Well the day I have been looking forward to forever has finally come! The day to lower the Stang. It’s been an extremely long day (about 14 hours at the shop) but well worth the progress. I even managed to get the BMW in the shop too and have some work done to it. I had lots of help come in to help get some things done as time is ticking until show time. The drop spindle install was flawless!

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!

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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!

I would like to give a big thanks to Richard from North Racecars who was kind enough to help out with the rear disc conversion kit for the Mustang. This was a must considering the car will be making some serious power, and like any fast car, it should be able to stop! North Racecars has a huge selection of different kits to suit your application and I went with the complete Cobra rear kit with the 11″ rotors minus the axles. I had access to a set of Aerostar axles here from a local friend who owns a wrecking yard (Tripps Auto Recyclers) so went with them.

You can use 2 left axles out of older 80′s Rangers and Bronco II’s or you can use 2 right axles from 86-97 Ford Aerostar Vans. They are the same length as a Fox Body axle and therefore will pop right into your differential housing. The axles that North Racecars provide are actually better as they come custom fabricated to be hubcentric to make wheel installation a little easier. In the end our main concern was to save a few bucks and achieve a 5 bolt conversion while getting some rear brakes out back.

Here is a list of what I got in the kit:

• New Rotors
• New Calipers
• New Brake Pads
• New Flex Lines w/ brackets
• All new banjo bolts and crush washers
• New E-brake Cables
• New line fittings (to cut and flange existing brake line)
• New Caliper mounting plates (mount to axle tube bracket where the old backing plate was)

In the following pictures you will see detailed pictures of what was done to bolt this kit on. Everything from removing the differential cover, retaining clips, axles, old brakes, installation of brackets, lines, calipers etc. Be sure to read the captions of the pictures as they explain what each picture is focused on. You can also watch the installation of these components live on my Previous Recordings Page.

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I did take the time to mock everything up prior to the installation and I must say that this is a “complete” kit. The only thing I need to do is paint the calipers. Words of advice from the installation is to make sure that once you have the brackets bolted onto your differential, install your axles right away with their C-Clips and the Center PIN! (you don’t need to put the cover back on or fill with fluid yet). This will allow for your axles to be sitting in the proper place to be able to place the caliper mount onto the main bracket. This is necessary in order to center and space your rotor between the caliper mount! Lastly, I just need to cut/flare the original brake lines to accommodate for the new flex lines. I will update the pictures and captions of all this progress on the Photo Galleries page for the Mustang.

Again, thank you to North Racecars for helping out with this kit. Your product is great, awesome customer service, fast shipping and just great to talk to. It is a pleasure dealing with great companies that can relate to the average car enthusiast/builder.

Well today was a nice treat, my friend Andrew got into town after picking up a bunch of packages from the UPS store in NY. Since it is cheaper to ship within the USA and brokerage fees can cost so much, it only makes sense to make the trip. We had the pleasure of opening a few boxes up today of some very nice parts!

The boxes consisted of the following parts:

• 6 piece smoked headlight kit to replace the old kit which had the 1st generation purple corners
• Turner Motorsports adjustable sway bar kit for the BMW with upgraded end links and bushings
• Racecraft Inc. 2″ drop spindles (Don’t miss this installation on Feb 20th!)
• North Racecars complete Cobra rear disc brake kit for the Mustang

I am excited to be installing these brand new parts! The one side of the headlight kit is installed as the other side needs a new housing bracket for the headlight as the old one broke during removal. The Drop Spindles will be installed on Feb 20th so be sure to watch that! You can see the feature of T.I.P on Racecrafts website as well! The Cobra rear disc brake kit from North Racecars will be installed next week so be sure to catch that installation as well as these will be great guides for those wanting to know how to do it themselves.

Here is a shot of the engine bay as of tonight, some powder-coated goodies have been installed and a few things painted and cleaned up! Looking good, I can’t wait to get the rest of the brackets back from Peterborough Powdercoating so we can get the supercharger and accessories bolted back on!!

So with one month left until Performance World 2010 the major painting components to the project are now over. After many days of prepping, masking and research on how to find the best “Satin Black” paint option, the car is finally painted. It took a few nights of patience and persistence to get the car masked off, the little chips filled, final sanding done and shop cleaned. Since I was painting in a garage, lighting and cleanliness play very important roles for painting! A big thanks to my buddies Mike and Nick for stopping by and helping me get out of the shop before Midnight last night!

