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68 Cougar XR-7 Build

48K views 123 replies 13 participants last post by  My67Galaxie 
#1 ·
Hey guys! So...some of you all might remember me...I used to hang around these parts on occasion :D. I took a long break from cars however, and have just recently caught the bug again lol.

That being said, a little history, then we'll get right into my build.

My first car was a 1970 Cougar (base model with a Cleveland 2v), and my second (first one I actually drove, lol) was a 1967 XR-7 GT. From there I've owned a string of Mustangs (all 67's except one 82 SSP 5.0), and have finally come back around to picking up another Cougar. This time around I found a 1968 XR-7 for a semi reasonable price (actually I got it in trade for a motorcycle lol), and just couldn't pass it up. It was pretty rough lol. There's a couple of small rust spots around the wheel wells, and dented lower quarters (looks like a tire blowout or two). The driver's side is wavy (to say the least), but the passenger side is relatively straight. Most importantly though...it seems to be all there, if in pieces. My goal for it is a daily drivable, mid 10 second (naturally aspirated...no power adders for this guy) quarter mile capable restomod. The theme's sort of 'grudge racer/junkyard dog' inspired. You know...the kind of car that you can't tell whether it was built by a guy who knows what he's doing, or a kid who doesn't have a clue (or in reality...a guy who doesn't have a clue =p). The dents and dings (and even the external rust holes) will stay. The car's getting sprayed satin black. The chrome I can salvage will probably be cleaned up and reused, but looks are absolutely secondary...all of the car's external attraction will come via function.

The engine goals have taken a few different twists (c'mon...this is MY build lol, we all know these things are never linear for me!!)). The first though was a stock 302 based setup with the HO roller cam, and 225cc High Ports from TEA. The power was to be transferred through a stock t5 transmission to the Versailles 9" that came with the car. I'd intended the drivetrain to be built in stages, with the stock bottom end late model 302 being the first transplant.

Anyhow, here's a couple pictures of what I started with:


Door tag. It appears my car was a 302 2v powered XR-7 in Augusta green, built in Dearborn, with a C4 and Dark Ivy Gold leather/vinyl? It doesn't have a floor console, and the upper console is a very small one (no pictures of the interior yet).



Front view. You can see some of the waves on the driver's side. Bodywork isn't my strong suit, and will probably be the most frustrating part for me...well, assuming there's no wiring issues, lol.



Back side. You can see more ripples on the driver's side. I remember from my first Cougar that those compound curves are REALLY fun to get straight lol.


Interesting tidbit...as I said, the car came with a 9" disc brake rear end (front discs too). It also came with a 'rebuilt' (we have yet to see the truth here) DOAE 351W. For me though, the big Windsor is a boat anchor...so it will be sold or traded off pretty quickly.

So, to clarify my goal here...I'm building a daily driver capable (for me...I've learned my tolerance level is higher than most others lol) car with a serious amount of kick. I'll work on the drivetrain and general interior first, with the only real nod to the exterior being getting it all one color as things continue. I know that's semi backwards...but it makes sense given my goal, and that I want the car drivable asap, so I don't lose interest. I've never completed a project that I worked on that wasn't drivable lol. I doubt that's changed much in the last few years =p.
 
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#73 ·
Glad to hear that safety comes first!

As far the rearend, from what I've seen offset shackles are longer and would raise the rear of the car somewhat more than stock. It would be better to relocate the rear frame rail inward somewhat and use straight ones for what you are planning.

I was also told not to use sliders on the street as they won't last that long, unless you know of some bushed ones. Otherwise sliders are cool and wouldn't have the height problem so you can fine tune the rear spring height to wherever you wish. You would still need to fabricate some type of mounting system. If the mount is something that you can bolt the slider to and be easily replaced, then it might not be a bad thing to try. That would also open up the option of using shims for adjustability.

In either case first check out the leaf spring-to-gas tank spacing on the LH side if you want to route big tailpipes in the stock location (that is IF you want tailpipes.) When I located my springs inwards 3" I lost nearly all that space and ended up routing the tailpipe to the outer side of the spring. We're required to have them here in PA.
 
#74 · (Edited)
Glad to hear that safety comes first!

As far the rearend, from what I've seen offset shackles are longer and would raise the rear of the car somewhat more than stock. It would be better to relocate the rear frame rail inward somewhat and use straight ones for what you are planning.

I was also told not to use sliders on the street as they won't last that long, unless you know of some bushed ones. Otherwise sliders are cool and wouldn't have the height problem so you can fine tune the rear spring height to wherever you wish. You would still need to fabricate some type of mounting system. If the mount is something that you can bolt the slider to and be easily replaced, then it might not be a bad thing to try. That would also open up the option of using shims for adjustability.

In either case first check out the leaf spring-to-gas tank spacing on the LH side if you want to route big tailpipes in the stock location (that is IF you want tailpipes.) When I located my springs inwards 3" I lost nearly all that space and ended up routing the tailpipe to the outer side of the spring. We're required to have them here in PA.
You know Dennis, it's funny how often you and I are on the same page, lol.

