ITS Ford Mustang(s) Build - Stripper Stang Part II

[Ron Earp]

I haven't been much help as of late, but Jeff G has been moving right along on the suspension side of the builds. Four front lower control arms have been prepped with adjustable spring spacers and some really nice bushings have been installed in the arms which are a combination aluminum/plastic/steel unit with grease fitting and lubrication channels. A lot of work went into these pieces, not to mention some cash as well.





The arms mounted up well and with the various bushings and adjustments afforded to us I think we'll be able to make the front suspension work pretty well. Installation of the arms worked out and we've got them all bolted up with the Konis along with rotors and calipers. I'm really liking these brakes. I know most of you readers won't think much of them, but coming from a Z car and having spent a lot of time working on a TR8's braking system, these things look pretty good!

[Ron Earp]

Springs have been a bit of a pain in the ass. I believe we've got the correct length front springs ordered now and they should arrive later this week. The stock Mustang springs are very large when compared to the proper length (about 1" too long actually) race spring. We'll be starting out with some 1000 lbs front springs, 5"x8", and 500 lb rear springs, 5"x8.5". Before you pass judgement on those rates you've got to consider the motion ratio of the Mustang suspension. I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head but what it boils down to is the wheel rate is lower than these values and we are probably going to need to swap out these springs for sure. But I think they'll be good for a starting place and at $40-$50 a spring you can't go wrong.

A couple of more front pictures showing some detail of the arm.



And of course, the rear is never left out of the work. We were most concerned with getting the rear sorted out and I think we're to the point now where we feel the rear is going to work pretty well. Quite well in fact. Many hours were spent over the last few days aligning the rear, adjusting the pinon angle, and making the springs and spacers all line up correctly.



But, line up correctly it did and we've got the proper rear springs now and the brakes mounted up on the axle as well as the correct wheel spacers. We got word that sixteen race wheels are on the way to us and we're looking forward to trying those out.



Still have yet to mount the Konis on the rear. We've got a shock back ordered for the rear.

[Ron]

Your setup is an improvement to ours. Hope my thoughts helped. Did i give you the proper spring length? and are those front bushings from that company I told you about?

[Ron Earp]

Hey Ron,

Your info helps tons! I think our springs come out to be different lengths than yours because of the adjustable spacer setup is different. But, they are probably close.

We got more done today with the exhaust and fixing a spark plug hole that we thought was fookered and would require engine removal. With the plug I put some rope down into the cylinder that was soaked with oil. Then we chased the threads with a tapper, being careful with any chips of metal. Then pulled the rope out through the hole and the oil soaked rope did its job and made sure to catch any pieces and clean the threads up on the way out.

Here are a few pics from today.

[RacerBowie]

Why are you using header wrap?

[JLawton]

I would have thought the American Sedan guys would have figured this stuff out already, no?

I would love to build one of these bad boys but have neither the time or energy. I'll have to wait until you guys decide to sell them and move on to the next project! Then I'll hit the easy button!

[Ron Earp]

Why are you using header wrap?

I find it reduces under hood temperatures better than the ceramic coating alone and if keeps you from getting burned badly if you're working around the headers. The fellow at Jet Hot in Burlington agreed with me and wraps his ceramic coated race exhaust too. Actually, my exhaust is ceramic coated and Jeff's isn't. I have no data that would indicate it produces more power, but I know from working with the Lola the wrap definitely lowers temps and reduces those burns.

I would have thought the American Sedan guys would have figured this stuff out already, no?

We got some ideas from the AS cars for sure since the cars are similar. But, no, AS guys haven't figured everything out, at least not with IT issues in mind. They have this stuff figured out for 3300+ lbs cars with 400 hp and not a huge concern for weight in the way that we are, i.e., we'll never make spec weight.

Time and energy - this car is consuming a lot of that. Money too, although to a lesser extent.

Looks to me like you got rear springs in the front there, son.

K

True that! I'll tell what, in my limited experience with buying roundy round parts for this car I have noticed that they are inexpensive and of high quality. Brackets, perches, joints, springs, and so on are extremely well made and probably 1/5th of what they'd cost if Pegasus or other traditional road racing outlets sold them. A roundy round outfit needs to make fuel cells and give ATL etc. a run for their money.

[Knestis]

Looks to me like you got rear springs in the front there, son.

K