fitted a front control arm, spindle, brakes and wheel today. i had been concerend about wheel fitment in the front due to the fact that im runnin a mustang k-member and sn95 length control arms, but looks like all is well, with some neg camber the top tucks inside the wheel openin jus fine. the wheels are 17x8 w/a +40 offset so they tuck a lil more than a typical mustang wheel. they are konig villians, alot of people mistake them for R's :dunno:
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/df9c319e.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/914b1a98-1.jpg)
after a long and frustrating bushing search, i found some that would work for the control arm mounts. i did hafta shorten them a lil bit, not fun...but they get the job done
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/59d2d37c-1.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/59d2d37c.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/8c4252d8.jpg)
the struts are bilstiens, used from an 03 cobra. the brakes are 04 cobra calipers, and power slot rotors. ill be using a sn95 booster and master cylinder, also.
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/boosterMC.jpg)
it is a 94 unit. after some slight moddin of the firewall bolt pattern, and "massaging" of the strut tower, it fell right in
:birdsmily:
looking good bud, anything wrong with that abs unit?
dunno, never attempted to find out before i pulled it.
Cool.
What bushings did you wind up using?
they are some universal pieces from energy suspension. once i squished them into the arms, they became too long to fit in the buckets. had to trim them down a lil bit.
did some more measuring. at the pictured ride height, the control arm is level, good. 1" gap from top of tire to wheel opening, ok. gives me 2 7/8" bump travel in the strut, decent. if i wanna ride it any lower than this, though, im gonna hafta find some fox struts for it, or modify the lower pickup where these attach to the spindle...
Very nice! What steering rack/tie rod set up are you gonna use?
once i get it cleaned up, i will put the factory TC rack back in.
i will work from there if i need to worry about changin tie rods etc.
hopefully, with the 94 spindles, the most i will need is a bumpsteer kit to make everything fit.
lookin goooood
Question about that m/c. I'm putting a TC rear into my car and am aware of the fact that the stock m/c will not move enough fluid for the rear disc brakes. I've been considering getting a m/c for a '94-'95 Mustang w/o ABS. Just like you've done :D So do you know if that m/c will bolt up to a stock T-Bird (or Fox Mustang) booster?
I've also been considering a proportioning valve from the same car, since the SN95 and T-Bird are pretty close to each other in weight and weight distribution. Think it'll work?
yes, the sn95 MC will bolt up to the old fox boosters.
with the larger bore(sn95), some people(from what ive read) dont like the firmer pedal feel.
i found this site very helpful in researchin my brake upgrade:
http://www.svo73mm.cjb.net/
what k-member is that?
looks great. those wheels look like the steeda pieces. nothing like Rs.
When I did the swap I used one for a '85 Crown Vic. It also has the larger bore to it and it fit in perfectly.
the k-member is an old kenny brown performance part.
i dont know which came first, the chicken or the egg, but the steeda wheel and the konig are one and the same, jus different center caps(of which i have none :slap: )
Looking Good.
You will like the brake upgrade.
You're gonna love having coil-overs too... I'll never go back to the old "modified" mac strut arangement when I can get the same wheel rate control of a 900# + spring with a 375# coil over!
Btw, thanks for the helmet link over at the corral. I'm buying a Pyrotect SA2005 open face from them (definitely the best prices). It seems like there's a few of us lurking around over there among the pony crowd, heheh...
yeah, no problem, i got the g-force open face SA2005 from them(basicly the same helmet).
all we can do is lurk there, if you say t-bird they stop talkin to ya :toilet:
Just because they are jealous ;)
Think thats hard? Try saying Cougar! They :beatyoass:
man, i totally skimmed right over the numbers in your post here. are you runnin 375's on your car? if so how do you like them?
i have driven/riden in various sn95 cars with different coil over rates from 300-600#. i plannin to run 400's on mine, but i havent driven a bird w/coil overs.
they have every reason to be jealous, i mean they see themselves around every corner, but wheres the fox luv?? :p
I have 375's on my 86. It's a very (ultra)firm ride but I like it (I feel every painted line on the road, hahah). There is enough compliance so it doesn't skip over bumps but I've got yellow Koni DA's. The wheels really stay planted on the pavement. I have to be careful about potholes and big dips in the road though.
