No more drone - Ford Racing Catback!

A few months back, I bought the Cobb 4" catback because it was beautifully handcrafted, great design, and backed by a fantastic name in 4-cyl turbo tuners.  While it all went in great - my ageing ears were struggling with the drone that a 4" catback gives on a 4-cylinder turbo car... just too much for my taste, although it did sound fantastic!

Next up - is Ford Racing 2.5" catback that is actually built by Borla and stamped with Ford all over it... not quite as shiny as the Cobb, but the size difference removes all the drone!

Now, mind you it's not cheap - heck nothing is cheap anymore!  But the quality of this catback is great, everything bolted in quickly and efficiently.

The catback uses clamps to seal the tubing together and it fit snugly together - not unexpected for Borla who makes great quality products!

The Ford Racing design also includes a front resonator to cut back on drone and give a mellow, sporty sound.  The standard Borla part doesn't have the extra resonator and will be louder by design.

The exhaust tips - what everyone sees after you pass them - are a cool fluted design, and while they 'look' slick - we shall see how easy they are to clean...

Driving impression:  The exhaust note is louder than OEM which is great - even initial startup sounds good.  Compared to the Cobb, it's MUCH quieter.  The turbo spool and BOV sounds are more pronounced as well.  Absolutely NO drone when you're in 6th gear and going uphill around 2,500 RPM - this is where the Cobb would remind you that it was there...

Even though it's pricey - this catback gets two 👍👍

Boomba Racing Stage 2 Oil Catch Can - finally installed!

Finally got around to installing the Boomba Racing Boomba Racing Stage 2 Oil Catch Can.  I bought it around Christmastime from a good sale, but never had time until this weekend.  

For turbocharged cars, the purpose of an oil catch can is very important. The can should work to prevent blow by of oil, which could lead to dangerous situations of coating couplers, causing them to slide off under boost, coating the fins inside an intercooler which drastically decreases its efficiency, and ultimately end up cooking inside your turbo, contributing to a nasty condition of what is called “oil coking” where the oil turns to a charcoal like substance in the turbo over time. In addition, you don’t want any blow by on your pistons either.

To do this, a catch can works by having one line running from the PCV valve (connected to the block) into the inlet on the catch can. From there, it goes into the can, and past a filter. The oil should collect at the bottom. The Boomba catch can is 350ml (pretty good size) to hold more oil and junk. The filter inside is used to prevent any oil from then escaping back out of the catch can through the other outlet and hose that will run back to the intake manifold. 

The installation 'looks' simple - and looking back, had I done the install before it's not too bad.  The instructions are here.  Undoing the bolts for the intake is REALLY simple, 6 bolts - no brainer.  Disconnecting the connectors is EASY.  The hardest part is getting to the PCV connector behind the intake and cutting the hose to the block.

Mounting the catch can takes a little work since it's a tight spot, but there's plenty of play in the coupling to adjust - be sure to tighten everything well :)

I will be checking the can each oil change and 1/2 way in between changes as well.  Will report back on the junk found!

Prepping the Mountune FMIC

Going to install the Mountune FMIC (Front-Mounted Inter-Cooler) next week, so I wanted to put the logo on the FMIC to give a little 'pop' to the front end...  fortunately they send a template :)

Since the ST has red calipers, I went with a high-temp Ford Red VHT - you can see the template that Mountune sends along with the FMIC.

            

Nice template that they send, but it centers the logo in the FMIC, need to modify :)

First, gotta figure out where to have the logo placed, I figured up about 3 rails to have it show underneath the bumper.

A straight edge, and cut a nice straight line...

Now it's lower where it will be visible, and flush on the front of the FMIC so paint doesn't get under the template - perfect!

Now the frog tape, cover all the primary edges...

     

Add some boxes and paper bags to protect from overspray on the edges, top and bottom

 LIGHTLY spray a few coats onto the intercooler, spritz from all 4 sides to ensure paint gets into the crevices and cracks - if you look at it from 360-degrees you'll notice the high-low spots in the paint.

after about 10 minutes, carefully peel back the covers - and voila!

My wife loves it - it's going to be a nice look when mounted!

Have fun and be safe!

Pretty nice matchup!  Glad I picked VHT Ford RED!