On the exhaust clearance though, I'm either going dumps or side exit, so it shouldn't be an issue. Plus I'm only going 1.75" inboard, which lines the springs up with the frame in the front, and only a bit inboard in the back. Besides, I run 3.5" exhaust lol...tail pipes were never really an option.

On the offset shackles, I was just going to bend my own up out of one of those cheap lift kit sets (they're good, thick plate most often), cut them to the length I need, possibly run a brace between them if I think it's necessary, then box them in the back with a piece of 12ga plate for stiffness. Should be pretty easy to control the ride height in the back at that point.

On the sliders, I know a couple of local guys running them. I've also read that the bearing based sliders (the expensive ones) are the first ones to crap out. The nylon/Delrin/Teflon based ones, with the pucks...last forever, and even if they didn't you can buy enough to last a lifetime for less than $10, lol. A bit of graphite spray couldn't hurt the cause either, and wouldn't attract dust like grease does.

This is how I'd probably mount my sliders, when/if I go with them (only with a downward tilt):



Not too bad a setup, and easy enough to replicate.

In all honesty I'll probably just go the shackle route if I narrow the springs. There will be enough fab work in the front at that point, to keep the ride height from changing. I'm thinking of replacing the frame section that the leafs bolt to with a piece of .250" wall, 3"ID wide x 4" or 5" tall piece of channel iron. It would replace the frame completely in that area (and I'm sure increase the stiffness at the same time), and drilled properly would allow multiple mounting points for the front spring eye....sort of like the adjustable lower link on a 4 link. No bending...actually no real fab work at all other than the cutting and welding.

Here's an image showing what I'd cut out and replace with the rectangular channel for an adjustable setup. A single mount unit would be even easier:


The idea is that cutting that much out would allow the spring and caltracs plenty of room to fit with different mounting locations.

It's definitely something I'm considering.
 
#76 ·
The more I think about it...the more I like the idea of mounting the front spring eye centered in the frame. I have some 4" square tubing, and some .250" thick plate that's the right width to put inside for a just over 3" ID for the springs and caltracs. The idea is to cut one face out of the square tubing, which will be the bottom of the bracket. Shape it to fit the frame cutout, box it, and weld it in.

Basically this:



Would look like this (excuse the VERY rough sketch!):



I think it would be relatively easy, and there would be no compromise of structural integrity. About the only drawback is that I'd have to modify later subframe connectors to fit, lol.
 
#77 · (Edited)
LOL Dennis!! I was posting while you posted...but yes, your picture would be even easier to pull off. Just replace the rail entirely with the square tubing, and weld one straight line.

I like it, and yes I would absolutely love more pictures. Anything you felt was pertinent. You could post it here, or email it to me if you preferred, whichever you like. The email is cris at blackbulletracing dot com. I live literally a mile from Valley Steel, and I get this scrap plate and tubing for $0.50/lb. That chunk of tubing would be literally $6.

I definitely appreciate it.

On a side note, this is almost exactly what I was picturing for the rear shackles:

 
#78 · (Edited)
Forgot to mention that I like the slider mount that you pictured. Nice!

Spring at the center of frame ends up being a 3" inward spring move so it may not be what you want.

Personally Chris, if I was going through the motions of cutting and welding a new front perch, I'd move the springs in the full 3" from the get-go as its pretty much the same amount of work. The exceptions are that you would also need to relocate the spring perches on the rear housing to accommodate the relocation and you need to use a different shock or modify the u bolt perch because the travel is less and the shock will bottom out.

Then, if you wish somewhere down the road for bigger meats, you could finish the mini-tub by relocating the inner wheel wells and notching the frame right behind the axle. That is the route I had to take with my smaller wheel welled 65'.

Here are some pertinent pics and you can take from them what you want. Some of these are mine and some are collected from other sources, but they all started with the Heidt's 3" spring perch kit.

Crites relocation kit:



They come with no instructions and its up to the installer to do it as he pleases. That will explain why there are so many variations found on the web. In hindsight, it would be better to build it from scratch as the Caltracs added their own set of issues that needed addressed.

Mopar offset shackles:





























Not really fond of the look of the shackles. At first I didn't think the shackles were strong enough and put undue forces on the rear frame, but they are primarily there to carry the weight of the car. Its the front spring perch that takes all the abuse. I've abused mine for several years now and have had no issues with them or the frame rail. I did sleeve the aluminum bushings where the bolt rides to keep the shackles "loose." I also need the height that the perches offered so that the racing slicks could clear above the wheel well.

Also note how that nice slider bracket you sourced would work just about perfectly in place of the funky looking shackle. ;)

I still use the factory gas tank in the factory location, although I did do a little pipe and hammer clearancing on the LH tank side for added spring clearance:



Also, you can check out GYDYUP's build thread for photos and discussion. Its on his 67' Stang so it would be even more similar to your Cougar:

http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/mustang-pages-1965-1973/520993-mini-tub.html
 
#79 · (Edited)
Spring at the center of frame ends up being a 3" inward spring move so it may not be what you want.

