Russwood's Coyote Powered Mk IV - Build Progress Updates

[CaptB]

Boomer Sooner!

[Russwood]

Rah Oklahoma!

Didn't do so great this past weekend though...

[Russwood]

IRS Center Section

Now to the actual build!

After we got back from Boston and I placed my order, the urge to do something was killing me. I originally ordered a new center section from FFR with my kit. After reading EdwardB's build thread (I think it was his 20th Anniversary Roadster - could've been his Coupe, can't remember), I caught that Ford Performance wasn't offering the Torsen 3.73 center section any more, and only a few still in stock at places. Since his thread was a little older, when I looked, they were wayyy long gone. Nothing wrong with the clutch style locking version Ford is offering, but it's a 3.55 ratio, and if you can find a Torsen, I'm told it's the way to go. Reading that the 3.73 ratio matches nicely with the T56 gears, I set off to find one. Good old eBay. Found one from a 2020 Shelby GT500 that had under 10K miles for $700. Too good a deal to pass on, so I ordered it. After $125 in shipping, I had it in 2 days. Can't beat that. So even after buying the rear knuckles and hubs from Summit Racing (the FFR option comes with those along with the center section), I'm under the $1499 that the 3.55 would cost me from FFR.

The unit was pretty nasty, which is to be expected coming from a parts farm out of a wrecked (presumably) car. I cracked it open to see what it looked like, and it sure looks like it's not got a lot of miles on it. The ring gear looks nearly new, and the pinion did as well. No chips, wear patterns, nothing. Even so, I planned to replace the bearings and seals just to be 100% sure. Tore it down pretty quickly, and after some time in the blast cabinet to get all the rust off the iron case, I painted it with a few coats of the POR top coat gloss black. Unit looks brand new.

Here's some pics of the process. First few are of the "walk around" after unboxing it, then a look at the ring & pinion gears. Last photo is the iron case after painting.