2008 GT500: Mods installed

Here are the updated pics and mods.  I was able to purchase the vast majority of the items either new in the box second hand or slightly used. I was not on any time schedule so this worked for me and significantly reduced my costs. I also had a plan from the start and pretty much stuck to it only making adjustments as needed based on input from my tuner. The mods were installed by Power By The Hour in Boynton Beach, FL.

I'd like to thank the Team Shelby forum and FordGT500.com as well. The both provided a wealth of advice for my build. The folks at svtperformance have been very helpful as well.

The GT500 is running a factory Ford 2013 TVS with the 5.8 numbering removed from the casing and painted black. I also had a stainless steel VMP 2.4 pulley installed which is painted black. I was running a Whipple monoblade throttle body but decided to swith it out for the L&M dual inlet 72mm and L&M inlet elbow (port matched to the TVS). The 110mm JLT cold air intake was pegging the MAF during the dyno tune. The guys at Lethal Performance came through and brought over a new JLT 127mm carbon fiber cold air intake. That solved the problem and allowed Lund's team to keep tuning.  I'm really happy with the quality of the JLT intake and the performance. For fuel, I'm using factory injectors that have been modified to 72lbs, Fore fuel rails, and Kenne Bell boost-a-pump to mitiage any fuel starvation issues.

I was running an AFCO dual-pass heat exchanger but it was not sufficient in the Florida heat. Thanks to great advice from Van at Revan Racing, I had a Revan Racing/C&R dual fan unit as well as a Revan Racing/C&R radiator installed. The radiator will help with keeping the head temps low as well. Note that I am running the factory thermostat. With the radiator there is no need for a cooler thermostat and it could actually cause oil issues (car will run too cool).   I always run Amsoil 10w40 and Amsoil oil filters. The factory Ford oil is junk and it does not hold up. I strongly encourage anyone running the Ford oil in their GT500 to send it off for an oil analysis...you'll see how sub-par it is. There is an oil analysis thread on svtperformance.com....read it. I get my Amsoil from Joe over at over1g-racing. A husband and wife grass roots T1 race team and great people. I run Amsoil oil and filters in all of my cars.

For the suspsenion, Van suggested the Griggs torque arm with the Watts link provision so I can add that down the road. Traction and handling were greatly improved - no wheel hop and the car handles significantly better.  For rear lower control arms, I went with the Maximum Motorsports Extreme Duty heim-joint units. I don't have to worry about a poly bushing failing on me now. The Maximum Motorsports have a much higher torque rating than can be achieved with poly. Poly simply won't stand up to the abuse due to the torque I'm putting out. You'll see people concerned with the metal of their chosen control arms and ignore the poly weak point. That's a mistake, IMHO.

The car is lowered on FRPP springs and I run the FRPP bump stops with QA1 single adjustable rear shocks. I have a set of Koni Yellow struts that I am waiting to install. For sway bars, I went with H&R due to their size and quality. They made a big difference in how the car handles and really flattened things out.

The rims are 20 inch Shelby Alcoa's that have been powdercoated a custom gray. The rears were widened to 11.75 inches and the fronts are the 20x10 Alcoa's. For tires, the rears are a Toyo R888 in 315 width and the front tires are Continental DW in 275. The rear tires were centered using the adjustable Steeda panhard rod. Thanks to the custom rear bump stop relocation bracket and removal of the rear bump stop shield, there are no tire clearance issues. I'm running a custom brack duct set-up that has a much wider inlet and design than the Shelby or Ford units. That duct work is routed into the lower front grill. Power By The Hour was able to cut the back of the lower grill and leave the front factory mesh in place.

To stiffen the chasis up , I installed the Kenny Brown matrix sub-frame/jacking rail brace system as well as the Shelby K-member braces all of which were welded on.

The hood vents are custom billet and powder coated satin black by True Forged. The tail lights are factory units that were custom tinted as well.

More updates to come as I have time.

Click on the pics to view a larger version.

Big thanks to Power By The Hour for the install! Very professional, excellent attention to detail, and finished on time. Well worth the drive.

Thanks to Revan Racing, Lethal Performance, JLT for the cold air intake, Jon Lund Tuning.