Personally Chris, if I was going through the motions of cutting and welding a new front perch, I'd move the springs in the full 3" from the get-go as its pretty much the same amount of work. The exceptions are that you would also need to relocate the spring perches on the rear housing to accommodate the relocation and you need to use a different shock or modify the u bolt perch because the travel is less and the shock will bottom out.

Then, if you wish somewhere down the road for bigger meats, you could finish the mini-tub by relocating the inner wheel wells and notching the frame right behind the axle. That is the route I had to take with my smaller wheel welled 65'.

Those pictures are awesome Dennis. That's very much how I pictured doing the work, but its still nice to see it in progress.

On the relocation...if I want to use the stock perches on the 8.8, I need the springs to be 39.5" wide. Factory spring width is 43". That's 1.75" per side. I actually measured from the center of the spring eye, to the center of the frame, and got 2.75" (close enough to your 3" measurement...I'll put a picture below). What I think I will do, is go ahead and offset the front the full 2.75" with the new piece of tubing, but I'll run two .250" plates on the inside (remember, it's 3.50" ID tubing), and none on the outside...and just tack them on the bottom to keep them from moving around (and keep them removable...which will allow me .500" total lateral adjustability in the spring eye). On the rear, I'll run something like 1.25" offset (I'll have to calculate it out), instead of the full 1.75". This will keep the spring pad centered over the axle, and keep the front spring toe in at a reasonable 1" per side. I've read elsewhere that many vehicles from the late 60's and early 70's had a good bit more (as much as 3") built in...and know for a fact that early Camaro's had substantially offset springs front to rear.

My one concern with this, will be whether this will cause any kind of binding issue with the caltracs. I'll be sure keep the rear mounted with rubber mounts to allow some deflection which should help...but honestly I don't think I'll know for sure until I mount it up. Worst case if it does bind, I'll simply move the spring perches on the axle inboard a bit and call it done.


Center to center from the spring to the frame.


Piece of 4", .250" wall square tubing. I think if I do it right, I could make two serviceable units from this one piece.
 
#80 ·
I just glanced through that thread you linked Dennis, and while my Caltracs are the newer style with the spring stop held in with c-clips, I think I'm going to leave out the two .250" thick spacers and just use washers at the spring eye. This should eliminate any binding in the 3.50" ID tubing section, and still give me the full .500" lateral adjustment of the front spring position..
 
#93 ·
Chris, its so easy I can do it. I also have the new CALTRACS and did some figuring on how to build the boxes to accomodate this and that. I wound up keeping the box fairly narrow, I did split it and open it up a 1/4 or 1/2, then stacked and welded two Grade 8 washers on each side, then built little ramps or sliders below that so the CALTRAC and spring would slide into the box and have enough clearance to clear the pins and spring clip travel room.
I copied Dennis verbatim on this, except for the part about the box build. Fun project.
 
#81 ·
Annnd for another reply!

I shamelessly edited one of your pictures Dennis, to show what I plan on doing with the 4" square tube. Basically I'll leave 4-5" uncut at the bottom and top, and draw a diagonal between them. I'll then split that lower part, and heat/bend them out straight to make the lower ears you see in my edited version of your photo. Overall that will give me about 4" total adjustment if I space them evenly over the roughly 6" surface (I just drew circles in there for bolt holes so you could visualize the spring mounting points). In addition, I can simply butt the subframe connector up to the back side of it, which braces both the spring eye, and ties the rear subframe to the front very solidly.



Having messed with this kind of thing before, do you guys see anything I might be missing?
 
#82 · (Edited)
As far as strength and adjustability goes, that looks good. It will be well supported on the lower end when connected to the subframe connector. I doubt if you need the whole thing to be 1/4" if you are concerned about weight. Perhaps just a few inches of the adjustable uprights and the rest of the perch could be 1/8".

Something to think about. Since the leaf spring acts like the upper bar of a 4 link and the Caltrac bar is the bottom bar, I doubt if you will ever need to drop the front down much more than an inch lower than stock or else the IC will be in the ground--especially with shorter shackles or sliders. I have experimented with this by drilling a hole about an inch higher in the Caltrac Ubolt shackle's uprights. Now even with my extended shackles, my Caltrac bar is level-to-being slightly downward at the front. Having it there has helped me on unprepped tracks by further softening the hit. Much more and it will be much too soft and more preload will be needed for a stronger hit. (Ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--I got that tip from an accomplished hardcore Caltrac stick car racer who works at a full on race chassis shop. Even better, I proved that it works. ;) )
 
#83 ·
As far as strength and adjustability goes, that looks good.

