New member with 03 MSP with photos/questions...

[TheBrat]

Hey there guys, new member though I have used this site before for tips/tricks and info before... Im from Winnipeg Canada and have owned this car for just about a year now and have been tracing issues and fiddling with it since I bought it.
Heres some photos of my 03 MSP

I've had everything from bad boost leaks, clamps blowing off, couplers torn, vacuum leaks like crazy, all the common idling issues. All the common problems and finally it feels like it runs and drives like it should.. on most days. This car came up as a decent deal with low kilometers and due to some of the issues I figured it would be a fun project. I have NO history on this car so i'm listing what I know or can remember. NO info on internals.

Partial breakdown
Cosmetic.
17" Rota's wrapped in Kuhmo Z rated rubber
Factory Spicy Orange with black roof, hood and trunk.
Carbon Fiber hood/trunk.
Rear wing delete
Tinted windows.

Interior.
Sparco Wheel
Sparco Pedals
Sparco 4 point harness
Sparco Seats
Greedy Electronic boost controller

Chassis/frame.
Front and rear strut tower braces
Thicker sway bars
Totiko struts

Motor etc.
Larger intercooler
Aluminum rad with dual electric fans
Larger fuel pump
Larger injectors
Aftermarket intake?
Header
Full 3' stainless w/cat delete from turbo down
Copper plugs (one step colder)
Rest of intercooler piping is 2 1/2"
Fuel Regulator

So heres the couple questions I have. I've heard of these cars hitting self destruct mode around 10 pounds of boost. Whats the first to go? The rods? Bearings? My car will consistanly spike around 18-19 pounds with no issues and pull hard. This seems to be unheard of for these cars from what I have read, especially with the stock ECU. I had a little fun tonight and did a roll race from about 30KMH and walked right past an 03/04 Mach 1 Mustang...

Best 1/4 was
2.73 60' (spinning very hard)
10.72@1/8
16.25@1/4
@81.79MPH

Worst 1/4 was
2.43 60'
10.22@1/8
16.38@1/4
@88.56MPH

Best that night was 89.83MPH

Any ideas what kind of hp/tq this car makes? I plan on getting it dyno'd soon but curiosity has gotten the best of me. Im also curios what kind of 1/4 I could get out of it (with a driver mod/more practice) Sorry this is so long, thanks guys.

Brett.

 

[destineal]

Nice car Brett! Quick question, How did you walk a Mach 1 Mustang and yet pull a 16.25 Quarter mile at the track? How long has it been boosting 18-19 lbs? Since you have larger injectors, you have some kind of engine management....Do you know which one? Only way to tell if you're forged is to check, but I would think you are considering you're handling almost 20 lbs of boost like a boss. Stock cars can handles 10 lbs with supporting mods, or they could send a rod through the block at stock boost levels(wow). Do you know if you have a stock turbo?

 

[Jaleik]

You probably have some kind of engine management, try looking under the cup holders or look for any wires coming off the ecu.

Im assuming you have not done a lot of 1/4 mile races before.. the car is stock form does low 15s.

And its not headers, its an exhaust manifold.

 

[SCMP3]

Welcome. Very nice car. What happened to the dg lip? And also. Thats a super rare front strut tower bar, keep ahold of it. I haz one and pics of the rear strut bar?

 

[TheBrat]

Hey guys, thanks all the compliments. Ill take more photos of it in a bit.

SCMP3, I still have the lip but I was having alot of issues with it rubbing on everything since we have the worst roads imaginable and my driveway is fairly steep so I was having issues getting up that as well. What makes the brace so rare? Ill take photos of the rear, its a blue one.

Jaleik, I have only about 10 passes under my belt at the track though i've been going to the races for probably 10 years now. Needless to say I have very little experience and am not used to how the car hooks on the track.

Destineal, I was playing around with the Mach1 on the street. I dont condone racing on the street at all, we were on an empty street and he kept trying to get me to go. I gave it a bit, he took off and I raced after him. I was at his door in what felt like 2 seconds and as I came around him he got on the breaks. Part of me thought he wasent all the way in it since these cars can run a low 13 at the track. But I can tell he was not happy as he wouldnt look at me when he caught up. He revved it to the moon back and turned off. I've owned the car since last July and have been boosting around 18-19psi since than. I've been wondering if its the stock turbo or not, is there any numbers to run to verify?

Thanks again for the compliments guys.