I couldn't tell whether you have Bilstiens or Konis from the pic (I think both are yellow). My Konis are set up 50/50 right now. Some day I'll probably jack around with the rebound adjustment. they seem pretty good right now so I'm just gonna leave em "as is" until I get it out on an auto x course and drive it hard... then go from there...
I do to in my 87 bird with the standard sprung 4 link in the rear... but not in the 86. I think the Panhard bar and coil overs out back were the cure... Now all I need is a torque arm so I can ditch the stock uppers.
jus to clarify, thats an 86 bird, not a mustang, right?
my shocks and struts are bilstiens from a cobra. i think they may be on the light side for 400's, but i can upgrade them later. they are what i have for now.
It's a Bird...
Most people seem to prefer the Bilstiens over at the Corral. I hear they're pretty bad ass dampers... Plus you dont have to adjust them!
i thought that was the car we were talkin about :drool:
Just wanted to get an update on how things were going for you...Any new pics?
nope, no new pics. still waitin on more bushings for the control arms. i only had two of these, then i found a better option anyhow. two piece bushings are on the way...
new bushings are here. man are they nice!
these are the old style bushings that i could make work if i had to
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/fb9a8ed2-2.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/fb9a8ed2-1.jpg)
you can see the large single shoulder. i would rather have double shoulders on a control arm bushing. plus they are a lil too long, so i had to trim some off the ends to get them into the Kmember buckets
these are the new two piece bushings
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/3d6983d2.jpg)
(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/87%20turbocoupe/fb9a8ed2.jpg)
the two piece fits better, has shoulders on both sides, and feel like a higher durometer material. im glad i waited for them, the better fit is worth the cost of the bushings alone, much simpler assembly.
chuck, the number on the bushings is 2511. i am told they are meant for chevy trucks...
Cool. I have a set of those arms too...just not keen on the balljoint options. I've thought about modifying them to accept the SN-95 ball joints. Thanks for the p/n.
is your set TIG'd? i thought about buildin jigs, cuttin this set apart, and buildin a TIG'd set. i still may do that down the road.
i think the balljoints that are used in these are GM parts. yes/no? how much different is the sn95 outer diameter? then we could use sumthin like the X2 if we wanted.
I'd have to look at them again to see what they are.
What I was thinking was more like the MM stuff that has a longer ball-joint ring that the ball jount actually wound up recessed into..so as not to have to crimp the tubes at the ball joint.
Yeah the stuff KB used...at least when I was there was GM roundy-round stuff.
(http://i11.ebayimg.com/04/i/08/6f/d7/ee_1.JPG)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190040100985&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=009
three coilover springs for $66!!
they are a lil short. i was lookin for 8's, but i can shim my coil over sleeves up on the strut body if need be.
cheapest i found locally was $40 per coil used(hypercoil) and $36.xx ea plus handling from summit(QA1)
might actually get the front end together soon! :shakeass:
Ah, now I see why you were puppiesg on the super-low Mustang in that other thread. ;)
I don't blame ya. The only way to get a Fox to really handle is to throw everything away and start over again. What c/c plates are you running? I hope you intend to stay away from an aluminum set, they don't appreciate bearing the full load of the front end. You're running a strut tower brace too? I think I see it in white in one of the pics.
Sweet ride gumby. I like that a lot. What are your plans for it? Full road racing or autocross setup? Or something a little more streetable? I assume it will see some street time since you're gonna run the 400s...
thanks.
CC plates are some old, modified, kenny brown mustang parts. yeah it will have a STB as well. she will be dual duty, street and track. autoX and HPDE :cheers:
if you search for some of my other posts, you will see more of my setup. also all my pics are here:
http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c73/gmby23/
the front suspension is together!:banana: no new pics jus yet, but it looks the same, plus a spring, and on both sides now.
jus a couple observations for no one in particular.
1) i had to sand the top edge of the new bushings to fit into the front buckets on the Kmember. no biggie, jus the shoulder diameter was too big for my buckets.
2) for anyone lookin to use sn95 braided lines on a 87 TC, you will NOT need adapters. i got my calipers on and connected to the hard lines on both sides, and the fittings match up to the sn95 stuff.
3) 7" coils may be too short. i spaced up the sleeve to get to a decent ride height, but in my haste to get a good deal on the coils, i overlooked a possible issue with coil bind. wont know for sure till i get the motor back in and find out how much these springs compress at rest.
Very nice. Hope replacing the springs won't be necessary.
Show us some pics when your host becomes available.
What ever happened with this ? How did things work out ?