show this week. I could tell right away when starting the car that the idle was even smoother. This particular chip is made to run on 91 octane gas (and higher of course), and also takes into account my modifications such as, exhaust, cams, cold air intake, pulleys, etc… He also has a red line set to 7500 rpm. He told me he normally does 7100 but knows how I like to push the limits sometimes so it should be interesting to see!

Mark, I would like to thank you again for making the trip to see me in person and even help install the chip! It was an honor. To anyone out there looking for some nice canned tunes (or maybe a custom one if you’re willing to pay for it) Mark is the guy to talk to, he really knows his stuff. Be sure to visit his website or you can contact him directly at:  mark@dsylva-tech.ca

After much research online it was clear that the stock Brake Booster would suffice with this setup and that most people like the pedal feel it gives. The Master Cylinder was however in need of an upgrade. For this, I used a 1993 Mustang Cobra master as they came with 4 wheel disc from the factory. These units can be bought from your local parts store and the “D” code is what you need to give them to specify it to be the Cobra master. I believe it is the 7th character in the VIN number. The 93 Cobra Master bolts right up to your stock booster and mine even came with a new reservoir You will need to bench bleed the master prior to installation to ensure you do not get any unwanted air in your brake system.

The next component to consider is how are you going to control the fluid bias for the rear brakes. Obviously we want to take full advantage of the rear discs without having them lock up before the front brakes do. On the internet you will find lots of talk about taking your stock Proportioning valve and gutting it out to perform a “3-2 conversion”. Since the 93 Cobra master cylinder only has 2 ports on it (one for front, one for rear) the stock proportioning valve must be modified to accept the new configuration. Some people will gut their stock valve and use a T fitting to compensate for the extra line and then install an adjustable proportioning valve at the firewall where the coupling is found from factory.

My friend however, found a better solution! He found this very impressive piece by SSBC which replaces your factory valve and no T-fittings, extra valves, no gutting are necessary.

The SSBC unit has 2 inputs, one for the front brakes and one for the rear, just like our new 1993 Cobra Master Cylinder. It also feature 2 front outs (one for each side) which flow direct. Finally, the unit has 1 rear out which is controlled by the adjuster, making this piece an “all in one” solution. It even features a brake light switch if you can believe it. This piece I believe was upwards of $150 but considering the ease and simplicity of install, worth the money.

There was a bit of flaring involved in this process to have all the right ends on the lines, some bending and shaping of the stock lines was needed also. After everything was flared and bent I was left with this prior to installation of the other components.

Finally it was time to install our new items! Be careful to put some rags down to avoid brake fluid from getting on your paint. The install was straight forward and everything went together well. I did have a bit of a leak from one connector at first as I didn’t notice it had a single flare instead of a double that was needed. After a new flare, it was a success.

Finally after all the connections were checked for leaks, I had a friend come help me bleed out the system. Starting from the furthest point from the Master Cylinder and working closer (Passenger Rear, Drivers Rear, Passenger Front, Drivers Front). I used DOT4 synthetic fluid as I had it in the shop, and very pleased with the outcome. Once the roads are nice it will be time to take the car to an empty parking lot and get the setting on the proportioning valve set for the rear brakes to make sure they don’t lock up before the front.

Nick from Peterborough Powdercoating came by tonight to lend a hand and brought the part I have been waiting for! The GT-40 intake manifold. He was kind enough to stick around and help install the intake and the piping for the supercharger. I must say it looks great!

The master cylinder and proportioning valve have been delayed but should arrive for tomorrow as promised from the parts guy! We managed to start the car up momentarily just to check that all the wiring, fuel, ignition was connected properly. The belts and tensioners still need to be installed. Finally some final suspension pieces are needed to bolt the DECH Grabbers in place properly with the correct bolts and to try and raise the front of the car up by an inch. Unfortunately I will need to be able to steer the car.

So as the last few weeks pass I truly can’t believe how fast it went and the persistence and dedication I have had to this project. I am hoping to be able to bring the BMW back into the shop for the weekend to finalize a few things such as; Custom Chip from Mark D, Strut Tower Brace, Mirrors, Stereo and Clean up. After that will be a few days dedicated to the Lightning.

As I get ready for bed I just want to say thank you to all who have followed along, contributed in any way shape or form, and finally to my sponsors who have been so great throughout these builds. I look forward to being able to show these cars and perhaps a TIP2 is in order? Here is a quick pic of the engine bay as it was tonight before leaving!

Installation of these Grabbers the first time I did it on my 1991 coupe was a bit of a pain but this time around was a breeze! Basically you jam the grabber onto your stock LCA mount and line up the rear shock mount hole. mark the 4 holes and start with a smaller drill bit and then go through with a 3/4″ bit to finish things off. Drilling slowly through metal is key. I had both sides done pretty quickly and you will need to drill from the back sides unless all your brake/back plate components are removed.

These grabbers basically reposition the mount point of the LCA down by about 3/4″. This allows for the pinion angle to change allowing for not only a 3/4″ drop in the rear but also helps eliminate nose dive. You will see in the following pics the installation process used to install the Grabbers and also my custom lower control arms.

The control arms used were once stock and then boxed up with plates for reinforcement. I then added a coil over sleeve from a generic coil over kit and ground off the original spring perches mounting the coil over sleeve to the LCA directly. With the use of washers and long bolt through from top to bottom we now have a adjustable spring perch for the rear! Plans to lower the car a little more are in the works however, I need to see how it will sit once all the weight is added back to the trunk of the car. The stereo, full tank of gas, spare tire and some other factors such as the convertible top down may just have the car sitting right in the back!

Racecraft Inc. Was kind enough to sponsor The Infamous Project with a set of their custom built 2″ drop spindles. They offer them for 4 bolt Fox Bodies, SN95 and newer Mustangs. I wanted to do a 5 bolt conversion to this project so I went with the SN95 pair as shown above! These are definitely some high quality pieces and come powdercoated too.  Installation was a breeze, once you removed the caliper, sway bar link, strut and spring, you can get access to remove the ball-joint and tie-rod end. I discarded all the old stuff and bolted the spindles with SN95 brakes and rotors with ease. Racecraft uses their own hub bolt which is MUCH easier to use then the factory stacked nut design. They also provide the spacing washer for the balljoint nut!

You can see that the project car is sitting VERY low! That is because not only do we have the 2″ drop spindles installed, but also, FMS C Springs with a coil cut as well. This is easily a 5″ drop to our Mustang. I will be raising the car up about 1″ via spring modification in order to be able to somewhat steer this car. But I am very happy with the outcome and this product is a MUST for those wanting to lower their Mustang without having to modify their suspension geometry. Also keep in mind that if you are converting to 5 bolt that buying the SN95 spindles will take care of your upgrade and lower your car at the same time.

A big thank you to Racecraft Inc. once again. I have been dealing with Mark who is very friendly and knows his stuff. I highly recommend them for any racing needs you may have, or in my case, severe lowering of your ride. You can watch the installation of these spindles HERE live!