2005-06 Ford GT Build from Scratch Project


SkeletonGT

Active member
Mar 21, 2019
41
Novi, Michigan
So I've been bouncing around on a lot of little things lately and a little distracted with the new Toy which was ordered august 2019! (I love it by the way!)

I've installed the Cowl Duct and I'm really happy with it. See the installed pics here: Duct1, Duct2. The next endeavor is the thermostat housing. These are really hard to come by and unfortunately this 5.4 beast of a motor needs to be cooled. So, here is my next fab project - a thermostat housing. My goal is to use the factory thermostat, seals, and brackets. I've finally got the design nailed down and it should fit in perfectly where the stock one goes and accommodate all of the hose positions. (see here: Thermostat housing) and am getting those pieces machined as we speak. Working on a few other things but too soon to spill. I will post pics once the parts are here.
 

Ed Sims

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 7, 2006
7,850
NorCal
What a cool project. I'm excited to follow it along. Hopefully it'll be completed as some of the major GT projects on this forum never have been completed.

Ed
 

SkeletonGT

Active member
Mar 21, 2019
41
Novi, Michigan
Thanks for those words of encouragement @Ed Sims! Ugg. I was ready to give up a few times before but I’m committed. Hoping that someone with a wreck might cough up a few parts along the way. 🤞🏻
 

ultrasportracing

GT Owner
Aug 31, 2011
490
Perth Western Australia
I got a lot of parts from X2builders. And most other parts through Torrie. Search ultrasportracing to see my build. Mine is a right hooker(RHD) THAT was a major project on its own. Ill get you part numbers if you need them. Although you may need a vin to buy new.
 
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ultrasportracing

GT Owner
Aug 31, 2011
490
Perth Western Australia
Ford Part No.: 4G7Z-18A704-A $613.00
Tube Assembly
Ford 4G7Z-18A704-A Tube Assembly
 
Last edited:

ultrasportracing

GT Owner
Aug 31, 2011
490
Perth Western Australia
FORD PARTS GIANT.COM You can look up all the parts and their numbers. Cheers
Ford Part No.: 4G7Z-18A704-B $436.00
Tube Assembly1595925076033.png
 

SkeletonGT

Active member
Mar 21, 2019
41
Novi, Michigan
So its been a while since I've posted an update on the project. I had an opportunity to try the bushings on a GT on the racetrack, but we didn't have enough time to swap all of the bushings before track day. I will try again though, as I'm anxious to see them perform! in my last post, I showed a thermostat housing that I designed and now the pieces are machined - take a look at the Thermostat Housing here. As you can see, the housing uses the stock thermostat, o-ring and mounting bracket. I was careful to keep the hoses in factory position as well. The next step is to press and weld the connection tubes into the housing. I cannot be happier with how this turned out! Just recently I received some tube bundles, cross car beam, wiring harness and a lot of misc. parts. The next step is to install them, which means pulling the engine and fuel tank. I'm gathering a few more parts before I do that and then I will post some pictures. FYI for those that don't know - Ford is nearing the end of the 15 year support promise that they made to supply parts for this car. The price on all of the parts are shooting up like crazy, which is going to make my project a bit more difficult! No worries, I'm going to see this through!
 
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HighHP

GT Owner
Jun 3, 2019
434
Spokane, WA
Very impressive !!!
 

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,994
ma.
Impressive my be an understatement!
 

extrap

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Jul 16, 2020
1,751
Gainesville FL
... FYI for those that don't know - Ford is nearing the end of the 15 year support promise that they made to supply parts for this car. The price on all of the parts are shooting up like crazy, ...

nohear.jpg
 
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SkeletonGT

Active member
Mar 21, 2019
41
Novi, Michigan
This fact is making me nervous. Bidding on a wreck that will help me finish my project. Lots of new posts coming if that happens! Fingers crossed!
 
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sahlman

Ford GT Team Alumni
Jul 21, 2011
329
Verona, WI
SkeletonGT, cool project! You note a wide body - I did not see if you are doing your own arms as well? Do you have a plan for springs and damping?

Scott
 

Specracer

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Nov 28, 2005
7,081
MA
Oh this might be someone that knows a thing or 2 about suspensions.....

SkeletonGT, cool project! You note a wide body - I did not see if you are doing your own arms as well? Do you have a plan for springs and damping?
 

SkeletonGT

Active member
Mar 21, 2019
41
Novi, Michigan
Hi Scott,
Yes, I am getting those through a source in the UK. A-Arms are custom but using my stock engineered bushings so that there is a common part between wide body and stock control arms.
 

sahlman

Ford GT Team Alumni
Jul 21, 2011
329
Verona, WI
Hi SkeletonGT,

Gotcha - I wasn't aware anyone in the UK (or elsewhere) at this time that had the proper upper mount for the FGT coilovers to bolt to the FGT frame. So you have me curious!

Is your R8 V10 a manual? We have a '12 R8 V10 MT with our Ohlins suspension. So good on the road and track. Reminds me a lot of the FGT.

