Reached an agreement to buy a FGT...need opinions

[matteuson]

I have reached an agreement to purchase a friend's FGT. It's a 2005 #1806, red/white, 3 option (no wheels), 1800 miles, with some mods for $230,000.00.

The mods are: KB GT HCD kit (smaller supercharger pulley assembly), Diablo chip/tune and a Borla exhaust. The work was done by a shop in Wixom MI, that is all I know until I get receipts for the work.

I plan on driving the car less than 1,000 miles per year, no track time, mainly cruises, etc.

Questions:

1) Is this over price for a modified car?
2) Should I return it to stock or are these mods able to be handled by this car?
3) Are the stock pulley assembly and chip readily available if I want to return to it? He doesnt have the stock parts anymore.
4) I am in the Cincinnati area, if any of you know local FGT owners that get together I would appreciate knowing them.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[roketman]

I think the price is in the fair market range.I am not the price expert by any means.I would leave the mods.No harm ,no foul.The only sad part is not driving it much.Its such a wonderful machine to get intimate with.
Come join us at the rally for a really great car guy time!
You just made the best purchase of your life!
Best of luck!

 

[DC-DD]

Sounds like a fair price for both sides seller and buyer for a car with that mileage and clean no stories car. Bonus for you is your getting it local so no shipping or traveling to look at the car.
Good luck with your purchase.

Dominic

 

[Xcentric]

By "Borla exhaust," do you mean the Ford Racing muffler? Headers?

Be aware that the 4th option...BBS forged wheels...are about $10K/set, used, if you can find them. If you are happy with the base BBS cast wheels, no problem...if you and the seller are both happy with the price. Most GTs came with the option wheels.

Depending on how the car has been exercised, it may need a new oil pump belt. Ford recommends replacing the belt if the car hasn't been driven in three years.

You should also ensure the half shaft bolts were replaced. This was an early recall.

Look for fluid changes in the maintenance records.

I haven't heard of a GT with a Diablo chip.

I can't tell from the photo, but the snout of the blower looks like nothing I've ever seen.

It also looks like an aftermarket throttle body. If it's an Accufab, I'd consider that a plus.

If those are the original Goodyear tires, you need to replace them due to old age.

Age of battery?

I have no idea what GTs are really selling for these days, except what you see auctioned. eBay prices are notoriously unreliable for comparison. I guess my thought is that at whatever market price is, I would expect to have to do nothing to the car in the way of maintenance or parts replacement. Under market might be a different story.

 

[550rwhp]

Are you going to have someone do a PPI (Pre-Purchase Inspection) on the car? Others on the forum may chime in on the importance of these inspections and who are the guys to perform them.

 

[550rwhp]

I forgot to mention, Red is the best and fastest color.

 

[dbk]

I'm sure the work was done at Walsh Motorsports. They are a competent shop. Both Dons have had Ford GTs.

 

[GKW05GT]

I agree with Ron it will be your best purchase of your life.

 

[nota4re]

Op,

It is relatively common for GT owners to retain the stock supercharger and add ~100HP. This is done, in most cases, by removing the SC and subsequently the "snout" of the SC and pressing off the OEM pulley and pressing on a new (smaller) pulley. Even Ford Racing offers such a kit and my belief, along with many others, is that this is a safe, cost effective mod. One manufacturer took a different approach to providing a different (smaller) pulley. This was Kenne Bell and this is what you have on your car. KB manufactured a whole new snout and you simply swapped snouts with the OEM one and WA LA!, you have a smaller pulley. The KB HCD kit shipped with 5 pulleys for the buyer to select from. I'd recommend that you measure the pulley so that you know how aggressive of a pulley was installed. There was a batch of these KB's that had a bad front seal and they kind of got an undeserved reputation for being prone to leaking, but this wasn't really the case. If it leaks, just put in the replacement seal, and it will be fine. Now, with a smaller pulley, you also need to load a new (software) tune into the engine. (There is NO physical chip or anything like that.) By far, the most common tuning tool among GT owners is SCT. In addition we have an extremely knowledgeable, "best/most experienced" tuner on the planet in our ranks here on the Forum and that's Torrie. Q: How do you know it's a Diablo? I'm guessing that you may have a Diablo MAFia controller plugged into where your MAF sensor is. That's no problem as you would just need to let a future tuner know that you have one. Anyway, if the car runs well and you never hear any pinging on aceleration, all is probably good. However, if you ever have any doubts about the tune then just give Torrie a buzz. (My experience is that his average response time is about 37 seconds.) Torrie can send you out the right tune that corresponds to your pulley size (i.e. boost level).

