Mustang II IFS build....

her is a pic of the steering box...i made a bracket that uses the 3 holes where the stock box used to go. on the other side i used the bumper bolts as the mounting point.

Today i got the exhaust welded and bolted up and the cold side...







i also fabricated a bracket for the lower radiator support. It simply bolts onto the crossmember using the original holes for the rack and pinion.





No, its not all tweeked out. its just a bad camera angle.

Houston...we have a problem lol. so i finally got the tires on and dropped her down on all 4s to check out the ride height....key word meaning "dropped her down" lol man, she is slammed...too slammed. it looks cool as hell but there is no way to drive it safely. the springs are too soft for the van. it was a concern but the guy at Helix said that the "small block springs" would be fine. he was wrong. the lower a arms are pointed up. they should be level...which would put the ride height right where i wanted it. but also, when i stand on the bumper it drops another couple of inches. sooooo going to order the biggest springs they have which look to be a 450 lb/in. i will post a pic hopefully this weekend.

Pics of the "slammed" stance.

x2!!

lol..you guys.





im off to order the right parts now. i bought 2 inch drop spindles so i think im going to pull those and go with stock height spindles and heavy coil springs. this is my daily driver and i dont want a high butt hole pucker factor over every dip in the road lol

SAWEEEET...but ya, a bit low.

Nooooooooo! Keep it that height! Haha .....it looks so good. Hey....out of curiosity how is it looking as far as lock to lock turning and the clearance with your wheels? Did you have to hack those inner humps from behind the fenders?

I've been watching this come together. Looks great! I wonder how different an A100 is. Does that turbo barely fit in your doghouse, or is it way too big?

mothradeath wrote:Nooooooooo! Keep it that height! Haha .....it looks so good. Hey....out of curiosity how is it looking as far as lock to lock turning and the clearance with your wheels? Did you have to hack those inner humps from behind the fenders?

when its that slammed i cant really turn it lock to lock because it looks like it is rubbing/touching the outside of the tire. plus its so low that i cant really get me fat head under there to really see anything lol.

VanninBlaino wrote:I've been watching this come together. Looks great! I wonder how different an A100 is. Does that turbo barely fit in your doghouse, or is it way too big?

thank you. looks like it will fit ok. i did have to clearance the floorboard to the frame rail to make room for the down pipe. i havent really got down and dirty with fabricating the dog house but preliminary measurements look promising.

today i welded the inner fender wells/interior compartment panels. now time for a crap load of seam-sealer lol

Hey army...how did you make out with finding heavier front springs? any thing happening there with lifting her back up?

Big W wrote:Hey army...how did you make out with finding heavier front springs? any thing happening there with lifting her back up?

i ordered the "big block" springs and spindles...just waiting for them. when I track it it just shows a UPS lable has been created but thats it.

Day 49
Dear Journal,

Somedays i feel as if the universe is against me. lol I got the new Big Block springs and stock spindles installed, ran the brake lines. dropped her down to see the new and improved ride height...damn, its way to high now. i alread cut 1/2 a coil just to get the damn things on there. now it looks like i get to take it all apart again and cut another 1/4 coil or so. i know that the ride will settle a little bit after driving it for a while but i dont think it will settle that much. lol . 2 steps forward, 1 step back. also, the drivers side spring isnt seated right, i thought that if i gott it on the ground and jumped up and down on it that it should pop into place but it didnt. so anyways, i threw in the towel today. i ll take a fresh look at it tomorrow and try to post some pics.

Should have tried to lowered spindles with the big block springs.

yes, i might wind up doing that. but i know that the big block springs are too stiff because my lower A arms are supposed to be parallel to the ground. my first goal is to get the ride height (as far as the A arms being parallel) then decide which spindles to use....and if all else fails...i ll just save up and throw some air bags on it

Ya no I was going to ask if you thought of using air bags...guess that answers that question.

This has gone way too long, any updates?

lol..sorry. ive been working on the stupid little things like shifter linkages, throttle linkages, running heater hose, i welded in the base of the engine compartment (1 inch square tubing with 3/8th inch nuts welded into them so i can bolt the sides of the engine compartment to it. i remounted the battery box behind the passenger seat. i have been working on the wiring. thats a mess. did Ford really make the main positive wire that powers the van a black wire? lol, that seems so backwards. anyways, im looking at putting the fuel injection ECU behind the drivers seat. i plan on running ALL the wiring under the engine compartment sheet metal. if i have to work ont eh motor or do a tune up i want to be able to easily remove the engine compartment. before that was hard to do because there was alot of wiring going through the sheet metal walls.
with the new master cylinder i now have no brake lights. i bought an inline pressure switch but have to figure out the wiring for that and the wiring for the neutral safety switch. i also have to redo the cover at the base of the steering column. it is barely hitting the bolts to the coupler when you turn the wheel... anyways, just a bunch of boring stuff like that.

Nice build thread!

I been doing searches on the net for a IFS setup premade for my 3 wheel car project I have at home. These are way too heavy duty for what I want but Helix has some nice setups. I might end up having to make one myself but the Geometry of the mounting is what gets me a bit off, would rather a pro that has been building em for years make it for me.

thank you.

i bought these plans. there is alot of good info, dimensions, and measurements. it might be worth the 15 bucks to you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18-Mustang-II-Front-Suspension-Plans-streetrod-hotrod-/261019083895?hash=item3cc5f32477&item=261019083895&vxp=mtr

wait...did you say 3 wheeler?

Yes 2 wheel front with single in the rear with a swing arm. I already have an RPM FNR I bought a couple years ago.

This is something I had thrown together in Sketchup about 2 years ago. Since then the design has changed from side by side to front and back, narrowed by 30 inches and 1 swingarm.

Big issue is finding a Rack and Pinion with a center input. It doesnt absolutely need to be a center input but would be nice. I want the narrowest IFS I can find or make.

I seen the plans in your link (thank you!!) and am going to try getting a hold of the guy to see what he can offer in the way of a super lightweight version. I want this vehicle to weigh less that 500lbs.

All my updated versions are on my home PC which I usually do all my designing on since it has 2 30 inch monitor and a spaceball which makes it a lot faster. Lol

**Didnt mean to highjack your thread, just very interested in all the info you have for both my van AND my other projects.**



**EDIT**

Just wanted to add, someone asked me what the FNR is, "Forward/Neutral/Reverse" transfer case. This is required since I am using a GSXR 1000 motor and motorcycle motors do not have reverse. This has an input and an output with a FNR selector. I bought ($2200) this unit a while back to be used in a buggy or car project and havent gotten around to it yet.

The motor is coming off of one of my 3 bikes.(No way am I cutting up my Ducati, Lol) Since I cant ride all 3 at one time on a track day I am going to just hack up my 2006 GSXR. I rebuilt it from a wreck anyways so it isnt like I have a ton of money invested in it.

I don't want this thread highjacked either, but that rack and pinion you are looking for is an easy one to find:

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Small-Rack-and-Pinion-Fast-Ratio-Steering-Box,3692.html