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Molten Motorsports 2013 Ultra 4 Car by LII

386K views 1K replies 220 participants last post by  the freeak 
#1 ·
Molten Motorsports is the race team for Liquid Iron Industries. This build has been planned for about a year. We qualified for KOH 2013 at RCQ this year which sealed the deal, time for a new car. The Blackbird build was great in its day, but the car just wasn't holding up. We have learned a lot over the years and we were at a point where we were outdriving the car every race.

Time for an upgrade, a big one. We are starting this build about a month later than I wanted due to some parts delays as well as being extremely busy keeping up with production.

The stars aligned and I was able to get started after hours this week.

We couldn't do this without these incredible sponsors:

Heavy Metal Concepts
Tousley Ford
Spidertrax
Jimmy's 4x4
Wide Open Design
FOX Racing
PRP Seats
CBR Radiators
Ruffstuff Specialties
The Axle Exchange
Mechman Alternators
East Coast Gear Supply
BTR Wheels
BF Goodrich
Liquid Iron Industries (Duh)



Here's the general rundown:

2013 Ford Racing Coyote 5.0L w/ standalone harness
Dave Moore Built TH400
Atlas 3.0
Ruffstuff 9" Housings
True HI-9 Front, 5.40s
ECGS Comp 9 Rear, 5.40s
Spidertrax Pro Series/Ultimate outers
Fox 2.0" x 14" Coil Carrier/ 2.5" Bypass up front
Fox 2.0 x 16" Coil carrier/ 2.5" Bypass out back
PSC Steering
Mechman Alternator
CBR Trophy Truck Rad
Ron Davis Heat Exchanger
Axle Exchange Driveshafts
PRP Podiums and ratcheting harnesses
PCI Communications
BTR Wheels
37" BFG Red Label Krawlers


Here come the Ford haters!



Big day:







Old vs New.



The Coyotes are an incredible motor. Seeing as i'm the first to use this in our industry, there has been a huge learning curve. We are developing a bunch of products that will help bring this engine to market. The bang for the buck is huge with Ford Racing's offerings. If anyone is interested in running this engine feel free to call/email/PM for a quote.

The intake IS able to be flipped. It takes some minor trimming on the intake but it's very minor.



The modular bellhousing pattern is retained in the Coyote which allows us to run a TH400. We use an Ultra Bell for a 4.6L and a flexplate for an 8 bolt crank. Everything bolts up.

This trans is built by Dave Moore who does all of my transmissions. He has learned a lot with our industry and everything he's built for me has been flawless (as long as you don't throw it in reverse mid race!). It has a HD sprag, 4L80 drum with extra clutches, line pressure regulator, RMVB, AA shorty, etc etc etc.





I'm temporarily using my rear 9" housing from the blackbird car. This is originally from Will Carter and has the famous dent in the truss. I've added a few of my own...





 
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#2 ·
The front is fresh from Ruffstuff and showed up yesterday. Last night I got a bunch done.





On this chassis as well as our production chassis we are going to run a fixed front crossmember and engine skid. All of our engines come out the top, so this makes sense. I really like pulling the trans and tcase from below, so anything behind this crossmember is removable. It is 1.75" x .250" 4130. This also allows us to cheat the lowers in a bit at the frame to help fit the wide Ford Mod motor. The UCAs have quite a bit of horizontal separation and there's nothing we can do about it.











I got the rear upper bracketry done. Keeping it simple on this housing as it will likely be replaced mid season. It is a bit narrow at 63". The front is built to 66".



 
#3 ·
The JAZ Jeepspeed 32 gallon cell sits nice and low.





The biggest "issue" with the Coyote 5.0L engine is accessories. Since this engine comes with electric power steering we are forced to get creative. This is the system that I came up with today which I think will work very well.

The Mechman alternator is mounted front and center in the void opened up by flipping the intake.



I need to grab some long metric hardware...



PS pump will be mounted backwards in this location. The pulleys need to be turned to remove the ribs. The pump will run on the smooth side of the belt in order to turn the proper direction.




That's where i'm at. Hopefully this moves along quickly. I am hoping to race November 10th... :eek:
 
#331 ·
The biggest "issue" with the Coyote 5.0L engine is accessories. Since this engine comes with electric power steering we are forced to get creative. This is the system that I came up with today which I think will work very well.

The Mechman alternator is mounted front and center in the void opened up by flipping the intake.



I need to grab some long metric hardware...



PS pump will be mounted backwards in this location. The pulleys need to be turned to remove the ribs. The pump will run on the smooth side of the belt in order to turn the proper direction.




That's where i'm at. Hopefully this moves along quickly. I am hoping to race November 10th... :eek:

that's a sexy looking alternator you have there :grinpimp:

Have you run a Powersteering pump on a smooth pulley before? I would think it would slip like crazy... We've tried it with alternators in the past and it doesn't work unless the diameter of the pulley is absolutely huge to get the contact surface area up. Just something to consider.
 
