So as most everyone knows, the 5.0 went away. (Click here to see its old build thread)

In its place came the GT500, which was the car I'd always wanted. Nothing against the 5.0 as it was a fantastic car up until I did its 4th oil change at a little over 9k miles and found the oil full of metal. That was pretty cool.

So got the car as the 3rd owner with 14,2xx miles on it. Car had BMR LCAs, BMR Relo Brackets, K&N CAI, Metco Pulley, Spec clutch, and a terrible tune. Owner before me was an idiot. I spent nearly a year (March of '14 to Feb of '15) fixing problems.



Trueforged wheels from 5.0



First thing, exhaust sounded like shit. Turns out, he bought some Spintech mufflers, cannibalized the muffler to overaxle pipe piece from the stockers to make them work, cut them in half vertically, welded 2" of metal in said gap, and then welded on some shit euro tuning tips from a company that only made Audi/BMW/etc exhaust. All with shit welds. It sounded hilariously bad for a 5.4L supercharged 4V V8. Fixed with Roush Extreme 3" Catback

Clutch slipping. Prev. owner never had the clutch TSB done for 07-09, just decided slapping a Spec clutch in there would be good. Pulled that shit, found no friction material left on the Spec clutch, just metal on metal. Burns all over flywheel. Fixed with McLeod RST, McLeod Aluminum Flywheel, McLeod Slave Cylinder, new pilot bearing, Steeda Shifter, new transmission fluid

Car developed a terrible steering wheel shake above 30 mph. Never did figure out why. Fixed with some sexy Ridetech coilovers

2 piece driveshaft joint went out. Bought a DSS Aluminum 1 piece DS but that screwed my pinion angle because I was slammed. Enter my next BMR order. Adj UCA, UCA mount, Adj Panhard bar

Car was too quiet. Lethal O/R H

At some point during all of this, I dropped the car off at a local detailing buddy's shop and told him to peel the mysteriously torn up stripes that were on the rear of the car and the rest of the stripes off so he could just polish the shit out of the whole car. Previous owner had someone tape off around the stripes (best guess is a rear collision) and spray shit paint all the way up the bumper and trunk. Not noticeable with the big white stripes but without them there, its right against the deep gorgeous original blue that was hidden under the stripes. Front bumper had a scuff that cracked the paint under the headlight. Ordered a pair of brand new factory bumpers

The car at this point still needed to be tuned and I knew I was going to do it right going through Lund but it was going to cost me about $600 just for that. Screw it, I'll just buy a bigger blower and all supporting mods for it and only get it tuned once instead of again later when I do upgrade blowers. VMP Gen 1 TVS, VMP Twin 67 TB, JLT 123mm CAI, VMP 2.396" Pulley, C&R Dual Fan Heat Exchanger, KB Boost A Pump, Gates Blue Racing Belt, NGK TR7 IX Plugs, Flow Balanced Bosch 72lb Injectors, MGW Gen 2 Shifter, Roush Boost Gauge, Bob's Oil Separator, JLT Oil Separator.

I now had a fucking monster of a GT500.


Problem is, car made over 20 lbs of boost on that dyno pull, which is a no no for stock engines. Ordered Kooks 1 7/8 LTs w/ 3" O/R H

I nearly gave up on the car but the 663 rwhp, which turned into 717rwhp after the headers, changed my mind.

Paint Done:



































Seats





Mod List:
VMP Gen 1 TVS
Flow Balanced Bosch 72 lb Injectors
VMP Twin 67 Throttle Body
JLT 123mm CAI
2.396" VMP Pulley
C&R Dual Fan Heat Exchanger
KB Boost A Pump
NGK TR7 IX .026
Gates Blue Racing Belt
Bobs Passengers Side Oil Separator
JLT Drivers Side Oil Separator
Kooks 1 7/8 Headers
Kooks 3" O/R H
Corsa Sport Mufflers
Roush Extreme 3" Over Axle Pipes
Trueforged Coolant Tanks
Trueforged Supersport 20" Wheels
Nitto NT555 265/35/20
Nitto NT555R 305/35/20
MGW Gen 2 Shifter
MGW Shift Knob
McLeod RST Clutch
McLeod Aluminum Flywheel
ARP Flywheel Bolts
DSS Aluminum Driveshaft
Ridetech Coilovers
BMR Adj LCAs
BMR Relocation Brackets
BMR Adj UCA
BMR UCA Mount
BMR Adj Panhard Bar
Trufiber Supersnake Hood
Trufiber Hood Struts
Aerocatch Hood Pins
JLT Lower Grille Bezels
Roush 2010+ Style Louvers
Corbeau CR1 Racing Seats
Corbeau 4 Point Harnesses
Corbeau Harness Bar

Soon:
Shelby American Watts Link
BMR Tubular K Member

Nice build, but does it leave a rainbow everywhere you go

Yes.









