'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Topic: '88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in (Read 40241 times) previous topic - next topic

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #150 – January 12, 2012, 09:02:19 PM

Quote from: 86XR7project;376963

I'm so mad that I didn't get to help. Gaaaaaaah! Oh well I've been at work to much anyway, stupid John Deere! Looks great Jeff!

I'm probably going to drop it out the bottom with the K member next time, so I'll call you definitely instead of Dave (of aluminum small block fame).

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #151 – January 12, 2012, 09:07:01 PM

I've measured the ride height and with the 99 Cobra springs it looks like the ride height is about an inch higher than stock with the hood, rad, battery, couple gallons of coolant, CAI all sitting in the bay. I'm thinking of going to the FMS
B springs since they are supposed to lower the car by an inch. I've heard to avoid these because of sing but I'm thinking I might be able to get away with it because of the lower amount of weight up front.

Let me know your thoughts cuz this is my first spring experiment.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #152 – January 12, 2012, 09:40:29 PM

don't forget, the car will drop down some, once it's been moved around a little bit.. not an inch, but possibly close

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #153 – January 12, 2012, 09:45:54 PM

Quote from: Shadow;377586

don't forget, the car will drop down some, once it's been moved around a little bit.. not an inch, but possibly close

Yeah I was bouncing on the front end a little trying to get it to settl. I'm going to drop it all the way to the ground to get a better measure, but I'm looking to come down almost an inche from stock, so I'm about two inches high now.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #154 – January 13, 2012, 12:08:27 PM

I just checked the front spring rate of the 2005 Mustang GT which will be very similar in the front end as mine. It uses 136 lbs/in in the front and has 225 lbs/in on the more aggressive sets. The springs I have lined up for the swap are in the 4-500 lb/in range. I'm wondering if I have too high of a spring rate. I'm a bit of a novice on this.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #155 – January 13, 2012, 12:15:12 PM

Is the 4.6 3V lighter than a 5.0? I know that the 99-04 Mustang front springs usually lower a 5.0 car about 1-1.5 inches.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #156 – January 13, 2012, 01:29:33 PM

Quote from: xjeffs;377621

I just checked the front spring rate of the 2005 Mustang GT which will be very similar in the front end as mine. It uses 136 lbs/in in the front and has 225 lbs/in on the more aggressive sets. The springs I have lined up for the swap are in the 4-500 lb/in range. I'm wondering if I have too high of a spring rate. I'm a bit of a novice on this.

The '05+ Mustangs use a coil-over-type front suspension, and thus needs "less" spring, due to the increased mechanical advantage. Like when you convert a 79-04 Mustang to coil-overs, you need much less spring rate to get the same wheel rate with a spring in the stock location.

For what it's worth, front springs of 400-500# on a Fox are pretty soft, and pretty much stock. I've used springs anywhere from 650-800# on the front of my cars.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #157 – January 13, 2012, 02:21:54 PM

Thanks for the explanation Chuck. I would assume this would be important if you are lowering it to help fight bottoming out.

And yes the 4.6L 3v is around 100-150 LBS lighter.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #158 – January 14, 2012, 02:12:26 PM

Quote from: Chuck W;377639

The '05+ Mustangs use a coil-over-type front suspension, and thus needs "less" spring, due to the increased mechanical advantage. Like when you convert a 79-04 Mustang to coil-overs, you need much less spring rate to get the same wheel rate with a spring in the stock location.

For what it's worth, front springs of 400-500# on a Fox are pretty soft, and pretty much stock. I've used springs anywhere from 650-800# on the front of my cars.

What Chuck said. Stock fox rates up front are in the low 400 range.....415-425.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #159 – February 05, 2012, 10:59:47 PM

So I finally dropped the car on the ground to see what the real ride height was. This is using the 97 Cobra springs in the rear and 99 Cobra springs in the front. I guess you really can't tell what your going to get until you do it because it doesn't look half bad. I have the adjustable LCA's almost to max in the rear and it still seems a little low. Ground to fender is about one inch lower in the rear, but if I measure at a horizontal body seam front to rear its only about half an inch higher in the front. This might even be taken up when i add the hood, rad, brake and hydroboost stuff and liquids. So I might have guessed right on this set up.

Overall, the front might be an inch and a half lower than stock when all is said and done. Take a look.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #160 – February 06, 2012, 08:14:26 PM

You could help it some by putting a taller tire in the back....

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #161 – March 05, 2013, 10:04:18 PM

Quote from: xjeffs;376331

We dropped the engine and trans in last night. It wasn't a bad drop, it did take some work and wiggling to get every thing in. Had we removed the bumper we could have gotten the lift to reach farther into the bay and may have made it easier.

Quote from: xjeffs;376333

You can never seem to antite your issues accurately and that was the case here.

With the 3v fox drop, most people claim the stock manifolds will hit the fire wall. Mine appear as though they may won't hit the fire wall, but they maybe close to hitting the steering shaft. We'll see.

Driver's side is close, the steering shaft is in the wrong place cuz the column is sitting on the floor/seat in the car. We'll see where it ends up when connected. One exhaust stud is up against the fire wall but it looks like a straight shot around it. Very encouraged by that.

Passenger's side is in great shape.

But the BIG issue...

It looks like a custom hood or different K member...

The other thing that isn't as I antited was the ride height. I put in 99 Cobra springs up front to lower it, knowing it might be lower than antited, but counted on the weight loss in the engine to raise back up. I may set the rad, battery, coolant in the compartment to see what that does to it, but it looks way off. I do have the 97 cobra front springs, which I think are a little less stiff and progressive, so I'll try those too.

The T56 using a fox/T56 crossmember from D&D Performance was not perfect, but will work. For some reason the JEGS T56 trans mount does not fit the trans, only the crossmember.

Any comments, thoughts or suggestions you guys have are welcome.

All your pics are dead!

Need moar pics.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #162 – March 05, 2013, 10:59:54 PM

Quote from: JeremyB;410591

All your pics are dead! Need moar pics.

I was loading the pictures here from the facebook server and they moved the location. Fortunately the last half of the address stayed the same so it wasn't too hard to re-link it. Wow, it's been a year. I need to get some work done.

'88 Cougar XR7 4.6L 3V - update 12/27/2011; Engine, trans and TC rear end in

Reply #163 – December 21, 2013, 06:46:41 PM

Minor update: I got the Hydroboost from a 2002 GT fitted in the car, and because the mod motor is so much wider, the master cylinder is angled up and the MC rod doesn't line up with the peg on the brake pedal. So I had to take the automatic pedal, grind the weld off and knock the peg out, slice off the peg on my manual pedal that is going in the car, relocate and drill the hole and reweld the peg into the pedal. Here are some pics.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33355[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33356[/ATTACH]

Then I had to trim the mounting plate on the MC and open up the firewall holes and finally got the brake pedal, steering column and master cylinder mounted. are some pics.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33357[/ATTACH]

Five Lug conversion

Reply #164 – December 21, 2013, 06:54:15 PM

I also sold the parts car minus the interior and a few Cougar accessories to a guy in town that's also on the forum (see Engine tech). He's dropping the 5.0L into his Turbo Coupe. I also sold him my four lug Cobras and it got me looking into other wheels and I stumbled across some new ones. I've always wanted to keep the stock look. If I could find something that resembled the black turbines that allowed me to go five lug and a 17 or 18" rim I would do it, but I haven't found anything until NOW!! I'm pretty convinced I'll be doing a five lug swap and buying these.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33358[/ATTACH]

And here's a py MS Paint photo chop.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33360[/ATTACH]

And on a Mustang