No ordinary Shelby build

[gallopingford]

Here is my build of my 2013 Shelby Convertible. Car is completed for the most part, but I figured I would share with you my build. Bought the car and knew I wanted to immediately do something different with it that you just don't see, especially on American muscle/sports cars.

Ton of my pictures you can just find on my instagram too - see sig

Bought the car new in June. Added some power almost immediately (because you can never have too much), and I eventually broke ground on installing the suspension and wheels in September.





Part 1: Minor bump in power and small aethetics

First started off installing a cold air intake, throttle body and custom tune. Also installed a catless midpipe but removed it since I got tired of the smell.





Upgraded throttle body



Upgraded intake



I absolutely **** orange reflectors/bulbs so those had to go next













Part 2: Wheels and Suspension

Airlift Performance Suspension Kit with V2 Digital Control
Rotiform BLQ Wheels
-20x10 paired with 285/35/20 Toyo R888 in the Front
-20x12 paired with 315/30/20 Toyo R888 in the Rear





Pulled the car in the shop... last time it will ever sit this high.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx50/cdcohen/AirLift%20Install/IMG_4236_zps2f204d33.jpg

Before installing the suspension, I needed to remove these rear bump stop brackets for added clearance of the 12" wheels. There simply there for the solid axle bump stops to hit them if the car bottoms out.



Cleaned it up











Started drilling through the spot welds 4 contact points on top and then 5 on the bottom. It's easy, but just really time consuming.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx50/cdcohen/AirLift%20Install/IMG_4256_zpsa5ba181f.jpg

Bracket removed.



Sanding down the small edges left





Making it look factory





Finished it off with gloss black



Both brackets removed



Needed to relocate the bump stops inward, so this is a kit I used.

[gallopingford]

Next up was now installing the suspension.

Started with the rear.



Needed to remove convertible bracing



Airlift rear shock 25-click adjustible



Rear airbag



To run air to the rear bag you have to cut a .5” hole 1.375” away from the bolt hole on the upper part of the spring perch. This was a challenge for a convertible since there is added reinforcement brackets that coupes do not have. I had to estimate and cut this hole from the bottom of the car versus the coupe-way-of-doing-it, on the top. In the end, it all came together perfect.



Starting on the front

[img]http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx50/cdcohen/AirLift%20Install/IMG_4292_zps5e8e5810.jpg/img]





Front sway bar endlink comparison (smaller ones are the one that came with the AirLift kit)





Stock struts on right, Airlift on left





AirLift strut reinstalled.



25-click dampening



Used my office as my storage center.

[gallopingford]

Time to run the wiring harness







At first I decided to mount the regulator right behind the convertible top motor (changed it later in the build)



Airline and power lines ran down door sill, right under carpet



Grommet from cockpit into fender well



Strut connected to airline that was fed through the grommet



Harness fed through to inner fender







All wrapped up





Air tank mocked up (temporary setup)





Regulator mocked up with all the corners attached



It's alive!

[StanceswithWolves]

Love Fords. Looks mean as hell already, I'll have to check out your instagram.

[gallopingford]

Finally test fitting wheels









On the ground (before an alignment)


Took it off the lift for a the first test ride

[mrg7243]

Cheers. What do you do for a living? Cornwell tools, 2013 shelby on air, with wheels

[gallopingford]

From the beginning I ***** looking at the air tank in my trunk, I use my trunk pretty frequently and that tank was taking up a good amount of room. Airlift had the solution to my OCD madness.

Purchased a smaller tank along with a compressor isolation kit



oooo pretty



That tank you can spot from the moon



Finally got my new Corsa exhaust mufflers in.



Once again, my OCD kicks in and I do not like the stainless finish showing, you can see it easily under the car. So I masked off the tips and painted them with hi-temp semi-gloss black. Here they are installed



Black blends in



Back to that huge tank.



Figured out how I could use the Mustang spare tire well to my advantage.



drilling mounting holes for the compressor



Remounting the regulator



Final resting place for the tank, regulator and the compressor, all lines run hidden under the carpet liner.







Stealth install.

[gallopingford]

Well, the car was pretty much finished at that point. I needed to install 3mm spacers in the rear to prevent some light feathering since the wheels were fitting really tightly, however I was afraid I'd put the wheel to far out and crush the fender. Thankfully it didn't

Now pictures for you to enjoy of the finished product































That's pretty much my build so far. I have a removable hardtop for the car I still need to get around to test fitting and painting, but I'm in no rush. I also need to dial in more camber in the front so both of the wheels can fully tuck in the front at 0psi.

I am absolutely in love with the car and really happy how it turned out. This is 1 of 2 Mustangs I currently own, and maybe I'll get around to documenting the build for the other one later.

Thanks for viewing!

[gallopingford]

Love Fords. Looks mean as hell already, I'll have to check out your instagram.

Thanks, it did already look mean from the factory, but it needed that extra something lol.

Cheers. What do you do for a living? Cornwell tools, 2013 shelby on air, with wheels

I'm a social media coordinator/manager for three dealerships and two body shops. I also do freelance computer stuff on the side.

[StanceswithWolves]

It just looks menacing. Great work.

[mike-81-240d]

Fantastic, followed on IG.

[BlackSvt03]

Awesome, where about in Northern VA you at?

[Khalil]

Sweet stuff.

I would like to see you tuck these later on if you can.

[HooWybrow]

The front of that car is astonishing.

Beautiful job, only thing is being on air I'd like to see it sit a little lower, however, you've got monster tires on it so I am totally okay with how it sits now, too.

[theseeker411]

Good Lord that looks amazing.