Tech

Sometimes you just have to go out and buy a new tool. That’s the position I found myself in when I had to re-plumb the fuel systems in a boat a while back. The old lines were rock hard and rotten, so they were definitely due for replacement. The owner wanted to use crimp clamps, instead of work gear style ones, to lessen the chance of something loosening up later on down the road (waterway???). Not only that Clic / Clic-R style clamps just look more professional, and are the industry standard on items like CV Shaft Boots.

Since I mostly just scab in fuel systems on trucks that should probably be in a junk yard, I didn’t have the proper set of pliers to crimp Clic clamps. So in about 30 seconds I picked out a set on Amazon that looked decent and cost just a few dollars. I just needed something to get the job done, but these little forged pliers ended up being surprisingly stout. Usage-wise they did exactly what I asked of them. Long term I imagine they’ll hold up (as long as they...

I never miss an opportunity to tour the engine assembly area at Livernois Motorsports. On my most recent visit there the crew was assembling a little bit of everything. While I enjoy checking out Full-Race Coyote builds featuring Predator blocks and even the occasion Brand-X engine; the one that really caught my eye was a sweet Trick Flow Head'd Small Block Ford.

Another thing that was interesting to find was a stroker Boss 6.2L V8 being assembled. Surprisingly, Livernois told us this is still one of their best sellers. It seems the Gen 1 Raptor guys are still modding and keeping that market alive. I always thought those were tough engines that made decent power for truck applications. It's just a shame that Ford didn't spend more time developing and expanding the architecture over the years. It very well could have grown into a replacement for the Modular platform. Check out the vid:


I plan on making a trip back to...

If you’re anything like me, you look forward to changing the oil in your rig. It should be a simple, yet fulfilling, task that does good for both your engine and your soul. However, the last thing you want is for this simple mechanical endeavor to turn into to a PITA. Drain plugs should be positioned so you don’t get an involuntary chassis oiling, the oil filter shouldn’t be located in a location only 82-pound Korean gymnast can reach, and the oil fill should be able to accept a simple funnel without spilling half-a-gallon of oil down the block. From the factory the 7.3L Godzilla V8 has two out of the three, so I decided to make it a perfect 3-for-3. Set in Apple Ford of White Bear Lake (formerly Tousley Ford for you old-timers).

You long time members of SVTP are familiar with @FORDSVTPARTS, but for the newbs – you need to get to know Steve. He is our resident Ford Parts guru. If you need some Ford OEM parts, he’s the man to see. Just so happens I had to call...

I've had a set of SPD Downpipes with the optional Gesi Cats on my Bronco Raptor for over a year now, and they are still one of my favorite mods. They add just enough growl when you want, but are easily tamed with the BRaptor's factory selectable exhaust modes. Add to that their perfect fit, excellent quality, and a decent bump in power and you have an overall winner of an upgrade.

Since I installed them I got a little busy and forgot that I had shot a video comparing my BRaptor's SPD equipped exhaust to a bone-stock one. This silver Bronco Raptor was a test vehicle from Ford, and was very nicely equipped. So here is my found footage comparison - Enjoy!! -

HP Tuners has pulled off a miracle and saved the Ford aftermarket as we know it. By cracking the encryptions on Ford's latest generations of ECUs they have created a new rush of performance modding. To no one's surprise, the guys over at 5 Star Tuning in Florence, SC had a backlog of employee owned vehicles ready for calibration development. This stone stock 10R80 equipped S650 Mustang GT was one of the first to get their attention, and the results did not disappoint.

As you can see, starting from a strong baseline of 433HP they were able to pick up 30HP on 93 Octane and 50HP on E85. Torque gains largely track with the horsepower gains. If I owned one of these cars added a custom tune would be high priority. Besides gaining power everywhere in the rev range, the driveablity of the car is greatly improved. That's doubly true on an automatic car like this one, where optimizing the shifts makes a huge difference in the driving experience. What do you guys think?

