Photos of new arrival

[jcthorne]

Finally got some outdoor shots of the new arrival this weekend. Was out at Tx2k12 for its first show under my care. All the down time due to weather let me get a few updates done. Relocated the sub behind the passenger seat, installed a one side access engine clamshell release lever, hot buttons and seat harness inserts, a short throw shifter and brought out the AUX connectors for the Mac stereo from the rear. Changed a bunch of fluids and steam cleaned the engine bay...getting to know her.

Thinking about going out to Fun Ford Weekend Sat, just to show, not ready to race it yet, still learning her ways.

 

[BOOSTD5.4]

It would be SO cool to to have your dog riding shotgun! I do in my cars and people are shocked!

Beautiful Car!

Mike

 

[wieduwilt]

Drooling... I love ford GTs!

 

[Fast Freddy]

congratulations :beer: that bottom pic with your dog has got to be one of the best GT pix i have ever seen :coolman:

make sure you keep your GT charged on a 1.25 amp deltran battery tender via the cig lighter. the stock .5 amp charger from Ford is not enough....

curious to know here how you came by the silver stripes on a blue car when the factory blue cars have white stripes?

 

[jcthorne]

On the trickle charger, do you really think its necessary if the car is driven at least once a week? In the winter/foul weather season I can see it but spring and summer? Do these drain the battery much faster than my 07 Shelby did?

As for the color, the car is actually a Blue stripe delete option with the satin silver stripes normally used on the Black cars. There is one factory Blue with silver stripes car but this is not it.

I like that last photo too, think I should have a print made. Just a lucky shot, I am no photographer.

 

[5spd07gt]

Such a beautiful car. Congrats. Oh, and love the dog too :beer:

 

[jcthorne]

Thanks for the cudos. The car was nearly 10yrs of socking $$ away in hopes that someday...

The dog is Bandit, recently retired after 10 yrs of service as a physical therapy dog at MD Anderson Cancer Center and TIRR.

 

[traktrbeam]

Nice car! Your lab is the spitting image of my former best friend.

 

[Fast Freddy]

On the trickle charger, do you really think its necessary if the car is driven at least once a week? In the winter/foul weather season I can see it but spring and summer? Do these drain the battery much faster than my 07 Shelby did?

As for the color, the car is actually a Blue stripe delete option with the satin silver stripes normally used on the Black cars. There is one factory Blue with silver stripes car but this is not it.

I like that last photo too, think I should have a print made. Just a lucky shot, I am no photographer.

it is a known fact that if your battery dies in a GT you can suffer gauge damage. they are not cheap. check out The Ford GT Forum for more info....

 

[tedster429]

Awesome car.

 

[jcthorne]

it is a known fact that if your battery dies in a GT you can suffer gauge damage. they are not cheap. check out The Ford GT Forum for more info....

Suppose you are right, there is no down side to preventitive measures and I already own a top notch smart charger. I'll install a charging port this weekend so I don't have to open the bonnet or string cables through the window. Thanks for the tip.

 

[tistan]

Those are two fine looking animals you have there.

 

[Redzone]

Suppose you are right, there is no down side to preventitive measures and I already own a top notch smart charger. I'll install a charging port this weekend so I don't have to open the bonnet or string cables through the window. Thanks for the tip.

Where are you going to put a port?

Mine stays on the trickle via a port under the front bonnet.

 

[2011SVT]

Awesomeness. I believe you can be forgiven for giving up your GT500 :beer:

 

[Fast Freddy]

i just plug my charger into the cigarette lighter recepticle. i run the cord from the charger through my window which i leave down an inch or so.

i only drive my GT once month (way more vehicles than what is just listed in my sig) so thus the need to keep the battery on a charger....

i have four 1.25 amp car chargers that i rotate around between my 5 cars and 3 trucks, four .75 amp motorcycle chargers and one 1.25 amp boat charger that i keep the 2 optima blue top marine batteries in my boat charged up with. all of these chargers are deltran battery tenders.

another tip for you guys concerning the debate on the GT forum that causes a GT's gauges to get damaged is there is some kind of device that resides in the wiring of the GT between the battery and the gauges that performs some sort of task of which i can't remember what it is that is the culprit for making a gauge go bad when you try to start a GT with a dead battery or a battery with less than 80% charge. you will see all kinds of different kinds of opinions as to what is causing GT's gauges to fail on the GT forum. the funny thing is that in the main thread concerning this issue i have only ever made 1 post about this as to what i and my GT tech at the ford dealership know to be the culprit. there are certain Ford SUV's that have this same issue as the GT as the particular year make and models of those suv's are wired the same way as the GT is with that device that does not like a low voltage condition and takes it's rath out on the vehicles guages by breaking them.

you will notice that certain people make a ton of posts saying that the problem is the result of something else but these people are flat out wrong as my battery tender has confirmed what my Ford GT tech told me as the battery tender tells you not only if your battery is 100% charged or not sufficiently charged like most trickle or float chargers do, but the battery tender also tells you when you are at 80% charge or more and less than 100% charged. this is a feature that no other chargers have and this is how i was able to figure out what is causing the problems with gauges going bad.

note - nobody else on that site has ever mentioned this diagnosis and testing that i have done and therefore me and my tech are the only ones that know what the real story is. he had this intel before me and came about it through some other means....

a deltran battery tender is the best and safest charger for a GT imo because it can tell you if you have more or less than 80% charge. if you don't have at least 80% charge do not try and start your GT because you will risk smoking 1 or more of your gauges ~

while you may be able to start your GT with way less than 80% of a charge that device in your wiring will fry your gauges and this explains why people with other types of chargers that only indicate a 100% charge or some unknown % less than that are wasting their gauges and are confused because they are missing this key piece to the puzzle....

