67 Again: 2006 GT premium, manual

[67 AGAIN]

In the past, I wrote about this car in the “What did you do to your Mustang today” thread but never posted a thread dedicated to it.

Quick history on the origin of the plate, 67Again.
In 2006, I bought a used 2005 GT automatic, Red Fire in colour.
That was the then fresh remake of the Mustang with design queues from the 67-68 model.

Since mine was automatic and 67 was the only year that Ford named automatic GT Mustangs “GTA”’s, I decided to run with that theme.

I added a rocker stripe with the GTA logo in it.
The appearance mods I did were geared to making the car look more like a 67.
Such as adding quarter window louvers and ditching the pedestal spoiler on the trunk, which was a 69-70 feature, in favour of a fastback looking spoiler from the V6.

And, I got the personalized plate.

This is that 2005 GT on track in Watkins Glen, NY, in 2009.
No smart phone back then so limited pics.

 

[67 AGAIN]

To handle the track, that car had some performance mods such as Brembo brakes and wheels from the GT500 of the day.
Steeda rear lower control arms, rear sway bar, Panhard bar and Panhard brace.
As well as a ford racing strut tower brace.
Nothing crazy as it still had stock shocks and dampers.

For added go it had a C&L CAI, Ford Racing Hot Rod cams and 3.55 gears, BBK long tube headers with high flow catted X pipe and Magnaflow Magnapack cat back exhaust.

It ran pretty good but I parted with it in 2010.

 

[67 AGAIN]

That set the stage for me, in May 2011, to buy the 2006 Legend Lime car you guys now know.

Yes, by then the new 2011 Mustang was available and had the much talked about 5.0 litre Coyote engine.

But I had budget restrictions and wasn’t looking for new car payments.
And apart from the engine, the 06 and the 11 are the same car.

I found the 2006 on Auto Trader in the Mississauga area at the Woodbine auto group.
It had been traded in by a woman.
I had already been to Dasilva racing a few times with the 2005 and got along good enough with Joe Dasilva that I asked if he would look at the car for me.

He did and reported back that it was clean, bone stock, in great shape and arrow straight, as in not likely ever wrecked.
He told me he figured the reason it was for sale for a reasonable price was that the colour was not popular in the GTA.
He added that if I did not buy it, he would pick it up and flip it to some of his customers.

So, I spoke to my cousin at the dealership in Grand Falls and they contacted the Ontario dealer and bought it at a wholesale price and I bought it from my cousin.

It had low km’s. Something like 21 or 22000 km’s on it.
It was stock with factory, Bullitt, 17 inch wheels.
But this one was a manual car.

 

[67 AGAIN]

After I bought it, I again reached out to Joe Dasilva to ask if he would pick it up for me and do some work to it before I came out to get it.

He agreed and before I ever saw the car, I had them do Ford Racing 3.73 gears and Hurst billet short throw shifter, along with BMR rear lower control arms, adjustable Panhard bar and Steeda Panhard brace.

Up front, I had them do Ford Racing Hot Rod cams and a C&L CAI again.

I had kept a bunch of parts from the 2005 and was going to bring those with me to have installed when I came to pick up the car.

I kept the Brembo brakes and wheels, the long tube headers and Magnaflow exhaust, along with the Steeda rear sway bar and the strut brace.

I took those with me and had everything done before I ever drove the car or brought it home.

Again, no smart phone back then, so not many pics.
I’d have to search through memory cards.

This is a pic of a pic I have hanging in the garage of earlier days of the car.
If you blow it up and look at the trunk, you’ll see it had black, over the top Shelby stripes back then.
And the quarter window louvers were stick ons.

Since then, the stripes are gone and the louvers have been replaced with Silverhorse Racing louvers, which replace the stock windows entirely.

At the time, Joe said the car was as initially described, except once they got it up on the hoist, they saw dirt and mud underneath as if the previous owners lived on a dirt road or had construction in their subdivision.
They power washed it all away while on the lift before I hot there.

 

[67 AGAIN]

This is what the engine bay looked like after that first round of mods.
I also had Ford blue valve covers done at same time as the cams.

 

[67 AGAIN]

Ok, so the car was nice to drive.
It had nice sound with the cams and good brakes.
But it still had stock springs and dampers.