Back in 2023 we headed out to 5 Star Tuning in Florence, SC to test a slew of VMP Performance parts on a new F-150 Raptor R. That truck was nicely modified, and looked great, but the owner wanted to squeeze some more power from its Supercharged 5.2L V8. Unfortunately, we ran into a brick wall with the trucks encrypted ECU. No matter what we tried, the factory tune limited the power output to about 610RWHP. For a refresher, check out this thread :: F-150 Raptor R Mods from VMP Tuning | Exploring the Limits of the OEM Calibration at 5 Star Tuning

Thankfully, HP Tuners has finally come to the rescue for the Ford Performance Industrial Complex with custom tuning for a host of previously locked Ford computers. 5 Star Tuning didn't waist any time reaching out to the owner of that Raptor R so they could get his truck back on...

Evolution is a well understood and accepted scientific theory that often goes beyond the nature of biological organisms. In this case, the venerable Motorcraft FL-1A has adapted to changing engineering requirements for over half a century. The FL-1A became the gold standard for Ford V8 engines sometime in the late-60s. It replaced cartridge style filters like the Motorcraft FL-20. I searched for a more detailed history of these filters, but didn’t find anything definitive. I believe the FL-1 (the “A” would come later) was originally fitted to the 221 Windsor V8 when it was introduced in 1961, and it was originally marketed as an Autolite part instead of Motorcraft. There was even an FL-1HP Racing Oil Filter available at some point.

Still we can assume that most of the various filters I was able to collect were designed to deal with a range of fitment issues. The FL-300 is esstially a shorter version of the FL-1A, while the Motorcraft FL-400S is skinnier and the Motorcraft FL-910S...

Last week we posted an article lamenting the cheapening of the Motorcraft oil filter spec’d for many Coyote and EcoBoost engines. Today we have much better news. Ford recently the Motorcraft FL-2124S oil filter for the 6.7L Powerstroke diesel engine. This filter supersedes the FL-2051S filter that debuted on the 6.7 PSD in the 2011 model year. I’m here to tell you that this new filter appears to be an upgrade over the already very good older design.

These two filters appear to be nearly identical save for one major difference, the filter media. The FL-2051S appears to use a synthetic media very similar in appearance to the Stratapore filter media found in certain versions of Cummins Fleetguard filters. It’s a well constructed and filter that overall is a very nice quality piece. However, due to Ford adding a variable volume oil pump to the 6.7 PSD and wishing to be able to run longer drain intervals the developed the Motorcraft FL-2124S oil filter. This inspection vid will give...

Records are meant to be broken. In the case of our Bronco Raptor’s ¼ mile record, it was meant to be shattered. Our best run was a 13.56 @ 98.9MPH in August 2023 at an NMRA event in Norwalk, OH. As far as I can tell, that run still stood as the best ¼ mile ET for a Bronco Raptor. That pass was made with a Whipple Intercooler and Calibration, and a set of SPD Downpipes. Since that time we have switched to an HP-Tuners based calibration from 5 Star Tuning and added an S&B Cold Air...

Cost cutting, down-sizing, and supplier issues are unfortunate facts of life that we have sadly become more accustomed to over the past several years. Not surprisingly, our required automotive maintenance parts occasional fall victim to this trend as well. That certainly seems to be the case with the recently introduced Motorcraft FL-2121 Oil Filter, which for a time replaced the now nearly 15 year old FL-500S filter design (which itself is a modification of the venerable FL-820S). It appears the 2121 was the result of a supplier issue, and Ford being forced to search-out an acceptable stand-in.

We decided to snag one of each of these filters, cut them open, and do a detailed inspection. The results were disappointing. The first and most obvious difference is the overall size of the FL-2121, which is a little larger than the 500. However, the 2121 is significantly lighter than the older 500. It’s plain that the FL-2121 is constructed by a different manufacturer (looks to be...

There are few things we find more interesting than tearing down a new engine and seeing what changes/upgrades the engineers have made. So when we heard Livernois Motorsports had a pile of F-150 Gen IV Coyote V8s they were disassembling and rebuilding, it was an obvious choice to stop by and check everything out. We left educated and excited to see what’s to come.