Brett.

 

[Cleverfrog]

How often do you get up to 18-19 psi? I'm still weary to go above 9psi on stock internals.

 

[J_Naoto]

looks good

 

[TheBrat]

Well depends on the day. Going to work is all highway for me and I dont really play around to much. If i'm on a cruise night or a long empty road in the middle of no where ill hit it once or twice. If I had to guess how many times in total probably 2-300 times. Car still runs fine, doesnt seem to not-like the boost. I might see if I can get a video for you guys in a bit.

Not knowing if anything is done enternally im assuming it is a forged rotating assembly. I know peanuts about these cars compared to probably most of you on this board, but I have not heard of many MSP's seeing that much boost and holding together.

Brett.

 

[TheBrat]

Thanks, Naoto!

Brett.

 

[Cleverfrog]

forged goodies make higher psi work for the most part with supporting mods of course.

 

[2.0t03speed]

just so you know heres some of the parts that i see on your car =)

Ion FMIC
Ion Intake
Mam Mani w/ EGT
CP 3-Point strut tower brace
Rota Sub-zeros
DG Grill
Apexr1 ADP

 

[SCMP3]

Yes the strut bar is a cp strut bar. They made 7 total. You have the 3rd one I've seen. I have one of the other 2.


I'm curious about this rear strut bar now, with all the other awesome goodies you have.

 

[2.0t03speed]

what im curious about is why your trap speeds are so low.

 

[codex]

FWIW I ran 14.1 @ 99.5 with 10 psi, stock turbo and block, crappy all season tires.

 

[destineal]

7 made total? that is very rare.

 

[destineal]

take some better pics of the turbo

 

[TheBrat]

WOW. Im amazed by some of the stuff im reading.. Im going to try and retire this car ASAP from daily usage so I can dig into it.. I felt bad about driving on a bit of gravel, but now I feel terrible! The rear brace has a CP racing decal on it so im assuming its one of those as well. I have a video that is just uploading now and will be posted shortly!! Cant wait to hear what you guys tell me!!

As far as the e/t's. I was baby shifting it, spinning terribly out of the whole and just getting used to actually driving the car. I had tons of issues with it last year from pre-det, boost leaks, vacuum leaks etc. This season I changed plugs to the colder NGK plug, new wires, new filter (last one was PLUGGED) did all the basic tune-up stuff and eliminated all my leaks excepted for a hair line crack on the exhaust manifold (cylinder 4) . Car is a whole different car now from last season. Im sure with a couple more passes uunder my belt and figure out my launch the car should pick up a couple seconds. Remember my 60' was in the low 3.0's. Im aware thats TERRIBLE.

Video in a couple minutes.

Brett.

 

[2.0t03speed]

WOW. Im amazed by some of the stuff im reading.. Im going to try and retire this car ASAP from daily usage so I can dig into it.. I felt bad about driving on a bit of gravel, but now I feel terrible! The rear brace has a CP racing decal on it so im assuming its one of those as well. I have a video that is just uploading now and will be posted shortly!! Cant wait to hear what you guys tell me!!

As far as the e/t's. I was baby shifting it, spinning terribly out of the whole and just getting used to actually driving the car. I had tons of issues with it last year from pre-det, boost leaks, vacuum leaks etc. This season I changed plugs to the colder NGK plug, new wires, new filter (last one was PLUGGED) did all the basic tune-up stuff and eliminated all my leaks excepted for a hair line crack on the exhaust manifold (cylinder 4) . Car is a whole different car now from last season. Im sure with a couple more passes uunder my belt and figure out my launch the car should pick up a couple seconds. Remember my 60' was in the low 3.0's. Im aware thats TERRIBLE.

Video in a couple minutes.

Brett.

to be honest i feel like your car has a built motor. The person that modded the car knew what he was doing and likely a member of this forum. I would look up the vin in the production number thread to check if he was a member. The fact that your car has upgraded injectors, fpr, and fuel pump means you more then likely have some sort of engine management. i wouldn't be surprised if you had a standalone.

 

[TheBrat]

Im not sure how to go about doing so. If I post the VIN can someone check for me?
Video should be up RIGHT AWAY, taking forever off my Iphone.
Thanks for all the help guys. VIN and video in next post!!

Brett.

 

[SCMP3]

If its the cp rear brace I'm thing of, I'm gonna flip s***, as I want one. Lol