Like many GT500 owners I started out with the FRPP intake and tune and slowly warmed up to the idea of something more potent, then I stumbled accross a  pulley/tune package  from  VMP Tuning that is specifically for the FRPP kit. The contains a 2.65″ pulley, 90mm idler, SCT Flash Tuner, 3 custom tunes from Justin, and I opted for his stellar pulley puller tool (save yourself the nightmare of the cheap pullers that you read so much about).  This kit is consistently putting down 550RWHP on average, pretty damn stout for a $700 investment.

Woah, not so fast, you have now introduced a new problem that needs to be addressed before becoming a YouTube hero.  As any Shelby GT500 owner already knows, the car suffers from heat soak due to extreme temperatures generated by the supercharger and that rather wimpy stock intercooler. You can drop 60HP+ pretty quick when the temps get up there, which is pretty easy in 90 degree temps.  Essentially, the temps climb and the computer kicks in and pulls timing from the motor to keep it from a meltdown, this in turn saps power noticeably.

So what do you think is going to happen when you swap a pulley from 3″ to 2.65″ and add 3-4psi?  You are going to take an already known issue and exacerbate it.  Solution?  Cooler plugs for one, NGK TR6 plugs gapped at .035 will run one range cooler than stock.  Second, an AFCO heat exchanger to replace the stocker.  I spent some time researching all the various Shelby Heat Exchangers on the market and stats all point to the Shelby dual fan HE and the AFCO as leading the pack. Steeda makes one, and I am usually a fan but in this case it is smaller and more expensive than the afco, huh?  The afco runs about $380 while the shelby fan cooled is around $750.  The AFCO is more than enough for my needs and, I got a sweet deal on a used one from a forum buddy.  Some quick data to back the decision:

Core Size
AFCO core is 9″ tall x 22.44″ wide x 2″ thick.
Stock is 6″ tall x 23″ wide x 1.25″ thick.

Height:
Stock 6″
AFCO 9″

Width: Stock 23″
AFCO 22.5″

Thickness: Stock 1.25″
AFCO 2.0″

Front Face Area
Stock 138 sq. in.
AFCO 202 sq. in. (50% increase)

Overall Surface Area:
Stock 690 sq. in.
AFCO 1616 sq. in. (135% increase)

While it is rather an easy install it is time consuming to get the front fascia off, see pics below.  After driving around in hot weather I can actually tell a difference, while it probably won’t solve your heatsoak issues on a long road race course, it will surely resolve your average street use heat soak.

You will need 1.5 Gallons of mixed 50/50 Motorcraft Premium Gold protection Engine Coolant with Bittering Agent VC-7-B, sold at all Ford dealerships $11.00/gal. The GT500 manual specs VC-7-A but the parts computer has been updated for 2009 showing VC-7-B as the official replacement for that part. Only difference is a bittering agent I believe was added. Any Dealership will carry this don’t screw around trying to find it at your local Autozone, PepBoys, etc.  And it is highly advised not going with some off the shelf product due to the possible chemical reactions within the GT500 cooling system and this foriegn coolant, not to mention the yellow keeps it looking factory.

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First addition centered shelby trunk letters- After seeing the supersnake, kr, and all the pre production models of shelby GT500s with the trunk emblems centered, I decided to follow suit.  I think ford just got cheap because it is much easier to deal with stripes if you don’t have emblems over them.  Slick install taking about 30 minutes being extremely careful to make them exact, the human eye is amazingly talented at detecting the slightest imperfection when it comes to letters.

Second addition was the Ford Racing (OEM part on shelby gt’s) brushed aluminum gas cap. I had one on my 04 cobra and really liked the look so I duped it. I know, it’s a fine line between pimping out a car and making it tacky, especially when it’s considered collectible.  I am doing my best not destroy an already perfect car by adding some small tasteful touches.

Third Addition – NITTO 555R Extreme Drag Radials. Since this car is not driven in the rain I decided to actually put down the power the car makes. One thing any GT500 owner or Car magazine tester will tell you, these cars have a major traction problem with the skinny stock 285 wide Goodyears. They just spin or wheel hop all over in first and into second resulting in crap 0-60 numbers. Anywhere from 4.3 to 4.7 says all the magazines, hell I put a set of 305 wide Nittos on and hit 3.9 from a standstill!  Beware that these tires have a major hydroplane issue in heavy rain at freeway speeds, take it from me leave the car home those days.

Fourth Addition – Flowmaster American Thunder Exhaust.  The Ford Racing exhaust kit was very cool looking and sounded great but it was no match for the flows. Flows are louder, meaner, and just sound bad ass on a mustang. I will never stray again Flowmaster, sorry. I skipped them this time because they don’t officially have a model for the GT500, on the v6 and GT. The GT is essentially the exact same muffler so I bought them and they worked spectacular.

Below are some photos.

