Well after much discussion the decision was made to fit the gal with both small metal bed cats and cat delete pies aka test pipes so that the gal's owner can fairly easily swap between the two of them depending on whether traversing through town or at speed on the track. As such there is no doubt that she is appropriately referred to as "Blue Thunder".

Here the gal is being methodically wrapped and masked in advance of her surgery so as to insure that no damage or marks are left behind during the process. [ View Pictures ]
Here the disassembling of the exhaust as was on her when she arrived is being removed; carefully one piece at a time. [ View Pictures ]
Here the wheel was removed for ease of access to the half shaft bolts as they have to be disconnected from the transaxle during this process. [ View Pictures ]
Here the system has been completely removed. Now we will methodically inspect everything before putting the new system in place. [ View Pictures ]
Here is the awesome Stainless Works exhaust system ready to be installed. [ View Pictures ]
Well we have made significant process with the gal. At this point we have installed the AccuFab half shaft hardware system to address the random weak link with the OEM Ford hardware. We have also removed the OEM exhaust and methodically installed the Stainless Works system. At this time the system was installed with cat delete aka test pipes for the robust sound on the track; certainly the term track remains subjective as there may in fact be a track in your neighborhood. Once the final details of the exhaust are completed then the remaining personal tweaks as requested by her owner will be tended to as well.
Here the OEM half shaft hardware is being replaced with the AccuFab hardware. [ View Pictures ]
Here the Stainless Works exhaust system is being methodically installed while taking great care not to scratch anything during the process. [ View Pictures ]
Here the Stainless Works system has been completely installed. Now we will warm her up and let her cool so we can retighten all the hardware and then the final pieces such as the air box and the underbody panels can be installed. [ View Pictures ]
Here is the proverbial "Proof Of Life" As shared early on; this gal came to us to have her voice massaged and as is evidenced in this video this goal was accomplished and she is now "Blue Thunder" through and through.
Here are several of the details tended to during the final stages of the Stainless Works exhaust installation. Because of the long tube headers the placement of the four O2 sensors have been changed as the result custom plug and play extension harnesses are used so as to eliminate the need to cut any of OEM wiring. We also installed additional OEM retainer clips at 4 locations to both secure the harnesses and to retain the OEM integrated appearance.
Here are pictures of the manner in which we integrated all of the O2 sensor harnesses. [ View Pictures ]
Here The rear of the gal is all buttoned up with the exception of the lower mesh screen and the rear diffuser . We even painted the inside of the exhaust tips so that as she drives away she does not appear to have just left a muffler shop. [ View Pictures ]
Now during the course of this project several personal touch items have been tended to one of which is the installation of a Ford Racing short shifter. The Ford Racing short shift certainly reduces the gross movement of the shifter between shifts however even more important is the fact that it create a very positive feel; it is transformed into what feels like a gated shifter in the sense that to a gear they are very easy to find whereas with the OEM shifter the shifting between gears feels somewhat aimless at times.
Here the interior is being made ready to remove the center console so that installation can commence. [ View Pictures ]
Here the OEM shifter is being removed along with the OEM rubber bushing which tend to make the shifts feel a bit sloppy. [ View Pictures ]
Here is the new Ford Racing shifter being mounted to the shifter plate with the machined aluminum spacers designed to replace the OEM bushings in preparation of installing it into the gal. [ View Pictures ]
Here the Ford Racing short shifter has been installed leaving us now able to move on to the next phase of this project. [ View Pictures ]
We have now completed a couple personal tweaks on the gal and corrected a couple less than stellar issues. When this gal arrived the subwoofer was not performing as designed so we checked it out only to find that there were several issues associated with the manner in which it had been installed with one of the most significant being that the enclosure was not sealed. This particular subwoofer requires a sealed enclosure of sadly it will not operate. Initially we made best efforts to simply correct the problem however in the end the design was such that a guaranteed seal was near impossible particularly if we also needed to maintain future serviceability. As the result of this the gal's owner requested that we install one of our custom subwoofer enclosures. Our system places the subwoofer neatly behind the passenger seat and then we install the OEM leather wrapped center bulkhead trim as was presented in the gals that did not have what is referred to as the Mac system. Our subwoofer relocation system not only sounds better than when in OEM configuration but completely disappears into the cockpit whereas in OEM trim it is mounted directly in-between the driver and passenger seat at shoulder level. Another huge benefit for this system is the fact that through the rear window on the OEM gals you can clearly see and enjoy the supercharger. In this particular case because this gal became a roadster aka GTX-1 this particular benefit is not recognized. In addition to the issue with the subwoofer there was a small custom storage compartment installed within the center console that proved to be less than user friendly. It had been designed and installed by another but in the opinion of all including the owner it had simply never been completed. There was no latch, the hinge was designed and mounted in such a manner that when you placed your arm on it the lid would slide all around and then add to this it had a disheveled appearance to it. Fortunately we had the opportunity to meet Kip aka Ewing Inc a few months ago; he is a very talented person that has crafted some simply stunning pieces for the Ford GT. One such piece is a carbon fiber pocket for the center console that was not only very well thought-out but also finished in a way befitting of these gals. The top/lid which is leather wrapped also has a slight padding to it, the hinge and latch system comes directly from an OEM parts bin, the interior of the pocket is fully lined, and the perimeter was allowed to remain a high gloss carbon fiber that blends in nicely with the carbon fiber seats in these gals. Now the significance of this particular piece cannot be over stated because in OEM trim these gals do not have a storage compartment but rather simply a place to rest your arm and with the very limited storage space within these gals every little cubby counts and this one is truly very cool and user friendly.
