Suspension

Suspension & Steering

28 Nov 04- Steering Rack

The steering rack gets new FFR supplied inner tie rods. Of course, FFR fails to mention this in the assembly manual.

Its hard to tell in the picture, but the new inner tie rods are about 1 inch shorter than the factory ones. The new ones are attached and at the bottom of the picture.

We made new rack mounting bushings out of Delrin to replace the mushy stock rubber bushings.

The bushings are done and wait assembly.

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19 Dec 04 - Front Sway Bar

The front sway bar is made of 7/8" diameter 1144 stressproof rod. The existing tie down points were cut off easily with a saws-all. We'll use the lower control arm to tie the car down.

A pattern was made using 1/4" diameter rod, we only had one piece of 7/8" rod and wanted to get the bends right the first time. The arms are 8.5 inches long, while the distance between the arms is 29 inches, the bar diameter is 7/8".

Flats were milled in the end of the rods to accept the bolts for the rod ends.

Shock hat spacer. Note these spacers have since been changed.

We ran the suspension thru it entire range of motion to check for binding while turning the wheels from lock to lock.

We still have to change the rod ends, we had some trouble getting the shock bolt to fit thru the small hole in the rod end. We will end up using 1/2" rod ends and using a sleeve in the lower end to accept the smaller 3/8" bolt to fasten it to the bar.

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9 Jan 05 - Rear Sway Bar

We played with various positions for the rear 3/4" sway bar before deciding to mount it to the rear of the IRS framework. We also wanted to keep the bar out of the trunk space.

We cut brackets out of 1/4" steel to mount the bar ends to the control arms and welded the brackets to the arms. We also made brackets for the bushings and welded them to the frame.

We heated and flattened the ends of the bar so we could mount them with rod ends instead of mounting clamps -- it gives a little less adjustment, but keeps the bar tucked up close.

Done!

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2 Apr 05 - Grease Slots

We cut two slots in the front control arm bushings to stop the dreaded squeaks we heard so much about on various internet forums.

30 Apr 05 - Bump stops

The bump stops are made of neoprene rod from McMaster-Carr and are 1 3/4 long and 1" diameter. The area of the shock tube where the stop hits is the area where the shock tube is assembled and sealed, we did not want to apply too much pressure in this area when the suspension bottoms out so the washer spreads the load to the outside of the tube vice the sealing area around the rod.

The picture at the far right shows the stop compressed with the full weight of partially assembled car on it. The upper arm is still about an inch from the top frame tube. We're hoping that will be enough once the car is completely assembled. Also hoping that the washer doesn't rattle too much.

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12 Jul 05 - Quick Release Steering Wheel Hub

$27 for a quick release hub from Speedway Motors. Here the splined adapter is prepped for welding to the cut down FFR shaft; we had to trim about 1 1/2 inches from the shaft.

After welding the adapter to the shaft, the welded area was turned down on the lathe.

We shortened the shaft by 1 1/2" inches when we removed the tapered section at the steering wheel end, so we extended the other end of the shaft to keep the same length of shaft inside the double D shaft. The new shaft length is 18.625 inches, a little longer than stock.

Its hard to see in the picture, but the shaft extension is relieved at the end to ensure good weld penetration.

The male end of the extension was pressed into the original shaft and welded, afterwards we turned it to size and we milled the flats and new recesses for the wave washers. In retrospect, I should have just made a new shaft, but I did not have enough 3/4" shafting on hand.

Test fit, we centered the steering rack before fitting the adapter and hub to the shaft, any minor adjustments will be made at the tire rod ends to center the wheel.

Next is the hub to mount the wheel and a steering column to mount the turn signals.

24 Jul 05 - Quick Release Steering Wheel Hub Continued

I designed a hub in Pro E to adapt the two parts.

I did not have any round stock in the correct diameter, so I had to make a square chunk round, took a while as we could not take big cuts. After we drilled the holes, the center recess was cut, this has to be fairly precise, since the FFR cover fits into it and is held in place with a rubber O-ring.

We made a column out of 2" OD steel tubing and attached it to the frame. Note to self, use 1/32" wall tubing in the future, 1/16" is way overkill.

We cut a slot in the face of the hub so that the column tube would recess inside it about 1/16" so there is no ugly gap. We placed 3 small set screws around the center hole of the hub to take up some of the slop inherent in quick release hubs. The screws are tightened just enough to remove most of the play, can't remove all of the slack otherwise it would be difficult to remove the hub.

We also pressed a 1/8 " dowel pin into the hub that mates with a larger hole in the shaft to act as an alignment pin; this way the assembly will only go on one way and the steering wheel will always be aligned no matter where its positioned before it is taken off.

Final installation after powder coating and polishing. Its ready for turn signals, I plan on using a self canceling electronic unit that clamps to the column.

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25 Nov 05 - Power Steering Pump

I scored a power steering pump from a 1997 Ford 2.0L Escort on eBay.