So in 2012, I went back to Dasilva’s and addressed the suspension.

We did Ford racing P springs with a 1 inch drop all around, Bilstein HD dampers, Eibach sway bars front and back and Maximum Motorsports caster-camber plates.

We also did Ford Racing Recaro seats like those in the Boss.
They were advertised as built for the 2011 and up only cars but I found a write up online from south America where some Mustang enthusiasts had made them work in earlier models.

I printed the article and brought it with me.
Rob at Dasilva read through it and proceeded to do the install and all worked out great.

The fit in the car was no issue as the floor pan of the 2011 and 2006 is the same since they are both S197 gen.
The potential issue was with the airbags in the Recaros causing issues because my car was not born with seat airbags.
That’s what the write up addressed.

One of the fixes was to re-use the passenger seat sensor from my car in the Recaro passenger seat.
On the driver side, we had to change the position of some of the pins in the seat plug in harness.

If we had not done that, my airbag light would be on all the time.
It worked out. No airbag light on.

The caveat is that the airbags in the seats are not operational, but that’s ok because that car never had seat airbags to begin with. So nothing has changed.

 

[67 AGAIN]

That suspension upgrade was awesome.
I had a ha ha moment after doing it.

It was not until then that I realized how not so good the factory suspension was on those cars.

The steering response got so much better and the confidence in corners, or the stability in corners was incredible compared to stock.

I wished I had done that sooner.
It was as rewarding as adding a bunch of extra power.

I came to the realization that people, or in this case Mustang owners, don’t know what they don’t know until they experience it for themselves.

This is a pic from later, around 2014, I think.
If you zoom in you see the Recaro seat through the window.

By then I added a 67-68 replica hood from MRT, to go along with the 67Again theme.
The over the top stripes also gone.
The Siverhorse Racing louvers are also visible here. They replace the OE quarter windows.

 

[SVT4MT]

Nice write up Marc, the one thing that resonated with me in your write up was the statement about the S197 suspension.

I did the FR3 Handling Pack on my '06 , and was amazed at the difference in feel, and the improved stance of the car.

Fairly comprehensive list of mods, I never noticed the Recaro's until you pointed them out, I recall looking at those myself. lol

 

[Ohtobbad]

I agree and also very nice write up

The S197 is a great car with 1000's of options for mods.
One does not realize how bad it handles until you do suspension
I did the whole meal deal to my 08 and makes it better to drive
and a lot more fun

also fun modding cars, but warning once you start its like a drug lol

 

[67 AGAIN]

Thanks guys.
But I’m not done.

Kind of like Trevor says, it’s addictive.
You think if some is good, then more must be better.

I should have lead with this caveat: that some of the work on the car is 10 or so years old and I don’t feel like sorting through receipts to get the timeline exact.
I may unintentionally mix up some of the chronology.

When I get to the end, i’ll post a laundry list of how the car sits today for quick reference.

Also, the devil is in the details, and memory can forget some of those details.

I forgot to include that I had also kept a set of Granateli Motorsports under-drive pulleys from the 2005 and had those installed during that first round of mods in 2011, along with an Axle Exchange aluminium driveshaft, also kept from the 2005.
The drive shaft was done for weight savings, both overall weight, and rotational weight so the car can get going quicker.
I forget the details but I think something like 20 lbs savings on the driveshaft.

Also saved a fair amount of weight with the Recaro seats because they are not power seats and are built lighter than the OE seats.
Again an estimate only, but something like 20 lbs per seat.

As well, when the cams were done in 2012, I also added a Ford Racing twin 62mm throttle body.

Also, when I did the Brembo brakes, I upgraded the brake lines with stainless steel braided lines from Goodridge, and bled the system and used Motul full synthetic DOT 4 brake fluid.
I also did brake cooling ducts from JLT.

The ducts and FOT 4 fluid was intended to deal with heat on track.
The stainless steel brake lines were also meant to deal with heat because they don’t expand when hot like rubber lines can.
The SS lines also provide a much improved pedal feel all the time, allowing for better pedal modulation and control.

The cooling ducts are relatively inexpensive but work well.
Like ducts on NASCAR racers, they route cool air from the front of the car to the back side of the front rotors and on to the front wheel bearing to keep things cool.
A main consideration on track.