If you think of the leaf spring as the upper bar of a 4 link and the Caltrac is the bottom bar, I doubt if you will ever need to drop the front down much more than an inch lower than stock or else the IC will be in the ground--especially with shorter shackles or sliders. I have experimented with this by drilling a hole about an inch higher in the Caltrac Ubolt shackle. Now even with my extended shackles, my Caltrac bar is level-to-being slightly downward at the front. Having it there has helped me on unprepped tracks by further softening the hit. Much more and it will be much too soft and more preload will be needed for a stronger hit. (Ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh--I got that tip from an accomplished hardcore Caltrac stick car racer who works at a full on race chassis shop, and it works for me.)
Good deal, lol. And I'll be sure to note the tip. To be honest, this will likely be the most powerful street/strip car Ive owned/run myself, and being a stick...it's going to be a rough learning curve. Mid/high 10's in a fox body is a pretty simple deal. Getting the dirt track tires to move it right was fun, but again...bolt ons and a home made adjustable clutch made all the difference. Leaf spring cars, particularly nearly 50yr old ones...are a whole other world when you put even 500hp to them, as you know. Add another 150-200hp to the mix, and things get sort of silly. That's why I'm building in as much stiffness and adjustability as I can from the start. Well, that, and I actually want the thing to go forward instead of making a ton of noise while delivering time slips worthy of a Nissan Sentra.
 
#84 ·
Finally picked up some gas for my welder today...I think I've got a ground issue as my welds aren't laying down very cleanly. Still, I got enough penetration to get my control arms welded up. When my strut rod tabs get here tomorrow I'll weld those on also. Going to try to straighten out whatever's causing the thing to weld all wonky first though.

Anyhow, here's a couple pictures.



The arms were originally straight if you recall. I basically just cut a wedge shaped piece out of the top, bent it up, and welded it back closed. Hopefully I got enough angle on it. My static measurements look pretty decent though...so I'm confident it'll work.

Anyhow, I'm going to go ahead and paint up the axle tomorrow also, since I've pretty much committed to relocating the springs, which means I won't have to cut anything up. I'll also weld the strut locating tab to the LCA's as I mentioned, and hopefully I'll have the LCA's mocked up so I can start getting some measurements on the tubing lengths I'll need for the steering, and the strut rods. I'm going with pre-made chromoly swedged tubing...with 1/2" rod ends for the strut rods, and 5/8" for the outer tie rods. I should be able to thread the inner portion of the Mustang II rack to screw right into the swedged tube.

More to come tomorrow!
 
#86 ·
It's a Blue-Point 110 mig, plugged into the wall. This house was built privately though (believe me…I've considered rewirung the thing a hundred times), so it could very well be something in the power being supplied. I hadn't thought of that.
 
#87 ·
Well, I got my rotors and pads, strut rod brackets, and all of my rod ends from Speedway as well (fastest shipping EVER) today. I'm still having some trouble with my welder...it's intermittently shorting the arc, then catches up. The inconsistency made it really difficult to get a clean bead, but I'm still positive I got good penetration and that it'll hold.

Anyhow, here's a few pictures of what I got done:






First I welded the strut rod brackets to the LCA's. They're actually lower coilover mounts (much like the ones I ground off the top). They work nicely for my purposes though. You can see better the angle that I fabbed into the LCA as well.


I'm not really one for bling lol, but they ARE a bit lighter than stock, came with good ceramic pads, and they actually cost me less than stock replacement rotors and pads would have.



This is the drop steering adapter from Speedway. It's a VERY nice piece, and even without the extra aluminum piece I ordered, it probably would have been fine. That support piece gives me a substantial comfort cushion though, which is nice. For those of you that didn't know, it seems that a Mustang II/Pinto tie rod (that's the application for these drop adapters) is the same shank size, taper, and length as a SN95. I thought that was interesting.


And this is the result of all the hard work. This is the LCA at full droop, with the LCA rod end mounted in what's very nearly the position they will be when I'm done (remember those little holes next to my white locate marks in my previous pictures?). My cross bolts for the LCA mount fit through them perfectly. Here you see the reason for the huge angle on the end of the LCA. Without it the ball joint would bind before the strut hit full extension. Too much of that and I'm positive it would snap.


All in all, I'm pretty confident that this setup will work well. All of my measurements have worked out as I hoped they would, which is a good sign lol. Tomorrow I hope to get my passenger side caught up to the driver's side. At that point I'll get some measurements for my swedged tubes...5/8" for the steering arms, and 1/2" for the strut rods. I may end up ordering some 5/8" rod ends with 1/2" swivels though, to replace the strut rods. I'm pretty sure the 1/2" swedged tube is strong enough (it's actually 5/8" tube with 1/2" ends), but I kind of don't like the look of the shank on the 1/2" rod end.

Anyhow, that's that for today. It's nice to finally see this front end starting to come together!
 
#89 ·
Just looking at your picture, won't the shorter lower control arm cause a lot more camber change through it's motion?

Roger
Yes, but I'm starting with a downward sloping control arm at ride height...and full bump is right at the point where the ball joint is at the level point in the arc. It will never go into positive camber...so I'm not hugely worried about camber changes. Additionally, from my understanding a Macpherson strut doesn't experience a ton of camber change anyhow, as the 'upper' control arm is basically the strut top.
 