Ford owes us a recall fix for this but they haven't done it yet....

finally another unique feature ability that i discovered that the battery tender has is the ability to tell you how effective your alternator is at keeping your battery sufficiently charged while you are driving :idea: after you drive one of your vehicles immediately hook up your battery tender and it will tell you if your battery is 100% charged or somewhere between 80-100% charged or less than 80%. this is an indication of the condition of your alternator :read:

this is something that i am surprised that Deltran the makers of the battery tender have not marketed and promoted via advertising as a benefit that their charger has that their competitors chargers do not have :shrug:

 

[mysteed]

Beautiful GT. :beer:

 

[8urV8]

Very nice! I didn't see your GT at the track on Saturday in Houston. I saw a white one with blue stripes and other wicked rides. Crazy event in Houston was my first time I attended trailed my GN for the street action but shattered my crank sensor friday night. I'm looking to get a black Ford GT if it all works out. Keeper car no doubt!

 

[Fast Freddy]

On the trickle charger, do you really think its necessary if the car is driven at least once a week? In the winter/foul weather season I can see it but spring and summer? Do these drain the battery much faster than my 07 Shelby did?

As for the color, the car is actually a Blue stripe delete option with the satin silver stripes normally used on the Black cars. There is one factory Blue with silver stripes car but this is not it.

I like that last photo too, think I should have a print made. Just a lucky shot, I am no photographer.

your dog with that checkered flag bandana is what makes these pix so unique and special :bowdown:

it says so much like a certain type of art that can say so much :coolman:

the top pic is good from the car perspective but your dog with his ears back in that timid posture for that split second when you fired off the pic is a buzz kill, lol

we won't hold it against him though because he is just a good ole boy that is really the star of the show :beer:

the only thing that i Luv more than my GT is my dog Rusty :beer:

 

[jcthorne]

i just plug my charger into the cigarette lighter recepticle. i run the cord from the charger through my window which i leave down an inch or so.

i only drive my GT once month (way more vehicles than what is just listed in my sig) so thus the need to keep the battery on a charger....

i have four 1.25 amp car chargers that i rotate around between my 5 cars and 3 trucks, four .75 amp motorcycle chargers and one 1.25 amp boat charger that i keep the 2 optima blue top marine batteries in my boat charged up with. all of these chargers are deltran battery tenders.

another tip for you guys concerning the debate on the GT forum that causes a GT's gauges to get damaged is there is some kind of device that resides in the wiring of the GT between the battery and the gauges that performs some sort of task of which i can't remember what it is that is the culprit for making a gauge go bad when you try to start a GT with a dead battery or a battery with less than 80% charge. you will see all kinds of different kinds of opinions as to what is causing GT's gauges to fail on the GT forum. the funny thing is that in the main thread concerning this issue i have only ever made 1 post about this as to what i and my GT tech at the ford dealership know to be the culprit. there are certain Ford SUV's that have this same issue as the GT as the particular year make and models of those suv's are wired the same way as the GT is with that device that does not like a low voltage condition and takes it's rath out on the vehicles guages by breaking them.

you will notice that certain people make a ton of posts saying that the problem is the result of something else but these people are flat out wrong as my battery tender has confirmed what my Ford GT tech told me as the battery tender tells you not only if your battery is 100% charged or not sufficiently charged like most trickle or float chargers do, but the battery tender also tells you when you are at 80% charge or more and less than 100% charged. this is a feature that no other chargers have and this is how i was able to figure out what is causing the problems with gauges going bad.

note - nobody else on that site has ever mentioned this diagnosis and testing that i have done and therefore me and my tech are the only ones that know what the real story is. he had this intel before me and came about it through some other means....

a deltran battery tender is the best and safest charger for a GT imo because it can tell you if you have more or less than 80% charge. if you don't have at least 80% charge do not try and start your GT because you will risk smoking 1 or more of your gauges ~

while you may be able to start your GT with way less than 80% of a charge that device in your wiring will fry your gauges and this explains why people with other types of chargers that only indicate a 100% charge or some unknown % less than that are wasting their gauges and are confused because they are missing this key piece to the puzzle....

Ford owes us a recall fix for this but they haven't done it yet....

finally another unique feature ability that i discovered that the battery tender has is the ability to tell you how effective your alternator is at keeping your battery sufficiently charged while you are driving :idea: after you drive one of your vehicles immediately hook up your battery tender and it will tell you if your battery is 100% charged or somewhere between 80-100% charged or less than 80%. this is an indication of the condition of your alternator :read:

this is something that i am surprised that Deltran the makers of the battery tender have not marketed and promoted via advertising as a benefit that their charger has that their competitors chargers do not have :shrug:

You are referring to the Gauge Control Module. There are only a few Ford vehicles that use one. Most later gen Fords have the interface between the data bus and the gauge drivers built into the cluster, most previous gen controls use analog gauges. The GT is a prior gen EEC system but uses data bus gauges like later gen cars. I think the GT was supposed to have the newer gen EEC like the 2005 Mustang but was not available in time. This would also explain the GT lack of a cruise control. I don't know what other 2005 vehicles were similar but have seen it in the manuals before.

Good info, thanks.

I installed the charge port under the bonnet, at the base of the windshield, passenger side. I still have to lift the bonnet to connect but can disconnet and go without lifting. Took my time with the harness making it as factory style as possible with a fuse, nylon woven wire loom, factory style lugs and a proper stress relief at the charge port bolted down with an existing bolt. I could not find a place outside the bonnet that was any easier to access and not visible or require cutting holes.

 

[Jibber]

Car looks great. Congrats on your purchase.