[mjchip]

Hi Folks,

I've put about 500 miles on #05434 and I LOVE it (this is coming off of a 2000 Corvette Coupe)! This weekend I changed the oil/filter and took off all of the wheels to get a look at the suspension and make sure that the lugnuts were torqued properly. To make a long story short, I found a few problems: the lugs took over 150 lb-ft. of torque to break loose (can you say IMPACT wrench), the tires had from 39-45psi in them, and there was silver grease streaks all over the front rotors. While I had the tires off I was inspecting the suspension components and I have to say that I'm pretty impressed. The front sway is a fat tubular (28mm) with blue polyurethane bushings (nice) the red PBR calipers/Brembo discs, and tokico struts are sweet!

Now, my initial driving impressions are pretty favorable but I want to correct the following "feel":

1. the rear end feels sort of disconnected from the rest of the car (kind of sluggish to respond)

2. the steering is kinda sloppy (understeer)

3. excessive drivetrain vibration above 4000rpm

4. heavy pedal (brakes)

Here are my potential fixes for the car:

1. Maximum Motorsports or Pro3i (similar to MM with Del-alum bushings and spherical bearings) LCAs, Steeda UCAs (boxed in FRRP arms w/poly bushings at one end and higher durometer rubber in the other end), MM panhard bar. What do you think? Fordbullitt, you have a similar set-up right? What are your driving impressions with the new set-up?

2. Polyurethane or aluminum steering rack bushings, MM 4-bolt CC plates (possibly going to coil-overs), MM or KB strut tower brace.

3. FRRP aluminum driveshaft

4. Hawk street pads, braided steel brake lines (anyone know where to get these for the Bullitt?), front brake cooling ducts, Motul fluid,

5. Misc stuff: 3.73 gears on a Torsen T-2 rear, TA diff housing, synthetic fluids in engine, tranny, differential.

Well, how does this sound for an attack plan? Any advice from those that have done these mods? Hopefully by the time I get the car handling like I want it, tuners will have the bugs worked out of supercharger installs (tuning, tuning, tuning.....I want a blown engine NOT a blowed-up one!).

Thanks for listening and any advice that you may have.

Mark

_________________
BLACK BULLITT
#05434

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: mjchip on 2001-10-01 14:44 ]</font>

 

[Bullitt4601]

Not sure what you mean by a 'heavy' pedal, but if you put stainless brake lines on, you will get a very 'hard' pedal. Is that what you want? Unless you road race the car, not sure what that's going to do for you.

 

[mjchip]

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On 2001-10-01 14:45, Bullitt4601 wrote:
Not sure what you mean by a 'heavy' pedal, but if you put stainless brake lines on, you will get a very 'hard' pedal. Is that what you want? Unless you road race the car, not sure what that's going to do for you.
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Hi,

Thanks for responding so quickly. Basically I feel that I have to really whomp on the brake pedal to get the car to stop. My gut feeling is that this is/was due to stock pads and the little grease problem that I had. My vette had very sensitive but predictable brake feel with little fade and I want the same thing for my Bullitt. What do you think? By the way, a firm pedal is nice also.

 

[JayP]

My pedal feel was pretty good until I baked the brakes at the track.

Different pad compounds, heavy duty brake fluid and stainess lines will affect the feel. That's all pretty cheap compared to other upgrades to the car.

 

[mjchip]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-01 15:17, JayP wrote:
My pedal feel was pretty good until I baked the brakes at the track.

Different pad compounds, heavy duty brake fluid and stainess lines will affect the feel. That's all pretty cheap compared to other upgrades to the car.


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Hey,

Do you have SS brake lines? If so, where did you get them? I can't seem to find ones for the Bullitt (F & R). Thanks in advance.

Mark

 

[JayP]

I'm 99% sure Cobra stainless lines will work.

I found these guys-- I have not dealt with them. Yet.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/

 

[mjchip]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-01 16:01, JayP wrote:
I'm 99% sure Cobra stainless lines will work.

I found these guys-- I have not dealt with them. Yet.
http://www.maximummotorsports.com/
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE>

Most people only seem to carry front lines. This may be a stupid question but what about rear SS lines for the Bullitt?

Mark

 

[Bullitt4601]

The master cylinder has as much to do with brake 'feel' as anything, and I'm not sure what you can retrofit there. I would try different pads first, or change the fluid if you think you cooked it. Some people don't like a rock hard pedal on the street, that's why I would shy away from stainless lines.

Compared to the Porsche's I've had in the past, the Bullitt's brakes are a little mushy, but I would want to fix the steering and the front end push in the car first. That's at the top of my 'fix it' list, though I'm not going to start shopping for a few months yet, still learning the car.

 

[Barnaby]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
1. the rear end feels sort of disconnected from the rest of the car (kind of sluggish to respond)
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That's because Ford uses rubber bushings at all pivot points to compensate for the inherent bind in the design. Your fix will work fine, it may work better than you want. By adding a panhard bar you will get no lateral movement in the rear causing what has been described as harsh by some. Try it and see if you like it. If not, pull it off. If you go with either of those 2 LCAs just keep the factory uppers or use Ford HD units, in this case flex is what you want.
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2. the steering is kinda sloppy (understeer)
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What are you after here? Do you want to decrease understeer or increase oversteer? If you want to decrease understeer you need to increase grip in the front. This can be done through softer springs(initial turn-in) smaller front sway bar, or change front geomotry(kind of expensive). If you want to increase oversteer do the opposite of what I said for the front(except for the geometry thing). I assume you want more overall grip, which necessitates adding front end grip(your rear grip is too much right now causing understeer).
9quote]
3. excessive drivetrain vibration above 4000rpm
[/quote]
If it's excessive take it in to the dealer and have them check it out. There shouldn't be that much from the factory. I would before you throw any parts at it anyway.
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4. heavy pedal (brakes)
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You solution might work here. Suggestion, do one change at a time. Do the lines first, see if you like that, then try pads.

Good luck, let us know what you do and how it works for you.

Tim

 

[FordBullitt]

Black Bullitt:

I did install the MM panhard bar and also their rear adjustable sway bar. That car is much more neutral now. I'll have it on the road course the 13th and will report back. Still need to install boxed Ford Heavy duty rear upper control arms, MM caster/camber plates and aluminum rack bushings before the 13th.. whew!

I have an idea for neutralizing the rubber steering damper in the steering shaft to save money instead of buying a replacement from Flaming River. I'll let you know how it works.

Brian

 

[mjchip]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-10-02 11:06, FordBullitt wrote:
Black Bullitt:

I did install the MM panhard bar and also their rear adjustable sway bar. That car is much more neutral now. I'll have it on the road course the 13th and will report back. Still need to install boxed Ford Heavy duty rear upper control arms, MM caster/camber plates and aluminum rack bushings before the 13th.. whew!

I have an idea for neutralizing the rubber steering damper in the steering shaft to save money instead of buying a replacement from Flaming River. I'll let you know how it works.

Brian

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Thanks for the reply. Let us know how the mods turned out for you. What about front shock tower brace....any plans to do one?

Mark