#90 · (Edited)
Like the way you moved the rear springs for tire clearence. I would recommend bracing to the shackles in the rear. The weld spot might have weaken the metal at that middle point and brace it to prevent bending.
Also could you post pics of your fuel pump/filter setup? I'm building a 68 Cougar for the Silver State Classic out here and Nevada. I have to start a the 95 MPH class and work up to the 150MPH class.
 

Attachments

#91 ·
Very nice!! I've always wanted to run that race. Maybe my Cougar will see it one day :).

On the leaf springs...that's actually Dennis' car. Mine's not done yet. I added a 3d sketch to one of Dennis' pictures though, to show my intended setup. On the shackles, I'm actually going to box in the back with 12ga sheetmetal as well.

On the pump, mine is a Weldon 2025, with a 2040 regulator. I haven't bought the filters yet, but one will run right before the pump, and the other in the engine compartment right before the fuel rails. I'm not installing the fuel system until the rear end is in how I want it, but basically it's -12 to the inner fender, with a -12 to -10 bulkhead. The -10 runs only a few feet to the filter, and then everything switches to -8 for the rails and the return to the tank. Both of the -12 rear pulls in my sumped tank are feed pulls. The -8 return will enter the tank at the stock supply point.

Hope that helps!
 
#92 ·
Got just a little bit more done today.


Suspension at ride height. My control arms are right at about 13.5" long, and I have a hair over 1" of upward travel at 4" from the mounting point before the frame. By the numbers, this should give me something more than 3" at the ball joint (in line with the strut...which has about 4" of travel left), and over 4.5" at the wheel. I'd like a hair more cushion, but I think this is sufficient.


This is the camber at ride height, with no adjustment. That half bubble on the level adds up to something under 1/4" per foot of slope, or about -1° (I think this number could be FAR worse with the constraint of keeping relatively close to the factory 67/68 track width). The caster/camber plate is maxxed out for positive camber, but I still have about 5/8" positive (inboard) adjustment on the rod end. Worst case...I'll shorten the arms another 1/2", just to give myself a bit more inboard adjustment, as I'd like to have the caster/camber plates a bit more centered if possible.


Overhead shot of the strut rod setup. It looks WAY out in this picture, but if you raise the stock LCA, they actually line up almost perfectly.




A few pictures showing the clearance to the frame at ride height. I think this will work to be honest...but until I drive it, we really won't know for sure.

So that's it for now. I didn't get to any of the rear end stuff, and didn't get the other side setup either...but I still feel like I accomplished something. Tomorrow I'm going to hit the local surplus store for a couple of right and left hand 1/2" rod connectors and some all thread to replicate my strut rod so I can size it properly. I'll also grab some 5/8" if its available, to simulate my outer tie rods as well. If things work out over this week, I'll be able to get all the measurements for my swedged tubing, and get the rack mount position roughed in as well. After that's all done I'll move to the back and concentrate on getting the leafs moved inboard so I can put the rearend in.
 
#95 ·
I take it you're going fuel injected. I'll be using a 850 Holley system. 460 with around 475 HP. Using a C-4 with 2.75 gears for a 3000rpm at 95MPH. 150MPH is only 4800 rpms. TQ is the big factor in keeping her rolling. Alt starts at 6200 and goes down to 1700 so that could be interesting.
The wife and I are going out for the Spring race mid May to get all the good info.
I have to build for sway bars and long distance cooling. Plus running a full exhaust system.
 
#96 ·
#98 ·
I wrap electrical tap around my washers, much like coins in a sleeve during the installation. The tape pretty much remain on the washers and when the spring is removed, they are still wrapped. It really isn't that difficult to do to worry about it. Some type of 1 piece metal shim would work good too and wouldn't be too hard to build/install once the desired washer stack length is determined.
 
#99 · (Edited)
Well, I've temporarily (I may actually never move them in, we'll see) shelved the idea of moving the rear springs inboard. I need to get the car down on four wheels so I can move it over on the pad, and the easiest way is to cut the old perches off most of the way, and tack on new ones at the factory 43" width.

I also messed up on the design of my lower control arms, in that the strut rod setup I built doesn't locate the ball joint in a fixed position horizontally. It locates it in a fore/aft capacity, but the ball joint is free to twist about 30° in either direction. As you can imagine, this would change the caster and toe at random. In addition, the position of the strut rod bracket places the strut rod on a plane with the steering. Luckily the solution to the first problem, also seems to provide a solution to the second problem. Basically I'm going to use an aftermarket attachment (similar to the stock strut rod attachment) to attach the control arm to the strut rod in a fixed position. I am also going to place the bracket that it bolts to, on the bottom of the control arm. This should allow me clearance on the steering arm, and correct the issue of the non-fixed position of the LCA.

Unfortunately I didn't figure all of this out until I got both sides assembled and went to measure for my strut rods...along with mocking up the steering, lol.

Anyhow, here's the pictures of what I've been up to, along with a better step by step of how I put the caster/camber plates in.