 

[2001BlackGTvert]

Awesome write up Marc. You definitely have a nice list of mods on that car. You guys are right. It’s an addiction

 

[Mike 2021]

Thanks guys.
But I’m not done.

Kind of like Trevor says, it’s addictive.
You think if some is good, then more must be better.

I should have lead with this caveat: that some of the work on the car is 10 or so years old and I don’t feel like sorting through receipts to get the timeline exact.
I may unintentionally mix up some of the chronology.

When I get to the end, i’ll post a laundry list of how the car sits today for quick reference.

Also, the devil is in the details, and memory can forget some of those details.

I forgot to include that I had also kept a set of Granateli Motorsports under-drive pulleys from the 2005 and had those installed during that first round of mods in 2011, along with an Axle Exchange aluminium driveshaft, also kept from the 2005.
The drive shaft was done for weight savings, both overall weight, and rotational weight so the car can get going quicker.
I forget the details but I think something like 20 lbs savings on the driveshaft.

Also saved a fair amount of weight with the Recaro seats because they are not power seats and are built lighter than the OE seats.
Again an estimate only, but something like 20 lbs per seat.

As well, when the cams were done in 2012, I also added a Ford Racing twin 62mm throttle body.

Also, when I did the Brembo brakes, I upgraded the brake lines with stainless steel braided lines from Goodridge, and bled the system and used Motul full synthetic DOT 4 brake fluid.
I also did brake cooling ducts from JLT.

The ducts and FOT 4 fluid was intended to deal with heat on track.
The stainless steel brake lines were also meant to deal with heat because they don’t expand when hot like rubber lines can.
The SS lines also provide a much improved pedal feel all the time, allowing for better pedal modulation and control.

The cooling ducts are relatively inexpensive but work well.
Like ducts on NASCAR racers, they route cool air from the front of the car to the back side of the front rotors and on to the front wheel bearing to keep things cool.
A main consideration on track.

Nice job that is a lot of upgrades
to the car

 

[67 AGAIN]

So this brings us to 2013.

The car drove very well with the above mods.
I drove windows down all the time to listen to the exhaust and get the rush of the wind.
I didn’t like driving windows up.
The exhaust was loud to a point where to listen to music, the stereo had to be so loud that it wasn’t so much music anymore as just more noise.

But Hooo was it fun to drive windows down, listening to the growl of the cams coming from the long tubes.

However, I felt a point of weakness in the traction on acceleration.
Since my springs were “only” a 1 inch drop, I had not included rear lower control arm relocation brackets when I did the suspension.
I didn’t think they were necessary.

Now I was revisiting that decision, so I decided to have some put on.
Like all mods before, I wanted the work to be done right so I booked another appointment at Dasilva’s.

So I decided to make the trip to Picketing worthwhile.
In addition to BMR relocation brackets, I got some additional chassis bracing in the form of an A arm support brace from BMR and a K member to rad support brace from Whiteline performance.
The BMR piece is basically a K member brace like the Steeda G track brace.
All this bracing in anticipation of taking the car on track.

I also concluded that I was not using the AC enough, or at all, driving windows down all the time so I decided to get an AC delete to dump a bit more weight and free up a couple extra hp.

I didn’t weigh the stuff at the time but wish I had to get a clear picture of the weight savings.
All the plumbing and the condenser came out but those are mostly aluminium parts except for the fluid reservoir so not a great amount of weight.
Maybe around 10-15 lbs.
But the compressor was a fair bit.
Maybe 10-12 lbs by itself, but weight taken off the very front of the car ahead of the front axle, so helps the balance of the car.

Another positive for track use is that removing the condenser from in front of the radiator now allows the radiator to get fresh air to hit it directly without having to first pass through the AC condenser.
I imagine this makes the radiator a bit more efficient.

After installing the rear relocation brackets, I noticed improved rear axle traction.
Enough that I concluded any lowering springs should be paired with relocation brackets on these cars.
As much as getting an adjustable Panhard bar to recenter the rear axle.

 

[thundr]

The green machine should be fun on the track. I have similar suspension mods, these are a must do.
Are the GT500 wheels stock width, and what are you running for tires?