So after extensive research online and by phone to different paint suppliers it was concluded that PPG was the best way to go in terms of achieving the “almost” semi-gloss look I was after. Lots of paint manufacturers offer what’s called a “hot rod black” in a single stage or clear coats that are simply matte. Finally I found that PPG has a “flattening agent” which allows you to control how matte you want your overall finish to be. Most did not know the difference between flat, satin and eggshell automotive paints. Finally, I found a supplier who knew what I was after.  In the pic below you can see the supplies I ended up using for this job:

• Jet Black Base Coat
• Medium Reducer
• Clear Coat
• Matting Agent
• Hardner

The clear and matting agent came with a 3 page document on how to mix and the proper ratios to use in order to achieve finishes between Flat, Eggshell and Semi-Gloss. I went with the upwards ratio for “Eggshell” and did not spray any test panels due to time. Had there been more time to do so, it would have saved me a lot of lost sleep last night!

As you can see in the pictures below, the Base Coat went on nicely as base should. I mixed up the clear and filled my gun and mixed up another batch as believe it or not, the flash time is only 5 minutes between coats! So pretty much they expect you to go round and round. They call for 2 coats and I did read online that more coats equals more gloss etc etc. I did not like the way the clear was laying down and was afraid to lay it down “wet” as I thought it would look too shiny. After the 2^nd coat I had no choice but to lay it on nice and wet. I ended up doing 4 coats in total and walked away from the shop just before midnight to a GLOSS BLACK car.

After I left I called Nick and needed to vent as I was a little worried that the matting agent was a waste and that I was going to end up with a gloss black car and not the Satin I had hoped for. Had I mixed it wrong? Did I need to wait? There were no clear answers so I decided to go to bed by 2am and got up for work at 7:30. I called my dad in the morning to ask him to look at the car and tell me if it was shiny and he said “nope”. This gave me a bit of relief but I needed to see the car for myself.

Finally at 5pm tonight I got to see the car and I must say the end finish is “exactly” what I was hoping for! The finish is smooth and looks like satin. I started some assembly of trim after unmasking the car and had a few people pop in to have a look. I also fixed the taillights as they needed to be resealed into their housings and played with some powder coated goodies under the hood! I can’t wait to see this car come together!!

More pictures of the car can be seen in the photo gallery page for the car and the whole painting process can be seen on Feb 10th’s video on the previous recordings page! Be sure to check them out!

So tonight I didn’t really get much done other than clean up and masking. Convertible are nice for the fact that you have less surface area to paint, however masking the tops off can be a little tricky! I got one door jam done on the passenger side as I ran out of tape before I could do the drivers side. The car is coming along well and the final masking and prep will take place tomorrow.

I will need to sand out a little bit of primer i sprayed on Saturday and I will need to spray a few tiny spots and sand where I filled a few minor stone chips. All the little tiny things that take so much work! On a positive note I did get word back from Nick at Peterborough Powder Coating and he will be dropping off some parts tomorrow for us! We won’t be installing them until the car is painted but it’s nice to know they are there ready to bolt on.

Our 4 wheel disc conversion is in transit courtesy of North Racecars, our 2″ drop spindles from Racecraft Inc and a set of Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber plates. Providing all goes as planned all the fun stuff will be happening this weekend and next week! The re-assembly! Gonna get this car dropped down sitting on its 18″ Saleens. I have been away from the Mustang game for a while and I must say I am pretty excited to see the outcome of this car.

Well I managed to put in a solid 7 hours today/tonight on the Mustang. I had a few moments where I felt like too much was happening and that this project is much larger than it seemed to be. So many different areas and things are currently in progress it just seems like the car is in shambles! From parts that are being shipped like, the Racecraft drop spindles and the North Racecars 4 wheel disc conversion to having to roll the fender lips, paint the engine, parts that are getting powder coated, trim that needs painting, final sanding for paint etc etc etc… It is sometimes hard to focus.

Tonight was all about productivity tho, as I managed to prep the engine and paint the old blue parts in a Satin Black Engine Enamel and get the engine bay finalized for paint. I also managed to get all the trim primed and painted back to OEM satin black! It is nice to get this stuff done and out of the way first so that’s its ready for installation after paint!

Although I never managed to pick up the Eastwood Fender Roller, I was able to successfully roll the fenders front and rear with ease! Be sure to check today’s video for that. Some patience and consistent strikes with some hammers can go a long way! It is much easier when you don’t have to worry about cracking paint and marking anything as the car is getting painted anyways. The lips turned out great and will make a world of difference with our drop and 18″ Saleen wheels.

The car was sanded down tonight with 600 grit sand paper to pretty much prep it for paint. A few spots were touched up with some more primer and will be sanded on Monday when I return back to the shop. Monday will also consist of clean up and masking of the car to get it ready for paint for Tuesday or Wednesday night! You won’t want to miss the transformation of this cars skin.

To finish off the evening the front suspension was removed to allow the removal of the Strut hats so that the tops of the strut towers can be painted when the car is sprayed. You can see more pics of today’s progress and productivity HERE

I am writing more of a Rant than anything this evening. After a long weeks work while I was waiting for my truck to warm up, I decided to follow up on a potential sponsor call. I had called ABC Exclusive to inquire if they would be interested in perhaps sponsoring or helping out with the shipping costs over a Style Bar for the Mustang. Having bought several of their products in the past (2 style bars, 2 GT Free Air bumpers and 1 SR-347 Saleen Style spoiler) I figured my returning business was worth at least a discount.

