Progress Thread Slow Boat To China

Regarding the ARB and coilover bar, they are close, but they don't hit on my car.

I just ran out and snapped this picture of mine:

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It looks like the ARB is all the way forward almost touching the point where the UCA mounts join the trunk floor, and the coilover bar is just behind that.


As far as your shock mounting position, I think you're going to want them as low as they'll go. Mine are now one hole lower than this:

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And this is how it sits on 28s:

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Hope this helps. Stay safe in Africa!
 

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One more week left on my sentence in Africa, hahah. It's actually not too bad this time. Good food and a quiet room make all the difference.

Planning on getting this thing back on the ground when I get home so I can roll it in/out of the garage. It's been nice making progress without spending much money. Unfortunately, I think those days are coming to and end and I'll need to cough up some cash. The accountant should be emailing me soon with tax return news. Good news should motivate the "add to cart" impulse, if ya catch my drift. Bad news will... uhh... **happy thoughts, happy thoughts**
 
One more week left on my sentence in Africa, hahah. It's actually not too bad this time. Good food and a quiet room make all the difference.

Planning on getting this thing back on the ground when I get home so I can roll it in/out of the garage. It's been nice making progress without spending much money. Unfortunately, I think those days are coming to and end and I'll need to cough up some cash. The accountant should be emailing me soon with tax return news. Good news should motivate the "add to cart" impulse, if ya catch my drift. Bad news will... uhh... **happy thoughts, happy thoughts**

Happy Thoughts! Have a safe trip home, and get back to work on this thing!
 
Alas!! Update time.

Finally got back from what panned out to be a miserable trip to Equatorial Guinea. saw some stuff I dont care to see again.

So the guy I bought the rear end and stuff from still had his front end stuff. So today, I'm going to meet up with him and get:

2 more of the same rear wheels, slightly smaller offset with 325/15 M/T et streets
UPR K member
A arms
coilover kit
bumpsteer kit

All for $950. Not a bad deal, I don't think. The only thing lacking now are struts. Then it'll be a roller.


My buddy has had a 427 LS motor from a Z06 for a few years and has finally agreed to sell it for $1800. Said it was running mid-9s in an F-body (think chevy). I want it but I think the compression would be waaaay too high for boost and would need new pistons. Gonna look into it...
 
Also inherited a 60 gal upright *NEW* air compressor and a 16' tandem axle trailer. The circumstance behind it really sucks, but it is what it is. Next on the tools to buy list is a plasma cutter :)
 
Been a busy little beaver the past few days. Bought an 8x8 shed from Lowe's to house my new air compressor and a bunch of other crap cluttering my garage. Put it together myself in a day:

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With the concrete slab, roof materials, and cost of the building kit, I'm in it for less than a grand. Couldn't be happier. It's all sealed and caulked so no bugs or mice can get in. Has a shingle roof since the picture was taken too.

Since my garage is now clear of crap, I spent a good 2 hours in there tonight.


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Got the back tires on so it's half a roller now. Those are 325/60/15 MTs and fit like a glove. A keen eye will also notice the UPR K-member sitting under the front end. I was gonna bolt it up, but got carried away with drilling out the sway bar mounts and filling in holes tonight. I swore I'd never do it again, but here we go. Siiiiiiiigh.

I need some struts. I'd prefer some Strange 10 ways, but if anyone has some 90/10s laying around, I'd like them. RacEoHolic330 I will have your money to you shortly as well for the parts.
 
Ordered some 90/10s to save the car from jack stand hell, so hopefully this weekend it'll be mobile again.

Working on removing fender skirts next to replace them. Bought a mess of cutoff wheels, sawzall blades, and spot weld drillers hahaha

Also got a mc and brake booster from Scott, aka raceoholic.

Pics will come as stuff happens...
 
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Ordered some 90/10s to save the car from jack stand hell, so hopefully this weekend it'll be mobile again.

Working on removing fender skirts next to replace them. Bought a mess of cutoff wheels, sawzall blades, and spot weld drillers hahaha

Also got a mc and brake booster from Scott, aka raceoholic.

Pics will come as stuff happens...

I'm a day late seeing this, I have a set of 90/10's laying around and were only ever used to roll my car around... Need spares? lol..

Progress looks great, nice work on the mini tubs! Any pictures after you installed the anti roll bar?
 
I'm a day late seeing this, I have a set of 90/10's laying around and were only ever used to roll my car around... Need spares? lol..

