Progress Thread Father Time: Dyno time soon. I'm nervous!

[85GTStangGuy]

Are you missing the forwardmost hood bumpers (on the sides) or do you not need them with your particular hood?

Hood Bumper Kit for 80-93 - #M-16758-1AK - National Parts Depot

Buy part #M-16758-1AK Hood Bumper Kit for 80-93 for your classic 1980-1993 Mustang from National Parts Depot. Free shipping on orders over $300, fast delivery & everyday low pricing! Order now!

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[fasterthangas]

I'm a bit late but wanted to add to this. If you aren't happy with the Vibrant can, the Mighty Mouse catch can with breather does not stink up the engine bay. I used it with my turbo setup at 15psi and no fumes. It's a well science out setup.

 

[FastDriver]

Are you missing the forwardmost hood bumpers (on the sides) or do you not need them with your particular hood?

Hood Bumper Kit for 80-93 - #M-16758-1AK - National Parts Depot

Buy part #M-16758-1AK Hood Bumper Kit for 80-93 for your classic 1980-1993 Mustang from National Parts Depot. Free shipping on orders over $300, fast delivery & everyday low pricing! Order now!

www.npdlink.com

Sharp eye, as usual, Larry. I checked my tub o' junk and didn't find spares... but I have them somewhere. They put the rears in. Maybe they were pushing too much on the hood or it didn't close with them in? I'll get another set and see for myself.

 

[AeroCoupe]

I had to trim mine down a little with the cowl hood on my Coupe and T-Bird both.

 

[FastDriver]

Still look good after trimming? Dremel?

 

[AeroCoupe]

Man it's been years but I want to say I used a bench grinder to quickly remove the material from them and then used wet/dry sandpaper to finish them. I would not say the finish was like rubber pulled from a mold but most folks with the exception of 85GTStangGuy are not looking anyhow. My cars are by no means show cars.

 

[FastDriver]

Man it's been years but I want to say I used a bench grinder to quickly remove the material from them and then used wet/dry sandpaper to finish them. I would not say the finish was like rubber pulled from a mold but most folks with the exception of 85GTStangGuy are not looking anyhow. My cars are by no means show cars.

If it counts as a show car now, I don't know how long that'll last. Show car was never the goal. I wanna go fast and drive the car.

Edit (15SEP): I installed the hood bumpers, but as expected, this was not an oversight that they had been removed. I took them back out, too. They bow the hood a tad, causing its lines even higher off of the fender. It's a nice hood, but the lines don'tmatch the fenders perfectly. I could shave them down, but I'd really rather not. The hood seems very solid, and I don't think there's any functional benefit.

 

[FastDriver]

I’m getting Father Time ready for a dyno session sometime 9-12 October. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little nervous, because the goal is 1,100 rwhp and I fully intend to stop there, despite clear potential for more. I’ve already picked up Q16, and I’m going through the car beforehand with fresh plugs, a fresh wideband O2, and the Turbo-Guard MAXX in place of the small air filter.

I’m also bringing in Patrick Barnhill to handle the tuning. I’m tempted to do it myself, but there’s too much time and money tied up in this car to make the dyno the place where I prove a point, and Patrick has a lot more experience at this power level. I’d also very much like the thing to still be in one piece a few weeks later.

That matters a little more now because I can finally share that Kenneth Sean selected Father Time as one of his top/baddest Fox Bodies of 2026 for Foxtoberfest, with the car scheduled to be featured on stage and in an upcoming video. That is incredibly cool, and obviously I’d rather not show up after ventilating the block on the dyno.

At the same time, this car and everything else I’ve built has always been function over form. I didn’t build Father Time to sit around looking impressive for other people, and I’m not going to start treating it like a museum piece now. It’s time to get this done.

 

[FastDriver]

Et voilà!

Took advantage of the extra plug in the Behind Bars Race Cars sumped tank, and put together a nice clean fuel drain/recovery system. Seemed like something I needed to do, or install a separate fuel cell in the car, because 10gal of Q16 just cost me ~$300. So, when the dyno or track day is over, I can drain it and refill the tank with 93 without taking forever siphoning or spilling everywhere.

Edit:
Couple more things, tonight.

- Installed a fresh WBO2 (4.2 LSU, Bosch 1701)
- Pulled the street filter and put the Turbo Guard "Maxx" wire mesh turbo screen on. Filter would be a flow problem at full boost. It's a real pain to swap on my combo. Next time I pull the passenger fender, I need to reshape inlet pipe for more clearance around the turbo.
- Upped the wastegate spring from the Tial Red to Blue. That should make baseline pressure before the EBC ~13psi. In the past, the back pressure problem at higher boost was blowing the WG open because I didnt have enough spring in there. On Monday, I'll have the tools and springs to push spring pressure as high as 20psi if I run into that problem on kill.

Tomorrow, new plugs and oil. Sunday, fuel up, and load it on the trailer.

In the old days, 13 psi was already pushing 700 rwhp. If all goes well with the dyno, I'll leave that as my 93 octane street tune, and work on getting it to hook on normal roads.