I rotated the return fitting 180 degrees so it would point in the correct direction. It is pressed into the housing so I removed the fitting and pressed it back in the housing in the correct position. A little JB Weld keeps it from leaking.	The Escort pulley is noticeably smaller than the original Mustang unit.

8 Oct 05 - Rear Suspension pictures

I needed some place to put these!

The car was on the lift when I took these, I wanted to get the entire underneath, but the lift would need to go about 15 feet higher.

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1 Jan 06 New Shock Spacers

After reading on an internet forum about all of the trouble with broken shocks caused by the hat flexing, I made new aluminum shock spacers that fit better in the hat recess. Here's the sketch, nothing fancy, hope you can read my scribble.

You can see how the new spacers offer more contact area to support the hat. Hopefully, this will alleviate any problems with broken shocks. The old spacers are also shown.

The front shocks were redone in the same way.

14 Apr 06 New Coil Over Springs

Following FFR's advice on shock breakage led to the purchase of new front springs for the shocks and Forte control arms.

Its can't tell in the photo, but the Blue Coil springs from Suspension Spring Specialists use a thinner wire, its about .457 with the coating. The guidance from FFR states that the wire should be no larger than .462.

We trimmed the spacer to .490, which is just a little shorter than the new FFR guidance, we also ran the suspension throughout its travel range while checking for binding.

If we see evidence of coil binding on the springs, I'll make a rubber bump stop for the shock shaft.

The spring hat clears the control arm by about one-eighth inch.

The front springs are 1 7/8 ID and 10 inches tall.

Done again, this is the second time I had to rework the suspension -- hopefully the last.

Still have to do something with the IRS coil overs, I'd like to run stiffer springs on the rear.

Update: I contacted FFR and got on a waiting list for 500 lb springs for the IRS, I received and installed the new springs in the rear. I also modified the spacer and checked for binding in a manner similar to the fronts.

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21 May 06 Power Steering

A Summit PS cooler adds a little more oil volume to the system. I'm using the same Earls Super Stock hoses for the return lines.

4 June 06 Power Steering Done

I used a one quart power steering reservoir from SpeedWay Motors and Earls Power Steering Hose and fittings for the high pressure line. 5/8" ID petroleum hose from McMaster feeds the Escort pump.

The reservoir must be mounted higher than the pump so gravity can feed the oil to the pump.I still need to get a decorative fitting for the reservoir.

I brazed an AN-6 weld-on fitting to the original line to connect the pump to the rack. The was no finding a fitting to properly fit that pump outlet!

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The bracket is simple, cut some aluminum channel to fit the shape of the tank, then cut a large hose clamp up and anneal the cut ends with a torch so they can be bent around the long screws thru the channel. Secure the ends with a rivet.

19 Dec 08 Shocks Again!

After the umpteenth shock scare again. I purchased new Koni's from FFR and installed them, I really do not trust Bilstein any longer.

Here the rears are being installed. The shaft on the Koni shock is quite larger in diameter than the Bilstein and the body is slightly larger too.

No more zip ties, .032 Safety wire instead.

Mounted and ready to go, after tweaking the spacers, there is about 1/8 inch clearance between the LCA and shock hat. Now for the front!

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19 Dec 08 Shocks Again - Continued

I knew this would happen. The Forte control arms won't clear the shock hat. The new Koni shock hat hit the cross bar on the front LCAs. FFR suggested I purchase the newer style LCAs, don't think so.

My first thought was to just notch the arm and weld a patch over it. That did not look very good -- neither did it work very well. I ended up replacing the crossbar.

I cut off the old cross bar and cleaned up the remaining welds. The shock mounting tabs are held in their original position by the welds towards the outside of the bar. NOTE: If you do this, once the cross bar is cut, the distance between the arm bushings will change when the tension is relieved. Therefore the arm may need to be tweaked with a press or spreader to get the spacing correct. Both my arms were 6 5/8 between the poly bushings. Adjust the spacing before making the new crossbar and again after welding.

I used more CAD to mock up a flat bar similar to the newer style LCAs before cutting it out of 1/4" plate. I also checked the clearances on the cardboard mock up before welding anything. There was no need to modify the tops of the shock mountings tabs, there is plenty of room between them and the shock hat.

The new flat cross bar is tacked in place and the clearances checked again.

Everything looked good, so the new part is welded solid.

Now for the other arm....

I welded the ball joints in place some time ago, so re-powder coating is out. Aluminum color paint is a close match. After some sanding and cleaning, they are ready to go back on the car.

Before and after pictures.

One final check again before installing the springs. Plenty of clearance between the hat and arm. I

The sway bar ends had to be slightly reworked. There was not enough space between the shock mounting tabs to allow for full movement of the hiem joints, so it got moved to the outside. The bolt is now in single shear, but it should not matter much. The washers or whatever material is used for a spacer should allow the hiem joins full freedom of motion, in many cases the outer housing of the joint will bind against a large washer.

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