Our visit took place in August of 2023, and the Gen IV Coyote had yet to hit the streets in the S650 Mustang. However, a much different version of the Gen IV found its way under the hood of the updated 2023 F-150. The major changes from the very popular Gen III Coyote include; a belt-drive variable vane oil pump, cylinder deactivation, and significantly revised cylinder heads. In the following video we take you along as we explore these changes across several engines in various states of assembly/disassembly. Check it out:

This is the day we’ve been waiting for. True custom tuning is now available for the Bronco Raptor, as well as the rest of the Bronco line-up. 5 Star Tuning and HP-Tuners have collaborated to science out a way to break a factory Ford ECU’s encryption, then upload a custom tune file to it. Once the encryption is broken, the BRaptor can be tuned with an HP-Tuners RTD or MPVI just like Fords of years past. You know once we heard about this performance break-through we would have to get in on the action, so that’s exactly what we did.

We loaded up the SVTP Bronco Raptor and headed out the 5 Star Tuning in Florence, SC so Josh, Brandon, and the rest of the 5 Star Crew could work their magic. The first step was to use a Ford FDRS (Ford Diagnostic & Repair System) equipped laptop to draw the factory calibration from the ECU. While Brandon was doing that, Josh was busy “decrypting” a brand new Ford ECU. From there, Brandon swapped the computers and loaded our factory BRaptor calibration...

When it comes to elevating daily comfort and enjoyment in a vehicle, it’s often the little things that make the biggest difference. We have had very few complaints with our Bronco Raptor, but there are a couple minor ones to be found in the interior. Luckily, we were able to fix three of them for less than $100 in parts from Amazon. This video covers the installs:

The first beef, and biggest, is the fact that Ford installs goat-fur like carpet on the backs of the rear seats. Our Bronco Raptor was ordered with vinyl seats and a vinyl floor. We didn’t want any carpet to have to clean, but there it was. However, in less than 5 minutes we installed a set of Mabett Rear Seat-Back Protectors and effectively covered the rear seat carpet. The rubber protective mats are attached to the factory carpet with simple hook & loop (Velcro) strips, and can be easily removed if needed. They fit perfectly, work as designed, and are well worth the price...

We all know that the easiest way to crank up the fun-factor of your ride is to throw a little boost at it. In the case of the Coyote platform, adding a few PSI to the mix can spice things up to the tune of a several hundred additional horsepower. If you happen to own one of the 1st or 2nd Generation Coyote V8s, the crew at VMP Performance has been working on a budget friendly way to strap a 2650 TVS blower to your 5.0.

It’s no secret that Predator powered GT500 owner enjoy making major modifications to their factory boosted 5.2L power plants. Many times those modifications include a blower upgrade, which means a lot of OEM Predator superchargers tend to find their way onto the secondary market. That’s were VMP saw an opportunity, and worked to put together the products and process necessary to install a Predator supercharger on a 1st or 2nd Gen Coyote. This is one of those rare circumstances where availability, price point, and relative ease of installation combine to create a...

It's been nearly a year since we starting using our TopLift Pro to save time, and my back, when pulling the rear section of roof off our Bronco Raptor. It has performed flawlessly in that time and has added to the Bronco ownership experience. However, a few months back I picked up an add-on accessory for the TopLift that makes it even easier to use.

TopLift has an electrification kit (called the Power-Pro) that allows you to bolt on a linear actuator to your existing TopLift, which will then handle all the lifting for you. While the standard TopLift takes a 2-3 man job and makes it a 1 man job, the Power-Pro Motorized Attachment makes it a one finger job. Check it out:

I really like that you have the option to add a small 12v battery to the included battery tray and make the lift cord free if you prefer...

