Have not posted any progress pics lately because i have been getting the Fairmont ready to go racing and i was waiting for some bars from Bears Performance. Had one major area left that I wanted to get done before summer and that was the front strut mounting. Got my bars this week and I borrowed John MacKinnon's struts to use for mockup. Thanks John, much appreciated my friend.
First pic is a jig I made up to hold the struts at right location and with the alignment specs I wanted, 0 degress camber and 8 degrees caster.
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Next is closeup of struts attached to jig upright, spindle is 13.5 inches off ground to duplicate a 26 inch tire and 1/2 inch suspension travel in extension.
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This shows the last "major" bar I had to put in, the bar coming from front door post out to attach to strut and front of framerail.
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Next is a vertical bar from framerail to top of strut to brace the strut bar, also supports my ride height adjustment bracket
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This is a closeup of the ride height adjustment bracket in place with strut upper mount, got about 2 inches of height adjustment to allow for the "terrain" at some of the tracks I run at.
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This shows the details at front of frame, the strut bars ended up going too far forward to use for attaching the radius rods. so I put in the short uprights to attach the cross member to. The radius rod brackets will attach to the uprights and the x-member will keep braking action from pulling the frame rails apart. The 2 small bars at an angle tie the bottom control arm into the x-member and provide lateral support at front of frame.
I did not install any of the brackets for control arm or radius rods, John's struts are older and the control arm is quite different on newer struts. The recommened bracket locations are also different now then when his were done. When i get my new struts in the fall I will fabricate the control arms and install brackets to match.
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At odd moments over the last few weeks I have ben working on Daves housing, next step is to get Albert to mig weld the rest of it and install the housing ends last. Then some cleanup and it will be good to go.
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I always get 2 questions from people who look at it, is it lighter than a stock housing? Yes it is but I would think only by a few pounds at most. Is it stronger than a stock housing? Only a bit the inner bulkhead does brace the axle tubes a bit better but it is not a lot stronger.
This leads to a 3rd question, why? My answer because I have the machinery and most of all "because i can" and it will look good under a car.
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First pic is a jig I made up to hold the struts at right location and with the alignment specs I wanted, 0 degress camber and 8 degrees caster.
Next is closeup of struts attached to jig upright, spindle is 13.5 inches off ground to duplicate a 26 inch tire and 1/2 inch suspension travel in extension.
This shows the last "major" bar I had to put in, the bar coming from front door post out to attach to strut and front of framerail.
Next is a vertical bar from framerail to top of strut to brace the strut bar, also supports my ride height adjustment bracket
This is a closeup of the ride height adjustment bracket in place with strut upper mount, got about 2 inches of height adjustment to allow for the "terrain" at some of the tracks I run at.
This shows the details at front of frame, the strut bars ended up going too far forward to use for attaching the radius rods. so I put in the short uprights to attach the cross member to. The radius rod brackets will attach to the uprights and the x-member will keep braking action from pulling the frame rails apart. The 2 small bars at an angle tie the bottom control arm into the x-member and provide lateral support at front of frame.
I did not install any of the brackets for control arm or radius rods, John's struts are older and the control arm is quite different on newer struts. The recommened bracket locations are also different now then when his were done. When i get my new struts in the fall I will fabricate the control arms and install brackets to match.
At odd moments over the last few weeks I have ben working on Daves housing, next step is to get Albert to mig weld the rest of it and install the housing ends last. Then some cleanup and it will be good to go.
I always get 2 questions from people who look at it, is it lighter than a stock housing? Yes it is but I would think only by a few pounds at most. Is it stronger than a stock housing? Only a bit the inner bulkhead does brace the axle tubes a bit better but it is not a lot stronger.
This leads to a 3rd question, why? My answer because I have the machinery and most of all "because i can" and it will look good under a car.