Congrats on your purchase. Sounds like a fair price if the car is precisely as represented.

 

[ROCK]

I have a very similar package as the one mentioned above...the KB GT-HCD snout with the Accufab TB and instead of FRPP exhaust, mine came with a Tubi from the previous owner. The snout in my car looks different than the one in this car you're looking at.
I get a small lag in the lower RPMs, then hits like a turbo car. Haven't had a chance to re-map the ECU which I think the problem is. Anyways, you can always go back to stock. It's a fair price for a low miles car in my opinion.

 

[FBA]

Torrie took 38 seconds last time I reached out to him, not 37!

 

[matteuson]

I took screen shots of the paperwork the seller emailed me but he scanned them in sideways so the top and bottom of the page are cut off (I will get the original documentation this Friday). I googled the number # on one of them and it is indeed Walsh that installed the Chip and Exhaust.

Here are the screen shots:





I think the Walsh receipt says "Diablo Predator w/ Custom Tune"? NGK TRG Plugs?

Looks like a Borla muffler?

I am not sure who provided or installed the new thottle body and air inlet support. Is that an Accufab part #?

The seller stated that he did not have any warranty work done, including the replacement of the half shaft bolts. Is the recall still active? If so how do I identify a dealer in Cincinnati that is capable of doing the work?

The seller drove the car on a pretty regular basis (every 2-3 months for short durations) and always kept it on a battery tender, although not the one that came from the factory. Can the 12V accessory plug be trusted? He didnt know that it came with the car and had it on a trickle charger instead. It fired right up when I test drove the car.

It is the original battery and wheel/tires. I was thinking of setting aside/saving the original wheels/tires and replacing with something else since the tires are 10 years old now. Thoughts on that?

Thank you for all the input.

 

[matteuson]

Here is a little better picture of the snout. I didnt take many pictures but I looked closely and the entire snout has been replaced. Dont know pulley size but I can confirm that.



The seller says it dyno'd at 700HP.

 

[Xcentric]

700 is hard to believe. You said the seller was a friend.

The original Borla muffler had a lot of failures for those who actually drive their cars. Borla officially warrantees for original owners only. This is a $2k part plus installation. The 2nd gen Borla is trouble free.

 

[matteuson]

700 is hard to believe. You said the seller was a friend.

The original Borla muffler had a lot of failures for those who actually drive their cars. Borla officially warrantees for original owners only. This is a $2k part plus installation. The 2nd gen Borla is trouble free.

Yeah, his license plate says "700HP GT"..well thats what he claims. Whether it is or isnt, I am ok with it as long as its a sound driver. By failures of the muffler what do you mean? I am sure its first generation becuase he had the work done in 2006.

 

[nota4re]

OEM GT's rated at 550 HP at the engine and will typically dyno at 500 at the rear wheels(RWHP). Add a pulley/tune and RWHP is approximately 600. Backwards guestimate that engine HP is ~700 - hence the marketing hype. BTW, Sparkplugs are NGK TR6 (not TRG). Just trying to help. FYI - that's the plug we'd recommend for this set-up.

 

[ROCK]

Accufab should read its name on the part, like this:

 

[ROCK]

Matteuson,
Does the car hesitates at the lower RPMs ?
Does it stall coming to a rest ?

 

[Xcentric]

By failures of the muffler what do you mean? I am sure its first generation becuase he had the work done in 2006.

The original mufflers have external welds that are prone to cracking. The stuffing also rots. Borla redesigned the muffler after a lot of failures. The 2nd gen mufflers have no external welds and different packing.

 

[shelbyelite]

I think you have made a good purchase at a more than reasonable price. As long as the car checks out, jump on it and don't look back.