There’re few things we love more than being on the cutting edge of performance innovation and development. There’s something about this (paraphrased) series of lines from Jeremy Irons’ character in the film Margin Call that resonates with us …. “There’s three ways to make a living in this business; be first, be smarter, or cheat… and it sure is a hell of a lot easier to just be first.” That’s the basic philosophy that has lead our in our Bronco Raptor build, and today we’re carrying it forward in the realm of the F-150 Raptor R.

The R-R is Ford Performance’s latest creation, which combines the body and running gear of a Raptor 37 with the power plant of an S550 GT500 Mustang. The addition of the 5.2L Supercharged V8 engine has propelled the Raptor R to the top of the list of Ford’s I’d love to own. However, that’s a story for another day in the very near future. Today we have an R strapped to 5 Star Tuning’s dyno for some cutting edge testing of VMP Performance Predator...

You’ve been hearing it from us here on SVTP for years; the Holy Trinity of starter mods is Intake, Tune, and Exhaust. Tackling those three areas will typically show decent gains on any vehicle. When it comes to our project Bronco Raptor, besides our Whipple Intercooler and Turbosmart BOV, there’s not much on the market intake wise (yet). And you guys have seen us lay down massive gains with a Whipple Calibration. But just a few days ago we were able to snag an early set of SPD Performance Downpipes fitted with High-Flow GESI cats. The exhaust side of the more-power equation was now open for business.

It’s been no secret that the factory downpipes found on many EcoBoost engines can hamper performance. They are designed with packaging, NVH, and assembly constraints that the aftermarket can simply sidestep. As such, companies like SPD Performance have found great success developing higher-flowing replacement systems for many Ford platforms. Their latest venture into the Blue Oval...

If you’re going to have classic cars, it’s probably a good idea to have some classic tools to keep them running. That’s exactly what we found when we strolled into the shop area of the National Parts Depot 200+ vehicle deep car collection. With all these cars under one roof, it’s not surprising that they have a full shop right in the middle of it all and man whose full-time job is caring for the mechanical condition of each piece on display.

So it’s not surprising that NPD has a collection of vintage shop tools that you’re just not going to find in a typical shop. Have a car with way-pre-OBD II fuel injection? They have a diagnostic computer that size of a small truck that can print out sensor data for you? Need to set the dwell on a points style distributor? They have what’s essentially a distributor dyno to help you make adjustments. This vid gives you a good idea of what they have to work with in the shop:


I could probably...

Few things in auto repair can be more frustrating than trying to track down an electrical problem. If you’re dealing with some previously modified wiring it can be even more fun. If this is an issue you’re facing, chances are you’ll be making some splices. Wiring work is simply a fact of life if you spend enough time in the car modding game, and there’s one cardinal rule that must be followed : “Do it once, and do it right.” The last thing you want to have to do is tear back into some custom wiring later on down the road.

To that end, we’ve started using a newer style of butt connector in all of our wire splices. Gone are the days of the broke ass standard crimp style connector, and we’ve even retired the marine style connector with integrated heat-shrink sheathing and waterproof sealant. The best product out there now combines the features of the marine style connector with a little ring of heat activated solder in the center of the connector. The idea being that once the wires...

Sometimes you just miss on the follow-through. That’s the story on a lot of ideas and projects. The best laid plans of mice and men, and such. That’s basically what we have laying before us here. What you’re looking at is a 1-of-1 prototype Ford Racing 6.7L Powerstroke Diesel V8 Turbo Upgrade kit. I know, weird right? Ford Racing Performance Parts (now rebranded Ford Performance Racing Parts) has never really dipped their toes into the performance diesel market, yet here’s this kit. Not surprisingly, there’s a bit of a story to go along with it.

Think way back late 2014-early 2015. The updated 2015 Powerstroke equipped Super Duty is just hitting the dealership lots. It was cranking out 440 HP and 860 lb-ft (up from 390/400 HP and 735/800 lb-ft for the 2011-14 models), due in large part to a shiny new single 88mm GT37 turbo. It replaced the earlier somewhat unique single-sequential turbo that was prone to failure at about 100,000 miles. It featured ceramic ball bearings that just...