Magneticas' Build Process

[90sickfox]

For those that don't know....the RTR grille is unabtanium right now. Everyone is out of stock of the almos $600 18- 19 upper grille. I lucked up and found a take off on marketplace that came off a 18 GT that was bought back by Ford after the second engine and a bad transmission input shaft. After installing a full exhaust and awesome Injen intake on a customers car the grille was installed.

Now, I just need the 3 piece wing and lowering and I'm done with this one.

 

[jetmech807]

I'm going to take a guess and say your cars color is Magnetic Gray Metallic. Judging by the pics my questions pretty much answered, but, does that paint change color with viewing angle like a mystic cobra or chromalution? I ask cause I've seen in pics on the internet that lead me to believe it is. Thanks

 

[90sickfox]

I'm going to take a guess and say your cars color is Magnetic Gray Metallic. Judging by the pics my questions pretty much answered, but, does that paint change color with viewing angle like a mystic cobra or chromalution? I ask cause I've seen in pics on the internet that lead me to believe it is. Thanks

No it isn't chromatic like the mystic cobra. The color does have a very fine metal flake.

 

[90sickfox]

Guys....a thing happened today. The christmas elf came early. I got a full cat back exhaust, Turbosmart electronic BOV, Mishimoto catch can, and a SCT tuner. I also reached 21k today.

 

[90sickfox]

Magnetica now sounds like a BMW. The exhaust has a deep tone that doesn't get honda ish. The bigger tips add a nice touch too. The exhaust isn't overly loud at all....barely above stock at idle. Has a deeper un-ratty tone at full throttle.

Before....

After....

I used a smear of high temp Permatex at all the connections to seal any leaks. There were wide band clamps on the under axle pipes to the y pipe that I'm not a big fan of. The pipes slip together but the band clamp is for mounting pipes end to end not slip pipes. They're tight and not leaking though.

 

[90sickfox]

Intake is on. Was pretty easy.

Excuse the dirt...

 

[RaggedGT]

Alright Scott,after some tasteful mods and over 20K miles- what’s your review? Things you like-dislike-changes you’d make-future plans?

 

[90sickfox]

Alright Scott,after some tasteful mods and over 20K miles- what’s your review? Things you like-dislike-changes you’d make-future plans?

Man...I love this car. I have absolutely no problems merging into traffic. Fuel mileage depends on my foot...anywhere between 34mpg and 24mpg. Not a whole lot to complain about. Its super easy to work on....well...all the mods I've done went uneventfully.

I though I'd kick myself in the butt for not buying a GT. After driving this car 22k I'm glad I didn't. I got into a little heated run with a gt....we were nose to noise from about 60 to 120. He sounded better....but...not worth the extra 10k for a daily.

The car is comfortable but with manual seats the bolster pushes into the back of my thigh making my legs go numb... if I don't change position around the 2hr mark. Power seats are fully adjustable and don't have this issue. I do wish i got heated leather seats. Katzkin has leather covers online for 500 and the heated seat pads are cheap. That may be a mod for next year.

When coasting at very low speeds there is a hesitation when hitting the gas gently. Kinda feels like the car is in neutral for a split second. No banging or jerking...just feels like when you pedal fast on a bicycle in a lighter gear. It changes quickly but it's taken me this long to get used to it. In certain gears it'll also hesitate on part throttle. Kinda like when you hit the gas to go around someone on the highway it just takes a split second to downshift and apply power. I drive a bunch of different cars and all the new ones seem to do this in one way or another. The chevys are the worst.

My base model little back up screen is right at the point of almost being too small.

Wish they made fog lights that mounted a little lower to the ground ( like in the lower grille ).

Overall, no real complaints. I'm happy I bought it. The aftermarket support is huge.