First the caster/camber plates:


You can see here I've already drilled out the mounting holes, as well as the spot welds holding the spring cup to the underside of the tower (the cup had been removed also). The layout of the mounting studs on the lower support piece of the caster/camber plate requires that one stud come up in the center of the original shock tower bracket hole, two in clean sheetmetal, and one just barely outside of one of the original slots. The one outside of the slot is obviously impossible to drill, so it needs to be routed out. I used a small round file chucked up in my cordless drill.


Here you see all the holes drilled out.


This part is important. You want it to JUST fit the studs. If its perfect, there is nothing to keep the bracket in place while you're doing the rest of the work. If it's too far from a clean fit (even if you can get the studs in there with a bit of force), it will spread the studs too wide when you draw them up through the holes, and the top plates won't fit.


Here I've tapped the base plate up through the holes. A wooden 2lb hammer handle worked nicely.




I used the supplied nuts to draw it up tight...and you can see the washers I used to fill the hole on the near right. Perfect fit!...and part of why I placed it where I did. The drivers side is the same. In the second and third pictures you can see it all drawn up.


Mid plate installed.


All finished!!

I'm going to put the rest in a separate thread, since sometimes this forum starts deleting pictures after too many.
 
#100 · (Edited)



This is how I chose to install my LCA. 3/4" spacer to the front, 3/4" rod end, and a nut behind it to hold it tight. I then followed up with a nut and washer on the outside. This pushes the LCA a bit rearward, allowing for a slight amount more forward triangulation.



Both sides installed at ride height (between 13 and 13.5").



Here's a quick picture of the strut rod connectors I'll be using to locate my lower control arms, as well as the swedged tubing I'll use for both the strut rods, and steering adapters. The steering adapters were HARD to source! They need to be literally 4" long, with 5/8-18 LH thread on the outside, and 9/16-18 RH thread on the inside. I finally found some 7" long, and will cut and weld them to the proper length.



I also started grinding the perches off of the 8.8. As you can see I decided to leave some of it on there, since the spring perch doubles as a brake line bracket, lol.

Anyhow, that's that for tonight. Tomorrow I'm going to finish getting the rear end ground down and the new perches tacked on. Once that's finished, I'll check wheel fitment again and see how it looks. I really think I'm going to need a wheel with 5.5" backspacing (my current wheels are 6.5"). I almost wish I hadn't bought them, but they were worth much more than what I paid, so reselling them shouldn't be too much an issue.

Oh, one last thing...


Isn't this thing a beast, lol??
 
#102 ·
This thing doesn't look like its built sturdy enough for a "heavy" street driven car, particularly the extended needle section. Will both bolt holes be attached to something sturdy that doesn't rotate?

 
#103 ·
This thing doesn't look like its built sturdy enough for a "heavy" street driven car, particularly the extended needle section. Will both bolt holes be attached to something sturdy that doesn't rotate?
Yes Dennis, I'll be bolting them to a .125" wall boxed in bracket welded in under the control arm. Similar to this (only with a thicker wall, since I'm cutting them out of the square tubing myself):




I know they look thinnish...but they really are pretty beefy. I've never seen one fail on a dirt car...even through three qualifying rounds and 50 hard (100ish mph) laps on a half mile track that looks like someone played hopscotch through a minefield on it. They're 1/4" plate, which means 3/8" when bolted to the bracket on the LCA. Additionally, the narrow part on the bolt down end, is still 1/2" wide, and the threaded end is 5/8". If they do end up showing signs of failure, I can always use a set that looks a bit more like the stock ones (meaning the hockey stick part). I honestly don't think it'll be a problem though.

On a more entertaining note, I managed to get the rear end ground down to my satisfaction tonight, and set up in on the new perches for mock up. I centered it on the springs, and bolted it down with one u-bolt (I have to clearance another bracket to get the other u-bolt in) per side. I then went ahead and put my rear wheels on (with the 26" slicks), just to see what it would look like, and if there would be enough clearance to run the rather overkill backspace they have (6.5"). They did bolt up, and left me about 3/8" to spare at the springs. I am not, however...sure that they will end up clearing the inner wheel house. I think I'll be needing wheels with somewhere between 5.5" and 6" of backspacing to actually run the car.

Here's a bunch of pictures I took with the wheels on:




Both the front and rear suspension are obviously in full droop here. On the front, I've only got 4" of drop from ride height...but that should be sufficient for as much power as I'll be pushing. I've got a feeling that once things are dialed in, I'll be wanting to tame the front end lift anyhow.




I couldn't help it...I wanted to see it on the GROUND, lol. Sooo, I chocked up the wheels (there's no strut rods, remember!), and set it down. Not too bad! The front end settled right to 13.5" from wheel lip to center of hub...but the rear end didn't settle at all. In these pictures there's 17" from the same points. Now, there's still no gas tank or interior to help lower things in the back...so I decided 100lbs plus would help drop it the way it needed to drop.





