My 87 Tbird and cougar

Topic: My 87 Tbird and cougar (Read 6417 times) previous topic - next topic

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #45 – February 27, 2012, 08:28:01 PM

Looks good! I kinda have a thing for square tube chassis cars:) What are planning on for steering and suspension up front?

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #46 – February 27, 2012, 08:41:16 PM

so do i lol the only thing that won't be square tube is the bar in the front that'll tie into the cage, the crossmembers and the bars at the top of the rear 'notch'.. for the front, i'm using afco coilovers (already have them) and in-house built tubular control arms with 1 of my QA1 k-members (with a little re-enforcement, to make me feel better

).. not sure on steering yet, but i'm sure it'll be some version of a manual rack.. maybe flaming river, but we'll see

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #47 – February 27, 2012, 09:59:53 PM

Yeah, I am thinking of going with flaming river or unisteer on my tbird. Are you gonna use solid mounts, or an engine plate? Just got the 94-95 Mustang 5 bolt splindles in the mail Friday, now I gotta cut em up to mount the wilwood race brakes. I heard you get away with just looping the power steering hose and turn the power rack and pinion into manual, but my rack and pinion is wore out anyways. Also I am going with floor mount pedals and moving the driver's seat far back as possible. Not sure if I will try and move it closer to centre as well yet.

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #48 – February 27, 2012, 10:18:30 PM

plate for sure.. on SBF tech, there's an article on how to make your own using a router with a steel bit.. going to try my hand at that and take it from there.. i'm not sure how i'm setting my pedals up yet, that's about a year's worth of work away, if i get started on time.. you can loop the line, but it's a real PITA to turn when sitting still.. if anything, pick up an OEM manual rack for a stang.. the gearing inside is different and makes a world of difference.. i did that with my cougar.. soooo much easier than trying to muscle a PS rack around lol

which WW calipers did you get? i'm using their 4 piston calipers on all 4 corners with 1 of their master cylinders and adjustable PV

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #49 – February 27, 2012, 11:22:50 PM

I figured the ps rack would be a pain, that is why I am going for a manual rack, also going to add another knuckle to the steering shaft, so I have more freedom on routing and clearance. I am just going solid mounts and I have an idea for a brace that attaches to the backs of the heads (in the egr holes; at least I think that's what they are for) and also ties the k member to the bars that run through the firewall. Kinda like a half mid plate I guess, but not attached to the bell housing. I think the brakes are 4 piston calipers, I just told the guy what I was making these are the brakes Wilwood recommended. I didn't get their master cylinder, I was looking for floor mount brake pedal with the mc attached if I can find one.

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #50 – February 28, 2012, 01:43:58 AM

aah, nice nice.. your idea (half midplate) should work out well with solid mounts.. i'm actually thinking about doing the full backplate with something similar to your idea on the front, since i won't be running any accessories, except a mini powermaster alt.. i was never too keen on the idea of having to charge the battery every time the car makes a pass.. between the high torque starter, ignition system and any other electrical gadget the car winds up with, i want the voltage to stay around 13v, so i have zero power loss because of a draining battery

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #51 – February 28, 2012, 01:09:00 PM

So are you going to cut the firewall out? The guys didn't even wanna mess with the mid plate, otherwise I would have had one. Maybe when the real engine get built we will do it, but for now we will try keep things simple to get running and then add once all my other cars are done. I am planning on running 2 batteries, 1 for starting and accessories and the other one just for running. Or maybe have it so I can switch when 1 gets low, still not sure yet. Was going with a mini alt, but scratched it.

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #52 – February 28, 2012, 03:01:31 PM

not sure on the firewall, yet.. i may leave it, since it's basically flat already.. but i heard ya on finishing other projects.. i currently have 4 other personal projects and 3 owned by my buddy/shop partner.. i need to finish at least 2 of each before i start on my bird

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #53 – March 22, 2012, 09:52:04 AM

Hey shadow do you have any advice on what should I focus on from here on out? I have little to nothing left as far as budget goes due to losing my riches in a poor decision on the Vancouver stock exchange in a gold mining company... but I think I have most of the hard parts here to get close to completion. I just got the 94-95 5 bolt spindles the other day so I can start hackin them up for the brakes. I am sure that I have just about everything to finish the tbird in hard parts just no cash left to pay someone to do it, I gotta take over myself from here on in if I wanna have any hope of completion this year. Any helpful or constructive advice from any member would be greatly appreciated as I have thousands upoon thousands in parts for 13 different projects at the moment without a hope of completion of anything due to the stupidest decision I have ever made that cost me everything.....

My 87 Tbird and cougar

Reply #54 – March 22, 2012, 02:01:18 PM

hmm.. where are you sitting with it as of now? if you were closer, i'd give you a hand on figuring where to go next and help you knock it out.. but you're in canadaland! lol