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In the quest for more power and still maintaining the factory warranty I have I decided to buy the Ford Racing Power Pack for the Shelby. The kit includes a Cold air intake kit and ford racings programmer with a custom tune to match the fuel to the new airflow.  Only took about two days for them to mail out the programmer with an SD card containing the new tune for my car.  Essentially this is exactly what they put on the GT500KR to boost the power.  The results are 40HP and 30ft lbs of torque to 540hp and 510ft/lbs.  Another item I love but they don’t mention is the added supercharger whine, the louder the better SWEEEET!

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2008 Black Shelby GT500

It finally arrived, a Black 2008 Coupe with NAV and 2mi. in Utah! 

MODS ROUND 1: Tint & Clear Bra, Shelby Signed Dash Plaque

MODS ROUND 2: FRPP Exhaust and K&N OE filter element (intentionally tame to maintain warranty) But sounds alot better.

PHOTOS:

2006 Mustang GT – Retro Beauty

Ford in their infinite wisdom decided to offer 72mo. 0% financing on 2006 Mustang GTs and I was in. Had to fly to Idaho to Dan Wiebold Ford to find a manual but it was worth it. They had already pimped it out with 20″ chrome bullitts, Saleen HID headlamps, custom white stitched leather seats, tint, and stripes. Of course I tried to get all that and my taxes covered on Ford’s dime and guess what,  I did.  I didn’t pay a penny and drove it back to Utah. Mental note to Ford attorneys, when you offer 0% financing put in some clauses that limit the debt to the actual vehicle costs excluding aftermarket add-ons and taxes.

It didn’t hold a candle to the terminator when it came to power but it was leaps and bounds ahead of the fox body in looks and construction. Wow, it had “MyColor” so you could change the dash backlights to anything you wanted. Actually that was kinda gay but the body style was one thing Ford actually got right, proven by sales of 300K units a year.  I wish they could figure out the rest of thier lineup before they go bankrupt.

MODS ROUND 1: Sold 20″ bling wheels for 18×9 and 18×10.5 to lose the rotational mass that was killing acceleration. Added K&N CAI and Flowmasters and a Superchips inline tune. That alone was a nice upgrade.

MODS ROUND 2: 445HP Roush Intercooled Supercharger Kit, Drilled and slotted rotors, and a bunch of Roush parts to round it out.

MODS ROUND 3: NItto 555Rs and a California Special front end to give it a chin.

PHOTO GALLERY

2004 SVT COBRA – THE TERMINATOR

When the 2003 Cobra came out it was my dream car. I saved for a year until the 2004 and picked one up when my wife said “let’s do it”, so we did. It was my first taste of a supercharger and wow, it was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was like having a never ending bottle of NOS with instant torque. And for all those Car & Driver journalists out there who don’t like supercharger whine, find something else to whine about because it is the sh*t!  I can’t get enough of it, sounds like a jet engine mixed with a sweet deep V8 sound. It doesn’t get any better. Funny thing is they actually like the sound of the porsche engine though, to me it sounds like a couple coffee cans bangin around, ha!

MODS ROUND 1: Flowmaster Exhaust, Steeda CAI, Hypertech Programmer (P.S. Never buy a hypertech, they suck and are very limited, for the same price you can get a much more capable tuner like the Diablosport Predator.

MODS ROUND 2: 3.0″ Pulley, Runnin with the Devil Tune (diablosport predator), 315W NITTO 555R ( Totally resolved the wicked wheel hop issue it had developed), Kenny Brown rear brace ( total waste of money, it had wheel hop even worse.) Accufab Throttle body (throttle response was amazing compared to stock)

MODS ROUND 3: 2.90 pulley and revised tune and belts, and finally a 2.80 Pulley with yet again another tune with dyno time. If you have an 03-04 cobra just do the 2.8 with a smaller belt, with 12-14psi that motor ran just fine and it just ripped down the street! Roughly 518 RWTQ was what it ended up with.

PHOTO GALLERY

ALREADY PIMPED OUT 2000 GT

OK all it took was one ride in a neighborhood friends V8 GT with a flowmaster exhaust to see what I had been missing. One trip down the street and I was sold, yeah it actually was for sale at the time. Insert low ball offer and wait for a week for him to think about it, and sold!  This was the last time someone else would get to pay for all the mods.

MODS: Flowmaster Exhaust, Diablosport Chip, Roush lowering springs, Roush CAI, Roush Pedals, Drilled rotors, 315 18×11 rear chromers, tint, and some random roush stuff.

2000 Silver V6 Mustang – The instigator

The first mustang I ever purchased was a silver V6 with one modification, white face guages. And boy where they cool!  I bought the car with 56K miles on it from a Subaru dealer of all places. It had an extended warranty to 100K mi. so why not right. I was a born and bred Supra Turbo fan but this car looked cool to me.

First modification: Pain the rear view mirrors, easy and cheap trick that ford should have done in the first place.  Ally ou have to do it match the color code and shoot some clear coat afterwards.

Next up were the 18″ Cobra R replica wheels, holy sh*t it was cool now!  But I was out of money after I realized how much tires would run on those huge wheels.