I wish...

Good looking build, rainbow.

Have always wondered about the handling characteristics about the 07-10s because of the heavy iron 5.4. How does it take a corner?

Thanks man. It handles remarkably well for how front heavy it is. I've thrown it into some pretty good corners and it's handled them fine. I'll eventually get the car onto some road courses to see how far I can push it. The Ridetech coilovers are great though. Ridetech didn't have a problem bumping up my spring rates a little bit to compensate for the iron block.

That's really what I'm building the car for though. It'll probably never see a pass on the drag strip. I wanted to build a handling 07-09 iron block GT500 because nobody expects it out of these cars.

Glad to hear it can take a corner! Can't wait to see it come further along

Badass! I've been contemplating trading in for a 07-09 GT500 for a little bit now.

Dude. We need to organize a cruise. Go eat some of Josh's meat maybe. See how well the Fiesta can hang with the GT500

Awesome build.

Nice, looking forward to the finished product..
.

Nice car Phteven.

Hell yea thing is awesome man.

Now that's a sexy sounding ride. I have a 2012 5.0 and I've been seriously considering 07-09 GT500, is it a good upgrade?

Do it, you won't regret it.

I've got a Fays2/Shelby American Watts Link laying around for it but I'm probably going to sell it to help fund the headers that I need.

Agreed. It definitely can't but you're welcome to try

Thanks

Haven't seen you around in a while man. How are your cars doing?



See if someone would ever come back this way, we could hang out and stuff.

In my opinion, yes. It really depends on how attached you are to the nice features of the newer cars though. Sync/bluetooth, better quality interior, quieter interior, more comfortable seats, etc. The nav option on the 07-09s is shit. If you want a low mileage iron block GT500 for around 30k but you like all of those things, get a 2010. They're about the same price as the 07-09s and have fewer issues.

Just bought a set of Kooks 1 7/8 Longtubes with O/R H and a set of Corsa Sports. Less boost, moar powaaaa.

best of luck with your project

How'd you end up acquiring it? Like did you internet search or go to a dealership and ask what their inventory was?

When I knew what I wanted (Black or Blue 08-09 GT500 with low miles) I just searched everywhere online. Not worth the hassle of going to each individual dealership, especially in Houston where there is probably 15+ Ford dealers, and asking if they have any used GT500s. Ebay Motors, all the Ford dealers' websites, and AOL Autos which has been changed to Autoblog.com were all helpful. I wanted mine pretty stock which is why I stuck to the dealers. If you don't mind mods, go sit on SVTP and watch the Market area for GT500s for a couple months until you find something that works for you. Even if its out of state, a plane ticket to go see it and enclosed shipping to get it home isn't that expensive. Or you could always ask around in the Clubhouse on here for someone that can go look at the car before you go and buy a plane ticket. Most people on MM are awesome like that and won't have a problem with it.

Will do. I've been looking at them for the past two days.

You plan on upgrading to the VMP Gen 2 TVS?

Everyone gives the 1s shit because of the 2s being better in every way, making over 50rwhp more, etc. My car makes PLENTY of power on its lowly Gen 1 and it should honestly break 700rwhp with the headers. I have no intention of upgrading the supercharger.

Say I get another 50rwhp with the Gen 2, the stock iron block 5.4s have only been found to hold 750-800rwhp with blowers. I don't want to be that close to the limit. Down the road, I'll build the engine and probably slap a big Whipple or Kenne Bell on it but I'd rather build the engine in my own time than blow mine up now trying to get a bit more power.

I'm not saying the Gen 2 wouldn't be a good option for your car, just depends on the model year, supporting mods, and how much power you're trying to make.