And that's that. The rear end settled another 2" to 15" from wheel lip to hub. Also remember, these are 26" tires, and all of the ride quality/lowering stuff that comes factory on a Cougar is missing (about 3/4"-1' worth...it wouldn't fit with the Cal Tracs). I'm thinking a 28" tire, 1/2"-1" worth of lowering blocks to replicate the stock stuff, and a better offset rim will fill that gaping wheel well nicely!


My one problem of the day. There's only about 3" of clearance from the bottom of the headers to the ground. I swear, these things have just been fighting me the entire way on this project! Either way though, it's nothing a rosebud and a 2x4 for leverage won't fix. Just sucks to have to do it.

Anyhow, there we have it. If I can get out there tomorrow, I may just spray bomb the thing satin black. This car will never see a professional painter, or likely even professional quality paint (though I may at some point tackle some of the bodywork myself) anyway...and I actually want it to look rough on the outside. The interior will make up for it when I'm finished, and the mechanicals should be drawing all of the intention anyhow.

Guess we'll just see what tomorrow brings :).
 
#104 ·
When it comes to settling it, that will make a difference in alinement.
I drag raced an 82 Merc Zephyr with a 460 and found that putting the weight of the driver in it and then checking the settings changed them some.
That's why many twist to the driver's side on launch.
 
#105 ·
Absolutely. That's the main reason I run an anti-roll bar. May as well put that twist to work forcing weight to the low traction side of the car :).
 
#106 ·
So I went ahead and bombed one side black. I wanted to see what it would look like, and even if I do decide to paint it, it'll mostly end up a thick guide coat. I really liked the look though....but I think it's going to take a few cycles of sanding and recoating to get the effect I want with paint (which is old, worn black primer over semi shoddy body work). The toughest part is that time blends out the paint marks you inevitably get when you spray something large with a paint can. That's where wet sanding comes in though...and careful application of filler primer to smooth the deepest existing scratch marks. Hopefully that will smooth it out. The rest of the dings and dents and rust holes in the quarters will remain.

I think in the end it'll turn out like I'm picturing though. Sort of an old street race project you might find under a tarp in the deepest part of a closed down hot rod shop. The kind of shop that put all of their talents into going fast...with a reputation for stupidly quick cars...not immaculate paint and body.

Here's a couple of pictures:



I really do like it. It also makes the wheelwells look a lot better (less contrast on the gap I think). I may end up ok with just bolting on 28" tall tires. Going to finish the rest of it sometime this week.

I also got my strut rod stuff and my tie rod adapter tubes in from Speedway today. They of course sent me two left hand rod ends, when I needed (and ordered) right hand. Sucks, because even the package said RH. Oh well. I did get my tie rod adapters cut down, rewelded, and installed. If I had a mount for the rack and the steering shafts, the car would steer. Hopefully I'll get to that over the next couple of weeks though.



First I roughly lined everything up so I could get a measurement for the adapter. It looked like I needed 4.5" or so. Now, the inner rod on the Mustang II/Pinto rack is a 9/16-18 RH thread, and the rod ends I'd bought for the steering/bumpsteer were 5/8-18 LH. I looked EVERYWHERE for a 4" piece of swedged tubing with the appropriate threads on either side with no luck. The closest I found was a 7.5" tube from Speedway. They were on sale for $6.99 each (they aren't going to carry them anymore), so I bought four just in case I ever screw one up.

Basically, I just cut 2.5" out of the center of them, beveled the edges, then clamped them down and welded them up. It turned out though that on the car, 4.5" is just a bit too wide, leaving only about 1/2" inward adjustment (which may actually be fine, depending on where the tires end up when aligned). worst case, there's 1.5" of thread on the inside of each side of the tube. I can easily grind 1/2" off each end, and still have plenty of thread engagement for safety, while giving myself another inch total of wiggle room.



These are the strut rod ends (they were supposed to be AFCO, and I paid AFCO pricing for them...I'll be bringing that up tomorrow when I call about the rod ends), along with the 10" lengths of 5/8" swedged tubing. It seems I also miscalculated the length on that somehow (weird, everything else I measured ended up dead nuts!)...but again, I have some wiggle room by grinding down the tubes. Worst case, I can always order a new pair of shorter tubes...they're not that expensive.

S
o that's where we sit now. I'm pretty happy with how it's coming together, and once I'm done with the front end I'll be doing the header adjustments, getting the motor mounted permanently, and then probably start on disassembling my shortblock in preparation for enlarging the lifter bores. From there it's wiring, EFI (I'm actually going back and forth about just putting a quad of single barrel carbs on it this year to get it running, and doing the EFI with next years taxes...guess we'll see!), putting the shortblock back together, and interior. I'd say I was about halfway done now, except I think the second half is going to be harder than the first, lol.

More updates as they come, of course =p.
 
#107 · (Edited)
Well, I finally got a chance to get my lower control arms removed yesterday. Grinding off the old strut rod brackets took forever. As a matter of fact, fabbing up the new brackets from some 1.25" .095" wall square tubing I had laying around, and getting them welded to the LCA's took substantially less time.

I'm really happy with how they turned out though.