Progress looks great, nice work on the mini tubs! Any pictures after you installed the anti roll bar?
Haven't had the chance yet, hopefully this weekend I'll get a lot done
 
Well........ S**t.

Put on yer boots, it just got deep. Yesterday I cut out the inner fender skirts and realized that the frame rails look like cooked spaghetti. Fortunately, I have 0-ish dollars in the body and dont really care about the damage. Here's what we're looking at:

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So, I decided that the front end of this car is going to be completely tubular from the shock towers forward. I went to Home Depot this morning and got some cheap steel pipe to mock it all up and begin the process of fabricating it all. I have a tubing bender, so it *should* work out alright.

Here is the prleliminary core support shape. Remember, this is just a mock up with cheap steel pipe and will be redone in nice tubing.

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I meant to get a pic with the fenders off, but enough will happen over the next few days that you will all see it come together pretty quickly.

*Note to the purists - This body is beat to hell so I'm not "hackin up" a pristine shell. It's just a weekend warrior beater that has a sub-10K budget.

More to come shortly.
 

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The frame rails are going to go bye-bye too. Just haven't got there yet. the entire front end will be re-made in the same style as the factory body, just from tubing. I think it will be just as strong, but give me a lot more room and options to mount stuff - like a massive intercooler.

How's that for a thinking outside the box - fox?
 
I guess I gotta play Devils' advocate here.

Why did you do that? Even setting aside that you stated that the front end was a mess before,....somehow what you've got planned is better?
You're gonna cut the frame rails out as well? Why? I'm sure you're aware of the integrity issues you just created by cutting the end off of the "square box" that used to be your engine compartment. Now you want to heap further complications w/ suspension mounting, geometry, and alignment complications by replacing what is already there?
You know my thinking,......any mustang relegated to dragstrip duty is a mustang that becomes worth less every time another "weight saving" mod is made,...especially after getting hacked up. And I know you said the the car was already a hack when you bought it, but the only hacking I'm seeing is the stuff you're doing.
Do yourself a favor, Contact LRS and spend the 159.00 it costs for a core support
lrs-16138d_1392.jpg


And put some new aprons on it before it ends up too far gone.:nonono:
 

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Those rails look bent from the pictures in post 114! How did the front clip and associated front end parts fit on the car?
Ya know, I didnt really look at it when I bought it because I didn't know that it was wrecked. It all seemed to fit fine...

I guess I gotta play Devils' advocate here.

Why did you do that? For the same reason you did your '89 - because I can. Even setting aside that you stated that the front end was a mess before,....somehow what you've got planned is better? Not necessarily better, but easier imo.
You're gonna cut the frame rails out as well?Yes. Why?Assuming I tried to put on new aprons, they wouldn't come close to fitting because of how warped the front end is. Why spend that much on new sheet metal if I have to hammer it to hell to make it fit the "shape" of the frame rails? I'm sure you're aware of the integrity issues you just created by cutting the end off of the "square box" that used to be your engine compartment. The way I see it the integrity of the front end comes from the K member. Everything in front of the shock towers is important, yes, but not AS responsible for the integrity of the front end. And besides, its all going back in and I believe the way Im going to brace it will make it stronger. I've seen this done on a few cars and they dont have issues. Now you want to heap further complications w/ suspension mounting, geometry, and alignment complications by replacing what is already there?The K member mounts underneath the shock towers, so no suspension mounts will be affected. As for Geometry/alignment, well I think with a wrecked car, your gonna have issues no matter what you do.
You know my thinking,......any mustang relegated to dragstrip duty is a mustang that becomes worth less every time another "weight saving" mod is made,...especially after getting hacked up. And I know you said the the car was already a hack when you bought it, but the only hacking I'm seeing is the stuff you're doing. Well, you say potato, I say vodka. There was no trunk in this car and the floor pans are 16ga sheet metal that someone POORLY welded in. So yes, I am hacking on it, but it is possible that other people can make off-the-wall ideas work as well. :nice:
Do yourself a favor, Contact LRS and spend the 159.00 it costs for a core support
lrs-16138d_1392.jpg


And put some new aprons on it before it ends up too far gone.:nonono:


Ahh managed to get a rise out of the master fabricator himself! Responses in red. And I understand the Devils Advocate approach. Someone has to do it!





So now, Im off to a buddies house who has a fox in great shape with no motor in it. Going to take some measurements of his engine compartment and figure out what "square" really is so I can mimic that with my engine bay.
 

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