Mr. G. Brettin's Slow Motion Leg Hump

gbrettin

This part of the build was stuck in my head way too long, so it feels great to finally get it knocked out. I made a mountain out of a mole hill getting the drive-by-cable done.

My TSR Mustang race pedal was already mounted up, but adapting it to work with the Motion Raceworks throttle cable meant drilling out the pedal's eyelet just enough to press-fit the aluminum cable insert. The insert locks down with a nut and a couple of Allen set screws, making the whole thing super solid with zero slop. Honestly, it's crisp and feels way nicer than I expected. Pedal height and pressure are absolutely perfect—not even remotely a downgrade.

The Motion Raceworks cable passes cleanly through the firewall, routing right into the Icon manual throttle body mounted to the Shearer Fab ultra-low-profile intake. Everything just worked—no fighting, no forcing. That alone felt like a massive win.

Lastly, I wanted to securely mount the Motion Raceworks overflow tank next to the swirl pot. Without a 3D printer handy, I grabbed some scrap plastic, epoxied it together, and shaped it into a simple cradle insert. A buddy of mine is working on a custom leather strap that'll cinch it all together without resorting to zip ties. I'll 3D print this later.

I really want to get the radiator lines done before doing the cold side. The fittings have been on backorder.

gbrettin

I received the subframe brackets back from powder coating and they look amazing. With that back, I was able to finish the underside of the car by getting the brackets installed with the GKTech W brace.

Ran into a bit of a snag with the air-to-water cooling system — the original pump started leaking, so I grabbed two more off eBay thinking I’d have backups ready to go. Turns out all three pumps leaked from the exact same spot once plumbed in. Looks like a manufacturing defect in the sealing area.

I went full caveman with the RTV on one of them and gave it a full 24-hour cure. That one seems okay (for now), but I did try sealing another with only an hour of dry time — and sure enough, it started leaking too. I put together a quick IG reel of the water flow if anyone wants to see the setup in action.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIov1...RlODBiNWFlZA==

On a better note, I got the carbon seat mounted in the driver’s side. Thought I lost the original hardware, so I picked up some clean new bolts… only to find the OEM ones the next day. Still a win — the fresh bolts pop against the black rails. The brackets were custom fabbed by the previous owner’s shop and I cleaned them up with a quick respray. Hit the seatbelt buckle with air, WD40, lithium grease, and polished the plastic with Plasticx. It honestly looks brand new now.

Getting the OEM seatbelt working was a big deal for me. Despite what the car looks like, it really is a drag and drive STREET car. I will get a harness hooked up later (and retain the lap belt).

At this point, the car is nearly ready to head to Auto Dynamix for final wiring, exhaust and intake fabrication, and dialing in the body panel fitment. I just need to get on their schedule. Until then, I’ll keep knocking out the small stuff while I can.

I'm very happy with how everything is coming together. It's technically a new car... sucks that I have a salvage title now.






I added a thin coat on the flat spot too.





NOTE - I used a big backing washer and a locking nut.

gbrettin

Picked up a new miter box and got to work finishing the cold side piping. I must have actually learned something over the years, because I knocked it out without a single miscut — which still feels a little wild, honestly.

My goal from the start was to avoid pie cuts, based on some past lessons learned. I pushed both pipes out as far as possible to the sides to mirror each other. Packaging constraints were dictated mostly by the alternator location and the swirl pot. Ideally, I would’ve loved to tuck the pipes tighter to the frame, but moving the alternator or swirl pot wasn’t an option (hard no).

Each joint is cut to sit perfectly flush so the welds won’t pull the tubing around — another lesson learned the hard way from past projects. It might look simple in pictures, but it doesn’t take much to mess up angles once you start stacking cuts.

The end result?
Basically a giant chrome handlebar mustache.

Both pipes were dropped off to get welded at Auto Dynamix in Kalamazoo, MI (local performance shop)

gbrettin

Been slammed with work lately, but I’ve managed to knock out a few things — with some much appreciated help from friends.

Keeping this post simple:

-- The cold side is now fully welded.
-- Fenders, bumper, and headlights are fitted.
-- The boost tubes fit perfectly with the turbo placement.
-- Rear Z1 bash bar w/ jack point swapped out OE crash bar.

The passenger-side turbo is clocked a little differently than the driver’s side. I’m not thrilled about it… but I’m also not about to re-fab the up-pipe just to chase perfect symmetry. A cookie will be awarded to anyone bold enough to scoff at the imbalance.

The car is now rocking a fresh NISMO plate and is fully insured. Power steering lines have been crimped, but I’m still waiting on one suction line from the remote reservoir to wrap that up.

The to-do list is getting short. I’ll keep buttoning up what I can over the next couple weeks. Next major move: getting the car to Auto Dynamix. I'd like to have it out and about by June… but at this point, I’m not holding my breath.

EDIT - Had to order new OEM calipers because the old OEMs were seeping a little. I want a bit more confidence scrubbing speeds doing 165mph in the 1/4mi.

gbrettin

Buttoned up a few more crimped lines: return lines leading to fuel pressure return (needed to be PTFE), power steering lines, and turbo return line from collector.

Turbo couplers are on, they give a lot of flexibility paired with the Motion Raceworks wiggins clamps.

This pig is ready to take to Auto Dynamix for a few final touches. I'm on the waiting list and will likely be a few weeks. I'll try doing various small things leading up to that, but nothing significant (although it all matters).

Probably not going to see any updates until it's running. Pretty wild to think it's about that time! I can't believe I've done this process twice. Don't expect any hero numbers coming off the dyno. At this point I'm more concerned with enjoying the car with some drivability.

Any questions- feel free to throw them out there.

Spooler

Joining the glad it is running crew soon I see. Enjoy the car. You can turn it up any time at a later date.

sx moneypit