Here our custom subwoofer relocation system is being installed. During this process we install OEM style plugs within the subwoofer enclosure and at the exterior of the subwoofer enclosure so as to insure ease of service in the future. [ View Pictures ]
Here is Kip's extremely cool carbon fiber storage pocket being integrated into the OEM magnesium center console. This is one of those items that the more you look at it the more you like it; it fits, operates, and looks as if OEM and could have been there from day one. [ View Pictures ]
The following is another of the personal touch tweaks as requested by the gal's owner. He wanted a power cord for the Valentine 1 up close to the rear view mirror so he no longer had to drape a power cord up to it. The location was defined and has been used by many in these gals over the last year or so however we elected to create a daughter harness that appears as if OEM in every sense including the cool wire wrap as used by Ford. The results are a power cord that appears to be a factory option rather than something added after the fact.
Here the daughter harness has been successfully integrated with the OEM harness. One of the nice features of this is should ever the time come that the daughter harness want to be removed it is a simple matter of snipping the two leads and the OEM remains intact and will show no signs of having been tampered with In this picture all we need to do is reinstall the OEM plug end and the system is live. [ View Pictures ]
Here the OEM and the new daughter harness are as seen when inside the gal. [ View Pictures ]
Here the OEM and the daughter harness are as seen looking through the windshield. [ View Pictures ]
Here is "Proof of Life" as the system is now live. The final placement of the Valentine 1 remains at the discretion of her owner. [ View Pictures ]
Finally after the numerous twist and tweaks were completed during this project on this gal she is heading home to be enjoyed and also to participate in the Grand Daddy of car shows at the San Francisco Cow Palace in a few weeks. Once the show is over she will be returning to us for the final phase which be the integration of the multi piece removable hardtop. She is now certainly true to her name "Blue Thunder". When she was fired by her owner he was nothing but smiles and then as she was being positioned for loading into the trailer folks came from all around to look at and take pictures of her.
Here she is in all her glory as she is being made ready to travel home for a few weeks. [ View Pictures ]
Well after many months this gals returns to us for a bit more massaging. During her visit she will be fitted with a pair of custom baffles so as to take the edge off her voice; now considering that she is presently a straight through muffler less system it is no wonder why she wakens even those in the deepest of sleeps. In addition we will be fitting a very cool removable top concept that has been developed to this point by Stave aka Knight AutoWorks with the intention of being able to offer suggestions as well as assist with the process of completing it.
Here she is as she arrived ready to go under the proverbial knife. [ View Pictures ]
Here we are fabricating the baffles for the gal. [ View Pictures ]
Here we have fit the frame work for the removable top. There is no doubt that it ties in nicely with the theme and shape of the gal and then add to this the removable real glass back window is a very nice touch/feature. At this moment we are awaiting a piece of canvass so we can bring the entire concept together so we can fully evaluate the system. [ View Pictures ]
During the gal's stay with us we noticed that she had been treated to a little clear bar work in her past; the word here is "little" as such we felt that she was unnecessarily being exposed to the elements furthermore that which had been installed had a ridiculous number of stretch marks, seams, as well as associated dirt under the film. As such it was decided that we remove the original plastic and install it with a more methodically and caring approach so as to insure that once completed the results with compliment rather than detract from her otherwise stunning looks. In addition we decided to protect a much greater portion for her resulting in her entire nose, mirrors, bonnet, 100% of her front fenders, the lower rocker panels as well as in front of and behind her rear wheels.
Here the less than stellar clear bra has been removed and the process of installing the new is well underway. [ View Pictures ]

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