#4 ·
This car is named "Fred" after my Grandfather. He was an incredibly huge inspiration in my life. His support for my business ventures has been more than I could have ever asked for. I would not be anywhere close to where I am without him. He also had one liners like you wouldn't believe and is a WWII vet. :usa:

Unfortunately he passed away earlier this year. On the table next to his hospital bed was the Crawl Magazine with the Blackbird's feature article. It's likely the last thing he ever read. Gone, far from forgotten. I have a few things from him that I will incorporate in this build in his honor.

Fred Venuti
1919-2012

Him and his Packard:




Teaching me how to drive the Kubota many moons ago. "Deke" is the blondie. :flipoff2:

 
#5 · (Edited)
first off, fuck yes, someone FINALLY using a coyote 5.0l in the off road world!!!
second, you have a solid sponsor with tousley ford. when i'm not on here i'm on SVTperformance.com and they have a great reputation on there and many other ford websites for their customer service and great prices on both stock ford and ford racing parts.
can't wait to see more of this build, and can't wait to see how a coyote powered KOH car runs!

sorry to hear about your grandfather, it sounds like he had a nice long life. i can only hope to live to that age!
 
#8 ·
Tousley is great! I found them on SVT Performance way back when. We don't even have a formal sponsorship deal with them, they just hooked us up so well I have to give recognition. Couldn't ask for anything better.

You're tellin me! 92 years is too long!

Where's the LS motor?.... Cool to see something different, always think your shit is well thought out, should be a good one.
I have two LQ9s and an LS1 on the rack. Not my style! I'll leave them to the cool kids (my customers...)

I've been wondering when someone would use the Coyote in a KOH car. I'm tired of seeing a LS in everything. I'll be following this build closely, always loved your work. Looks good so far. Gonna do anything to the engine performance wise, or leave it stock (for now)?
Stock until I get used to it. These 2013s are putting down 475hp on the engine dyno right out of the crate. There's tons of room to play from there. 500hp is a perfect number IMO.
 
#7 ·
I've been wondering when someone would use the Coyote in a KOH car. I'm tired of seeing a LS in everything. I'll be following this build closely, always loved your work. Looks good so far. Gonna do anything to the engine performance wise, or leave it stock (for now)?
 
#12 ·
A: 8"
B: 23"
C: 13"
D: 11"


I forgot to mention this will be based on a Jimmy's 57.5" JK front clip which should be arriving early this week.


awesome. cant wait to hear that engine screaming through the woods at RC.
Me too. Mmmmm 7500 rpm.
 
#17 ·
Sure does. That's how fast this industry has evolved. It is so out-dated at this point.

Really looking forward to this build. :smokin: And I am one of the Ford haters but it is nice to see someone else using something other than an LS motor.
I like to change it up a bit. If I can't change the motor, I change the swap.

LQ9 in a Volvo 940 is on today's agenda. :flipoff2:

 
#18 ·
Tim, Im excited to see how this build turns out. That Jeep speed cell seems like the ticket. Not sure why we dont see more people using them.

If you can get the market into ford motors for good price point then you might be on to something. It seems the real limitations of ford motors has been the adequate choice of tranmission options (people LOVE turbo 350's and 400's), and you have fixed that.
 
#20 ·
The price point is right on par with a Turnkey or MAST LS power plant making the same power. You'll spend a few extra bucks on the ultra bell but it very well could be a wash.


A nice big PRP box showed up this morning. These Podiums are amazing. Very happy with this decision as well as the ratcheting harnesses.

 
#30 ·
Looks like you need glasses in your old age. :laughing:

looks good Tim.
Just trying to keep up with the cool kids!

$600 vs $250 for standard 32 gal cell i'm betting. cool motor.
Retail... :p


We build Ultra 4 style fuel cells every day. 95% of them are manufactured by JAZ or RCI as a budget solution. The other 5% are Fuelsafe, ATL, etc. This jeepspeed cell is on par with those higher quality brands. Everything about it is way better than a RCI 32 gallon setup. EASILY worth the extra $350 even at retail pricing.

That being said, i'm going to start pushing these a bit more. We've only built out 3 or 4 over the past few years. The more we buy the cheaper they become.
 
#32 ·
The BTR wheels and Jimmy's clip showed up yesterday. I'm extremely impressed with these parts. The wheels have a beautiful fit and finish.

A quick shot showing the hood height. Its sitting on the valve covers and will end up probably 1" higher. Perfect.

 
#39 ·
108"

Tim, have you spoken to the guys at Reid Racing about their about-to-be-released TH400 housing? Seems like it would be a great fit for your project.
If I have a problem with my current case that is the way i'll go. For now, i'm stuck with a budget and a deadline. The Reid case fits in neither of those.
 
#38 ·
4'x8' and 18" tall. I shoot for 18" belly on my cars. The room below the tires to the floor when they are jigged like that is real world up travel. Top is 1/2" thick and was drilled and tapped to 1/2"-13 every 4".

Only thing i'd change is have the top drilled and tapped in a cnc machine. The 4" x 4" squares are just barely not the same since they were done by hand. It makes using removable fixtures a pain as they can't be modular and accurate.

Also, i'd make the top out of something that doesn't get weld spatter in the tapped threads. :mad3:
 
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