Shadowman Suggest Hand Selecting ...


Aug 25, 2006
4,436
Your service technician

Now this thread is NOT being initiated to be critical but rather to share and suggest.

I truly cannot blame the folks that are asked to work on these gals (nor should you) at the dealership because I do feel that the information as shared by Ford is modest at best as such most find themselves akin to Helen Kellar meaning blindly attempting to work on these gals. This can be evidenced by the fact that several dealerships prefer not to work on the gals and frankly as much as this must frustrate some it is a position that I respect; one must know his/her limitations.

I have gained much insight to these gal's as the result of working on more than a few however my greatest resource today comes from those folks that have been where I have yet to go.

The following picture is not to cause concern but rather encourage this thought process.

With this particular gal I have had to open up the lower dash so that the magnesium center console can be replaced because it was physically and esthetically damaged during a very recent warranty operation. Now add to this one of the lower kick panels is also being replaced because it was cut as the means to remove/reinstall it during this warranty process rather than simply removing the magnesium sill plate which FYI is a $800.00 pieces of trim. I can only speculate why however in doing so feel that this method was used because in order to remove the magnesium sill plate the highly polished stainless steel insert must be removed and then replaced and it is not able to be reused.

In any case; these are awesome gals and there are a huge number of people very capable of working on them all I suggest is that you take the time to get to know the person that you select to tend to and massage yours.

Takes care

Shadowman
 

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Empty Pockets

ex-GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Oct 18, 2006
1,362
Washington State
I'm gunna go take some "Pepto"... :ack
 

S592R

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Dec 3, 2006
2,800
one of the reasons I tend to do most of the stuff I can do myself ... when I start to get over my head ... I call shadowman! Ok only once but still .. its nice to know that the resources on this site are here.

Thanks Bill ... once again.

S
 

soroush

Ford Gt Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 8, 2007
5,256
one of the reasons I tend to do most of the stuff I can do myself ... when I start to get over my head ... I call shadowman! Ok only once but still .. its nice to know that the resources on this site are here.

Thanks Bill ... once again.

S

Amen, you nailed it, once I got over the jitters of working on my 200,000 dollar car, it really wasnt that complicated, I just had to get over my nervousness, of course I was so pleasantly surprised the first time I called shadowman, he took time out of his busy schedual to guide me through many of projects that I completed on my car. What am I saying he guided me through all of them, he is probobly the reason why I love my car even more, such a great asset to the community we are lucky to have him on our side.
 

AlohaGT

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jul 13, 2007
1,600
Honolulu, HI
Painful. :bang
 

nota4re

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 15, 2006
4,339
I truly cannot blame the folks that are asked to work on these gals (nor should you) at the dealership because I do feel that the information as shared by Ford is modest at best as such most find themselves akin to Helen Kellar meaning blindly attempting to work on these gals. This can be evidenced by the fact that several dealerships prefer not to work on the gals and frankly as much as this must frustrate some it is a position that I respect; one must know his/her limitations.

Spot on, Shadowman.

About half the GT's I work on half been touched by others before me. When you first put them on the lift, you can immediately see some of the short-cuts. The most frequent infraction is missing and/or incorrectly placed fasteners for the belly pans. When you start working on the internals, it also becomes obvious that torque wrenches must be a very rare tool... Well, I could go on and on. Having worked on three different GT's for most of the day today it is clear that you should have a passion-test before being able to modify these beautiful machines. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of it!
 
Aug 25, 2006
4,436
Spot on, Shadowman.

About half the GT's I work on half been touched by others before me. When you first put them on the lift, you can immediately see some of the short-cuts. The most frequent infraction is missing and/or incorrectly placed fasteners for the belly pans. When you start working on the internals, it also becomes obvious that torque wrenches must be a very rare tool... Well, I could go on and on. Having worked on three different GT's for most of the day today it is clear that you should have a passion-test before being able to modify these beautiful machines. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of it!

Keep the passion alive as you bring great things to the party

Thank you

Shadowman
 

SFLGT

Well-known member
Dec 29, 2007
205
FtLauderdale,Florida
Been there. this was just before I removed the dash from the car.
 
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thegtguy

*Supporting Vendor* GT Owner
Apr 20, 2006
552
MI
Proper service

We agree with Shadowman and Kendall. On our last count of over 120 GT's worked on since January of 2006 we have seen a lot of oops, wrong parts, missing parts, dented belly pans, loose half shaft bolts (after a dealer did the update), and so on. So we also would strongly advise researching who will be working on your pride and joy.

Rich
 

Indy GT

Yea, I got one...too
Mark IV Lifetime
Jan 14, 2006
2,546
Greenwood, IN
This is an important topic. Many of our FGT's are going to their second or third owners now and this Forum attracts many new enthuists every day. Our cars are quite atypical but there is a wealth of information from many experienced individuals who know our cars in-and-out.

Bill (Shadowman), Kendall (Nota4re), Rich and Dennis (the GT Guys) are absolutely the best. If I missed others (as there are Pit Crew members who assisted in our car assemblies) I apologize and mean no diminishment of your contributions to this Forum as well. Lean on these guys for information. Odds are they have already seen your problem before and may suggest an easier way to remedy.

We are indeed very lucky to have such passionate owners willing to help us all when our time of need arises.
 

Kirby Vieira

GT Owner/B.o.D
Mark IV Lifetime
Sep 22, 2005
1,768
Atlanta
This is an important topic. Many of our FGT's are going to their second or third owners now and this Forum attracts many new enthuists every day. Our cars are quite atypical but there is a wealth of information from many experienced individuals who know our cars in-and-out.

Bill (Shadowman), Kendall (Nota4re), Rich and Dennis (the GT Guys) are absolutely the best. If I missed others (as there are Pit Crew members who assisted in our car assemblies) I apologize and mean no diminishment of your contributions to this Forum as well. Lean on these guys for information. Odds are they have already seen your problem before and may suggest an easier way to remedy.

We are indeed very lucky to have such passionate owners willing to help us all when our time of need arises.


+1 Well said.
 

Fubar

Totally ****** Up
Mark II Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Aug 2, 2006
3,979
Dallas, TX
This is an important topic. Many of our FGT's are going to their second or third owners now and this Forum attracts many new enthuists every day. Our cars are quite atypical but there is a wealth of information from many experienced individuals who know our cars in-and-out.

Bill (Shadowman), Kendall (Nota4re), Rich and Dennis (the GT Guys) are absolutely the best. If I missed others (as there are Pit Crew members who assisted in our car assemblies) I apologize and mean no diminishment of your contributions to this Forum as well. Lean on these guys for information. Odds are they have already seen your problem before and may suggest an easier way to remedy.

We are indeed very lucky to have such passionate owners willing to help us all when our time of need arises.

Well put sir.

I had to have a inter-cooler hose replaced the other day. It was just a pin hole leak around one of the clamps and an obvious warranty item. When the tech came out to inspect the problem I noticed the glossy look in his eye and I thought long and hard about flying the GT Guys down to do it. There is no substitute for experience.