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First the steering column was removed, which was also barely held in place. This had been out of the car, stripped of the airbag and some other bits, and shoved back into the car quickly. The splined slip joint under the dash was somewhat mangled and jammed together, so that had to be repaired before it would go back in place. I want to keep the factory tilt / telescoping column, as it is relatively lightweight (12.7 pounds), has a rigid cast aluminum structure, and the ergonomics of this fit me in this car well. Not enough weight there to chase something that will lose adjustments and likely even some rigidity.
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The dash is held in place on the sides of the A-pillar sections as well as this lower bracket, that we removed. Pieces like this will be replaced with much thinner aluminum brackets that way 1/4 as much.
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We then got a weight of this semi-stripped dash assembly, which was 50.7 pounds. There is a lot of weight in there that we can whittle down, including an airbag that is part of the glove box. The center console was just sitting in the car when we got it, but it weighs in at only 9.1 pounds. We will likely reinstall that for the Phase 1 build, as well as the lightened dash. I just like a little more completeness in the interior of a car, even a race car.
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With the dash out of the way the sound insulating pad at the firewall was removed, along with the HVAC box. This insulation pad will not go back in and sheds 5.4 pounds in the process.
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Last up is the HVAC box - which is the heater core, evaporator core for the air conditioner, blower motor, and complicated duct work buried under the dash. This 22.5 pound box (without the coolant that the heater core holds) will not go back in either. Instead we will use the 6.5 pound lightweight defroster box we normally put into race cars. This keeps a heater core and blower motor in a more compact box to blow on the windshield on cold race days. All told these pieces above weigh in at 102 pounds, and I suspect we will reinstall the steering column, center console, a gutted dash, and a lighter heater box.
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Didn't weigh the missing but lightweight dash trim pieces, which ironically I bought on eBay from The Parts Farm (they could have come off this same car). If we can cut that total interior weight number down by 40 to 50 pounds that will be a nice accomplishment - while still keeping a fully functional/adjustable steering column, a visually complete dash, and a working heater in the car. I will show those lightening steps and weights going back in on a future post.
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This car was missing the pedals, brake booster, brake master, and more. I bought this used OEM pedal box from a 2016 Mustang GT online for $124, and it even came with the Mustang electronic throttle pedal (which we might not use, depending on which EFI system we go with). The pedal box was bolted in with the dash out of the way, then the brake booster went in from the firewall side.
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We ordered a new brake booster and PP1/PP2 style master cylinder from Ford, which we also sell on our website. The master cylinder is indeed designed with a very different hydraulic ratio than the base GT/V6/Ecobooster master, which we found out the hard way when we upgraded our 2018 GT to the PP1 brakes. I was never convinced that the brake booster we bought for our 2018 GT was in any way different but it did have a different part number. The 2015-17 GT used the same booster for PP1 and base brakes, so we bought that model.
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I am not going to re-hash what was already posted in this thread earlier, but long story short: there is a reason why we include the PP1 master cylinder with the 6 piston Brembo 15" brake upgrade kit we sell. It will NOT work on track without the correct hydraulic ratio master, and the difference is easy to measure and see.
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