Scott
 
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SkeletonGT

Active member
Mar 21, 2019
41
Novi, Michigan
I realize that I'm way overdue for an update on the project. A lot of things continue to progress on the car as I continue to collect parts. One of the parts that is becoming scarce are the taillights. As I progress through my project a few of us are in the same boat and we've been trading efforts so that we can accomplish more as a team. The group was perplexed with getting taillights, and thusly I was tasked with finding a taillight solution. As some of you have probably figured this out, I love a challenge and this was going to be a challenge. Well, after three months of design and prototyping, I have the solution and am thrilled with how it turned out. Follow through with me and hopefully you feel the same way by the end of this.

I started with a Broken right taillight and took it apart.
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I was able to reverse engineer the housing and printed my prototype. As well as the reflector inside the housing. After examining the circuit that Ford used, I was able to come up with something using modern technology. I Considered the that the lights needed to be able to operate from 8-14V while maintaining a constant brightness. Also the brake lights and parking lights are the same, so the circuit has to manage the multiplexing of these signals. My last consideration was that Ford used an incandescent reverse light on the stock taillight. This was probably done because it is less expensive and probably doesn't get that much use in the life of the car compared to brake and parking lights. I figured that since I'm designing a circuit anyway, I might as well make the reverse lights LED's as well. I mocked up my circuit on a breadboard first using some pots so that I could experiment with brightness to match the stock look.
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The stock taillights use 16 LEDS surrounding the reflector and I chose the brightest unidirectional ones that I could find that fit my requirements. The picture doesn't do justice here, but the lights were so bright at the highest limit that it blinded me. These will work just fine. Below is the final product attached to its cover plate. It takes up a lot less room than the original electronics. I also took care to seal the housing with an O-Ring.
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The stock housing has plastic bayonets on it and the Ford work instructions suggest that once the taillight has been removed, it should be replaced because these connection points are designed to have the nut cut into them. Once these are used a few times the plastic is chewed up and there is no material left for the nut to engage with! I decided to use metal studs in my design so that the lights can go on and off as many times as I wish. Below are front and back pictures of mine next to the stock taillight.
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What do you think? Ok, here comes the fun part. What the heck am I going to do for a lens? After doing a bunch of research on resin casting, I decided that I was going to attempt it and bought the materials to do just that. This lens would be particularly difficult because the center of the lens is clear while the surround is red. I originally thought that maybe the clear lens was glued into the red housing but after doing my homework learned that the red was injected around the clear lens and they are actually bonded together as a single piece. (what did I get myself into?) I figured that I would start with casting the entire lens as a single piece and then harvest the center out of the first casting. I met a few people along the way that guided me through the mold building process. Ultimately there would be two molds to make one for the clear center and one for the red larger portion.
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y4mgtECz6pMnAFj_v3DLaT0EG53fWCWeDFk-2Mv32KQbODkq3axSklsD9_tAgBZYzsN2jyQmf1TvohlQY5O4vOOD8Xpagc9t6EHPl5eZEm-l66tyB4MKIWNePbKOub7F7MWm2zQGoaVnLJ9DBgAO5FY9vT97tQQEJsT7lGmWgpPPwLNgqWxH71_vBbd_cukfrXz

y4mDFvNPrW9OaU6kPMkz0nziyCAEUtSaCJqzKTVunXBa3gmBCJbZ6LDqiKqtugF0wSolKL4PK2dE2xp6s-4xg8vLa4fy17G-w0W0yUVv2GrB2sPL7PmezDZFk8XolIXAbbnORqdRlF_RQejUX5T1l96FVY3d7d4ra4Vd2j0d1dE18oPwGnBUcBMm1NZWkN5vcd9

This clear lens was the first one. The edges still have the flashing on it. This clear lens might look pretty cool with the red LEDS behind it, but I'm going for the factory look. I'll spare the details of the entire process, but below is the lens after being removed from the mold.
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The fidelity is excellent and you can actually read the part numbers from Guide who made the original lens. There is a light haze in the lens from the release material and it will have to be polished a little, but some people would not even notice. Now I attach the lens to the housing and try it on an actual car for proper fit and function.
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I will update with more pictures on the actual car, which will happen this week and then if everything looks good, I am moving onto casting the left light. If anyone else is building a GT and having the same taillight conundrum, reach out to me.
 

GT@50

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 14, 2019
852
Issaquah
You are incredible!
 

Howard

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Apr 26, 2007
1,135
Florida/North Jersey
Holy Shit!
 
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roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,994
ma.
I am in awe of your ingenuity! You could be the next parts supplier to our GT community!
 
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The Grey Ghost

GT Owner
Mar 13, 2009
685
Kansas City
Wow! Nice to see someone going to the lengths needed to help us keep these cars on the road.

Got an even bigger kick out the Realistic? Radio Shack 12 volt converter! Use mine frequently for testing.

Jeff