 

[90sickfox]

View: https://youtu.be/-jQSEbh0xls

 

[90sickfox]

The RTR grille lights stay on with the daytime running lights. This means they were on all the time. I had time to fix that. Checked both harnesses and found continuity between the grounds for both lights. Cut the black ground wire and ran them to a led lit switch. The switch has a diode led that only let's current flow one way....the opposite of what I needed for a ground switch. Carefully, I took the switch apart and reversed the led. My subs also powered on with the key from a signal coming from the rear speakers. I installed a switch on the power feed wire to the LC2 line level converter that also cuts on my amp.

Thought about it for a whole and decided to make a switch panel that goes in the cubby below the center stack.

Used cardboard and foil to make a template.

Found cheap ABS mud flaps at the parts store and went to work transfering the pattern. Used a jig saw to cut it out. Pulled out the heat gun and bent it into the correct shape.

You'll notice I braced the top to get a clean bend. Worked great.

Everything works the way it should. Im not really a big fan of these switches and may change to a flatter mounting style. Black carbon fiber vinyl wrap is on it's way.

The catch can has been installed for a little over 1k miles. Just a small amount of oil caught so far. It's coming together with no complaints.

 

[a91what]

The RTR grille lights stay on with the daytime running lights. This means they were on all the time. I had time to fix that. Checked both harnesses and found continuity between the grounds for both lights. Cut the black ground wire and ran them to a led lit switch. The switch has a diode led that only let's current flow one way....the opposite of what I needed for a ground switch. Carefully, I took the switch apart and reversed the led. My subs also powered on with the key from a signal coming from the rear speakers. I installed a switch on the power feed wire to the LC2 line level converter that also cuts on my amp.

Thought about it for a whole and decided to make a switch panel that goes in the cubby below the center stack.

Used cardboard and foil to make a template.

Found cheap ABS mud flaps at the parts store and went to work transfering the pattern. Used a jig saw to cut it out. Pulled out the heat gun and bent it into the correct shape.

You'll notice I braced the top to get a clean bend. Worked great.

Everything works the way it should. Im not really a big fan of these switches and may change to a flatter mounting style. Black carbon fiber vinyl wrap is on it's way.

The catch can has been installed for a little over 1k miles. Just a small amount of oil caught so far. It's coming together with no complaints.

if you have dimensions of what you need I am sure @stanglx2002 can print you a switch panel that will fit right in to where you need it...

actually if you want to post the measurements i can model it up for you.

 

[90sickfox]

if you have dimensions of what you need I am sure @stanglx2002 can print you a switch panel that will fit right in to where you need it...

actually if you want to post the measurements i can model it up for you.

Thanks Steve. I'll see if I can get some later this week.

 

[Olivethefet]

Cool car. I dont know much about the newer cars. The power that can be make with the EcoBoost is pretty tempting!

 

[90sickfox]

Update on the switch panel. The carbon fiber looked bad. Didn't match anything in that area. Ran out to Home Depot and found some black leather vinyl that looks pretty good. Got an 18in. by 15 foot roll for under 9 bucks.

Here's a pic of how the wires run to the switches. I reversed the LED in the switch for the RTR grill.

Still not a fan of these big rocker switches but they'll have to work until I can find replacements that can be taken apart to reverse polarity on the LEDs.

Here's how it sits now.

 

[90sickfox]

This is a long process. I used painter's tape to make a template of the center stack. Cut out the rough shape of the vinyl. Should turn out OK.

I like that this will be very subtle. No one will know unless they really know these cars. Theres no other smooth black plastic in the car....and to be honest this has been irritating me since I bought the car. I'm going to check some local places for some polished aluminum wrap to outline the area where the radio is. Should be able to find it....if not amazon has it.

After this photo I turned the template to get the grain to flow in the right direction. Never noticed it was directional until that point. Smh

 

[90sickfox]

Never realised I didn't post pics of the wrap done.

Sorry guys. Smh.

Had good friends send me an Amazon gift card for Christmas. Picked these up.

They turned out pretty decent. The finish on them could have been a little better but they will do.

 

[Potomus Pete]

More Stagnet Genius . Thats a lot of steering wheel.