So from here all that's left on the front end is to finally get the rack scienced out and mounted...at which point I can finally finish shaping the shock towers so I can weld in the filler panels. After that I can begin concentrating on getting the position of the engine and transmission finalized (it's pretty close now...but I think I'm going to move the T5 back up and leave the engine alone).

That's about as far as my current workflow sheet goes =p.

Anyhow, on to tonight's pictures:

Here's the control arms with the other brackets ground off. I'm serious by the way, it took for freakin ever to remove them.



A couple side by side pictures to illustrate exactly what these things started life as. They're barely recognizable, lol.


New brackets all fabbed up!




All welded up. I posted some closer pictures of the welds because even though they're still not coming out like normal, they are substantially better. Instead of using my normal outlet, I ran an extension cord to a different one. The difference is night and day compared to before. I swear I need to rewire this freakin garage :l.



And here's the clearance between the strut rod and the steering arm at full droop. Honestly I think that's more than enough. If there does end up any clearance issues once my rack is installed, it'll be nothing to put a spacer between the LCA and strut rod to compensate.

Looks like I'll have the car functionally down on all four tires tomorrow!
 
#110 ·
Looks good! Are your rod ends for your outer tie rods maxed out at full droop? If they are misalignment bushing will take care of that.

Roger
It's very close, but the strut is still the travel limiter. Also, in these pictures it's just mocked up. I still have the aluminum stiffener to put on there, which acts somewhat like a misalignment bushing on the top side.

Have another idea, where you welded the swedge tubing together for the tie rod adjuster. I'm not doubting your welding ability (although I would be mine, lol!) What if you took a large nut ground out the threads till it just fit over the joint, then welded it on both sides, it would strengthen the joint plus give you a hex to adjust!
I was originally going to do this, but I was going to weld the nut in between the joint. Unfortunately it would have been even wider lol, so I scrapped the idea. I really like your idea of grinding out a nut to slip over the outside though, as the passenger side is very tight to turn.
 
#109 ·
Have another idea, where you welded the swedge tubing together for the tie rod adjuster. I'm not doubting your welding ability (although I would be mine, lol!) What if you took a large nut ground out the threads till it just fit over the joint, then welded it on both sides, it would strengthen the joint plus give you a hex to adjust!
 
#112 ·
Annnnnnd she's standing on her own four feet!!


More on the details tomorrow :).
Ok so it wasn't 'tomorrow' lol...at least I'm updating though =p.


This is the tie rod to strut rod clearance at ride height. We've already seen it at full droop, and I'm pretty confident that it will be fine at either full right or full left. They will of course both be checked, with any necessary clearance being provided by spacers under the strut rod bracket on the control arm.


Annnnd my next order of business...getting the rack mounted. It's going to be interesting to say the least...and will most likely necessitate pulling the engine, which I didn't want to do yet, since I'll just have to put it right back in order to make sure my headers clear the steering shaft lol. It might be that I can use the lift at work this Saturday in order to make it work from underneath. We'll see though.

All in all I'm still really very happy. That front end was a pretty major undertaking lol, and getting it complete went a long way towards finishing the car. The scope of it makes the steering look minor in comparison =p. Grand total as far as cost in the front suspension is only $1032. This includes everything...spindles, rotors, calipers, adjustable struts, coilovers, springs, caster/camber plates, and all mounting hardware. The steering comes in just under $300, including the rack, all adapters, mounting hardware (bracket, fasteners), steering rods, and universal joints. Some of these parts I got for a deal...but I'm confident someone could replicate it (please wait until I make sure it works!!) for under $1500. Now, with that said...the thing none of this takes into consideration is that I have no knowledge of whether this can be made to work with an internal oil pump. As things come together and I get the rack position finalized, I'll take some measurements and see how it looks. If not, a dry sump...or at minimum an external oil pump...will be mandatory.

Anyhow, there it is! I should have more done by this weekend...pictures to follow.
 
#113 ·
Big update, lots of pictures!



I'd picked up an extra crossmember from The Mustang Service Center this past week to use in fabbing my rack mount. I was initially going to bolt it up behind the rack, between it and the lower control arm mount...but there was a clearance issue with the steering input boss on the rack. So I decided to move it to the front. I'll fabricate up a couple square tubing bosses pointed backward to mount the rack mount bushings to. This solution is much cleaner.


I'll be bolting it directly to the sway bar mount.


A picture from the front. You can see the rack mount holes to either side of the tubing. I'm going to fill that area with .250" thick plate (pictures below). This is what the bosses will mount to.




Here you can see the rack mount bracket coming together. First I cut the plates and cleaned them up, then fit them, and stitch welded both sides front and back.


Here's an interesting picture. On the right you can see the rod end that is the lower control arm pivot point/mount. To the left (centerish) you can see the pivot point for the steering (that grey ball). This picture clearly illustrates why I had to move the control arms outward.


And finally can someone explain why they send three bushings in a rack mount kit when there's only two rack mount holes lol? Either way it worked out as I had to modify them, and this way I got one get out of jail free card if I screwed it up =p.
 
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