Before drilling any holes for the rear mounting brackets, you WILL need to lengthen the front mounting arms 3/4".
I don't have any pictures of the lengthening process but if you look close at the front arms, you can see the spacer I made. I will take some pictures of a couple things I did to the re-useable parts from the control arms. Or check out some of the videos on full tilt boogie's website. They show a comparison between a stock bushed irs and an irs with their bushings. I didn't get their kit but I did take some of their tips and used them.
[/QUOTE]I need a budget with actual funds. Working with zero dollars makes it tough.[/QUOTE]
I completely hear you on the zero budget. The Mrs is pretty strick about the usage of funds so I've had to be creative, trade work for parts, barter, sell parts I didn't need, you know, the usual suspects lol
Not much progress but at least the IRS cradle is ready. I'm drilling and tapping all the control arms for grease fittings. Once that is done, I'll install the new bushings and reinstall them. Since I was released back to unrestricted work, I've been working 70+ hrs a week.
You must have the automatic climate control. Both of my 86's have the manual controls and they use a cable to move the blend door but there is a vacuum connector as well. Sorry if this doesn't help.
I agree with Vinnie, only I said that’s a lot of gear, out loud. LOL.
Mod motors do like rpm, those will get it there. I had 4.56 gears in a 68 mustang for about two weeks once upon a time. They were great fun but after the first trip more than 30 miles they got replaced. It was like driving around in low 2, so with overdrive I would think it will be like driving with a 3 speed trans with about a 3.00 rear gear, which really isn’t that bad. Did you plug the numbers into a gear ratio calculator to see what rpm’s would be at different speeds? I think I remember reading that this was going to be an auto x car, but it’s going to be so nice your going to want to road tour with it, at least I would.
LOL, ya true, that’s a lot of gear. I do plan on some road course and/or a little x-cross. I do also want to run the whole Route 66 cruise as well as the Hot Power Tour some year before they stop doing that. Yes I have a speed calculator and I input the T-45 gear ratios and it came out to 75.04 mph @ 2600 rpm. I will also be installing a rear diff cooler and with the IIRC butterflies removed, the engine will probably love ‘em.
Thanks Vinnie. The control arm bushings I ordered should arrive tomorrow. It's taking a little longer cause Monday I hurt my back delivering a refrigerator. Go figure. Anyway, while taking a lot of breaks, I did manage to get the calipers and brackets repainted. I stripped off the blue and repainted them a different color. I'll post pics when I can figure why I can't post anything from my tablet. I'm still working on the control arms, cleaning up the casting flash. I've also been considering that since I have the whole IRS apart, now would be a good time to swap in the 4:30 gears that I've had.
That, having been a member here for the nearly 14 years, and seeing how relatively unchanged this place has been, I want to thank Eric, Carmen, Chuck, and everyone else that's helped this place get to where and what it is today.
I was looking at another forum (gun forum) and how much they've changed, ie; sold out to corporate forum ownership and realized that we're lucky here. It's kept up by true fans with passion, rather than driven to be a profit generator.
For that, I applaud and commend you guys. You shagin' rock, keep it up.
PS, there will be a new addition to my herd before long. It's a 5.0 and was born in Lorain in late '87..
I have to agree with you about this site. I love it and hope it lives on forever pretty much as it is. This place and the members on it have been very very forgoing with their knowledge on these platforms in which I fell in love with we I first saw Bill Elliott driving it in 1983. The different opinions, and views are awesome. It's nice to have a place to gather and talk about what we want to do with are cars and not get flamed (too much) LOL
Sorry for the extra large pic. I took some 3/4" plate and had some spacers made and I also had some slightly smaller diameter tube cut to 3/4" length. I drilled some holes on each side of the cut line on each side of the cradle. I then welded those small tubes to the spacer on the inside, then slid the spacer with the smaller tubes into each side and tacked them in place. i reinstalled the cradle and readjusted the rear mounting brackets accordingly. I tacked the front pieces more so when i removed the cradle they wouldn't move. I had beveled were I needed so I could get some good deep welds and welded them in entirely. I also welded in a couple pieces of heavy sheet metal on the bottom.
Now i need to prep the cradle for some new paint :hick:
I have the car up on stands once again and have been tinkering. I dropped the IRS back out and completely tore it apart. I lengthened the front mounting points and relocated the rear mounting brackets so it goes in & out easily. I also removed the mounting point bushings so I can install urethane bushings. I've also ordered new urethane upper & lower control arm bushings. I'm also cleaning up the casting lines on the control arms. I watched a video by Full Tilt Boogie Racing on replacing those bushings and didn't realize just how bound up the IRS is with the stock rubber bushings are. For some reason, I'm having issues uploading pictures right now. I'll try again later to post them.