When I called yesterday a Lady answered the phone and I introduced myself explained what I was doing and needing. She encouraged me to email her the info as she said “I am sure we’d be able to help out your project somehow”. Now with no expectations of FREE merchandise, all I am looking for is a discount, free shipping, whatever. So I call back today and the same Lady answered the phone and passed me to the Gentlemen who was in charge of such business. His name was Nicholas. I explained who I was and that I was just following up on the email and he quickly said “I am not interested, people like you call me everyday, CLICK”.

I bet he didn’t even read my email! I clearly explained the project, the concept, and that I would be willing to provide a recorded installation and documentation of his product. I would think that would be worth something more than a HANG UP! He clearly does not even want my business. All I know is that 2 of their products are on the Mustang already and the rear bumper I customized so it no longer looks like theirs. However, the wing I believe is only replicated by them and I want nothing more to put a different one on and free this car of their products.

Every business I have contacted in regards to this project, large and small, have been kind enough to listen/read and respond to me professionally. Whether the companies I have approached were able to help or not they were all very supportive of my idea and concept and I have had nothing but positive experiences. There have been a few frustrating ones such as Cervinis who expressed great interest then later informed me they cannot sponsor Fox Bodies anymore as they are too old.

Either way I would just like to thank all the companies and sponsors who have treated me with respect as I believe I have approached them the same way. From sponsorship proposals, to cross marketing and promotion, discounts to full blown donated parts and products The Infamous Project has been very successful with its First Show! It is not easy designing and maintaining your own website, doing your own marketing and promotions, finding sponsors, updating forums, working full time, working on the project and trying to live a normal life with my Wife!

Thank you again to all my supporters, and ABC, I may not be worth your business but one day I could be the guy that has the power to tell a large part of your customer base to not buy your products and they’ll listen.  Be sure to visit the Sponsors page to see all the great support T.I.P has received

So we’re 1 month in! Lots of hours, lots of dedication, lots of persistence but I am managing to stay focused and on track. As some know, the project has changed slightly to accommodate the official entry of 3 vehicles into Performance World now. There will be the 1992 ACS BMW which we have almost completed. The car will be brought in at the end of February for clean up and finalization of some parts, installs, fluid change etc! The 89 Mustang has been exchanged for my old 87 Mustang convertible now owned by a close friend who has never had the opportunity to make the car what it is capable of being… a fast, sleek, street chewing show piece. Finally, my 2000 SVT Lightning will be entered in the show which a few days will be spent on it in order to get it ready for the show. Here is a picture of the ACS car “chilling” outside:

As I was working 7 days a week on the project I have decided that I will now only work 6 days and leave Sunday as an “unscheduled” day, meaning I may or may not work on the cars that day. Working full time and managing the project is a lot of work.  The Mustang is coming along nicely as most of the body work is now done and paint will be soon to come. Have had to wait until the custom fuel door was installed behind the license plate area and to complete the Power Pipe install for the Vortech Supercharger in the inner fender well of the engine bay.

I am awaiting the arrival of the Racecraft 2″ drop spindles so that we can get SLAMMING this car even more to the ground, complete the 5 bolt conversion and 4 wheel disc upgrade so we can get the 18″  Saleen wheels installed. I am really looking forward to the outcome of this car. All the progress pictures of the Mustang can be seen in the Photo Gallery page.

I hope you have all been enjoying the Project so far and again, please inform all your friends and I encourage feedback and comments If you have missed an episode be sure to check out the Previously Recorded page for all the broadcasts.

When you’re buying/building/renovating/flipping a house, people always say “location, location, location” Well, when you’re building a car for whatever reason it comes down to detail! From sanding down and painting bolts to tire shine all the little details count, especially at car shows. So thanks to Carpolish.ca I have just received a box full of goodies at my doorstep. Carpolish.CA is one of the few ZAINO suppliers in Ontario and has been kind enough to sponsor The Infamous Project with all these lovely products as shown.

Tom is a great guy to deal with and he has sent me some homework on how to use all these products to make these cars look their best for the show! I also got instructions to test some stuff first on my daily driver so i can get used to them, yes it is a little more complicated than “wax on, wax off”. If possible I will be streaming during the set up day at the show and you will all be able to see the detailing done LIVE!  A big thanks again to Tom from Carpolish.ca.

I am really sorry to all who were expecting the Mustang to arrive today. Between mother nature and tricky starting of some Ford’s it was just not possible to deliver the car this evening. I plan to have it transported first thing tomorrow morning! Bare with me, I guess I needed a night off between cars?