 

[67 AGAIN]

It is a lot of fun on track with other Mustangs or solid rear axle cars.
But last time at Mont Tremblant, I was being lapped frequently by almost super cars such as McLarens, high end Porsches and high end M beemers.

Not as much fun as running in similar experience, or car run groups.

Yes they are stock wheels.
I’m running the Good Year Eagle F1’s that came stock on the GT500’s.

Some people don’t like them but I think they’re ok.
They are very good new but they can go hard fast.
I guess a trait of very low tread wear tires.
They are rated 220 but that benefit has a limited shelf life for sure.

If they made Michelin Super Sports in the same size, I’d probably run those even if they have a slightly higher tread wear rating of 300.

 

[67 AGAIN]

By 2014 the 4.6 3 valve was in its 10th year and development on CAI’s had come a long way.
The Boss 302 was demonstrating adeptly how naturally aspirated engines could produce power.

About that time, I also read an interesting article about air flow, CAI’s and throttle bodies.
All about CFM’s of air flow and efficiency.

The big takeaway for me was that the Ford Racing throttle body that I had on my car was capable of much more flow than what my C&L CAI was capable of putting through it.

Basically, my limiting factor was not my TB but rather my CAI.

So, off I was to Pickering again in search of more flow and power.
In speaking with Matt Dasilva, he related his many test and tunes on the dyno demonstrated to him the best CAI for the 4.6 3 valve was the then fairly new, JLT series 3 CAI.

Obvious to the naked eye was that this CAI had a much larger inlet tube than all previous 3 valve CAI’s.
Another added bonus was that the inlet tube on this CAI was made of composite plastic, which made it more resistant to heat soak than a lot of earlier aluminium CAI’s for the 3 valve.

Examples of those early aluminium units are the C&L, which I had, and the also popular BBK.

So I had the JLT installed along with a set of charge motion delete plates from Steeda.

The result was simply impressive and surprising to me.
I expected maybe another 10 hp or so if all went well.

Well the net gain was like another 21 hp over what I had before.

This put the car above 400 hp, naturally aspirated, with little more than bolt ons.
It was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 405-410 hp.
Back when the S197 came out in 2005-06, you needed a supercharger to get those types of numbers.

Clearly this JLT CAI was maximizing the capability of the FR throttle body.

Here is a look at what the new engine bay looked like with the JLT CAI.
Compare to the photo a few posts back and you can visibly see how much larger the inlet tube is over the C&L.

 

[Rich06]

By 2014 the 4.6 3 valve was in its 10th year and development on CAI’s had come a long way.
The Boss 302 was demonstrating adeptly how naturally aspirated engines could produce power.

About that time, I also read an interesting article about air flow, CAI’s and throttle bodies.
All about CFM’s of air flow and efficiency.

The big takeaway for me was that the Ford Racing throttle body that I had on my car was capable of much more flow than what my C&L CAI was capable of putting through it.

Basically, my limiting factor was not my TB but rather my CAI.

So, off I was to Pickering again in search of more flow and power.
In speaking with Matt Dasilva, he related his many test and tunes on the dyno demonstrated to him the best CAI for the 4.6 3 valve was the then fairly new, JLT series 3 CAI.

Obvious to the naked eye was that this CAI had a much larger inlet tube than all previous 3 valve CAI’s.
Another added bonus was that the inlet tube on this CAI was made of composite plastic, which made it more resistant to heat soak than a lot of earlier aluminium CAI’s for the 3 valve.

Examples of those early aluminium units are the C&L, which I had, and the also popular BBK.

So I had the JLT installed along with a set of charge motion delete plates from Steeda.

The result was simply impressive and surprising to me.
I expected maybe another 10 hp or so if all went well.

Well the net gain was like another 21 hp over what I had before.

This put the car above 400 hp, naturally aspirated, with little more than bolt ons.
It was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 405-410 hp.
Back when the S197 came out in 2005-06, you needed a supercharger to get those types of numbers.

Clearly this JLT CAI was maximizing the capability of the FR throttle body.

Here is a look at what the new engine bay looked like with the JLT CAI.
Compare to the photo a few posts back and you can visibly see how much larger the inlet tube is over the C&L.

