Deer Hit Damage - Summer 2005

One fine afternoon in June of 2005, while I was on my way home from work, a deer decided to customize the front of my pony. It happened about 3 miles from my job location on a highway with a posted speed of 65. I had just set the cruise at 70mph and bam, I nailed it as it began crossing in front of me on the right hand side. It was ironic that there was a deer crossing sign with in 800 feet of where I hit it.

I struck the deer with the passenger side front corner. The top layer of the hood seperated and flipped completely over the roof and did not make contact with any part of the car. The hood skin ended up behind me sliding down the highway. The jolt from hitting the deer was very slight. Due in part the cars 3100+ pounds. The animal was slammed back into the ditch - the side it was coming from.

In the image on the left, you can see some deer liver stuck to the fender (above the tire). The image on the right nicely shows the deer's stomach contents where the headlight assembly should be. The impact also crushed the CAI tubing leading up from the fog light opening.

And then there's the mammallan carnage. There was a hole completely through the deer where the fender actually speared the animal. I titled the image on the left "dead deer in the corner pocket."

The Rebuild - Summer 2005

The damage estimate came to ~$5k. So the rebuild began. Everything was replaced with new factory parts. Had I been thinking, I would have ordered an 01 Mustang Cobra bumper cover. I concidered replacing the hood with the Mustang Cobra R version, but I was unsure if the M112 would fit under it without cutting a hole. Since I was already planning the M112/V6 project, I was pretty sure I could get it to fit under the GT scoop. I wasn't worried about the pulley sticking out of the stock hood with a scoop behind it. But carving up an R hood was out of the question.

GT hood scoop (functional): I carefully remove material from the back of the of the scoop's front insert. I did this by using a power miter saw as a make shift mill. Allowing me pull the insert across the blade shaving material off laterally. This is not only very dangerous but extremely tricky to do. Others I have talked to have just drilled the honeycombs open. Both methods are tricky because this plastic is very soft and has a tendency to grab the cutting edge of a saw and drill bit. This is a nice mod to help keep the upper intake on the V6 a little cooler. Before this mod, after my hour long trek from work, my upper would be too hot to leave my hand on it. After I opened the scoop, the upper would be quite cool. Inside the scoop will collect some debris after time. So a yearly cleaning would be in order.

Mach Chin: Easy to install and they really clean the bottom lines on the stang. A must for every pony.
Mach Side Skirts: No, Ford does not make side skirts for the Mach, but if they did they would probably look like these. I spent about $30 on the: 4"x4"x74" pvc fence post, pvc primer and cement, fender washers, sheetmetal screws, and some black plastic paint. After the cutting, assembly, shaping, painting and install, I've got about 4 hours into it. They're about 2" high leaving about 4" of space to the ground. IMO they didn't turn out too bad and all I was looking for was something that would go along with the Mach chin.

Page 1: In the beginning - Fall 2003
Page 2: Let the modding begin - Fall/Spring 2004
Page 3: Deer hit damage - Summer 2005 (you are here)
Page 4: M112 Blower Install - Spring/Summer 2006
Page 5: Suspension/Drivetrain - Winter/Spring 2007
Page 6: Eaton M112 Porting Project - Winter/Spring 2008
Page 7: Whipple/V6 - Intercooled Intake
Page 8: Modification List