View attachment 56541

When I put the GT500 throttle body on the 2006 I didn't get the HP increase I was expecting, I thought it might have been because I was not getting that much more air into the engine, this confirms what I was thinking. Angie doesn't need the extra HP so I might just go back to the stock throttle body

 

[Mineral Grey]

When I put the GT500 throttle body on the 2006 I didn't get the HP increase I was expecting, I thought it might have been because I was not getting that much more air into the engine, this confirms what I was thinking. Angie doesn't need the extra HP so I might just go back to the stock throttle body

Rich, If you make the switch back, I'd be interested in buying it..

 

[67 AGAIN]

Ok, so through 2015 the car is tons of fun to drive.
Good power.
Great handling.
Awesome exhaust note.
Looks pretty good with Bullitt grille, throw back headlights I picked up from American muscle, 67 retro hood from MRT, along with V6 spoiler and quarter window louvers.
Looks and sounds the part of a 67 390 big block.

By now I’ve picked up a second set of wheels
2010 SVT GT500 wheels.
Also 18 by 9.5 like the 2007’s.
One for street and one for track.
Or, spares in case anything ever happens.

Closeup of the headlights.
There’s no flat lens in front.
They’re round like old lights.



Genetic side look.

 

[67 AGAIN]

In 2015-16 the Shelby GT350 arrived on the scene and all the talk was about the flat plane crank VooDoo V8 rated at 526 hp out of a naturally aspirated displacement of 5.2 litres.
Just a tick over 100 hp per litre with a high flowing 8250 rpm redline.
Note: These advertised numbers from Ford are based on using 93 octane fuel.

I followed that story closely, like many others, and it got me wondering if I could get a similar result out of the 3 valve 4.6 V8?

So, after doing some research on parts that could contribute to that goal and conferring with Joe Dasilva, in 2017 I went ahead with the most radical mods to the car yet.

The plan was to do ported heads, a big cam and incorporate Ford Racing’s open plenum, high flow intake manifold.
A manifold similar to the Cobra Jet or Boss manifolds of the 5.0 litre generation but made for the 3 valve 4.6.
Since this intake relies on higher rpms for power, the rpm redline would be bumped up to 7500 from the 6000 factory setting.

To support these high rpms, a high volume oil pump by Melling was added, along with more oil reserve from a Moroso baffled oil pan with an 8 litre capacity.
This was required to ensure the overhead cams and valve train would not starve for oil at those higher rpm’s.

By then, ported heads from Ford Racing for the 3 valve were no longer being sold.
So I bought heads from a local salvage dealer off of a recycled Mustang.
I had the heads shipped directly to Dasilva racing and they, in turn, shipped them to Livernois Performance, in Detroit, for porting.
Livernois is the contractor that used to port the heads for the 3 valve for Ford Racing, and still does contract work for Ford Performance.

These heads went in with ARP studs for a long lasting and strong build.
The old Hot Rod cams were replaced by Comp Cams stage 3 cams for naturally aspirated applications.

Because this Ford Racing intake manifold is taller than the OE manifold, the strut tower brace had to be removed.
I tried a V6 brace and it also was not tall enough to clear the new manifold.
I then tried a Boss brace and it was tall enough but it would not allow the hood to close.
So the car is without a brace now.

The performance results of these mods was expected to net another 50 additional hp, and it did.

The dyno results showed 456 hp on a 91 octane tune and 458 hp on a 93 octane tune, like Ford’s numbers.
Just a couple hp short of the 460 goal.

And, like the GT350, I wanted to remain MVI compliant by retaining catalytic converters, which I did.

So the goal of 460 hp is realistic.
Deleting the cats would do it by itself, adding 4 or 5 more hp.
An electric water pump would also do it by adding 2 or 3 more hp.
Lighter wheels could do it too by returning another 2 or 3 hp.

Chasing those last couple hp is not a priority.
I’m satisfied with the achievement.
And since the difference between 91 and 93 octane was so small, and the fact that we don’t have 93 octane in Atlantic Canada, I run the car on 91 octane.

The exhaust note has become a bit more present than before, but not by much.
And, the look of the engine bay changed with these mods.

Here is what it looks like now.